For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.
Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.
Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.
to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.
Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.
View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.
Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.
Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.
DUBLIN, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cholera Forecast for selected Asian Markets 2017-2027" report to their offering.
Cholera is a bacterial disease caused by infection from Vibrio cholerae species (O1, O139), usually spread through contaminated water. Cholera causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration. Left untreated, cholera can be fatal in a matter of hours, even in previously healthy people.
This report provides the current incidence population for Cholera for Selected Asian Markets (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam) split by gender and 5-year age cohort. Along with the current incidence, the report also contains a disease overview of the risk factors, disease diagnosis and prognosis along with specific variations by geography and ethnicity.
Providing a value-added level of insight from the analysis team, several of the main symptoms of Cholera have been quantified and presented alongside the overall incidence figures. These sub-populations within the main disease are also included at a country level across the 10-year forecast snapshot.
Risk factors for contracting cholera relate mostly to contaminated water and sanitation. The disease shows marked seasonality in developing nations, and outbreaks can occur during natural disasters (tsunamis) and complex emergencies (generally affecting the water supply / sanitation infrastructure).
This report is built using data and information sourced from the proprietary patient segmentation database. To generate accurate patient population estimates, the database utilises a combination of several world class sources that deliver the most up to date information from patient registries, clinical trials and epidemiology studies. All of the sources used to generate the data and analysis have been identified in the report.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Introduction
2. Cause of the Disease
3. Risk Factors & Prevention
4. Diagnosis of the Disease
5. Variation by Geography
6. Disease Prognosis & Clinical Course
7. Methodology for quantification of patient numbers
8. Top-line estimated incidence for Cholera
9. Cholera in Vietnam
10. Abbreviations used in the report
11. Patient-Based Offering
12. Online Pricing Data and Platforms
13. References
14. Appendix
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fdr6rd/cholera_forecast
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
SOURCE Research and Markets
Industry bellwethers attend annual gathering; mobile measurement pioneer releases landmark Unified Audience Platform, a suite of products serving the comprehensive needs of the app ecosystem.
SANDPOINT, Idaho, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kochava (www.kochava.com), the leading provider of app analytics, attribution and optimization for connected devices, begins their fourth annual Kochava Mobile Summit today through February 17 and announces the release of the Unified Audience Platform, an all-encompassing toolset giving marketers real-time curation of their campaigns with unparalleled granularity and data fidelity.
"Beyond the riggers managing their campaigns for top performance, marketers are faced with a fragmented and crowded ecosystem when choosing technology providers to support their teams. With the release of our Unified Audience Platform, we have streamlined all aspects of the process, offering deeply integrated, end-to-end campaign management solutions in one place," said Charles Manning, CEO of Kochava.
New product pipeline and ad transparency
The Unified Audience Platform (UAP) from Kochava offers marketers the most comprehensive and flexible platform for digital campaign management available in the marketplace. It eliminates the inefficiencies, stability concerns and complexity of mining disparate companies for the various tools necessary to execute and manage campaigns, including precise analysis of ad spend and engagement, all in one location, with one SDK.
The Unified Audience Platform puts marketers first
The UAP is the only tool in the ad tech space that hosts all the necessary elements to Plan, Target, Measure, Activate and Optimize for holistic campaign management.
Plan using the UAP's Media Guide, a one-stop shop to research mobile marketing partners, essentially a "Yelp for mobile advertising." Kochava marketers can research, filter and access more than 2,700 network and publisher integrations by any desired criteria.
Target using the Kochava Collective, the world's largest mobile data marketplace, providing marketers with access to over 700 million unique device IDs and enabling them to extend their reach in targeting their ideal audience across a mix of high-performing media partners.
Measure with the industry's most robust set of tools benchmarked by our industry-leading multi-dimensional Analytics to dictate all campaign-based decisions. Omnichannel views and customized filters are made simple thanks to the new Kochava Web SDK which tracks every click across platforms and devices. Pinpoint ROI and make confident decisions with the previously released True LTV and Ad Cost products.
Marketers Activate their data by setting up real-time campaign performance notifications and bringing critical metrics to decision makers with Alerting.
Optimize by using Traffic Verifier and the What if? tool. The Kochava data science team has been identifying fraud since 2015. Now, marketers can better protect and control their traffic with Traffic Verifier, a real-time fraud abatement tool that combats ad fraud tactics such as click stuffing and ad stacking. The What if? tool allows marketers to replay historic campaign data and media traffic in a virtual time machine to understand the impact of adjusting attribution settings or changes to their media mix to maximize their future media spend.
New offices, new partners
Bucking industry trends with five years of profitable operation, Kochava has become the reliable standard in measurement, utilized by the largest digital advertisers across all industry verticals. The continued success of their platform has led to expansion of their operations and personnel at their headquarters in Sandpoint, Idaho and internationally in China and Ireland last year, adding to their existing offices in Singapore, South Korea and France. The company has sustained 300% annual growth allowing for aggressive investment in product development that solves and simplifies the most vexing challenges marketers face in today's interconnected, cross-device, multi-channel world.
About Kochava
Kochava (www.kochava.com) offers a unique, holistic and unbiased analytics platform to plan, target, measure, activate and optimize media spend. The Kochava platform for mobile and connected devices combines potent features and global coverage with thousands of network and publisher integrations, allowing marketers to target audiences and measure campaign performance with precision. Real-time customizable visualizations give users fluid access to a full spectrum of data points, providing robust segmentation capabilities and real-time actionability. Yielding the most powerful tools in the ecosystem, Kochava is chosen by brands across industry verticals to measure the largest and most sophisticated ad campaigns.
Follow Kochava on social media:
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Media Contact:
Jeremy Grimm, Director of Communications and PR
+1-208-946-9944
jgrimm@kochava.com
Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/458978/Kochava_Logo.jpg
Related Links
http://www.kochava.com
SOURCE Kochava
Rapidly develop Lightning headsets for iPhone, iPad and iPod, to deliver user experiences not possible with legacy analog headsets
BEAVERTON, Oregon, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Avnera Corporation, a leading supplier of Analog System on Chips (ASoC) for smart devices, announced today the availability of the LightX platform that is the basis for Apple's second generation MFi Lightning Audio Module (LAM2).
The Avnera LightX platform sets new standards in the industry with the lowest power consumption and the smallest size for smart Lightning headsets. This is made possible by Avnera's AV3425, the first single chip Analog SoC for smart Lightning headsets.
"The Lightning connector on iPhone, iPad and iPod has opened the opportunity for a new category of smart headsets which offers user experiences not previously possible with the analog 3.5mm connector," said Manpreet Khaira, CEO of Avnera Corporation. "The LightX platform will enable brands to develop highly disruptive headsets by combining IP developed by brands with Avnera breakthroughs in low power analog audio circuits and digital signal processing technologies."
"Previous solutions for developing smart Lightning headsets have resulted in headsets with much larger form factors and significantly higher power consumption than headsets with the legacy analog connector," said Khaira. "Avnera's new LightX platform offers not only the first complete system solution but also the first no-compromises solution for smart Lightning headsets."
No-compromises Lightning solution
Avnera's single chip ASoC allows the highest level of integration for a smart Lightning headset thereby enabling headset form factors consistent in size with typical analog headsets. The LightX platform also introduces for the first time Avnera's patent pending low power analog audio circuit technology that significantly reduces the power consumption of the Lightning headsets versus any existing solution.
Complete system solution for smart Lightning headsets
The LightX platform provides a complete system solution covering not just the smart headset but also the iOS App. On the headset side, a powerful SDK provides innovative smart features many of which will be first to the consumer headset market. For example: a new method of "Adaptive Noise Cancelation" allows significantly more cancelation than fixed noise cancelation solutions used by consumer headsets today by automatically calibrating to each users specific fit and to the environment and "Smart Muting" which automatically mutes the user's voice mics when the user is not speaking thereby minimizing the amount of noise disruption, especially during conference calls. The platform includes a complete array of development tools to allow brands to develop and implement their own IP, especially features requiring signal processing for audio, voice, speech and sensor capabilities.
"We are amazed by the compelling features that our headset partners are developing on the platform," said Khaira. "Some of these innovations are built into the headsets' companion iOS Apps, which allow a manufacturer to provide firmware upgrades, release new features and enhance the functionality of the headset after launch, a benefit not possible with analog headsets. We have worked hard to provide a framework to greatly accelerate and simplify the app development process."
MFi licensees can get access to the LightX platform and LAM2 by emailing mfisupport@avnera.com. More information about the MFi program can be found at https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi.
About Avnera Corporation
Avnera is a venture-backed fabless semiconductor company based in Beaverton, Oregon. Since 2004, Avnera has been designing Analog System-on-Chips, integrating breakthrough low-power analog circuits. As pioneers of Analog System on Chip (ASoC) technology, Avnera works closely with partners to transform markets. Over the last decade, Avnera delivered circuit and system innovations that have set a new bar in minimizing power consumption and footprint sizes. Avnera is funded by Altien Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Best Buy, DAG Ventures, Intel Capital, JAFCO Ventures, Onkyo, Panasonic Venture Group, Polycom and Redpoint Ventures. More information is available at www.avnera.com.
Avnera is a trademark of Avnera Corporation.
Contacts
Sam Levin
sam.levin@avnera.com
+1-415-827-3870
Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468100/Avnera_Corporation___Logo.jpg
Related Links
http://www.avnera.com
SOURCE Avnera Corporation
Solution supports SWIFT, Target2, SEPA Credit Transfers and Direct Debits and provides base for transformation program
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dovetail, the provider of best-in-class payments and liquidity management solutions, has today announced that Bank of Cyprus has selected the Dovetail Payment Solution to equip the bank with payment hub functionality covering SWIFT, Target2, SEPA Credit Transfer and Direct Debits. The project will provide the payments foundation for its on-going digital transformation program.
Commenting on the news Dr.Andreas Stylianou, Manager Organization and Change, from the Bank of Cyprus said: "Payments are the life blood of our business. We needed a modern, proven payments solution that could address not only our immediate needs, but also our future payment initiatives. We selected Dovetail as a best-in-class solution. Their implementation processes and team made them uniquely qualified."
"We are really excited that Bank of Cyprus has chosen Dovetail's award-winning solution as a core element of their digital payments transformation. It enables the bank to make a step change in their payments business, by providing an efficient, technologically advanced solution that is easy to integrate with their existing systems and gives the flexibility and agility that the bank was looking for in enhancing their customer offerings without compromising their operational excellence", said Martin Coen, CEO.
About Dovetail
Dovetail provides best-in-class payments and liquidity management solutions that enable banks to simplify their infrastructure and deliver effective digital transformation. All solutions, based on a single real-time architecture, are available on premise or in the cloud, scalable up and down, across functional and volume needs and offer unrivalled customer and segment personalization. The choice of solution provides flexibility for a bank in setting the pace of its modernization, addressing point needs or replacing multiple legacy systems.
Leveraging the continuing investment from Dovetail and its world-leading client base, banks can rapidly achieve a measurable return on investment, increase strategic agility and operational excellence, optimize total cost of ownership and ensure regulatory compliance.
For more information on Dovetail, please visit our website, www.dovetailsystems.com.
Press Contact
Trevor LaFleche
Vice President, Global Product Marketing and Analyst Relations
+44 20 7652 7788
trevor.lafleche@dovetailsystems.com
Related Links
http://www.dovetailsystems.com
SOURCE Dovetail
MORGES, Switzerland, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Biosensors International Group, Ltd. ("Biosensors" or the "Company"), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative medical devices, announced today the enrollment of the first patient in LEADERS FREE II, its new BioFreedom Pivotal Study, conducted under an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), which will include sites in the United States, Canada, Denmark, France Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The BioFreedom drug-coated stent (DCS) has been implanted to date in over 150,000 patients in more than 40 countries outside the United States. The initiation of LEADERS FREE II marks a key milestone on the path towards obtaining FDA approval for the BioFreedom DCS. Similar to LEADERS FREE, the therapeutic focus of this new US pivotal IDE trial is on patients at high bleeding risk (HBR) who receive an ultra-short dual anti-platelet drug regimen of only 1 month.
Professor Keith Oldroyd performed the first LEADERS FREE II implant earlier this week at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland and stated: "We are excited to participate in the European arm of the BioFreedom DCS US Pivotal IDE study and further contribute to building the HBR patient experience for potential expansion of the availability of BioFreedom to American patients."
The study is conducted under the leadership of Dr. Mitchell W. Krucoff from Duke University, NC, USA, as Principal Investigator and Dr. Philip Urban from La Tour hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, who is the co-Principal Investigator in Europe. The chairman of the Executive Physician Committee is Dr. Marty Leon, Columbia University, New York. Dr. Urban commented: "The results of the LEADERS FREE trial underscore the need to improve treatment of patients at high bleeding risk throughout the world. With the development of the BioFreedom stent, Biosensors has successfully addressed an unmet need for a patient population that had been very largely overlooked."
About BioFreedom
BioFreedom represents the latest development in Biosensors' stent technology, featuring a unique micro-structured abluminal surface which permits the controlled release of BA9 using neither a polymer nor a carrier. BA9 is a highly lipophilic anti-restenotic drug developed by Biosensors specifically for use with stents and is the world's first polymer-free active stent releasing BA9.
For more information, please visit http://www.biosensors.com.
Contact:
Fred Hrkac
Biosensors Ltd., Morges, Switzerland
f.hrkac@biosensors.com
+41-79-360-7991
SOURCE BioFreedom
STOCKHOLM, Feb 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The new office map from Catella shows the positive economic situation of the German office market at 76 locations. While prime rents have increased almost everywhere, the attractiveness of prime objects can be seen in the continuously decreasing yields from first tier to fourth tier.
"The strongest increase of rents in the German office market is found in second-tier locations, with an increase of 5.3% compared to last year, followed by the first tier. Frankfurt is currently the frontrunner for rents, with EUR 39.00 /square metre. For the first time ever, the EUR 10.00 /square metre level for prime rents was exceeded in the fourth tier, with EUR 10.25 /square metre (compared to EUR 9.98/square metre at the end of 2015), which shows the sound economic situation in all regions," says Dr. Thomas Beyerle, Head of Group Research at Catella.
With an average prime yield of 3.67% (down 53 basis points compared to 2015), the first-tier category fell below the 4% level for the first time. The average yield difference between first-tier and second-tier locations (currently 179 basis points) became even larger in 2016, and is evident in the high valuation of first-tier properties.
"On the other hand, investors are proceeding with a more balanced understanding of the risk-to-yield ratio and are relying on a sustainable cash flow, with Munich as the frontrunner at 3.3%," says Dr. Thomas Beyerle.
When analysing the differences between location categories from first to fourth tier from a strictly geographical perspective, it becomes clear that average yields of between 3.67% (first tier) and 7.02% (fourth tier) are in accordance with the course of the yield-risk profile for 2017. At third- and fourth-tier locations, however, no outstanding investment activities can be found, despite attractive yields and many market studies, according to analysts.
"We expect a large increase in the number of transactions in this segment in the coming months. The increasing desire of owners to exit is up against certain yield attractiveness for investors," according to Beyerle.
The complete Catella map "Investment location Germany 2017, Office rents and yields" is now available at catella.com/research.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Thomas Beyerle
Head of Group Research
Tel: +49-69-310-19-30-220
E-mail: thomas.beyerle@catella.de
Press contact:
Ann Charlotte Svensson
Head of Group Communications
Tel: +46-8-463-32-55, +46-72-510-11-61
E-mail: anncharlotte.svensson@catella.se
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
http://news.cision.com/catella---corporate-finance/r/catella--german-office-markets-continue-to-impress-in-2017,c2189051
The following files are available for download:
http://mb.cision.com/Main/6412/2189051/629285.pdf Press release http://news.cision.com/catella---corporate-finance/i/thomas-beyerle-catella-june-2016,c2076867 Thomas Beyerle Catella June 2016 http://mb.cision.com/Public/6412/2189051/95d6834a5f5cdf18.pdf Catella Office Map Germany 2017
SOURCE Catella - Corporate Finance
PARIS, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Christiane Bergevin is the first North-American Member to join the Supervisory Board of RATP Dev
RATP Dev is delighted to announce that Christiane Bergevin has joined its Supervisory Board since January 1st, 2017. Christiane has held a number of executive positions. She was President of SNC-Lavalin Capital, and Executive Vice-President, Partnerships and Business Development for Desjardins Group, before launching her own consultancy firm in 2016. During her tenure with Desjardins - the largest financial coop in Canada- she oversaw investments totaling more than 2 billion USD through acquisitions and partnerships in Canada, the United States and Europe.
Christiane previously led the growth and operations of the financial advisory and engineering subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin, one of the world's largest engineering and construction groups. As part of this role, she was co-financial advisor for the award-winning financing deal for the Canada Line light rail system in Vancouver, built as a public-private partnership.
She is the first Vice-Chair of the Chamber of Commerce of Canada, and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Montreal Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Christiane is a former director of CDPQ and BDC, as well as the listed companies Talisman Energy and Fiera Capital.
"Christiane Bergevin's expertise in finance and development strategies, her understanding of the transport industry and infrastructure projects, her in-depth knowledge of North America and her international background are valuable assets that will drive the growth of our group," stated Laurence Batlle, Chief Executive Officer of RATP Dev. "We are honored that she is joining RATP Dev's Supervisory Board."
The Supervisory Board of RATP Dev now has eight members, including four independent ones and four women. It is chaired by Elisabeth Borne, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Office of RATP group.
NOTES FOR EDITORS :
RATP group
With 14 million passengers every day worldwide, RATP group is the fifth largest urban transport operator in the world. The multimodal network operated by RATP in the Paris region, with its 14 metro lines (including two driverless lines), two regional express network (RER) lines, seven tramway lines, 350 bus lines and shuttle services catering to the region's two international airports, is the largest of its kind in the world to be managed by a single company.
RATP Dev
RATP Dev is RATP group subsidiary set up in 2002 to export the Group's operation and maintenance knowhow outside the historic network operated by RATP in the Paris region. RATP Dev now operates in 15 countries on four continents (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, China, South Korea, the Philippines, the USA and Brazil). In 2015 RATP Dev generated revenue of more than 1.1 billion euros.
CONTACTS:
RATP group's press department T +33-1-58-78-37-37 http://www.ratp.fr servicedepresse@ratp.fr
SOURCE RATP Dev
OEMs Should Focus on Services That Bring Improved Safety and Security
BOSTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey from the In-Vehicle UX (IVX) group at Strategy Analytics (Report Link) has assessed consumer interest in telematics and remote vehicle management services. While consumer interest remains strong for services which provide immediate help in time-sensitive emergency situations (such as one-touch access to emergency services or stolen vehicle assistance), fewer respondents are interested in remote horn/light functions and remote start. However, willingness to pay for such services remained high across all regions surveyed.
Surveying consumers in the US, the UK and China, Strategy Analytics has found that interest in telematics and remote vehicle management system is not necessarily higher in premium vehicle owners compared to other classes. Though premium vehicle owners in all three regions exhibited higher interest in remote horn / light functions than owners of other vehicle classes, mid-range vehicle owners in the US showed the highest interest in several tracked services, including stolen vehicle assistance, automatic crash notification, remote diagnostics, remote start, and teen driving alerts.
Click here for report: http://sa-link.cc/1jl
Derek Viita Senior Analyst and report author commented, "Willingness to pay a monthly fee for a package including all of the telematics services described in the survey declined in the US from 2015 to 2016, but overall willingness to pay across all regions remained quite high. More than 50% of respondents were willing to pay at price points below $20 per month in the US."
Chris Schreiner, Director IVX, added, "With high consumer interest levels and willingness to pay, OEMs should keep putting efforts on introducing telematics services that would bring improved safety and security."
About Strategy Analytics
Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides the competitive edge with advisory services, consulting and actionable market intelligence for emerging technology, mobile and wireless, digital consumer and automotive electronics companies. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Strategy Analytics delivers insights for enterprise success. www.StrategyAnalytics.com.
About In-vehicle UX
The In-vehicle UX group forms part of the User Experience Innovation Practice (UXIP) at Strategy Analytics. Focusing on user behaviors, motivations and interests within in-vehicle, mobile device, connected home and media & services research areas, UXIP helps clients meet consumer needs, develop usable solutions and deliver compelling user experiences. Extensive expertise and highly experienced in large-scale survey work, in-depth interviews, focus groups and observational sessions, UXIP's research methodology allows strategic user-centric analysis on the potential for new technologies that would otherwise be unavailable. Providing actionable insight, go-to-market strategies and business recommendations, UXIP is a leading supplier of consumer knowledge to the technology industry. Click here for more information.
Press Contacts
US Contact: Derek Viita, +1 617 614 0772, dviita@strategyanalytics.com
European Contact: Diane O'Neill, +44(0) 1908 423 669, doneill@strategyanalytics.com
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130207/NE56457LOGO-b
Related Links
http://www.strategyanalytics.com
SOURCE Strategy Analytics
SEOUL, South Korea, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Keeping abreast of the latest trends in scholarly publication is necessary for researchers, especially ESL authors. Therefore, Editage recently conducted eight workshops on 'Trends in Academic Journal Publishing & Research Integrity' at reputed South Korean institutions, including universities and hospitals. In total, over 500 doctors, researchers, journal editors, as well as university and hospital administrators attended these workshops.
The eight workshops were conducted over 6 days, with one each at the following institutions: Chosun University College of Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Sookmyung Women's University, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea Association of Medical Journal Editors, Asan Medical Center, and Soonchunhyang Hospital. One workshop was also conducted for the Korea Association of Medical Journal Editors.
They were delivered by Dr. Elizabeth Wager, an academic publication trainer who has given training on behalf of Editage Insights for over five years. As an independent consultant, Dr. Wager has trained doctors, journal editors, and medical writers on six continents. She was Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) between 2009 and 2012 and is a member of the ethics committees for the BMJ and the World Association of Medical Editors; she is therefore an internationally recognized authority on ethical publication practices.
Dr. Wager observes, "The rules and conventions of scientific publishing are complex and changing. it can be difficult for researchers to keep up-to-date. I am delighted that Editage provides opportunities for so many doctors, scientists, and journal editors around the world to take part in these workshops and discuss best practice. In order to publish their work effectively in international journals, researchers not only need to ensure their articles are in correct English but also that they have followed current guidelines and journal requirements."
Dr. Wager conducted similar workshops organized by Editage in Japan in late 2016. Prioritizing educational outreach activities for ESL authors shows that Editage is undeterred in its mission to empower the Asian research community.
About Editage
Founded in 2002, Editage (a division of Cactus Communications) is a fully integrated, global scholarly communications company with offices in Japan, South Korea, India, China, and the United States. Employing a global workforce of over 500, Editage has served 179,398 authors and has edited 690,240 papers across 1,200 disciplines to date. Editage aims to help scholars break through the confines of geography and language, bridge the gap between authors and peer-reviewed journals, and accelerate the process of publishing high-quality research. Apart from working with individual researchers, Editage partners with publishers, journals, academic societies, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to assist them in creating compelling, high-quality scientific publications. Editage is also dedicated to author education through its comprehensive author resources site Editage Insights. Please visit http://www.editage.co.kr to learn more.
Media contact:
Hridey Manghwani
Manager, Public Relations, Editage
Phone: +1(877)334-8243
Email: PR@cactusglobal.com
Related Links
http://www.editage.co.kr
SOURCE Cactus Communications
BOSTON and LONDON, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Emergn, a digital business consultancy and professional services firm, today announced the launch of their Online Course and work-based Certification in product management.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468352/Product_management_skills_Emergn.jpg )
Emergn's VFQ Product Management Pathway has been applied by some of the world's most iconic companies. The Pathway helps teach a group of learners all of the major concepts of how to research and design value propositions around the needs of customers and users. The approach then helps the learners build their product iteratively to validate assumptions, and ensure that it truly meets the needs of users and creates value. Following the success of their Enterprise Pathway, Emergn decided to make the experience, knowledge and teachings available to a broader market through an online learning platform.
The Economist recently went through this supported version of the course. Denise Law, Community Editor at The Economist said: "I learned a lot in only six weeks. I was particularly impressed with the activity-based nature of the course, which in my view is the best way to learn. I was able to quickly apply what I learned in my daily job and better understand how to work with product managers, developers and UX designers."
Alex Adamopoulos, Chief Executive Officer, Emergn, said, "Our customers told us that they want to have product managers who can do their job really well, and for their capability to be validated. Emergn needed a way to scale to meet a growing population of Product Managers, and that's why we built the work-based Certification and validation process. Bringing it online allows us to support our customers at scale."
The course was built under the Value, Flow, Quality (VFQ) brand of Emergn, and was developed for enterprises and individuals to learn and implement the skills required to be a successful product manager. VFQ has been used over the years to support large-scale Agile Transformations for Enterprises and uses a Learning by Doing approach to make things immediately practical. The Product Management Course also implements a work-based approach that means people get to learn with products and services they are currently working on.
Elliot Antrobus-Holder, Group Head of Digital Product for TUI said, "VFQ is an education program. Not just a training course. It drives cultural change whilst we learn."
Adamopoulos, continued, "The product manager is critical in getting new and improved products to market. They hold a deep understanding of the customer, the technology and the business, and are responsible for bringing innovations to life, and working closely with engineering and development teams."
About Emergn
Emergn's mission is to improve the way people work. Forever.
Emergn a digital business consultancy committed to helping organizations think new. Dream big. And most importantly, act different. Since technological disruption is changing business, Emergn help organizations evolve and adapt in a Bimodal world to not just compete in this next generation of business but decisively win.
Emergn is focused on empowering people to continuously deliver better products, services and customer experiences. We equip people with the skills needed to drive more enduring and effective change. Helping them establish new models, new ways of working, and new growth channels. Embedding the capabilities that enable businesses to perform at their peak. Time and time again.
Emergn is committed to their clients' change ambitions, supporting them with consulting, delivery and education services which inspire the confidence to transform from the inside out. From the board to the frontline, they work with people across all levels to manage uncertainty and accelerate organizational change. We share a total commitment to clients' change ambitions because they are passionate about the impact they can deliver together.
About VFQ
VFQ is a comprehensive work-based education and learning program. VFQ is researched from hundreds of books and articles from the fields of Agile, Lean, design thinking, systems thinking, management, product management, software, manufacturing and many other disciplines. It provides a condensed view and critique that considers the latest thinking and also traditional views on many topics.
Their philosophy is based on the idea that different people learn in different ways, and that the most impactful learning happens when people learn by doing. By understanding things and then applying those concepts directly in their own work. VFQ has been chosen by the British Computer Society (BCS) to underpin their Agile Practitioner Certification .
Press Enquiries:
Emily de Vale: emily.devale@emergn.com
UK/EMEA +44(0)808-189-2043
SOURCE Emergn
PARIS and MILAN, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Electro Power Systems S.A. ("EPS"), a technology pioneer in energy-storage systems and microgrids listed on the French-regulated market Euronext Paris (EPS:FP), announces the commissioning of the new system microgrid connected in Flinders Island, northeast of Tasmania, will start in Q1 2017.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468575/Electro_Power_Systems_Group_Logo.jpg )
EPS, in partnership with Toshiba, realized a hybrid storage system sired to Flinders Island's microgrid for Hydro Tasmania, Australia's largest producer of renewable energy. The utility is developing the "Flinders Island Hybrid Energy Hub" project that aims to increase the use of renewable energy on the island and dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels, which so far have been the only electrical energy source on the island.
The project, thanks to the EPS system, which combines renewables and energy storage, is intended to provide up to 65% of the island's annual energy demand, significantly reducing CO 2 emissions and the consumption of diesel fuel by more than 60%.
The microgrid has an installed capacity of 3MW that will provide, despite the critical weather conditions to which the island is exposed, stable renewable energy to approximately 900 people and it will be hybridized with 0.5 MWp of solar and 0.5 MWh of storage system manufactured by EPS, combined with 2.0 MVA of generators. The project does also contemplate the integration with wind energy.
With the assistance of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Tasmanian Government, the project was developed along the lines of the successful "King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project (KIREIP)", which covers 100% of King Island's power needs from renewable sources.
SOURCE Electro Power Systems (EPS)
TORONTO, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Fleet Complete enters Austrian market, advancing its European expansion
Fleet Complete, a leading global provider of fleet telematics and mobile workforce technology, is officially announcing its partnership with one of the most prominent European wireless service providers, T-Mobile Austria. Spearheading the IoT product and service innovation, this partnership brings a new portfolio of management solutions to the Austrian market, geared towards connecting businesses with their fleet vehicles, mobile assets and in-field workers.
With the new European headquarters in the Netherlands, the T-Mobile Fleet Complete product suite provides business owners and fleet managers the ability to improve productivity, reduce operating costs, make more efficient scheduling and dispatching decisions, and improve the bottom line. "It leverages the combined strength of the two world-class IoT service platforms, dedicated to outstanding customer experience," says Sjors de Kruijf, VP Sales & Marketing for Fleet Complete Europe. "We understand our customers' needs and challenges that are specific to the Dutch, Belgian and Austrian markets, and made sure to partner with the best mobile carrier for the region."
"Our goal is to help our customers become even more successful in their business," said Maria Zesch, CCO T-Mobile Austria. "With T-Mobile Fleet Complete we offer an integrated end-to-end platform that is as flexible as our customers' needs. Supported by the network and infrastructure of T-Mobile Austria, this is something that will add great value to our clients, while enabling them to provide better services to their own customer base."
Fleet Complete is among the market leaders in North America, servicing more than 8,000 companies worldwide and positioning itself squarely in the industry by forging exclusive partnerships with large telecom giants like Telus in Canada, AT&T in the U.S. and Telstra in Australia. Partnering with T-Mobile Austria brings Fleet Complete clients the reliability of a large mobile carrier with a secure national network and multiple points of distribution, which pair well with Fleet Complete's portfolio of industry leading solutions and personalized customer support.
"We are very excited to have T-Mobile as our new business partner in Europe," said Tony Lourakis, CEO of Fleet Complete. "Both of our companies have similar cultures of pursuing the best-in-class customer experience, while helping our clients succeed in their endeavours. I'm convinced this partnership will deliver that benefit to businesses in Austria."
About Fleet Complete [ ]
Based in Toronto, Fleet Complete is a global IoT provider of mission critical fleet, asset and mobile workforce management solutions. For over sixteen years, Fleet Complete has been providing dispatching, fleet tracking and mobile resource management solutions to more than 8,000 businesses worldwide. The company maintains key distribution partnerships with AT&T in the U.S., TELUS in Canada, Telstra in Australia and T-Mobile in Europe, remaining one of the fastest-growing companies in North America that has won numerous awards for innovation and growth since its inception in 2000 (as Complete Innovations Inc.). For more information, please visit fleetcomplete.com
About T-Mobile Austria
T-Mobile Austria is the second largest mobile telecommunications provider in Austria with 4.3 million customers and approx. 1,300 employees. The brands T-Mobile and tele.ring address various target groups - starting from smartphone consumers to sole proprietorships and even large enterprises.
As a part of the Deutsche Telekom group T-Mobile benefits from the innovative capacity and the financial stability of the group, one of the biggest global player in the telecommunications market. In the fiscal year 2015, the group reported a turnover of 69.2 billion Euros. T-Mobile Austria serves amongst other functions as machine-to-machine communication (M2M) expert for the Deutsche Telekom group. For its business customers T-Mobile offers a wide range of cloud based solutions.
David Prusinski, EVP, Sales and Marketing, Fleet Complete, david.prusinski@fleetcomplete.com, marketing@fleetcomplete.com; Sjors de Kruijf, VP, Sales and Marketing, Fleet Complete Europe, sjors.dekruijf@fleetcomplete.com; T-Mobile Austria GmbH, Lev Ratner, PR Manager Products, lev.ratner@t-mobile.at
SOURCE Fleet Complete
LONDON, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The current gin revival in markets like the UK and Spain conceals a complex and fragmented global picture where overall consumption is still falling, according to the Global Gin Insights joint report from just-drinks and the IWSR featuring the latest full-year data available.
Although sales rose 2.5% to about 52m cases in 2015, global gin consumption is likely to fall over the 2016-21 period, the report says, thanks to continued volume declines in three key markets: the Philippines, the US and India.
However, these markets are mainly focused on the lower price levels, and their losses will be largely offset by gains of more than 1m cases for premium and super-premium gins over the same timescale.
And even in the US, where sales are likely to dip below 9m cases by 2021, consumption falls will disproportionately impact standard and value gins, giving hope to those further up the value chain.
Meanwhile, the category is on fire in Spain, the UK and a number of smaller markets. Spain is predicted to break through the 5m-case barrier by 2021, while the UK will counteract essentially static volumes with sizeable value gains.
The list of smaller but highly promising markets includes travel retail, Germany, France, Portugal and Turkey, while there are also likely to be value gains in Japan, Italy, Canada and South Africa.
"Gin's current boom can be attributed to a number of factors: generational shifts in consumption habits, a new-found quest for 'authenticity', plus a revolution in the way that the spirit - and the gin and tonic especially - is presented," the report notes.
"Gin provides a counterpoint to vodka as growth for the latter slows, displaying an authentic image not enjoyed by most flavoured vodkas, and a distinctive character and flavour lacking in most mainstream vodka brands."
However, the report warns that the "mind-boggling" number of new gin brands launched over the past decade will lead to an inevitable shake-out, with only the strong surviving in an immensely crowded market.
"In order to survive and thrive, new gin brands will have to have one or more of the following: sizeable funds to invest; distinctive branding or flavour profile; a strong local following," the report says.
Global Gin Insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends, published in September 2016, can be purchased via the just-drinks research store.
About just-drinks.com
just-drinks.com is the online news, insight and research portal for the global drinks industry. Our editorial team includes contributors from around the world, while our commentators comprise experts in their respective fields of beer, bottled water, soft drinks, spirits (both brown and white) and wine. Under the direction of managing editor Olly Wehring, we offer an impartial voice and are driven by our passion for the drinks industry.
About The IWSR
The IWSR is the leading source of data and analysis on the alcoholic beverage market. The IWSR's database, essential to the industry, quantifies the global market of wine, spirits, beer and RTDs by volume and value, and provides insight into short- and long-term trends. IWSR statistics are used by all of the largest multinational wine and spirits companies, as well as many more local companies. The IWSR's unique methodology allows them to get closer to what is actually consumed and better understand how markets work. The IWSR conducts face-to- face interviews with 1,500 companies in 118 countries each year, with further input from 350 companies. The IWSR tracks overall consumption and trends at brand, quality and category level.
For further information and images please contact James Lawley, Public Relations at Aroq Limited on +44(0)1527-573-606, email james.lawley@aroq.com
SOURCE just-drinks and The IWSR
LONDON and TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
iTrinegy, market leaders in mitigating risk associated with application performance over networks, announced today it has reached a Value Added Reseller agreement with Taiwan's WeiTech Communication for its networked application risk management (virtual test network and network profiling) solutions. The agreement is effective immediately and covers WeiTech's Taiwan service territory.
All application deployments carry significant potential risk. The consequences of failure can include: High Remediation Costs, Loss of Revenue, Brand Reputation and even Injury or Death for military and blue light services. Therefore, it is imperative that organizations effectively predict and manage the risks associated with application performance over networks.
"We see WeiTech, with their strong track record with IT network solutions and related services, as the perfect trusted partner to deliver our AppRM solutions to prospects and customers in the region," said Graham Wood, Director of iTrinegy. "We're looking forward to working with them."
Under terms of the agreement, WeiTech will be iTrinegy's official representative for customers in Taiwan. The New Taipei City based company will be charged with promoting iTrinegy's AppRM solutions into the territory.
WeiTech has been operating in Taiwan for over seven years and is well known by Taiwan's telecommunications and IT industry professionals. WeiTech represents a number of complementary software companies and also delivers value-added services directly to its customers.
"We're pleased to be working with the recognized leader of network emulation for application testing and see great opportunities for these products in Taiwan," added Daniel Tseng, vice president of sales and Marketing at WeiTech.
Visitors to the forthcoming Smart City Expo, Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei (21st to 24th February, 2017) will be able to see the iTrinegy product range on the WeiTech stand (# K203).
About iTrinegy
iTrinegy is a world leader in Networked Application Risk Management and is trusted by governments, military organizations and enterprises across the globe including Alcatel, Aviva, BT, Boeing, Cisco, Fidelity Worldwide Investments, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, National Australia Bank, Raytheon, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce and Starbucks. Our unrivalled pedigree in safeguarding networked application performance ensures business-critical services are successfully delivered over all types of networks. www.itrinegy.com
About WeiTech Communication
WeiTech is one of Taiwan's leading telecommunication solution providers. With the constant evolution of cellular, IT, media convergence, wireless broadband, cloud computing and IoT technologies, WeiTech has taken a leadership role in providing its customers with the world's leading solutions, together with comprehensive professional integration and technical services. WeiTech's focus is on long-term partnerships with its customers which are built through trust, strong market awareness, and adding real value to its partners' solutions. www.weitech.com.tw
Contact:
Phil Bull
Marketing Manager, iTrinegy
+44-1799-252-200
+44(0)7909-990617
phil.bull@itrinegy.com
Daniel Tseng
Vice President of Sales & Marketing, WeiTech
+886-922-441968
daniel.tseng@weitech.com.tw
SOURCE iTrinegy and WeiTech Communication
BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
"Made in Azerbaijan" products will be showcased at "Gulfood 2017" by the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/467903/Made_in_Azerbaijan.jpg )
As first time participants at the region's leading food exhibition, "Gulfood 2017", taking place from 26 February to 2 March 2017, companies of Azerbaijan welcome guests with a warm gesture of hospitality in the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Guests will enjoy a range of traditional Azerbaijani specialties and delicacies such as fruits, tea, honey, confectionaries and other products produced in Azerbaijan at our stand.
Please visit "Made in Azerbaijan" stand in Hall 9.
For more information, please visit: http://www.azpromo.az
About AZPROMO
Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) is a joint public-private-initiative established by the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan in 2003 with the aim to contribute to the economic development through attracting foreign investments in the non-oil sectors of the economy and stimulating expansion of the country's exports of non-oil goods to overseas markets.
AZPROMO is a unique body in Azerbaijan that operates as a "one-stop-shop" for assisting and advising foreign-based companies interested in investigating and utilizing investment opportunities in Azerbaijan.
AZPROMO is a devoted partner for companies established in Azerbaijan looking to enter foreign markets. Our knowledge of foreign markets and applicable trade regulations along with a wide network of foreign representations and partners offer great opportunities for companies to expand their export capacities.
Media Contact:
Sevda Jafarova
Phone Number: +00994125980147
Email: pr@azpromo.az
SOURCE Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO)
Deal Strengthens Capabilities in Fast-Growing IT Market
MADRID, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), global leader in innovative workforce solutions, today announced signing a purchase agreement with Ciber, Inc. (NYSE: CBR), a leading global information technology consulting, services and outsourcing company, to acquire its business in Spain.
The acquisition further strengthens ManpowerGroup Spain's capacity to deliver best-in-class IT staffing solutions, and complements the organic growth of its Experis brand, the professional resourcing and project-based workforce solutions arm of the company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of February, when Ciber's business and employees will transfer to ManpowerGroup.
The deal builds on ManpowerGroup's already well-established business in Spain. Started in 1988, ManpowerGroup Spain today offers diversified workforce solutions across five brands Manpower, Experis, ManpowerGroup Solutions, Futurskill and Right Management. With 120 locations and more than 600 employees, ManpowerGroup Spain helps over 69,000 individuals find work every year, offering clients a broad range of staffing, development and workforce management solutions.
"As our clients continue to invest in and upgrade their technology platforms, this acquisition will help us meet the fast-growing demand for IT support and provide the solutions they need," said Raul Grijalba, Executive President, ManpowerGroup Spain. "Ciber Spain's deep industry knowledge and expertise are a natural fit within the ManpowerGroup family, and will help us continue to shift our business mix towards higher-value services for both clients and candidates."
"The sale of Ciber Spain reflects continued execution against our plans to simplify our geographic footprint and focus our portfolio of offerings," said Ciber President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Boustridge. "As a strategic buyer with local operations, we believe Manpower/Experis will provide a seamless transition and great continuity and service for our Spanish customers and employees."
About ManpowerGroup
ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) is the world's workforce expert, creating innovative workforce solutions for nearly 70 years. As workforce experts, we connect more than 600,000 people to meaningful work across a wide range of skills and industries every day. Through our ManpowerGroup family of brands Manpower, Experis, Right Management and ManpowerGroup Solutions we help more than 400,000 clients in 80 countries and territories address their critical talent needs, providing comprehensive solutions to resource, manage and develop talent. In 2016, ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the sixth consecutive year and one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup makes powering the world of work humanly possible: www.manpowergroup.com.
About Ciber, Inc.
Ciber partners with organizations to develop technology strategies and solutions that deliver tangible business value. Founded in 1974, the company trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CBR). For more information, visit www.ciber.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Plus and our blog .
ManpowerGroup Inc.'s Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements related to ManpowerGroup, and the potential benefits of the acquisition, including statements regarding timing of closing and results of the proposed transaction. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements due to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: ManpowerGroup's ability to successfully integrate Ciber Spain; execution of plans and strategies; the inability to successfully complete the transaction, and other important factors that could cause results of the acquisition and related transactions to differ materially from the forward-looking statements detailed in ManpowerGroup's public filings with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. ManpowerGroup disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements in this release, except as required by law.
Ciber, Inc.'s Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to Ciber's operations, results of operations and other matters that are based on Ciber's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. Words, such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "may," "opportunity," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "should," and "will" and similar expressions, are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. For a more detailed discussion of these risks, see the information under the "Risk Factors" heading in Ciber's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, and Ciber's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2016, and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other than as required by law, Ciber undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110330/CG73938LOGO-a
Related Links
http://www.manpowergroup.com
SOURCE ManpowerGroup; Ciber, Inc.
MEGGEN, Switzerland, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MDM GROUP AG's IPO will now take place in the second quarter of 2017 and not at the end of the year. The company aims to generate fresh capital by going public, which will allow it to invest additional funds in merchandise trading. Private investors will also be able to easily benefit from the company's business model.
High revenues are generated in the retail sector in Germany every year.
Gross profit margins are particularly interesting for investors.They often take profits on an average of 30 percent. MDM GROUP AG operates in this market segment. Specifically, the group mostly trades in textiles, remainders, specialty items, and merchandise from insolvency proceedings. MDM GROUP AG has already achieved high profits in this segment.
In the international retail segment, the company's revenues have grown by around 400 percent just in the last two years. The company can already achieve profits by making favourable purchases. The merchandises, such as textiles, remainders, specialty items, and goods from insolvency proceedings from many top manufacturers are bought in at very favourable conditions.
Due to the high purchasing volumes savings of up to 90 percent compared to the regular wholesale price are customary. In addition to low purchase prices for goods, in 2017 the company is also planning to purchase two top textile brands which will extend its product offerings even further and will also allow the group to influence market-prices directly.
Thanks to its unique distribution network, the company is able to resell the purchased goods in a short period of time. In this regard, the group works together with a large number of online distribution partners and can thus always select the most efficient marketing channel for the products.
This allows the company not only to realize a quick turn over of goods, but also to realize a maximum amount of sales revenues. The MDM GROUP purchases and sells goods every month, thus turning over the invested amounts several times.
Profits can be realized with every transaction. The company does not receive investments from bank loans, but via subordinated loans. Private investors can lend money to the company and receive interests in return. The interests are fixed and agreed in advance and currently total nine percent according to the company's information. Interests up to 20 percent are even possible for special programs.
Contact:
MDM Group AG
Frau Ozlem Utanc
Rutliweg 3
6045 Meggen
Schweiz
ozlem@mdmgroup.ch
www.mdmgroup.ch
SOURCE MDM Group AG
ALBANY, New York, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Military personal protective equipment is an important part of military gear that is used for protecting troops. It includes protective body armor, garment ensembles, footwear covers, gloves, and helmets among others items. Military personal protective equipment is specifically designed to protect military personnel from chemical and biological hazards during a combat situation.
According to the research report, the global military personal protective equipment market was valued at US$11.23 bn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$19.09 bn by the end of 2024. The market is projected to progress at a CAGR of 6.1% between 2016 and 2024.
Body Armor Segment Emerges as Leading Product in Global Market
The types of products available in the global market are body armor (IBA), advanced combat helmet (ACH), improved outer tactical vest (IOTV), pelvic protection systems (PPS), life safety jackets, military combat eye protection (MCEP), and others. Out of all the products, the body armor product segment is expected to make a significant contribution to the global market. The segment is slated to acquire a share of 33.1% by the end of 2024.
For more information, get a PDF Sample at http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19655
In terms of geography, the global market is fragmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Saudi Arabia, and Latin America. The report indicates that North America is likely to dominate the global market with Asia Pacific following closely. The North America military personal protective equipment market is estimated to acquire a share of 24.4% by the end of 2024.
Persistent Conflicts Keep Demand of Military Personal Protective Equipment High
The highly volatile situation amongst countries in the Middle East, India, and Iraq is the key growth driver for the global military personal protective equipment market. The increasing role of ground troops in combat has augmented the demand for military personal protective equipment in the recent past. The ongoing wars and conflicts have been boosting the uptake of this equipment to ensure safety of the troops. The report states that wars in Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Iraq have collectively kept the demand for protective gear at an all-time high through the past decade.
The report also highlights the fact that the growing need for advanced equipment to ensure the safety of troops has also benefited the global market. Furthermore, growing number of government initiatives to increasing expenditure on advanced equipment through several are also expected to drive the global market. Fast pace of developments in countries such as Pakistan, India, and Brazil are also expected to fuel the growth of this market. The increasing tensions between countries such as India and Pakistan among others is another factor propelling the uptake of military personal protective equipment.
Browse Press Release: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/military-personal-protective-equipment-market.htm
Cuts to Defense Budgets to Hamper Growth
The only drawback for the global military personal protective equipment market is the defense budget cuts made by developed countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. Countries such as Germany and Canada along with the U.S. and the U.K. are likely to make major changes to defense budgets. Furthermore, their strict arms allocation policies are also expected to cast a negative spell on the global market.
The top three leading players in the global military personal protective equipment market held a share of 52.2% in the overall market in 2015. These players are determined to bring in product innovation to rise above the stiff competition in the global market. Furthermore, several companies are also emphasizing on achieving technological advancements to cater to the demands of clients.
This review is based on Transparency Market Research's report, titled "Military Personal Protective Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024"
The segments covered in the Military Personal Protective Equipment market are as follows:
Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Product Type
Body Armor (IBA)
Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV)
Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH)
Pelvic Protection Systems (PPS)
Life Safety Jackets
Military Combat Eye Protection (MCEP)
Others
Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Application
Army
Air Force
Navy
Others
Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Geography
North America
U.S.
Canada
Mexico
Europe
U.K.
Germany
France
Italy
Rest of Europe
Asia Pacific
India
China
Japan
Rest of Asia Pacific
Latin America
Brazil
Rest of Latin America
Middle East and Africa
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Rest of Middle East and Africa
Recent Research Reports by TMR:
Advanced Combat Helmet Market:
http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/advanced-combat-helmet-market.html
Sports Gun Market:
http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sports-gun-market.html
About Us
Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.
Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.
US Office Contact
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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
-- Anti-emetic products covered under expanded agreements include ALOXI and AKYNZEO
-- Both are prophylactic agents for the treatment of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting
-- Exclusive agreements cover marketing, sales and distribution
SINGAPORE, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mundipharma and Helsinn Group have expanded their collaboration, signing amendments to licensing and distribution agreements for anti-emetic prophylactic agents ALOXI and AKYNZEO to cover a host of additional markets.
Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is one of the most common side effects of cancer chemotherapy. The prevention of CINV has been refined in the major international antiemetic guidelines over the past several decades and the combination of antiemetic agents with different mechanisms of actions are now recommended for the prevention of CINV.
ALOXI (palonosetron) is a 5-HT 3 receptor antagonist indicated as single agent for the prevention of CINV.1 AKYNZEO is the first fixed combination oral agent targeting two critical signalling pathways associated with CINV by combining palonosetron with netupitant, the new highly selective NK 1 receptor antagonist, in a single capsule2.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Mundipharma has acquired all the rights for marketing, promotion, distribution and sales of ALOXI and AKYNZEO for an additional 30 countries in Africa as well as Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia.
Additionally, Mundipharma has also secured the rights for AKYNZEO for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The expanded partnership continues the strengthening of Mundipharma's oncology portfolio and its anti-emetic treatment offering, building on exclusive licensing and distribution agreements for Helsinn's anti-emetic franchise in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.
Raman Singh, President, Mundipharma Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa said: "This is an important extension of our oncology portfolio, offering relief to patients suffering the side effects of chemotherapy and represents further progress of our efforts to address unmet patient needs in emerging healthcare markets."
Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn Group Vice Chairman and CEO, commented: "Helsinn and Mundipharma have an effective, longstanding partnership and Mundipharma successfully markets, promotes and distributes a number of our products across a range of territories. We're delighted to be able to extend this relationship through this comprehensive agreement which will bring these two key anti-emetic products to more patients in these fast-growing territories."
Helsinn Group will retain all international development responsibility, as well as clinical development activities. The company will continue to manufacture and supply ALOXI and AKYNZEO for commercial use.
: ALOXI, AKYNZEO are Registered Trademarks.
About ALOXI (palonosetron hydrochloride)
ALOXI (palonosetron hydrochloride) is a second generation 5-HT3 Receptor Antagonist, developed for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients with cancer, with a long half-life of 40 hours. ALOXI has been developed by the Helsinn Group in Switzerland and today it is marketed as Aloxi, Onicit and Paloxi in more than 50 countries worldwide.
ALOXI i.v. is approved (e.g. in EU) in adults for the:
Prevention of acute nausea and vomiting associated with highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy
Prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy
For more information about ALOXI, please visit the website: www.aloxi.com
About AKYNZEO (netupitant/palonosetron)
AKYNZEO is an oral, fixed combination of an NK 1 receptor antagonist, netupitant, and the pharmacologically and clinically different 5-HT 3 receptor antagonist, palonosetron, in a single capsule, that targets at the same time two critical signalling pathways associated with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV).2
AKYNZEO is indicated (e.g. in EU) in adults for the:
Prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with highly emetogenic cisplatinbased cancer chemotherapy.
Prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.
About the Helsinn Group
Helsinn is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with an extensive portfolio of marketed cancer care products and a broad development pipeline. Since 1976, Helsinn has been improving the everyday lives of patients, guided by core family values of respect, integrity and quality. The Group works across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and nutritional supplements and has expertise in research, development, manufacture and the commercialization of therapeutic and supportive care products for cancer, pain and inflammation and gastroenterology. In 2016, Helsinn created the Helsinn Investment Fund to support early-stage investment opportunities in areas of unmet patient need. The company is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, with operating subsidiaries in Ireland and the US, a representative office in China as well as a product presence in about 90 countries globally.
For more information, please visit www.helsinn.com
About Mundipharma
Mundipharma's independent associated companies are privately owned entities covering the world's pharmaceutical markets. Mundipharma is a prime example of a company that consistently delivers high quality products while standing by the values that represent the company. Our mission is to alleviate the suffering of patients and to substantially improve their quality of life. Mundipharma is dedicated to bringing to patients with severe and debilitating diseases the benefit of novel treatment options in fields such as pain, oncology, oncology supportive care, ophthalmology, respiratory disease and consumer healthcare.
For more information please visit: www.mundipharma.com.sg
References
1. ALOXI Approved Product Information available at: http://www.hsa.gov.sg/content/hsa/en/Health_Products_Regulation/Western_Medicines/New_Drug_Approvals/2015/May.html#Aloxi
2. AKYNZEO Approved Product Information available at: http://www.hsa.gov.sg/content/hsa/en/Health_Products_Regulation/Western_Medicines/New_Drug_Approvals/2016/June.html#Akynzeo
Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150302/8521501264LOGO
Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170215/8521700842LOGO
Related Links
http://www.mundipharma.com.sg
SOURCE Mundipharma
AMSTERDAM, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
myTomorrows announces that Ashley Vinson, former Head of Brand Strategy at Twitter, joins the company as Chief Marketing Officer. Robert-Jan Sips, who previously led IBM's European Centers for Advanced Studies, has been appointed Chief Technology Officer. Supporting the company's marketplace vision, Ashley and Robert-Jan will lead the expansion of myTomorrows' ongoing mission to connect physicians and their patients to manufacturers of promising drugs.
Ashley Vinson said: "During my three years at Twitter, I developed a passion for working with technology in its most noble role: to empower people to do and achieve things they otherwise would not be able to. myTomorrows provides a platform and infrastructure that gives physicians and patients access to information, tools, and options traditionally unavailable to the common patient. I am excited to be part of a team and company whose mission is to innovate and improve a critical area for society."
Robert-Jan Sips said: "I strongly believe in a world where technology's impact should make the lives of all people better. myTomorrows gives me the opportunity to combine both technology and the ability to improve lives by creating an intelligent platform which empowers physicians and patients to understand and gain access to potential treatment options, when all regular means are exhausted. I feel honored to be part of this mission."
Robert Kraal COO commented: "As myTomorrows continues to rapidly expand the product and country matrix across continents, we are investing in top talent to continue to help us improve how access to investigational drugs works today. Ashley and Robert-Jan are strong additions to our already tech-savvy team; their experience in innovative fields - from effective social communication to artificial intelligence will greatly contribute to our efforts to help physicians and their patients."
In January 2017, myTomorrows announced a 10 million growth funding round to drive global expansion, invest in talent, and extend collaborations with drug manufacturers.
About myTomorrows
myTomorrows provides tools for physicians and their patients to navigate global early access programs, including 300,000+ clinical trials. Facilitating access to a growing number of investigational drugs, myTomorrows streamlines local approval and creates transparency about cost-related issues in the country of treatment.
http://www.mytomorrows.com/
SOURCE myTomorrows
NEW DELHI, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The Finance Act 2015 had proposed to amend the test of residence for foreign companies to provide that a company would be treated as resident in India if its place of effective management in the previous year is in India. Earlier, section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) referred that, a company is considered to be an Indian resident company, only if it is incorporated in India or the control and management of its affairs is situated wholly in India.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468430/PoEM_Tax_India_Infographic.jpg )
As per the amendment, a company shall be considered an Indian resident company if:
- It is incorporated in India; or
- Place of effective management, in that year, is in India.
"Place of effective management" has been defined to mean a place where key management and commercial decisions that are necessary for the conduct of the business of an entity as a whole are, in substance, made. In the recent budget 2017 announced on February 01, 2017, Government said it aims to target the shell companies that are created to evade taxes through the place of effective management (POEM) rules, but excluded firms with an annual turnover of less than Rs 500 million from its purview. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) made public the long-pending "guiding principles" to determine place of effective management of a company, which have been effective April 1, 2016.
The PoEM rules with an aim to assess the tax liability was to come into effect in the current fiscal. The final guidelines have now been issued. The main objective of introducing PoEM, was to ensure that the companies incorporated outside India, but controlled and managed from India do not escape taxation in India. It also brings in the concept of residency of corporates in line with internationally-accepted principles said Neeraj Bhagat, founder of Neeraj Bhagat & Co, an Indian Chartered Accountancy firm serving various MNC'S from across the globe .
"The final guidelines on POEM contain some unique features. Active Business Outside India (ABOI) test has been provided so as not to cover companies outside India which are engaged in active business," CBDT said in a statement. The guidelines prescribed to determine PoEM of a non-resident is indeed welcome as it ushers in certainty for foreign investors in terms of applicability and the procedure to be followed by the revenue authorities. The final guidelines address some of the issues highlighted by the stakeholders, such as determination of PoEM in case of back-office/support services, existence of PE, meaning of certain terms, methods used in the active/passive business tests, shareholders activity, etc.
Tax payers likely to be affected by PoEM
Foreign companies having Indian branches
Foreign subsidiaries of Indian parents
Foreign company having global reporting structure with an India connection
connection Regional headquarters
Activities likely to trigger PoEM
Board meeting in India
Decisions taken by a Director, Executive Committee, Key Management Personnel in India Delegation of authority from India
Delegation of authority from Regional roles e.g. Group CEOs / CFOs sitting in India and approving decisions for foreign affiliates
and approving decisions for foreign affiliates Functions carried on in India e.g. Global Procurement Cell of foreign companies
Draft PoEM guidelines:
The place of effective management of a company conducting active business outside India shall be considered to be outside if majority of board of directors meetings of the company are held outside India or it its assets, employees, income, and employee expenses are from outside India. For a company whose directors are not involved in decision making and such decision making powers are exercised by a holding company or a person resident of India, then the company is considered as a resident under the place of effective management rules.
For determining whether a company is active outside India , the average of past 3 years data are taken into consideration.
, the average of past 3 years data are taken into consideration. In case if a company's board delegates its powers to a committee, then the location where the members of the committee formulating the key decisions is considered as the place of effective management of the company.
In case of use of technology such as telephone or video conferencing by the board members in conducting meetings, the location of head-office is considered as place of effective management. It is not necessary for the person taking decisions to be physically present at a particular location.
Further, Support function is an important part of the business, but is not the decisive part of the conduct of business and hence presence of support function in India shall not tantamount to effective management in India. Also, the concept of separate legal entity shall prevail and the corporate veil shall not be lifted.
A permanent establishment (PE) of a foreign company is a separate legal entity and shall not be considered as place of effective management of the foreign company in India.
It is imperative to note that having a PE in India is vastly different from having PoEM in India, since having a PE shall mean the income related to the PE is taxable in India; however having PoEM in India means that the worldwide income of the foreign company is taxable in India.
However, overseas-incorporated entities held to have PoEM in India would face some of the following challenges:
Tax rate to be applied on computed income
Applicability of minimum alternate tax (MAT) provisions, given foreign companies are outside the ambit of MAT (in the absence of Permanent Establishment in India )
) Applicability of Dividend Distribution Tax on payments made by such companies to overseas group entities
Set-off of claims for foreign taxes paid by such companies
Applicability of transfer pricing provisions versus specified domestic transactions
Consequential withholding tax implications
About the author:
Neeraj Bhagat is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) since 1997. He is also an Associate member of Association of International Accountants, United Kingdom. He is founder of Neeraj Bhagat & Co, an Indian Chartered Accountancy firm serving various MNC'S from across the globe. Neeraj Bhagat & Co. has its offices at New Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai. They are part of Allinial Global Accounting Association which is one of the World's Top 10 in accounting associations.
For more information please log on to: http://www.neerajbhagat.com or email neeraj@neerajbhagat.com
SOURCE Neeraj Bhagat & Co
DUBLIN, Feb 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Research Report on China's Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Industry, 2017-2021" report to their offering.
The PVC market experienced rebound for three months from March to May in 2015. Up to the middle May, the average price of East China SG-5 rebounded to 5,920 CNY/ton increasing by 970 CNY/ton compared to the early 2015 due to the demand recovery, high prices of calcium carbide as major raw materials and declining supply of centralized maintenance of PVC enterprises. With the slump economic situation, demand and declining crude oil prices, PVC prices presented a trend of sharp decline from the middle May up to the end of 2015, breaking the record as the lowest for many consecutive years by average price.
The PVC industry is growing in the global position from the original pure importer to net exporter. Particularly, China implemented anti-dumping towards imported PVC from 2003, and calcium carbide method PVC developed rapidly. By the end of 2006, China became the world's leading manufacturer of PVC surpassing the U.S.A. in terms of the production capacity and output volume. In recent years, the overall export volume of PVC experienced a steady rise in China. PVC transferred from a net import volume of 1 million tons in 2010 to a net export volume of 500,000 tons in 2015.
With the improvement in economy and urbanization, the demand for PVC is expected to rise continuously from 2017 to 2021 in China.
Through this report, readers can acquire the following information:
- Development Environment of PVC Industry in China
- Supply and Demand in China PVC Manufacturing Industry
- Import and Export of PVC in China
- Operation Status of Major PVC Manufacturers in China
- Market Competition of China PVC Industry
- Major Driving Forces and Market Opportunities in China PVC Industry
- Analysis on Price Trend of PVC in China
- Risks and Challenges Faced by China PVC Industry
- Forecast on Development of PVC Industry in China
Companies Mentioned
- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Qilu Branch)
- Haohua Yuhang Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Henan Shenma Chlorine Alkali Development Co., Ltd.
- Inner Mongolia Elion Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
- Shaanxi Beiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Shandong Xinfa Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Tianjin Dagu Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Xinjiang Tianye Co., Ltd.
- Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co., Ltd.
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/p496vm/research_report
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
SOURCE Research and Markets
BASEL, Switzerland, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Strekin AG, a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today the presentation of new preclinical data and an update on Strekin's Phase 2 clinical development program for STR001 in the treatment of hearing loss at the Association for Research in Otolaryngology Conference (ARO), Baltimore, USA.
STR001-201 is a Phase 2 clinical trial of STR001 intratympanic injection for the treatment of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) caused by Cochlear Implantation (CI) surgery. An undesired outcome of CI is the loss of residual low-frequency hearing due to electrode insertion. STR001-201 is an international, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy, safety and tolerability of STR001-IT in 110 patients undergoing CI. As of 10 Feb 2017, the STR001-201 trial has enrolled 50 patients in four countries. STR001-IT treatment has been very well tolerated with no adverse events of concern identified. Top-line clinical trial results are expected in the 4th quarter of 2017.
In a poster presentation (#PS792) entitled "Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor -gamma and -alpha agonists protect auditory hair cells from gentamicin-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis", researchers observed that the PPAR agonist pioglitazone, the active ingredient in STR001, was highly effective in preventing damage to sensory hair cells of the inner ear. The research was led by Daniel Bodmer, MD, PhD, and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland.
Dr. Bodmer's analysis was performed in a model in hearing research in which the organ of Corti, the structure containing auditory hair and sensory cells, was studied in tissue culture. Treatment of cultures with gentamicin, an antibiotic that leads to hearing loss in humans, caused loss of hair cells which was almost completely prevented by STR001. Further analysis showed that gentamicin induced oxygen free radicals, promoted lipid oxidation, and activated the cell death pathway (apoptosis) in hair cells, all of which were prevented by STR001.
In a second presentation (PS159) entitled "Intra-tympanic Administration of Pioglitazone, a Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Agonist, Protects from Noise-Induced Hearing Loss" Dr. Anna-Rita Fetoni and her colleagues from the Catholic University of Rome, showed that a single intratympanic injection of STR001-IT was highly effective in a rodent model of noise-induced hearing loss. STR001 promted complete recovery of hearing when given shortly afer noise. Recovery was accompanied by a strong reduction in markers of oxidative stress in auditory hair cells. Delayed STR001 treatment to 48h after noise promoted partial recovery, which has not, to our knowledge, been shown for other drugs.
These data, together with the data from Dr. Bodmer's group, suggest that STR001 has the potential to be a new and differentiated therapy for many types of hearing loss through favorable effects on multiple pathways.
About Strekin
Strekin is a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in Basel, Switzerland. Strekin is led by an experienced team in research and clinical development. Strekin has secured funding to complete the Phase 2 study of STR001 and to pursue further development with the support of investors and partners.
About Hearing Loss
According to the World Health Organization, 642 million people around the world including 181 million children suffer from disabling hearing loss. Daily activities that most people take for granted, like having a conversation, enjoying music, and advancing in the workplace, are difficult or impossible for individuals suffering from hearing loss. With no approved pharmaceutical therapies available today, there is urgency to develop effective treatments.
Alexander Bausch
CEO, Strekin AG
Email: Alexander.Bausch@strekin.com
Tel: +41-6163-32971
SOURCE Strekin AG
NORWICH, England, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
SmokShop.com are one of the largest retailers of electronic cigarettes in the UK and recently carried out a survey to determine what the average 'vaper' looks like. A number of questions were asked and the results were surprising.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468429/SmokShop_Logo.jpg )
If you look at the marketing for most vape companies you will notice that the target audience is mainly male, and somewhere between the mid-20s and early 30s. The emphasis seems to be on hip, urban street culture and most images are of men represented by the younger generation.
So, the data collected by SmokShop from a random group of 500 customers was expected to back this up. But as it turns out the average vaper isn't what you would expect.
This is the first time SmokShop have conducted a survey like this and the results have opened up some interesting discussion on marketing and advertising strategies.
THE SURVEY
The survey aimed to highlight what the typical vaper looks like, and took into account, age, sex, and reasons for vaping. The data below highlights the results:
Vapers under 30: 15.5%
Vapers over 40: 66.6%
Vapers over 50: 39.3%
Vapers over 60: 15.7%
Vapers over 70: 1.6%
Vapers that have quit smoking altogether since vaping: 83.5%
Vapers that want to quit vaping: 13.2%
Male vapers: 76%
Female vapers: 24%
WHAT DO THE RESULTS SHOW?
The most surprising statistic is the fact that over 66% of vapers in the survey are over 40, with nearly 40% over 50 and a mere 15.5% being under 30.
This means the typical vaper doesn't look like the public image at all. Granted, some vape shops may be hang outs for the stereotypical vaper, but the majority of vapers seem to be ex-smokers from the older generation ordering e cigarettes online, and using vaping as a substitute for smoking.
The debate continues about the safety of e cigarettes, but a study carried out in 2015 by the NHS found that e cigarettes are 95% safer than tobacco. So, the fact that the older generation are switching to e cigarettes can only benefit the NHS in years to come, as theoretically, there should be less smoking related illnesses.
With all the negative reports about e cigarettes, this new finding can be seen as a positive which will hopefully benefit the future of our nation's health and economy.
Media Contact:
Steve Ceaton,
Email: steve@bamboonine.co.uk
Tel: +44-1273-022-798
Address: 51 Upper North Street, Brighton, BN1 3FH
SOURCE SmokShop.com
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
2016 - a record year for the tyre industry in Europe
According to ETRMA, last year turned out to be lucky for the tyre industry. Sales of tyres for passenger cars, SUVs and light commercial vehicles increased by an average of 2%, confirming an upward trend from 2015. Despite the weaker second half of the year, sales of tires for motorcycles and scooters has increased by 4% at the end of the 2016, compared to 2015.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468052/Oponeo_Logo.jpg )
Apparently, an increase in the number of newly registered cars, which was up 6.8%, highly influenced the sales performance. ETRMA's report indicates that the increase in sales of tyres for passenger cars was reported in the UK, Poland and the Czech Republic. In Spain and Italy, sales remained at the same level.
On the main strategic foreign markets for OPONEO sales increased or remained at the same level, which certainly is a signal for further expansion.
- The upward trend influenced the entire automotive industry. This is confirmed by the record high sales in the history of OPONEO.PL S.A. of over 2 million tires in 2016 - informs Monika Siarkowska, PR & IR Manager of the company.
Europe 2016 - constant insufficiency
The European Commission says that still only 15% of Europeans actively use online shopping, and only 8% of small and medium-sized enterprises decide to broaden the scope of their activities, by providing a sales channel for foreign customers.
Despite not very satisfactory statistics, consumer interest in online shopping increases every year by an average of 22%, and companies are more and more interested in selling their goods online on other European markets. Experts predict that in 2018, the value of e-commerce in Europe will amount to over 660 billion euros.
- The largest foreign sales for the OPONEO's Group were in Italy and the United Kingdom, but the most dynamic growth was reported on our youngest markets; on the Slovak market, the Czech Republic and Belgium - said Ernest Pujszo, Foreign e-comerce Project Manager from OPONEO.PL.
One of the major factors, which will influence the dynamics of the e-commerce development is a cross boarder sale. According to experts, the most important players on the global market of cross boarder are currently China, UK, Germany and the US. Predicted growth in 2017 is supposed to amount to 29%.
OPONEO.PL S.A. is a company listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2007. The company has vast experience in online tyre sale and runs over 20 foreign shops. OPONEO also provides Europe's largest database of opinions and expert information related to the topics of quality, condition and usage of car tyres. The company has a modern logistic centre which allows to send daily even up 35 000 tyres to individual customers.
http://www.oponeo.co.uk
SOURCE OPONEO.PL S.A.
MILAN, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Clinical Studies have Demonstrated that Tirosint-sol may Overcome Some of the Limitations of Levothyroxine Tablets
IBSA announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tirosint-SOL (levothyroxine sodium oral solution), a liquid form of levothyroxine for the following two conditions: hypothyroidism and TSH suppression in the management of some thyroid cancers.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/466766/IBSA_Institut_Biochimique_SA_Logo.jpg )
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/466765/IBSA_Institut_Biochimique_SA.jpg )
Levothyroxine, the synthetic form of the thyroid hormone thyroxine, is used in all cases of thyroid deficiency. It is on the list of the World Health Organisation's essential medicines, and is among the most effective, safe, basic and one of the three most widely prescribed medications in the world, as well as the second most prescribed in the United States. It is also used in the treatment of children in cases of congenital hypothyroidism, and it is important to evaluate whether it may be required in pregnancy, as thyroid hormone deficiency can cause miscarriage and adversely affect a child's neurological development.
"Liquid levothyroxine was developed by IBSA, an Italian-Swiss company and is available in the Italian market since 2012, notes Arturo Licenziati, President IBSA SA. Italian endocrinologists determined the success of the medication through proposing and implementing clinical trials which, within only a few years, were published in a large number of international scientific journals. The FDA approval of Tirosint-SOL (levothyroxine sodium oral solution) for the US market opens up very interesting opportunities for our company: a market of 18 million patients, estimated at 2 billion dollars to 105 million prescriptions. It will be available on the American market within 6 months."
"Hypothyroidism, explains Leonard Wartofsky, MD, MACP, Past President of the American Thyroid Association, is widespread in the United States: it is estimated to affect at least 6% of the population and the most frequent cause is chronic autoimmune thyroiditis. The disease, if not identified and properly treated, is associated with a greater cardiovascular risk, infertility and complications in pregnancy and of the foetus. Thyroxine was identified in 1914 at the Mayo Clinic by Edward Calvin Kendall, as extracted from porcine thyroid, and was made available in the United States from 1927. It only became available in the synthetic form, which ensures a precise measure of the hormone, in 1950. The synthetic form, traditionally produced in tablets, has now undergone a major innovation after 70 years with the development of the liquid form. The precise observance of the recommended dose of levothyroxine is essential to health. The absorption of levothyroxine by the body is affected by interference from gastritis, coeliac disease, lactose intolerance and the intake of certain foods such as coffee and medications such as commonly taken antacids."
"The development of a preparation, which allows these restrictions to be overcome and enables the achievement of the target (TSH) within the established limits, has long been the IBSA's target," adds Licenziati.
Clinical trials in Italy have demonstrated that with liquid levothyroxine, the requirement of waiting an hour before eating breakfast may be avoided. Many frequently used medications, such as antacids or proton pump inhibitors, do not appear to interfere with absorption of the liquid preparation. And this preparation is certain to enjoy popularity with its application for the treatment ofpatients who cannot swallow or who are fed by tube, or for children with hypothyroidism.
For more information: http://ibsa-international.com/
SOURCE IBSA Institut Biochimique SA
DAVOS, Switzerland and ABU DHABI, UAE, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil and Arjen Radder discuss the future of healthcare at the World Government Summit
"The Healthcare industry is poised for significant change and the disruption will be caused by companies outside of the healthcare industry," according to the panel of experts that discussed the 'Future of Healthcare' at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468405/VPS_Healthcare.jpg )
The panelists in the discussion were Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder & Managing Director of VPS Healthcare; Dr. Arjen Radder, CEO, Phillips - Middle East and Turkey; and the moderator of the session was Dr. Andy Poh, Advisor - Healthcare Strategy and Policy Department, Dubai PMO.
Noting significant transformations affecting the world, the panel was tasked to find answers about the emerging technologies that would impact the way of healthcare delivery in the future. As almost every expert agrees, data is the new oil, said Dr. Shamsheer said." It's the new currency and healthcare industry is already moving towards a more sustainable, accessible and affordable delivery model. "Given the pace of change, the advancement in healthcare in the next 10 years would be more than what the world has witnessed in the last 100 years," he added.
With the advancements in technology, it is imperative that digital health records be standardized and the interoperability of data is going to play a major role in the future of healthcare delivery.
"We are witnessing the globalization of healthcare. One big change in the healthcare industry has been the integration of IT, which has enabled us to analyze multiple data points," said Arjen Radder. As an example, w at Philips, recently introduced a bio-sensor that could measure 8 different vital signs on a person's chest.
Digitization continues to be at the heart of change in healthcare delivery and has led to the introduction of complex technical systems across the globe. "Privacy is going to be a big issue because of cyber security. We need to encrypt data. As we know, a single stolen EHR is valued at 100 times that of a stolen credit card, so we need to be careful about online security," said Dr. Shamsheer.
The connectedness and the focus patient-centric care, means that value in healthcare will be intrinsically linked to value-based medicine. The future of healthcare will focus more towards personalized and democratized medical care.
"We are building an environment where personalized medicine will take center stage - what works for you won't work for me. Cancer in the UAE is different than for other people in other parts of the world. This is where we will use genetic testing with outcome-based measures to prove this hypothesis. added Dr. Shamsheer.
"Hospitals & clinics are becoming increasingly aware of the pivotal role of hospitality & service culture in the patient experience and new business payment models need to be introduced in the healthcare industry. According to a recent research, 80% of the total medical care cost is spent in diagnosis whereas only 3% is spent on prevention in Europe.
"There is something wrong in where the money sits. As companies, we need to have more appetite for risk. From a regulator perspective, they need to find more innovative and future-ready ways to reallocate the money. We know that cost can be reduced by data and connectivity. However, we must appreciate that different values associated with care in some of the poorer countries than it is in places like the UAE," said Dr. Shamsheer.
"Wellness involves prevention and patient-driven care. A Phillips survey found that the age of the heart is 22% higher than the actual age for men, but only 3% higher in women. Personal health data can encourage people to focus on wellness, which is going to be the key for sustainability of healthcare systems of the future," added Dr. Radder.
SOURCE VPS Healthcare
DULUTH, Ga., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to Atlanta's recognition as a 'world city' and significant global impact upon commerce, research, technology and education, Kumon, the world's largest after-school math and reading program, established its Southeast presence with the opening of a branch office in Duluth, Georgia back in 1997.
This past month, the Atlanta Branch of Kumon North America celebrated its 20th year of bringing academic enrichment to thousands of children in communities across four states in the region.
"We are extremely proud to have served Greater Atlanta and the surrounding Southeast region for the past 20 years and are appreciative of the reception that Kumon has received in these communities," says Anita Scales, Atlanta branch manager for Kumon North America. "Kumon's mission is to provide as many children as possible with an academic advantage and love for learning. We wouldn't be able to do that without the support we've received from communities across our branch."
The branch office supports the franchise operations of 82 Kumon learning centers throughout Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The after-school math and reading centers in these areas currently provide nearly 14,000 local children in preschool through high school with the skills needed to compete in today's world.
Kumon unlocks the potential of children, so they can achieve more on their own. It goes beyond tutoring by actively developing critical thinking skills as children progress independently through a carefully crafted and individualized math and reading curriculum. Through daily practice and mastery of materials, students increase confidence, improve concentration, and develop better study skills.
Discover how Kumon accelerates the learning for children.
About Kumon Math & Reading Centers:
Kumon is an after-school math and reading enrichment program that unlocks the potential of children, so they can achieve more on their own. As a comprehensive program, Kumon serves children in preschool through high school. Founded in Japan in 1958, the learning method uses an individualized approach that helps children develop a solid command of math and reading skills. Through daily practice and mastery of materials, students increase confidence, improve concentration, and develop better study skills. Kumon has over four million students enrolled in nearly 25,000 learning centers in 49 countries and regions.
SOURCE Kumon North America
Related Links
http://www.kumon.com
DUBLIN, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cholera Forecast for selected Asian Markets 2017-2027" report to their offering.
Cholera is a bacterial disease caused by infection from Vibrio cholerae species (O1, O139), usually spread through contaminated water. Cholera causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration. Left untreated, cholera can be fatal in a matter of hours, even in previously healthy people.
This report provides the current incidence population for Cholera for Selected Asian Markets (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam) split by gender and 5-year age cohort. Along with the current incidence, the report also contains a disease overview of the risk factors, disease diagnosis and prognosis along with specific variations by geography and ethnicity.
Providing a value-added level of insight from the analysis team, several of the main symptoms of Cholera have been quantified and presented alongside the overall incidence figures. These sub-populations within the main disease are also included at a country level across the 10-year forecast snapshot.
Risk factors for contracting cholera relate mostly to contaminated water and sanitation. The disease shows marked seasonality in developing nations, and outbreaks can occur during natural disasters (tsunamis) and complex emergencies (generally affecting the water supply / sanitation infrastructure).
This report is built using data and information sourced from the proprietary patient segmentation database. To generate accurate patient population estimates, the database utilises a combination of several world class sources that deliver the most up to date information from patient registries, clinical trials and epidemiology studies. All of the sources used to generate the data and analysis have been identified in the report.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Introduction
2. Cause of the Disease
3. Risk Factors & Prevention
4. Diagnosis of the Disease
5. Variation by Geography
6. Disease Prognosis & Clinical Course
7. Methodology for quantification of patient numbers
8. Top-line estimated incidence for Cholera
9. Cholera in Vietnam
10. Abbreviations used in the report
11. Patient-Based Offering
12. Online Pricing Data and Platforms
13. References
14. Appendix
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fdr6rd/cholera_forecast
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AARP today launched a campaign against the "age tax," a proposed unfair penalty on older adults that would line the pockets of big insurance companies, allowing them to charge older Americans over $3,000 more than they currently pay per year. AARP launched a new series of advertising that will also appear in numerous Congressional districts when members of Congress return home for President's Day week.
AARP Age Tax Ad
"AARP urges Congress and the administration to reject the proposed 'age tax' bill," said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. "This so called "age rating" proposal is Washington speak for an unfair tax increase that only helps insurance companies. AARP will fight to hold our elected officials accountable for taxing older American families with a burden they don't deserve and can't afford."
In its current form, the age tax legislation, HR 708, would penalize middle class American families by changing current law to allow health insurance companies to charge older Americans up to five times more in insurance premiums than other people, a large increase from current law which already allows companies to charge three times more. This proposal would have a severe impact on Americans aged 50-64 who have not yet become eligible for Medicare, and who may also have children under age 26 on their health insurance plans.
A report released by AARP's Public Policy Institute, Impact of Changing the Age Rating Limit for Health Insurance Premiums, also more specifically shows that changing the 3:1 limit on age rating to 5:1 would significantly raise premiums by as much as $3200 for older adults.
AARP's latest efforts come in addition to their continued advocacy of members of Congress and the Trump administration about the age tax. AARP continues to meet with members of Congress and urge them to oppose the age tax, laying out in detail the negative impact in letters this month and in December. The ads also come as an addition to AARP's Medicare campaign, which takes on "premium support," a proposal that would harm Medicare beneficiaries by turning the successful program into a private voucher program.
About AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into 'Real Possibilities' by changing the way America defines aging. With staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and promote the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare security, financial security and personal fulfillment. AARP also advocates for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world's largest circulation magazine, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @aarp and our CEO @JoAnn_Jenkins on Twitter.
SOURCE AARP
Related Links
http://www.aarp.org
"This special day is so important to bring awareness and support among our state legislators to make suicide prevention and mental health promotion a priority. As a survivor of the suicide death of my son, I know that the more knowledge there is, the more we can reduce the suicide losses in Vermont," said Linda Livendale , chair of the AFSP Vermont chapter. Ms. Livendale lives with her husband in Barre Town, VT and has a daughter and son-in-law of Essex Junction, Vermont.
This is the third time AFSP is participating in a State Capitol Day in Vermont. The event in Montpelier is part of a larger advocacy day along with the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, Representative Anne B. Donahue, the Vermont Department of Mental Health and the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition. Ms. Livendale is part of a larger national movement of AFSP volunteer advocates who will be visiting 35 state capitols across the United States in spring 2017 to bring best practices in suicide prevention to state legislators.
Suicide in Vermont
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 15-34 in Vermont, and the fourth leading cause of death for people aged 35-54. Over six times as many people in Vermont die by suicide than by homicide. On average one person dies by suicide every four days in the state.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. AFSP celebrates 30 years of service to the suicide prevention movement. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Related Links
http://www.afsp.org
MORTSEL, Belgium, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Imaging IT system fragmentation risks suboptimal patient care and system vulnerability in most healthcare organizations
Hospitals have to protect themselves, their network, all digital devices and most importantly, their patients from unassociated information
Agfa HealthCare announces today it will host a Lunch and Learn session at HIMSS17 (@HIMSS17) on Tuesday, February 21 from 1:00 and 2:00 pm in Room 203C. The session will focus on the pandemic issues of image management and the risks in security and patient care. Industry leader Ross Koppel, Ph.D., FACMI, University of Pennsylvania will present findings with Cheryl Petersilge, M.D., medical director of Integrated Content and Enterprise Imaging at Cleveland Clinic; Ann O'Brien, M.S.N, R.N., national director of Clinical Informatics at Kaiser Permanente, and Kim Garriott, principal consultant at Logicalis participating in a panel discussion.
Security in healthcare is one of the hot topics at this year's HIMSS as healthcare organizations' vulnerability has advanced to the top of many industry executives' to-do lists. Fragmentation of imaging systems is found in most healthcare organizations, and it makes them vulnerable both clinically and operationally. Healthcare providers recognize that data security is of vital importance to their business.
"Security is not just protecting the data - it is a patient care issue. As hospitals and health systems add imaging technologies they increase potential exposure to risk of security breach aside from impairing optimal patient care. They must protect themselves, their networks, their devices and - importantly - their patients," says Frank Pecaitis, Senior Vice President, Sales at Agfa HealthCare North America. "With this Lunch and Learn session at HIMSS, we want to bring awareness to these issues by reviewing the findings of a research study and conducting a panel discussion with leading industry experts. This is a deliberate effort to demonstrate Agfa HealthCare's commitment to the industry by creating a culture of security and improving the delivery of patient care while continually aligning our technology investments to that end."
To reserve your place at this Lunch & Learn session click here.
To discuss Agfa HealthCare's enterprise imaging technology at HIMSS17, please visit Booth #1761.
For an image, courtesy of Agfa HealthCare, click here
About Agfa HealthCare
Agfa HealthCare, present in one hospital out of two, is a leading provider of eHealth & Digital Imaging solutions. Care organizations in over 100 countries rely on Agfa HealthCare to optimize their efficiency and improve patient care.
Miriam Ladin
Director, Marketing Communications, Americas
T +1-401-604-2203
[email protected]
SOURCE Agfa HealthCare
MIAMI, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With greater awareness of the LatAm market intelligence insights developed by Americas Market Intelligence (AMI), its team members have been selected to offer their data and analyses about the region in a range of events.
Recently, Lindsay Lehrsenior director of AMI's payments practicewas a panelist at the LatAm Mobile Summit, held in San Francisco in late January 2017, where she spoke about the use of mobile money in Peru. Today she's speaking at the NACS (National Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing) Leadership Forum in Miami, followed by serving as a panelist at the 2017 LatAm Payments Lab on February 16, also in Miami.
AMI Managing Director John Price recently spoke at WorldCity's 2017 Global Economic Outlook on January 27, covering globalization, the outlook for Latin America in 2017 and brand relationships with consumers. He's also set to share a forecast about Andean markets at Bonds, Loans & Derivatives (Andes) on February 28th in Bogota, followed by Con-Expo (one of the world's largest construction industry conferences) on March 8 in Las Vegas and the Descartes Evolution Global User and Partner Conference in West Palm Beach on March 28, where Price will discuss the impact of President Trump's proposed border tax policies on global supply chain structure.
Guillaume Corpartleader of the healthcare practice at AMIrecently spoke at Dispositivos Medicos America Latina and is set to participate in more LatAm healthcare industry events this year.
"We're honored that our work is being recognized so as to lead to these speaking opportunities," says Price. "But what we really enjoy is stripping away the myths and misconceptions surrounding Latin America in so many areas to help companies and professionals gain real insights into the region, often surprising them in the process."
About Americas Market Intelligence
Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) is the premier market intelligence company for Latin America, providing powerful market research and competitive intelligence-driven insights for companies to succeed in a wide range of verticals in the region, including payments, healthcare, logistics, resources/infrastructure, Cuba, consumers and more. Its customized research reports deliver data-based clarity and granular strategic direction based on expert sourcing.
Media Contact:
Abel Delgado, Director of Digital Marketing
[email protected]
Related Links
AMI presentations
This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com
SOURCE Americas Market Intelligence
Related Links
http://americasmi.com
NEW YORK and PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MongoDB, the database for giant ideas, today announced details for the fourth annual MongoDB World, the largest global gathering of the MongoDB community. More than 3,000 developers are expected at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on June 20-21. This is the first year the event will be held outside New York.
Highlights include:
Announcements detailing the latest release of the MongoDB database as well as new features for MongoDB Atlas, the company's hosted cloud service
Keynote speakers including Eliot Horowitz , Co-founder and CTO, MongoDB; Jane McGonigal , PhD, Game Designer; and Matt Parker , Standup Mathematician
, Co-founder and CTO, MongoDB; , PhD, Game Designer; and , Standup Mathematician Presentations from numerous customers including United Airlines, HSBC, Cisco and eBay
MongoDB World 2017 will feature a record number of breakout sessions as well as jumpstarts, community events, a partner summit and a startup showcase. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to technical sessions from MongoDB engineers and customers like Gexa Energy, Remediant, Aon Hewitt, Merrill Corp, Thermo Fisher and Vonage, about a range of topics including server intervals, microservices, containers, artificial intelligence, analytics and more.
"MongoDB has long known the strategic role developers play in driving innovation to give businesses a competitive advantage," said Eliot Horowitz, CTO and Co-Founder, MongoDB. "Now in its fourth year, MongoDB World is designed to help the developer community collaborate with peers from the biggest companies to emerging startups. It is the destination to learn how MongoDB helps to deliver on giant ideas, and the place to be for early access to the exciting new products we have in store."
Featured Keynotes & Customer Presentations
This year's conference features keynotes, panels and hands-on events designed to educate and entertain developers on industry trends, best practices, and upcoming releases. Keynotes include:
Jane McGonigal , PhD, Game Designer
, PhD, Game Designer Matt Parker , Standup Mathematician
, Standup Mathematician Chris Re, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science at Stanford University
Dev Ittycheria, President and CEO, MongoDB
Eliot Horowitz , Co-founder and CTO, MongoDB
MongoDB World Super Early Bird Registration Now Open - Discount Code "Chicago"
MongoDB World is a two-day event to be held June 20-21 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Over 3,000 attendees will network with developers, IT professionals and tech evangelists who are building modern applications, interact with MongoDB engineering experts, and learn about the newest features available from MongoDB. New this year, childcare will be available onsite.
Until March 3, registrants can access a 25 percent discount off of the on-site registration price using the special discount code, "Chicago". Groups of three or more can get an additional 25 percent off of tickets. To register for MongoDB World 2017, please visit: https://www.mongodb.com/world17
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information please visit: https://www.mongodb.com/world17/sponsors
What Attendees Have Said
"I'm excited to see what amazing things others are doing with MongoDB and get insights from the people who build MongoDB. This will help me think of new ways to use MongoDB at my company, and to give us a competitive advantage." - Michael Grayson, Sr. Oracle/MongoDB/MySQL Database Administrator, Paychex
"I'm looking forward to expanding on my MongoDB experience and discovering new opportunities to leverage MongoDB for data science and product development teams at large, data driven corporations." - Jennifer Shin, Founder & Chief Data Scientist, 8 Path Solutions & Sr. Principal Data Scientist, Nielsen, MongoDB World 2016 Female Innovator
MongoDB Innovation Awards
The fourth annual Innovation Awards recognize the most innovative work in the industry. Winners will be given two tickets to the conference and MongoDB Atlas credits. Past winners include Barclays, China Eastern Airlines, cMapIT, Comcast, Expedia.com, NOW TV, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Practice Fusion and UPS i-Parcel.
The deadline to submit is March 15. Winners will be selected by a panel of judges and notified in April. To submit a nomination, please visit: https://www.mongodb.com/world17/innovation-awards.
Changing the Ratio & Bridging Diversity Gaps
As part of the company's commitment to changing the gender ratio in technology, MongoDB will host the Female Innovators program for the second year to make MongoDB World more accessible for women in technology. Accepted nominees get a complimentary full conference pass and have access to additional events on site. To apply, please visit: https://www.mongodb.com/world17/female-innovators.
To further help break down the barriers that prevent underrepresented groups in technology from attending MongoDB's conferences, the company is also offering Diversity Scholarships. Recipients receive complimentary admission to MongoDB World, a pre-conference workshop, a certification voucher, mentorship, and more. Visit https://www.mongodb.com/mongodb-diversity-scholarship to apply.
Lastly, for the third year in a row MongoDB World will feature a Women and Trans Coders Lounge, an inclusive area designed for users to learn and socialize with other women and trans professionals in technology.
About MongoDB
By offering the best of traditional databases as well as the flexibility, scale and performance today's applications require, we let innovators deploy apps as big as they can possibly dream. From startups to enterprises, for the modern and the mission-critical, MongoDB is the database for giant ideas. For more information, visit www.mongodb.com.
Press Contacts
MongoDB, North America
1-866-237-8815 x7186
[email protected]
MongoDB, International
+44 870 495 8023 x7804
[email protected]
SOURCE MongoDB
Related Links
http://mongodb.com
NorthWestern Energy announced that thousands of customers who have been under-billed for their energy usage are now receiving abnormally high bills to make up the difference, which has sparked an online petition that received 474 signatures as of Tuesday evening.
About 2,300 customers in Townsend, Radersburg, Toston and White Sulphur Springs, along with some in Helena and East Helena, were affected by the high bills, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.
In January 2016, NorthWestern experienced technical issues with meter reading equipment in some areas of its Helena Division, the statement says. As a result, some customers received January bills based on estimates rather than actual meter reads. The estimates were based on usage levels in the same time period a year earlier, which was significantly warmer than that same period in 2017.
Bills received in February are based on actual meter reads and reflect true energy consumption and often include greater charges due to increased energy usage, the statement says.
NorthWestern Energy apologizes for the impact this equipment failure had on customer bills, the statement says. We also work to avoid estimating energy usage whenever possible. We are working to provide proactive communications when we have equipment failures that affect customers in the future.
While the online petition was created to protest NorthWesterns outrageous hikes, the statement from the company says its electric and natural gas rates have not risen significantly in recent months. The Fair Utilities for Montana petition can be found at ipetitions.com, and organizers say they are reaching out to multiple government officials and media outlets.
The goal of this petition will be to ensure fair and reasonable utilities for Montana, the petition says. Whether it be regulating Northwestern pricing or changing providers, we deserve a fair rate.
NorthWesterns rates are reviewed and approved by the Montana Public Service Commission.
Customers can discuss their statement with NorthWestern Energy by calling 888-467-2669, or by visiting with a customer associate at the Helena Customer Service Office at 1313 N. Last Chance Gulch. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Customers who are worried about their ability to pay high winter bills are encouraged to contact the company right away. Options ranging from individual payment installment plans to information on how to access emergency bill assistance through federal, state and nonprofit sources are available.
SANDPOINT, Idaho, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kochava (www.kochava.com), the leading provider of app analytics, attribution and optimization for connected devices, begins their fourth annual Kochava Mobile Summit today through February 17 and announces the release of the Unified Audience Platform, an all-encompassing toolset giving marketers real-time curation of their campaigns with unparalleled granularity and data fidelity.
"Beyond the riggers managing their campaigns for top performance, marketers are faced with a fragmented and crowded ecosystem when choosing technology providers to support their teams. With the release of our Unified Audience Platform, we have streamlined all aspects of the process, offering deeply integrated, end-to-end campaign management solutions in one place," said Charles Manning, CEO of Kochava.
New product pipeline and ad transparency
The Unified Audience Platform (UAP) from Kochava offers marketers the most comprehensive and flexible platform for digital campaign management available in the marketplace. It eliminates the inefficiencies, stability concerns and complexity of mining disparate companies for the various tools necessary to execute and manage campaigns, including precise analysis of ad spend and engagement, all in one location, with one SDK.
The Unified Audience Platform puts marketers first
The UAP is the only tool in the ad tech space that hosts all the necessary elements to Plan, Target, Measure, Activate and Optimize for holistic campaign management.
Plan using the UAP's Media Guide, a one-stop shop to research mobile marketing partners, essentially a "Yelp for mobile advertising." Kochava marketers can research, filter and access more than 2,700 network and publisher integrations by any desired criteria.
Target using the Kochava Collective, the world's largest mobile data marketplace, providing marketers with access to over 700 million unique device IDs and enabling them to extend their reach in targeting their ideal audience across a mix of high-performing media partners.
Measure with the industry's most robust set of tools benchmarked by our industry-leading multi-dimensional Analytics to dictate all campaign-based decisions. Omnichannel views and customized filters are made simple thanks to the new Kochava Web SDK which tracks every click across platforms and devices. Pinpoint ROI and make confident decisions with the previously released True LTV and Ad Cost products.
Marketers Activate their data by setting up real-time campaign performance notifications and bringing critical metrics to decision makers with Alerting.
Optimize by using Traffic Verifier and the What if? tool. The Kochava data science team has been identifying fraud since 2015. Now, marketers can better protect and control their traffic with Traffic Verifier, a real-time fraud abatement tool that combats ad fraud tactics such as click stuffing and ad stacking. The What if? tool allows marketers to replay historic campaign data and media traffic in a virtual time machine to understand the impact of adjusting attribution settings or changes to their media mix to maximize their future media spend.
New offices, new partners
Bucking industry trends with five years of profitable operation, Kochava has become the reliable standard in measurement, utilized by the largest digital advertisers across all industry verticals. The continued success of their platform has led to expansion of their operations and personnel at their headquarters in Sandpoint, Idaho and internationally in China and Ireland last year, adding to their existing offices in Singapore, South Korea and France. The company has sustained 300% annual growth allowing for aggressive investment in product development that solves and simplifies the most vexing challenges marketers face in today's interconnected, cross-device, multi-channel world.
About Kochava
Kochava (www.kochava.com) offers a unique, holistic and unbiased analytics platform to plan, target, measure, activate and optimize media spend. The Kochava platform for mobile and connected devices combines potent features and global coverage with thousands of network and publisher integrations, allowing marketers to target audiences and measure campaign performance with precision. Real-time customizable visualizations give users fluid access to a full spectrum of data points, providing robust segmentation capabilities and real-time actionability. Yielding the most powerful tools in the ecosystem, Kochava is chosen by brands across industry verticals to measure the largest and most sophisticated ad campaigns.
Follow Kochava on social media:
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Media Contact:
Jeremy Grimm, Director of Communications and PR
+1-208-946-9944
[email protected]
SOURCE Kochava
Related Links
http://www.kochava.com
PHOENIX, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona School of Real Estate & Business (ASREB), a division of the Hondros Education Group, announced today it is teaming up with Arizona Academy of Real Estate (AARE) in a partnership that will unify real estate education in Arizona.
The Phoenix-based schools will pool their talents to represent the largest real estate program in the state. ASREB has established a plan to smoothly transition employees, students and the real estate industry by April 30, all staff will be one team and all classes will be one program under the ASREB brand.
"We are excited by the opportunity to join forces with the Arizona Academy," said Kevin McClure, president, ASREB. "We believe that by combining schools, we can better serve the consistent growth in the Arizona real estate industry and provide more value for those who are a part of it."
The reimagined institution sets out to achieve a new, higher standard of real estate education in the state. The strategic foundation of the partnership is the fact that together, these Arizona real estate education institutions will provide additional resources to professionals and students alike.
"At AARE, our goal has always been to help build a solid foundation for our industry through quality education," said Debra Prevost, president, AARE. "I'm excited that this partnership with ASREB will help us do that even better and I look forward to what the future holds." Prevost will continue to serve the school in an advisory capacity.
The combined institution will offer students and professionals the benefit of a wider access to leading real estate education programs, industry experts and tools that are designed to stay a step ahead of an ever-changing real estate market. In addition, the schools will also benefit from the transition of the AARE career partner program, which gives students expanded visibility to agencies who are actively recruiting new agents. Ms. Prevost will be a consultant in this transition.
"We have been watching the Arizona Academy of Real Estate with keen interest since we purchased ASREB in 2013," said John Hondros, chief executive officer, Hondros Education Group. "The Arizona real estate market is booming and the Phoenix metro is forecast to be the number one housing market in the U.S. Combining these two great schools will allow us to meet the increasing demand for well-trained real estate professionals."
AARE has been supporting students in the real estate and lending industries since 2005, in Peoria, Scottsdale, Phoenix and Mesa locations.
About Hondros Education Group
Hondros Education Group consists of leading real estate education companies that focus on classroom and online delivery as well as exam prep and textbooks. Hondros College of Business, Hondros Learning, CompuCram and the Arizona School of Real Estate & Business offer real-world career training to the adult learner through an engaging and highly relevant educational experience. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Hondros Education Group has been offering local classroom and national online professional education for over 40 years. For more information, visit www.hondroseducationgroup.com.
About Arizona School of Real Estate & Business
The Arizona School of Real Estate & Business offers quality license education for real estate, mortgage, home inspection, appraisal and insurance as well as non-license industry programs. Over 300 extensive continuing education courses are offered each month along with professional development education and events. The school has enjoyed both local and national recognition as an industry leader for over 45 years educating hundreds of thousands of students. The school also supports a leading industry publication featuring national and local expert writers and columnists. Classroom courses are offered in Scottsdale, Gilbert, Glendale/Peoria and Prescott, as well as on-line renewal tailored for Arizona licenses.
SOURCE Hondros Education Group
Related Links
http://www.hondros.com
SAN FRANCISCO, CINCINNATI and BANGALORE, India, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascendum Solutions, a leading provider of information technology solutions and services, today announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Sourcebits Inc., a digital innovation and customer experience company. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
Kris Nair, President and CEO of Ascendum
Sourcebits is a well-regarded digital strategy, design, implementation, marketing and lifecycle-management firm with offices in San Francisco, London and Bangalore, delivering transformative digital solutions to major global brands in retail, financial services, wellness, travel and technology sectors. Recognized as a "Cool Vendor" by Gartner, Sourcebits has created world-class products for over 400 clients across North America, Europe and Asia resulting in 700M+ app downloads.
"Today, enterprises are in a race to drive growth through digital transformation and deliver seamless, consistent and personalized experiences to their customers, employees and partners," said Kris Nair, President and CEO at Ascendum Solutions. "Sourcebits' outstanding capabilities around UI/UX design, innovation and digital technologies, combined with our market reach, customer base and experience, will ensure that our combined team will help our customers achieve their digital transformation goals in a timely effective manner and be leaders in their industry."
Nair said that "Sourcebits' acquisition will further bolster Ascendum's Digital Business that offers digital strategy services, analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud solutions to its clients worldwide. Ascendum's global presence will enable Sourcebits to work with enterprise clients to drive innovation, develop insights and deliver outstanding products and services. The combined technology and expertise will also drive further investments in core IP that deliver scalable mobile and commerce apps."
"We are excited about this agreement and look forward to working with Ascendum to be the leading digital transformation provider and a trusted partner for digital innovation," said Munish Gupta, Managing Director at Sourcebits.
Download the Ascendum Corporate Brochure
ABOUT ASCENDUM SOLUTIONS:
Ascendum Solutions provides innovative technology solutions, consulting and knowledge processing solutions to clients by leveraging industry expertise, global scale and technology excellence.
Ascendum's success is based on its business and technology expertise, strategic partnerships and deep industry experience, which allow companies to innovate and succeed. Its delivery capabilities are driven by state-of-the-art delivery centers across the world and supported by modernized business processes. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ascendum has sales and support offices in Hamilton and Blue Ash, OH and New York, NY with offshore delivery centers located in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, India. Ascendum is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vora Ventures Group, a Cincinnati-based, private equity group that specializes in building innovative IT companies worldwide. Visit us at www.ascendum.com or join the conversation on LinkedIn.
ABOUT SOURCEBITS:
Sourcebits is a digital innovation, UX and technology company with experts in the fields of customer experience design, development and marketing services. Sourcebits designs, builds and manages enterprise mobile applications and creates additional value by building engaging omnichannel customer experiences. For more information, please visit www.sourcebits.com.
Contact: Paul Anthony, Marketing Director, 513.285.8385
SOURCE Ascendum
Related Links
http://www.ascendum.com
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of American Educators (AAE), the largest national, non-union teachers' association, and eight of its California member educators filed a lawsuit last week against the California Teachers Association challenging the constitutionality of California's "agency shop" law. "Agency shop" arrangements violate educators' First Amendment guarantee to free speech and free association by forcing public school teachers to support powerful teachers' union efforts to advance their political agenda through collective bargaining.
The lawsuit, Yohn v. California Teachers Association, asks the courts to respect the teachers' First Amendment right to choose without fear or coercion whether or not to join or fund a labor union. The hundreds of dollars non-members are forced to pay to the union as a condition of employment in California schools is a clear violation of educators First Amendment rights, since the unions used those coerced payments to advance their policy agenda when bargaining with the government.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of AAE and eight California public school teachers by The Center for Individual Rights (CIR), the same non-profit public interest law firm that represented Rebecca Friedrichs and other California teachers in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which was heard by the United States Supreme Court last year. That lawsuit ended in a tied, non-binding opinion following the sudden passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, leaving the matter unresolved, but drawing significant attention to this important issue.
Following the case filing, AAE Chairman and President Gary Beckner issued the following statement:
"This is an historic moment for the Association of American Educators and freedom of choice for educators in California and beyond. Founded as alternative to the partisan politics and collective bargaining of the teacher labor unions, AAE has provided a professional option for teachers seeking a voice that puts students first for over two decades. This lawsuit is a monumental next step for those educators seeking true freedom of association.
Our member educators have been vocal about the injustices of agency shop laws for years. Teachers are diverse individuals who deserve the right to select an association that matches their budget and beliefs. For far too long, the political activity of the teachers' unions has been prioritized over the rights of universally-respected professionals.
AAE was proud to rally our members for this worthy cause. Mr. Ryan Yohn and the other longtime AAE member plaintiffs are champions for the rights of all California educators. We are honored to stand together and we look forward to this case progressing in the months ahead."
To schedule an interview with AAE to discuss AAE's role in Yohn v. CTA and AAE's commitment to each educator's right to choose their professional association, please email [email protected].
Ryan Yohn et al. v. California Teachers Association et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division. https://www.cir-usa.org/legal_docs/yohn_v_cta_complaint.pdf
About the Association of American Educators (AAE)
The Association of American Educators (AAE) is the largest national, non-union, professional educators' organization dedicated to fostering the transformation of the teaching profession by empowering and supporting our community of professionals for the benefit of our students and the nation. AAE envisions a teaching profession that is student-oriented, well-respected, and personally fulfilling. Membership is $16.50 per month which includes $2 million professional liability insurance, employment rights coverage, professional development resources as well as a host of other benefits. Visit www.aaeteachers.org for further information.
About The Center for Individual Rights (CIR)
The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) is a nonprofit public interest law firm that defends individual rights, with particular emphasis on civil rights and free speech. CIR provides free legal representation to deserving clients whose individual rights are threatened. Learn more about CIR's work at www.cir-usa.org.
SOURCE Association of American Educators
Related Links
http://www.aaeteachers.org
"We wanted to create a new design as a tribute to our classic bouncer from 1961," said Jakobson. "We are so happy that so many families love our bouncer. We wanted to create a soft and contemporary look and feel that suits the style and personality of our consumers in colors that work for many lifestyles."
Bouncer Bliss will be available in two new looks luxurious, quilted cotton in four lavish colors, and a lightweight, soft mesh in three fresh, modern colors. The gentle rocking creates a sense of bliss and tranquility, not just at the beginning of a baby's life, but later on as well. The BabyBjorn team believes that a baby who gets a safe, secure start feels the benefits for a long time to come.
The soft and natural rocking, completely powered by the baby, requires no batteries or cords. This encourages babies' interaction with their sense of balance and motor skills, by rocking in response to their own movements. Avoiding bouncers that rely on battery-powered stimulation will also decrease the chance of babies developing a dependency on movement for sleep.
"Many families we meet see the bouncer as a lifesaver," said Bjorn Engstrom, vice president at BabyBjorn. "In my family, we bring it everywhere around the house to different rooms, and when we travel or visit our friends."
Additional features and benefits of Bouncer Bliss:
It is portable when folded flat. It has a sleek design with three easy-to-adjust positions, and has a removable, washable fabric.
Offers proper support for baby's back, neck and head.
Can be used from day one up to 24 months of age.
Free from health-hazardous substances and approved according to Oeko-Tex Standard 100, class I for baby products.
Accessories: Toy for Bouncer to double the fun.
Recommended retail price (RRP): Bouncer Bliss, Cotton: $239.95 ; Bouncer Bliss, Mesh: $259.95
BabyBjorn AB is a Swedish, family-owned company that develops, markets and distributes innovative products for children aged 0-3 years. Its turnover for the 20152016 financial year was SEK 582 million. Ninety-five per cent of its sales consisted of exports to fifty different countries. The company was founded in 1961 and employs around 100 people. More information is available on our website: www.babybjorn.com
SOURCE BabyBjorn
Related Links
http://www.babybjorn.com
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/-- BaseVenture announced today that it earned the "Highly Commended" honor at the HFM US Technology Awards in the "Best FinTech Solution for Hedge Funds" award. This designation was given to BaseVenture at the annual HFM US Technology Awards held in New York City on February 13, 2017.
Reflecting on the commendation, John Pizzi, CEO of BaseVenture, said "We are thrilled and honored by this important recognition. The HFM Technology Awards are one of the preeminent awards in the alternative investment industry, and to be given this recognition less than a year after having debuted our FundManager.io product is quite an honor. We are very proud of the work that we are doing on behalf of our fund administrator clients to simplify how private funds are administered and managed."
BaseVenture's flagship product FundManager.io is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that connects fund administrators, fund managers and investors with features such as digital reporting, CRM, document management, and key process automation.
FundManager.io helps fund administrators improve the quality of service to their clients and investors, increases their efficiency and margins, and helps them better tackle compliance and regulatory challenges.
The HFM Technology Awards recognize and reward hedge fund technology providers as well as firms with technology heavy solutions and products that have demonstrated exceptional customer service and innovative product development over the past 12 months. HFM is an information and membership networking group providing services for the Hedge Fund Management Community.
Learn more about BaseVenture at www.baseventure.com
About BaseVenture
BaseVenture is a Software-as-a-Service platform that simplifies how private funds (hedge fund, private equity, real estate, and venture capital) are administered and managed. Fund administrators and fund managers that use our "FundManager.io" platform stop worrying about their operations and have more time to focus on driving growth for their investors. Learn more at www.baseventure.com.
SOURCE BaseVenture
Related Links
https://www.baseventure.com
TSX, NYSE: BXE
CALGARY, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. ("Bellatrix" or the "Company") (TSX, NYSE: BXE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Brent Eshleman as the new President & Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Bellatrix, effective immediately. As previously announced on November 25, 2016, Brent Eshleman was appointed Interim President & Chief Executive Officer of the Company and today's announcement completes the formal leadership transition as part of the Company's succession planning efforts. Mr. Eshleman joined Bellatrix as Executive Vice President in July 2012 and was subsequently named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company in September 2014. Mr. Eshleman is a seasoned industry leader with over 30 years of oil and gas industry experience and a professional engineer by trade.
In connection with Mr. Eshleman's appointment, Mr. Raymond Smith, has retired from his role as President & Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Mr. Smith was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of True Energy Inc. (Bellatrix's predecessor company) on January 26, 2009 and has led the growth and development of Bellatrix over the past eight years. Mr. Smith has also retired from Bellatrix's Board of Directors.
"Mr. Smith led the transition of True Energy into a growth oriented Company in 2009 and was instrumental in repositioning Bellatrix's asset base and geographic focus in west central Alberta. Under his stewardship, the Company has managed through several commodity price cycles and periods of market volatility. On behalf of the Board of Directors and management I wish to thank Mr. Smith for his years of leadership and dedication, and wish him the best in his future endeavors," said W.C. (Mickey) Dunn, Chairman of the Board.
Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is a Western Canadian based growth oriented oil and gas company engaged in the exploration for, and the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Common shares of Bellatrix trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BXE.
SOURCE Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.
Related Links
www.bellatrixexploration.com
BOSTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BERG LLC, a biopharmaceutical company uncovering health solutions through a data-driven, biological research approach, today announced that it has initiated a Phase I/II monotherapy clinical trial for its drug candidate BPM 31510-IV for the potential treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. The compound was guided in development by BERG's unique AI-based Interrogative Biology platform that combines patient biology and artificial intelligence-based analytics to better understand the differences between healthy and disease environments.
"Glioblastoma is one of the deadliest and most insidious forms of cancer and we are working to make a much-needed difference in the lives of patients with glioblastoma to improve survival, and quality of life," said Niven R. Narain, BERG Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of BERG. "The initiation of this Phase I/II trial marks the continued advancement of BPM 31510-IV, and further demonstrates BERG's Interrogative Biology platform."
Currently, there are minimal treatment options for patients with GBM and with the five-year relative survival rate at only 5.1 percent new treatment strategies are urgently needed (National Brain Tumor Society). Standard of care treatment options are limited, often resulting in recurrence of the disease after multiple lines of therapy. As such, patients with GBM are in critical need of an effective and tolerable treatment option to increase rates of survival and quality of life.
The Phase I/II open-label, non-randomized clinical trial is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of BPM 31510-IV in subjects with glioblastoma multiforme that has recurred on a bevacizumab-containing regimen. Secondary outcome measures are to characterize the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of BPM31510-IV in subjects with glioblastoma multiforme that has recurred on a bevacizumab-containing regimen. The trial is initially being conducted at the Stanford University School of Medicine by principal investigators Dr. Seema Nagpal and Dr. Lawrence Recht.
BPM 31510-IV was previously demonstrated to be safe in patients in a Phase I clinical trial in solid tumors. Additionally, preclinical studies conducted by BERG, the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine suggest the therapeutic efficacy of BPM 31510-IV as single agent in GBM. These studies also demonstrate the possible beneficial effect of BPM 31510-IV in combination with temozolamide (TMZ), the existing standard of care for GBM. In pre-clinical models, pretreatment with BPM 31510-IV followed by TMZ showed reduced cancer cell proliferation when compared to monotherapy.
For more detail regarding this trial, please visit: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03020602
About BPM 31510-IV
BPM 31510-IV has the potential to slow or stop cancer cell growth by reversing the compromised metabolism of cancer cells, which is hypothesized to be a fundamental driver of many different types of cancer. BERG has also initiated a Phase II clinical trial for BPM 31510-IV in advanced pancreatic cancer in combination with a common cancer drug, among other ongoing and planned trials for BPM31510-IV in various oncological indications.
About Glioblastoma Multiforme
According to the National Brain Tumor Society, glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and deadliest of malignant primary brain tumors in adults. GBM accounts for 45% of all brain cancers, with nearly 11,000 men, women, and children diagnosed each year.
About BERG
BERG is a clinical-stage company disrupting and redefining the approach to drug discovery, research and development through its Interrogative Biology platform. Its platform identifies therapies and biomarkers by applying algorithm and probability based artificial intelligence to analyze large numbers of patients' genotypic, phenotypic and other characteristics. BERG believes this allows the company to better understand patients' disease profiles and consequently to reveal molecular signatures that guide and accelerate product candidate selection and development. By identifying biomarkers and patient characteristics that are unique to disease states, BERG is able to identify novel therapeutic product candidates and develop companion diagnostics to enhance specificity in its drug development process. BERG has leveraged its Interrogative Biology platform to develop a robust pipeline of therapeutic product candidates and diagnostics in cancer, diabetes and neurology.
For additional information, please visit www.BERGhealth.com.
SOURCE BERG
Related Links
http://www.BERGhealth.com
VALENCIA, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioness, Inc., the leading provider of cutting-edge, clinically supported rehabilitation therapies, today announced it will feature its full suite of innovative technologies at the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA) Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) from February 16-18 in San Antonio, TX. Bioness clinical solutions are focused on helping clinicians improve outcomes in the value-based economy. Attendees will have the chance to experience Bioness implantable and external neuromodulation systems, robotic systems and software based therapy programs at booths #1319 and #1261.
Innovative solutions debuting at APTA-CSM include:
L300 Go System with augmented reality product experience
System with augmented reality product experience BITS Bedside
Vector Gait and Safety System with Intuitive Body Weight Support
"We are expanding our leadership position in rehabilitation by introducing several groundbreaking technologies at APTA-CSM," said Todd Cushman, President and CEO of Bioness. "The most notable innovation is the L300 Go which is the first commercial FES technology to incorporate 3D motion detection and multi-channel stimulation to improve patient mobility and enhance treatment efficiency. With the addition of L300 Go, BITS Bedside and Vector with Intuitive Body Weight Support, we have enhanced our position as the technological leader in rehabilitation so that we can expand therapeutic interventions and further help the patients we serve. We look forward to sharing these new innovations and our new augmented reality experience with the APTA-CSM attendees."
Bioness has been an industry leader supporting the efforts of skilled acute, inpatient and outpatient practices for more than a decade. At this year's APTA-CSM meeting, Bioness is pleased to introduce four clinical innovations as well as showcase the Bioness Technology Exhibit.
L300 Go System
The recently FDA cleared L300 Go System is the first functional electrical stimulation (FES) device to provide 3D motion detection of gait events using a 3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer technology. Patients facing mobility challenges due to neurological injury or disease, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, have less control over their lower extremity muscles which increases fall risk and reduces social participation. By monitoring patient movement in all three planes of motion and deploying stimulation to provide ankle dorsiflexion and knee flexion or extension precisely when needed during the gait cycle, Bioness is further improving therapist efficiency in detecting a gait event. The L300 Go now includes the myBioness mobile iOS application to keep home users engaged in the rehabilitation process and motivated to meet recovery goals. For the first time, CSM attendees will be able to experience an augmented reality demonstration of the new L300 Go and its advancements, and learn more about how the device can improve hemiparetic gait.
BITS Bedside
Most rehabilitation activities are designed to be performed from a standing position, however, many rehab patients are confined to their beds for medical reasons. To help tackle this challenge, Bioness will be unveiling BITS Bedside, a new clinical solution that will allow clinicians to engage rehab patients that are unable to leave their bed or controlled rehabilitation space. Clinicians can challenge patients with physical and cognitive programs and assessments. The new technology also provides the ability to track and document progress, with the goal of keeping patients engaged during this important phase of care.
Vector Gait and Safety System with Intuitive Body Weight Support
The Vector System with Intuitive Body Weight Support is Simply Smarter. Intuitive Body Weight Support is a revolutionary innovation that allows patients to further the real-world experience in the clinic to properly prepare them for the community. Clinicians maintain unparalleled safety and product for their patients while permitting an unparalleled level of activity and interaction. The Vector Gait and Safety System is designed to improve patient mobility and functional independence while increasing patient and clinician safety. Parameters are based on patient ability or activity which helps gain confidence and allows clinicians to get more creative and aggressive during treatment. In addition, clinicians can run, record and document standardized tests to measure patient outcomes within the Vector software interface.
StimRouter Neuromodulation System for Chronic Peripheral Pain
With an estimated 100 million people suffering from chronic pain, contributing more than $280 billion in annual costs to the U.S. healthcare system, there's never been a greater need for innovative pain management options.[1] Specific to rehabilitation, shoulder pain is a common disability resulting from a central nervous system trauma (e.g. stroke). This pain traditionally originates at the axillary nerve, a peripheral nerve in the upper arm, and has been reported to occur in up to 85% of stroke survivors.[2] StimRouter is designed to target pain at the point of origin, minimize long-term healthcare costs and may provide pain relief when other treatments such as medications and injections have limited effect.[3]
Experience Bioness First Hand
Visit Bioness at APTA-CSM at booths #1319 and #1261. Be among the first to experience Bioness solutions in gait training, pain management and software therapy programs.
About Bioness, Inc.
Bioness is the leading provider of innovative technologies helping people regain mobility and independence. Bioness solutions include implantable and external neuromodulation systems, robotic systems and software based therapy programs providing functional and therapeutic benefits for individuals affected by pain, central nervous system disorders and orthopedic injuries. Currently, Bioness offers six medical devices within its commercial portfolio which are distributed and sold on five continents and in over 25 countries worldwide. Bioness innovations have been implemented in the most prestigious and well-respected institutions around the globe with 17 of the top 20 rehabilitation hospitals in the United States currently using one or more Bioness solution. Bioness has a singular focus on aiding large, underserved customer groups with innovative, evidence-based solutions and we will continue to develop and make commercially available new products that address the growing and changing needs of our customers. Individual results vary. Consult with a qualified physician to determine if this product is right for you. Contraindications, adverse reactions and precautions are available online at www.bioness.com.
Media Relations Contact Information
Next Step Communications
[email protected]
781.326.1741
Bioness, BITS, H200, L300, L300 Plus, L300 Go, StimRouter and Vector Gait and Safety System are trademarks of Bioness, Inc. | www.bioness.com | Rx Only for applicable products.
[1] Institute of Medicine (US). Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research. 2011. The National Academies.
[2] Van Ouwenaller, C. et al. 1986. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 67, 2326.
[3] Deer T, et al. 2016. Neuromodulation. 19:91-100.
SOURCE Bioness, Inc.
BOSTON and PARIS, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PathMaker Neurosystems Inc. ("PathMaker"), a clinical-stage neuromodulation company developing non-invasive systems for the treatment of patients with neuromotor disorders, announced today that Bpifrance has awarded the Company an initial grant in support of the development of the Company's first product, MyoRegulatorTM, the first non-invasive neuromodulation device intended for the treatment of patients suffering from neuromotor spasticity. Through the Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir (PIA-1) program offered by Bpifrance, this prestigious grant provides support for the initiation of PathMaker's clinical development program in France. The company is collaborating with leading researchers and clinicians at the world renowned Brain and Spine Institute (Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epiniere ICM) at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, which will be the site of a European clinical trial for MyoRegulator.
"We are truly pleased to have received this support from Bpifrance," said Nader Yaghoubi, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of PathMaker Neurosystems. "After comprehensive review of our company and technology, Bpifrance is demonstrating confidence in our efforts and we are thankful for the support and validation from this leading institution."
PathMaker's recent award from Bpifrance comes shortly after the Company's receipt of the Innovation Prize 2016 in an international competition that honors the world's most innovative startups and the best academic research groups that are "developing cutting edge technologies in the field of life sciences."
About PathMaker Neurosystems Inc.
PathMaker Neurosystems is a clinical-stage neuromodulation company developing non-invasive systems based on the proprietary PathMaker Coordinated Multi-site Neurostimulation technology. With offices in Boston (US) and Paris (France), PathMaker is moving forward on a trans-Atlantic strategy to rapidly bring to market entirely novel, breakthrough approaches to non-invasively treating neuromotor disorders. More than 48 million patients in the US, Europe and China suffer disabilities due to stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. At PathMaker, we are opening up a new era of non-invasive neurotherapy for patients suffering from chronic neuromotor conditions. For more information, please visit the company website at www.pmneuro.com.
About Bpifrance
Bpifrance, a subsidiary of the Caisse des Depots (French Consignments and Loans Fund) and the French State, a trusted partner of entrepreneurs, supports companies from start-up to stock exchange listing, with credit, collateral and equity. Bpifrance also provides support services and enhanced support for innovation, acquisitions and exports, in partnership with Business France. Bpifrance offers companies a continuum of funding at each key stage of their development and an offer adapted to regional specificities. With 47 regional offices (90% of its decisions are taken at the regional level) Bpifrance is a tool of economic competitiveness for entrepreneurs. Bpifrance supports public policies pursued by the French State and by Regional Councils to meet three objectives:
support the growth of businesses
prepare future competitiveness
contribute to the development of a favourable ecosystem for entrepreneurship.
With Bpifrance, companies benefit from an influential, available and effective intermediary to meet all their needs in terms of finance, innovation and investment. For further information, please visit: www.bpifrance.fr http://investissementsdavenir.bpifrance.fr/ Twitter: bpifrance.
SOURCE PathMaker Neurosystems Inc.
Related Links
http://www.pmneuro.com
(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified)
VANCOUVER, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX: CS) today announced its financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2016. For the three months ended December 31, 2016, operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 was $75.0 million or $0.20 per share, with a net loss of $182.4 million and adjusted net income of $30.7 million or $0.08 per share after adjusting for certain non-cash and non-recurring charges. Copper production totalled 29,900 tonnes (28,800 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.26 per payable pound produced with copper sales of 29,600 tonnes at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.24 per payable pound sold.
For the full year ended December 31, 2016, operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 was $156.9 million or $0.41 per share, with a net loss of $197.4 million and adjusted net income of $29.4 million or $0.08 per share after adjusting for certain non-cash and non-recurring charges. Copper production totalled 114,600 tonnes (110,700 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.44 per payable pound produced with copper sales of 110,500 tonnes at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.53 per payable pound sold.
Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results; call-in details and information on associated slides are provided at the end of this release. This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the year ended December 31, 2016, which are available on Capstone's website at http://capstonemining.com/investors/financial-reporting/default.aspx and on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to December 31, 2016, and 2016 year-end webcast slides will also be available at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.
Overview
Q4 2016 Q4 2015 2016 2015 Revenue ($ millions) 163.0 92.1 529.4 420.5 Copper produced (tonnes) 29,853 25,691 114,583 92,577 Payable copper produced (tonnes) 28,828 24,781 110,663 89,341 C1 cash cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb) 1.26 1.81 1.44 1.99 All-in cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb) 1.77 2.67 1.88 2.88 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb) 1.85 2.67 1.98 2.85 Copper sold (tonnes) 29,558 22,322 110,450 87,521 Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)* 2.48 2.05 2.27 2.35 Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb) ** 2.35 2.26 2.28 2.43 C1 cash cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb) 1.24 1.82 1.53 2.00 All-in cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb) 1.74 2.78 1.97 2.92 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb) 1.82 2.78 2.07 2.89 Net loss ($ millions) (182.4) (19.5) (197.4) (251.5) Net loss attributable to shareholders ($ millions) (125.4) (19.3) (140.0) (202.7) Net loss attributable to shareholders per common share ($) (0.33) (0.05) (0.37) (0.53) Adjusted net income (loss)1 ($ millions) 30.7 (8.0) 29.4 (31.9) Adjusted net income (loss)1 attributable to shareholders ($ millions) 30.9 (7.8) 30.0 (30.4) Adjusted net income (loss)1attributable to shareholders per common share ($) 0.08 (0.02) 0.08 (0.08) Operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 ($ millions) 75.0 12.5 156.9 60.0 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share1 ($) 0.20 0.03 0.41 0.16 Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions) 130.4 101.6 130.4 101.6 Net debt1 ($ millions) 198.6 247.9 198.6 247.9
* Q4 2016 includes a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $0.1 million (2015 negative $4.2 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $0.00 per pound (2015 $(0.09) per pound) of copper sold during the quarter. YTD includes a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $12.7 million (2015 negative $25.8 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $(0.05) per pound (2015 $(0.13) per pound) of copper sold during the year. ** Q4 2016 adjusted realized copper price includes the provisional pricing adjustments noted above and realized loss of $8.5 million (2015 gain $10.1 million) equivalent to $(0.13) per pound (2015 gain - $0.21 per pound) related to copper derivative contracts exercised during the quarter. YTD includes a realized gain of $3.3 million (2015 $15.9 million) equivalent to $0.01 per pound (2015 - $0.08 per pound) related to copper derivative contracts exercised during the year.
"Our strong operating performance in 2016 exceeded guidance, setting records at Pinto Valley, Minto and for Capstone as a whole," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "All three of our mines generated positive net earnings, with throughput success at Pinto Valley and processing of high grade Minto North ore being key drivers in 2016."
"Despite a challenging copper price environment for most of the year, we generated operating cash flow of $156.9 million, allowing us to reduce our debt by $40 million," continued Mr. Pylot. "We anticipate taking full advantage of additional free cash flow to further reduce our debt over the coming quarters."
"Our year end results included a non-cash write-down of our Santo Domingo project based on lower forecast iron prices," continued Mr. Pylot. "The project does however, continue to have considerable optionality in a rising market."
Financial and Production Highlights for the Quarter Ended December 31, 2016
Net loss of $182.4 million included: Income from mining operations of $55.8 million , Realized copper price of $2.48 per pound Production costs included a $2.0 million non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventory (primarily supplies) at the Pinto Valley, Minto and Cozamin mines, A non-cash impairment charge of $189.2 million related to mineral property, plant and equipment at Santo Domingo , A commodity derivative loss of $29.9 million , comprising a realized loss of $8.5 million and unrealized losses of $21.4 million , An income tax expense of $1.9 million .
included: Operating cash flow before changes in working capital 1 was $75.0 million or $0.20 per share.
was or per share. Working capital increased to $171.1 million at December 31, 2016 (which included $130.4 million of cash and cash equivalents) from $162.4 million at December 31, 2015 .
(which included of cash and cash equivalents) from at . Produced a total of 28,828 tonnes of payable copper at an estimated C1 cash cost 1 of $1.26 per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost 1 of $1.85 per pound of payable pound copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost of per pound of payable pound copper produced. Revenue of $163.0 million generated primarily from the sale of 29,557 tonnes of payable copper.
Financial and Production Highlights for the Year Ended December 31, 2016
Net loss of $197.4 million included: Earnings from mining operations of $87.7 million , Realized copper price of $2.27 per pound Production costs included a $3.4 million non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventory at the Pinto Valley, Minto and Cozamin Mines, A non-cash impairment charge of $189.2 million related to the Santo Domingo property, A commodity derivative loss of $25.6 million , comprising a realized gain of $3.3 million combined with an unrealized loss of $28.9 million , An income tax expense of $9.4 million .
included: Operating cash flow before changes in working capital 1 of $156.9 million or $0.41 per common share.
of or per common share. Working capital increased $8.7 million to $171.1 million at December 31, 2016 (which included $130.4 million of cash and cash equivalents) from $162.4 million at December 31, 2015 .
to $171.1 million at (which included of cash and cash equivalents) from at . Production of 110,663 tonnes of payable copper at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.44 per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost 1 of $1.98 per pound of payable pound copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost of per pound of payable pound copper produced. Revenue of $529.4 million generated primarily from the sale of 110,450 tonnes of copper.
Production and Additional Highlights
Pinto Valley Mine:
Produced 17,051 tonnes of copper during Q4 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.70 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $2.06 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 68,850 tonnes of copper during 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.61 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $1.95 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Copper production at Pinto Valley exceeded expectations, with mill throughput and head grade above plan for the quarter and year. Throughput averaged 56,800 tonnes per day ("tpd") and 56,200 tpd for the fourth quarter and full year, respectively. The operation continued to demonstrate the mine's potential, achieving a new daily throughput record of over 64,000 tpd in December.
Cozamin Mine:
Produced 4,001 tonnes of copper during Q4 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.40 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $2.06 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 14,307 tonnes of copper during 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.48 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $1.88 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. During 2016, Cozamin experienced a mine development shortfall resulting in lower production, however, during the second half of the year Cozamin conducted a management reorganization and a number of additional processes were implemented to improve the development rates. Development rates continued to improve through the second half of the year (7,725 meters H2 2016 vs. 5,880 meters H1 2016).
During Q4 2016, Cozamin achieved the revised target production due to a better than planned average head grade of 1.63% copper offset by lower than planned mill throughput.
Minto Mine:
Produced 8,801 tonnes of copper during Q4 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $0.33 per pound of payable copper produced, which included $0.11 per pound of cost allocated from stockpile that was spent in prior periods, bringing the actual cash expended during Q4 2016 to $0.22 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $0.43 per payable pound of copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced, which included per pound of cost allocated from stockpile that was spent in prior periods, bringing the actual cash expended during Q4 2016 to per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per payable pound of copper produced. Produced 31,426 tonnes of copper during 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.03 per pound of payable copper produced, which included $0.03 per pound of cost allocated from stockpile that was spent in prior periods, bringing the actual cash expended during 2016 to $1.00 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $1.12 per payable pound of copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced, which included per pound of cost allocated from stockpile that was spent in prior periods, bringing the actual cash expended during 2016 to per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per payable pound of copper produced. Copper production for the quarter met expectations while full year throughput, grade and recoveries all exceeded plan. In the fourth quarter the mill processed stockpiles, supplemented by underground mining.
Produced 39,506 ounces of gold contained in copper concentrate, and 11,675 ounces of gold contained in gold concentrate, for a total of 51,181 ounces produced during 2016. Under the terms of the Precious Metal Stream Agreement with Silver Wheaton, Capstone receives market rates for 50% of gold produced in excess of 30,000 ounces in a twelve-month period. We exceeded this threshold during Q4 and as a result Capstone is entitled to sell 8,320 ounces of gold at market rates. 5,100 of these ounces were sold in Q4 2016 and the remaining 3,220 ounces are expected to be sold in H1 2017.
Additional highlights:
On January 13, 2017 a second repayment of $20.0 million was made on the RCF, reducing the outstanding balance to $308.9 million . At the same time, Capstone chose to permanently reduce the credit available under the RCF from $420 million to $400 million . This payment was in addition to a $20.0 million payment and permanent credit reduction made in Q4 2016. The combination of this lower commitment and the strong debt coverage ratio at December 31, 2016 resulted in the Company achieving the second lowest tier on the RCF pricing grid with interest rates of LIBOR plus 2.75% and stand-by fees of 0.6188%. This will result in annualized savings of almost $1.5 million per year in interest and stand-by fees.
a second repayment of was made on the RCF, reducing the outstanding balance to . At the same time, Capstone chose to permanently reduce the credit available under the RCF from . This payment was in addition to a payment and permanent credit reduction made in Q4 2016. The combination of this lower commitment and the strong debt coverage ratio at resulted in the Company achieving the second lowest tier on the RCF pricing grid with interest rates of LIBOR plus 2.75% and stand-by fees of 0.6188%. This will result in annualized savings of almost per year in interest and stand-by fees. As a result of the decline in long term iron ore prices during 2016, Capstone recorded an impairment on the Santo Domingo development Copper/Iron project of $189.2 million during Q4 2016.
Operating Outlook
Capstone's 2017 production guidance is for 94,000 tonnes (5%) of copper at a C1 Cash Cost1 of $1.60 to $1.70, All-In Cost1 of $2.15 to $2.25 and Fully-Loaded All-In Cost1 of $2.20 to $2.30, per pound of payable copper produced net of by-product and selling costs.
Capital Outlook
Capstone's 2017 capital expenditures are expected to be $67 million, with $35 million for sustaining capital at Pinto Valley and Cozamin, $2 million related to PV3 permitting activities and $30 million for capitalized stripping at Pinto Valley. An additional $10 million is budgeted for both brownfield and greenfield exploration, however as exploration activities are discretionary they will be aligned with prevailing market conditions, financing capacity and corporate priorities.
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2017 Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time) Dial in: North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688 Webcast: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1323771&s=1&k=AFC597F521C716D97270B033FC966280 Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677 Replay Passcode: 063291#
The conference call replay will be available until Thursday, February 23, 2017. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within 48 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.
About Capstone Mining Corp.
Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "outlook", "guidance", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document, certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "guidance", "may", "future", "expected", "intends" and "estimates". By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of mineral resources; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents; assumptions related to geotechnical conditions of tailings facilities; dependence on key personnel; labour pool constraints; labour disputes; availability of infrastructure required for the development of mining projects; delays or inability to obtain governmental and regulatory approvals for mining operations or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals; increased operating and capital costs; operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation; impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations; compliance with debt covenants, and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company provides no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
National Instrument 43-101 Compliance
Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.
The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Technical Information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Senior Vice President, Exploration. Both are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.
Alternative Performance Measures
The items marked with a "1" are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to Alternative Performance Measures in the Company's Consolidated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors
This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Without limiting the foregoing, this news release may refer to technical reports that use the terms "indicated" and "inferred" resources. US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under US standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. US investors should also understand that "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, US investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.
1. This is an alternative performance measure; please see "Alternative Performance Measures" at the end of this release.
SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.
Related Links
www.capstonemining.com
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CB&I (NYSE: CBI) today announced it has been awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. for the license and engineering design of a grassroots propane dehydrogenation unit to be built in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. The unit will use CB&I's CATOFIN catalytic dehydrogenation technology and Clariant's tailor-made CATOFIN catalyst to produce 600,000 metric tons per year of propylene. This unit has been optimized to reduce equipment piece-count and lower propane consumption, resulting in low investment and operating costs.
"CB&I is pleased to have been selected by Dongguan Grand Resource to provide the CATOFIN technology license for this new petrochemical facility in China," said Philip K. Asherman, CB&I's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our CATOFIN technology continues to demonstrate low cost of production while providing proven reliability and flexibility to our customers."
About CB&I
CB&I (NYSE:CBI) is a leading provider of technology and infrastructure for the energy industry. With over 125 years of experience and the expertise of more than 40,000 employees, CB&I provides reliable solutions to our customers around the world while maintaining a relentless focus on safety and an uncompromising standard of quality. For more information, visit www.CBI.com.
CATOFIN is a registered trademark of Clariant.
Important Information For Investors And Shareholders
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding CB&I and represents our expectations and beliefs concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. When considering any statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or use or contain words, terms, phrases or expressions such as "achieve," "forecast," "plan," "propose," "strategy," "envision," "hope," "will," "continue," "potential," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict," "intend," "should," "could," "may," "might" or similar forward-looking statements, we refer you to the cautionary statements concerning risk factors and "Forward-Looking Statements" described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our Annual Report filed on Form 10-K filed with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2015, and any updates to those risk factors or "Forward-Looking Statements" included in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, which cautionary statements are incorporated herein by reference.
Investors: Scott Lamb, +1 832 513 1068, [email protected]
Media: Gentry Brann, +1 832 513 1031, [email protected]
SOURCE CB&I
Related Links
http://www.cbi.com
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cepheid today announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market Xpert Xpress Flu and Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV. Both tests deliver reference-quality molecular results in as little as twenty minutes. The tests are Cepheid's first Xpress branded products all of which are expected to deliver results in 30 minutes or less.1
"For too long, clinicians have been asked to treat suspected cases of influenza empirically, since gold-standard RT-PCR based tests took too long to process in the critical first 24 hours of symptom onset," said David H. Persing, M.D., Ph.D., Cepheid's Chief Medical and Technology Officer. "With the arrival of fast molecular tests like Xpert Xpress Flu and Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV, patients and their healthcare providers can now expect an accurate diagnosis and have access to targeted therapies substantially more quickly. Unnecessary treatment with antimicrobial agents can also be avoided. This supports clinical efforts to improve the patient experience, and further streamlines workflow in the laboratory which can be particularly challenging in the midst of a busy respiratory virus season."
Upper respiratory infections are among the most common reasons for outpatient visits in the United States and worldwide.2,3 Early symptoms for a wide variety of viral and bacterial respiratory infections are often clinically indistinguishable, yet treatment is different depending on the cause of infection, highlighting the importance of accurate diagnostic tests like Xpert Xpress Flu and Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV. With this development, hospitals and clinics can reliably diagnose influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in 30 minutes or less.
Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV and Xpert Xpress Flu are twice as fast as their predecessor, Xpert Flu/RSV XC, but have comparable performance characteristics. The new tests feature and share a novel design, which employs multiple targets for each virus. The built-in redundancy results in both high sensitivity and specificity, and reduces the impact of seasonal genomic drift in these viruses that has historically been a problem with molecular tests.
About Cepheid
Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Cepheid is a leading molecular diagnostics company that is dedicated to improving healthcare by developing, manufacturing, and marketing accurate yet easy-to-use molecular systems and tests. By automating highly complex and time-consuming manual procedures, the company's solutions deliver a better way for institutions of any size to perform sophisticated genetic testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases. Through its strong molecular biology capabilities, the company is focusing on those applications where accurate, rapid, and actionable test results are needed most, such as managing infectious diseases and cancer. For more information, visit www.cepheid.com.
About GeneXpert Systems
With more than 11,000 systems in 182 countries, the GeneXpert System is the world's most popular molecular diagnostics' system. The GeneXpert System's modular configuration means that the system is the most scalable available, offering the ability to perform from one to eighty Xpert tests at the same time. As a result, the GeneXpert System meets the throughput requirements of customers of all sizes - from lower volume point-of-care settings to higher volume reference laboratories enabling accurate, fast and cost effective test results.
About Xpert and Xpert Xpress Tests
GeneXpert Systems run proprietary Xpert test cartridges. The Xpert test menu spans healthcare-associated infections, sexual health, critical infectious disease, and oncology, and today offers 24 tests outside the US, and 23 tests in the US. The Xpert Xpress tests offer the same quality and accuracy of other Xpert tests, with the added benefit of test results in 30 minutes or less.
More information on the GeneXpert System and the Xpert tests is available on our website at www.cepheid.com.
References:
Results from negative specimens are reported in approximately 30 minutes. When running in a Flu only or an RSV only reporting mode, positive results can be reported in soon as 20 minutes. "Upper Respiratory Tract Infection" Medscape. Menegetti et al; June 2016 (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/302460-overview) http://www.cdc.gov/rsv/research/us-surveillance.html
For Cepheid Media Inquiries:
Darwa Peterson
+1 408-400-4324
[email protected]
SOURCE Cepheid
Related Links
http://www.cepheid.com
CHICAGO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past few months many Chime families have become more involved in their communities: attending marches, joining activist groups, even running for political office. And we know that these things are hard to do with the kids in tow.
To support families and communities who are engaging in positive activism, Chime is donating $25 plus 10% of the total transaction to the ACLU for every new family who books a sitter with Chime in February.
On-Demand Babysitting Service, HelloChime.com
"Many families are telling us that booking Chime babysitters has made it easier to get involved," says Chime Chief Marketing Officer Kriston Rucker. "We believe in the power of coming together as a community, and we want to support parents who are finding the time to make a difference."
"Getting involved in my community has become more important than ever," says Chicago-area parent, Louisa Fitzgerald. "Chime has given me the flexibility to find a trustworthy babysitter on relatively short notice. Over the last few weeks I was able to attend a march and a meet and greet with local political candidates. Since learning about the ACLU donation, it feels good knowing Chime is aligned with my values. Continuing to book a sitter through Chime is helping me personally and contributing to a greater cause."
To make a booking, visit www.hellochime.com/aclu. First time users will receive $50 in credits (covering around 3 hours of babysitting) and Chime will donate $25 and 10% of the babysitting transaction to the ACLU.
To share on social media, use #chimeinforchange.
About Sittercity.com /Chime
Sittercity is the pioneer in online child care. Sittercity has thousands of sitters and parents joining the site daily and the site has connected millions of families with caregivers nationwide over the past 15 years. Sittercity's on-demand babysitting service, Chime, launched in October 2015 and is available in Boston, Chicago, NYC and Washington, DC with more cities on the way. With Chime, parents are able to instantly book a select group of pre-screened and thoroughly vetted sitters. Learn more at hellochime.com.
Media Contacts:
Beyond PR Group
Beth Feldman | [email protected] | (917) 797-8054
Lisa Hanlon | [email protected] | 914-954-1553
SOURCE Sittercity
DUBLIN, Feb 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "China Infant Milk Powder Industry Overview, 2017-2021" report to their offering.
There are fierce competitions within China's infant milk powder industry. Many manufacturers use low-quality materials or add illegal ingredients to reduce costs, frequently causing safety events in the industry. To solve these problems, Chinese government is increasingly reinforcing regulations on the infant milk powder industry. For example, the new Food Safety Law and the Administrative Measures for the Registration of the Formulas of Infant Formula Milk Powder officially regulated the registration process in the infant milk powder industry and raised the barrier to entry of the industry. However, problems in the industry are difficult to be completely solved.
The output of infant milk powder fluctuated between 2011 and 2015 due to overcapacity in the industry and stricter policies. It dropped slightly in 2011 and 2012 before rising to over 500,000 tons in 2013. It decreased again in 2014 and 2015, ending with less than 500,000 tons in 2015.
As China's economy grows, more Chinese women are joining the workforce, leading to a continuous decline in the rate of breastfeeding of 6-month-old infants in China. For example, the rate decreased from 67% in 1998 to 49% in 2004 and then to 27.8% in 2015. This is far below the world average (of 38%). Since Chinese government implemented the family planning policy more than three decades ago, China's birth rate has been declining. It remains at around 1.2% in recent years. During around 1985-1990, China's birth rate slightly rose and once peaked at 2.33% in 1987.
As people born during this period begin to raise children, China will see another peak in the birth rate. From 2013, the Chinese government began to loosen the family planning Policy. Article 18 of the new Family Planning Law, which became effective on January 1, 2016, states that the government encourages couples to have two children. The loosening of the family planning policy is conductive to the birth rate. More demand comes with more newborns each year for infant milk powder.
China imports large quantities of infant milk powder each year due to unstable quality control over domestic milk powder and its high prices. In 2015, China imported 175,972 tons, or USD 2,471 million of infant formula milk powder, increasing by 45% YOY and 59.5% YOY. The major import source is European Union which accounted for more than half of the total.
The remarkable increase in the volume of China's imported infant milk powder is firstly related to Chinese consumers' lack of confidence in domestic milk powder. Secondly, the rise of overseas shopping, especially cross-border shopping, makes it more convenient for consumers to purchase foreign milk powder. Thirdly, the general price of imported milk powder which is lower than that of domestic milk powder of the similar quality contributes to the sales of imported infant milk powder to some extent.
It is estimated that during 2017 to 2021, with the increasing number of newborns per year and the decreasing breastfeeding rate, Chinese market demand for infant formula milk powder will rise year by year, and so will the annual import of infant formula milk powder.
Readers Can Obtain the Following Information or More Through This Report:
- Development Environment of China's Infant Milk Powder Industry
- Supply and Demand of Infant Milk Powder in China
- Market Competition of Infant Milk Powder in China
- Import and Export of Infant Milk Powder in China
- Major Infant Milk Powder Manufacturers in China and Their Operations
- Major Driving Forces and Market Opportunities in China's Infant Milk Powder Industry
- Risks and Challenges in China's Infant Milk Powder Industry
- Forecast on Market Size of China's Infant Milk Powder
Companies Mentioned
- BIOSTIME International Holdings Limited
- Beingmate Infant Food Co., Ltd.
- Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited
- Synutra International Inc.
- Yashili International Holdings Ltd.
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jzbp8j/china_infant_milk
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
WILTON MANORS, Fla., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Wilton Manors' Leisure Services Department has expanded its class offerings even further! Four new classes have been added to the roster: Imagination Mornings for children ages 18 months to 4 years old; Elements N' Motion, a Chicago-Style Stepping class for adults of all ages; Adult Creative Coloring Club; and Beginner Crochet for ages 14 and older.
During Imagination Mornings, children are encouraged to explore and further develop their imaginations with their parents through storytelling, arts and crafts and music. This serves as a motivational experience for children, and they develop problem solving abilities, group cooperation and motor skills.
"We are excited to be adding these classes to our already diverse roster," said Scott Holloway, program and facilities supervisor at the Wilton Manors Leisure Services Department. "We wanted to offer a fun and engaging activity for both parent and child while also providing social activities for adults."
Imagination Mornings will be held on Thursdays from 10 a.m.-10:45 a.m. at Richardson Historic Park (1937 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors). The cost is $20 per month and pre-registration is required as class space is limited to 12 participants. Parents must also be present.
In addition to Imagination Mornings, Elements N' Motion, a Chicago-Style Stepping dance class has also been introduced. Chicago-Style Stepping is an urban dance that originated in the Windy City and continues to evolve from its roots in swing dance. The class will be taught by Maurice "Smoke" Dixon, who has more than 13 years of dance instruction.
"Maurice Dixon has won first place in a variety of national dance competitions, and we are thrilled that he wants to share his talents with us right here in Wilton Manors," Holloway said.
Elements N' Motion begins Wednesday, February 8, 2017 and continues every Wednesday thereafter from 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. The first class is free; each class thereafter is $10. Classes will be held at Island City Park Preserve (823 NE 28th St., Wilton Manors).
Island City's Adult Creative Coloring Club encourages Wilton Manors residents to visualize outside the lines and aims to provide a relaxing and stress-free experience. In Beginner Crochet, students will learn basic stitches and color changes as well as pattern reading.
The Adult Creative Coloring Club will be held Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Hagen Park Community Center (2020 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors). The cost is free for Wilton Manors residents and $2 for non-residents. Crayons and colored pencils will be provided, and you can either bring your own coloring book or purchase one there for $5.
Beginner Crochet will begin Thursday, March 2, 2017 and continues every Thursday thereafter from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The cost is $50 per student (per five-week session) and includes practice yearn and hooks. Classes will be held at Hagen Park (2020 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors).
For additional information or to register, contact the Wilton Manors Leisure Services Department at (954) 390-2130 or visit wiltonmanors.com.
ABOUT THE CITY OF WILTON MANORS
Wilton Manors was laid out in 1925 by Edward John "Ned" Willingham, a land developer from Georgia, as an upscale residential community. It was recognized as a Village in 1947 and incorporated as a City in 1953. Today, the City of Wilton Manors offers all the benefits of a big city from shopping to hip restaurants and bars, a burgeoning arts community and tons of community events, yet still maintains a cozy, community-feeling offering miles of natural waterways perfect for kayaking, paddle boarding and other outdoor activities. Recently named the "Second Gayest City" in the United States, the City of Wilton Manors celebrates a diverse population of approximately 12,000 residents. To learn more about the live, work and play opportunities in Wilton Manors, call (954) 390-2100 or visit www.wiltonmanors.com.
CONTACT: Laurie Menekou Ernest-Jones, (954) 732-0754 (or)
[email protected]
SOURCE City of Wilton Manors
Related Links
http://www.wiltonmanors.com
DALLAS, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 9, 2017, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the lessee of a property did not have standing to appeal the actual value and assessment of its leasehold interest in a property (Traer Creek-EXWMT LLC v. Eagle County, CO Board of Equalization, Court of Appeals No. 16CA0723). The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's ruling, which determined that a leasehold interest does not provide statutory or common law standing to appeal a property tax assessment.
The District Court walked through the statutory requirements of filing an appeal and determined that the "fee interest owner" is the only party that is required to be sent a notice of value on assessment and thus is the only party that has the right to appeal that proposed assessment. The second argument made regarding common law standing was also disregarded, as the Court ruled that it may not disregard the statutory limitations by looking at common law standing. Note that this case does not address whether the lessor's appeal rights may be transferred to the lessee via the lease instrument. As a result of this decision, commercial tenants may be required to appeal property taxes that they are responsible for under their lease only as an authorized "agent" of the property owner. Having that right expressly granted to them in the lease might be a best practice for tenants in Colorado commercial properties going forward, particularly if they lease the entire premises and have all of the resulting taxes passed on to them.
About Ryan
Ryan is an award-winning global tax services firm, with the largest indirect and property tax practices in North America and the seventh largest corporate tax practice in the United States. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides a comprehensive range of state, local, federal, and international tax advisory and consulting services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including audit defense, tax recovery, credits and incentives, tax process improvement and automation, tax appeals, tax compliance, and strategic planning. Ryan is a five-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,100 professionals and associates serves over 12,000 clients in more than 40 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Michael Allen
Principal
Ryan
703.746.0022
[email protected]
Matthew Poling
Principal
Ryan
303.222.1845
[email protected]
SOURCE Ryan
Related Links
http://www.ryan.com
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsis
In real terms, the Omani construction industry registered an average annual growth rate of 9.4% during the review period (20122016). This growth was supported by the government's Eighth Five-Year Development Plan 20102015.
The country's construction industry will continue to expand in real terms over the forecast period (20172021). Despite low oil prices, the government is focusing on the development of transport infrastructure, energy and utilities facilities, and affordable housing.
Government investments in sea ports, railway lines, airports and special economic zones under the Ninth Five-Year Development Plan 20162020 and the Oman Vision 2020 are expected to drive growth in the industry over the forecast period.
The government is focusing on the development of energy and renewable energy power plants across the country under Oman's National Energy Strategy 2040, with the aim of meeting rising electricity demand with low greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, the government is planning to produce 25.0% of total electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020.
Summary
Timetric's Construction in Oman, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021 report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights into the Omani construction industry, including:
- The Omani construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and construction activity
- Analysis of equipment, material and service costs for each project type in Oman
- Critical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, and the risks and opportunities they present to participants in the Omani construction industry
- Profiles of the leading operators in the Omani construction industry
- Data highlights of the largest construction projects in Oman
Scope
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in Oman. It provides:
- Historical (2012-2016) and forecast (2017-2021) valuations of the construction industry in Oman using construction output and value-add methods
- Segmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by project type
- Breakdown of values within each project type, by type of activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and by type of cost (materials, equipment and services)
- Analysis of key construction industry issues, including regulation, cost management, funding and pricing
- Detailed profiles of the leading construction companies in Oman
Reasons To Buy
- Identify and evaluate market opportunities using Timetric's standardized valuation and forecasting methodologies.
- Assess market growth potential at a micro-level with over 600 time-series data forecasts.
- Understand the latest industry and market trends.
- Formulate and validate strategy using Timetric's critical and actionable insight.
- Assess business risks, including cost, regulatory and competitive pressures.
- Evaluate competitive risk and success factors.
Key Highlights
- The government's focus on railways is expected to drive growth in the infrastructure construction market over the forecast period. Under Oman's Ninth Five-year Development Plan 20162020, the government is planning to invest OMR5.06.0 billion (US$13.015.6 billion) to construct a 2,135km rail network by 2020.
- The development of affordable housing in the country under the government's Vision 2020 program is expected to drive growth in the residential construction market over the forecast period. Under Vision 2020, the government is planning to spend OMR80.0 million (US$207.7 million) annually to ease the affordable housing deficit.
- The government is focusing on developing water infrastructure with the aim of expanding and reinforcing water distribution and transmission systems. Under the National Water Sector Master Plan it plans to invest OMR2.5 billion (US$6.5 billion) to increase the total length of the water distribution network.
- With the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the government is focusing on developing renewable energy infrastructure. Accordingly, it plans to build 1.0GW of solar power plants as a public-private partnership for an investment of OMR769.0 million (US$2.0 billion) in Duqm by 2020.
- The government aims to attract foreign manufacturers in an effort to diversify the country's economy and reduce reliance on oil and natural gas. Accordingly, in May 2016, it signed an agreement with China to build the China-Omani industrial park in Duqm, on an area of 1,172ha, by 2022.
Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04685474-summary/view-report.html
About Reportlinker
ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.
http://www.reportlinker.com
__________________________
Contact Clare: [email protected]
US: (339)-368-6001
Intl: +1 339-368-6001
SOURCE Reportlinker
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EAGAN, Minn., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ConvergeOne, a leading global provider of modern communications and data solutions, was named a winner of a 2017 IBM Beacon Award for Outstanding Analytics Platform Solution. This honor is awarded to select IBM Business Partners that deliver outstanding solutions across IBM's broad product and service portfolio to drive business value for customers. The 2017 awards recognize achievements across a wide-range of growing solution areas, including cloud and Watson IoT, all of which are helping clients thrive in the cognitive era.
"ConvergeOne, Inc. is honored to accept this Beacon Award for Outstanding Analytics Platform Solution in cooperation with our customer and partner Allegiant Airlines. Without their thirst for innovation and IBM's amazing portfolio this would not be possible," says Erik Cline, Vice President, ConvergeOne, Inc. "We look forward to continuing our work on interesting projects in this space that will benefit our entire customer set."
The Beacon Awards are an integral part of IBM's Business Partner recognition program. Announced at the IBM PartnerWorld Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, the winners are selected by a panel of expert judges consisting of IBM executives, industry analysts and members of the press. The awards are given to Business Partners around the world who have demonstrated business excellence in delivering IBM-based solutions to clients to drive transformation and business growth. This year's awards recognized Business Partner achievements across 19 award categories encompassing a wide-range of solution areas, including analytics, collaboration, cloud, commerce, cognitive, Watson IoT and security.
"By delivering innovative solutions to drive business value, Beacon Award winners help transform the way their clients and industries do business," said Marc Dupaquier, general manager, IBM Global Business Partners. "We'd like to congratulate ConvergeOne, Inc. on winning the Beacon Award for Outstanding Analytics Platform Solution and delivering exceptional client satisfaction and results."
For more information about the IBM Beacon Awards, including details on the winners and finalists, please visit:
https://www-304.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/ContentHandler/pw_com_prb_beacon.
To learn more about IBM PartnerWorld, a comprehensive program that offers marketing and sales resources, training, certification and technical support to help create new revenue and market opportunities for IBM Business Partners, visit http://www.ibm.com/partnerworld.
About ConvergeOne, Inc.
Founded in July 2005, ConvergeOne is a leading provider of custom information, communications and data technology solutions and services for any environment, regardless of existing vendors or systems. The company offers best-in-class solutions in customer experience, collaboration, contact center, cloud, enterprise computing, data center and virtualization, enterprise networking, and security. Through its best-of-breed Professional Services, ConvergeOne can facilitate everything from system design and installment to application development and infrastructure. Its industry-leading Managed Services experts provide ongoing support for contact centers, collaboration, data centers, networking, and security. With the ability to enable and support cloud services at any level, ConvergeOne has achieved a new, elevated level of partnership with its clients, and has gained a significant competitive advantage over other managed service and support organizations across the U.S.
The company has earned more than 1,700 industry certifications and has strategic partnerships with more than 100 global industry leaders, including Avaya, Cisco, IBM, Interactive Intelligence, and Microsoft. Headquartered in Eagan, Minn., ConvergeOne maintains more than 30 offices, 3 Network Operating Centers and more than 1,350 employees nationwide. ConvergeOne joined the Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. portfolio in June 2014. Clearlake is a private investment firm with a sector-focused approach. The firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational and strategic expertise. The firm's core target sectors include industrials, energy and power; technology, communications, and business services; and consumer products and services.
Media Contact:
Annette DeCicco
909.240.2775
[email protected]
SOURCE ConvergeOne
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Convergex, an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider, announced today that it recently hired Robin Strong as Managing Director. Mr. Strong is based out of Convergex's London-based brokerage and will be responsible for expanding the firm's broad range of commission management, research payment and outsourcing services to buy and sell-side investment firms on a global basis.
A 25-year financial industry veteran, Mr. Strong's responsibilities include delivering Westminster Research Associate's unbundling and MiFID II compliant solutions to its growing European client-base. Prior to joining Convergex, Mr. Strong founded The Investment Data Utility and previously worked at Linedata, where he was responsible for business development and client adoption strategies across the EMEA region. Mr. Strong started his career at Salomon Brothers in London and has also held senior positions at Fidessa, Charles River Development, Citadel Associates and Asset Control.
"Robin is a welcome addition to Convergex's experienced European sales team as his vast background and financial industry experience complements the firm's commitment to expanding its global team with the goal of providing more solutions and opportunities to our client-base," said Philip Gough, CEO of Convergex Limited, Convergex's London-based brokerage.
Westminster Research Associates is also preparing for reforms outlined in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) which are currently expected to go into effect on January 3, 2018. One of the key delegated directives requires firms to manage payments for research through Research Payment Accounts (RPAs) or to pay for the research directly. Westminster is preparing to work with RPA software providers and to offer a complete RPA solution on a global basis. Mr. Strong will also play an integral role as Westminster expands its platform to allow investment managers to physically aggregate CSA credits within an RPA structure and provide compliant payment solutions to over 7,000 different research providers.
"Westminster's structure provides investment managers with the flexibility to seek best execution through a network of over 250 executing broker-dealers while crediting the research portion of their trade to a centralized account, helping money managers streamline their CSA administration and management," said Chris Tiscornia, President and CEO of Westminster Research Associates.
Westminster is a FINRA registered broker-dealer specializing in providing investment research and commission management solutions to the institutional investment community. The flexible commission management solution allows investment managers to execute through top-tier institutional execution desks, while consolidating all of the administrative, servicing and reporting functions of their research business with one firm.
About Convergex
Convergex is an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider that takes on the industry's toughest challenges, from complicated trades to complex businesses. With clients' interests as the top priority, Convergex delivers comprehensive solutions that span global high-touch and electronic trading, options technologies, prime brokerage, clearing, commission management and beyond. Headquartered in New York with a presence in several other locations including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, San Francisco and London, the company serves nearly 3,000 clients accessing over 100 global market centers.
Important Information
Convergex is an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider. In the U.S., Convergex offers products and services through Convergex Execution Solutions LLC (member NYSE/FINRA/NFA/SIPC), of which Convergex Prime Services and Options Trading and Technology are divisions; Westminster Research Associates LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); and Convergex Solutions LLC, of which Jaywalk and LDB are divisions. In London, Convergex operates through Convergex Limited, which is incorporated in England and Wales (registered with company number 06262150). Convergex Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom. Westminster Research Associates LLC is regulated in the United States by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Westminster provides services in Australia pursuant to an exemption from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services license under the Corporations Act 2001 (ASIC Class Order [CO 03/1100]).
Convergex provides brokerage services primarily on an agency basis, but may operate in a riskless principal and/or net trading capacity, and in connection with certain ETF or ADR transactions, may act as principal or engage in hedging strategies. Convergex does not engage in market making or investment banking activities.
The material, data and information (collectively "Convergex Information") that is available from Convergex is intended for institutional investor use only; is for informational purposes only; is subject to change at any time; is not intended to provide tax, legal or investment advice; and does not constitute a solicitation or offer to purchase or sell securities. Convergex Information is believed to be reliable, but Convergex does not warrant its completeness or accuracy and Convergex assumes no duty to update such information. Clients should read their account agreement(s) and documentation with Convergex carefully as those documents contain important information and disclosures about the products or services covered thereby. Convergex is not responsible for third-party information or services, including market data from the exchanges. (Rev. 01/03/17)
2017 Convergex Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Contact: Lynda Caravello
[email protected]
212.468.7713
SOURCE Convergex
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Agents USA and Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service (TAMU) today convened a multi-sectoral array of leaders to identify and discuss strategies for responding to evolving pandemic health threats. Current and former leaders from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) joined partners from the private and NGO sectors to discuss pandemic response strategies for 2017 and beyond.
Clinical
"Pandemic disease is increasingly a national security threat and effective pandemic disease response planning is a critical requirement for developed and developing nations alike. Our experience fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone shows that multi-sectoral partnership is a key ingredient for pandemic disease fighting success," said Crown Agents CEO Lawrence Michel. "Thanks to the diverse group of leaders who participated today, the strategies we discussed reflect the best possible thought leadership on this issue."
Pandemic health threats are a national security risk for the United States and countries around the world, as the National Intelligence Council noted in their January 2017 Global Trends Report. Ebola, Zika, and Avian Influenza, and emerging infectious disease remain a global public health threat and can arrive in the U.S. within hours.
"With global pandemic threats, it's a question of 'when', not 'if'," said Andrew Natsios, former USAID Administrator and current Director of the Scowcroft Institute at Texas A&M. "The best way to prevent a pandemic in the U.S. is to stop it overseas, so the strategies shared today speak directly to America's national security interests."
Today's conference builds on momentum generated by TAMU's 2nd Annual Global Pandemic Policy Summit held in College Station, Texas in October 2016 and will connect to the 3rd Annual Summit being held in October, 2017 as well. The 2016 conference, led by TAMU's Global Pandemic Policy Program, identified a number of strategic recommendations for pandemic response, including deepening the data link between animal and human health, improving cultural competency to drive effective in-country response, and increasing collaboration between government, private sector, and academia. In the months ahead, Crown Agents USA, TAMU and their strategic partners will continue to build a unified international pandemic disease planning strategy.
"Government, industry, and civil society have specific responsibilities in a pandemic, but we share a common human interest in effective pandemic response and planning," said Dr. Gerald Parker, Senior Fellow at TAMU's Bush School of Government and Public Service. "At the end of the day, that's why this conference matters and why it's so encouraging that so many leaders chose to participate."
Contact-Crown Agents USA: Mr. Brendon Miller
Phone: 202-230-6413 Email: [email protected]
Contact-Texas A&M: Dr. Gerald Parker
Phone: 979-436-0670: Email: [email protected]
SOURCE Crown Agents USA
PROVIDENCE, R.I. and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CyberScout (formerly IDT911) announced today that the company has been certified as compliant with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, which provides a mechanism for transatlantic exchanges of personal data for commercial purposes between the European Union and the United States.
CyberScout is the first leading international cyber and data breach remediation company to comply with the Privacy Shield Framework. When large, global companies have data breaches that involve multi-national customer data, CyberScout provides a holistic approach to remediation with seamless international response and data center services.
Said CyberScout CEO Matt Cullina: "As an international organization, CyberScout has gone beyond the business-centric approach to privacy in the U.S., and embraced the more rigorous, consumer-centric EU standards for the treatment and transfer of personal data. Our participation in the Privacy Shield program is just the latest demonstration of our serious and longstanding commitment to protecting consumer privacy by adopting global best practices."
Through compliance with the Privacy Shield framework, CyberScout's privacy practices align with the European Union data protection requirements for transfers of personal information. While Privacy Shield accreditation addresses the protection of European citizen data, CyberScout will apply the same high standards to the treatment and protection of U.S. and Canadian consumer information, also.
The compliance process is rigorous. Companies that commit to Privacy Shield must adhere to seven principles that relate to privacy policies, consent mechanisms, data transfer agreements, security measures, limitations on the use of data, mechanisms to correct data, and complaint resolution. CyberScout's privacy statement can be found on the CyberScout website here.
"CyberScout's Privacy Shield program participation assures our clients in the U.S., Canada, Europe and beyond that their customers' personal and private information is never at risk of being used in ways they had not considered," said Global Privacy Officer Eduard Goodman. "The consumer, citizen or data subject stays in control of how their information can be used."
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect in 2018, which will prompt still more stringent privacy compliance within and outside of Europe. By adopting the tighter standards encapsulated in the Privacy Shield program now, CyberScout has moved toward global operational compliance with pending EU standards.
CyberScout's services are available to millions of consumers through leading insurance and financial companies as well as employers, including 16 of the top 20 U.S. property and casualty insurance carriers, and six of the top seven Canadian insurers. In a perilous cyber world, CyberScout sets the gold standard for identity and data defense services. In annual customer surveys, CyberScout earns 99% satisfaction ratings, year after year.
CyberScout has offices and operation centers in Providence, Rhode Island, Phoenix, Arizona, Montreal, Canada, and Galway, Ireland.
About CyberScout
As the industry leader for over 13 years, CyberScout has been setting the gold standard for identity and data defense services from proactive protection and education to successful resolution. Formerly IDT911, CyberScout combines boots-on-the-ground experience with high-touch personal service to help commercial clients and individuals minimize risk and maximize recovery. To learn more, visit www.cyberscout.com.
Media Contact
David Heffernan
SHIFT Communications
[email protected]
SOURCE CyberScout
Related Links
http://www.cyberscout.com
Escapism is illustrated beautifully in Weber's photographs, where the jewelry reflects a captivating way of life that gives the campaign its natural warmth and playful appeal. The very definition of American style and elegance honors the David Yurman legacy of creating memorable, iconic imagery using the world's top models and most stunning locations.
"It is never about a piece of jewelry," says Sybil Yurman. "It is about a lifestyle that in many ways mirror how David and I live in terms of our artistic sensibilities, our dedication to craft and our belief that imagery should reflect the beauty and authenticity in everyday moments."
Natalia and Taylor both represent the natural confidence of the David Yurman woman, while the lush surroundings depict the spirit of relaxed informality. The campaign features new collections such as Continuance, Paveflex, and Solari that each represents the essence of the David Yurman brand in contemporary new ways. Jewelry is worn casually illustrating a freedom and irreverence intent on self-expression and individual style.
"It was such an amazing experience working with the David Yurman family and Bruce Weber," says Taylor Hill. "I can't wait to see the campaign come out and I'm looking forward to the future with them."
ABOUT DAVID YURMAN:
David Yurman is the premier American luxury jewelry brand with a mission to share in life's exceptional moments. Founded by two artists, David and Sybil Yurman, in New York in 1980, artistic inspiration, craftsmanship and unconventional yet elegant designs are at the core of the brand. The marriage of David's background in sculpture with Sybil's natural understanding of color and art yields signature jewelry designs; diamond, pearl, and gemstone jewelry and Swiss-crafted timepieces that are renowned for capturing the essence of relaxed American luxury. David Yurman collections are available at 47 retail and concession locations throughout the United States, Canada, France and at over 350 locations worldwide, through their exclusive authorized fine jewelry and timepiece network of retailers.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Noel
[email protected]
SOURCE David Yurman
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Deseret Digital Media (DDM) today announced that BrandForge, DDM's native advertising and content studio for local media companies, has entered into an agreement with the Local Media Consortium (LMC), a strategic partnership of leading local media companies. Through this partnership, BrandForge and the LMC will provide Consortium members and their more than 1,700 local media outlets across the United States with new tools to launch, scale and expand revenue from native advertising projects for their content marketing clients.
"BrandForge's services fit extremely well with our core value, which is to provide our members with the highest-quality partnerships and resources to efficiently grow their digital reach," said Rusty Coats, executive director of the LMC. "Through this partnership, our members many of whom have small, local staffs will be able to tap BrandForge's global expertise to further expand their mobile-ready native advertising services and revenues, without the need for new hires or overhead." Coats adds that more than half of the Consortium members' content is now viewed on mobile devices.
BrandForge was selected as an LMC partner following an extensive vetting process by Consortium members. The LMC selects the highest-quality service providers that mesh well with its members' needs. BrandForge joins the likes of Google, Yahoo! and Monster.com as approved LMC partners.
"The LMC plays a powerful role in supporting the sustainability of local media, and BrandForge adds to this portfolio by empowering local media to better access the power of mobile-ready advertising revenue," said Matt Sanders, Senior Director and General Manager of Deseret Digital Media. "We are pleased to join the ranks of a select group of LMC business-to-business service providers, and we look forward to working with Consortium members and their marketing customers to help them garner results."
Native advertising is a powerful new income source for local newspaper groups and other regional media companies in a rapidly changing industry. BrandForge (BrandForge.com) helps local newspaper groups and other small- and mid-sized publishers launch and scale native advertising projects for local content marketing clients, enabling these publishers to tap a revenue source previously out of reach for many local media operators. BrandForge consultants and content specialists help media clients develop their local product and pricing, and train them to secure content marketing clients, then create tailored sponsored content to publish, promote and monetize on their sites. BrandForge's end-to-end system for producing highly engaging sponsored content also enables media companies to maintain a strict, ethical wall between advertising and editorial staff.
ABOUT DESERET DIGITAL MEDIA
Deseret Digital Media is Utah's largest digital media company, reaching more than 20 million monthly unique visitors and more than 100 million global social follows, generating over one billion monthly ad impressions. The company operates the online properties of Utah's NBC affiliate, KSL, including KSL.com, the network's breaking news site, and KSL Marketplace, the only classifieds hub in the U.S. which locally outperforms national online classifieds competitors. Deseret Digital Media also operates DeseretNews.com and National.DeseretNews.com, the regional and national online editions of the Deseret News, Utah's first news organization and longest continuously operating business. The company also owns the FamilyShare Network, a global content platform in multiple languages offering practical advice for families, and Utah.com, the state's no. 1 travel and tourism clearinghouse. Deseret Digital Media also offers business-to-business services through BrandForge, its native advertising and content studio for local media organizations.
ABOUT BRANDFORGE
BrandForge (BrandForge.com) was initially created in 2013 to manage native advertising operations for Deseret Digital Media, its parent company and Utah's largest digital media company. It now provides native advertising and content services to a variety of outside partners. Today, BrandForge serves 30 clients representing more than 60 individual media organizations. For more information, visit http://solutions.deseretdigital.com/brandforge.html.
ABOUT THE LOCAL MEDIA CONSORTIUM:
The Local Media Consortium is a strategic partnership of leading local media companies focused on increasing member companies' share of digital revenue and audience by pursuing new relationships with a variety of technology companies and service providers. The LMC was founded in 2013 to address the needs of advertisers seeking to reach high-quality audiences on brand safe local digital properties at scale. In addition, the LMC provides members with access to leading technology and content solutions by fostering key partnerships with companies including Google, Monster, Yahoo and others. The LMC membership encompasses more than 75 local media companies in top markets across the United States and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 1,700 publications. The LMC audience footprint currently spans 155 million unique monthly visitors and its member companies serve more than four billion page views to readers. More information is available at www.localmediaconsortium.com.
For further information, contact:
Thatcher+Co
Christina Gillham, 917-825-6990
[email protected]
SOURCE Deseret Digital Media
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Board of Trustees has named Dr. P. Barry Butler, Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of Iowa (UI), as the sixth president of the world's leading institution of higher education focusing on aviation, aerospace and research.
During a meeting Feb. 14 at the university's headquarters in Daytona Beach, the Board unanimously appointed Dr. Butler to the position after he received across-the-board support from the Presidential Search Committee that included trustees, faculty, staff and student representatives and delegates from the university's Daytona Beach, Prescott, Ariz., and Worldwide campuses.
"It is important to note that Dr. Butler received 100 percent endorsement from everyone involved in this search. From the members of the Presidential Search Committee and the Faculty Advisory Committee all of the way through the short list to the final approval of the Board of Trustees, there was one name that consistently rose to the top. And that was Dr. Butler," said Mori Hosseini, Chairman of the university's Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee.
Dr. Butler will assume his position as president on March 13.
"I'm thrilled to be named Embry-Riddle's next president and look forward to building upon the outstanding global reputation of the university," said Dr. Butler. "The energy and passion of the faculty, students, staff and Board members I've met throughout the interview process made it clear I'm joining a very special institution."
Dr. Butler joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1984 as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and progressed to the rank of professor. Other positions held by Dr. Butler at UI include Department Executive Officer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Interim Dean and Dean of Engineering. As provost at UI, Dr. Butler has been responsible for more than 100 academic programs in the university's 11 colleges. While he was dean, the College of Engineering experienced record growth in undergraduate enrollment, external research funding and private support for faculty development, programmatic initiatives, facility improvements and student scholarships.
To read the full news release, please go to news.erau.edu. For more on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, go to erau.edu.
Media Contacts:
- Melanie Hanns, Director of Media Relations; (386) 226-7538; [email protected]
- James Roddey, Director of Communications; Office: (386) 226-6198; [email protected]
SOURCE Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Related Links
http://www.erau.edu
Duo Principal Security Strategist Wendy Nather presented Merrill and Coberley with the Industry and Academic Awards, respectively, at a special ceremony held last night in front of a capacity crowd of 500 infosecurity industry luminaries, leaders and reporters during the 2017 RSA Conference. Both women received registration and travel accommodations to the conference and a $2,500 stipend.
"We hope to inspire the next generation of leaders in security by raising the visibility of women whose work has lifted our community," said Dug Song, Duo Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer. "Whitney's achievements at the intersection of security, privacy, and law benefit us all, helping to set the bar for how our industry should protect the rights of users, and educating the community to such issues via her Crypto & Privacy Village at DEFCON."
"Katelyn has been a tireless champion and organizer of a security community in Michigan that is inclusive and welcoming," continued Song. "We celebrate them not only for the impact they've had in their respective areas, but for their dedication to the success of those around them."
Women in Security Awards winners are chosen by a panel of information security leaders including Song, Nather, Jon Oberheide, Duo Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer; Parisa Tabriz, Google Princess of Security; Scotland Symons, Microsoft Senior Security Architect and Rachel Sitarz, Cyber Inform CEO. Selection criteria is based on:
Significant contributions to the fields of information security and privacy
Exceptional knowledge, leadership and professionalism in technical, academic or commercial industries
Community involvement
Providing mentorship, and encouraging the empowerment and success of women in the security industry and related causes
The Winners
Industry Award: Whitney Merrill, Federal Trade Commission attorney, called in her nomination, "a force to be reckoned with," leads the charge at the intersection of information security and law and is widely regarded as a leader in the protection of individual rights and privacy. Starting her career as a summer intern at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), she went on to co-found the Crypto & Privacy Village, a staple at numerous security conferences. At the FTC, Merrill works on a number of consumer protection issues involving false advertising, deception, privacy and data security. Merrill's extensive research on data mining with Android APIs was published in the Network & Distributed System Security (NDSS) symposium, among other notable academic projects. She received her Masters in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. During her time at UIUC, Whitney was an Illinois Cyber Security Scholar and a member of the Illinois Security Lab.
Academic Award: Katelyn Coberley, EMU student, was described in her nomination as, "the lifeblood of the Information Assurance program at Eastern Michigan University." Coberley was a digital leader and on-campus advocate for technology education, and one of the cofounders of the Women in Information Assurance program at EMU, which promotes cybersecurity awareness, education, training and professional development. She also led initiatives such as Digital Divas, a conference that attracts more than 500 female students annually to explore different fields in technology, and was an active member of EMU's Cyber Collegiate Defense Competition team. Coperley graduated magna cum laude with honors from EMU in December 2016 and is widely considered a rising star by her peers.
Past honorees include Parisa Tabriz, Chrome Security Manager at Google; Rachel Sitarz, Graduate Assistant at Purdue University; Scotland Symons, Senior Security Architect at Microsoft and Jennifer Granick, Director of Civil Liberties at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society.
Nominations for the 2018 Duo Security Women in Security Awards will open in September 2017.
For more information, please visit www.women-in-security.com.
About Duo Security
Duo Security is a cloud-based Trusted Access provider protecting thousands of the world's largest and fastest-growing companies and organizations, including Dresser-Rand Group, Etsy, NASA, Facebook, K-Swiss, Paramount Pictures, Random House, SuddenLink, Toyota, Twitter, Yelp, Zillow and more. Duo Security's innovative and easy-to-use technology can be quickly deployed to protect users, data and applications from breaches, credential theft and account takeover. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company also has offices in San Mateo, California; Austin, Texas and London. Duo Security is backed by Benchmark, Google Ventures, Radar Partners, Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures. Try it for free at www.duo.com.
SOURCE Duo Security
Related Links
http://www.duo.com
COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Successfully managing fraud happens when companies stay ahead of fast-paced threats. Experian helps businesses across the globe with this reason in mind. Our recently released fraud and identity platform, CrossCore won New Security Product or Service and Security Product Management / Development Team of the Year awards at the 13th Annual Info Security Products Guide's 2017 Global Excellence Awards.
"We are proud to be recognized for helping organizations catch fraud faster while making it safe for consumers to go about their daily routine. This is what inspires Experian to create innovative fraud and identity solutions that benefit consumers, companies and the entire industry," said Steve Platt, global executive vice president, Fraud and Identity, Experian. "For the first time, companies can use an open platform CrossCore to manage their entire fraud and identity portfolio, keep up with the speed of fraud, and deliver a great customer experience."
The Info Security Products Guide's 2017 Global Excellence Awards are the security industry's premier global excellence awards program, honoring achievements in every facet of security and information technology. These prestigious awards recognize security and IT vendors with advanced, ground-breaking products and solutions that are helping set the bar higher in all areas of security and technologies.
Experian connects new and existing fraud and identity systems in one central place. The plug-and-play capability blends disparate products and services through a common access point, enabling a layered approach to managing risks. CrossCore has a powerful workflow and strategy design capabilities that allow fraud and compliance teams to rapidly create and adapt based on evolving threats and business needs. This has been a game changer, allowing organizations to better control risk exposure while providing a safer and more enjoyable experience for customers.
Learn more about how sharing fraud technology can help your business.
About Info Security Products Guide Awards
SVUS (Silicon Valley United States) Awards are conferred in 10 annual award programs: The Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards, The IT Industry's Hot Companies and Best Products Awards, The Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards, and Consumer World Awards, CEO World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, The Globee Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Women World Awards, PR World Awards, and Pillar Great Employers World Awards. These premier awards honor organizations of all types and sizes from all over the world including the people, products, performance, PR and marketing. To learn more, visit http://www.svusawards.com/.
About Experian
Experian is the world's leading global information services company. During life's big moments from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals to take financial control and access financial services, businesses to make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders to lend more responsibly, and organizations to prevent identity fraud and crime.
We have 17,000 people operating across 37 countries and every day we're investing in new technologies, talented people and innovation to help all our clients maximize every opportunity. We are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Learn more at www.experianplc.com or visit our global content hub at our global news blog for the latest news and insights from the company.
Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Kristie Galvani Matt Tatham Rubenstein Public Relations Experian Public Relations 1 212 805 3005 1 917 446 7227 [email protected] [email protected]
SOURCE Experian
Related Links
http://www.experian.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The March 24 all-day conference "The Israel Lobby and American Policy" at the National Press Club will feature the following speakers:
Wajahat Ali is a journalist, writer, lawyer, award-winning playwright, TV host, and consultant. Ali will discuss the intersection of pro-Israel organizations and donors and Islamophobia he uncovered as the lead author and researcher of the report "Fear, Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America."
Hanan Ashrawi is a long-time Palestinian legislator, analyst and political leader. She will discuss the Israel lobby and the "peace process" from a Palestinian perspective.
Katherine Franke is the Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and is on the Executive Committee of Columbia's Center for Palestine Studies. She also sits on the steering committee of the Academic Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace, and chairs the Board of Directors of the Center for Constitutional Rights, based in New York City. Franke will review recent legislation that threatens the First Amendment rights of Palestinian solidarity activists in the U.S. and the legal challenges thereto.
Eric Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist and will present a discussion titled "Looking forward, why does Israel need U.S. aid?"
John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. He will review what has changed in the decade since the book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy was published and what the new administration could do differently in the future that would better serve broader American interests.
Jim Moran is a former U.S. Representative for Virginia's 8th congressional district in Northern Virginia, including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington County, and a portion of Fairfax County. Moran will discuss "What it takes to beat the lobby" in Congress.
Ilan Pappe is Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK. He will discuss the utility of viewing Israel-Palestine through the lens of settler-colonialism.
Nick Rahall is a grandson of Lebanese immigrants and represented West Virginia in the U.S. Congress from 1977 to 2015. Rahall will advise on "How to support the members of Congress who are beginning to listen to all their constituents" on Middle East policy issues.
Jack Shaheen is an acclaimed author and media critic. He will discuss strategies he used to successfully push back against harmful Hollywood stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims and the work new generations must now take on.
Grant Smith is the director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) and the author of six books about the Israel lobby. He will discuss a series of stunningbut underreportedpolls revealing true American attitudes about U.S. aid to Israel and other top AIPAC programs.
View more information at the conference website and register online at IsraelLobbyAndAmericanPolicy.org
Attendees receive lunch, beverage ticket for the post-conference reception, and a complimentary DVD of the 2016 conference "Israel's Influence: Good or Bad for America?" During the month of February, a limited-quantity of $85 tickets are available. Purchasers of two (2) or more tickets can receive a complimentary three-DVD set of the conference series.
The Israel Lobby and American Policy conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).
SOURCE Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- If you joined the U.S. armed forces after 2006 or will do so before the end of 2017, the Investor Protection Trust (IPT) and Investor Protection Institute (IPI) have some important information you need to see about your financial future. Also designed to serve any other current or former member of the U.S. military, the updated edition of the Kiplinger's Financial Field Manual: A Personal Finance Guide For Military Families is a personal finance guide made possible by the Investor Protection Trust and the Investor Protection Institute and a number of state securities agencies.
The Financial Field Manual is being released in anticipation of Military Saves Week, February 27-March 4, 2017.
What's new in the update to the Financial Field Manual? Men and women who join the armed forces between 2006 and the end of next year will face a new challenge: Whether to stick with the retirement system that's been in place for decades or choose a new, blended plan that includes both a pension and contributions to the government's Thrift Savings Plan. Those who enlist in 2018 and later years will automatically go into the blended system.
To help those who must make the choice, the Investor Protection Trust and Investor Protection Institute are now making available the completely updated edition of Kiplinger's Financial Field Manual: A Personal Finance Guide For Military Families. The popular guide, including a special section about the new retirement plan, will be distributed free.
Available online at http://www.investorprotection.org/learn-about-investing/?fa=military, the Financial Field Manual also helps military members and their families make the most of the special financial benefits open to them, including tax breaks, low-cost investments, legal protections, education opportunities and insurance programs.
"The latest edition of the Financial Field Manual is a powerful weapon in the fight for financial security for the men and women who serve in the military," said Knight A. Kiplinger, editor in chief, Kiplinger's Personal Finance and Kiplinger.com. "We know they confront unique, often complex financial challenges. We want to help make sure they take advantage of the valuable benefits and investing opportunities available to them."
Don Blandin, president and CEO of Investor Protection Trust and the Investor Protection Institute, called attention to the Field Manual's warnings about financial fraud. "While members of the military have access to some very valuable benefits, they also find themselves singled out by unscrupulous swindlers who target and then prey on active and retired military personnel. Our step-by-step guide makes it very clear what military families should doand what they should avoid."
The Financial Field Manual is authored by long-time Kiplinger's Personal Finance columnist and Contributing Editor Kim Lankford, who also has years of pertinent first-hand experience as a military spouse. "As a military family for 21 years, we had access to special programs and benefits that financial publications rarely write about. I'm happy to share the strategies and resources that helped us make the most of these opportunities to build financial security, prepare for three deployments, and make the transition to civilian life. And it's especially timely now that servicemembers have to make important decisions about the new retirement program."
The following topics are covered in-depth by the manual:
Investing In Your Future: Make the Most of Special Savings Plans and New Rules (page 1)
(page 1) Your Military Benefits: Discover all the Advantages and Protections to Which You're Entitled (page 5)
(page 5) Before and After Deployment: Take Smart Steps to Protect Your Family and Your Finances (page 8)
(page 8) Buying and Selling a Home: Benefit From Special Perks and Resources to Ease Military Moves (page 11)
(page 11) Financial Fraud Watch: Protect Yourself From Scams That Target Service members (page 13)
(page 13) Leaving the Military: Plan A Smooth Return to Civilian Life With This Checklist (page 15)
(page 15) Financial Resources for Military Families (page 17)
ABOUT THE GROUPS
The Investor Protection Trust is a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education. More than half of all Americans are now invested in the securities markets, making investor education and protection vitally important. Since 1993 the Investor Protection Trust has worked with the states and at the national level to provide the independent, objective investor education needed by all Americans to make informed investment decisions. The Investor Protection Trust strives to keep all Americans on the right money track. Become a fan of IPT on Facebook or investorprotection.org and follow IPT on Twitter and LinkedIn.
The Investor Protection Institute is an independent nonprofit organization that advances investor protection by conducting and supporting unbiased research and groundbreaking education programs. IPI carries out its mission through investor education, protection and research programs delivered at both the national and grassroots level in collaboration with state securities regulators and other strategic partners. IPI is dedicated to providing innovative investor-protection programs that will make a meaningful difference in the financial lives of Americans in all walks of life and at all levels of sophistication about financial matters. Become a fan of IPI on Facebook or iInvest.org and follow IPI on Twitter and YouTube.
For nine decades, the Kiplinger organization has led the way in personal finance and business forecasting. Founded in 1920 by W.M. Kiplinger, the company developed one of the nation's first successful newsletters in modern times. The Kiplinger Letter, launched in 1923, remains the longest continuously published newsletter in the United States. In 1947, Kiplinger created the nation's first personal finance magazine. Kiplinger.com is the fastest growing Web site in the personal finance space. Located in the heart of our nation's capital, the Kiplinger editors remain dedicated to delivering sound, unbiased advice for your family and your business in clear, concise language. Become a fan of Kiplinger on Facebook or Kiplinger.com and follow Kiplinger on Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr.
SOURCE Investor Protection Trust and Investor Protection Institute, Washington, D.C.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 21-23, 2017, global leaders in the footwear industry will convene at FN PLATFORM in Las Vegas. A subsidiary of UBM Fashion Group, the international showcase is the pillar in branded footwear featuring men's, women's, junior's and children's footwear brands from more than 20 countries. Always an exciting three days for the industry, this year FN PLATFORM unveiled a few new highlights and happenings.
"We want all show attendees to have a first-class experience," said Leslie Gallin, President of Footwear at UBM Fashion. "Our show floor lounges offer an elevated comfortable space to re-energize or meet with friends and colleagues. We also put a focus on the food selection and cocktail offerings as well as special enhancements like foot massages or hair and makeup retouching. This adds to the overall experience for the buyers, all under one roof.
NEW YEAR, NEW LOUNGES
Broken into six distinct lifestyle neighborhoods Black Diamond ,Cosmo, Camp, Bond, IN Play, and Zen FN PLATFORM attendees can enjoy four beautifully appointed lounges featuring food and beverages throughout the show floor.
Newly redecorated Camp/Bond, Cosmo, IN Play and Zen lounges will feature a complete refresh to provide a more modern aesthetic and streamlined look and feel.
STARS HIT SIN CITY
BERLIN , most renowned for 'Take My Breath Away' will perform at FN PLATFORM's bi-annual Opening Night Concert. February 21, 2017 from 6pm to 7pm at the FN Cafe, on the show floor.
, most renowned for 'Take My Breath Away' will perform at FN PLATFORM's bi-annual Opening Night Concert. from at the FN Cafe, on the show floor. Actress and singer, Kiersey Clemmons ( Dope, Transparent, Extant) will make an appearance at the Coolway booth on Wednesday, February 22 nd from 1pm to 3pm . Booth #80693, LVCC South Hall.
will make an appearance at the Coolway booth on from . Booth #80693, LVCC South Hall. Taryn Rose , the originator for luxury comfort shoes for women, will relaunch her brand for Fall/Winter 2017. Meet and greet with the pioneer on Tuesday, February 21 st and Wednesday, February 22 nd from 10am to 4pm . Booth #80601, LVCC South Hall, Level 1.
TRUMP & POLITICS & Dov Charney!
It's been a 'squirrely' year in business and politics. Join some of the industry's leading voices as they speak about hot topics, such as the Trump administration's effect on the fashion business, in the seminar 'Looking Forward'. Tuesday, February 21 st from 10:30am to 11:30am , S229, LVCC South Hall.
from , S229, LVCC South Hall. SPEAKERS: Dov Charney (former CEO of American Apparel and Founder of Los Angeles Apparel), Mark Burnstein (President, NGS Software), Erik D. Smithweiss (Partner, GDLSK LLP), Vincent Iacopella (EVP, Alba Group).
THE FUTURE IS 3-D
PENSOLE Academy will host its bi-annual competition, but this time to find the shoe industry's best emerging 3D designers, who will showcase the use of 3D technology and personalization for footwear. Booth #82500, LVCC South Hall, Level 1.
FRENCH CONNECTION
For the first time outside of Paris's Premiere Classe, FN PLATFORM will introduce a French Pavilion. Under the guidance of ADC, 10 brands from France will be heading to Las Vegas . Brands include: Elodie Bruno , Gordana Dimitrijevic , Maison Jour Ferie, Le Flow Paris , Pairs in Paris , among others. Booth #80623, LVCC South Hall, Level 1.
FRINGE BENEFITS
Daily foot massages by Foot Petals inside FN PLATFORM's ZEN Lounge.
Daily Hair and Makeup touch ups by Mobile Beauty inside the COSMO Lounge.
Build-A-Bear: In partnership with Esquire Footwear, its footwear licensee, Build-A-Bear Workshop is coming to FN PLATFORM. Any bears remaining after the event will be donated to a local chapter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
FN PLATFORM continues to be where buyers and sellers converge to shop and shape the industry. In just six years, FN PLATFORM has grown from 100 exhibitors to over 1,600 exhibiting brands, representing over 30 countries across 200,000+ square feet. For additional information, please visit www.ubmfashion.com/shows/fn-platform.
About FN PLATFORM
Launched in February 2010 under the direction of UBM Fashion Group, President of Footwear Leslie Gallin, FN PLATFORM is North America's most influential footwear business forum - where the leaders and innovators converge to shape the industry, shop and sell shoes. Connecting the global fashion community at a single gathering, FN PLATFORM showcases the full spectrum of branded footwear for men, women, juniors and children, across all categories, price points and trends. The carefully curated selections of established and emerging brands segmented into easy-to-navigate lifestyle neighborhoods offer attendees a comprehensive one-stop shop opportunity that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. For more information, please visit www.ubmfashion.com/shows/fn-platform.
About UBM Americas
UBM Americas, a part of UBM plc, delivers events and marketing services in the fashion, technology, licensing, advanced manufacturing, automotive and powersports, healthcare, veterinary and pharmaceutical industries, among others. Through a range of aligned interactive environments, both physical and digital, UBM Americas increases business effectiveness for customers and audiences through meaningful experiences, knowledge and connections. The division also includes UBM Brazil's market leading events in construction, cargo transportation, logistics & international trade, and agricultural production; and UBM Mexico's, construction, advanced manufacturing and hospitality services shows. For more information, visit: www.ubmamericas.com.
SOURCE FN PLATFORM
Montanas apprentice hunter program could expand to include those over the age of 18.
Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, brought Senate Bill 218 to the Senate Fish and Game Committee Tuesday. The bill makes some needed clarifications to the apprentice hunter bill he carried last session while also expanding the program to eligible adults.
In 2015 the program created a $5 apprentice hunting certificate for hunters from 10 to 18 years old to use with a designated mentor. The mentor must be 21 years old and related by blood, marriage, adoption or be the apprentices legal guardian. A parent or legal guardian can also designate a non-family member as a mentor.
Apprentice hunters can hunt for two seasons before needing to complete hunter safety.
The bill creating the program divided conservation groups for not requiring apprentice hunters to first complete hunter safety, and lowering the hunter minimum age to 10. The bill eventually went into law amended to a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks licensing bill and received generally positive feedback the last two seasons.
On Tuesday, Blasdel marveled at the popularity of the program. Projected to attract 1,350 hunters in its first year, more than 3,700 young hunters seized the opportunity in 2015 and nearly 4,600 last year, he said.
SB218 makes some needed clarifications, he said, that reflect the original bills intent.
First and in response to some initial confusion, it clarifies that hunters under 12 who complete hunter safety are not rendered ineligible from becoming apprentices. The move encourages those young hunters to enroll in hunter safety, Blasdel said.
Second, the bill clarifies that black bear, mountain lion and wolf license are not included in the apprentice hunter program. All special-draw licenses are also excluded. Deer, turkey, upland and migratory birds, plus elk for those 15 and older can be hunted by apprentices.
The programs biggest evolution under SB218 would allow those adults who would be required to complete hunter safety to become apprentices. The law currently says those born after Jan. 1, 1985, must complete hunter safety to obtain a hunting license.
The bill has been so successful and opened so many doors, what Id like to do is open this up for hunters from 18 to 32, Blasdel said. Hunters in this age category would follow the same rules, but the mentor can simply be someone over 21 years of age, rather than a relative, he added.
SB218 saw unanimous support from those testifying.
The bills clarifying language makes perfect sense and expanding the ages addresses Montanas changing demographics, said Mac Minard, executive director of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association.
While the Montana Wildlife Federation initially opposed the apprentice program, MWFs Ben Lamb told the committee that SB218 has appropriate sideboards and is a good step forward for a program starting to see success.
While some members still have serious concerns, this bill is a good bill, he said.
Blasdel closed on his bill noting that hunting tends to drop off at age 18. SB218 is an, opportunity to open the door to a few more people and clarify the law as is, he said.
The committee did not take immediate action on the bill.
ASHBURN, Va., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Fornetix announced an OEM Agreement with Thales, integrating the nShield HSM with Fornetix Key Orchestration.
The Key Orchestration Appliance is now commercially available, tightly integrating the nShield HSM directly in the Key Orchestration Appliance. The Key Orchestration Appliance delivers the unprecedented key management scale and automation capabilities of Key Orchestration in a highly-secured FIPS 140-2 Level 3 appliance.
"The integration of the nShield HSM with Key Orchestration software and hardware will allow customers to operate at the highest level of physical based security," said Peter Galvin, VP of Strategy at Thales e-Security. "We are pleased that Fornetix selected the industry leading nShield HSM to integrate with their Key Orchestration Appliance to provide high assurance KMIP compliant key management.
"The Fornetix Team is very excited to be able to announce our OEM Agreement with Thales at RSA 2017," said Jack Wright, COO and Acting CEO of Fornetix. "In 2015 and 2016, and now in 2017, Key Orchestration has demonstrated a high level of compliance with the full spectrum of KMIP functionality. This commercial release of the Key Orchestration Appliance with the nShield KMIP compliant HSM is the culmination of many years' worth of dedicated effort to bring a higher level of cybersecurity to all legitimate enterprises at this critical time when cybersecurity is so much in question."
"The Fornetix team has focused consistently on standards-based encryption and encryption key management as a way to make encryption more affordable, as well as more secure and easier to manage," said Chuck White, CTO of Fornetix. "This fully integrated FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Appliance is a dramatic demonstration of the commercial power being made available by the OASIS KMIP standard."
Jack Wright continued, "Our standards-based mission has been greatly assisted by the Key Management Interoperability Protocol as it has evolved over the years through KMIP 1.0 through 1.4. In addition, Key Orchestration has been built using the powerful KMIP foundational software developed and provided by Cryptsoft."
Fornetix will be in the OASIS booth and independently exhibiting at the 2017 RSA Conference, South Expo booth # 2743, on February 13th through 17th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA.
"Our Mission is to protect and serve," said Jack Wright.
About Fornetix
Fornetix is an advanced encryption/key management software company based in Northern Virginia. We are a Team of 70 cybersecurity and business experts that are Mission Driven to reverse the tide of eroding cybersecurity. From core to edge and beyond, Fornetix reduces costs, improves security, and removes the operational complexities by automating and optimizing enterprise encryption key management services. For more information about Fornetix, visit: https://www.fornetix.com/.
Our solution is Key OrchestrationDon't Just Manage Encryption. Orchestrate it!
SOURCE Fornetix
Related Links
http://www.fornetix.com
Paying homage to the year of the first overwater bungalow, the 50 th Anniversary Package includes a 1,967 resort credit, which is applied to stays of six or more consecutive nights, and can be used by guests on resort charges such as dining , activities and spa experiences. Additionally, guests booking this package will receive a "Make Your Own Mai Tai" kit, allowing them to further celebrate this occasion with French Polynesia's most famous cocktail.
"This is a historic occasion, and we're celebrating the overwater bungalow all year long with this special resort credit," said Maria Jagla, general manager of Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora. "These unique accommodations have a come a long way since 1967, and we're proud to offer the ultimate version, full of luxury and comfort, here at Four Seasons."
The first overwater bungalow was built by the famed "Bali Hai Boys" on the French Polynesian island of Raiatea in 1967. This sought-after design has since been replicated around the world, though Bora Bora is most known as the luxury destination of choice for these accommodations.
Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora offers 100 overwater bungalow suites (15 with private plunge pools), ranging in size from 1,120 2,228 square feet (104 207 square meters.) Each designed with traditional thatched roofs, indigenous Polynesian artwork, modern flair and privacy in mind.
The Resort also offers seven inclusive beachfront villa estates, while dining options include a vast selection of creative culinary experiences, from Polynesian to French to South Pacific fusion. A full-service spa offers the perfect combination of relaxation and exhilaration, while an abundance of active adventure options await.
The Resort has recently introduced offering private jet charters from Los Angeles to Bora Bora.
In partnership with Aircraft Logix, this new service provides non-stop flights from the executive terminals of Los Angeles area airports (including LAX, VNY and others) bypassing the hassles of commercial air travel, and boarding directly onto a Gulfstream G550 or other large cabin aircraft private charter. Guests have the year-round option of an exclusive private charter (one party of up to 12 guests), or a shared private charter (with other Four Seasons guests) over select dates throughout 2017, including a Spring Break charter April 13-20, a Festive charter in December and other lifestyle-oriented charters centered around romance, culinary experiences and wellness. Both private and shared charter options are offered with select accommodations and activities, providing a truly personalized experience. The charter shuttle service is provided as a complimentary value added consideration, exclusively for guests of Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora.
For more information or Resort reservations, please visit www.fourseasons.com/borabora, call (800) 819-5053 or contact your travel professional (chain code FS.)
SOURCE Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora
GOLDEN, Colo., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Golden Minerals Company (NYSE MKT: AUMN; TSX: AUM) ("Golden Minerals", "Golden" or "the Company") is pleased to announce positive results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for its Santa Maria silver and gold project located near Santa Barbara in Chihuahua State, Mexico.
The PEA presents a base case assessment of developing Santa Maria's mineral resource and incorporates the results of an updated National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant mineral resource estimate dated as of February 15, 2017.
PEA Highlights
Post-tax net present value ("NPV") of $6.4 million and pre-tax internal rate of return of 84 percent at an 8 percent discount rate
and pre-tax internal rate of return of 84 percent at an 8 percent discount rate Total capital requirements of $1.2 million (initial capital $1.0 million , sustaining capital $0.2 million )
(initial capital , sustaining capital ) Pre-production development time 10 to 11 months
Life of mine ("LOM") 3.2 years
Payback in month 16
LOM free cash flow $8.5 million
LOM silver production 2.1 Moz; LOM gold production 7.2 koz
LOM average silver grade 332 grams per tonne ("gpt"); average gold grade 1.28 gpt
LOM cash cost of $12 per Ag oz (net of Au credits)
Note: PEA parameters assume prices of $1,222/oz gold, $17.30/oz silver and a discount rate of eight percent. Values above are approximate. All $ values in $US.
Warren Rehn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Minerals, commented, "We are pleased with the results of this independently-prepared PEA, as it presents a low cost and profitable operation at current metals prices. If we go ahead with the project, production at Santa Maria would mark Golden's re-emergence as a producer of close to one million silver equivalent ounces annually, with the potential to move the company to positive net cash flow. We believe there is also excellent potential for expansion of the project which could lead to continued production beyond the initial three-year period considered in the PEA."
Next Steps
Golden will continue work related to optimizing operating plans for the project and obtaining permits for the potential mining operation as considered in the current PEA. Permit applications have been submitted and are pending comment and acceptance. Golden is also developing plans for additional exploration work to expand the resource.
Mining Operations
The PEA contemplates a 38-month underground mining operation initially utilizing pre-existing underground development at a mine production rate of 200 tons per day using a combination of cut and fill, shrinkage and other mining techniques, and custom milling at a local third-party flotation mill. As Golden Minerals already owns the mining equipment required to complete this project, the out of pocket capital costs for start-up are expected to be low.
Key parameters of the PEA are as follows.
Description Unit Cost ($/t-milled) Total Value ($M)
Net Smelter Return $148.56 $34.3
Land Acquisition -$4.48 -$1.0
Net Revenue $144.08 $33.3 Operating Costs
Mining $55.13 $12.7
Processing $40.00 $9.2
G&A $1.34 $0.3
Lease $0.84 $0.2
Operating Costs $97.31 $22.5
Operating Margin $46.77 $10.8 Capital Costs
Mining - $0.4
Infrastructure - $0.5
Owner Costs - $0.3
Capital Costs - $1.2 Estimate of Tax
Federal Tax 1 - $0.0
Special Mining Tax - -$0.9
Precious Metals Tax - -$0.2
Estimate of Tax - -$0.9
Cash Flow - $8.5
NPV 8% - $6.4
IRR - 84%
Payback (months) - 16
1 Assumes Company uses existing Net Operating Loss carry forward
General Assumptions
Description Units Value Market Prices
Gold $/oz $1,222
Silver $/oz $17.30 Taxes
Federal Tax* % 30.0%
Special Mining Tax % 7.5%
Precious Metals Tax % 0.5% Financial
Discount Rate % 8.0% *Not applied due to the assumption that existing
Net Operating Losses would be utilized.
Process Summary
Description Units Value Concentrate (dry) kt 15 Payable Metal Recoveries
Sulfide
Gold % 80%
Silver % 90%
Transition
Gold % 58%
Silver % 75% Recovered Metals
Sulfide
Gold koz 6.0
Silver koz 1,635
Transition
Gold koz 1.2
Silver koz 488
Capital and Operating Costs
Operating Cost Estimate Summary
Description LOM Unit Cost Cost ($M) ($/t-milled)
Mining $12.7 $55.13
Processing $9.2 $40.00
G&A $0.3 $1.34
Lease $0.2 $0.84
Total (LOM Cash Cost) $22.5 $97.31
Sustaining Capital $0.2
Capital Cost Estimate Summary
Description Initial Sustaining Total Capital ($M) Capital ($M) Capital ($M)
Mining $0.4 $0.0 $0.4
Infrastructure $0.5 $0.0 $0.5
Owner's Costs $0.1 $0.2 $0.3
Total $1.0 $0.2 $1.2
Metals Price Sensitivity Metal High Base Low Au $1,300 $1,222 $1,144 Ag $20.00 $17.30 $14.60 NPV 8%* $11,304 $6,438 $1,974 IRR 121% 84% 37% *NPV in Thousands
NPV (8 %) Project Sensitivity ($000)
% of Base Case 90% 100% 110% NSR Revenue $3,870 $6,438 $9,007 Opex $8,165 $6,438 $4,711 Capex $6,548 $6,438 $6,328
Santa Maria Mineral Resource Estimate Dated February 15, 2017
In conjunction with the PEA, the independent firm of Tetra Tech prepared an updated NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate. The new estimate incorporates results of 24 additional underground drill holes and 460 channel samples from drifts and the trial mining face. The underground drilling and channel sampling has allowed for a more than doubling of indicated resources since the previous April 2015 mineral resource estimate.
Indicated and Inferred mineral resource estimates as of February 15, 2017 for Santa Maria are shown as follows:
Classification Cutoff Grade Tonnes Ag g/t Au g/t AgEq g/t Ag toz Au toz AgEq toz Dilution% Recovered AgEq g/t (M) (k) (M) Indicated 175 180,000 304 1.4 404 1.73 8.1 2.31 10% Inferred 175 160,000 321 0.9 387 1.64 4.7 1.98 18% Notes: (1) Mineral resources are reported as diluted Tonnes and grade; (2) Cutoff grade and Ag equivalent calculated using metal prices of $17.3 and $1,222 per troy ounce of Ag and Au, respectively, with a ratio of 70.6:1, the three year trailing average as of the end of December 2016; (3) Cutoff applied to diluted Ag equivalent blocks grades using recoveries of 90% and 80% Ag and Au, respectively; (4) Reported indicated mineral resources are equivalent to mineralized material under SEC Industry Guide 7, inferred mineral resource is not a recognized category under SEC Industry Guide 7; and (5) Columns may not total due to rounding.
An NI 43-101-compliant technical report will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and made available on the Golden Minerals website within 45 days.
Property Title and Ownership
Golden has the right to acquire the Santa Maria property under an option agreement that requires approximately $0.9 million more in payments in order to acquire 100 percent of the property. Minimum payments of $0.1 million are due every April and October, and Golden has already advanced the minimum payments for 2017 to the property owner. In addition, until Golden has paid the remaining $0.9 million due under the option agreement, the property owners have the right to 50 percent of any net profits from mining activities at the property, after reimbursement of all costs incurred by Golden since April 2015, to the extent that such net profit payments exceed the minimum payments.
PEA Information
The discounted cash flows in the PEA are provided post-tax and are prepared in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Tetra Tech is an independent engineering firm that served as principal author of the PEA prepared on behalf of the Company. Geoff Elson, PG is the independent Qualified Person from Tetra Tech who reviewed and approved the portions of this press release regarding mineral resources. Mark Horan, P.Eng of Tetra Tech is the independent Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the portions of this press release regarding the results of the PEA. Dr. Deepak Malhotra of Resource Development Inc. is the independent Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the metallurgical recoveries.
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Standalone economics have not been undertaken for the indicated resources and as such no reserves have been estimated for the Project. There is no certainty that the economic results described in the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
About Golden Minerals
Golden Minerals is a Delaware corporation based in Golden, Colorado. The Company is primarily focused on acquiring and advancing mining properties in Mexico with emphasis on areas near its Velardena processing plants.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources
This press release uses the terms "mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101. We advise U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured resources and indicated resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves, and U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically mineable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources.
Cautionary Statement regarding Mineralized Material
"Mineralized material" as used in this press release, although permissible under the SEC's Industry Guide 7, does not indicate "reserves" by SEC standards. We cannot be certain that any deposits at the Santa Maria project will ever be confirmed or converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves". Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of the disclosed mineralized material estimates will ever be confirmed or converted into reserves or that mineralized material can be economically or legally extracted.
Forward-Looking Statements
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, and applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the Santa Maria PEA results (including cost estimates, development timing, expected cash flow and life of mine and production expectations), estimates of mineral resources for the Santa Maria project, and other expectations regarding the Santa Maria project, including operating and exploration plans, cost expectations and title and ownership matters. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including: the reasonability of the economic assumptions at the basis of the PEA, changes in interpretations of geological, geostatistical, metallurgical, mining or processing information and interpretations of the information resulting from future exploration, analysis or mining and processing experience; new information from drilling programs or other exploration or analysis; unexpected variations in mineral grades, types and metallurgy; fluctuations in silver and gold metal prices; failure of mined material or veins mined to meet expectations; increases in costs and declines in general economic conditions; and changes in political conditions, in tax, royalty, environmental and other laws in Mexico, and financial market conditions. Golden Minerals assumes no obligation to update this information. Additional risks relating to Golden Minerals may be found in the periodic and current reports filed with the SEC by Golden Minerals, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.
For additional information please visit http://www.goldenminerals.com/ or contact:
Golden Minerals Company
Karen Winkler
Director of Investor Relations
(303) 839-5060
[email protected]
SOURCE Golden Minerals Company
Related Links
http://www.goldenminerals.com
GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gramercy Funds Management LLC ("Gramercy"), a $5.8 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager, today announced the appointment of Bradshaw McKee to the position of Managing Director, Capital Solutions and Distressed Portfolio Manager. Mr. McKee has over 24 years of distressed and structured credit experience in emerging markets. He most recently co-headed emerging markets structured credit trading at Deutsche Bank, and during his career has held numerous senior emerging market banking and trading positions at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan in the US and Latin America. Mr. McKee will report to Robert Koenigsberger, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer.
Mr. McKee will be a part of Gramercy's Alternatives Portfolio Management team and will expand Gramercy's Capital Solutions team and effort, which develops financing solutions that assist companies in emerging markets and provide compelling potential returns for Gramercy's investors. Over the last 18 months, Gramercy has raised approximately $1B of long-term capital in part to pursue private credit opportunities within emerging markets, including opportunities identified by the Capital Solutions team. The addition of Mr. McKee reflects Gramercy's strong commitment to being the leader in this growing sector within emerging markets credit.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Koenigsberger said, "Gramercy has always been devoted to bringing our clients a level of emerging markets investment expertise they cannot find elsewhere. Brad's experience allows us to broaden the spectrum of investment opportunities we deploy in our portfolios, utilizing our entire integrated credit platform, for the benefit of our investors. He expands our Capital Solutions team, which is seeing excellent opportunities, especially in markets where traditional sources of credit have been disrupted or displaced."
"I am excited to be joining a team that shares my passion for emerging markets investing," said Mr. McKee. "Gramercy offers a unique platform in today's market to take advantage of the structured credit and distressed space. Gramercy's team is a thought leader in emerging markets and has an ambitious vision for the future. I look forward to being part of the Gramercy team and capitalizing on credit opportunities on behalf of our investors."
Prior to joining Gramercy, Mr. McKee was Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Emerging Markets Structured Credit Trading at Deutsche Bank. As Senior Trader of the Emerging Markets Corporate Credit Principal Desk in Latin America and CEEMEA, he was responsible for over $2B of risk across distressed and high yield corporate bonds and loan investments, direct lending and non-performing loan portfolios. He also served as a member of Deutsche Bank's Emerging Markets Executive Committee, Emerging Markets Reputational Committee and Global Markets Americas Management Committee. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. McKee spent thirteen years at JPMorgan in various banking and distressed trading roles while working from Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and New York. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and his B.A. from Middlebury College.
About Gramercy:
Gramercy is a $5.8 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager based in Greenwich, CT with offices in London, Hong Kong, and Mexico City, and a presence in Lima and Buenos Aires. The firm, founded in 1998, seeks to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns through a comprehensive approach to emerging markets, supported by a transparent and robust institutional platform. Gramercy offers both alternative and long-only strategies across all emerging markets asset classes including USD debt, local currency debt, high yield corporate debt, distressed debt, equity, private equity and special situations. www.gramercy.com
For Further Information Contact:
Investors:
Stephen A. LaVersa
Gramercy
203-552-1923
[email protected]
Media:
Steve Bruce / John Stavinga
ASC Advisors
203-992-1230
[email protected] / [email protected]
SOURCE Gramercy Funds Management LLC
Related Links
http://www.gramercy.com
BONITA SPRINGS, Florida, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Florida-based GreenSafe Worldwide LLC launched today as a global distribution platform for leading North American companies with an initial focus on companies serving the legal cannabis industry. The company will market a select group of high quality products in order to help companies generate increased revenue and heightened visibility.
GreenSafe Worldwide is launching with an exclusive contract with a Plant Nutrient Enhancer called Hydroponic Moonshine for which it has sole distribution rights in North America, Central America and South America. Moonshine is a brewed plant bio stimulant that promotes impressive plant growth, health and terpene production in a variety of ways. It is suitable for use with any growing medium, soil, hydro system and NFT.
"Hydroponic Moonshine's popularity throughout the UK and Europe is soaring as a result of its impressive ability to promote plant growth and health. More than 200 retailers and distributors are already set up to market the product and demand is keen with current sales already exceeding $2 million. We're projecting that sales of Hydroponic Moonshine will exceed $20 million by 2020. Growers who use Moonshine are noticing exceptional crop quality and yields," said Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Chadwick.
Benefits of Hydroponic Moonshine include its ability to dramatically increase THC and CBD levels and intensity while substantially increasing root strength and plant vitality, thus increasing product yields and volume by 10% or more. Research and development data confirms a reduction in need of fertilizer or micro/macro nutrients up to 33 percent.
GreenSafe Worldwide is currently accepting inquiries from leading companies interested in increasing sales and distribution worldwide and will accept a small group of companies with which to work. In order to vet companies, the management team will be traveling to 10 industry conferences throughout the United States in 2017. In addition to CEO Scott T. Chadwick, the team is led by: Chief Financial Officer Robert V. Rudman, CPA; Director of Business Development Reed Morgan; Production Director Paul Footitt; and Application & Distribution Director Gary Reid.
For additional information or to set up an appointment, please call +1-239-220-0240 or email [email protected].
Media Contact:
Charlotte Luer
+1-239-404-6785
SOURCE GreenSafe Worldwide LLC
DENVER, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GroovyTek, an education-based company providing hour-long in-home personal technology training sessions, recently announced the launch of its services to the Valley of the Sun. GroovyTek works side by side with their clients to empower them to take control of their personal technology on their own terms. The company's trainers assist customers with their smartphones, tablets, computers and other devices covering a wide array of services and topics from security to social media.
"We created GroovyTek because we believe that people over forty years old are being mistreated by the technology industry," said Matt Munro, co-founder of GroovyTek. "Everyone deserves to stay connected and understand the technology that's available to them. We take a personalized approach to helping our customers become confident navigating their devices in a patient and respectful way."
The company, which is headquartered and has an established customer base in Denver, was created to serve clients and to help navigate the roads of technology independently. GroovyTek is committed to working one-on-one with customers to overcome technological obstacles that may arise while also empowering them to learn more.
"At GroovyTek, we use a unique, personalized problem solving technique called the Groovy Method to cultivate working solutions," added Alex Rodas, co-founder of GroovyTek. "Our trainers are passionate and empathetic cultivators who live to help folks achieve those "light-bulb" or "a-ha" moments" in regards to their personal devices."
Popular GroovyTek services include smartphone assistance on how to navigate features such as texting, video chatting, using the camera, organizing photos, sending email, managing contacts and keeping track of important appointments and events. In addition, GroovyTek's trainers can help customers stay in touch with friends and family through social media, understand the newest software updates and browse the Internet safely. Additional services include: storage, backup and synching, music downloads and exploring the cloud, apps and downloads.
Those interested in scheduling a session can visit the website or call (602) 638-5400.
About GroovyTek
GroovyTek launched in 2016 as an education-based company that offers one-on-one, in-home personal technology training sessions for smartphones, tablets and computers. Built upon a personalized problem solving technique known as the Groovy Method, GroovyTek trainers serve clients patiently in one-hour sessions and help empower them to grasp personal technology in relatable, understandable terms. GroovyTek was created to serve clients and help them navigate the roads of technology independently. For more information about GroovyTek, visit www.GroovyTek.com or call and schedule an appointment at (602) 638-5400 for Arizona and (303) 317-2800 for Colorado. Follow GroovyTek on Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo.
SOURCE GroovyTek
Related Links
http://www.GroovyTek.com
VIENNA, Va., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hair Cuttery, the largest family-owned and operated chain of hair salons in the country, is proud to announce that it will be donating 76,942 free haircut certificates to the homeless. In just two days from February 6 7, patrons visited one of Hair Cuttery's nearly 1,000 salons to participate in this get-one, give-one campaign. The haircut certificates, estimated at $21 each and totaling more than $1.6 million in retail value, will benefit the homeless across the nation.
The free haircut certificates will be donated locally to a homeless adult or child in the neighborhoods of all Hair Cuttery's salon locations and will be distributed through partnerships with resident shelters and community organizations.
"Our Share-A-Haircut program reaches tens of thousands across the country, and our guests are thrilled about getting involved," said Dennis Ratner, Founder and CEO of Hair Cuttery. "It is a simple gesture that goes such a long way and helps to return a smile back to the faces of adults and children who deserve it."
The Miami Rescue Mission is among the organizations that will distribute Hair Cuttery's free haircut certificates to its patrons. Community Development Associate Lian Marcos added, "A haircut has the power to make a person feel confident about their appearance. At the Miami Rescue Mission, we believe that when a homeless person feels good about himself, he is in a better position to make other changes in his life such as finding work, training and recovery."
Since 1999, the Share-A-Haircut program has donated more than 2.08 million free haircut certificates valued at more than $34 million. Hair Cuttery has an established history of charitable giving, supporting a range of local and national causes, St. Baldrick's Foundation, American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, OneOrlando, Girls on the Run and The National Network to End Domestic Violence.
About Hair Cuttery
Hair Cuttery is the largest family-owned and operated chain of hair salons in the country, with nearly 1,000 company-owned locations on the East Coast, New England and the Midwest. A full-service, value-priced salon, Hair Cuttery offers a full complement of cuts and styling, coloring, waxing and texturizing services with no appointment necessary, as well as a full line of professional hair care products. Hair Cuttery is committed to delivering a delightful client experience through WOW Service including a Smile Back Guarantee. Hair Cuttery is a division of Ratner Companies, based in Vienna, VA. www.haircuttery.com
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Emily Noto
TBC for Hair Cuttery
410-986-1209
[email protected]
Amy Hudzik
Ratner Companies
703-269-5175
[email protected]
SOURCE Hair Cuttery
Related Links
http://www.haircuttery.com
AKRON, Ohio, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past 20 years, Hartville Pet Insurance GroupSM has provided insurance for more than 400,000 dogs and cats. That's a lot of tail wagging and purring compared to its humble beginnings.
Now based in Akron, Ohio, the company will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. The second oldest pet health insurance provider in the U.S., Hartville is an industry leader and has played witness to many milestones along the way.
The company was originally founded in North Canton, Ohio in 1997. In the early days, Hartville operated under various names, including PetsHealth Care Plan.
In the mid-2000s Hartville made moves that had a significant impact on the business. In 2005, Dennis Rushovich was tapped to lead the company. The very next year, as part of a strategic partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Hartville introduced its most recognizable and impactful brand, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance.
"It's been an impressive 20 years for the entire Hartville family. We've not only created a financially strong business, but one that truly helps people and their pets," said Rushovich. "Knowing that what we do can have such a huge impact is very rewarding. Pet health insurance is often the difference for people faced with very difficult financial decisions that affect their four-legged friend's life."
Hartville also played a key role in the creation of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) in 2007. Rushovich was one of the organization's founding members and served as past President.
In 2013, Hartville became a member of Crum & Forster. Together, the financial strength and shared core values of the companies further established Hartville as a leading pet insurance provider poised for continued growth. Hartville's ASPCA Pet Health Insurance is the largest of the brands in the Pet Insurance Division of Crum & Forster.
The company moved to Akron, Ohio, in July 2015, after nearly 10 years in nearby Canton. The 26,000-square-foot office houses a state-of-the-art call center, a data center, a cafeteria named the "chow room" and an outdoor play area for dogs. In fact, one of the perks of working at Hartville is bringing your dog to work every day.
Growth throughout the years has been steady. In 2006 the company had fewer than 50 employees. Today, Hartville employs more than 150 people.
Just last year the company made significant updates to its product offerings when Complete CoverageSM was launched in October. The product features simple reimbursement, based on a percentage of the covered veterinary bill, and has coverage for accidents, injuries, illnesses and more.
For more information, please visit www.hartvillegroup.com or www.aspcapetinsurance.com or call 1-888-716-1203.
About Hartville Pet Insurance GroupSM
Hartville Pet Insurance Group is one of the oldest and largest pet health insurance providers in the United States. The pet health insurance plans are underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company and administered by Fairmont Specialty Insurance Agency (FSIA Insurance Agency in CA), a Crum & Forster company. Hartville Pet Insurance Group markets plans to consumers through veterinary practices, to employers and associations, and direct to consumers in a variety of online and offline channels. More information can be found at www.hartvillegroup.com.
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, one of the most popular pet insurance programs in the U.S., is offered by Hartville Pet Insurance Group through its licensed agency. The ASPCA is not an insurer and is not engaged in the business of insurance. Through a licensing agreement, the ASPCA receives a royalty fee that is in exchange for use of the ASPCA's marks and is not a charitable contribution. More information on ASPCA Pet Health Insurance can be found online at www.aspcapetinsurance.com.
Hartville Pet Insurance Group is a trademark of United States Fire Insurance Company. United States Fire Insurance Company and Fairmont Specialty Insurance Agency may be individually or collectively referred to as Hartville Pet Insurance Group or Hartville.
C&F and Crum & Forster are registered trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company. Crum & Forster Company is comprised of leading and well-established property and casualty business units.
Media Contact:
Travis Reynolds, Director, Media Relations
[email protected]
(234) 231-1830
SOURCE Hartville Pet Insurance Group
Related Links
http://www.hartvillegroup.com
DENVER, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hubble by insightsoftware.com today announced the beginning of Hubble's expansion into the SAP environment, extending its CPM suite capabilities beyond Oracle and JD Edwards Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. Community Coffee Company LLC, the largest family-owned and operated retail coffee brand in America, will begin implementing Hubble's solutions with all-new SAP integration.
Late last year, Hubble's parent company insightsoftware.com, acquired Antivia, a business intelligence software company to enhance its portfolio of services, with plans to expand into the SAP ERP markets. Hubble will be providing Community Coffee Company with its full CPM suite of real-time capabilities, including reporting, analytics, planning and data visualization.
Hubble for SAP provides modern user experience, automation and technology so enterprises can reduce waste and improve business performance and growth. This is reflected by the almost 1,000 other customers insightsoftware.com serves today. Hubble offers an affordable alternative to other more expensive SAP ERP upgrade options.
Community Coffee Company chose Hubble amidst competitors who currently have existing SAP solutions, citing Hubble's commitment to customer satisfaction and ease of use as deciding factors.
"In searching for a solution for our financial reporting and planning needs, we have selected a tool that will increase efficiencies not only within our Accounting and Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) teams, but over time benefit our entire organization," said Annette Vaccaro, Senior Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer at Community Coffee Company. "Hubble's reputation of being reliable and providing professional, real-time analytics preceded them. We're excited about this project and look forward to the results."
Hubble is currently developing and customizing its SAP integration with solutions based on Community Coffee Company's needs. Development will be in a phased approach, with the first phase focused on efficiencies within the Finance & Accounting areas.
"With Hubble, our customers experience the industry's fastest time to value," said Paul Yarwood, CEO of Hubble. "We saw SAP integration as an important next step to expand on our success and into adjacent markets. Most other BI and CPM offerings require datamarts or data warehouses; Hubble is the only real-time integrated reporting, analytics and planning CPM suite purpose built for your ERP allowing businesses to focus on growth and not data management. We're thrilled to be partnering with one of the most respected coffee companies in the U.S. to launch Hubble for SAP."
insightsoftware.com was advised by Sparkhound for this partnership.
For more information on Hubble's SAP integration, read more here.
About Hubble by insightsoftware.com
Hubble is an integrated suite of performance management apps from insightsoftware.com. It offers reporting, analytics and planning in a single real-time solution that fully understands your ERP. Hubble integrates your critical business systems so users at all levels have access to live data-extraordinarily fast. With this type of visibility, everyone can easily understand, manage and predict the business.
About Community Coffee Company
Now in its 97th year, Community Coffee Company houses the largest family-owned and operated retail coffee brand in America, and four generations of the Saurage family have operated the company since its inception. Founded in 1919, Community Coffee Company is an importer, roaster and distributor of the highest-quality premium coffees and teas, using only 100% Arabica coffee beans. For additional information, visit CommunityCoffee.com or find the brand on Facebook and Twitter.
Contacts
Amy Hall
Senior Marketing Manager
insightsoftware.com, Inc.
[email protected]
Dan Sorensen
Method Communications
[email protected]
801.891.2595
SOURCE Hubble
Related Links
http://www.gohubble.com
FLEMINGTON, N.J. and MEMPHIS, Tenn., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunterdon Medical Center, a 178-bed non-profit community hospital, and Christie Medical Holdings, Inc., a global leader in portable vein finders, today announced that use of the Christie VeinViewer Vision2 is helping to improve the level of care provided to their patients.
Nurse Cindy Krivoshik BSN, RN, CCRN uses the VeinViewer to assess the best vein for placing an IV catheter VeinViewer Vision2 at Hunterdon - By using VeinViewer during an IV start, she can confirm that the IV is patent
"A key goal for implementation of VeinViewer systems was to decrease the number of central lines placed in favor of less invasive peripheral IVs," states Marian Racco, MSN, RN, CCRN, ICU Clinical Coordinator. "Over the past year, we achieved our goal to reduce central line placements. Our central line utilization has been at or below the NHSN 50th percentile since June of 2016! We feel this is best for the patient, potentially reducing their exposure to risk and increasing their overall satisfaction. We evaluated our options, and VeinViewer provided everything we needed."
Studies show that on average it requires 2.4 painful sticks to place an IV catheter. Nurses providing care may have previously had no choice but to stick patients multiple times in order to deliver necessary treatment. The Christie VeinViewer system is the first and only device to use harmless near-infrared light to detect a patient's veins and then immediately project a high definition image of the veins directly on the patient's skin. With VeinViewer, nurses can quickly find more options for accessing a patient's veins for blood draws or to place a peripheral IV catheter. A more thorough assessment with VeinViewer, means Hunterdon Medical Center patients may avoid multiple needle sticks and possible future complications sometimes associated with IV access.
"One of our staff nurses, Lisbeth Lella, BSN, RN, asked for us to look at technology that would assist with peripheral IV catheter placement because our ICU patient population is typically very difficult to find a vein. We chose the VeinViewer system because it is easy to use and has saved our patients from multiple sticks. It has really helped us with placing peripheral IV catheters and the nurses love it. In fact, one of our nurses stated that she feels the VeinViewer is the best purchase we ever made for the ICU," said Janice Wagner, BSN, RN, CCRN, Director of Intensive Care and Respiratory Therapy. "One of our goals is to keep pace and offer the newest trends in medicine to our community. VeinViewer helps us do just that."
George Pinho, Christie's president, said, "We are very pleased that VeinViewer fits into Hunterdon Medical Center's patient care goals. VeinViewer is the only device of its kind that has been shown through clinical studies to increase both first-stick success and patient satisfaction by up to 100 percent while reducing PICC lines placed due to difficult venous access by over 30 percent."
The Infusion Nurses Society, an organization dedicated to setting the standards for infusion therapy, recommends the use of vein visualization technology such as the VeinViewer system - for patients with difficult or poor venous access.
About Hunterdon Healthcare and Hunterdon Medical Center
The Hunterdon Healthcare System is a non-profit health care organization in Flemington, NJ committed to providing a full range of quality services that respond to the needs of the community. Hunterdon Medical Center treats over 8,600 inpatients annually, with 33,000 Emergency Department visits and over 292,000 outpatient visits per year. The 178-bed teaching hospital provides a full range of preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic inpatient and outpatient hospital and community health services.
About Christie Medical Holdings, Inc.
Christie Medical Holdings Inc. is a global company based in Memphis, Tenn., that discovers, develops and commercializes medical technologies. The company's market-leading product, VeinViewer system, is a mobile vascular imaging system that allows health care providers to clearly see accessible vasculature as a real time HD image, directly on the surface of the skin. Christie Medical Holdings Inc. is owned by Christie Digital Systems Inc., a global visual technologies company and a subsidiary of Ushio Inc., Japan. For more information on Christie Digital Systems or Christie Medical Holdings, visit ww w.christiemed.com .
Media contacts:
Kathleen Seelig, MA
Corporate Director of Public Relations and Marketing
Hunterdon Medical Center
2100 Wescott Drive
Flemington, NJ 08822
Phone: 908-788-6515
[email protected]
John Swinimer
Christie Public Relations
3175 Lenox Park Blvd.
Memphis, TN 38115
Phone 519.744.8005 x 7124
[email protected]
Follow us on Twitter @veinviewer
Facebook: VeinViewer
DLP is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments.
SOURCE Christie Medical Holdings, Inc.
Montanas economy and workforce have remained strong over the last two years thanks to highly skilled employees, partnerships with the private and public sectors, and expanded training opportunities in our two-year colleges. Our state has a healthy employment rate that continues to be bolstered by diverse industries. It is a good time to be a member of the labor force under the Big Sky.
But as our states workforce continues to age and retire, the legislature needs to seriously consider opportunities that will strengthen apprenticeship programs and train the next generation of Montanans. The biggest roadblock to businesses growth is often a shortage of skilled, trained workers. The problem will only get worse for Montana, unless we act now.
Thats why I have partnered with Governor Bullock to carry legislation that will grow apprenticeships and provide Montanans with a paycheck, all while building a talented workforce for businesses across the state.
My proposed legislation, House Bill 308, will provide Main Street Montana businesses with tax credits to strengthen apprenticeship opportunities throughout Montana. House Bill 308 provides for a $1,000 employer tax credit for every apprentice hired and provided on-the-job training through the Montana Registered Apprenticeship program. For every veteran hired, the incentive doubles to $2,000.
Administered by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, the Montana Registered Apprenticeship program has collaborated with businesses to implement customized training curriculum. Since 2000, the Montana Registered Apprenticeship program has overseen more than 7,000 apprentices in 53 of our 56 counties. Apprentices who successfully completed their program earned average wages of $59,600 in 2015. Over the last five years, the program has graduated an average of 164 apprentices per year. On average, apprentices complete their programs in 42 months.
These time-honored training models are receiving more attention from both the private and public sectors to build talent pipelines for Montana businesses, especially through partnerships with the Montana Registered Apprenticeship program.
For those who are looking to enter the workforce immediately following high school or who are seeking a change in their career, apprenticeships open new doors. They allow businesses to grow and expand their operations. Apprentices learn new skills and begin contributing back to Montanas economy immediately.
Simply put, these skills are the cornerstone of business growth for Montana. As businesses look at various avenues to hire qualified workers, apprenticeships continue to yield benefits for industries across the state.
It is the job of the legislature to serve, support and collaborate with the private sector to meet the needs of growing businesses and of a strong labor force. I hope the legislature will stand firmly behind Governor Bullock and I as we put into action what we were elected to do: create good-paying jobs for Montanans and grow Main Street Montana businesses.
Lets not let this be another missed opportunity.
Rep. Casey Schreiner, D-Great Falls, represents House District 26 in the Montana Legislature.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468449/IDEA_Pharma_Geoff_Birkett.jpg )
With over 30 years of strategic and operational experience in pharma, Geoff brings to IDEA a huge depth of knowledge across launch and in line growth brands, as well as early development products. He also brings a disruptive creative energy that has been key to his success in the industry.
Geoff launched many successful, market leading brands as a senior leader with Lilly, Lundbeck and AstraZeneca, where he held Executive/ President roles in UK/ US/ Germany/ S Africa and Global businesses. He was responsible for one of AZ's biggest ever blockbusters, Seroquel. He has worked as a senior leader in Biotech in recent years, specializing in CNS/ Pain/ Addiction.
"I'm excited to join IDEA Pharma at this time. IDEA have a proven track record of designing the best path to market strategies. It's not cookie cutter, it's clever, based on superior insight. Mike has assembled a great team - I look forward to working with them to take IDEA to the next level."
"Pharma is exploding with possibility, and the need to disrupt traditional management consultancy has never been greater," added Mike Rea, CEO. "I am so excited that our approach - senior talent who have deep hands-on experience, working directly with our clients - is attracting superstars like Geoff. Wanting to make a meaningful difference is a deep part of our ethos, and I know Geoff will look to improve on that success, making sure meaningful medicines continue to reach patients."
About IDEA Pharma:
Through knowledge, insight and uncommon creativity, we unlock the potential of every molecule, inspiring and empowering the pharma industry to deliver medicines that make a difference. We work with clients early in the lifecycle at proof of concept, crafting a compelling product story and building a world-class strategy that helps every molecule reach its potential. It's what we do best. And there's nobody that does it quite like us.
For further information, please visit our website or join us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Past Accomplishments Include:
Path to Market Design for 7 of the top 10 (projected) oncology products by 2020 // Positioned 3 of 11 products Reuters called 2015 Blockbusters, including the Top 2 // Path to Market Design for 5 NMEs that were FDA approved in 2015
For further information, please contact:
Jess Spataro
Manager, Marketing, Brand & Communications
IDEA Pharma
Tel: +1-212-929-7953
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE IDEA Pharma
WAPAKONETA, Ohio, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Independents Fiber Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Com Net Inc ("CNI-Independents") has added 240 route miles totaling 3,551 fiber miles under its turn-key management. These additional facilities are primarily located in Warren and Butler counties with portions reaching into Montgomery, Hamilton and Greene counties.
Tim Berelsman, CEO of CNI-Independents Fiber Network stated, "These facilities complement our existing facilities in Montgomery, Warren, Greene and Clinton counties. They also provide a much needed presence in Butler and northern Hamilton counties." Berelsman went on to say, "At Independents Fiber Network, we are fully committed to increasing the reach of our Ethernet fiber, which includes continuing to invest in markets where we see demand for our high performance networking solutions."
Nathan Zehringer, Transport Manager for Independents Fiber Network, added, "Initially we will be integrating a portion of the route into our core backhaul network to bring our route through Dayton, Ohio, while adding additional protection to our Lebanon, Ohio Point-of-Presence (PoP). We will utilize this fiber network to continue expanding our network in this region. This expansion allows us to improve our current services as well as provide various physical paths that allow for more redundancy."
About Independents Fiber Network: Independents Fiber Network was established in 2003 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNI. Independents Fiber Network is an Ohio-based company that brings high performance, high capacity Ethernet-over-Fiber solutions including voice, video, and data services to better serve our customers. By operating a fiber optic backhaul network dedicated to serving rural and underserved communities in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, Independents delivers connectivity you can count on for mission critical operations ensuring business continuity and access when you need it most. For more information, please visit Independents Fiber Network's website at www.ifnetwork.biz call us toll-free at (800) 634-4032.
Independents Fiber Network
13888 County Rd. 25A
Wapakoneta, OH 45895
P: 419-739-3100
F: 419-739-3154
www.ifnetwork.biz
For Additional Information, Contact:
Kathy Reinsel, Marketing Manager
13888 County Road 25A
Wapakoneta, OH 45895
[email protected]
419-739-3114
SOURCE Independents Fiber Network
Related Links
http://www.ifnetwork.biz
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Indian Influenza market has reported a remarkable growth in recent years, and is presenting ample opportunities to the industry's players. With increasing pandemic as well as seasonal outbreak and rising awareness among people about these vaccines, the Indian influenza vaccine market is poised to scale newer acmes. Moreover, increasing disposable income, increasing incidences of influenza, introduction of new vaccines, entry of new players, and rising R&D investments are set to further boost the market's growth. Owing to such factors, the Indian influenza market is anticipated to grow at a healthy CAGR during the forecast period (2015-2020).
In the report "IIndian Influenza Market By Product Type (Vaxigrip, Influvac)-Forecast 2020", RNCOS analysts have endeavoured to address the current scenario of Indian influenza industry, factors favouring growth of the market, and the major roadblocks restraining the influenza vaccines market. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities, which are available in the Indian influenza market.
Furthermore, the report covers detailed description of the current scenario of the Indian influenza vaccine market, and its future forecast till 2020. Indian Influenza Vaccines market is analyzed in both volumes in doses, and value in US$ for the period from 2015 through to 2020. The report also provides detailed bifurcation of Indian influenza market on the basis of product type, such as Vaxigrip, Influvac, and others. The report also provides the potential market for influenza vaccines. Moreover, the report highlights the mergers and acquisitions that have taken place in the Indian influenza market. Pricing analysis along with the regulatory scenario governing the Indian influenza market has also been mentioned in the report. Furthermore, the report provides the details about the distribution channel for influenza vaccines in the Indian industry.
The latter half of the report provides competitive landscape including the market share of key players, such as Cipla Ltd., Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute of India, Abbott, Lupin Ltd, and others. A brief business overview and financial information about each of these players has been provided in the report, along with the company overviews and financial revenues of the key participants to develop their positions in the global market. The recent development and strength-weakness analysis of every player has also been presented to assist the investors in developing an understanding of the strategies of major players. Overall, the research contains exhaustive information that will help clients in formulating market strategies and assessing opportunity areas in the Indian Influenza market.
Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4699249/
About Reportbuyer
Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers
http://www.reportbuyer.com
For more information:
Sarah Smith Research
Advisor at Reportbuyer.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 208 816 85 48
Website: www.reportbuyer.com
SOURCE ReportBuyer
Related Links
http://www.reportbuyer.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Composer, arranger, and pianist Giorgi Mikadze brings an international groove to 18th Street Arts Center's Make Jazz Fellowship. Born in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, Mikadze is in residence at 18th Street Arts Center from January 5 - March 30, 2017. The new body of work he will develop during his time in Southern California explores the microtonalities of traditional Georgian folk music, combining it with jazz and hip-hop to achieve innovative new sounds. He will perform his new compositions in a free public concert at the Edye @ the Broad Stage in Santa Monica on Sunday, March 19, 2017.
Courtesy Giorgi Mikadze
18th Street Arts Center hosts its Make Jazz Fellowship annually with support from the Herb Alpert Foundation. This award to honor and support jazz artists is awarded to an emerging jazz composer, and includes a three-month, fully funded residency and a culminating performance, as well as opportunities to lead master classes. This opportunity offers critical support for the artistic evolution of young Jazz artists who are establishing future directions for this unique American art form.
During his residency, Giorgi Mikadze will continue his ongoing exploration of the microtonalities of traditional Georgian folk music and integrate those structures into new musical motifs, often mixing with Jazz, Funk, Fusion, R&B, African tribal music and hip-hop grooves. Mikadze will also demonstrate his innovative compositional process with aspiring musicians through a series of master classes with composition students in the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and with high school musicians in LAUSD schools through the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance.
Giorgi Mikadze will present the new body of work in a culminating performance at the Edye Second Space at the Broad Stage, titled Georgian MicroJamZ. This live concert is free to the public and will take place on Sunday March 19th, at 7pm. Mikadze will be accompanied by musicians trained in microtonal music and Jazz forms, including Berklee College of Music professor and noted guitarist Dave Fiuczynski, rising star bassist Mono Neon, and drummer Sean "Chopz" Wright. The event is free but space is limited. Reserve tickets here: https://20170319.eventbrite.com
LINKS:
Artist bio: http://18thstreet.org/artists/giorgi-mikadze
Free ticket reservations: https://20170319.eventbrite.com
18TH STREET ARTS CENTER is the largest artist residency program in Southern California.
Additional information about 18th Street Arts Center's programming and artists can be found at 18thstreet.org
Media Contact:
Susan Yank
310 453 4347
[email protected]
SOURCE 18th Street Arts Center
Related Links
http://18thstreet.org
HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AARP today announced the appointment of Joanne Grossi to the position of Volunteer State President for AARP Pennsylvania.
In her new role, Grossi will help shape AARP's strategic priorities, build community partnerships with key decision makers and serve as AARP's principal volunteer spokesperson in Pennsylvania.
Joanne Grossi brings more than 30 years' experience in public health, public policy and legislative affairs to her new position. Most recently, she served as a Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services where she worked with federal, state and local officials in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia on a wide range of health and social services issues.
"Joanne Grossi is one of Pennsylvania's leading experts on healthcare policy issues at the state and federal levels," said AARP Pennsylvania State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh. "As AARP Pennsylvania State President, her contributions will help improve the lives of 1.8 million AARP members and the 50+ community across the commonwealth."
"I have known and worked with Joanne Grossi for nearly a decade. She brings to AARP an impressive track record of public service and leadership talents and skills that will deepen our ability to fight for and equip all Pennsylvanians as they age," said AARP Regional Vice President Rawle Andrews. "Throughout her career, she has demonstrated the ability to help accelerate the progress of what is working well and to disrupt what needs changing. We are fortunate to have her on the team."
Grossi also has strong ties to Pennsylvania state government. She served as the first Director of the Office of Women's Services in the Department of Public Welfare (now the Department of Human Services), and as a Deputy Secretary for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the Pennsylvania Department of Health, both under former Governor Ed Rendell.
"Joanne Grossi is a terrific advocate who understands the intricacies of public health policy on the federal, state and local level," said former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. "She will be a real asset to AARP and will use her new role to tirelessly fight to protect the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians."
"I've worked with Joanne Grossi throughout her tenure in state government, and I know her to be an effective voice who has built strong relationships with both elected officials and community-based organizations to address the health care needs of Pennsylvanians," said State Representative Gene DiGirolamo (R-18), Chairman of the PA House of Representatives Human Services Committee. "Her knowledge base and compassion for the well-being of state residents will be a tremendous benefit not just to older adults but all Pennsylvanians."
Prior to joining state government, Grossi served 13 years as a Senior Technical Advisor in the Bureau of Global Health at the United States Agency for International Development, where she oversaw international health programs in developing countries. Earlier in her career, she worked on the staffs of Pennsylvania Congressman Peter Kostmayer and Ambassador Millicent Fenwick at the American Embassy in Rome, Italy.
Grossi earned a master's degree in International Public Policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and completed additional graduate education at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Hygiene. She also holds a BA degree in Journalism from Temple University. Grossi currently lives in Philadelphia, where she also serves as a caregiver for her father.
Follow Joanne Grossi on Twitter @AARPPAPrez.
About AARP
AARP has 1.8 million members in Pennsylvania. Follow AARP Pennsylvania on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AARPPA and on Twitter @AARPPA.
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into 'Real Possibilities' by changing the way America defines aging. With staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and promote the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare security, financial security and personal fulfillment. AARP also advocates for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world's largest circulation magazine, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @aarp and our CEO @JoAnn_Jenkins on Twitter.
CONTACT: Steve Gardner, AARP PA
(717) 237-6481 or [email protected]
Or
Jacklyn Isasi, AARP PA
(267) 825-9928 or [email protected]
SOURCE AARP Pennsylvania
Related Links
http://www.aarp.org
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Governmental and corporate attorney Kevin Greenberg has joined global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP in the firm's Philadelphia office. Mr. Greenberg is a shareholder in the firm's Government Law & Policy, Corporate, and Real Estate practices. He is known for his successful representation of Pennsylvania elected officials and private-sector clients in the crossover between the commercial and government sectors, including casino land use and licensing disputes before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, development deals, and public-private partnerships.
"I am thrilled to join this firm, with such well-respected team of practitioners in government law and policy, as well as in corporate and securities, emerging technology, and real estate matters. This is a great fit for my expectations as a professional and for what I want to accomplish for my clients and a platform that will allow me to continue to find opportunities that benefit the people of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth," Mr. Greenberg said. "Greenberg Traurig has a world-class government law team and I look forward to adding some more Pennsylvania flavor to the mix."
In addition to his work with and in connection with governments, at Greenberg Traurig, Mr. Greenberg's practice will also focus on corporate & securities, real estate, and emerging companies.
He was previously a shareholder at Flaster/Greenberg, PC since 2007. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Greenberg served as a lawyer for the City of Philadelphia, rising to become a Chief Deputy City Solicitor, and before that he was General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for a provider of cloud-based healthcare management and care coordination software.
"Kevin has a passion for serving others and has always been a highly regarded community leader and a first-rate lawyer. We are thrilled to add him to our roster in the Philadelphia office," said Michael L. Lehr, Regional Operating Shareholder and Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig's Philadelphia office.
Beyond his legal work, Mr. Greenberg is active in the community in a wide range of business and charitable endeavors, including service as a Director of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, and as a Member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Small Business Board and Legislation Committee. Mr. Greenberg was honored to be appointed to the transition committees for Governor Tom Wolf, President Barack Obama, Mayor John Street, and Governor Ed Rendell and has previously served as a director and audit committee chair for the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation, as President and Director of the Fairmount Civic Association, and as a member of the Philadelphia Wireless Executive Committee.
Mr. Greenberg received a J.D., cum laude, in 1998 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he was senior editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. He was a Law Clerk for the Hon. Robert S. Gawthrop, III, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1998 to 1999. In 1993, he received a B.A., cum laude, in astronomy and history from Williams College. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before two federal courts.
About Greenberg Traurig's Philadelphia Office
Founded in 1997, Greenberg Traurig's Philadelphia office is now home to approximately 35 attorneys and 12 practices including Business Reorganization & Financial Restructuring, Corporate & Securities, Emerging Technology, Environmental, Government Law & Policy, Business Immigration & Compliance, Investment Regulation, Labor & Employment, Litigation, Public Finance, Real Estate, and Tax. The Philadelphia office represents clients in the manufacturing, health care, real estate, energy, financial, and insurance industries, state and local governments, professional service, and energy firms, and individuals.
About Greenberg Traurig's Government Law & Policy Practice
Greenberg Traurig's Government Law & Policy Practice combines the capabilities of its Federal Practice in Washington D.C. with its state and local practices across the country. The firm's national team of governmental affairs professionals and attorneys spans major political and commercial capitals throughout the United States, including: Albany, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Tallahassee, and Washington, D.C. Most recently, Greenberg Traurig was named "Law Firm of the Year" for Government Relations by the U.S. News-Best Lawyers 2014 edition of Best Law Firms. The practice also received the most first-tier Government Relations rankings in the U.S.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. A single firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the second largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2016, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
Media Contact: Lourdes Brezo Martinez, [email protected], 212.801.2131.
SOURCE Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Related Links
http://www.gtlaw.com
ARDEN HILLS, Minn., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Land O'Lakes, Inc. announced today that Jason Weller, former chief of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will join the organization as a senior director of sustainability on Feb. 27, 2017. Jason will join the Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN business unit, created in the second half of 2016, where he will lead the team developing the conservation portfolio of tools for the cooperative's member-owners. Jason will report to Matt Carstens, senior vice president for Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN.
"Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN is driving bold action around the complex issues of conservation and productivity while protecting and preserving our natural resources all essential to the future of food and agriculture," Carstens stated. "We continue to build a team to push boundaries and tackle these challenges head on, and I am proud to announce that Jason will be joining our team leading some of our most critical sustainability and conservation efforts."
As the Chief of the nation's largest working lands conservation organization, Jason led a staff of 10,500 NRCS employees across the country working one-one-one with farmers and ranchers to deliver assistance to protect and improve the quality of their operations' natural resources. While at NRCS, Jason led the effort to significantly expand the agency's partnerships with public and private organizationsincluding agricultural retailers, agricultural supply chain companies and food companiesto provide innovative and effective services for agricultural producers.
Prior to serving as NRCS Chief, Jason held various agriculture and natural resource conservation leadership positions, including on the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture where he provided oversight and crafted legislation to fund USDA programs and activities, on the U.S. House Budget Committee where he helped construct the annual congressional budget for agriculture, environment and energy programs, and in the White House Office of Management and Budget where he assisted with the development and implementation of the President's budget for USDA conservation programs.
Jason earned a bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan.
About Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Land O'Lakes, Inc., one of America's premier agribusiness and food companies, is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2015 annual sales of $13 billion, Land O'Lakes is one of the nation's largest cooperatives, ranking 215 on the Fortune 500. Building on a legacy of more than 95 years of operation, Land O'Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands in agribusiness and food production including LAND O LAKES Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition, WinField United and Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN. The company does business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Land O'Lakes, Inc. corporate headquarters are located in Arden Hills, Minn.
SOURCE Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.landolakesinc.com
CAPE CORAL, Fla., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Legacy Education Alliance, Inc. today announced the Company is coordinating a team to participate in the upcoming Walk For Wishes 5K Walk/Run. This family-friendly event powered by Wish families, volunteers, donors and friends, will take place on Saturday, February 25, 2017 with all funds raised to benefit Make-A-Wish Southern Florida.
"Our mission as a company is to help people create a legacy," stated Anthony Humpage, CEO of Legacy Education Alliance. "Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its powerful wish-granting work. By partnering with Make-A-Wish, we can help even more wishes come true for children and their families in southern Florida."
Last year, more than $95,000 was raised at the event, granting the incredible wishes of 19 children facing life-threatening medical conditions in Southwest Florida. The goal this year is to raise $135,000.
The Legacy Education Alliance team is busy limbering up and gathering donations for this feel-good morning of fun and fitness. All the funds raised will support the Make-A-Wish mission to grant the wish of every eligible child who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition.
Legacy Education Alliance invites you to join their team or make a donation today by visiting its Walk-For-Wishes Event page here.
About Legacy Education Alliance, Inc.:
Legacy Education Alliance, Inc. (LEAI) is a leading provider of educational training seminars, conferences and services. Founded in 1992, LEAI is a global company dedicated to providing quality financial education in the areas of real estate investing, financial instruments and personal finance with headquarters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Visit the Legacy Education Alliance website to learn more.
About Make-A-Wish:
Make-A-Wish grants the wish of a child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition, on average, every 38 minutes in the United States and its territories alone. Since 1980, they have enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its powerful wish-granting work. Their work has a life-changing impact on children, their families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities. The Southern Florida chapter was started in 1983 and has granted over 10,000 wishes since its inception with over 539 wishes granted in fiscal 2016 alone! To learn about their inspiring work, please visit them here.
SOURCE Legacy Education Alliance, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.legacyeducationalliance.com
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Timetric's 'Life Insurance in Japan, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Japanese life insurance segment, and a comparison of the Japanese insurance industry with its regional counterparts.
It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).
The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Japanese economy and demographics, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.
The report brings together Timetric's research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.
Summary
Timetric's 'Life Insurance in Japan, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Japanese life insurance segment, including:
- An overview of the Japanese life insurance segment
- The Japanese life insurance segment's growth prospects by category
- A comprehensive overview of the Japanese economy and demographics
- A comparison of the Japanese life insurance segment with its regional counterparts
- The various distribution channels in the Japanese life insurance segment
- Details of the competitive landscape in the life insurance segment in Japan
- Details of regulatory policy applicable to the Japanese insurance industry
Scope
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the life insurance segment in Japan:
- It provides historical values for the Japanese life insurance segment for the report's 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.
- It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Japanese life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2020.
- It provides a comparison of the Japanese life insurance segment with its regional counterparts.
- It analyzes the various distribution channels for life insurance products in Japan.
- It profiles the top life insurance companies in Japan and outlines the key regulations affecting them.
Reasons To Buy
- Make strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Japanese life insurance segment, and each category within it.
- Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Japanese life insurance segment.
- Assess the competitive dynamics in the life insurance segment.
- Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.
- Gain insights into key regulations governing the Japanese insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.
Key Highlights
- In 2015, Japan's life insurance segment was the second-largest globally after the US, and accounted for 10.2% of the global direct written premium.
- Japan's population is contracting due to a declining birth rate.
- As of 2015, there were 38 insurers operating in the Japanese life segment. It is regulated by the Financial Services Agency.
- During the review period the life segment was driven by demand for traditional products. Individual life accounted for 68.3% of the segment's direct written premium in 2015.
- The Japanese life insurance segment is mature and highly competitive. A lack of growth opportunities in the domestic market prompted insurers to expand outside Japan.
Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/1029534/
About Reportbuyer
Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers
http://www.reportbuyer.com
For more information:
Sarah Smith
Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 208 816 85 48
Website: www.reportbuyer.com
SOURCE ReportBuyer
Related Links
http://www.reportbuyer.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday President Donald Trump's nomination of Linda E. McMahon as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
"Small businesses are the engine of our national economy," McMahon said upon her confirmation. "I will work to revitalize a spirit of entrepreneurship in America. Small businesses want to feel they can take a risk on an expansion or a new hire without fearing onerous new regulations or unexpected taxes, fees and fines that will make such growth unaffordable. We want to renew optimism in our economy."
"I want to thank President Trump for this opportunity to join his Administration and to advocate for our nation's small business owners and entrepreneurs," McMahon said. "I would also like to express my appreciation to Joe Loddo for his leadership as Acting Administrator during this transition, along with everyone at the SBA for the hard work they are doing to support America's small businesses."
In testimony on January 24 before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, McMahon discussed her hands-on experience managing and helping to grow small businesses.
"As an entrepreneur myself, I have shared the experiences of our nation's small business owners. My husband and I built our business from scratch. We started out sharing a desk. Over decades of hard work and strategic growth, we built it into a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees. I am proud of our success I know every bit of the hard work it took to create that success."
"I believe in leadership by example. As a CEO, I never expect employees to do anything I am not willing to do myself. I believe in setting expectations and holding people accountable, but trusting them to do the job for which they were hired. I look forward to working with the SBA staff. I am eager to learn from their experience and expertise. I will listen, and their ideas, concerns and recommendations will be taken seriously."
As Administrator of the SBA, McMahon will direct a federal agency with more than 2,000 full-time employees, with a leading role in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs secure financing, technical assistance and training, and federal contracts. SBA also plays a leading role in disaster recovery by making low interest loans.
McMahon is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Women's Leadership LIVE, as well as the co-founder and former CEO of WWE. She was the Republican nominee to represent Connecticut in the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012. McMahon is an advocate for small business and continues to promote entrepreneurship, particularly among women.
McMahon is a graduate of East Carolina University. She and her husband, Vince, have two adult children and six grandchildren.
Link to McMahon's Statement to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship:
http://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=B60A5A7D-A28A-497A-A834-456E7108AE01
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012, has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
Release Number: 17-08
Contact: Terry Sutherland (202) 205-6919
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news
SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration
Related Links
http://www.sba.gov
What will happen when China stops loaning America money for its debt?
How much buying power will my dollar have when China and Mexico stop exporting goods to America?
How much will food cost when immigrants can no longer harvest American crops?
Who will do the service jobs immigrants are not too proud to do?
It is easy to see that it is a world economy. Its not a race, America needs to be equal not first. An isolated America will perish alone and silent if it becomes an isolationist society. America is stronger when it participates in world trade and NATO.
In the words on a Montana highway sign dont fence me in, President Trump.
America cannot export its goods if other countries will not accept American goods. Lifes highway is a two-way street, and so it the economy.
Is it that hard to figure out?
Doug Purcell
Townsend
BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Linde LNG specialists will discuss the company's extensive array of LNG services for remote asphalt production at the Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference and Equipment Show. The conference will be held at the Crown Plaza Airport Conference Center in Denver, Colorado, February 22-24, 2017, booth #70.
"Natural gas is the fuel of choice for most asphalt producers to generate power and heat," said Leslie Waller, Head of Chemistry, Energy and Environmental for Linde Americas. "However, in remote locations where pipeline natural gas is not available, asphalt producers must rely on portable fuel supply. And in these situations, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is often the desirable alternative to propane, diesel, fuel oil #6, and even used motor oil because natural gas burns hotter, has lower emissions and is the lowest cost alternative."
Conference attendees are invited to visit the Linde booth (#70) to meet with Linde LNG supply experts who will detail the company's capabilities and experience in delivering a reliable supply of LNG to serve remote asphalt production facilities, creating a virtual natural gas pipeline.
Linde owns an expanding fleet of temporary, mobile equipment which has been designed, engineered, constructed, and operated to meet the rigors of the asphalt and aggregates industry. Linde engineers are constantly improving this equipment based on their years of field experience and feedback from customers. With varying amounts of storage and vaporization capacities, the Linde LNG fleet is flexible enough to be used in a variety of applications.
"When you work with the Linde LNG team, you receive world-class support in the form of project management, specialized technicians and operators, and safety training," said Evelyn Fairman, Application Sales Engineer. "Our LNG service technicians are highly trained in all applications of natural gas and LNG. We install, start, operate, shut down, and move the LNG equipment safely while ensuring process stability."
Linde delivers a comprehensive and customized approach to high-quality LNG fuel supply. When you choose Linde for LNG, you partner with a global leader in cryogenic liquids and engineering company with the capability to meet the full set of customer needs. Leverage our expertise for a custom approach to a high-quality "green" fuel program. For more information, contact Linde at http://gas.lindeus.com/linde-oil-and-gas-contact-us-page, or call 1-888-964-5642.
Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company. In the 2015 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of USD19.7 bn (EUR 17.944 bn), making it one of the leading gases and engineering companies in the world, with approximately 65,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com
SOURCE Linde North America, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.linde.com
MIAMI, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The MIB Agents' F.A.C.T.O.R. Osteosarcoma Conference will be held at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables starting February 24th February 25th. Raymond Rodriguez Torres, Chairman of the Live Like Bella will be addressing the attendees On Friday, February 24th at noon to discuss the collaboration between Live Like Bella and MIB Agents for osteosarcoma patients.
F.A.C.T.O.R. (Funding, Awareness, Collaboration, Trials, Osteosarcoma, Research) Additional key speakers include expert osteosarcoma physicians and researchers, as well as patients and advocates.
Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer, affecting 3% of children battling cancer. The objective of F.A.C.T.O.R. is to bring forth collaboration from the doctors, researchers, families, and nonprofits to improve the outcomes for osteosarcoma patients.
For more information about the event, please visit www.MIBAgents.org and for information on the Live Like Bella Foundation, please visit www.LiveLikeBella.org.
ABOUT LIVE LIKE BELLA FOUNDATION
The Foundation was founded in June 2013 in memory of Bella Rodriguez-Torres, who passed away at the young age of 10 from Rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive childhood cancer. In her six-year battle she inspired millions to #LiveLikeBella. The foundation's mission is dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancer by funding innovative pediatric cancer research, provide support to families with children in treatment and assist families who have lost a child to cancer with funeral expenses. For more information visit www.LiveLikeBella.org.
SOURCE Live Like Bella
Related Links
http://www.livelikebella.org
SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif., Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Who's Who recognizes Lori Krafft as a Pinnacle Professional Member in recognition of her contributions to the field of Graphic Design.
A 20-year veteran of the graphic arts industry, Krafft is currently the owner of Jawco Graphics, a full-service design firm in California's San Gabriel Valley.
"For over 30 years, [Jawco Graphics] has been in the printing industry combining an experienced, professional staff with quality customer service to consistently deliver a superior printed project," the firm's website states. "We have recently optimized our facility to enhance quality and timeliness of all our printed materials."
Jawco Graphic's client list includes the likes of brands such as Arrowhead, Perrier, Toyota and even Disney. "From design to print, pre-press to finished product, we produce a wide range of quality products including letterheads, envelopes, line cards, catalog sheets, brochures, booklets, posters, price lists, pads and other professional stationary," according to the firm's website.
Krafft touts the firm's printing in cover stock, carbonless stock, labels, vinyl, poly and cloth as its specialties. "What separates Jawco Graphics from other companies is that [we] do not sell direct to the public," she said. "However, the majority of what [we] print is uniquely tailored to clients and their needs."
Prior to taking on her current role, Krafft earned her cosmetology license. She then worked two separate accounting positions before joining Jawco Graphics. Krafft is also a member of the Printing Institute of America and the Santa Fe Springs Chamber of Commerce.
Krafft dedicates this recognition to her husband, Michael.
For more information on Jawco Graphics, visit http://jawcoinc.com/
Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]
SOURCE Continental Who's Who
Costa decided to host the event after traveling with another IFAW board member, Greg Mertz; his partner, Bruce Roberts; and IFAW President and CEO Azzedine Downes on a trip to Zimbabwe where they visited the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery (ZEN). "I was struck by the similarities between ZEN's motto: 'Respect the individual, see, sense, save - one by one' and IFAW's motto: 'Transforming wildlife conservation, one animal at a time,'" said Costa.
ZEN founder, Roxy Danckwerts delighted the crowd at the event with her stories of the orphan elephants in Zimbabwe she is striving to give a second chance.
"It is these organizations' commitment to individual well-being, for both humans and elephants, along with the commitment of such dedicated activists as attended our event last week, that give me hope that together, we really can make a difference and build a better world for animals and people," Costa concluded.
Dining on the finest vegan cuisine from Crossroads Kitchens, guests promoted the event through the slogans, #PoachPearsNotAnimals and #IvoryIsWhack, social tags that focus on the epidemic of poaching which is often the reason young elephants become orphans.
Elephant calves typically stay with their mothers well into their teen years. If an elephant mother is killed, young calves (four years or less) typically do not survive without intervention. Wildlife rehabilitators like ZEN attempt to care for the animals until they are old enough to survive in the wild and perhaps to bond with other wild elephants.
"It was an honor to visit the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery," said Downes. "These animals are suffering due to human actions. So it is our duty to rescue them, and when they can be released to the wild, we must ensure that the land is conserved for them. Putting those things together is the IFAW way."
About IFAW
Founded in 1969, IFAW rescues and protects animals around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals, and advocates for the protection of wildlife and habitats. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Photos are available at www.ifawimages.com
SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare
Related Links
http://www.ifaw.org
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians have long complained about the growing burden of government regulation, especially its effect of reducing time spent with patients. A 2016 study by Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Medical Group Management Association found that physicians and their staff spend between 6 and 12 hours per week processing and reporting quality metrics to the government at a cost of $15.4 billion a year.
MACRA Measures & Insights by Health Catalyst is an opportunity analysis application which allows organizations to measure their historical performance against MACRA-MIPS measures leading to more meaningful decisions around risk and outcomes. Analyze groups, specialties and providers to determine potential performance on quality measures for any payer. Provides the ability to compare measures across payers to better align the organization strategically.
As a recent Health Catalyst/Peer60 survey confirms, that burden is expected to significantly worsen in 2017 and beyond as physicians struggle to report quality metrics for the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) the federal law that changes the way Medicare pays doctors. Commercial health insurers are expected to follow the government's lead with similar programs of their own. Passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, MACRA requires physicians who participate in its financial incentives to report on a subset of 271 quality measures. In complex organizations, successfully achieving performance targets and submitting accurately for MACRA incentives will require integrating multiple measures across financial, regulatory and quality departments.
To help identify and align healthcare organizations' selection of the MACRA quality measures, Health Catalyst today announced the release of MACRA Measures & Insights. Built on an industry-leading data and analytics platform integrating over 120 data sources including claims and all major EMRs, the new application helps healthcare organizations track and monitor all MACRA measures across multiple departments. Moreover, with MACRA Measures & Insights, organizations for the first time can quickly spot areas where their physicians are performing best, and therefor which quality measures to report to Medicare to maximize payment under MACRA.
"Healthcare organizations expend significant human resources to compile, interpret, keep up with and understand the impact of regulatory compliance measures, and this problem will only get worse under MACRA," said Dale Sanders, Executive Vice President of Development for Health Catalyst. "MACRA Measures & Insights will significantly reduce that burden while making it easier to maximize Medicare reimbursement and to monitor performance against measures year over year."
Dorian DiNardo, PMP, Health Catalyst Vice President and Product Line Manager for Operations and Performance Management, added, "The nice thing about the Health Catalyst platform is, it contains virtually all of the granular data in a healthcare system, including claims and other external data, so we can quickly combine that data to support effectively any reporting or analytics requirement, including MACRA and any changes that might come along in the future."
Identify Measures to Optimize At-Risk Contracting
More than assisting with regulatory compliance, MACRA Measures & Insights also enables healthcare provider organizations to tactically and strategically identify the optimal measures to include within multi-year value-based care contracts with commercial payers. By aligning contractual success measures with an organization's strongest areas of performance, the application helps to maximize payments in risk-based contracts. MACRA Measures & Insights also enables organizations to easily add measures from multiple payers' contracts.
Conversely, health plans can use the application to identify populations of patients that are appropriate for sharing risk with their provider partners.
Survey: compiling quality measures is health systems' biggest MACRA worry
The heavy lifting required to track and compile MACRA measures for reporting to Medicare is top of mind for healthcare executives, according to a Health Catalyst/Peer60 survey conducted in late 2016. When asked which MACRA-related activities "pose the greatest difficulties for healthcare organizations," 74 out of the 187 respondents (40%) ranked "compiling metrics for regulatory reporting" as the biggest challenge. The next biggest headache identified by survey respondents (18%) was "adjusting to greater coordination between providers and patients."
Only about a third of healthcare organizations were prepared to tackle MACRA's reporting challenges as of late last year, according to the survey. Just 35 percent of respondents answered affirmatively when asked whether they "have a strategy and are well on [their] way to being ready" for upcoming MACRA reporting. Ready or not, most do expect to participate in the program, with only 5 percent of those surveyed planning to opt out of MACRA entirely.
The online survey reflects the opinions of 187 U.S. healthcare executives and senior leaders who work at organizations ranging from the nation's largest urban academic medical centers and integrated delivery networks to critical access hospitals and large physician groups.
Deeper dive into MACRA Measures & Insights
Powered by the Health Catalyst Analytics Platform, MACRA Measures & Insights enables organizations to gain deep insight into performance measures at virtually any degree of detail required for measurement and performance improvement.
The application delivers a variety of filtering views to drill down quickly into multiple dimensions for quick decision making at the level of:
Specialty
Group
Individual provider
Domain
Individual measure
Diagnosis group
Data quality
Several additional dimensions, such as payer or contract
MACRA Measures & Insights also reveals performance scores in three initial MIPS performance quadrants, with more to come:
Quality
Clinical practice improvement activities (if scores available)
Advancing care information (if scores available)
The application includes measure calculations validated to be using the correct data (per CMS guidelines) to meet MACRA requirements. It also displays benchmarks for easy comparison. An alignment tab compares quality measures already at-risk with other payers to the MACRA measures, helping to prioritize those best suited for risk in the Quality Payment Program.
Explore MACRA Measures & Insights in Live Webinar, Feb. 16
For a detailed look at the new application, join the Health Catalyst product development team for a live MACRA Measures & Insights Product Webinar on Thursday, February 16, 2017, 1:00-2:30 p.m. EST. Attendees will be able to view a live demo of the application and participate in a live question and answer session. Register for the webinar here.
MACRA Measures & Insights Data Sheet
Take a deeper dive into the solution by downloading the product data sheet here .
Demo MACRA Measures & Insights at HIMSS17 in Orlando
Health Catalyst will demonstrate MACRA Measures & Insights at the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Feb. 20-23. Visit booth #5173 or schedule a meeting to ensure the right people are available to meet with you.
About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a next-generation data, analytics, and decision support company committed to being a catalyst for massive, sustained improvements in healthcare outcomes. We are the leaders in a new era of advanced predictive analytics for population health and value-based care with a suite of machine learning-driven solutions, decades of outcomes-improvement expertise, and an unparalleled ability to integrate data from across the healthcare ecosystem. Our proven data warehousing and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 85 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. Our technology and professional services can help you keep patients engaged and healthy in their homes and workplaces, and we can help you optimize care delivery to those patients when it becomes necessary. We are grateful to be recognized by Fortune, Gallup, Glassdoor, Modern Healthcare and a host of others as a Best Place to Work in technology and healthcare. Visit www.healthcatalyst.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Media Contact:
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications
916-346-4213
[email protected]
SOURCE Health Catalyst
Related Links
http://www.healthcatalyst.com
MADRID, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), global leader in innovative workforce solutions, today announced signing a purchase agreement with Ciber, Inc. (NYSE: CBR), a leading global information technology consulting, services and outsourcing company, to acquire its business in Spain.
The acquisition further strengthens ManpowerGroup Spain's capacity to deliver best-in-class IT staffing solutions, and complements the organic growth of its Experis brand, the professional resourcing and project-based workforce solutions arm of the company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of February, when Ciber's business and employees will transfer to ManpowerGroup.
The deal builds on ManpowerGroup's already well-established business in Spain. Started in 1988, ManpowerGroup Spain today offers diversified workforce solutions across five brands Manpower, Experis, ManpowerGroup Solutions, Futurskill and Right Management. With 120 locations and more than 600 employees, ManpowerGroup Spain helps over 69,000 individuals find work every year, offering clients a broad range of staffing, development and workforce management solutions.
"As our clients continue to invest in and upgrade their technology platforms, this acquisition will help us meet the fast-growing demand for IT support and provide the solutions they need," said Raul Grijalba, Executive President, ManpowerGroup Spain. "Ciber Spain's deep industry knowledge and expertise are a natural fit within the ManpowerGroup family, and will help us continue to shift our business mix towards higher-value services for both clients and candidates."
"The sale of Ciber Spain reflects continued execution against our plans to simplify our geographic footprint and focus our portfolio of offerings," said Ciber President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Boustridge. "As a strategic buyer with local operations, we believe Manpower/Experis will provide a seamless transition and great continuity and service for our Spanish customers and employees."
About ManpowerGroup
ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) is the world's workforce expert, creating innovative workforce solutions for nearly 70 years. As workforce experts, we connect more than 600,000 people to meaningful work across a wide range of skills and industries every day. Through our ManpowerGroup family of brands Manpower, Experis, Right Management and ManpowerGroup Solutions we help more than 400,000 clients in 80 countries and territories address their critical talent needs, providing comprehensive solutions to resource, manage and develop talent. In 2016, ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the sixth consecutive year and one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup makes powering the world of work humanly possible: www.manpowergroup.com.
About Ciber, Inc.
Ciber partners with organizations to develop technology strategies and solutions that deliver tangible business value. Founded in 1974, the company trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CBR). For more information, visit www.ciber.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Plus and our blog .
ManpowerGroup Inc.'s Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements related to ManpowerGroup, and the potential benefits of the acquisition, including statements regarding timing of closing and results of the proposed transaction. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements due to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: ManpowerGroup's ability to successfully integrate Ciber Spain; execution of plans and strategies; the inability to successfully complete the transaction, and other important factors that could cause results of the acquisition and related transactions to differ materially from the forward-looking statements detailed in ManpowerGroup's public filings with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. ManpowerGroup disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements in this release, except as required by law.
Ciber, Inc.'s Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to Ciber's operations, results of operations and other matters that are based on Ciber's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. Words, such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "may," "opportunity," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "should," and "will" and similar expressions, are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. For a more detailed discussion of these risks, see the information under the "Risk Factors" heading in Ciber's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, and Ciber's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2016, and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other than as required by law, Ciber undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
SOURCE ManpowerGroup; Ciber, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.manpowergroup.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has contracted with GED Testing Service to begin offering the GED test program to residents seeking a second chance at earning their high school credential. The GED program was completely redesigned in 2014 to help adult learners be better prepared for college or entry into vocational or career training programs and the opportunity for better paying jobs.
Until this past month, the new GED test program had not been available in Massachusetts for the last three years. Now, the state's adults will be able to take full advantage of the program's unique benefits and can join the ranks of new GED program graduates that are entering and succeeding in postsecondary programs at unprecedented rates.
"The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is pleased to have added the GED test to the assessment options available to Massachusetts adults seeking the high school equivalency credential," said Tom Mechem, State Administrator & Chief Examiner of High School Equivalency for the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. "We feel the GED testing process provides a robust computer-based assessment along with excellent academic supports for testers and teachers, while enhancing the chances that successful candidates will be truly college and career ready."
Key benefits of Massachusetts's new GED test program include:
GEDWorks . A program backed by some of the country's most recognizable brands including Walmart, Taco Bell, KFC, and Southeastern Grocers. This program provides employees (and in the case of Walmart, benefits-eligible family members) with everything they need to study for and earn a GED credential at no cost.
. A program backed by some of the country's most recognizable brands including Walmart, Taco Bell, KFC, and Southeastern Grocers. This program provides employees (and in the case of Walmart, benefits-eligible family members) with everything they need to study for and earn a GED credential at no cost. Additional College Ready and + Credit score. A set of American Council on Education (ACE) recommendations that colleges and community college systems around the country allow students to bypass placement exams, skip non-credit remedial courses and even award college credit based on achieving the + Credit score.
A set of American Council on Education (ACE) recommendations that colleges and community college systems around the country allow students to bypass placement exams, skip non-credit remedial courses and even award college credit based on achieving the + Credit score. A comprehensive and mobile-friendly website that provides tools to help a student completely navigate the GED test preparation and testing process including linking students to convenient adult education programs. It also includes free features like PathSource, a tool that helps students match their interests to potential careers and to then explore those careers through thousands of online videos and even provides access to jobs trends and salary data.
that provides tools to help a student completely navigate the GED test preparation and testing process including linking students to convenient adult education programs. It also includes free features like PathSource, a tool that helps students match their interests to potential careers and to then explore those careers through thousands of online videos and even provides access to jobs trends and salary data. Flexible testing and near immediate results . Students have access to convenient testing appointments throughout each week and have complete control over which tests they take and how many tests they choose to take during each appointment. More than 90% of scores are received within just a couple hours of testing.
. Students have access to convenient testing appointments throughout each week and have complete control over which tests they take and how many tests they choose to take during each appointment. More than 90% of scores are received within just a couple hours of testing. Better student outcomes. GED Testing Service research shows that graduates of the new program are more satisfied with the jobs they enter after earning a credential. Additionally, GED graduates are now more likely to succeed in college certificate and degree programs. Grads are entering these programs at higher rates, are enrolling more quickly than in the past, and they are highly likely (93%) to re-enroll from semester to semester.
"Students can now take charge of their future by utilizing the unique tools and features of the program," said CT Turner, Senior Director of State Accounts for GED Testing Service. "The GED program can help them prepare for a job, or transition into a college certificate or degree program, and it carries a name recognized by employers and colleges."
To help students prepare for the newly-available GED exam Massachusetts residents can take discounted GED Ready subject practice tests, now through March 15. GED Ready practice tests are highly predictive of test performance. They contain questions that closely resemble real GED test questions, and they also provide students detailed feedback about areas they excel in and areas that require additional study time before sitting for the GED test. For more information about the promotion visit: gedtestingservice.com/educators/magedreadypromo.
To get started preparing for, or to take the GED test, visit GED.com.
For more information about :
GEDWorks visit: GEDtestingservice.com/educators/gedworks-media-kit
GED Score Levels visit: GEDtestingservice.com/educators/score-changes
About the GED Program
The GED test has opened doors to better jobs and college programs for more than 20 million graduates since 1942. The GED test is accepted by virtually all of U.S. colleges and employers. The goal of the GED program that launched in January, 2014 is to better prepare adult learners for today's jobs and for entry into career and college training programs. The GED test has one score level that is used to certify high school equivalency. It also utilizes higher score levels (College Ready and College Ready + Credit) to certify readiness for career and college programs, and may even lead to students bypassing college placement exams or earning college credit by GED examination. GED Testing Service is a joint venture of Pearson and the American Council on Education.
SOURCE GED Testing Service
Related Links
http://gedtestingservice.com/
HOUSTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mattress Firm, the nation's largest specialty bedding retailer, today announced that Sicily Dickenson has been hired as the Company's chief marketing officer (CMO).
"We are thrilled to have Sicily join our team as we move into the next chapter of our story," said Ken Murphy, president and chief executive officer of Mattress Firm. "Her extensive business expertise and marketing leadership will help us refine our marketing approach to create smarter consumer connections and fulfill our mission to help our customers get a better night's sleep."
Dickenson brings more than 13 years of experience in digital marketing, marketing communications, creative services and brand marketing. Prior to joining Mattress Firm, Dickenson was the CMO and senior vice president of marketing and customer experience for NRG Energy, Inc., where she developed and maintained a brand strategy for the NRG portfolio of brands. Before that she served in a number of marketing leadership positions for Reliant Energy.
Dickenson will lead the marketing teams at Mattress Firm with a focus on building a differentiated brand through customer-centric initiatives that create a meaningful connection with people and bring the best night's sleep possible to Mattress Firm customers.
"Mattress Firm's commitment to excellence is powerful and I am energized to bolster existing marketing efforts through additional touchpoints that allow us to connect with our customers," said Dickenson. "The industry is experiencing unprecedented levels of innovation and growth, and we are thrilled be part of it."
"The growth and development of our leadership team is indicative of the momentum our company is experiencing," said Murphy. "Sicily is the right person to advance our marketing efforts as we continue to meet the needs of our customers in an age when they are more engaged and connected than ever before."
About Mattress Firm
With more than 3,600 company-operated and franchised stores across 49 states, Mattress Firm has the largest geographic footprint in the United States among multi-brand mattress retailers. Founded in 1986, Houston-based Mattress Firm is the nation's first border-to-border, coast-to-coast specialty bedding retailer with over $3.5 billion in pro forma sales in the last twelve months. In 2016, Mattress Firm was acquired by Steinhoff International Holdings. The company, through its brands including Mattress Firm, Sleepy's and Sleep Train, offers a broad selection of both traditional and specialty mattresses, bedding accessories and other related products from leading manufacturers, including Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Simmons, Stearns & Foster, and Hampton & Rhodes. Mattress Firm guarantees price, comfort and service with the ultimate goal of ensuring that customers Save Money. Sleep Happy.
Mattress Firm was named Furniture Today's "Top Bedding Retailer" in 2013 and a "Top Workplace" by the Houston Chronicle in 2011, 2012 and 2013. More information is available at mattressfirm.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
SOURCE Mattress Firm
Related Links
http://www.mattressfirm.com
"The recent article by Veja really highlights the vital need for our products in the lives of those suffering from conditions like Alzheimer's Disease," said Medical Marijuana Inc. CEO, Dr. Stuart Titus. "Slowly but surely, because of wide reaching articles like this, the world is beginning to realize the benefits of CBD hemp oil products on diseases and disabilities that are oftentimes uncured. We applaud the nation of Brazil, and their health authority in taking proactive measures to see that our products get to those that need it most. Our company looks forward to continue in our efforts with Brazil, and around the world to ensure that those who continue to suffer are brought the relief they so desperately deserve."
"Recent studies on Alzheimer's from Stanford University researchers shows that Alzheimer's is caused by an Endogenous Cannabinoid Deficiency - and this, along with the wonderful work from Dr. David Schubert of the San Diego based Salk Institute, bodes quite well for the future of cannabinoid therapeutics to treat this terrible condition," added Dr. Titus. "A new study led by investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine has implicated the blocking of endocannabinoids signaling substances that are the brain's internal versions of the psychoactive chemicals in marijuana and hashish in the early pathology of Alzheimer's disease."
The article also discusses recent research by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies indicating the apparent effectiveness of cannabinoids and their ability to reduce brain inflammation. This shows the potential benefits of RSHO on international patients suffering from diseases and disorders like Parkinson's disease and forms of epilepsy.
You can view the full story HERE.
About HempMeds Brasil
HempMeds Brasil currently has three cannabis products approved for importation into Brazil as a prescription medication. The company had the first-ever cannabis product allowed for import into Brazil and its products are currently subsidized by the Brazilian government, under their health care system. As of 2015, ANVISA has allowed cannabidiol treatments for any medical condition a doctor sees could help the patient. HempMeds Brasil has had doctor prescriptions for Epilepsy, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Cancer, Autism, Multiple Sclerosis and Chronic Pain to date and is working on additional approvals for multiple indications.
About Medical Marijuana, Inc.
Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com .
To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s video statement, click here. Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products.
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties. The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The Company does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. The Company does sell and distribute hemp-based products.
Public Relations Contact:
Andrew Hard
Chief Executive Officer
CMW Media
P. 888-829- 0070
[email protected]
www.cmwmedia.com
SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com
CYPRESS, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) received the fifth annual Driving Engagement Award for the most buzz-worthy social media campaign of 2016. The Chicago Auto Show and Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) recognized Mitsubishi's "Kids Talk Safety" campaign where kids used their imaginations to describe some of the more complex safety features in the 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander in their own words. The award was presented in Chicago during the Chicago Auto Show.
The "Kids Talk Safety" campaign targeted in-market buyers and young families looking for a safe vehicle with integrated technology. The campaign contains a series of videos with kids explaining complicated safety features such as Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Forward Collision Mitigation.
"We challenged our social media team to come up with an unexpected campaign that touted the safety features in the 2017 Outlander in an engaging way that broke through the clutter in the social world," said Francine Harsini, senior director, marketing at Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
"We accepted the challenge and developed a concept around families and kids with their active imaginations," said Kimberly Ito, advertising manager at MMNA. "The social engagement was so effective that our public relations team brought the campaign to life at the Los Angeles Auto Show for some guerrilla PR. Our dealers also leveraged the concept through showroom safety themed coloring books and vehicle window clings."
Auto buyers regularly look to social channels when researching a car purchase, and they are especially interested in safety information. With "Kids Talk Safety," Mitsubishi showcased the 2017 Outlander as the forefront in safety and technology.
"Mitsubishi Motors is known for its safety, but we were confronted with finding a different way of explaining a topic that can often be full of complicated jargon. So we looked at what families care about most when it comes to safety the kids," said Grant Holland, chief creative officer at Omelet. "They have the ability to break down complicated features in the 2017 Outlander into simple, relatable terms. This campaign was designed to give our smallest passengers a big voice, but it was their imagination and their illustrations that everyone had the most fun with."
The campaign was an overwhelming success. It reached over half a million people organically and garnered an engagement rate three times higher than any previous campaign. Due to the tremendous response the campaign received from consumers and dealers alike, Mitsubishi turned the social media content into a national ad campaign. The "Kids Talk Safety" television spots are currently airing nationally.
About Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) is responsible for all research and development, marketing, and sales for Mitsubishi Motors in the United States. MMNA sells sedans and crossovers/SUVs through a network of approximately 360 dealers. MMNA is leading the way in the development of highly efficient, affordably priced new gasoline-powered automobiles while using its industry-leading knowledge in battery electric vehicles to develop future EV and PHEV models. 2017 marks the 100th year of Mitsubishi producing cars. For more information, contact the Mitsubishi Motors News Bureau at (888) 560-6672 or visit media.mitsubishicars.com.
About the Chicago Auto Show
The Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America, spanning more than 1 million square feet of production, concept, and exotic vehicle exhibit space. In addition to hosting multiple world and North American vehicle debuts, the Chicago Auto Show's First Look for Charity raises more than $2.5 million annually for 18 vital Chicago organizations in a single night. The 2017 public show will be Feb. 11-20. For more information, visit www.ChicagoAutoShow.com or www.Facebook.com/ChicagoAutoShow.
About the Chicago Automobile Trade Association
Founded in 1904, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is one of the nation's largest metropolitan dealer organizations. It is comprised of more than 420 franchised new-car dealers and an additional 150 allied members. The group's dealer members employ about 20,000 people in the metropolitan area. The association has produced the world-famous Chicago Auto Show since 1935. For more information please visit www.CATA.info.
SOURCE Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.mitsubishicars.com
In a two-day budget presentation, attorneys from the Office of the State Public Defender gave frustrated testimony, with some saying they were so overburdened they fear losing their license.
Chief Public Defender Bill Hooks presented the agencys budget challenges, including high staff turnover and an increasing caseload, to the Judicial Branch, Law Enforcement and Justice subcommittee on Monday and Tuesday.
The 2015 Legislature made the rare decision to approve the OPD budget for one time only. Now OPD officials are responsible for explaining why the committee should build back each section of their budget for the next biennium, which will essentially be built from scratch.
Over the interim, OPD created a mitigation plan to address a $3.5 million shortfall and improve future efficiency. The Legislature also created a task force to study OPD and draft reform legislation. Several of those bills, including one to hire an agency director to oversee the reform, are making their way to the governor.
Even with the mitigation plan, which took measures such as eliminating contract attorneys in certain regions and implementing a hiring freeze, attorneys said their caseload is too high to adequately provide the competent and effective representation that's required. Some attorneys said the mitigation plan didnt solve anything and asked the committee for resources to run an efficient agency while giving clients quality representation.
Alisha Backus, a public defender in the Kalispell office, said shes required to take all types of cases even though she only has a year and a half of experience. Right now, shes the lead counsel on a deliberate homicide case. Because the agency eliminated contract attorneys to save money, Backus is required to practice in five courts. She often spends six hours driving from Kalispell to Eureka and Libby to represent her clients.
Her caseload averages twice the recommended amount, and she works every weekend to make sure she provides required representation, although she said its often the bare minimum.
Im terrified everyday that I go to work that Im going to lose my license, Backus said. My stress is through the roof.
Nicole Gallagher, an attorney in Billings, said her office is down five or six attorneys. The Bar recommends attorneys handle 150 felony cases per year, which Gallagher said shell easily surpass.
Because of the hiring freeze in the mitigation plan, Gallagher said shes not able to manage her caseload and is also worried about losing her license.
If Im not giving competent and effective representation, that is a license issue, she said. Its frustrating that were discussing budget cuts to our office when its abundantly clear the criminal justice system is growing.
Attorneys also came to the committee to emphasize the importance of their work and the benefit of employing social workers to help attorneys navigate issues such as a homeless client or a child who might testify against a parent.
Rachel Wanderscheid said shes been in the Helena OPD office for three months, but has struggled to help clients with issues beyond the legal system. Because attorneys often function as social workers without professional training, Wanderscheid said attorneys leave OPD for private practice.
Thats because of the emotional level of this work that doesnt exist in other types of law, she said. I dont want to be that type of person.
The committee has the option to approve the governors request for approximately $67 million, modify his proposal, or start over and do something unique. While agencies across the board were asked to submit a 5 percent budget reduction plan as a starting point, no other action has been taken by the committee. Executive action is scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Meeting Professionals International Northern California Chapter [MPINCC], the largest chapter of MPI which is a global organization of the meetings industry, announced today its speakers and schedule for its Annual Conference and Expo (ACE). Hosted at Moscone North on March 9th 2017, this year's poignant and trending keynote will focus on safety and security with speakers Clarence Izzard, CPP, PSP, Area Director, Global Safety & Security, Marriott International; and Jonathan Wackrow, Executive Director, RANE | Risk Assistance Network and Exchange, both considered event security experts.
"Over many years, ACE has developed into the leading regional industry conference of its kind," said Marilee A. Sonneman, CMP, DMCP, 2016-17 MPINCC President. "The outstanding value of the education alone, with top-tier speakers addressing of-the-moment topics, is unprecedented. The open trade show floor, free of required appointments, delivers exceptional networking opportunities. And all of this strategically takes place in one day, so delegates can maximize their investment in education and engagement with minimal time."
In addition to the timely keynote topic, this year's event will feature 20 additional educational workshops and informal discussion groups on topics such as technology and legal trends and event design by industry experts as well as a trade show, a reception with prizes for meeting planner attendees, and 'Innovation Alley,' which will showcase new and innovative technology products by young companies at a deeply discounted exhibitor rate including an award for most innovative product.
Based on last year's attendance, more than 400 planners are expected, with a total attendance of 1,200+ meeting and event professionals and exhibitors. To register, planners, event and meeting professionals can go to www.mpincc.org and click on the link to the ACE event webpage to register as an attendee or an exhibitor. Attendance fees range from $55-$60 for students and early-bird registration for members [expiring February 23rd] to $145 for non-member planners. Pricing also varies for suppliers and dates of purchase. All pricing details can be found here.
About MPI and MPINCC: Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is the world's largest meeting and event industry association. Founded in 1972, the organization provides innovative and relevant education, networking opportunities and business exchanges, and acts as a prominent voice for the promotion and growth of the industry. MPI has a global community of 60,000 meeting and event professionals including more than 17,000 engaged members and its Plan Your Meetings audience. It has more than 90 chapters and clubs in 24 countries. The world's largest chapter, the Northern California Chapter has grown since its founding in 1978 to nearly 1,000 members.
"Our Mission: To provide MPI members, chapters and the global meeting and event community with innovative and relevant education, networking opportunities and business exchanges, and to act as a prominent voice for the promotion and growth of the industry."
SOURCE Meeting Professionals International Northern California Chapter (MPINCC)
Related Links
http://www.mpincc.org
NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- M&T Bank and Rutgers Business School have launched a new partnership for the second annual Rutgers Business School New Jersey County College Case Competition, with M&T serving as the presenting sponsor of this year's competition.
In addition to financial support for the competition, M&T will offer their bankers as advisers to participating community college students throughout New Jersey. Established by Rutgers Business School in 2016, the competition requires students to analyze a real-life business case and present their findings and recommendations to a panel of Rutgers Business School judges.
"Rutgers has one of the nation's leading business schools, particularly in placing graduates in the workforce, and we see benefits to building a long-term relationship with the university as we continue to grow our business in New Jersey," said M&T Bank Area Executive Paula Mandell. "Working with Rutgers Business School on this case competition is a great start, allowing our bankers to offer professional assistance to community college students interested in pursuing business degrees and careers."
"We look forward to developing a strong strategic partnership with M&T Bank and working together to train students of every background to become tomorrow's business leaders," said Lei Lei, dean of Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick.
Robert Kurland, associate dean of undergraduate programs at Rutgers Business School-Newark, added: "With the support of M&T Bank, we are able to extend an invitation to additional county colleges which allows more students the opportunity to gain real-world business experience and showcases some of the best future business leaders in New Jersey."
Students will begin working on the business case in March, with the competition culminating in a day-long event at the RBS Newark campus on April 7. Participating community colleges include:
Bergen County College
College County College of Morris
Essex County College
Hudson County Community College
Middlesex County College
Ocean County College
Passaic County Community College
Sussex County Community College
Union County College
M&T Bank operates more than 90 branches in New Jersey and ranks among the state's largest lenders to small business, middle market and commercial real estate customers. The bank earned a 2016 SBA Gold Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration Newark District for its lending to small businesses in New Jersey.
About M&T Bank Corporation
M&T is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, operates banking offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Trust-related services are provided by M&T's Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank.
About Rutgers Business School
Rutgers Business School - Newark and New Brunswick is an integral part of one of the nation's oldest, largest, and most distinguished institutions of higher learning: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey founded in 1766. Today, Rutgers Business School is educating more than 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students at two main campuses in New Jersey as well as satellite locations in Jersey City, Madison and Singapore. Steeped in academic excellence, with a distinguished faculty and more than 40,000 successful alumni, Rutgers Business School is highly ranked by the Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek. For additional information, visit business.rutgers.edu.
Member FDIC.
SOURCE M&T Bank
Related Links
http://www.mtb.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US) held a press conference to share details of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) terrorist training bases in Iran.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, Deputy Director of the NCRI-US, explained that the intelligence had come from the NCRI's main constituent group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), which had previously exposed key information about Iran's nuclear weapon program. Click here to watch the press conference.
The unearthed information concerning the training facilities indicates a rise of recruitment of foreign nationals, an expansion that has been explicitly endorsed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Currently, the Quds Force, an operation division of the IRGC, is designated by the US Government under executive order 13224 as an entity engaged in terrorism, but the IRGC itself is not. The NCRI pointed out that there is no distinction between the IRGC and the Quds Force, either in organization and operations, the Iranian constitution or national budget.
Jafarzadeh showed maps and details, including commanders' names, of 14 terrorist training centers in Iran. The main headquarter, known as Imam Ali Garrison, is where terrorist training is provided to foreign nationals. He also included specifics on the types of training given to the mercenaries from around the world.
The conference emphasized the IRGC's deep involvement in each of the "three pillars" upon which the regime's power rests: the suppression of dissent inside Iran, the export of its Islamic revolution through terrorism and regional military operations, and the amplification of the Iranian military threat through the pursuit of WMDs.
IRGC's connection to the international terrorist network was also discussed. Trainees were "dispatched to various countries in the Persian Gulf area, Asia, Africa, and Latin America."
The NCRI said measures like designating the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) would decrease the likelihood of similar incidents in the West, and would strike a blow against the Iranian theocracy.
In his written statement, Jafarzadeh concluded: "If the day comes when the Tehran regime stops its export of terrorism and religious fascism; and if it reins in the Revolutionary Guards Corps, mandating it only to protect Iran from within Iran's borders; and if it lets go of its hostility towards the United States and drops its 'anti-imperialist' slogans, that day the mullahs' regime will collapse."
Contact: NCRI-US, 202-747-7847
SOURCE National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US)
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Neudesic, a nationally recognized business and technology consulting firm, today celebrated its 15th anniversary. Over the past 15 years, Neudesic has been focused on helping clients leverage digital technologies to improve operational performance, deliver their products and services more efficiently, and grow their businesses.
Neudesic has broadened its focus, leveraging a wide array of leading cloud and emerging technologies to position itself as an industry leader in driving enterprise digital evolution. Neudesic has worked with hundreds of global enterprise clients, covering industries such as financial services, utilities, hospitality, gaming, transportation, logistics, and energy.
Neudesic's diverse client base has fueled a flexible and creative company culture - hiring and training exceptional thought leaders, paired with a collaborative environment and the best technology, enabling transformative results for clients worldwide.
"Neudesic was founded based on the vision that technology is the key driving force, enabling enterprises to compete effectively and create compelling outcomes for their employees and clients," said Tim Marshall, CTO and co-founder. "Our business and technical expertise, world class talent, and leading technology alliances position us as the partner of choice to successfully drive our clients' digital evolution."
"We owe our success to having passionate people and innovative clients," adds Marshall, "and sincerely thank them for the last 15 years."
About Neudesic
Neudesic is the trusted technology partner in business innovation, delivering impactful business results to clients through digital modernization and evolution. Our consultants bring business and technology expertise together, offering a wide range of cloud and data-driven solutions, including: custom application development, comprehensive managed services, and business software products. Founded in 2002, Neudesic is a privately held company headquartered in Irvine, California, and is celebrating its 15th Anniversary in 2017. For more information, or to consult with Neudesic to explore enterprise digital evolution, visit www.neudesic.com.
Media Contact: Mike Graff
Senior Marketing Manager, Solutions
Neudesic
(949) 754-4599
[email protected]
SOURCE Neudesic
Related Links
http://www.neudesic.com
CARSON, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New Age Electronics, a leading distributor of consumer electronics and gaming products and services and a division of SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), announced today that it has signed an agreement with RAYCOP, a leading consumer health product manufacturer, to distribute its top-selling allergen vacuums to the North American retail channel. The agreement expands New Age Electronics' home appliance offering and makes the RAYCOP RS2 and RAYCOP LITE products available to its network of retail customers. In Canada, RAYCOP is available through SYNNEX Canada Limited's consumer electronics group. In addition, the agreement has applications in the commercial channel in areas such as hospitality in both the US and Canada.
"We are pleased to bring Japan's leading line of allergen vacuums to North America through our agreement with RAYCOP," said Fred Towns, President, New Age Electronics. "RAYCOP's products ultimately help people lead healthier lives by creating a cleaner home environment, eliminating allergens, and providing an overall improved quality of life. The agreement allows retailers to add a new alternative to regular vacuums that meets the needs of consumers looking to buy high-quality cleaning products for the home."
RAYCOP combines leading technology and innovative design, delivering a unique product set that easily integrates into the consumer lifestyle. The product line is especially relevant to the millions of adults and children susceptible to common allergies and other respiratory disorders. RAYCOP allergen vacuums use patented RayClean Technology to remove allergens from fabric surfaces three times more effectively than other brand-leading vacuums. With a dual-filtration system incorporating a high-efficiency particulate air filter, ultraviolet light, optimized suction and pulsating pads, RAYCOP eliminates most common bacteria and viruses, as well as pollen and allergens produced by dust mites.
"Our team is excited to work with New Age Electronics to significantly expand our global footprint while making RAYCOP products more widely available to North American consumers," said Hirobumi Suzuki, CEO, RAYCOP North America. "Following the momentous success among our Asian customer base, we are confident that people across the US and Canada especially those who suffer from allergies will find great value in making their homes cleaner and healthier with the RAYCOP product line."
New Age Electronics' agreement with RAYCOP comes in addition to the manufacturer's relationship with SYNNEX Infotec Japan, which began in 2011.
To learn more about RAYCOP through New Age Electronics, call (800) 947-5974, email [email protected], or visit www.newageelectronics.com. Interested Canadian retailers can contact SYNNEX Canada's consumer electronics group by calling 514-745-1690 ext. 508919 or emailing [email protected].
About New Age Electronics
New Age Electronics, a division of SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), is a sales and supply chain solutions innovator that provides consumer technology (CT) manufacturers with a broad offering of logistics, distribution and remanufactured services. Extensive experience in the CT industry and a customer-centric approach has made New Age Electronics the provider of choice. New Age Electronics distinguishes itself with efficient operations and relentless focus on customer satisfaction. Founded in 1988, New Age Electronics is headquartered in Carson, California. For more information about New Age Electronics, call (310) 549-0000, toll-free (888) 234-0300 or visit the company's website at www.synnex.com/nae.
About SYNNEX Corporation
SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), a Fortune 500 corporation and a leading business process services company, provides a comprehensive range of distribution, logistics and integration services for the technology industry, as well as outsourced services focused on customer engagement strategy to a broad range of enterprises. SYNNEX distributes a broad range of information technology systems and products and also provides systems design and integration solutions. Concentrix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation, offers a portfolio of strategic solutions and end-to-end business services around customer engagement strategy, process optimization, technology innovation, front and back-office automation and business transformation to clients in ten identified industry verticals. Founded in 1980, SYNNEX Corporation operates in numerous countries throughout North and South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Additional information about SYNNEX may be found online at www.synnex.com .
About RAYCOP
Founded in 2005, RAYCOP is a leading consumer health product manufacturer focused on improving consumer's quality of life with innovative products that help people breathe and sleep better. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, RAYCOP has more than 500 employees and is the number one selling home allergen vacuum in Japan with more than four million units sold to date. RAYCOP products are currently sold in many countries around the world and in 2016, RAYCOP strengthened its global presence with the addition of a North American headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. RAYCOP is widely recognized as the premium brand and pioneer of allergen cleaning devices. To learn more, please visit www.raycop.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this release that are forward-looking, such as product features and capabilities and the success of the collaboration, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance that may be suggested in this release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release.
Copyright 2017 SYNNEX Corporation. All rights reserved. SYNNEX, the SYNNEX Logo, CONCENTRIX, NEW AGE ELECTRONICS, the NEW AGE ELECTRONICS Logo, and all other SYNNEX company, product and services names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of SYNNEX Corporation. SYNNEX, the SYNNEX Logo, CONCENTRIX, NEW AGE ELECTRONICS and the NEW AGE ELECTRONICS LOGO Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. Other names and marks are the property of their respective owners.
SNX-G
SOURCE SYNNEX Corporation
Related Links
http://www.synnex.com
The workshops will be held on February 16, 2017 from 9:00 A.M. -12:00 P.M. at the Adolphus Hotel located at 1321 Commerce Street Dallas, TX 75202 and from 9:00 A.M. -12:00 P.M. at the Houston Club, One Shell Plaza, 910 Louisiana Street, Suite 4900, Houston, TX 77002.
"I am very excited to host this Latino Focus Event about the new millennial generation of Latinos. I hope that people will learn how to market to this important generation and how we can help them achieve their dream of homeownership," said Arvielo.
The events will provide opportunities for attendees to learn about needs specific to millennial Hispanic consumers and hear from guest speakers. In Dallas, Robert Deleon, a Real Estate Agent and member of the Board of Directors for National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), will address marketing to this new generation of Latinos, specifically culturally keen social media and traditional marketing tactics. In Houston, Mark Dimas, a Real Estate Agent with 14 years of experience, will take the stage to share successful marketing strategies and address the pain points of the Latino homebuyer.
In 2013, New American Funding formed the Latino Focus Committee. The in-house group develops services to enhance the quality of the lending experience among Hispanic consumers and aims to enrich the Hispanic community through homeownership.
This event is produced in collaboration with Freddie Mac and Radian. More information can be found at http://www.latinofocus.com.
About New American Funding
New American Funding is a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae Direct Seller/Servicer, FHA Direct Endorsement and VA Automatic mortgage lender. The company is licensed in 48 states, has 130+ branch locations, and offers a variety of home loan options, including: Conventional, FHA, Cash Out, Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate Mortgages, VA, HARP 2.0, Jumbo, and Reverse Mortgages.
RELATED LINKS
http://latinofocus.com/
http://www.newamericanagent.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LatinoFocus/
https://twitter.com/newamericanteam
SOURCE New American Funding
Related Links
http://www.newamericanfunding.com
Conducted by HIMSS Analytics on behalf of Philips and announced at the 2017 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition , the survey of 120 healthcare IT leaders sought to determine how health leaders are prioritizing technology investments in an industry shift to value-based care. Of the 120 respondents, 84 percent represent either standalone hospitals or integrated delivery networks (IDNs), 55 percent identify as C-level executives, and 26.7 percent is comprised of IT directors.
"The shift to value-based care and population health management is critical to improving patient outcomes, and integrated solutions can connect care across the health continuum to provide powerful actionable insights to enable this transformation," said Carla Kriwet, Chief Business Leader, Connected Care and Health Informatics, Philips. "These survey results demonstrate the desire for fully integrated, cost-effective and operationally effective solutions, which our customers have proven can add tremendous value and improve outcomes at every point of care."
As healthcare moves toward a value-based model, population health initiatives become increasingly important. Three-quarters of respondents already have population health programs in acute care, and nearly two-thirds of respondents in both readmissions and patient education. Additionally, there were increases in program implementation since last year within home monitoring devices and aging well or elderly care programs as well as notable plans for future implementations, with priorities in mobile wellness monitoring devices (58.3 percent), home monitoring devices (45.8 percent), and aging well or elderly care programs (42.5 percent).
Key Survey Findings:
While care coordination remains a challenge overall in population health management efforts (19.2 percent), financial investment (20.8 percent) and patient engagement and adherence (20.0 percent) are considered the biggest population health challenges in 2017.
Cloud-based technology is currently being used primarily for health information exchange (48.3 percent), followed by clinical data storage (34.2 percent). Health organizations plan to prioritize cloud-based technology on managed application deployment (40.8 percent) and big data analytics support (40.8 percent).
Community diagnostic imaging centers (68 percent), ambulatory surgery centers (61 percent) and urgent care (60 percent) have seen the highest increases in the deployment of IT systems, compared to physician's offices in 2016.
Philips is committed to providing a fully integrated suite of advanced technologies and intelligent software, solutions and services in a highly secure, cloud-based ecosystem, to deliver the data and analytics needed to make better informed, more efficient and effective value-based care decisions, from the hospital into home.
Philips will showcase the breadth of its personal and population health offerings and acute healthcare informatics solutions, fully integrated in a highly secure, cloud-based ecosystem in booth #2105 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2017 Annual Meeting and Exhibition. For more information on Philips' presence at (HIMSS), please visit www.philips/himss and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for #HIMSS17 updates throughout the event.
For further information, please contact:
Kathy O'Reilly
Philips Group Communications
Tel.: +1 978-659-2638
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @kathyoreilly
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. 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.
About HIMSS Analytics
HIMSS Analytics is a global healthcare IT market intelligence, research and standards organization assisting clientele in both healthcare delivery and healthcare technology solutions business development to make lasting improvements in efficiency and performance.
HIMSS Analytics offers a wide array of market insight and research solutions custom-created to meet clientele business objectives. Offering a full spectrum of research services from general market understanding and opportunities, to finding ways to improve business effectiveness, HIMSS Analytics' team of experienced analysts and thought leaders guide clients through the fast-paced, highly competitive health IT market to better performance.
SOURCE Royal Philips
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsis
Timetric's 'Non-Life Insurance in Saudi Arabia, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment, and a comparison of the Saudi Arabian insurance industry with its regional counterparts.
It provides values for key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, combined ratio, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).
The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Saudi Arabian economy and demographics, explains the various types of natural and man-made hazards and their impact on the Saudi Arabian insurance industry, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.
The report brings together Timetric's research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.
Summary
Timetric's 'Non-Life Insurance in Saudi Arabia, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment, including:
- The Saudi Arabian non-life segment's detailed outlook by product category
- A comprehensive overview of the Saudi Arabian economy and demographics
- A comparison of the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment with its regional counterparts
- The various distribution channels in the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment
- Detailed analysis of natural and man-made hazards and their impact on the Saudi Arabian insurance industry
- Details of the competitive landscape in the non-life insurance segment in Saudi Arabia
- Details of regulatory policy applicable to the Saudi Arabian insurance industry
Scope
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the non-life insurance segment in Saudi Arabia:
- It provides historical values for the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment for the report's 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.
- It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2020.
- It provides a comparison of the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment with its regional counterparts.
- It analyzes the various distribution channels for non-life insurance products in Saudi Arabia.
- It analyzes various natural and man-made hazards and their impact on the Saudi Arabian insurance industry.
- It profiles the top non-life insurance companies in Saudi Arabia, and outlines the key regulations affecting them.
Reasons To Buy
- Make strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment, and each category within it.
- Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Saudi Arabian non-life insurance segment.
- Assess the competitive dynamics in the non-life insurance segment.
- Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.
- Gain insights into key regulations governing the Saudi Arabian insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.
Key Highlights
- In December 2016, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority instructed motor insurers to introduce a no-claims discount provision for individual customers when renewing motor insurance policies.
- The penetration rate of non-life insurance segment was 0.7% in 2015, and is expected to reach 1.0% in 2020.
- Motor insurance was the largest non-life category, accounting for 65.4% of the segment's direct written premium in 2015.
- According to new regulations, hospitals are required to bill treatment expenses to the insurance provider of the person responsible for the accident.
Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03260671-summary/view-report.html
About Reportlinker
ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.
http://www.reportlinker.com
__________________________
Contact Clare: [email protected]
US: (339)-368-6001
Intl: +1 339-368-6001
SOURCE Reportlinker
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SEATTLE, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) announced today plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in Manhattan at The Durst Organization's 855 6th Avenue. The approximately 46,500-square-foot store is scheduled to open in fall 2017.
Nordstrom Rack will occupy the first three floors of the newly constructed office/residential tower. The location is on the corner of 31st Street, two blocks from Herald Square.
"We are thrilled to announce a second Nordstrom Rack store in Manhattan," said Karen McKibbin, president of Nordstrom Rack. "Having a store near Herald Square one of the most iconic shopping destinations in the world is very exciting for us, and we look forward to offering visitors and residents of New York an additional location to shop with us."
This will be the 2nd Nordstrom Rack store in Manhattan. The company has also announced plans to open a Manhattan flagship Nordstrom store in 2019.
"We are proud to welcome Nordstrom Rack to 855 Sixth Avenue," said Jonathan (Jody) Durst, President of The Durst Organization. "With 375 rental units, 150,000 square feet of office space and now 46,500 square feet of retail, the building is a perfect reflection of the diversity, energy and connectivity of the NoMad neighborhood. We look forward to many years of success with Nordstrom Rack at 855."
The Durst Organization was represented in-house by Eric Engelhardt, Rocco Romeo, Lindsey Ravesloot and Meghan Duffany and by Ross Berkowitz, Robert Futterman and Peter Whitenack of Robert K. Futterman & Associates, LLC. Nordstrom, Inc, was represented by Stephen Stephanou and Thibaud Veil of Crown Retail Services, LLC
Nordstrom Rack is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom, Inc., offering customers a wide selection of on-trend apparel, accessories and shoes at an everyday savings of 30-70 percent off regular prices. Nordstrom Rack merchandise, available at Rack stores and at Nordstromrack.com, comes from Nordstrom stores, Nordstrom.com as well as specially purchased items from many of the top brands available at Nordstrom. The Rack is designed to provide the ultimate treasure hunt to style-savvy customers.
About Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion specialty retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 349 stores in 40 states, including 123 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 215 Nordstrom Rack stores; two Jeffrey boutiques; and two clearance stores. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com and HauteLook. The company also owns Trunk Club, a personalized clothing service serving customers online at TrunkClub.com and its seven clubhouses. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.
About The Durst Organization
The Durst Organization, founded in 1915 by Joseph Durst, is the owner, manager and builder of 13 million square feet of premiere Manhattan office towers and 1,950 residential rental units with 3,400 in development. The Durst Organization is recognized as a world leader in the development of high-performance and environmentally advanced commercial and residential buildings. www.durst.org
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jessica Canfield
Nordstrom, Inc.
(206) 303-4250
[email protected]
Jordan Barowitz
The Durst Organization
(212) 257-6605
[email protected]
SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.nordstrom.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OnlineSchoolsCenter.com has recently released their list of the Top Online Schools for Master in Sex Therapy and Marriage/Family Counseling, a comprehensive index of the finest available distance education programs in America pertaining to this field of study.
You may view the list, along with a description of the benefits of each institution, by clicking the link below:
http://www.onlineschoolscenter.com/top-online-schools-master-sex-therapy-marriagefamily-counseling/
These areas of the counseling profession require integrity, honesty, and sincere communication, perhaps even more so than any other area within the discipline, as they address some of the most sensitive issues within human relationships. Many couples and families have been saved by these specialized therapists, who are capable of mediating and negotiating highly difficult and emotionally charged scenarios. The family dynamic is changing drastically due in large part to the introduction of newer technologies, and a degree in Sex Therapy or Marriage and Family Counseling gives graduate students all of the most relevant theories and techniques available in dealing with these changes.
These Top Online Schools for Master in Sex Therapy and Marriage/Family Counseling represent some of the finest distance education colleges and universities in the country. Many have been recognized for consecutive years on end for fabulous curricula, resources, and faculty members. Students at any one of these fine academic institutions receive access to state-of-the-art technologies, and personalized advising to assist them throughout their challenging coursework. Classes are in-depth, and sharpen current skills while also implementing new ones.
According to lead researcher and writer, Rowan Jones, "This is an incredibly fascinating area of study that concerns issues under which many families suffer. Students in any one of these programs receives a thorough education that prepares them for deeply fulfilling careers."
Below we have listed the schools that have made the Top Online Schools for Master in Sex Therapy and Marriage/Family Counseling:
Capella University Minneapolis, MN
Walden University Minneapolis, MN
Northcentral University Scottsdale, AZ
Liberty University Lynchburg, VA
Amridge University Montgomery, AL
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ
California Southern University Costa Mesa, CA
Messiah College Mechanicsburg, PA
Touro University Worldwide Vallejo, CA
Regent University Virginia Beach, VA
Palo Alto University Palo Alto, CA
University of the Rockies Colorado Springs, CO
Campbellsville University Campbellsville, KY
Eisner Institute for Professional Studies Encino, CA
Concordia University Online Mequon, WI
These Top Online Schools for Master in Sex Therapy and Marriage/Family Counseling were chosen for several factors that put them ahead of other online graduate programs, due to the: nature of the coursework, degree of thoroughness and complexity of the curriculum, 100% online availability, sufficient financial aid availability, and an education that give students more than just classroom experience. OnlineSchoolsCenter.com is an online web publication that is committed to enhancing the information available to students when choosing an academic institution.
The editors of OnlineSchoolsCenter.com collect the most important and relevant data about colleges, universities, and campus facilities from various highly respected sources and offer them in a simple format that is easy to understand. In developing this list, OnlineSchoolsCenter.com, chose not to list the schools in an ordered way, but instead highlighted fifteen of the very best programs, all of which have their own unique strengths.
Contact:
Rowan Jones
Researcher/Writer
OnlineSchoolsCenter.com
Email: [email protected]
Cell: (931) 636-4286
SOURCE OnlineSchoolsCenter.com
Related Links
http://www.onlineschoolscenter.com
HELENA A federal judge has pushed back the murder trial of a Montana woman accused of killing a 13-month-old girl and putting her body in dumpster on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
Janelle Red Dog's trial had been scheduled for Feb. 27. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris re-set it for May 22 in Great Falls.
Morris wrote in his order the delay is necessary to give Red Dog's public defender enough time to prepare.
Red Dog is charged with first- and second-degree murder for the April 2016 death of Kenzley Olson. She has pleaded not guilty and faces a potential sentence of life in prison if she is convicted.
Red Dog had been caring for Kenzley for about two weeks after the girl's mother dropped her off and failed to return.
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Palo Alto University's (PAU) Master of Arts in Counseling programs in Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and in Clinical Mental Health Counseling were awarded 8 years of accreditation by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). CACREP accreditation is recognition that the programs' quality meets the national standards set by the counseling profession and is among the highest commendation that an academic program can receive in the counseling field.
These accreditation decisions were based on the CACREP's Board's extensive review of the self-study documents submitted by PAU, the visiting team's report, and PAU's response to the visiting team's report.
The Counseling department was further accredited by CACREP to deliver its two emphases in both a Residential Hybrid and a Distance Learning (online) with Limited Residency format. Palo Alto University is now the only university with a CACREP accredited online masters program located west of the Rockies and is one of only eight CACREP accredited residential programs with these emphases in California.
Alumnus Sharlisa Byrd, Community Involvement Specialist and MFTi, stated: "Palo Alto University is like coming home. Home is not only a physical place, but a place of purpose and growth, that connects and creates relationships. The M.A. Counseling program allowed me to be both powerful and vulnerable. I was provided with the tools to be able to use myself as a producer of healing, hope and transformation. Now it is my turn to open doors to welcome others home."
The Master Degree Program in PAU is under the excellent Leadership of Dr. William Snow who received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (WACES) in December 2016. The award is testament to the high quality support and commitment of Dr. Snow, and was the result of many professors and students submitting sincere and heartfelt nominations and letters on his behalf.
Dr. Snow will be presenting his thoughts on "The Importance of Mentorship in Leaders". Please come and join us.
March 7th , 5:30 to 6:15pm
, Room C15a, PAU's Los Altos Campus, 5150 El Camino, Los Altos , CA.
About Palo Alto University
Palo Alto University (PAU) was founded in 1975 and is dedicated to education with an emphasis in the behavioral and social sciences. Offering bachelor, master and doctorate degrees, PAU's mission is to improve lives, with an emphasis on diverse cultures and serving the community.
M.A. Counseling (MFT/LPCC). This program prepares students to pursue a license as a mental health counselor or marriage and family therapist and with two areas of emphasis; Marriage, Family, and Child emphasis fulfills all requirements for MFT licensure in the State of California and similar licenses in many other states, and Clinical Mental Health emphasis fulfills all requirements for LPCC licensure in California and many other U.S. states and territories.
Contact:
Helena Ting, VP of Community Development, [email protected]
SOURCE Palo Alto University
Whether your idea of Spring Break involves exploring a Caribbean island, bar-hopping between sets in the live music capital of Austin, or joining spring breakers at a classic Florida beach bash, the travel experts at Cheapflights.com , the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, have you covered. Split into five sections with the best deals for travel from each region of the country, Cheapflights' Spring Break 2017: Where to go for airfare that's still low highlights 25 student-friendly spots that also have wallet-friendly flight prices, even if you are booking now.
For a sampling of fun and affordable spots, read on:
Traveling From Northeast
Savannah, Georgia Haunted mansions (well, purportedly haunted), Instagram-worthy architecture, ultra-friendly locals and a charming, leafy Historic District make Savannah a good choice when it comes to where to spend your Spring Break time. Get your fill of sun at the nearby beaches and food and fun along the Riverwalk.
Haunted mansions (well, purportedly haunted), Instagram-worthy architecture, ultra-friendly locals and a charming, leafy Historic District make a good choice when it comes to where to spend your Spring Break time. Get your fill of sun at the nearby beaches and food and fun along the Riverwalk. Palm Springs, California Much more than just a golfing hot spot, Palm Springs is a warm weather oasis, both literally and figuratively. The resort town boasts plenty of outdoor fun, with great hiking, as well as horseback and ATV tours. And, for indoor fun, there are plenty of chances to shop, eat and bar or casino hop your way through the laid-back, friendly city.
Traveling From Southeast
Nassau, Bahamas You can easily put beach hopping at the top of your Spring Break to-do list with a quick flight to Nassau . In addition to soaking up the sun or splashing around in turquoise water, get into the island mindset at an open air bar, where you can sip daiquiris (the drinking age is 18) and enjoy incredible fresh and affordable seafood. Don't forget to make time to shop the duty-free shops on Bay Street or pick up souvenirs and local handicrafts from the lively Nassau Straw Market.
You can easily put beach hopping at the top of your Spring Break to-do list with a quick flight to . In addition to soaking up the sun or splashing around in turquoise water, get into the island mindset at an open air bar, where you can sip daiquiris (the drinking age is 18) and enjoy incredible fresh and affordable seafood. Don't forget to make time to shop the duty-free shops on Bay Street or pick up souvenirs and local handicrafts from the lively Nassau Straw Market. Ft. Walton, Florida Sometimes you want a beach vacation with a lot of action, and sometimes you just want a stretch of warm sand to yourself for a while. Fort Walton is ideal for those who want a bit of both. Located an hour and a half from Spring Break central, Panama City Beach , Fort Walton gives you the best of the Florida sun and sand and puts you in the orbit of the full social scene. How close to the chaos you want to go is up to you
Traveling From West
Vancouver, BC , Canada Nature-lovers and outdoor enthusiasts will want to consider a trip to Vancouver for Spring Break. You can ski, hike, snowboard and mountain bike all in a few days if you want. There's also great food, a good bar scene (available to those 19 and over), laid-back locals and a convivial vibe that makes even first-time visitors feel right at home. (The U.S.-friendly exchange rate might make it feel even better than home.)
Nature-lovers and outdoor enthusiasts will want to consider a trip to for Spring Break. You can ski, hike, snowboard and mountain bike all in a few days if you want. There's also great food, a good bar scene (available to those 19 and over), laid-back locals and a convivial vibe that makes even first-time visitors feel right at home. (The U.S.-friendly exchange rate might make it feel even better than home.) Reno, Nevada If you've never thought about visiting Reno , make this Spring Break the year you do it. Probably most well known as a gambling spot, Reno is also home to many ski resorts, bars, restaurants and chances to shop until you drop.
Traveling From Midwest
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls , no matter which side you're looking at (American or Canadian), are always an epic sight. But the area is also filled with other things to see and do. If you're feeling lucky, you can check out the Niagara Fallsview Casino, sample some wine at one of the surrounding wineries like Inniskillin, take in the views from the Skylon Tower Observation Deck, or ride the Clifton Hill SkyWheel, one of the best ways to view the Falls . Stay on the Canada side for better buying power and to take advantage of the lower drinking age.
, no matter which side you're looking at (American or Canadian), are always an epic sight. But the area is also filled with other things to see and do. If you're feeling lucky, you can check out the Niagara Fallsview Casino, sample some wine at one of the surrounding wineries like Inniskillin, take in the views from the Skylon Tower Observation Deck, or ride the Clifton Hill SkyWheel, one of the best ways to view . Stay on the side for better buying power and to take advantage of the lower drinking age. Montreal, Quebec Get a taste of Europe without leaving North America with a Spring Break trip to Montreal . You'll definitely want to spend some time exploring Old Montreal, browsing cute shops and cafes and feeling like you made a pit stop in Paris . Other Montreal must-dos include browsing the massive Jean-Talon Market , getting the most of your strong U.S. dollar by shopping Sainte Catherine Street (one of North America's longest shopping arteries) and diving into a plate of poutine, washed down with a local beer, before trying your luck at the casino.
Traveling From Southwest
Phoenix, Arizona While Phoenix may not be the first place you think of when you think Spring Break, it has a lot to offer last-minute travelers. Phoenix is a diverse destination, home to desert, mountains and more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Hike your way to the top of Camelback Mountain, try one of the 50 miles of trails in South Mountain Park and Preserve or catch a baseball game. The Cactus League spring training season kicks off at the end of February, with games scheduled throughout March for 15 MLB teams. Not a baseball fan? No problem. March is one of the busiest months of the year in Phoenix , with festivals and events like the Arizona Renaissance Festival, theArizona Wild West Festival and the Good Life Festival, which includes music from national and local acts, among many others.
While Phoenix may not be the first place you think of when you think Spring Break, it has a lot to offer last-minute travelers. is a diverse destination, home to desert, mountains and more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Hike your way to the top of Camelback Mountain, try one of the 50 miles of trails in South Mountain Park and Preserve or catch a baseball game. The Cactus League spring training season kicks off at the end of February, with games scheduled throughout March for 15 MLB teams. Not a baseball fan? No problem. March is one of the busiest months of the year in , with festivals and events like the Arizona Renaissance Festival, theArizona Wild West Festival and the Good Life Festival, which includes music from national and local acts, among many others. Nashville, Tennessee If you're into live music, Music City is, of course, an ideal destination. And with a number of honky tonks, dive bars and barbecue joints downtown within walking distance of each other, Nashville is the perfect place for an alternative spring break.
If none of those options fit the bill, we have plenty more suggestions. For those in the Northeast, these include non-stop New York City, the three-pronged party zone that is Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach, and exchange-rate-friendly Toronto, Canada. For students traveling from the Southeast, choose from sunny Puerto Rico, the beach party mecca of Daytona Beach or swinging New Orleans. Westerners have their pick of laid-back Los Angeles, hipster-centric Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City's proximity to national parks and mountains. Midwesterners sick of the snow can find sunnier skies in Denver, Las Vegas and Clearwater/Tampa. Folks in the Southwest can head north to Chicago for its notable food and cocktail scene, Austin for live music bar crawls and Myrtle Beach for affordable, beachside fun. To get the full list, check out Cheapflights.com's Spring Break 2017: Where to go for airfare that's still low at www.cheapflights.com/news/spring-break-vacations.
About Cheapflights.com, part of the Momondo Group
Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is a leading global flight comparison and deals publishing platform. It is now a market leader in the UK, U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand generating over $3 billion in global downstream revenue for its partners as it expands into numerous other territories. More than 120 million users visit its websites and apps each year, receiving more than two billion search results a month from across 900,000 routes. The 10 million strong opt-in subscribers to the Cheapflights newsletter receive the best deals from over 120 travel businesses for whom it has driven more than $65 million in revenue this year. Together, the Cheapflights platforms generate enough bookings for its partners to fill a Boeing 747 every five minutes.
In 2011, Cheapflights became part of the privately owned online travel search and inspiration network, Momondo Group.
Follow us on:
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SOURCE Cheapflights.com
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PerfectServe is listed as a representative vendor in Gartner's Market Guide for Clinical Communication and Collaboration. PerfectServe's flagship solution, PerfectServe Synchrony, is healthcare's most comprehensive integrated system of secure, patient-centric communication services, featuring Dynamic Intelligent Routing, which automatically identifies and provides immediate connection to the right care team member for any given clinical situation at every moment in time.
Gartner's Market Guide clearly defines the clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) market: "CC&C systems are used to coordinate activities with clinicians and staff, share patient information (such as text, documents, telemetry, images and video) to reduce response times, improve care transitions and patient throughput, and reduce discharge times. CC&C systems can contribute to improved patient safety, outcomes, satisfaction and retention."
"The Gartner Market Guide helps health IT buyers keep up with the latest direction and developments in functional capabilities, compliance and multiple types of clinical communication and collaboration solutions that have matured over the years," said Terry Edwards, President and CEO of PerfectServe. "PerfectServe will continue its trajectory of evolving product innovation of its enterprise, next-generation offering in acute care to transcend geographic and organizational barriers. Our goal is to drive collaboration among all stakeholdersincluding the patientacross all care settings."
Gartner's Market Guide states, "Clinical communication and collaboration platforms can improve care quality, care team effectiveness and the patient experience. Healthcare provider CIOs and clinical leadership should use this guide to see where this market is heading and identify vendor exemplars."
Key findings in the report reveal:
Clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) systems have gained traction due to the increased use of mobile devices at the point of care and an industry focus on care quality, care coordination and the patient experience.
Healthcare provider CIOs and clinical leadership have begun to deploy CC&C platforms more widely in an effort to better coordinate care, improve outcomes and avoid readmission penalties.
CC&C will become a critical point-of-care system as the healthcare provider transforms into a real-time health system (RTHS).
RTHS solutions such as CC&C, interactive patient care, alarms and notification platforms are increasingly assuming nurse call responsibilities.
Gartner, Market Guide for Clinical Communication and Collaboration, 15 November 2016
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About PerfectServe
PerfectServe Synchrony is healthcare's most comprehensive and secure care team collaboration platform. The platform is unique in its ability to improve communication process accuracy and reliability via its proprietary Dynamic Intelligent Routing capability, which automatically identifies and provides immediate connection to the right care team member for any given clinical situation at every moment in time. More than 400,000 clinician users, including more than 70,000 physicians, in forward-looking organizations across the U.S. rely on PerfectServe to help them speed time to treatment, expedite care transitions, enhance the patient experience and reduce HIPAA compliance risk. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Alpharetta, Georgia, and Chicago, PerfectServe has helped clinicians provide better care since 2000. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and subscribe to our blog.
Media Contact: PerfectServe Contact: Angela Jenkins Heather Dorsett, MBA Agency Ten22 Director, Content Strategy and Marketing 720.859.6930 855.871.7299 [email protected] [email protected]
SOURCE PerfectServe
Related Links
http://www.perfectserve.com
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Phire Group, an independent branding and creative agency, announced today that Youth Arts Alliance! has been chosen as the first winner of their BonPhire initiative. Launched in fall 2016, BonPhire aims to empower one Michigan-based nonprofit per year by offering a full suite of marketing and creative expertise, free of charge, to strengthen their impact across the communities they serve and beyond.
Youth Arts Alliance! (YAA!) is a tri-county art collaborative in Southeast Michigan. Led by Founding Director Heather Martin, LLMSW, YAA! brings visual arts, creative writing and theater workshops to approximately 100 youth in the juvenile justice system each week. Martin leads 15 community artists and a dozen volunteers to serve youth living in the Jackson County Youth Center in Jackson, Washtenaw County Youth Center in Ann Arbor and Monroe County Youth Center in Monroe, Michigan. Martin plans to expand YAA! to more counties in the near future.
"Youth Arts Alliance! is honored to receive the BonPhire award. Our community's young people have incredible, creative talents. With the help of local artists, they're discovering more opportunities to express themselves every day. Many seek to shift the narrative we carry about youth who are impacted by the juvenile justice system. Phire Group is providing an invaluable resource that will raise young peoples' voices and ideas to a larger audience," said Martin.
Chosen for its strong commitment to inspiring creativity and positive futures for young community members, Youth Arts Alliance! will receive 200 agency hours, approximately a $30,000 value, toward the discovery, creative and planning phase. Phire Group will also offer full support and training for Martin to implement the new brand, website and marketing strategy, expected to launch in summer 2017.
Phire Group is committed to being an active community member and helping Michigan-based nonprofits thrive. In addition to naming a BonPhire winner, Phire Group will also provide $1,000 to each of the top finalists, The Brides Project and Starfish Family Services. The initiative will be open again for applications in fall 2017.
"In our inaugural year of this initiative, we were overwhelmed and humbled by the submissions and the great works happening throughout the state. We did not anticipate how difficult it would be to select just one. We truly look forward to working with the Youth Arts Alliance!, but I frankly wish we could work with everyone who submitted. They are all so worthy and deserving," said Jim Hume, owner and principal, Phire Group.
About Youth Arts Alliance!
Youth Arts Alliance! (YAA!) provides creative arts workshops inside juvenile detention and residential treatment facilities in Southeast Michigan. The creative spaces YAA! facilitates incredible impact through taking positive, artistic risks while exploring the issues that have brought youth into the Juvenile Justice system. Learn more at youthartsalliance.com.
About Phire Group
Phire Group is an award-winning, independent Branding and Creative Agency that ignites partner organizations through complete research and brand strategy, breakthrough creative, and comprehensive digital and traditional capabilities. Phire Group plans, creates, manages and measures the complete marketing ecosystem, turning prospects into customers, customers into believers and believers into their partners' greatest marketing opportunity. Additional information is available at phiregroup.com.
SOURCE Phire Group
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- "Portable gas chromatograph market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2%"
The portable gas chromatograph market is projected to reach USD 1.71 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2016 to 2026. Rise in government investments for chromatography technologies and the increasing number of conferences are helping to provide updates and create awareness about gas chromatography techniques, which are the major factors driving the portable gas chromatograph market. However factors such as, the high cost of equipment, and need for skilled professionals to operate field gas chromatograms, are expected to restrain the portable gas chromatograph market.
"Autosamplers segment to register highest growth in the portable gas chromatograph market"
An autosampler is an instrument that facilitates automatic introduction of samples into an inlet. Though manual filling is possible, auto samplers provide better reproducibility and save time. With the increasing use of process integrated gas chromatographs, the demand for autosamplers is increasing globally.
"Environmental biosciences segment to register highest growth in the portable gas chromatograph market"
The environmental biosciences industry is the third largest consumer of field gas chromatographs. Increasing government concerns for environmental safety across the globe is driving the portable gas chromatograph market in the environmental biosciences industry. The oil & gas industry is the largest consumer in the portable gas chromatograph market.
"The portable gas chromatograph market in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period"
The Asia-Pacific region portable gas chromatograph market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2026. Growth in this market is mainly attributed to the increasing awareness of portable gas chromatograph technologies. India and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region, are the two major countries which are expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
BREAKDOWN OF PROFILE OF PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:
- By Company Type: Tier 1 - 45 %, Tier 2 - 22%, and Tier 3 - 33%
- By Designation: C Level - 50%, Director Level - 10%, and Others - 40%
- By Region: Europe - 33%, North America - 17%, , Asia-Pacific - 17%, Middle East & Africa - 25%, and Latin America 8%.
Major companies profiled in this report are, Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Siemens AG (Germany), Elster Group GmbH. (Germany), SRI Instruments (U.S.), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.), Shimadzu Corporation (Japan), and PerkinElmer, Inc. (U.S.).
Research Coverage:
This report offers an overview of the market trends, drivers, and barriers with respect to the portable gas chromatograph market. It also provides a detailed overview of the market across five regions, namely, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The report categorizes the portable gas chromatograph market on the basis of instruments, accessories & consumables, end-use industries, and regions. A detailed analysis of the leading players, along with the key growth strategies adopted by them is also covered in the global report.
Reasons to Buy the Report:
This report covers the following key aspects:
- The market size by 2026, and the growth rate from 2016 to 2026
- The key market trends
- The factors expected to drive the growth of the market
- The barriers that impact market growth
- The key players in this market
- The global portable gas chromatograph market report covers key regions such as, North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America including major countries in these regions such as the U.S., China, South Korea, India, and Germany.
Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04684217-summary/view-report.html
About Reportlinker
ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.
http://www.reportlinker.com
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Contact Clare: [email protected]
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SOURCE Reportlinker
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RESTON, Va., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PrecyseTech Corporation ("PrecyseTech") announced today an expanded business relationship with Agylytyx, including using the Agylytyx SaaS-based Generator to offer users new, advanced, powerful visualization options. Agylytyx is an SAP Preferred Partner, enabling PrecysTech's proven Industrial IOT ('IIOT') asset tracking and management systems and cloud-based inPALMsm SaaS solutions to seamlessly integrate with users' ERP/SAP systems via Agylytyx.
McKinsey studies estimate today's IoT revolution will generate $11 trillion economic value by 2025, and notes interoperability will be critically important, accounting for 40 to 60 percent of the total. The Agylytyx platform and technology provides real time access and analytics to enterprise ERP systems, significantly expanding the reach of Precystech's current asset management and analytics solutions, moving beyond traditional sensor data, providing insights and analytics on the relationship between often isolated 'islands of information' within enterprises.
"PrecyseTech's upcoming inPALMSM portfolio of secure cloud-based asset management applications and analytics is market leading and provides users with a portfolio of exciting new business management tools. For example, applying Agylytyx's financial analytics helps users process and analyze data to improve efficiency and profitability. These new business management tools are positioning PrecyseTech to address today's IoT market revolution," said Paul B. Silverman, PrecyseTech President and CEO. "Our users can expect to see exciting new inPALMsm asset management and embedded and cloud- based predictive analytics offerings in coming months," said Silverman.
The initial inPALMsm v.1 SaaS offering is scheduled for beta release on March 1st. The inPALMsm v.2 offering, including the Predictive Analytics and Metrics Module ("PAMM"), will be released for user beta tests on March 21st.
"We are committed to making the inPALMsm management and analytics portfolio the very best secure cloud based asset management and analytic offering available anywhere," said Rahul Argade, Agylytyx CTO. "We are dedicating a talented team to ensure we meet the PrecyseTech's ambitious objectives to secure a leadership position creating enhanced asset management and analytics solutions for global Fortune 1000 users," said Argade. Mr. Argade is also serving as Acting Director- of the inPALMsm Software and Analytics Product Management group within PrecyseTech.
About PrecyseTech
PrecyseTech is a leading pioneer of Industrial IoT (IIoT) Systems providing end-to end management of high-value physical assets and personnel. PrecyseTech's proprietary technology provides reliable performance in harsh, indoor and outdoor environments, with affordable, 'micro-beacon' infrastructure and long battery life. PrecyseTech's upcoming cloud-based inPALMsm portfolio of SaaS IIoT applications linked to PrecyseTech remote 'Smart Agents" enable enterprises to track real time status of critical remote assets including people, vehicles, and equipment, provide users with a powerful suite of new SaaS tools to improve productivity, cost performance, and worker safety. Besides typical IIoT management functions, e.g., identification, location, telemetry, and M2M, PrecyseTech Smart Agents support additional features using proprietary patented technologies. PrecyseTech's solutions also employ proven proprietary bi-directional air protocol that incorporate the PrecyseTech proprietary Local Positioning System for harsh and indoor environment and Assisted GPS (A-GPS) for outdoor into a single Smart Agent. PrecyseTech solutions address applications in airports, water facility contracting, logistics, energy, vehicle distribution and border patrol, industrial manufacturing and other hazardous and non-hazardous heavy industries. For more information, please visit our website at www.PrecyseTech.com.
About Agylytyx
Agylytyx provides cloud-based enterprise business analytic software solutions. The company's flagship product, the Agylytyx Generator, frees up analyst time and results in better enterprise decision making. The Agylytyx Autosense product monitors existing data streams to assist in developing proactive strategies for investment decisions. Agylytyx Autosense uses collective inferencing and artificial intelligence to assess alternative investments and empirically determine which are more likely to succeed. It can also detect and alert to different financial conditions before they emerge. The Agylytyx Optimizer helps companies choose the combinations of funding levels and projects that return the most benefit for their investment. The Agylytyx Optimizer functions in an atmosphere of uncertainty, project dependencies and strategy pre-requisites to identify the set of the investments that represents the highest possible "bang for the buck" within given parameters. Agylytyx is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has locations in Philadelphia and Chicago, IL. For more information about Agylytyx visit www.agylytyx.com or contact Scott Gripenstraw; [email protected]; Tel :(408) 498-5840.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements above, in press releases and PrecyseTech officials' oral statements are "Forward-Looking Statements" (FLS) according to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). FLS include statements predictive in nature, depending upon or referring to future events / conditions, including words like "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "expects," and similar expressions. Statements concerning future financial performance (revenues, earnings, and growth rates), ongoing business strategies / prospects, and future actions, which may be provided by management, are also FLS as defined by the Act. The actual and any future results, performance or achievements of the Company, expressed or implied, may be materially different and vary significantly for different reporting periods due to FLS that involve known and unknown risks and other factors. Management believes that the assumptions made and expectations reflected in the FLS are reasonable. There is no assurance that the underlying assumptions will prove to be correct and the actual future results may be different from expectations expressed above. These statements are not guarantees of future performance.
Contact Mitra Setayesh Telephone 703.286.5675 Cell 703.598.9696 Email [email protected] Website www.PrecyseTech.com
SOURCE PrecyseTech Corporation
Related Links
https://www.precysetech.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Charles E. Schmidt, the National Commander of The American Legion, the nation's largest Veterans organization, will discuss ways that the Trump Administration and Congress can improve the delivery of benefits to the country's more than 20 million veterans at a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference, 10 a.m., Wed., Feb. 22 in the club's Bloomberg Room. Later that day Schmidt will testify before a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs. He also is expected to meet with the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin during his visit to Washington.
Schmidt, who represents 2.2 million Legionnaires from more than 13,000 posts worldwide, also will discuss the need to preserve and improve the Department of Veterans Affairs, including VA hospitals. The American Legion has opposed attempts to privatize the work of the Department. Additionally, he will propose ways to modernize an archaic veterans appeals process, and strengthen national security, among other topics.
Schmidt, a retired Air Force officer and Vietnam War veteran, was elected to lead the Indianapolis-headquartered American Legion in September 2016.
The National Press Club is located on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building at 529 14th St., NW, Washington, D.C. This news conference is open to credentialed media and NPC members, free of charge. No advance registration is required.
Contact: Tony Gallo, NPC Newsmakers 202-544-6973, [email protected]
Headliners Team Co-Chairs Betsy Fischer-Martin [email protected], Lisa Matthews [email protected] and Jamie Horwitz, NPC Newsmakers Chair, [email protected]
SOURCE National Press Club
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.
You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform
EXPERT ALERTS
Changing Definition of 'Criminal Alien'
EXPERT ROUNDUPS
Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch
Immigration Reform
Future of Obamacare
Trump Presidency Predictions
MEDIA JOBS
Reporter MarketWatch
Reporter The Bond Buyer
Reporter, Industrials The Wall Street Journal
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES
10 Steps to Take Your Blog Audience From Fling to Long-Term Commitment
9 Design Hacks for Bloggers Who Aren't Designers
Blog Profiles: Over-40 Blogs
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EXPERT ALERTS:
Changing Definition of 'Criminal Alien'
Cecilia Menjivar
Foundation Distinguished Professor of Sociology
University of Kansas
Menjivar, who leads the KU Center for Migration Studies, can discuss the changing definition of "criminal alien" and what the shift in policy will likely mean for deportations and number of people detained in immigration-related cases: "The definition goes pretty far and wide -- much broader than past administrations. We have seen already that with each expansion of this category -- such as new crimes added to the list of deportable offenses -- there is a sharp increase in deportations, but also and very importantly, in detentions. Private prisons are expanding rapidly and most of the people they house are immigrants, so a broadening of the category of 'criminal alien' has the direct effect of sending more immigrants to detention."
Menjivar's broad research focuses on U.S.-bound migration from Central America and how the laws and the legal context that receive immigrants influence their lives and trajectories in America. She has also co-authored recent research on how media portrayals drive perception of immigration policy and issues that migrants returning to Mexico face.
Contact: George Diepenbrock, [email protected]
EXPERT ROUNDUPS:
We've recently compiled several expert roundups related to the Trump presidency that you might find useful in your reporting:
Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch (19 experts): http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/profnet-experts-available-on-supreme-court-executive-orders-more-300404336.html
Immigration Reform (22 experts): http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/profnet-experts-available-on-isis-immigration-reform-more-300400624.html
Future of Obamacare (21 experts): http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/profnet-experts-available-on-future-of-obamacare-president-obamas-legacy-more-300389412.html
Trump Presidency Predictions (125 experts): http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/profnet-expert-roundup-trump-presidency-300370613.html
****************
MEDIA JOBS:
Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/
Reporter MarketWatch
Reporter The Bond Buyer
Reporter, Industrials The Wall Street Journal
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OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line.
10 STEPS TO TAKE YOUR BLOG AUDIENCE FROM FLING TO LONG-TERM COMMITMENT. The blogging game can look a lot like dating: You put your best self out there into a world of unknowns. It can feel exciting and scary. It also can feel a bit lonely. But, once you find your confidence and a formula that works, the relationship can quickly move from infatuation to true love. If you want to build a meaningful long-term relationship with your blog audience, consider these 10 fundamentals and you'll be off to a great start: http://bit.ly/2kKiHqx
9 DESIGN HACKS FOR BLOGGERS WHO AREN'T DESIGNERS. As a blogger, producing regular content is a necessity if you want to maintain a lasting relationship with your audience. Your consistent voice -- whether it's via a blog post or social share -- is instrumental to keeping your blogger brand current, memorable, and engaging. But with so many people creating content on the web, how can you cut through the noise? What's the X-factor to set you apart? The short answer: the ability to support your writing with a positive visual experience: http://bit.ly/2ljHcxY
BLOG PROFILES: OVER-40 BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry or subject and a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at blogs for people over age 40: http://bit.ly/2lPn7gO
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PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire.
SOURCE ProfNet
Related Links
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Rolls:
1 cup Premier Protein Caramel Shake
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) yeast
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided, plus additional for greasing bowl and pan
1/4 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading and rolling
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon Premier Protein Caramel Shake
Heat protein shake in microwave or on stove to about 110 F, or warm to touch but not boiling.
In medium bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm protein shake and stir to combine. Let sit 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup sugar, salt and egg, and mix until well combined. Gradually add flour, stirring after each addition. Once dough is no longer too sticky to handle, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 3-5 minutes to make moderately soft dough. Shape dough into ball.
Place dough in lightly greased bowl; turn once. Cover and let rise in warm place until size has doubled (about 1 hour). Punch dough down, cover and let rise 1 additional hour. Punch dough down.
Grease 8-by-8-inch glass or metal baking dish and set aside.
In separate bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Using pastry brush, brush about 1 1/2 tablespoons of remaining butter evenly over dough. Sprinkle 2/3 of cinnamon sugar mixture over dough.
Using pizza cutter or knife, cut dough into nine even 12-inch strips. Roll each strip tightly, sealing ends by pressing into dough. Arrange rolls in prepared pan. Pour remaining butter over buns then sprinkle remaining cinnamon and sugar on top. Let rise uncovered 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 350 F. Bake rolls 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
While rolls cool slightly, prepare glaze. In small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and protein shake until smooth. Drizzle rolls with glaze. Serve warm.
Orange and Vanilla Butternut Squash Soup Servings: 4
2 pounds (about 4 cups) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only
2 tablespoons medium or dry sherry
1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup Premier Protein Vanilla Shake
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with foil.
In large bowl, toss squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cardamom and nutmeg. Place on baking sheet and roast 25 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time.
Meanwhile, in 3-quart pot over medium-high heat, heat remaining olive oil. Add leeks, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 minutes, stirring often, until caramelized.
Remove squash from oven and add to leeks. Stir in sherry and broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and blend to desired consistency using immersion or standard blender. Reheat if desired. Stir in orange zest, protein shake, remaining salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Twice-Baked Sweet and Savory Potatoes Servings: 4
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 slices thick-cut bacon
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup Premier Protein Vanilla Shake
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/16 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided
Heat oven to 400 F.
Prick potatoes with fork and bake 45-60 minutes.
During last 15 minutes, cook bacon in small pan until crispy. Drain all but 1 teaspoon of fat and cook shallots over low heat until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
When potatoes are soft and cooked, remove from oven and carefully cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out soft flesh, keeping outside shell intact.
In bowl, mash potato flesh with cooked shallots, protein shake, salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne and 2 tablespoons cheese.
Fill empty potato shells with mixture. Top with remaining cheese and crumbled bacon.
Bake 10 minutes, or until potatoes are hot. Turn on broiler and cook, watching carefully, until cheese is lightly browned. Serve immediately.
Double Chocolate Breakfast Bread Pudding Servings: 4
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 Premier Protein Chocolate Shake
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg
1 teaspoon butter
6 cups (about 6 slices) soft white or whole-wheat bread cubes
2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar
Heat oven to 350 F.
In medium bowl, whisk together eggs and protein shake, followed by cinnamon or nutmeg.
Grease 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish with butter. Add bread cubes. Pour egg mixture over bread. Mix gently to coat. Sprinkle in chocolate chips.
Bake uncovered 20 minutes, or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm.
Michael French
[email protected]
1-888-824-3337
editors.familyfeatures.com
About Family Features Editorial Syndicate
Established in 1974, Family Features is a leading provider of free food and lifestyle content for print and online publications. Our articles, photos, videos and web content solutions save you time, money and help create advertising opportunities. Registration is fast and free with absolutely no obligation. Visit editors.familyfeatures.com for more information.
SOURCE Family Features Editorial Syndicate
Related Links
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"For 120 years, National PTA has encouraged families to get more involved in their child's education, as it is proven to have a positive impact on student success," said Laura Bay, president of National PTA. " PTA Take Your Family to School Week shines a light on the significance of family engagement and provides families with an opportunity to visit their child's school, meet school staff and inspire them to stay involved in their child's education."
Studies demonstrate that students with involved families attend school more often, earn higher grades, have higher graduation rates, have better social skills and show improved behavior. Family engagement also helps children navigate the challenges of growing up, such as bullying and online safety and responsibility.
This year, PTA Take Your Family to School Week incorporates the theme, "Celebrating the Changing Faces of Families" to honor the diversity of families and students across the country.
"Our nation's children and families have many different talents, backgrounds, opportunities and challenges. It is critical that we recognize and celebrate the diversity of our school communities and ensure all families feel welcomed and supported," said Nathan R. Monell, CAE, National PTA executive director. "PTA is committed to helping school communities embrace diversity and inclusion, making sure the perspectives and needs of all families and students are represented, and empowering all families to support their children's success."
For more information on PTA Take Your Family to School Week, visit PTA.org/TYFTSW.
About National PTA
National PTA comprises millions of families, students, teachers, administrators and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of family engagement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health and welfare of children and youth.
SOURCE National PTA
Related Links
http://www.pta.org
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. today issued the following statement:
"Andrew Puzder's decision to withdraw his nomination to be Secretary of Labor is a victory for working people everywhere.
"As a restaurant executive, Mr. Puzder has been a vocal critic of the wage and labor regulations he would have been in charge of enforcing as Labor secretary. The fast-food restaurant chains Mr. Puzder oversees have had more federal discrimination lawsuits brought against them during his tenure than any other major restaurant chain, and they have been repeatedly found guilty by the Labor Department of violating overtime and safety laws.
"President Trump needs to consider his next selection for Secretary of Labor very thoughtfully and nominate someone who will fight to protect workers from discrimination and believes that all employees are entitled to fair wages and safe workplaces."
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 700,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.
For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees
Related Links
http://www.afge.org
PARIS, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced the results of real-world use data[1] showing that people who scan more frequently using Abbotts FreeStyle Libre system spend less time in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) while having improved average glucose levels. According to the data, more than 50,000 people with diabetes using the FreeStyle Libre system checked their glucose levels an average of 16 times per daywhich is three times more than the minimum recommended U.S.[2] and European[3] guidelines for testing with the traditional fingerstick technique. The data show that higher rates of scanning with the FreeStyle Libre system were found to be strongly associated with improved glucose control.
"There is now substantial evidence from both real-world usage and clinical studies that reaffirms the powerful impact of FreeStyle Libre," said Jared Watkin, senior vice president, Diabetes Care, Abbott. "FreeStyle Libre is changing how diabetes has been managed for decades, with one simple swipe. Most importantly, we're doing that by empowering patients with the information that they need to take action themselves, helping people living with diabetes live fuller, healthier lives."
Abbotts FreeStyle Libre system consists of a small, round sensor worn on the back of the upper arm for up to 14 days, which measures glucose every minute in interstitial fluid through a small filament that is inserted just under the skin and held in place with a small adhesive pad.
A reader is scanned over the sensor to get a glucose result painlessly[4] in less than one second.
The real-world data findings were presented today at the Advanced Technologies and Treatment for Diabetes (ATTD) congress in Paris. The data show a strong link between real-world use of FreeStyle Libre system and glucose control. The full data set was generated from 50,831 readers, which were used to scan 279,446 sensors. This constituted 409.4 million glucose measurements, 86.4 million monitoring hours and 63.8 million scans representing more than 50,000 FreeStyle Libre users across the Europe region.
Key findings of the real-world data of the FreeStyle Libre system:
More scanning: Users checked their glucose levels an average of 16.3 scans per day
Users checked their glucose levels an average of 16.3 scans per day Across the spectrum of scan rates seen in the population, the following trends were observed as scan rates increased: Improved HbA1c: Average glucose level decreased as scan rate increased with estimated HbA1c decreasing from 8.0 to 6.7 percent Reduction in hypoglycemia : Time spent below glucose levels of 70, 55 and 45 mg/dL decreased by 15 percent, 40 percent and 49 percent Reduction in hyperglycemia : Time above 180 mg/dL decreased from 10.5 to 5.9 hours per day Increased time in range: Time in glucose range (70-180 mg/dL) increased from 12.0 to 16.8 hours per day
Empowering Patients with Actionable Information
According to a published report in Patient Preference and Adherence[5] people test with traditional self-monitoring methods (pricking a finger with a lancet to get a blood sample) less than three times per day, which falls short of U.S.[2] and European[3] guidelines that recommend four to eight self-tests per day. People with diabetes cite the biggest obstacle to more frequent monitoring is the pain and hassle of routine fingersticks[5].
But when people with diabetes don't have a clear picture of their glucose levels from regular monitoring, complications such as hypoglycemia can become life-threatening and require hospitalization, which can lead to a significant increase in healthcare costs.
Abbott's FreeStyle Libre system, which was introduced in Europe in 2014, removes the need for routine fingersticks[6],[7] and the pain and hassles that come along with them[8]. In addition, FreeStyle Libre system is factory calibratedmeaning that it does not require a fingerstick test for calibration (a test requiring a blood sample to reset a system's accuracy) unlike other continuous glucose monitoring systems, which require two or more fingersticks per day to remain accurate.
"My experience with FreeStyle Libre through daily clinical practice and research studies has been very positive," says Ramzi Ajjan, M.D., University of Leeds, U.K. "Patients report that the system helped them gain a better understanding of their glycaemia by enabling multiple daily glucose checks discreetly and conveniently. The system's painless nature of glucose testing are praised by patients with one commenting to me, 'you saved my fingers.' The real-world data further confirms that patients are checking glucose more frequently, up to 16 times per day on average, which is cumbersome to maintain with the conventional fingerstick method. With comprehensive glucose data, patients now have access to more meaningful information key for optimizing their glycaemia control."
Real-World Usage Supports Randomized Controlled Data of FreeStyle Libre
The new real-world data presented at ATTD further support the conclusions of the randomized controlled clinical studies conducted by Abbott with the FreeStyle Libre system including the IMPACT study[9] published in The Lancet in September 2016.
Key findings of the IMPACT trial included (FreeStyle Libre users versus traditional SMBG):
Glucose monitoring increased to an average of 15 scans per day
38 percent reduction in time spent in hypoglycemia (<70 mg/dl)
50 percent reduction in serious hypoglycemia (<55 mg/dl)
40 percent reduction in time spent in nocturnal hypoglycemia at night ( 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. )
) No increase in HbA1c at six months
In 2014, Abbott launched the FreeStyle Libre system in several countries in Europe. Currently, FreeStyle Libre system is available in more than 30 countries around the globe and is being used by more than 250,000 people living with diabetes. In the U.S., the FreeStyle Libre system is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration[10].
About the Data
De-identified data was collected over a period of 18 months when FreeStyle Libre readers were connected to the PC-based software with an active internet connection. All information was aggregated. No personal data was utilized or shared.
About Abbotts FreeStyle Libre System
Abbotts FreeStyle Libre system consists of a small, round sensorapproximately the size of two stacked U.S. quartersworn on the back of the upper arm for up to 14 days, which measures glucose every minute in interstitial fluid through a small (5mm long, 0.4mm wide) filament that is inserted just under the skin and held in place with a small adhesive pad. A reader is scanned over the sensor to get a glucose result painlessly[4] in less than one second. Each scan displays a real-time glucose result, a historical trend and the direction the glucose is heading.
The FreeStyle Libre system generates an Ambulatory Glucose Profile (AGP) that provides a visual snapshot of glucose levels, trends and patterns over time.
About Abbott:
At Abbott, we're committed to helping people live their best possible life through the power of health. For more than 125 years, we've brought new products and technologies to the world -- in nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and branded generic pharmaceuticals -- that create more possibilities for more people at all stages of life. Today, 94,000 of us are working to help people live not just longer, but better, in the more than 150 countries we serve.
Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @FreeStyleDiabet, @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.
[1] Data on file. Dunn T, Xu Y, Hayter G; Evidence of a Strong Association Between Frequency of Flash Glucose Monitoring and Glucose Control Measures During Real-World Usage [2] American Diabetes Association Diabetes Care 2017 Jan; 40(Supplement 1): S48-S56. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc17-S009; http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/40/Supplement_1/S48 [3] Schnell O, Alwai H, Battelino T, et al. Consensus statement on self-monitoring of blood glucose in diabetes. A European perspective. Diabetes, Stoffwechsel und Herz, Band 18, 4/2009:3-7 [4] Data on file. Based on a user study, 100% of patients agree that there is no pain when they check their glucose readings by scanning the FreeStyle Libre sensor. [5] Ong, W.M.; Chua, S.S.; Ng, C.J. (2014) Barriers and facilitators to self-monitoring of blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes using insulin: a qualitative study. Patient Preference and Adherence, 8. pp. 237-246. [6] A finger prick test using a blood glucose meter is required during times of rapidly changing glucose levels when interstitial fluid glucose levels may not accurately reflect blood glucose levels or if hypoglycaemia or impending hypoglycaemia is reported by the system or when symptoms do not match the system readings. [7] Bailey, Bode, Christiansen, Klaff, and Alva, (2015). The Performance and Usability of a Factory-Calibrated Flash Glucose Monitoring System Diabetes Tech Thearputics 17(11), 787-793.DOI: 10.1089/dia.2014.0378 [8] Wagner J, Malachoff C, Abbott G. Invasiveness as a barrier to self-monitoring of blood glucose in diabetes. Diabetes Technolo Ther. 2005; 7(4):612-619. [9] Bolinder J, Antuna R, Geelhoed-Duijvestijn P, Kroger J, Weitgasser R. Novel glucose-sensing technology and hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes: a multicentre, non-masked, randomised controlled trial [published online September 12, 2016]. Lancet. 2016 [10] Pending FDA approval. Not available for sale in the United States
SOURCE Abbott
Related Links
http://www.abbott.com
FALLS CHURCH, Va., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Remine is pleased to announce that it has signed license agreements with Alaska MLS (AKMLS), and Greater El Paso Association of Realtors (GEPAR), for the El Paso region of Texas. AKMLS and GEPAR increase Remine's user count to beyond 100,000 Realtors.
AKMLS, GEPAR, Realcomp, and Bright MLS will be the first MLSs to bring intuitive big data visualizations, heat maps, and the industry's most sought after lead generation platform to their agents.
"The first time we saw Remine we knew we had to have it. It's the most powerful front-end tool we have ever seen in the industry," said Mike Smith, CEO of AKMLS. "We are so pleased that Alaska will be Remine's very first deployment."
Jason Sanchez of GEPAR said, "The big data movement is finally hitting our real estate technology space. Unlike other vendors in the space offering predictive analytics as a premium product to a few, we are offering this next generation of technology to all our Brokers and their Agents included in their membership."
Remine is designed for agents. It is delivered exclusively through a license to the MLS, and all dues-paying agents within an MLS can access the platform through a single sign-on authentication.
"The Remine team is made up of former agents, and we knew we wanted to be core MLS functionality when we created the product," said Leo Pareja, CEO of Remine. "Remine is all about empowering the agent with better intelligence, and more leads."
About AKMLS
Alaska MLS is a progressive, broker owned MLS, serving over 2,000 real estate professionals in Alaska for 60 years, by providing a full range of MLS technology services, retail stores, and an extensive array of forms. We strive to equip our members with the right tools at the right time, so they may exceed the expectations of the consumer. AlaskaRealEstate.com
About GEPAR
The Greater El Paso Association of REALTORS has been established for over 100 years and is one of the larger board of REALTORS in Texas. They uphold the highest professional standards, place an emphasis on education, technology services and fight to protect private property rights for the betterment of their community. To learn more visit ElPasoRealtor.com.
About Remine
Remine is a privately held big data company that delivers predictive analytics and big data visualizations to real estate professionals exclusively through their MLS. We analyze property records, transactional history and consumer data to determine someone's propensity to buy or sell a home. Our user interface utilizes heat maps and other visualizations to help real estate professionals extract intelligence, identify new leads and win more business. To learn more about Remine, visit Remine.com or call 855-217-0171.
SOURCE Remine
Related Links
http://Remine.com
DUBLIN, Feb 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Research Report on China's Graphene Industry, 2017-2021" report to their offering.
In China, graphene materials are generic names of graphene with no more than 10 layers of carbon atoms and relevant derivatives. In contrast, graphene materials with more than 10 layers of carbon atoms generally belong to graphite for the loss of high graphene performance.
Many countries including Europe, the U.S.A. and Japan issued a series of policies supporting the development of the graphene industry. Transnational companies pay attention to the graphene market for the promotion of R&D together with application of graphene such as Dow Chemical Company, Samsung, IBM, General Motors, Xerox, Bayer and BASF.
The graphene industry started due to the cost reduction and expanded downstream application in China. In recent years, the production costs decreased to 10% in 2016 of that in 2011 with the improvement of graphene processing technics. Graphene realizes the industrialized application in multiple fields such as energy storage materials, sensors, touch devices, conductive ink pastes and composite materials and is ready for mass volume. Meanwhile, graphene is sold for profits in some products of multiple front applications to be broke through such as lithium batteries conductive paste, heat conduction film, composite materials and flexible displays.
According to market research, graphene manufacturers are generally medium and small scale enterprises mainly at the downstream of the industry chain. Meanwhile, the market is at its infancy while the development is rapid. Graphene enterprises released some products in fields such as touch screens, graphene lithium ion batteries and functional coatings to promote the development of this industry.
For example, mass production of graphene is achieved in energy storage material fields including conductive agents and flexible displays. Meanwhile, graphene conductive agents are mainly applied in 3C and power battery field for higher charging speed of lithium iron phosphate battery. Large-scale application of graphene films developed by 2D Carbon is achieved in flexible touch screens with the sales revenue of more than CNY 10 million in 2015.
Through this report, readers can acquire the following information:
- Support Polices of Chinese Government on the Graphene Industry
- Major Manufacturing Methods of Graphene in China
- Forecast on Supply and Demand in China Graphene Industry
- Major Downstream Application of Graphene Industry
- Major Manufacturers of Graphene in China, 2013-2016
- Competition Status of Graphene Industry in China
- Major Driving Forces and Market Opportunities in China Graphene Industry
- Risks and Challenges in China Graphene Industry
- Development Trend of China Graphene Industry, 2017-2021
Companies Mentioned
- 2D Carbon (Changzhou) Tech Co., Ltd.
- Beijing Graphene Holdings Co., Ltd.
- Leaguer Stock Co., Ltd.
- Qingdao Haoxin New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
- Qingdao Hua Gao Ink Polytron Technologies Inc
- Qitaihe Baotailong Graphene Material Co., Ltd.
- Shenzhen Beiterui New Energy Resources Material Co., Ltd.
- The Sixth Element (Changzhou) Materials Technology Co., Ltd.
- Xiamen G-CVD Graphene Technology Co., Ltd.
- Xiamen Knano Graphene Technology Corporation Limited
- Zhenjiang Browah Technology Co., Ltd.
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ss7w7s/research_report
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
Related Links
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NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Retarus is again bringing its global cloud messaging portfolio to HIMSS. The 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, from February 19-23, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, will feature over 40,000 health IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world. At booth #5494, Retarus will highlight the strong intersection between healthcare and cloud messaging, solving interoperability challenges, workflow management, and compliance and regulatory concerns.
Retarus Exhibits at the 2017 HIMSS Conference
Electronic health records, payer-provider, and ePHI, all require secure and modern communications infrastructure that reliably covers all business processes. In today's climate of strict regulation, significant changes to compliance directives have made automation and communication solutions essential, which pushes organizations to update and automate their critical business workflows. With Retarus' cloud messaging services, these processes are optimized to improve delivery and reliability through innovative technology and direct integration into healthcare systems.
"We are delighted to be attending the HIMSS again. Retarus is excited to bring innovative cloud messaging services to healthcare organizations, which require solutions that are highly secure, extremely reliable, and HIPAA compliant," said Steve MacDiarmid, President & CEO, retarus Inc. "At HIMSS, we look forward to connecting with organizations that are eager to incorporate seamless messaging solutions into their businesses."
Stop by booth #5494 to talk to one of Retarus' messaging experts about products and services or about the future of enterprise solutions in healthcare. Retarus will be raffling a special giveaway; participants are encouraged to stop by the booth in order to enter the draw. If you would like to set up an individualized time to meet, please contact [email protected]. Retarus looks forward to seeing you there.
About Retarus
Retarus is a leading global provider of professional messaging solutions, offering services for electronic corporate communications since 1992. Retarus' vision is to create the perfect network for the global economy. Therein, Retarus manages the safe and efficient flow of information for enterprises around the world. Retarus' solutions optimize business process communications, ensuring business continuity and highest levels of security and performance. Industry leaders of Fortune 500 companies in Banking, Finance and Health Care in addition to Adidas, Bayer, Continental, DHL, Honda, Puma, and Sony, etc. rely on Retarus' messaging services to exchange mission-critical business documents. More information: www.retarus.com.
About HIMSS North America
HIMSS North America, a business unit within HIMSS, positively transforms health and healthcare through the best use of information technology in the United States and Canada. As a cause-based non-profit, HIMSS North America provides thought leadership, community building, professional development, public policy, and events. HIMSS North America represents 64,000 individual members, 640 corporate members, and over 450 non-profit organizations. Thousands of volunteers work with HIMSS to improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, access, and value of healthcare through IT. Major initiatives within HIMSS North America include the HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, National Health IT Week, HIMSS Innovation Center, HIMSS Interoperability Showcases, HIMSS Health IT Value Suite, and ConCert by HIMSS.
Contact for journalists
Tim Armstrong
retarus Inc.
+1 201 268-5917
[email protected]
This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com.
SOURCE retarus Inc.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Riskalyze today unveiled a lineup of new products and services aimed at revolutionizing client engagement, portfolio construction and account automation for advisors. In the kickoff keynote at the T3 Advisor Conference, Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein announced the following new products:
Riskalyze Premier , a new service tier designed to supercharge client engagement and dramatically increase practice efficiency.
, a new service tier designed to supercharge client engagement and dramatically increase practice efficiency. The Next-Generation Autopilot Platform , a multi-custodial automated account platform that allows any advisor to deliver both deep personalization and scalable automation for all of their client accounts using One-Click Fiduciary technology.
, a multi-custodial automated account platform that allows any advisor to deliver both deep personalization and scalable automation for all of their client accounts using One-Click Fiduciary technology. Autopilot Partner Store , a marketplace that puts models, strategies and research from some of the industry's best asset managers, strategists and research firms just a click away from over 19,000 advisors.
, a marketplace that puts models, strategies and research from some of the industry's best asset managers, strategists and research firms just a click away from over 19,000 advisors. Risk Number Models, a series of eight model strategies built from the funds of Riskalyze's key asset management partners.
"Our steadfast commitment to advisors is to keep equipping them to turn their clients into fearless investors," said Mike McDaniel, co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Riskalyze. "Advisors will be able to supercharge engagement with clients every day in Riskalyze Premier and powerfully automate their accounts with the next-generation Autopilot platform."
Riskalyze Premier Unlocks Five Powerful New Features for Client Engagement and Practice Efficiency
Riskalyze's brand new service tier includes all the same benefits of Riskalyze Pro, and five new features designed to supercharge client engagement, increase practice efficiency and nurture client relationships.
Client Dashboard: give clients a Risk Number-centric view of their wealth
Retirement Plans: deliver the Risk Number to hundreds of plan participants with a click
Account Opening: filling out custodial paperwork just got easier
Asset Sync: sync in outside assets from thousands of institutions
Data Sharing: share clients and portfolios across advisors, and centralize control of data
Riskalyze Premier is available now for all Solo and Team customers, and starts at $245/month per user. Advisors can upgrade from inside their Riskalyze accounts, or call 1-855-RISKALYZE.
The "Self-Driving Car" of Advisor Platforms: Autopilot Delivers Seamless Automation with One-Click Fiduciary Technology Across Multiple Custodians
Riskalyze's Autopilot platform has evolved from a standalone product to an automated account platform that will be easily accessible to every Riskalyze Pro and Premier user. At the heart of the next-generation Autopilot platform is One-Click Fiduciary technology that allows advisors to achieve both automation and personalization for the unique challenges their clients face.
Advisors can build model portfolios out of any blend of mutual funds, ETFs or stocks, assign models to client accounts and automatically generate trades across multiple custodians. When advisors change the models, Autopilot will sift through hundreds of accounts to make it simple to implement those changes across their book of business. Any account at six different custodians can be instantly put on Autopilot.
In addition, Riskalyze is launching the Autopilot Partner Store, which will put a wide variety of third party research, strategies and models just a click away from 19,000 advisors. Advisors can choose the asset management partners that best fit their clients, and all models will instantly update when those partners publish changes.
AlphaDroid, Cambria, CLS Investments, First Trust, Longboard Asset Management, Morningstar Managed Portfolios, New York Life Mainstay Investments, SEI Investments, Stadion Money Management, State Street Global Advisors and Swan Global Investments are all joining the Autopilot Partner Store as key research, model strategist and asset management partners with unique value propositions for advisors.
These partners are excited about bringing their unique advantages to the platform. "We are excited to offer Morningstar Managed PortfoliosSM on the Riskalyze Autopilot Partner Store," said Matthew Radgowski, Chief Operating Officer at Morningstar Investment Management LLC. "Our managed portfolio services offer advisors access to institutionally managed investments that employ our valuation-driven, contrarian approach to asset allocation, as well as manager and investment research by our global team."
Some of these partners provide their research at no additional charge; others provide it for an additional basis point fee, and others provide it for a monthly subscription fee. Advisors can choose from the asset managers that are the best fit for their clients, and as those partners update their research, advisors can click to take advantage of their latest work.
"The powerful and automated account management tools at the heart of Autopilot form the nucleus of the industry's first 'self-driving car' of advisory platforms," said Aaron Klein, CEO at Riskalyze. "Riskalyze replaced the advisor's yellow legal pad for making investment decisions, and now Autopilot replaces the manual work of implementing those decisions."
Putting accounts on Autopilot will be just a click away for every Riskalyze customer in May; enterprise customers can start implementation today. Pricing for customers with a Riskalyze license starts at 15 basis points, and drops to 10 basis points after a few million dollars on Autopilot.
Risk Number Models Deliver a Great Starting Point for Advisor-Built Portfolios
In addition, Riskalyze is launching Risk Number Models, a series of eight models created from the funds of Riskalyze's key asset management partners. These models are built using objective criteria such as Sharpe ratios, portfolio Risk Number and internal expenses, and represent the best research from Riskalyze's internal investment team.
"Thousands of advisors have put the Risk Number at the center of the client engagement model, and they've consistently asked for our investment team to go deeper into our viewpoints on model portfolios," added McDaniel. "We believe in the advisor as fiduciary decision maker, and this research will equip them with a great starting point for building their own models."
For more information about Riskalyze, or to learn more about Riskalyze Premier and Autopilot, please contact [email protected].
About Riskalyze
Riskalyze is the company that invented the Risk Number, which powers the world's first Risk Alignment Platform, empowers advisors to automate client accounts with Autopilot, and enables compliance teams to spot issues, develop real-time visibility and navigate changing fiduciary rules with Compliance Cloud. Advisors, broker-dealers, RIAs, asset managers, custodians and clearing firms use Riskalyze to empower the world to invest fearlessly. To learn more, visit www.riskalyze.com.
SOURCE Riskalyze
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http://www.riskalyze.com
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Have you ever wondered what a child's idea might look like if it was turned into a theatrical creation, a Hollywood pitch, a short story book, a candy, or even a Minecraft world?
"In your wildest dreams you could not imagine that such things would happen to you!" says Willy Wonka in Roald Dahl's global bestseller, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is now a new Broadway musical, "Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which begins performances March 28, 2017, at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre in New York City.
This year, for the first time since Charlie Bucket won the prize of a lifetime, Mr. Wonka is looking for children from across the United States who will become 5 NEW lucky golden ticket winners!
On March 1st the Roald Dahl Literary Estate, Penguin Young Readers, and Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, in conjunction with Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions, will kick off Roald Dahl's Imaginormous Challenge starring Willy Wonka himself. This imagination contest asks kids and their teachers not to imagine small, but to IMAGINORMOUS as Willy Wonka embarks on a new hunt for story ideas from children across the U.S. Five NEW Golden Ticket Winners must be found and will be rewarded beyond their wildest imaginations.
Not only will winners have the opportunity to see the new Broadway musical "Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and even win an incredible family trip for four to the UK sponsored by Norwegian Air, but Roald Dahl's Imaginormous Challenge will grant the five Golden Ticket winners a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to "wonka-fy" their story ideas in one of the following 5 spectacular ways:
1. Theatrical Creation
"Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on Broadway will turn one winning story idea into a marvelous, theatrical creation.
2. A Hollywood Pitch
One winner and his or her family will fly out to Hollywood, courtesy of Mr. Wonka, and pitch their story idea to a major Hollywood Executive at Warner Bros. Animation!
3. An Immersive Minecraft World
A team of Minecraft builders will transform and reimagine the winning story idea into a playable Minecraft experience for the winner and the world to enjoy.
4. Become an Author
The New York Times bestselling, award winning author Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm, The Inquisitors Tale, The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to be a Jedi?), will work with one story winner to turn their idea into their very own short story book!
5. A Candy Creation
Following in Willy Wonka's footsteps and with the help of Dylan's Candy Bar, one winner's idea will be turned into a magical, edible creation a 3D-printed piece of candy!
Roald Dahl's Imaginormous Challenge is all about inspiring imaginative story ideas in children 5 to 12 years of age, and marks a major investment from the Roald Dahl Literary Estate in the future of children's imaginations here in the U.S. The Estate is also partnering with Penguin Young Readers to create Wonka-approved teaching resources to align with the U.S. curriculum (www.imaginormouschallenge.com/teachers). Teachers will also have the chance to win a Roald Dahl library for their schools and other educational materials from key stationery sponsor Post-it Brand.
All it takes is 100 words to enter! Go to www.imaginormouschallenge.com to find out more and get ready to enter from March 1st through May 31st! Visit www.imaginormouschallenge.com/rules for all terms and conditions. RDNL 2017
SOURCE Roald Dahl Literary Estate
CHICAGO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYI), a leading distributor and value-added processor of industrial metals, announced today that it acquired Guy Metals, Inc., a privately-owned metal service center company located in Hammond, Wisconsin. Guy Metals processes stainless and nickel alloy products including its trademarked "Pit Free Dairy" and "Super4" finishes used in food, dairy, pharmaceutical, and beverage applications. The Company employs 70 people and has annual revenue of approximately $35 million. Consistent with the recent Laserflex acquisition, Guy Metals bolsters Ryerson's value-added processing capabilities to provide additional services to its customers.
"As Ryerson advances through its 175th year in business as an industry leader and iconic industrial brand, we are delighted to welcome Guy Metals to our company. Guy Metals has built a hard-earned and well-deserved reputation as an innovator in stainless steel processing and finishing," said Eddie Lehner, Ryerson's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The acquisition of Guy Metals adds a valuable dimension to our strategic objective of further strengthening our stainless steel franchise through the offering of a unique portfolio of highly differentiated value-added products that can scale across our footprint while meaningfully enhancing the customer experience."
Mike Burbach, Ryerson's President, North-West Region added, "Guy Metals is an outstanding company known for top quality products and innovative finishes for the stainless steel industry that complement Ryerson's extensive stainless offering. We are excited to have the Guy Metals team join the Ryerson family."
Guy Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of Guy Metals, stated, "The Guy Metals team is excited to join Ryerson and expand our unique service offerings. We look forward to growing our brand with the Ryerson team and their extensive global network."
About Ryerson
Ryerson is a leading distributor and value-added processor of industrial metals, with operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China. Founded in 1842, Ryerson employs around 3,500 employees in approximately 100 locations. Visit Ryerson at www.ryerson.com.
SOURCE Ryerson Holding Corporation
Related Links
http://www.ryerson.com
BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a report published today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, (Safety and efficacy of PfSPZ Vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum via direct venous inoculation in healthy malaria-exposed Malian adults: a randomised, double-blind trial) investigators reported that Sanaria PfSPZ Vaccine protected against natural infections of Plasmodium falciparum, the leading cause of malaria deaths and that protection was sustained for the 24 weeks of the study in an area of intense malaria transmission.
The study was conducted in Doneguebougou, Mali and was led by Dr. Mahamadou Sissoko of the Malaria Research and Training Center at the University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Mali and by Dr. Sara Healy of the Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology (LMIV) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
In the Mali study, five doses of PfSPZ Vaccine were administered to 44 subjects and saltwater placebo was given to 44 subjects. Volunteers were followed for six months through the subsequent rainy season to determine the presence of malaria parasites in the blood. While a staggering 93% of the placebo group had one or more infections, only 66% of the vaccinated subjects acquired an infection and in those vaccinated subjects who became infected, the time to infection was delayed. This represents 48% protective efficacy by time-to-event analysis and 29% efficacy by proportional analysis. There were no differences in adverse events between the vaccinated group and the placebo group.
Sanaria CEO, Stephen L. Hoffman, MD said, "These are extremely encouraging results as we have seen significant protection with a dosage regimen that we know to be sub-optimal. We are now building on the protective efficacy seen in this first, landmark study of efficacy of PfSPZ Vaccine in Africa in current clinical trials of PfSPZ Vaccine underway in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, Germany, the U.S., and of course in Mali. We feel that we are moving rapidly toward establishing a dosage regimen that will provide the high level protection needed by the billions of people at risk every day from this lethal disease."
PfSPZ Vaccine is composed of live, radiation-attenuated purified, cryopreserved malaria parasites, which are administered in a 0.5 mL injection rapid direct venous inoculation.
African children are hardest hit by malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that in 2015 malaria caused 214M clinical episodes and 438,000 deaths worldwide; others have estimated up to 730,500 malaria deaths in 2015. This enormous morbidity and mortality occurs despite investment of billions of dollars in malaria control efforts. Malaria is also a concern for tourists, diplomats, business travelers, aid workers, industrial workers, and military personnel worldwide.
Professor Ogobara Doumbo, MD, PhD, Director of the Malaria Research Training Center at the University of Bamako, Mali, said, "Many of us living in countries where people's lives are devastated by malaria have been waiting decades for a highly effective malaria vaccine. Over the past decade we have studied many experimental malaria vaccines in Mali. This is by far the best result we have ever obtained. We are excited and encouraged by these new results, and are proud to have hosted the first field efficacy trial of PfSPZ Vaccine in Africa here in Mali, and are expectantly awaiting the results of our second study."
"These important results provide the evidence that protection against infection, not just disease, can be sustained for at least half a year. This is clearly a cornerstone for us to finally hone in on a PfSPZ Vaccine regimen that will provide high level, lasting protection to people living in malaria affected areas," said Professor Marcel Tanner, President of the Swiss Academy of Sciences and Director Emeritus, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. "Such a vaccine is an essential tool to achieve elimination. We are excited about current and all planned future clinical trials of PfSPZ Vaccine that now stretch across Africa from Tanzania in the East to Equatorial Guinea in the West."
About Sanaria Inc.: Sanaria's mission is to commercialize whole-parasite malaria vaccines that confer high level, long-lasting protection against malaria, and use these vaccines to prevent malaria in individuals and eliminate malaria from entire regions. Sanaria (http://www.sanaria.com) is based in Rockville, Maryland.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results or achievements expressed or implied by the statements made. Such statements include the availability of an effective vaccine, the expectations for eliminating malaria, and beliefs concerning the suitability of a successful vaccine. These forward-looking statements are further qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation, the Company's ability to raise sufficient funds, the regulatory approval process, clinical trials results, the Company's patent portfolio, dependence on key personnel and other risks associated with vaccine development. For further information contact Alexander Hoffman, [email protected], 301-339-0092.
SOURCE Sanaria Inc.
Related Links
http://www.sanaria.com
The campaign is utilizing display advertising, retargeting, and paid search among the tools to reach meeting and event planners. In addition, a call to action landing page has been created at http://meetings.santaclara.org/ and incentives are being offered to planners who engage in the campaign. Round trip airfare, hotel accommodations, and more are being offered to qualified planners.
TAINAN, Taiwan, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd (TWSE: 1789), an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and formulation specialty company, announced unaudited financial results for its fiscal year 2016. The consolidated revenue was NT$4.031 billion (US$125 million), after-tax net profits were NT$659 million (US$20.4 million). The after-tax earnings per share was NT$0.87 (US$0.027).
In 2016, overall revenue increased by 2% compared to 2015 primarily as a result of the sales boost of generic APIs, including an increased market share of Gemcitabine combined with more flexible strategies, increased shipments of Paclitaxel, as well as greater customer needs of Entecavir (HBV) and Riluzole (ALS) in anticipation for commercial launch. In terms of contract research services (CRO), several customers have achieved favorable clinical results in their Phase III trials, suggesting an increased shipment volumes and revenues. Meanwhile, revenue from contract manufacturing services (CMO) suffered a sharp reduction due to lower order volume of anti-depressants and anti-obesity drugs, but the overall performance of 2016 has been promising.
Increased profit is evident in an overall gross profit margin of 45%; this is a result of a favorable blend of products and clients, especially with increased sales volume of higher profit oncology products and CRO projects. The strategic entry of oncology API Gemcitabine also contributed strongly in the company's gross margin increase. ScinoPharm also demonstrated profitability improvement by tighter cost control, process optimization, and enhanced management efficiency.
ScinoPharm continues to pursue strategic alliances in order to enhance its position as a developer and manufacturer of innovative products with high added value. Currently, two ANDA submissions have been filed: an oncology injectable drug jointly developed with U.S.-based SAGENT Pharmaceuticals, and ScinoPharm-developed Fondaparinux. Product partnerships based on co-development and profit-sharing models have been established for eleven products. Furthermore, ScinoPharm is currently negotiating with major international companies for exclusive distribution rights in Europe and the U.S for the drug products indicated for cancer, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, etc. To this end, investments were made to enable a GMP-compliant manufacturing plant for injectable products. The injectable plant is being positioned to prepare its first registration batch this year, file ANDA submission by the end of 2018, and expect a USFDA on-site inspection in 2019.
The Changshu site in Jiangsu, China, initiated full-scale operations, contributing to ScinoPharm's overall revenues. In efforts to expand the existing CRAM business operations, the company is focusing on mid- to late-phase projects. The current portfolio includes agents in the indications of oncology, anti-hypertension, diabetes, and other therapeutics. The Changshu site is also seeking large-volume generic APIs and intermediates to increase production utilization and is exploring partnerships with generic formulation firms to maximize market share in China via joint development and registration.
Oncology products continue to be the mainstay of the company's portfolio. The three primary products in the last year include Paclitaxel for ovarian, lung, and breast cancer, Irinotecan for colorectal cancer, and Gemcitabine for small cell lung and breast cancer. These three products retained ScinoPharm's market share dominance worldwide, which reaffirms the company position as a global leader in oncology product supply. ScinoPharm's regulatory presence in oncology is demonstrated and strengthened by the number of completed drug master files (DMF): The Company has applied for 733 DMFs worldwide, including 55 in the US. Of the 55 US DMFs, 32 are for oncology products. This is an unparalleled number of total DMFs among the independent global providers of APIs and proof of the company's persistent efforts in oncology products.
To date, ScinoPharm has developed 72 generic APIs, including 25 marketed products. Numerous others are awaiting the subsequent expiration of active patents. In 2017, ScinoPharm anticipates launching 2 APIs for generic, 1 API for CMO project, and 1 co-developed generic injectable drug, primarily in the US and European markets. These drugs are for the indications of polyuria, benign prostatic hyperplasia, infections, and oncology.
About ScinoPharm
ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd. is a leading process R&D and API manufacturing service provider to the global pharmaceutical industry. With research and manufacturing facilities in both Taiwan and mainland China, ScinoPharm offers a wide portfolio of services ranging from custom synthesis for early phase pharmaceutical activities for brand companies as well as APIs for the generic industry. The Company also is aggressively pursuing a vertically integrated, one-stop-shopping service for drug product customers by expanding into the field of sterile oncology injectable formulations. For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.scinopharm.com
SOURCE ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd.
Related Links
http://www.scinopharm.com
GLENDALE, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ServiceTitan, the No. 1 enterprise software for residential HVAC, plumbing and electrical service businesses in the U.S., today announced it has partnered with Customer Lobby, a company that helps businesses generate more repeat customers and online reviews.
It is seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one, and this integration will enable home service businesses to automate communication with past customers and retain them.
"The integration of Customer Lobby with ServiceTitan helps home services businesses leverage their customer data to better communicate with past customers," says Ted Paff, CEO of Customer Lobby. "Together, we help our customers take retention marketing to the next level, resulting in increased repeat business and more online reviews."
ServiceTitan is a powerful platform combining call booking, scheduling, dispatch, mobile field services, invoicing, payroll, accounting and reporting. Through this integration with Customer Lobby, home service businesses can now easily combine the two platforms. Integration of the two platforms takes just a few minutes, and once completed, ServiceTitan immediately starts sending data to Customer Lobby to analyze and create a unique customer retention program.
The program also:
Predicts when customers are most likely to need service through the Direct Connect app within Customer Lobby
Automatically sends customers business branded, personalized postcards reminding them it's time for service
Emails customers at the optimal time to reinforce the postcard reminder
Another significant advantage is that the integration also enables businesses to automatically ask customers for reviews once they've transacted business. This results in more reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook and across the web. Reviews are a top five search ranking factor for local businesses, according to a Search Engine Watch study from 2016.
"World-class home services businesses throughout the U.S. and Canada use ServiceTitan to improve sales, streamline operations and keep customers happy," said Ara Mahdessian, CEO of ServiceTitan. "With the integration of Customer Lobby software, these businesses can provide a truly compelling experience for their customers. That great experience directly translates into customer retention."
About ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan is a mobile, cloud-based software platform that helps home service companies streamline operations, improve customer service, and grow their business. ServiceTitan's end-to-end solution for the multi-billion dollar residential home service industry includes CRM, intelligent dispatch, comprehensive reporting, marketing management tools, mobile solution for field techs, and QuickBooks integration. ServiceTitan brings a fully operational modern SaaS infrastructure to an industry traditionally underserved by software. ServiceTitan is the preferred software for hundreds of the world's most successful plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies. For more information about ServiceTitan, visit www.ServiceTitan.com.
About Customer Lobby
Founded in 2007, Customer Lobby enables businesses to get more repeat business and build their online reputation. By integrating with a business' invoicing system, Customer Lobby automates the collection of customer reviews from customers by communicating with them after they complete a transaction. Then, using the business' data, it predicts which past customers will need that business' services soon. It also creates and sends a multi-part customized campaign using postcards and emails. Customer Lobby also tracks when customers come back for a transaction, providing robust ROI reports every time. For more information about Customer Lobby, visit www.CustomerLobby.com.
Media Contact:
Heather Ripley
Ripley PR
865-977-1973
[email protected]
SOURCE ServiceTitan
Related Links
https://servicetitan.com
Sofar Sounds recognizes the pitfalls of massive, commercialized performances, and wants to provide authentic experiences that are all about the music. According to their site, Sofar Sounds, "Is a global network of artists, hosts, and guests, all with the goal of bringing the magic back to live music." At each event, or "Sofar", you'll experience pure music, without any of the excess at big events. No openers or headliners, no chatting from the crowds, no texting or Snapping.
Guests are chosen by a raffle and invited to secret gigs. The venue location is unknown until the day before and the lineup is a mystery right up to the start of the show. It's a perfect way to create a close, intimate environment, with both the artists and the audience paying mutual respect.
If you're looking for a secret show in LA, you could end up at Real Office Centers' own Santa Monica office. Sara Mengesha, Assistant Director of Sofar Sounds Los Angeles, has had great experiences using ROC's building space to host private shows.
"Everyone on the team is AMAZING! Erica, Elden, and the entire crew are so attentive & supportive. They know what we need even before we ask and go above and beyond to make each event special and memorable. Whether we're hosting shows outside on the patio or inside and need to move all the furniture, they are there to support us in any way. Sofar Sounds is about bringing communities together over a common passion for music and the ROC team and members are a community that we're happy to be a part of," Mengesha says.
Sofar Sounds is currently active in over 300 cities worldwide. You might be in Dallas, sitting in a living room ten feet from Leon Bridges, or discovering your favorite new artist in a basement in Cluj-Napoca; Sofar Sounds embraces the magic of mystery, but you can always expect a unique, unforgettable experience at one of their shows.
If you want to join their global community as a guest, artist, or host, or are seeking more information, check out their website!
Leon Bridges performance: https://www.youtube.com/embed/9H3BzKhSHgY
Real Office Centers, an executive suite company, provides professional support services, educational events, and a stimulating environment to help your company grow.
Contact: [email protected]
Image info:
Sofar Gran Canaria
Photo By: Nacho Gonzalez
SOURCE Real Office Centers
Related Links
http://realofficecenters.com
The biggest leap forward for hobbyist birders since binoculars, Song Sleuth's technological backbone is based on Wildlife Acoustics' decade-long development of algorithms for wildlife study. Its software is similar in concept to what is used in speech recognition software, but specifically tailored to the unique acoustical characteristics of bird songs.
"By pairing sophisticated algorithms and our proprietary software, Song Sleuth delivers unprecedented accuracy in bird song identification," said Ian Agranat, Wildlife Acoustics founder.
Wildlife Acoustics is the leading provider of bioacoustics monitoring systems for scientists, researchers, and government agencies worldwide. Bioacoustics is an emerging field of research that combines biology and acoustic data to gain insights into the natural world.
Wildlife Acoustics was founded by Agranat in 2005 with the invention of an "audio birdsong detective" about the size of a pair of binoculars, known as the original "Song Sleuth."
In addition to being remarkably more affordable, the 2017 Song Sleuth app is both more powerful and more accurate. It is also more elegant, thanks to the contributions of Sibley, who's knowledge and passion for birding have helped create a true learning tool for birders of all levels.
"Song Sleuth is one of many tools that can help identify a bird, but its true benefit is helping people become better birders by familiarizing them with known birdsongs in a logical, familiar way," said David Sibley.
In addition to the bird song identification software, Song Sleuth includes The David Sibley Bird Reference. Users can access The David Sibley Bird Reference at any time in the app and view Sibley's beautiful illustrations and detailed descriptions. The Reference also includes range maps and charts developed exclusively for Song Sleuth that show the likelihood of a bird's presence in the user's area at any given time of year.
To identify a nearby bird's song, users need to only push the record button in "Record and ID" mode. The app begins recording a few seconds prior to initial recording and a visual representation of the frequencies and timing of the bird's song are depicted in a real-time spectrogram on the screen.
Once users have completed recording the bird's song by tapping the record button again, the app immediately reveals the three most probable birds in the "Likely Matches" screen. Here users have a myriad of options to help them make the final identification of the bird including playing example recordings of the likely matches, using The David Sibley Bird Reference, and comparing spectrograms of the example recordings with the user's side-by-side.
Once the correct bird has been determined, users can label the geotagged recording with the correct species, include custom notes, download the audio file or share the recording with fellow birders via email or Messages.
Song Sleuth will be available on the App Store on Wednesday, February 15, for $9.99. An Android version will be available for the fall migration.
ABOUT DAVID SIBLEY
David Sibley is the iconic self-taught bird illustrator and foremost authority on North American birds. His seminal work, "The Sibley Guide to Birds," (2000) made him a fixture in the birding world and includes 6,600 of his beautiful and detailed watercolor illustrations. Learn more at www.sibleyguides.com.
ABOUT WILDLIFE ACOUSTICS
Wildlife Acoustics, Inc., (www.wildlifeacoustics.com) is the leading provider of bioacoustics monitoring systems for scientists, researchers, and government agencies worldwide. Founded by Boston's technology success story Ian Agranat, Wildlife Acoustics creates groundbreaking and affordable hardware and software tools for biologists and researchers who monitor a multitude of wildlife, including but not limited to birds, bats, frogs, insects and marine life, through bioacoustics; an emerging field of research that combines biology and acoustic data to gain insights into the natural world.
SOURCE Wildlife Acoustics
Related Links
http://www.wildlifeacoustics.com
By combining all the U.S. product development and manufacturing capabilities under one roof, the new facility will help sonnen capitalize on its expertise in new product innovation for homeowners, utilities and new business channels and enable the company to quickly ramp up production capacity, ultimately making energy storage more affordable.
"sonnen U.S. has experienced exponential sales growth over the past year, making the sonnen InnovationHub a smart investment to capitalize upon the immense potential of the North American energy storage market," said Christoph Ostermann, sonnen Group CEO. "We expect that linking our U.S. manufacturing and R&D teams in one facility will increase the rate of product innovation, and enable us to better adapt to the future needs of the high-growth U.S. residential energy storage market."
Globally sonnen is building the future of energy by creating the smartest and most efficient smart energy management system. By installing a proven, intelligent network of over 16,000 battery storage systems, the company is leading the way in products and services that are changing the energy landscape. From backup power and solar self-consumption for individual homes to the formation of a virtual clean energy power plant through the aggregation of multiple systems, sonnen is increasing the resiliency of the utility grid and providing customers with an alternative to conventional power sources.
"The U.S. market represents significant opportunity for sonnen as we look to expand and encourage energy independence globally," said Blake Richetta, Vice President of Sales for sonnen North America. "We're seeing a rapidly growing number of homeowners interested in achieving energy independence, and a large portion of those are seeking smart storage and software capabilities for better efficiency and management of their renewable energy output."
Amidst political uncertainty in the U.S. and abroad, sonnen's move to a central InnovationHub represents a significant opportunity for the company to contribute to the creation of American manufacturing and electrical and mechanical engineering jobs. sonnen has already begun renovations to the existing facility, creating a custom-designed state-of-the-art facility. The sonnen InnovationHub will bring new clean tech jobs to the Southeast and a sonnen presence to the East Coast, complementing the company's office in Los Angeles, CA.
"It's gratifying and exciting for us when an innovative technology company like sonnen expands their footprint in Georgia," said Costas Simoglou, Director of the Georgia Department of Economic Development's Center of Innovation for Energy Technology. "The sonnen InnovationHub is another success story that puts solar energy storage, a very critical part of the solar energy ecosystem, in the spotlight. Our goal is to offer up the state's economic development assets and provide the resources required to build an environment that puts Georgia at the forefront of the clean energy industry. I look forward to continue working with sonnen as they grow their manufacturing, R&D and engineering teams here in Atlanta."
sonnen currently develops and manufactures the sonnenBatterie smart energy management systems in Germany, Atlanta and California. Through its sonnenCommunity, energy independent homeowners throughout Europe can produce, store and share their own electricity. sonnen's latest developments, the sonnenFlat-Box, which connects non-solar customers to the sonnenCommunity and grid services, and the sonnenFlat tariff, which provides community members with energy at $0 for 10 years, are changing the way energy is used. These products represent the next steps in virtual power plants whereby thousands of sonnenBatteries are aggregated into one large storage pool that provides both clean energy to customers and balancing energy for the powergrid in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.
About sonnen
At sonnen, we believe clean, affordable, and reliable energy for all is one of the greatest challenges of our time. With 16,000 sonnenBatterie systems installed worldwide, sonnen is a proven global leader in intelligent energy management solutions that provide greater energy control for residential and commercial customers through increased solar self-consumption, reduced peak energy usage and reliable backup power during outages contributing to a cleaner and more reliable energy future. sonnen has won several awards for its energy innovations and sonnenBatterie products, including the including Fast Company's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Energy, the 2017 Zayed Energy Innovation Award, MIT's Technology Review's 50 Smartest Companies in 2016, Global Cleantech 100 for 2015-2017, Greentech Media's 2016 Grid Edge Award for innovation, and Cleantech's 2015 Company of the Year Award in both Israel and Europe.
SOURCE sonnen, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.sonnen-batterie.com
About Spotlight Innovation Inc.
Spotlight Innovation Inc. (OTCQB: STLT) identifies and acquires rights to innovative, proprietary technologies designed to address unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on rare, emerging and neglected diseases. To find and evaluate unique opportunities, we leverage our extensive relationships with leading scientists, academic institutions and other sources. We provide value-added development capability to accelerate development progress. When scientifically significant benchmarks have been achieved, we will endeavor to partner with proven market leaders via sale, out-license or strategic alliance. For more information, visit www.spotlightinnovation.com or follow us on www.twitter.com/spotlightinno.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements herein include statements regarding Spotlight Innovation's efforts to develop and commercialize its various technologies, and to achieve its stated benchmarks. Actual outcomes and actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties, such as: the inability to finance the planned development of the technologies; the inability to hire appropriate staff to develop the technologies; unforeseen technical difficulties in developing the technologies; the inability to obtain regulatory approval for human use; competitors' therapies proving to be more effective, cheaper or otherwise more preferable; or, the inability to market a product. All of which could, among other things, delay or prevent product release, as well as other factors expressed from time to time in Spotlight Innovation's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As a result, this press release should be read in conjunction with Spotlight Innovation's periodic filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as of the date of this press release and Spotlight Innovation undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Source: Spotlight Innovation Inc.
SOURCE Spotlight Innovation Inc.
Related Links
http://spotlightinnovation.com
PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Systech International, a global technology solutions leader and innovator in serialization for the pharmaceutical industry, is proud to be a Technology Spotlight sponsor for the 9th Annual Pharma Packaging and Labeling East Coast 2017 Expo, from February 22-23, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA. There, Jim Sinisgalli, Director of Product Management and Brand Protection, will present, 'Creating Value Beyond SerializationProtecting Your Brand, Consumer Trust, and Revenue' on Thursday the 23rd at 12:30 PM EST.
The objective of the global serialization mandates, including the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) and the E.U. Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), is to protect the pharmaceutical supply chain. During his Technology Spotlight, Sinisgalli will speak to the necessity of serialization within this segment, along with its shortcomings as a single solution for brand protection. He states, "Serialization alone does not protect your brand. Implementing an anti-counterfeiting technology in addition to or in place of a serialization solution protects consumers and also addresses gaps in the supply chain."
Attendees can learn more about Systech's UniSecure anti-counterfeiting solution, the only authentication solution on the market that is non-intrusive, covert, and scalableall while enabling brand protection anytime, anywhere. UniSecure can be deployed with no change in manufacturing processes or packaging designs in as little as two weeks. It can be integrated into a serialized production environment or operate fully on its own, with traceability provisioning for non-serialized applications. Because it is cloud-based, UniSecure allows for unique item level verification through the use of a mobile device.
In addition to Mr. Sinisgalli's presentation, representatives from Systech will be available at Table #14 to advise supply chain, operations, and brand protection professionals regarding actionable serialization strategies for their companies to meet future compliance deadlines, as well as opportunities to protect their brands from counterfeiters.
About UniSecure
Systech UniSecure is targeted to brand protection professionals who are concerned with the growing problems and financial losses suffered from counterfeiting and diversion of their products. It works by deriving a unique digital signature from an existing 1D or 2D bar/QR code that is printed on an item or its package. Systech detects unique printed patterns in the barcodes with high-definition cameras and creates an inherently covert product identifier, or digital fingerprint. With the solution requiring only cameras, software, and a mobile app, it is easy to implement, cost-effective, and provides a non-additive barrier to counterfeiters without disruption to the packaging line.
About Systech International
Systech, a global leader in product verification and brand protection, is re-defining the future of authentication. As the innovator of serialization, Systech is trusted by top pharmaceutical companies worldwide to ensure regulatory compliance, mitigate risk, ensure supply chain integrity, and drive efficiency. Beyond compliance, the company is leading the charge to protect global brandsfor consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, health & beauty, pharmaceutical, and contract manufacturing companies. Its best practices and award-winning technologies are guiding Product and Brand Protection Officers in their quest to improve patient/consumer safety, increase engagement, decrease counterfeiting, avoid diversion, and reduce harm to coveted brands. For more information visit www.systechone.com.
SYSTECH CONTACT
Erin Dunkel
Vice President, Marketing
+1 (610) 761-8960
[email protected]
SOURCE Systech International
Related Links
http://systechone.com
Mr . Nopparat Maythaveekhulchai , President of TCEB revealed that, "As one of Thailand's key economic growth drivers - generating income and dispersing revenue to local communities - Domestic MICE also serves as an efficient mechanism for contributing to the country's development. This is in line with the Government's policies to encourage the public, private and people sectors to arrange meetings and seminars within Thailand. During the 2016 fiscal year, Thailand welcomed a total of 28.85 million Domestic MICE travellers, earning the Thai economy a total of 73 billion baht.
2017 will also set another milestone for the Domestic MICE market as TCEB has outlined 4 key strategic projects to help drive the sector, including:
The ongoing "Meetings in Thailand " campaign that focuses D-MICE activities in the 5 MICE Cities ( Bangkok , Pattaya, Chiang Mai , Phuket , and Khon Kaen ), and high potential areas within 300 kilometers of the cities. In addition, the promotion of the domestic exhibition industry ( D-Exhibition ) helps "invent" new trade exhibitions, "upgrade" local exhibitions to meet standards of regional exhibitions, and "clone" successful shows to other regions of the country; The "Meeting in Thailand , Following Royal Initiatives" program supports and promotes the organizing of MICE activities at Royal Initiatives Projects and in the ir vicinit ies ; The domestic market development campaign through destination promotion creates marketing opportunities through TCEB's database of domestic MICE venues, products and services at www.dmiceplanner.com, a comprehensive tool for organizers to plan D-MICE events; and The promotion of domestic MICE activities in Special Economic Zones, and high potential cities for target customers from Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries .
The "Meeting in Thailand, Following Royal Initiatives" program is a collaborative synergy between TCEB and the Royal Initiative Discovery (Pid Thong Lang Phra) Foundation (R.I.D.). Established in 2013, the programme offers endless opportunities for domestic MICE travellers to discover novel ways to learn more about the late King Bhumibol's sustainable development philosophy. This year, Nan Province has been identified as one of the high potential cities to welcome MICE travellers from across the country. With direct flights from Don Muang and Chiang Mai airports, high standard facilities that can host 50-500 delegates, and ample choice of accommodation from major hotels of up to 300 rooms, in addition to boutique venues suitable for exclusive events. Nan also has plenty of options for a wide range of group activities such as team building, CSR, history and culture, as well as green and environment conservation, all in line with TCEB's themes for each cluster.
Mr. Nopparat added that, "To introduce Nan Province as the Incentive MICE City, we're bringing together members of the media to experience a new destination that's suitable for meetings and seminars, as well as corporate incentive travel activities. Our programmes include the Pid Thong Lang Phra Royal Project at Ban Nam Pak, Tha Wang Pha district, a model project where the late King Bhumibol had encouraged effective water resource management through the improvement of check dams and irrigation systems by the community, which had suffered from severe deforestation. The success of the project helped set the example for such developments in Udonthani, Kalasin, Uthaithani, and Petchaburi provinces. The Ban Nam Pak Royal Project can accommodate domestic MICE groups of up to 50 delegates, with two types of accommodation including tents and home stays. D-MICE travellers can also enjoy a field trip to experience the livelihood of the community that has implemented the irrigation improvement for agriculture, and CSR activities such as building check dams with the local community or planting trees."
The Phufa Pattana Development Centre - Nan Province, the Royal Project initiated by Her Royal Highness Princess Chakri Sririndhorn to help develop the livelihood of highland communities, provides an opportunity for MICE travellers to explore the 15-rai oolong tea plantation, the 10-rai demonstration centre for upland rice, and rice terraces. The Centre has 17 suites for MICE travellers, and a meeting room for up to 120 delegates. Moreover, the Ban Nam Kian Community Learning Centre, Phu Piang district also showcases a self-sufficient community that uses home-grown and wild herbs to develop health products, reducing the need for the use of chemicals, and minimizing household expenses. In terms of tourist attractions, Nan boasts natural beauty and rich cultural heritage from sites including Khun Satan National Park, National Museum of Nan, Natural Rocksalt Pond, Phra Borm That Chae Haeng, Phra That Khao Noi, and Sri Nan National Park.
"Combined with its strategic vision and effective plans, TCEB is confident that the Domestic MICE campaign will be able to achieve its overall target of 54 billion baht revenue, from a total of 26 million domestic MICE travellers in 2017. Alongside this, TCEB has put in place a roadmap for the Meetings in Thailand: The Royal Inspiration plan to promote the Royal Trail Inspirations for D-MICE which include 1) Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang, Fang district, Chiang Mai; 2) Doi Tung Development Project, Chiang Rai; 3) The Phu Phan Royal Initiated Development Study Centre and Phu Phan Ratchaniwet Palace, Sakon Nakhon; 4) Suan Song Saen, Doi Pui Research Station, Chiang Mai; 5) The Bhumirak Dhamachart Project, the Royal Nature Conservative Centre, Nakhon Nayok; 6) The Pid Thong Lang Phra Royal Project at Ban Nam Pak, Nan; 7) The Chang Hua Man Royal Project, Petchaburi; 8) Doi Inthanon Royal Project; and 9) The Pak Phanang Basin Area Development Project Under Royal Initiatives, Nakhon Si Thammarat," Mr. Nopparat concluded.
For further information, please contact:
Corporate Communications Division, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) Ms Arisara Thanuplang Tel: + 662 694 6095 Email: [email protected] Ms Titiwanlaya Thaimongkolrat Tel: + 662 694 6103 Email: [email protected] Ms Kwanchanok Otton Tel: + 662 694 6096 Email: [email protected] Ms Paniyada Mulalin Tel: + 662 694 6091 Email: [email protected]
a publicist Tel: +66 2101 6860
Ms.Arpaporn (A) Tel: +6689 788 4868
Ms.Thittaya (Jang) Tel: +6683 668 1112
Mr.Sorasak (Earth) Tel: +6689 406 5544
SOURCE Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB)
Related Links
http://www.tceb.or.th
The award for 2016 Texas Realtor of the Year, the Texas Association of Realtors' most prestigious award, was presented to Dave Dalzell of Dalzell REALTORS in Abilene. This title is bestowed annually to a member who has made outstanding contributions to the industry through involvement in his or her national, state and local Realtor organizations during their career.
The Texas Realtor Hero Award, which recognizes a Realtor who has demonstrated outstanding community service related to promoting and advancing homeownership, was awarded to Steve Crorey of Sierra Homes in Austin. A longtime advocate of expanding homeownership affordability for all Central Texans, Crorey dedicates much of his time to supporting community initiatives through the Austin Board of Realtors Foundation.
The Tom D. Morton Association Executive of the Year award was presented to Mary Leidy, chief executive officer of the Collin County Association of Realtors. Awarded only to Realtor association leaders with a long track record of service to their local association and a high level respect among industry peers, the Tom D. Morton award was bestowed to Leidy for her extensive Realtor association leadership at the local, state and national levels.
Scott Caballero of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty in San Antonio was named the 2016 Educator of the Year. An instructor for the Graduate REALTOR Institute, Caballero regularly leads education courses for the Council of Residential Specialists, Certified Real Estate Brokerage Managers, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, and Young Professionals Network.
Coy Garrett of Coy E. Garrett & Associates in Arlington received the 2016 William C. Jennings Award for the outstanding commercial real estate transaction of the year. Garrett recently spearheaded the largest and most expensive redevelopment of industrial and commercial property in Arlington's history, anticipated to bring more than 2,000 new jobs to the area.
The 2016 Texas Real Estate Awards also honored local Realtor associations that have launched innovative programs and educational courses over the last year that keep Texas Realtors up to date with the latest legal, business marketing and industry trends. The Austin Board of Realtors, Collin County Association of Realtors, Houston Association of Realtors, MetroTex Association of Realtors and San Antonio Board of Realtors were each recognized as part of the Texas Association of Realtors' 2016 Education Awards category.
Finally, Omega Tau Rho, the honorable fraternity for the National Association of Realtors, inducted 26 members in 2016. Omega Tau Rho recognizes Realtors and others associated with the Realtor organization who have made outstanding contributions to the U.S. real estate industry throughout their career.
About the Texas Association of REALTORS
With more than 110,000 members, the Texas Association of REALTORS is a professional membership organization that represents all aspects of real estate in Texas. We advocate on behalf of Texas REALTORS and private-property owners to keep homeownership affordable, protect private-property rights, and promote public policies that benefit homeowners. Visit TexasRealEstate.com to learn more.
CONTACT: Danielle Urban
Pierpont Communications
512-448-4950
[email protected]
SOURCE Texas Association of Realtors
Related Links
https://www.texasrealestate.com/
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, WE Day, a series of life-changing stadium-sized events that take place around the world to celebrate the power of community service, announced its expansion to the tri-state area this spring. The first-ever WE Day event in New York, WE Day New York Welcome, will take place on April 6, 2017 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. Alongside partners, led by Co-Title Sponsors The Allstate Foundation, Unilever, Walgreens and Microsoft, WE Day New York Welcome will unite more than 6,000 students and educators, alongside inspirational speakers and world-renowned performers, to celebrate their commitment to taking action on issues in their own backyard and global causes that they care about.
WE Day events bring people together, filling stadiums around the globe to experience the greatest classroom in the world for a full-day, live event. People can't buy a ticket to WE Dayit is free of charge to the thousands of students and educators in attendance who earn their entry through service, by taking action on one local and one global cause of their choice.
"When young people are given the tools, resources and inspiration to take action on issues they care about, they have the confidence and power to change the world," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "Thanks to the support of our Co-Title Sponsors, The Allstate Foundation, Unilever, Walgreens and Microsoft, WE is excited to bring WE Day to New York and celebrate the incredible actions that students from across the tri-state area are taking to make a difference not only in their own communities, but across the country and around the world."
Organizations that give back to their communities help empower young people and support them on their journey to create impactful action and become lifelong world-changers. The continued commitment and contributions from these partners has aided in expanding the reach of WE programs both at home and overseasoffering support, resources and inspiration for young people to become leaders of tomorrow.
The Allstate Foundation emboldens future generations with the strength, confidence and skills to rise up as leaders and realize their full potentialand aims to show the world that good starts young.
Unilever is committed to creating a bright future for tomorrow's leaders by championing the power of collective actionbecause together we can take small actions that create a big difference.
Walgreens community development efforts focus on a variety of areas including allowing young people the opportunity to reach their full potential wherever they are in the world.
Microsoft is proud to empower young peoplein New York and around the world with the resources, skills, and inspiration they need to create a more inclusive world.
WE Day is part of WEan organization that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world locally and globally, achieving transformative outcomes for themselves and others. WE Day engages students of all socioeconomic backgrounds through WE Schools, a yearlong educational program that provides schools and community groups with educational resources and student-led campaigns designed to enhance a school's existing social initiatives or spark new ones. WE Schools encourages students to further their curricular learning and develop life skills for success. Young people are challenged to research and make an impact on at least one local and one global issue, supported with curricular resources, service campaigns and mentorship programs to help them become change-makers.
In a 2015 study, current and former WE Schools participants were 2.5 times more likely to have a long term commitment to a social cause, 2.3 times more likely to use their professional skills to solve social problems and 1.2 times more likely to report that they had voted in the prior election than their non-participant peers. A global movement of 2.4 million young people strong, youth involved in the WE Movement have raised $79 million for more than 6,500 local and global organizations, volunteered 27.6 million hours for local and global causes and collected over 9.8 million pounds of food through service learning programs and campaigns.
Anyone can find their place with WE and commit to making a change in the world. The first step is to take the WE Pledge at WE.org. By taking the pledge, participants are joining the WE Community and making a commitment to live WE every day. For every pledge taken on WE.org, $10 will be donated to local and global programs.
WE Day NY Welcome will be followed in the evening by WE Day NY Welcome: Friends & Family, made possible by generous partners, including, Co-Title Sponsors, The Allstate Foundation, Unilever, Walgreens, and Microsoft. The evening show will provide a unique opportunity for friends, families and community partners come together for a special WE Day experience. Bringing together inspirational speakers and world leaders to share their stories of positive change, WE Day NY Welcome: Friends & Family aims to empower individuals of all ages to come together with their families and friends to make a difference in their communities and around the world.
The initial lineup of speakers and performers for WE Day New York Welcome and WE Day NY Welcome: Friends & Family will be released on March 14, 2017.
Stay connected on the latest news and updates on WE Day:
#WEDay
Facebook @WEMovement
Twitter @WEMovement
Instagram @WEMovement
Visit our Media Centre
About WE Day
WE Day is part of WEan organization that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world. A unique family of organizations, WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering change with resources that create sustainable impact, and ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences that allow people to do good through their everyday choices. The celebration of that change happens at WE Dayinspiring stadium-sized life-changing events that take place around the world. You can't buy a ticket to WE Dayyoung people earn their entry by taking action on one local and one global cause. WE Day unites world-renowned speakers, presenters and award-winning performers with thousands of young people and families to celebrate and inspire another year of incredible change. This year alone over 200,000 young people will come together in 16 stadium gatherings across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. to take part in this unprecedented educational initiative.
A global movement of 2.4 million young people strong, youth involved with WE have raised $62 million for more than 2,400 local and global organizations, volunteered 19.9 million hours for local and global causes and collected over 7.6 million pounds of food through service learning programs and campaigns. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by humanitarians, activists and social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Learn more at WE.org.
About The Allstate Foundation
www.AllstateFoundation.org/GoodStartsYoung
About Unilever
www.unileverusa.com
About Walgreens
www.walgreens.com
About Microsoft
www.Microsoft.com
For more information on WE Day or to request an interview, please contact:
Camila Ossa
Associate Director, Public Relations, WE Day
1-416-885-5522
[email protected]
Kendra Thompson
Associate Director, Public Relations, WE Day
1-647-607-9564
[email protected]
SOURCE WE Day
Related Links
https://www.we.org
DECATUR -- The stereotype of the most common heart attack recipient for years was the overworked executive.
He was the Type A personality -- the highly driven, overworked, short-fused corporate chiefs. Its still common for those who work long hours to hear: Youre going to give yourself a heart attack.
But the reality is heart disease is a danger for everyone -- its the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women, and for blacks, whites and Hispanics. And, in fact, women and blacks are more likely to die from heart disease than white men.
Its really groups that are oppressed that have higher rates of heart disease, said Jo Carter, an associate professor of nursing at Millikin University.
John Blakeman, lecturer of nursing at Millikin, said a study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999 began to shed light that not only were the rates of heart disease in women and blacks just as high as they were in white men, but that their symptoms were treated differently by doctors than with white men.
It was found that African-American women had some of the poorest outcomes, Blakeman said. They werent worked up, diagnostic tests that should have been done werent done, and interventions like stents and life vests happened a lot less often.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women are five percent more likely to die within a year of a first recognized heart attack, and five to seven percent more likely than men to be diagnosed with heart failure within five years.
A lot of times we tend to forget that women are not immune by any stretch of the imagination to cardiovascular disease, and there are probably more complexities that impact women more than men," Blakeman said.
In recent years the American Heart Association has focused on heart disease in women with its Go Red For Women campaign. Feb. 3 was National Wear Red Day, during which people were encouraged to wear red to raise awareness of heart disease in women.
Yvonne Carry, a cardiac nurse with HSHS St. Marys Hospital, said events like National Wear Red Day have increased awareness of heart health for women, but there are still not enough who avoid the risk factors.
The information is out there -- it comes down to who wants to be aware, Carry said. There are a lot of women out there in denial.
Symptoms among men and women can vary. Though women can experience some of the same symptoms as men -- arm pain, tightness in the chest and shortness of breath -- Carry said women are more likely get shoulder, neck and jaw pain, as well as epigastric pain that feels like indigestion.
February is heart month, and also coincides with Black History Month. Last week Millikin held a seminar called: African Americans and Cardiovascular Disease, Unconscious vs. Conscious Bias. Blakeman and Carter, associate professor of nursing, discussed some of the factors for why 48 percent of black women and 44 percent of black men experience some form of cardiovascular disease, and why blacks often have some of the poorest cardiovascular outcomes.
For a time, it was thought genetics played the largest role in why blacks had a higher rate of heart disease, but Blakeman said more and more evidence is proving that false.
When we look at genetics, theres more variation between individuals within an ethnicity than there is between ethnicities, Blakeman said.
The reasons, it turns out, are more environmental. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and an inactive lifestyle are all risk factors that are higher among blacks.
Because a larger percentage of blacks live in poverty than other ethnic groups, theyre often more exposed to prolonged stress than other groups. Its along the same thinking as the old Type A personality theory that too much stress wasnt good for the heart. But stress of where someones next meal is coming or how theyre going to keep the electricity on is often more prolonged and less easily relieved than work stress. Its known as the Weathering Hypothesis.
We see the onset of high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke comes a full decade sooner in those with significant social and environmental risk stressors over the course of their lives, Blakeman said.
Carter said people living in economically depressed areas are less likely to want to take a walk and have less access to exercise facilities and healthy food.
When you live in an area where there might be convenience stores, but not grocery stores, and you dont have transportation, youre less likely to eat food thats good for you, Carter said.
Theres also the issue of the black populations relationship with the healthcare community -- There are many black Americans who dont trust health care because they werent treated very well for a long period of time, Carter said.
Blakeman said for many years doctors considered the high rates of heart disease in blacks not their problem.
I think their thought process was as long as they were telling their patients to lose weight, exercise and stop smoking, theyd done what they needed to do, Blakeman said.
A 2011 study by the American College of Cardiologys Coalition to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes showed that the animosity toward the healthcare industry in the black community may be justified. The study revealed racial and ethnic care disparities were only recognized by one in three cardiologists, with even fewer feeling there were any issues in their practice. Another study showed that when it comes to defect-free care for heart patients -- correct medications, diagnostics and treatment plans -- the rates for blacks and women were lower than for whites.
Blakeman said doctors are going to have to start recognizing the problem, whether its in women or the black population, before there are any improvements in outcome.
Theres a lot of opportunity for them to be more open-minded and to dig into these issues a little more and figure out some strategies the whole healthcare team can change and improve on, Blakeman said.
DALLAS, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Love may be in the air this season, as Hotels.com reveals the celebrities we'd most love to jet off and spend a vacation with. Tom Hanks and Jennifer Aniston are officially the nation's most desired travel buddies, but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Sin City is the place we'd most want to take our favorite stars, but it seems we're more interested in shopping than showing off. Over a third admitted they'd rather be taken on an all-expenses-paid shopping spree (34%), than attend awards events (29%) or go on a private jet (29%) with a celeb pal. We'd have no selfie shame though, as over a quarter of us (28%) would demand constant selfies!
Hang out with Hanks
Beloved actor Tom Hanks (32%) was named the top male celebrity travel companion in the Hotels.com survey, but we'd also love to vacation with George Clooney (24%), Denzel Washington (22%), Morgan Freeman (21%) and Justin Timberlake (19%).
The Real Friends Experience
The nation's sweetheart Jennifer Aniston (29%) topped the female travel buddy chart, with many probably hoping she'd take them to her usual Cabo San Lucas hangouts. Travelers would also love to check-in to a vacay hotspot with Jennifer Lopez (20%), Ellen DeGeneres (19%), Selena Gomez (14%) and Beyonce (13%).
Top 5 FEMALE celebrities to spend a vacation with
Top 5 MALE celebrities to spend a vacation with
1. Jennifer Aniston 29%
1. Tom Hanks 32%
2. Jennifer Lopez 20%
2. George Clooney 24%
3. Ellen DeGeneres - 19%
3. Denzel Washington 22%
4. Selena Gomez 14%
4. Morgan Freeman 21%
5. Beyonce 13%
5. Justin Timberlake 19%
Keeping away from the Kardashians
While the Kardashians appear to be on a constant vacation, it seems not many Americans actually want to tag along with them. Politics aside, after Trump and Clinton, the Kardashians (36%) and Kanye West (38%) were revealed as the least popular travel companions.
Catch the Award Nominees
With the awards season underway, travelers can also keep an eye out for their favorite nominees. Ryan Gosling (12%) and Denzel Washington (22%), nominated for awards, made the list of top celebrities to spend a vacation with. If you're planning to catch your favorite celebs on the red carpet in person, here are some hotel suggestions to help create the ultimate celebrity vacation in Los Angeles, Viceroy L'Ermitage, Sunset Tower Hotel and The Hollywood Roosevelt.
Bright Lights and Beaches
We'd most like to whisk our favorite celebrity away for a week of fun in Las Vegas (27%), but many Americans also dream of flying abroad. A quarter want to experience the culture of Paris (27%) and London (24%) with their beloved celebrity, or relax on the exotic beaches of The Caribbean (24%) or Greece (23%).
Celeb Hot Spots
Hotels.com knows everything about the best hotels around the world and has hundreds of thousands of properties to choose from. With Hotels.com Rewards you unlock instant savings now, and after staying 10 nights you get one free* to use later, so surely the best place to spend it would be where your favorite celeb is likely to be.
It's no surprise that if you want to celeb spot you need to head to Hollywood, as half of Americans named Los Angeles (49%) the number one hotspot for celeb spying. But flying off to France could also increase your chances of bumping into your favorite star. The top five celeb hotspots according to the survey are:
Notes to Editor
*8,400 adults from 28 countries were polled by One Poll , commissioned by Hotels.com in October 2016
, commissioned by Hotels.com in * Free night does not include taxes and fees. The value of the free night is based on the average value of all 10 nights collected."
About Hotels.com
Hotels.com L.P. operates Hotels.com, a leading online accommodation booking website with properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts, together with all the information needed to book the perfect stay. Special apps for mobile phones and tablets can also be downloaded enabling customers to book on the go with access to 20,000 last minute deals.
2017 Hotels.com, LP. Hotels.com, Hotels.com Rewards and the Hotels.com logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotels.com, LP in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. CST# 2083949-50
Media Contact:
Alex Lee Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Phone: (214) 613-0025
Email: [email protected]
@hkstrategies
Taylor L. Cole, APR
Hotels.com North America
Phone: (469) 335-8442
Email: [email protected]
@TravelwithTLC
SOURCE Hotels.com
Related Links
http://www.hotels.com
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently launched free App called "Swing" -- which sends drink specials and loyalty rewards directly to customers' phones who are inside participating bars - is spreading fast through the New York bar scene (in App Store, search for "Swing Apps").
Already in 30 great Manhattan bars and adding additional venues every week, Swing gives bars a simple way to send onsite customers real-time messages, for example, "Buy 1, get one FREE mixed drinks," "$3 Beers" or "$5 You Call It!" Or, if a bar owner wants to kick up the intensity and influence the crowd, they can Swing their customers into action by sending out a spontaneous "flash sale" offer like "2 for one Fireball or Jamison Shots for the next 20 minutes!"
Swing users can't get enough of this new app because unlike other bar apps, Swing rewards you with free drinks and discounts just for hanging out. For example, let's say "Tonic East" is your go-to local bar: After you clock 10 hours there (which would be easy to do after a few visits), you'll automatically receive a notification letting you know that you've earned "1 Free drink - anything you want!", which you can redeem anytime. Maybe "Phebes" is your local watering hole: Spend 50 hours there and get 20% off your next tab."
Amy Ridge, Swing's Co-founder and an avid bargoer herself, does a great job explaining why Swing is so valuable for customers: "It's your frequent flyer card for the bars," Amy says with a contagious smile. "If you enjoy going out in New York, and earning rewards for being a loyal customer, then Swing is your "must-have App."
Swing's "secret sauce" is the beacon technology it uses which, via Bluetooth connections, logs each customer's time inside the bar without requiring any "check-in." In this mobile-obsessed world where everyone's glued to their phones, this is a win-win for Swing's participating bars and their customers: the bars have a free and easy way to communicate with their customers at their "point of purchase" (when they are inside their venues) and bar patrons receive exclusive drink specials and rewards when it matters to them most (when they are contemplating what drink to order).
Over the next 12 months, Swing will be expanding to 500 bars throughout Manhattan, all 5 Burroughs and Hoboken. Then the New York-based Startup plans to roll out Swing nationwide.
"The feedback has been absolutely phenomenal," adds Ridge, "because Swing gives users something to love each time they visit a bar." And then, as if she can't resist, Amy launches both arms in the air with a big grin on her face: "I mean c'mon," she says, "Everyone loves to Swing!"
Swing by Swing Applications is available on the App store for Free (If searching in App Store, search for "Swing Apps").
iTunes Download Link (Free; iOS 9.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch):
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swing-apps/id1185196781?ls=1&mt=8
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SwingApplications
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swingapplicationsnyc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swingappnyc
Email: [email protected]
To learn more, please visit their website: http://www.swingapplications.com/
PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12619250
SOURCE Swing Applications
Related Links
http://www.swingapplications.com/
The conference, referred to as the Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) , is one of the largest annual Physical Therapy Conferences in the nation, and will be held in San Antonio, TX, from February 15 18, 2017.
Ahead of the conference, USAHS Associate Professor of Neuromuscular and Neuroscience, Kristen M. Johnson, PT, EdD, MS, NCS, taught a course titled, "Moving Forward from IV STEP: Application of Key Themes." The focus of the course guided participants through goals to foster, guide and effect physical therapy practice over the next decade, with an emphasis on prediction, participation, plasticity and prevention.
USAHS alumni and faculty are invited to the annual university social on Thursday, Feb. 16, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio. Alumni may RSVP at usa.edu.
In addition, conference attendees who visit USAHS's CSM booth (#606) can enter to receive a voucher toward Continuing Professional Education courses.
The following research posters will be presented at the conference by USAHS experts and alumni:
Medication Safety: Using the Beers Criteria in Geriatric Physical Therapist Practice Presented by Kenneth Miller , PT, DPT, CEEAA (Section: Academy of Geriatric PT/Home Health Section) A Case Study Reviewing the Presentation of Spinal Accessory Nerve Palsy in a Workman's Comp Case Presented by Jennifer Junkin , PT, DPT, OCS, MTC; Margaret Wicinski , PT DPT MTC PCC (Section: Orthopaedics) Preventing Readmission With COPD: Transitioning from Acute to Home Care Presented by Rebecca Crouch , PT, DPT, CCS, Ellen Hillegass , PT, PhD, CCS, FAPTA, Kenneth Miller , PT, DPT, CEEAA (Section: Home Health Section) Use of an Instrumented Walkway System to Enhance Comprehension and Application of Normal and Abnormal Gait Parameters among Graduate Students Enrolled in an Accelerated Physical Therapy Curriculum Presented by Anna Edwards , PT, DPT, MA, MBA and Steve Laslovich , PT, DPT, CPed (Section: Education) Step-by-Step Stair Training in a Patient with Chronic Stroke: A Case Report Presented by Kaylee Garrett , DPT (Section: Neurology (Stroke SIG)) The Effects of Vestibular Rehabilitation After Bilateral Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence: A Case Report Presented by Kristen M. Johnson, PT, EdD, MS, NCS
(Section: Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy-Vesibular Special Interest Group) Evidence-Based, Complex Physical Therapy Interventions For A 24-Year Old Military Service Member Following A Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Presented by Kristen M. Johnson, PT, EdD, MS, NCS (Section: Federal Physical Therapy) LAMP Catalyst Talks: Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines of Physical Therapy Presented by Emily Becker , PT, John Corcoran , PT, DPT, MS, Cert. MDT, Anna Edwards , PT, MA, MBA, Aaron Embry , PT, DPT, MSCR, Deborah Kucera , PT, Amy Lafko , PT, MS, MBA, Debora Miller , PT, MBA, FACHE, Beth Sarfaty , PT, MBA (Section: Section on Health Policy & Administration) Preventing Re-admission with Heart Failure: Transitioning from Acute to Home Care Presented by Rebecca Crouch , PT, DPT, CCS, Ellen Hillegass , PT, PhD, CCS, FAPTA, Kenneth Miller , PT, DPT, CEEAA (Section: Home Health Section) Effects Of Manual Therapy And Dry Needling Techniques For Managing Hypertonicity In The Male Pelvic Floor: A Case Report Presented by Amy Porter , PT (Section: Women's Health) Experiential Learning Enhances Physical Therapist Student Confidence In Neurological Patient Management Across The Lifespan Presented by Kristen Barta, PT, DPT, NC, Megan Flores, PT, MPT, PCS and Anna Edwards , PT, DPT, MA, MBA (Section: Education) The Effects Of Closed Kinetic Chain And Endurance Exercises On Reducing Pain In A Child With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: A Case Report Presented by Megan Flores, PT, MPT, PCS and Linda Duong (Section: Pediatrics) Using Measures of Center of Mass Estimated and Center of Pressure During Gait in the Design of a Rocker Sole Modification for an Individual with Functional Ankle Mobility Limitation Presented by Steve Laslovich , PT, DPT, CPed, Anna Edwards , PT, DPT, MA, MBA (Section: Orthopaedics: Foot/Ankle) The Use of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Boxing Sequences to Combat the Progression of Parkinson's Disease: A Case Report Presented Kristen M. Johnson, PT, EdD, MS, NCS (Section: Neurology) Effect of Free Swing Gait Training on Back Pain in a Patient with Bilateral Amputation: A Case Report Presented by Cassie Duff and Megan Flores, PT, MPT, PCS (Section: Orthopaedics) The Effects of Physical Therapy and Transcranial Low-Level Laser Therapy in Post-Concussion Syndrome: A Case Study Presented by Michelle Sawtelle, PT, NCS (Section: Neurology) Examining The Therapeutic Benefits Of Amplitude-Oriented Exercise In Myoclonic Epilepsy Ragged- Red Fiber Syndrome: A Case Study Presented by Kristen Barta, PT, DPT, NC (Section: Neurology)
Physical therapists improve and restore mobility in patient's lives, reducing and managing pain, often without the need for expensive surgery or long-term use of prescription medications. This year's CSM conference is expected to bring more than 11,000 of the brightest and most innovative physical therapy professionals in the nation together for four days of educational programming, alumni events, expert presentations and networking opportunities. The conference also features an exhibit hall with hundreds of exhibitors, demonstrating the latest equipment, products and technologies used by physical therapy professionals to help people regain and maintain mobility and lead active and healthy lives.
To schedule an interview with a USAHS faculty member or for more information on one of the research presentations outlined, please contact Rachael Lighty at [email protected]or 410.218.6055.
For more information and to RSVP to USAHS' CSM booth, please visit: apply.usa.edu/csm2017/.
About University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS)
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) is a graduate institution that offers degree programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, education and health science, as well as continuing education programs. Founded in 1979, USAHS has locations in San Marcos, California; St. Augustine, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Miami, Florida. USAHS is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. USAHS is one of more than 70 institutions in 25 countries that comprise the Laureate International Universities network. For more information about USAHS visit www.usa.edu.
SOURCE University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
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PITTSBURGH, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) has selected its Wichita Falls plant to be the site of a new jumbo magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) glass coater, expected to be the largest of its kind in North America. Groundbreaking is slated for April.
Sand and raw materials are melted to create glass at Vitro Architectural Glass's Wichita Falls, Texas plant, which is to be the site of the company's new jumbo magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) glass coater. The $55 million investment, which Vitro Glass first announced when it acquired PPG's former flat glass business last fall, includes construction of a new 200,000-square-foot building and several ancillary projects. Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) has selected its Wichita Falls, Texas plant to be the site of a new jumbo magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) glass coater, expected to be the largest of its kind in North America. Groundbreaking is slated for April. The facility's MSVD coater for conventionally sized glass is pictured above. The jumbo coater will enable Vitro Glass to produce high-performing, energy-efficient low-emissivity (low-e) glasses in the larger sizes desired by today's building designers.
The $55 million investment, which Vitro Glass first announced when it acquired PPG's former flat glass business last fall, will enable the Monterrey, Mexico-based manufacturer to produce high-performing, energy-efficient low-emissivity (low-e) glasses in the larger sizes desired by today's building designers.
"Current architectural trends favor the use of oversized glass on many office, commercial and multi-story residential projects, which requires glass sizes over 12 feet tall that our existing coater cannot accommodate," said Bill Haley, Wichita Falls plant manager, Vitro Architectural Glass. "The new equipment will enable us to cost-efficiently coat jumbo-sized glass, which will further increase demand for our products."
Dick Beuke, president, Vitro Architectural Glass, said the coater will strengthen Vitro Glass's position as an industry leader, innovator and architect resource. "As building codes become more stringent and building designs more complex, architects and building designers are driving glass manufacturers to provide higher-performing products, greater cost efficiencies and increased technical support. This new machinery, along with our expanded sales and service staff, positions us to meet those demands."
In addition to the MSVD coater, which applies ultra-thin layers of metal to glass to help it deflect heat without reducing transparency, the $55 million price tag includes construction of a new 200,000-square-foot building and several ancillary projects.
The Wichita Falls Economic Development Corp. approved a $3 million incentive package in mid-January to provide local support for the project. The coater will expand the number of jobs for one of the city's largest employers and create new work for local contractors when the building is constructed.
Vitro Glass considered all four of its U.S. manufacturing facilities as sites for the new coater before selecting Wichita Falls. The company also has operations in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Fresno, California and Salem, Oregon.
For more information about Vitro Glass, visit www.vitroglazings.com or call 1-855-VTRO-GLS (887-6457).
About Vitro Architectural Glass
Vitro Architectural Glass, part of Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:VITROA), is a new organization created from Vitro's acquisition of PPG's flat glass business unit. Now the largest company of its kind in the Americas, Vitro Architectural Glass manufactures industry-leading brands such as Solarban, Sungate and Starphire Ultra-Clear glasses at U.S. plants in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Fresno, California; Salem, Oregon; and Wichita Falls, Texas. The company also operates one of the world's largest glass research and development facilities in Pittsburgh and four residential glass fabrication plants in Canada. For more information, please visit www.vitroglazings.com.
Starphire Ultra-Clear is a trademark and Solarban and Sungate are registered trademarks owned by Vitro.
The PPG Logo is a registered trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.
SOURCE Vitro Architectural Glass
Related Links
http://www.vitroglazings.com
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- (RSA Conference) Webroot, the market leader in next-generation endpoint and network security and threat intelligence, took top honors in the Best Customer Service Category at the SC Awards Dinner and Presentation. The results were announced at RSA Conference 2017 during the SC Awards Dinner and Presentation in San Francisco. Named for Best Customer Service, Webroot has a highly skilled and globally based Technical Support team, offering 24/7 support around the world.
"At Webroot, we utilize a follow-the-sun approach with customer service support staff in Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America," said Amy Wiley, vice president of engineering services at Webroot. "It is an honor to be recognized by the SC Awards as a leader in providing exceptional customer service solutions crucial to protecting our customers against the many threats launched by today's savvy cybercriminals."
The mission of the SC Awards is to honor the achievements of companies and information security professionals striving to safeguard businesses, their customers and critical data in North America. Competitors are voted on by two panels of judges comprised of a range of cybersecurity industry luminaries from current and former CISOs to vendor-neutral consultants or analysts to educators from academic institutions all members of SC Media's audience. After the averages for each category were tallied, finalists and winners were selected.
About Webroot
Webroot delivers next-generation endpoint security, threat intelligence services, and anomaly detection solutions to protect businesses and individuals around the globe. Our smarter approach harnesses the power of cloud-based collective threat intelligence derived from millions of real-world devices to stop threats in real time and help secure the connected world. Our award-winning SecureAnywhere endpoint solutions, BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services, and FlowScape solution protect tens of millions of devices across businesses, home users and the Internet of Things. Trusted and integrated by market-leading companies, including Cisco, F5 Networks, Aruba, Palo Alto Networks, A10 Networks, and more. Webroot is headquartered in Colorado and operates globally across North America, Europe, and Asia. Discover Smarter Cybersecurity solutions at www.webroot.com.
Follow Webroot: Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook
SOURCE Webroot
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PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship has had a demonstrable impact on both Ohio classrooms and the future pipeline of STEM (science-technology-engineering, math) teachers in the state, according to new data provided by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.
The outcomes of the program was shared with the presidents of Ohio partner universities who worked with the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to create and lead the Teaching Fellowship program in the state. Originally announced in 2010, the Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship program has been a collaboration of John Carroll University, The Ohio State University, Ohio University, the University of Akron, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Dayton, and the University of Toledo, dozens of K-12 school districts, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to recruit, prepare, and support STEM teachers for Ohio's high-need secondary schools.
"In coming to Ohio, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation set out to attract, prepare, and support talented and committed individuals to teach in high-need Ohio schools," Woodrow Wilson Foundation President Arthur Levine said. "Today, we see those Ohio Teaching Fellows leading urban and rural classrooms across the state, providing students in Ohio's traditional public schools and charter schools with the excellent STEM educations they need to succeed in our digital, information economy."
More than 300 aspiring educators have been named Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellows since the program's launch. Many Ohio Teaching Fellows came directly right after earning their undergraduate degrees, while others joined after serving in the armed forces or after successful careers in the private sector. Some with Ph.D.s became Teaching Fellows. Approximately 60 percent of Ohio Teaching Fellows are women, while 40 percent are men.
The Woodrow Wilson Foundation's comprehensive report on the Ohio Teaching Fellows program can be found at woodrow.org/news/publications/
After completing the program, Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows have assumed teaching jobs at more than 100 school districts and charter schools across the state. More than 40 percent of all Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellows are now teaching in Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Parma, Lorraine, and Hamilton public schools the state's largest public school districts. Each year, nearly 95 percent of Teaching Fellows accept teaching positions in Ohio's public schools.
"Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows are committed to teaching in Ohio's high-need schools and are making careers of being just the sort of teachers our children need and deserve," Levine said.
"When we began, we set out to build a program that would reflect Ohio, its needs, and its students," Levine continued. "Working with our partners, we created a robust pipeline of excellent STEM teachers, all committed to the success of Ohio's children. For decades to come, Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellows will have a real impact on the state's schools and overall success. We are proud to have been a part of this important effort."
The Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship program was funded through the generosity of a number of organizations including Choose Ohio First, Cleveland Foundation, George Gund Foundation, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, GAR Foundation, Battelle Memorial Institute, and the Battelle Fund at the Columbus Foundation. The Teaching Fellowship offers rigorous pedagogical preparation, extensive clinical immersion in secondary classrooms, and ongoing mentoring. In addition to Ohio, the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship is offered in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, and New Jersey.
The Woodrow Wilson Foundation will be working with its university partners to ensure the program is continued through the "Ohio Model" for teacher preparation based on the program. The model is expected to be taken up during the 2017 legislative session.
About the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
Founded in 1945, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (www.woodrow.org) identifies and develops the nation's best minds to meet its most critical challenges. The Foundation supports its Fellows as the next generation of leaders shaping American society.
CONTACT:
Patrick Riccards
[email protected] | (703) 298-8283
SOURCE Woodrow Wilson Foundation
Related Links
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State Police say a Decatur woman was airlifted to hospital Wednesday morning when her pickup truck crashed and rolled over multiple times on Interstate 72 in rural Piatt County.
Written reports say Erica Clark, 24, had been eastbound when the accident happened at 9:41 a.m, triggered by one of the truck's real tires sustaining damage. The truck finished up lying on its roof in the roadway.
Police say Clark was wearing a seat belt and the circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.
Eastbound lanes were closed from roughly 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m., according to the Illinois State Police.
This story will be updated.
DECATUR Antonio T. Andrews, a 28-year-old Decatur man, is facing four felony counts, after he allegedly crashed his car into another vehicle, causing a 23-year-old front seat passenger to suffer life-threatening injuries including bleeding and bruising of her brain, broken ribs and a fractured pelvis.
Andrews fled the scene after the collision, which occurred at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Illinois 48 at about 1:40 p.m. Feb. 4. Police found him in the nearby County Market store. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Macon County Jail, where he is being held on $30,000 bond.
The driver of a red Oldsmobile carrying the injured passenger told police she was turning south onto Illinois 48 from Grand on a green arrow when a green Pontiac hit her at a high rate of speed in the intersection, said an affidavit by Decatur patrol officer Larry Brooks.
Witnesses said the Pontiac, later identified as the vehicle driven by Andrews, was traveling east on Grand, when it approached the intersection with a red light. The Pontiac disobeyed the red light for eastbound traffic and ran into the red-colored Oldsmobile, witnesses told police.
At the time of his arrest, Andrews was wanted by police on a warrant for a pending Sangamon County case of deceptive practices/bad check. He was also on probation for felony convictions in two 2015 Macon County cases: possession of a stolen vehicle and deceptive practices/bad check.
When police first contacted Andrews in the store, he said he did not know what happened and that he did not know who was driving.
When an officer informed him that his front seat passenger, who had also fled from the scene, reported that Andrews was the driver, he then changed his story, admitting that he was the driver of the Pontiac. He admitted to police that he knew that the license plates did not belong to the Pontiac. Police discovered that Andrews, who said he recently bought the Pontiac, did not have a driver's license or auto insurance.
As Andrews was interviewed by police, he spoke with a very slurred speech, had glossy eyes and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage, and swayed from front to back. A preliminary breath test administered at Decatur Memorial Hospital showed his blood alcohol content at 0.117 percent, nearly 50 percent above the legal limit of 0.08 percent for a driver.
Andrews was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of aggravated DUI alcohol and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury, in addition to several traffic citations. He is due in court March 1 for his preliminary hearing.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The BSF on Friday said trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav was moved to another battalion in Jammu and Kashmir to face a departmental enquiry after his video over "sub-standard" food caused an uproar.
"Before the controversy over Yadav's video on social media, he was posted at the 29th battalion. He was shifted to another battalion in Samba for a fair probe. He is not under arrest," BSF spokesman Subhendu Bhardwaj said.
The trooper faces charges of indiscipline, including uploading the social media post, and other charges, the official said.
Yadav had on January 9 posted several videos on Facebook showing visuals of poor quality food provided to Border Security Force troopers on the India-Pakistan border.
He alleged that BSF officers siphoned off food provided by the government.
Yadav also expressed apprehension that his seniors may take action against him for exposing the condition of soldiers on the border.
The BSF reaction followed a Delhi High Court order directing it to allow Yadav's wife Sharmila to meet him over the weekend.
Sharmila on Thursday filed a habeas corpus plea in the High Court demanding to know his whereabouts.
Earlier, the BSF said Yadav's plea under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme was rejected as an inquiry was pending against him.
Ranchi, Feb 11 : With barely days left for a global summit here, Jharkhand is spending over Rs 150 crore on branding and face-lift before rolling out the red carpet for potential investors, an official said.
The Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors Summit kicks off on February 16 and the Raghubar Das government is branding it big.
They have hired chartered flights to ferry in businessmen and industrialists from Kolkata to Ranchi and have tied-up with the Air India and Alliance Air.
"Jharkhand was nominated as a partner to CII, and other business association and allocated Rs 30 crore," the official told IANS.
"The state cabinet gave its approval of Rs 40 crore for advertisement in news channels, newspapers," the official added.
The cost to be incurred by the CII on the chartered flights is estimated to be around Rs two crore.
The industry body urged the government to make arrangements of these flights keeping in mind the increase in the number of delegates expected to participate in the programme.
A total of 150 rooms were booked in posh hotels here including 90 in Radisson Blu, 35 in Capitol Hill and remaining in other hotels.
It is expected that more than 6,000 delegates would be participating in the event. It is estimated that around Rs one crore would be spent on hotel bills of visitors.
To make sure that the stay of these high profile people was worth remembering the state government has also decided to spend lavishly on their food.
An exorbitant Rs 4,000 per plate of food has been planned.
To ferry the visitors to and fro Khelgaon to their respective hotels the government has also hired 150 taxis for which an additional expenditure of Rs 15-20 lakh would be meted out.
Security which would be a prime concern during these two-day mega event would be taken care of by 4,700 jawans and officials of Jharkhand Police.
It is expected that Rs 1.50 crore would be spent for providing food at least three times on two days for those in-charge for security.
To erect the infrastructure required for holding the event another Rs 25 crore is slated.
Around Rs 10 crore would be spent on beautifying the city with flowers.
The opposition is against the huge expense although it says it is not against the investor submit, "there are few issues like... past MoU hardly translating into reality".
"Land is a big issue the plants will not come up on air," Jharkhand Congress general secretary Alok Dubey told IANS.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has said that only those MoUs would be signed which will translate on ground.
Mumbai, Feb 12 : Actor Rana Daggubati has praised his "Ghazi" co-actor Atul Kulkarni and says that without him, the film would have been incomplete.
Rana on Sunday morning took to Twitter to compliment Atul and also said that he has been a "solid pillar of strength" to the "Baahubali" star.
"Sir you have been in every which way been a solid pillar of strength to 'The Ghazi Attack'. 'Ghazi' wouldn't have been complete without you," Rana tweeted.
The forthcoming Telugu-Hindi bilingual drama, which is slated for release on February 17, is based on the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi submarine during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.
Rana plays Lt. Commander Arjun Varma in the movie.
Directed by debutant Sankalp, it also features Taapsee Pannu and Kay Kay Menon. The film is partially based on the book "Blue Fish", penned by the director himself.
The story is about an executive naval officer of the Indian submarine S21 and his team who remain underwater for 18 days. The film also stars late actor Om Puri in a pivotal role.
Srinagar, Feb 13 : The Indian Army on Monday paid tributes to the two soldiers killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Sunday.
A Defence Ministry statement issued here said: "It called for raw courage to approach a house where the terrorists were confirmed to be hiding -- even more so when the response had to be very guarded given the fact that they held a hostage in that house."
"Lance Naik Bhandoriya Gopal Singh and Sepoy Raghubeer Singh epitomised just that form of selfless courage as they were the leading buddy pair of the team that launched an operation in Frisal village yesterday (Sunday) during which four terrorists were eliminated," the statement said.
In a solemn ceremony, the Army paid homage to the gallant soldiers at Badami Bagh Cantonment here.
Major General K.K. Pant, Chief of Staff, Chinar Corps, laid wreaths on behalf of the Corps Commander and all ranks of the Corps.
Tributes were also paid by officials from civil administration and other security agencies that included the Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Inspector General Police and Joint Director IB.
According to the army statement, Lance Naik B. Gopal, 33, hailed frome Gokulchand Chali Chamanpura village in Ahmedabad district, Gujarat, and served in the army for 14 years. He is survived by his wife B. Hemavati.
Sepoy Raghubeer Singh was only 31 years old and had served for 13 years, the army said.
He belonged to Makholi village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, and is survived by his wife Rekha and a six-year-old son.
"The army salutes the sacrifice of the martyrs and stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and it will forever remain the army's responsibility to ensure they lead a life of dignity and pride," the army statement said.
The mortal remains of the soldiers are being taken to their native places for the last rites.
New Delhi, Feb 13 : Taiwan seeks to have mutually beneficial ties with India and wants to take part in flagship initiatives like Smart Cities project and Make in India programme, a visiting Taiwanese parliamentarian said on Monday.
"Just as we have mutually beneficial ties with Japan and China, why not with India," Kuan Bi-Ling, who is leading a Taiwanese delegation to India comprising three women parliamentarians and members from the academy, business and computer sectors, told media persons here.
The three parliamentarians are all members of the Taiwanese parliament's Taiwan-India Friendship Association.
Kuan asserted that Taiwan was an independent country despite China not recognising it under its One China policy.
"Over the course of facing many obstacles because of the One China policy, we have developed relations with other countries," she stated.
"We have a pragmatic approach to developing diplomatic ties with other countries."
Kuan said India and Taiwan should have substantive ties in terms of economy, politics and national security.
"Taiwan and India should engage in more partnerships. Taiwan attaches great importance to its allies," she said.
She said that during the course of their visit, the delegation members would try to explain to Indian parliamentarians Taiwan's new foreign policy called New Southbound Policy.
Under the New Southbound Policy, adopted last year, Taiwan is aiming to engage more closely with six South Asian nations, including India, the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Australia and New Zealand.
Stating that over the past many years, Taiwan has developed a number of smart cities, Kuan said that "we hope we can be part of India's Smart Cities initiative".
"Through this visit we would like to familiarise Taiwanese companies with the Make in India initiative," she said.
"Also the many success stories of the Taiwanese companies already present in India should be made known."
Earlier on Monday, the delegation members undertook a tour of the Parliament House complex here.
Kolkata, Feb 13 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is set to formally launch Kalimpong as a new district on Tuesday, said three more districts will be created in the state in the coming days.
Banerjee, who is on her second trip to the hills this year, said Burdwan district's Asansol and West Midnapore district's Jhargram sub-division would become separate districts by April.
"I am in the hills because Kalimpong is becoming a new district. In April, Jhargram and Asansol will become districts," she said.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also said there were plans to upgrade the Sundarbans, world's biggest mangrove delta, into a separate district.
"After the work for the creation of these three districts is over, Sundarbans will also become a district," Banerjee said.
Sundarbans, home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, comprises areas in both India and Bangladesh.
The Indian part of the Sundarbans runs through North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts.
New Delhi, Feb 14 : In a major setback for AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, who was aspiring to be the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Supreme Court on Tuesday restored her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.
Restoring the judgment of the trial court convicting and sentencing her and her two relatives - V.N. Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, a bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy set aside a Karnataka High Court order acquitting the three and late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
The immediate fallout of the top court verdict is that Sasikala is out of the electoral field for 10 years - four years when would be in incarceration and six years of disqualification under the Representation of Peoples Act after her release.
Restoring the trial court judgment "in full, including consequent directions", Justice Ghose said that Sasikala and two others would surrender to the trial court, which will take immediate steps for them to serve their remaining sentence.
The court directed the three to "immediately" surrender before the trial court.
The trial court had sentenced Sasikala to four years of jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 10 crore.
The trial court verdict convicting late Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two others had come on September 27, 2014.
Justice Roy, in a concurring judgment, expressed deep concern over the "escalating menace of corruption in society".
The top court verdict has come on an appeal of the Karnataka government that had challenged the May 11, 2015, state High Court verdict acquitting Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and the two in a disproportionate assets case.
The four were convicted by the trial court for amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore during her first term as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996.
Gurugram, Feb 14 : Aiming to assist the Haryana Police in improving road safety, India's leading passenger vehicle manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) on Tuesday presented 15 new vehicles to them.
The vehicles, presented under MSIL's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, include 11 Ertigas, 2 Ertigas with interceptors, and 2 EECO ambulances to be used for patrolling, surveillance and addressing medical emergencies on highways and expressways.
Customized to meet all the Traffic Police requirements, the vehicles were presented to Gurugram Commissioner of Police Sandeep Khirwar by MSIL Executive Director C.S. Raju.
On the occasion, Khirwar said that MSIL initiative is really a CSR for people and its friendly step will definitely help the police to fight against crime and criminals in a better way.
Gurugram's Joint Commissioner of Police Shibash Kabiraj said that on 135-km Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, the police will require 33 patrolling vehicles and MSIL cooperation will help in fighting against criminals.
South Range (Traffic) Inspector General of Police Mamta Singh said that five police stations will be established along the KMP Expressway, covering five districts of Haryana.
Presenting these vehicles, Raju said: "We at Maruti Suzuki are committed to promote road safety in the country. Together with Haryana Police, we intend to reduce road accidents in Haryana."
He said, "We have set up Maruti Driving Schools, Institute of Driving Training and Research, and Road Safety Knowledge Centres in the state to promote safe driving."
DECATUR Dove Inc. was among dozens of providers across Illinois that were not told for months that their domestic violence funding had been cut, Executive Director Christine Gregory confirmed Tuesday.
The agency's board of directors voted last week to join a lawsuit against the state in an attempt to collect payment for contracts connected to multiple programs, including domestic violence. The lawsuit, filed in St. Clair County earlier this month, is spearheaded by the Pay Now Illinois Coalition, a group of human and social service agencies and companies.
It's not as if we were expecting something that we did not have a contract for, Gregory said. We have contracts with the state that say we were going to be paid this money.
In the case of domestic violence contracts, Dove had already received some money, which it later learned represented the federal portion of its agreements. Late last year, Dove and other agencies learned the state's part of the funding was not included in the six-month budget that took effect July 1.
We were given contracts and money was starting to be received, Gregory said. There was nothing to indicate that anything was amiss until there was.
The state is now $203,000 behind in payments for Dove's domestic violence programs. For the fiscal year, the state has pledged $692,000 through various contracts, she said.
No one knows or is saying why approximately $9 million in state funding for 62 programs that provide shelter, counseling and advocacy for victims of domestic abuse was left out of the stopgap budget. When providers finally learned they were left empty-handed, they scrambled to make up the lost money by slashing jobs and salaries and expanding client waiting lists.
Although there is no indication officials intended to slice funding for the domestic violence programs, the money won't easily be restored in the state's precarious economic situation. Illinois has operated without a spending plan since July 2015 because of bickering between first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the Legislature.
Rauner will deliver a budget address Wednesday to the General Assembly.
Dove Inc.'s domestic violence programs serve Macon, DeWitt, Moultrie, Shelby and part of Piatt counties. In addition to a shelter that can hold up to 33 individuals, the agency provides a 24-hour hotline, legal advocacy, assistance with emergency orders of protection, life skills programming, parenting classes and groups for both parents and children.
Those efforts reached a total of 754 people in the last fiscal year, Gregory said.
Really, when this comes down to it, we're talking about people's lives, Gregory said. Our services are vitally important to the people of this community.
Dove has implemented a hiring freeze and is considering other options, Gregory said.
The agency has also been in contact with its state representatives, as Gregory encouraged anyone who is concerned to do.
Don't accept the excuse 'It's the other guy,' she said. At this point, it's all of us in this boat together, and the boat is sinking.
It wasn't until Dec. 16 just two weeks before the temporary budget expired that Human Services Secretary James Dimas sent a letter to all providers alerting them that the money had been left out.
The program was fully funded in 2015-2016, at $18.6 million, money that was tapped out by late summer. In his letter, Dimas acknowledged "some confusion" about funding in the latest spending plan and promised that it would be fully paid when available.
Dimas offered no explanation for the delayed announcement, and spokeswoman Meghan Powers declined to answer questions about the late notice.
Experienced state vendors know they sign state contracts that make payment dependent on legislative approval. But domestic violence program providers say they submitted budgets to DHS for review and, in some cases, had to amend them before getting DHS contract approval last spring. Without notice that there wasn't money forthcoming, "they've already spent that money and they're struggling," said Vickie Smith, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Of the 62 domestic violence sites that receive state funding, 39 also receive federal money because they provide 24-hour shelters, Smith said. That amounts to about two months' worth of operations.
Some agencies are zealously fundraising, although Gretchen Vapnar, executive director of Community Crisis Center in Elgin, lamented, "Most of our donors have already paid their taxes."
At the Center for Domestic Peace in Chicago, which provides counseling to offenders, program manager Mike Feinerman said the agency's highest-paid employees agreed to take a 5 to 10 percent cut in salary after receiving the DHS news.
Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago, a Democratic budget negotiator, saw his House-approved January plan to provide emergency funding of $6.6 million die in the Senate. The state lacks a "consistent message" to vendors and their financial support, he said.
"They had contracts to do the work and were instructed to proceed and had the rug pulled out from under them," Harris said.
Smith said she wasn't aware on June 30 when the temporary budget was approved, hours before it was to take effect, that the 800-page document had no domestic violence support.
"I don't care how it came down," she said. "We need to fix it."
Ranchi, Feb 14 : Leader of Opposition and Executive President of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Hemant Soren on Tuesday slammed the Global Investor Summit (GIS) beginning from February 16 and called it "Garib Intimidation Summit".
"It's not Global Investor Summit (GIS) rather it is Garib Intimidation Summit. This means state government is spending hundreds of crores of rupees to intimidate tribal, indigenous and minority people. The correct word will be if the state government spends the money for land grabbers," Soren said in a press conference here.
"The present government wants the people to understand that it is in the hands of these capitalists. Government will stand with capitalists when poor people's land will be grabbed by these investors," he added.
The leader also questioned the state government's move to acquire land itself and sell it to investors. "The state government will now acquire land and sell them to investors, who will be free to sell the land after earning a profit."
Soren also took a dig at the state government's plan to sell liquor. "The officials and police have been told to find liquor shops in urban and rural areas. The priority of the state government is to ensure that poor and tribal people get liquor."
"The state government's demon face will reflect if one goes through the amendments made in land acts, industrial policies, liquor policy and allocating land to investors," he said adding the slogan: "Will buy land sell liquor, see Raghubar Das government's development."
"The Prime Minister has appreciated liquor ban in Bihar and in Jharkhand... BJP government will now sell liquor," Soren said.
Washington, Feb 14 : Hillary Clinton celebrated the resignation of Donald Trump's National Security adviser Michael Flynn, by reminding him of "the real consequences of fake news".
Michael Flynn quit following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia, Fox News reported on Tuesday.
Clinton retweeted a post from longtime confidante Phillipe Reines on Monday night, where he suggested Flynn and his son, who spread the discredited "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory on the social media, get jobs at Domino's.
Reines, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, tweeted: "Dear Mike Flynn & Mike Flynn Jr... What goes around COMETS around. And given your pizza obsession...", with a link to the Dominos Pizza career page.
Clinton responded with her own tweet: "Philippe's got his own way of saying things, but he has a point about the real consequences of fake news..."
Reines, according to reports, appeared to be referencing a fake news story that emerged during the 2016 presidential election campaign, which accused Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta of running a child sex ring out of a Washington D.C. pizza shop.
The "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory was tweeted by Flynn's son, Michael Flynn Jr, last December. At the time he was working for his father in the transition team.
The social media posts came after Flynn stepped down from his position as National Security Adviser in the Trump administration just 24 days after the new President's inauguration.
In his resignation letter, Flynn said he gave Vice President Mike Pence and others "incomplete information" about his calls with Russia's Ambassador to the US.
Flynn made numerous phone calls to the Russian Ambassador to the US before Trump took office, and later hinted he may have gone against diplomatic protocol by discussing the rollback of sanctions.
Retired General Keith Kellogg will take over as acting National Security Adviser.
Bengaluru, Feb 14 : The Indian Air Force on Tuesday received the first of the three indigenously developed Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) 'Netra' at the Aero India show here in the presence Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has designed and developed the warning system, which is mounted on the Brazilian Embraer-145 modified jet. AWE&C are capable of tracking multiple aerial targets over 200 km range.
S. Christopher, Chairman, DRDO, and Secretary Department of Defence R&D, and G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, were present on the occasion.
In addition, India is to build six more next-generation Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), with 300-km range, on the Airbus platform for an estimated Rs 20,000 crore ($3 billion).
The IAF is already using the Israeli Phalcon AWACS on the Russian IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft to detect aerial threats from jets or missiles even from targets 400 km away.
Bhubaneswar, Feb 14 : Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday alleged that the District Collectors and Superintendents of Police (SPs) in Odisha are acting as General Secretaries of the ruling BJD in the ongoing panchayat elections.
He urged the State Election Commission (SEC) to ensure free and fair poll in the next four phases of the panchayat polls.
"The SEC should instruct the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to ensure free and fair elections in the state. The officials are bound to comply to the order of the SEC as per the Constitution," said the Minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also lodged a complaint with the SEC on Tuesday.
"We have requested the commission to use its constitutional powers and exercise control over the government officials who are involved in election management and direct them to act accordingly to ensure free, fair and impartial elections in the state," said Odisha BJP Vice President Sameer Mohanty.
However, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) rubbished the allegations of the opposition party.
"The BJP leaders, be it the Union Minister or any other leader, should ask themselves if they are giving responsible statements or not. If he has any evidence about any poll-related discrepancies, he should give it to the SEC," said BJD spokesperson Shashi Bhusan Behera.
While the first phase of the panchayat polls was held on February 13, the next phases will be held on February 15, 17, 19 and 21.
Washington, Feb 15 : US President Donald Trump asked for National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's resignation because he had lost confidence in him after revelations regarding his contacts with Russia prior to the inauguration, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday.
In his daily press briefing, Spicer denied that Flynn's departure was due to a "legal" issue regarding his conversations with Russia's Ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, the content of which he lied about to Vice President Mike Pence and other top government officials, EFE news reported.
The President's spokesman said that Trump was informed weeks ago that Flynn had not told the truth about his contacts with Kislyak and, after evaluating the matter, his confidence in the former general "eroded" to the point where he felt that "he had to make a change".
To date, it had not been clear whether Trump was aware that the Department of Justice had warned the White House in late January that Flynn could be in a compromising position as a result of the contradictions over his contact with the Russian envoy, perhaps even finding himself to be vulnerable to blackmail by the Kremlin.
But on Tuesday Spicer said that Trump was indeed aware of the situation from the start and, although he concluded with his legal team that Flynn had not violated the law, he ultimately decided to ask for his resignation due to a "matter of trust".
Nevertheless, the spokesman said several times that Flynn said nothing improper or illegal in his calls with Kislyak, adding that "the President had no problem with the fact that he acted in accord to what his job was to be doing".
Spicer's version contrasts with the one related by one of Trump's closest advisers, Kellyanne Conway, who on Monday, hours before the announcement of the resignation, said that Flynn had the President's "full confidence" and on Tuesday remarked that the former adviser had tendered his resignation voluntarily.
Flynn, a decorated general who advised Trump on foreign policy during the election campaign, held conversations with Kislyak during the transition period prior to the mogul's inauguration and even before the November 8 election.
Some of those telephone calls were intercepted by the US intelligence services and, according to the transcripts, Flynn and the Russian Ambassador spoke about the sanctions on the Kremlin that former President Barack Obama imposed before leaving the White House in reprisal for alleged Russian interference in the US election.
While the rumours about the content of those calls were making the rounds in Washington, Flynn assured Pence and other top government officials that he had not discussed the sanctions with Kislyak.
Flynn resigned on Monday evening, writing in his resignation letter that he "inadvertently briefed the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador".
On Tuesday, Spicer categorically denied that Trump had instructed Flynn to discuss the sanctions with the Russian envoy.
Seoul, Feb 15 : The South Korean government on Wednesday convened an urgent meeting among its top defence and intelligence officials to discuss the alleged assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother, a media report said.
Media reported Kim Jong-nam's death in Malaysia. He is elder to the North Korean leader, Efe news reported.
The 45-year-old eldest son of late Dictator Kim Jong-il, died on Monday, according to intelligence sources cited by Yonhap news agency, although Seoul has not yet officially confirmed the news.
Malaysian police on Tuesday reported the death of a North Korean citizen named Kim Chol, who was born in 1970, after being transferred to a hospital by ambulance from Kuala Lumpur Airport.
At the moment they are trying to confirm the identity of the deceased as well as to determine the causes of his death.
Hwang Kyo-ahn, the Prime Minister and acting President of South Korea, will analyze on Wednesday the existing information together with the Defence, Foreign and Unification ministers, according to government sources.
Sources cited by South Korea's KBS broadcaster and TV Chosun said that Kim's death came after he was attacked with poisoned needles or with a toxic aerosol - according to different versions - by two women at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, adding that the suspects fled by taxi.
South Korean analysts point out that this could be a murder orchestrated by the Kim Jong-un regime to get rid of an uncomfortable figure and possible rival to power, a scenario that has already been speculated on several occasions since the rise of the young dictator.
Kim Jong-nam had been considered best placed to replace his father as the head of the North Korean regime until he fell out of favour at the turn of the century, and since then it is believed that he resided mainly between Hong Kong, Macao and Beijing without holding any official position in the North Korean regime.
The eldest son of the former dictator definitely lost his father's backing in 2001 when he was detained at Tokyo airport with a false Dominican passport, which he was allegedly using to enter Japan for a visit of Disneyland, near Tokyo.
Born to the dictator Kim Jong-il and his first mistress, actress Song Hye-rim, Kim Jong-nam has attracted attention in recent years with his criticism against the North Korean regime's policies and its succession system through correspondence with a Japanese journalist and in statements to a television station of the same country.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The wife of BSF trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that she had met her husband and was convinced that he was safe.
Yadav, whose social media video clip on "substandard food" triggered an uproar, got to meet his wife at the battalion in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba area where he was posted, she told the court.
A division bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice Vinod Goel subsequently disposed of Sharmila Devi's habeas corpus plea to find her "missing husband".
Appearing for the Border Security Force, advocate Gaurang Kanth told the court that Yadav purchased a new mobile phone and there was "no restriction" on him from talking to his family.
The BSF had taken away Yadav's personal mobile phone that he had used to upload the videos and said it was part of the investigations.
After the High Court's direction on February 10, the BSF allowed Yadav's wife to meet him and also to stay overnight for two days.
Sharmila Devi filed a habeas corpus plea after she and other family members failed to contact the BSF trooper for three days.
At that point she said that she last spoke to him on February 7, when he told her that he was being taken to an unknown location.
The BSF had told the court that Yadav was "not missing" but just transferred to another battalion and his wife's apprehension was "baseless and unfounded".
In January, Yadav posted a video clip on social media complaining about the quality of food served to BSF personnel and accused unnamed officers of illegally selling food supplies meant for troopers.
The family earlier alleged that the trooper was being "threatened and tortured mentally".
After Yadav's video went viral, the Prime Minister's Office and the Home Ministry sought details on the incident from the BSF.
The trooper faces an inquiry on various charges, including indiscipline. His plea for voluntary retirement was also rejected by the authorities.
New Delhi/Chennai, Feb 15 : AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala on Wednesday headed for Bengaluru as the Supreme Court rejected her plea seeking more time to surrender after it upheld her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.
Sasikala left Chennai for Bengaluru by road following the Supreme Court decision.
Earlier, in New Delhi, a bench headed by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose declined the plea by senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi in the court.
Tulsi said that Sasikala wanted some time to surrender as she has to manage her affairs. However, the bench made it clear that it would not consider the plea.
Prior to leaving for Bengaluru, Sasikala went to her mentor and former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's memorial at the Marina Beach in Chennai and paid homage.
The apex court on Tuesday upheld a trial court verdict holding Sasikala and two of her relatives guilty of amassing disproportionate assets had directed her to surrender to the trial court forthwith to undergo her remaining sentence.
She was convicted by the trial court to four years jail term and a fine of Rs 10 crore in a corruption case.
Beijing, Feb 15 : Brexit would not impact China-UK relations, said a visiting British minister, describing bilateral ties as entering a golden era.
UK Minister for Asia and the Pacific Alok Sharma said on Tuesday that leaving the European Union presented Britain with many opportunities when it comes to other friends such as China, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We have the opportunity to start dialogue and talk to China about what our trade relations might look like once we have left the European Union," the India-born British politician said after unveiling an expanded UK Visa Application Centre in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province.
Fuzhou is the second leg of Sharma's four-stop China visit. His delegation, which contains UK healthcare and life science business leaders, will be visiting Xiamen city on Wednesday.
Sharma reassured Chinese investors that Britain is a good place to do business and remains "very much open for business".
"We have seen growth forecasts for Britain upgraded. We have seen a lot investment across the world flowing into UK, particularly from Asia and China," he said.
The minister has also said there was a wealth of investment and export opportunities for Britain across southern China. He particularly highlighted room for cooperation in health and education.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : Actor Rana Daggubati, who has written a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee drawing attention to the need to acknowledge the country's unsung heroes, says civilians need to know about tales of bravery.
Rana's forthcoming film "The Ghazi Attack" features him as Lieutenant Commander Arjun Varma, who was part of a mission conducted by the Indian Navy against the Pakistani naval force in 1971. Varma is said to have remained underwater for 18 days during the war.
During the course of working on the film, Rana met some real navy officers who were on board. Hearing their experiences moved the actor to write a letter to the President.
Talking about it, Rana said in a statement: "Post 'Ghazi', a civilian like me has understood a lot about victorious battles that have been fought by all our armed forces on the borders so as to keep us safe."
"As a civilian I did not know about these victorious tales and like me there are many others who did not know much about it. To us, it's a letter to acknowledge these heroes and make sure we know more about these unsung heroes and their tales of victory."
His movie rekindles the mystery of what caused the sinking of the PNS Ghazi. It also features Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon, Taapsee Panu and late veteran actor Om Puri .
Constellation will seek extensions for its operating license for the Clinton Power Station until 2047 and two reactors at the Dresden Generating Station in Morris until 2049 and 2051.
Srinagar, Feb 15 : The Indian Army on Wednesday paid homage to the four soldiers who were killed in operations against militants in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.
The commander of the Chinar Corps, Lieutenant General J.S. Sandhu, paid tributes to Major Satish Dahiya, Rifleman Ravi Kumar, Paratrooper Dharmender Kumar and Gunner Astosh Kumar at a solemn ceremony in Badamibagh cantonment here.
Major Dahiya, 31, led the army operation in Handwara town in which three terrorists were killed.
"The operation dealt a major blow to the terror network in north Kashmir," a Defence Ministry statement said.
The official, survived by his wife and a two-year-old daughter, hailed from Mahendergarh in Haryana.
Dahiya had been part of several counter terrorism operations and was also awarded for gallantry earlier.
Rifleman Kumar, 33, hailed from Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir. He was part of another operation in Hajin town on Tuesday in which one terrorist was killed.
He is survived by his wife and a three-year-old daughter.
Paratrooper Dharmender Kumar from Nainital in Uttarakhand was also part of the same operation, the statement said.
"The young paratrooper, who defied his 26 years of age and established himself amongst his comrades as a spirited and daring soldier, is survived by his parents.
Patriotism and sense of sacrifice ran in the blood of gunner Astosh Kumar whose father Hava Lal Sahib had also laid down his life during the Kargil war in 1999," the statement said.
His father's death only strengthened Kumar's resolve to join the army at the age of 19. He is survived by his mother Shila Devi.
The mortal remains of the dead will be taken to their native places for their last rites.
"The army stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and remains committed to their dignity and well being," it said.
Bengaluru, Feb 15 : Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Bengaluru-based Dynamatic Technologies Ltd. (DTL) on Wednesday signed an agreement to manufacture mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in India.
The agreement will allow the transfer of technology and production capabilities from IAI to DTL to produce mini UAVs as per the Indian requirements under the Make in India initiative. The agreement was signed at the ongoing Aero India here.
IAI is Israel's largest aerospace and defence company and prime manufacturer of missiles, drones, satellites, weapon systems and munitions, unmanned and robotic systems and radars, among others. India is one of IAI's major customers.
Speaking on the occasion, IAI's Military Aircraft Group General Manager Shaul Shahar said: "India is one of IAI's main strategic customers... our intention is to transfer a significant part of our UAV activity to India in the near future, in accordance with the 'Make in India' policy. We will jointly offer best-of-breed solutions for India."
"Our company already manufactures major complex assemblies for global OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and we have already built a robust supply-chain ecosystem in India," said Udayant Malhoutra, CEO and Managing Director, DTL.
"This is the foundation upon which the industrialisation of world-class UAVs will be developed," he added.
DTL builds high-precision systems and sub-systems for aerospace, automotive, hydraulics, and homeland security and defence sectors.
The company also manufactures complex assemblies for aviation majors like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Airbus, Boeing and Bell helicopters.
Beijing, Feb 15 : India is "playing with fire" and will suffer by using Taiwan to challenge China, an influential Chinese daily warned on Wednesday.
An editorial in the state-run Global Times slammed New Delhi for inviting a delegation from Taiwan.
"At a time when new US President Donald Trump has put the brakes on challenging China over Taiwan, India stands out as a provocateur," the daily said.
"A female 'parliamentary' delegation from Taiwan, at the invitation of India, began a visit to the country on Monday, the first such visit since the Tsai Ing-wen administration took office. High-level visits between India and Taiwan are not very frequent, so why did India invite the Taiwan delegation to visit at this time?
"By challenging China over the Taiwan question, India is playing with fire. To India, the island can not only help realise some of India's development goals, but also, strategically, check the mainland."
China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled island since 1949 when the Communists ousted mainland ruler Chiang Kai-shek, who fled here.
China has vowed to unite Taiwan with the mainland one day. Most countries, including India, have no diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Ties between Beijing and Taipei soured after Taiwan last year elected new President Tsai Ing-wen, who advocates independence.
"Some Indians view the Taiwan question as an Achilles' Heel of the mainland. They have long wanted to use the Taiwan question, the South China Sea and Dalai Lama issues as bargaining chips in dealing with China," the paper said.
It said the Modi government was using Taiwan card because India was against Chinese-funded economic corridor, which passes through Pakistan-controlled Kashmir claimed by New Delhi as its own.
"With the advancement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, India's strategic suspicions about China have been growing. It stubbornly misinterprets the flagship project of the One Belt, One Road Initiative that will benefit countries along the route including India.
"As the corridor passes through the disputed Kashmir, some Indian strategists have advised the Modi government to play the Taiwan card, using the commitment of the 'One-China' policy as leverage in exchange for China's endorsement of 'One India'.
"Growing Taiwanese investment in India, including steel, telecom and IT, are important to Modi's 'Make in India' campaign. Although the mainland is a major trading partner of India, political discord ... make economic cooperation between the two difficult.
"Tsai is exploiting India's vigilance and strategic suspicions against China," it said, adding that Taiwan's new President viewed India as a key country in her "new southbound policy", it said.
The newspaper asked India to "be wary of Tsai's political intentions and avoid being used to confront the mainland".
Ranchi, Feb 15 : Security has been beefed up here from Wednesday for the next three days in view of the two-day Global Investors Submit (GIS) beginning from Thursday.
"Several administrative decisions have been taken considering the GIS. Prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC have been imposed in the city so that dharnas or demonstrations do not happen. The traffic rules have been changed and buses for long distance will not ply from the existing Khadgada bus stand. A temporary bus stand has been made near BIT roundabout of Ranchi," a district administration source told IANS.
Jharkhand is holding the Global Investors Summit for the first time. According to government officials, top industrialists like Ratan Tata, Kumarmangalam Birla and Gautam Adani, among others, will participate in the investors meet.
While central ministers like Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari will participate in the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the investors meet through video conference on Thursday.
More than 5,000 security personnel have been deployed in Ranchi. Jharkhand has made special arrangements for the top-notch industrialists some of whom have been accorded state guest-level honour.
The government has spent more than Rs 150 crore to give Ranchi a facelift and for branding of the event.
Bengaluru, Feb 15 : The DRDO on Wednesday said it will develop a new version of the Naval Light Combat Aircraft, which is likely to fly by the end of 2020.
At a press conference here, Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) C.D. Balaji said they were aware of the shortcomings of the naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), adding that a new version was being worked upon.
The ADA is the nodal agency for the design and development of LCA.
"The overweight aircraft is the Mark 1. We will work on Mark 2 aircraft, which will have enhanced thrust engine. It will meet the requirements of the take-off," Balaji added.
He said the lessons on the arrestor gear and a catapult launch that would be emphasised upon for the next version, were learned.
"We are re-configuring this aircraft, the preliminary design is complete, the detailed design will take 18-20 months. By the end of 2020, the revised configuration should fly," he said.
According to sources, the Navy wanted a twin-engine aircraft, but they were told that developing it would take longer.
Naval Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba had said in December 2016, that the LCA was "not up to the mark yet", due to which they were searching for another fighter aircraft for carrier operations within the next five years.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the Indian Navy would continue to fund development of the naval variant of Tejas.
Kohima, Feb 15 : The agitating tribal groups in Nagaland on Wednesday served a fresh ultimatum to Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang to resign or face further protests over his decision to conduct civic bodies elections with 33 per cent reservation for women.
In a related development, legislators of the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) are in a huddle to discuss the "change of guard" in the wake of the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
The Nagaland crisis was on since January, after the NPF-led government decided to hold local body elections in 12 towns across the state.
The government later declared the civic elections as "null" and "void".
Three persons were killed and many injured following clashes between police and the public, who were opposing the civic polls.
On Tuesday night, the legislators also met at the official residence of Zeliang and deliberated on their plan of action if the agitating groups -- Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) -- further intensified their agitation.
"There is a possibility of change of guard, if the tense situation in the state refuses to subside. Some of the NPF legislators have put in their signature to replace Zeliang with NPF President Sharhozelie Liezietsu," a NPF legislator, who wished not to be quoted, told IANS.
When IANS tried to contact Zeliang and Liezietsu for their comment, they did not pick up their phones.
In the 60-member house, the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland coalition government, which comprises 48 NPF legislators, including suspended legislator Imkong Imchen, four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and eight independents.
"We are giving him (Zeliang) another three days time to resign gracefully. We hope that he accede to the demand of the people," NTAC Convener, K.T. Velie told IANS.
"We are bothered who is going to replace Zeliang as Chief Minister since the NTAC and JCC are apolitical groups. We cannot allow a person who has blood stains on his hands and betrayed the people and the church to lead our state," Velie said.
He said the JCC and NTAC have also resolved that all apex tribe bodies should call their respective legislators to withdraw their support to Zeliang on or before February 17, failing which the tribe bodies would debar those candidates from entering within their jurisdiction in the next election.
In fact, NPF legislator Neiphrezo Keditsu had resigned as Chairman of Nagaland State Mineral Development Corporation Limited on moral grounds since one of the persons killed in the Dimapur police firing was from his village.
Meanwhile, normal life remained paralysed as the indefinite shutdown sponsored by the tribal bodies entered the third day on Wednesday after Zeliang refused to accede to their demand and step down. Their three-day ultimatum in this regard ended on February 10.
The state secretariat, state and central government offices, banks, educational institutions, shops and other businesses remained closed.
National Highway-2, which connects the main commercial town of Dimapur with the poll-bound state of Manipur, was also affected.
Volunteers were seen picketing the road to prevent traffic movement and the government employees from attending their official duties, even as security forces were seen patrolling the roads to thwart any untoward incident.
Former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who is also the lone Lok Sabha member from Nagaland, briefed National Security Adviser Ajit Doval about the current situation with regard to the civic bodies elections.
Nagaland BJP legislators have appealed to the agitating tribal groups to come to the negotiating table with the government and resolve the matter amicably at the earliest in the spirit of understanding and forgiveness.
Kabul, Feb 15 : At least nine drug traffickers have been detained by Afghan law enforcement agencies within a week, as the war-ravaged country struggled to combat narcotics, authorities said on Wednesday.
"The counter narcotics police have captured the traffickers in Kabul, Nangarhar, Ghor and Nimroz provinces," Xinhua news agency reported.
They also seized about 29 kg heroin, over 220 kg opium, and 810 kg hashish over the period.
The police also confiscated four vehicles and six mobile phones.
Much of the world's opium poppy is cultivated in militancy-hit Afghanistan, particularly in western and southern parts of the country, where government security forces have little presence.
Beijing, Feb 15 : China on Wednesday lodged a protest over an ongoing visit by Taiwanese MPs to New Delhi and asked India to honour its commitment to "One China policy".
Beijing also warned New Delhi to be cautious in dealing with Taiwan.
"China has urged India to honour its commitment to the One China policy and cautiously handle issues regarding Taiwan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shunag said.
India has a commitment on issues regarding Taiwan, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, which it has vowed to reunite some day. India is among the countries that have no diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island.
"China has always been opposed to any official contact between Taiwan and countries having diplomatic ties with China," the spokesperson said.
Three Taiwanese lawmakers are on a visit to India.
"We hope India respects and understands China's core concerns, sticks to the One China policy and properly handles issues regarding Taiwan in a bid to maintain healthy and stable growth of China-India relations."
Chennai, Feb 15 : The police on Wednesday registered FIRs against AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala and legislature party leader Edapadi K. Palanisamy after a party legislator accused them of abduction. The party has denied the claim.
S.S. Saravanan, a legislator from Madurai South constituency, filed an abduction complaint against Sasikala and Public Works Minister Palanisamy, who was elected leader of the AIADMK legislature wing in place of Sasikala.
Saravanan landed up at acting Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's residence here on Monday and told the media that he scaled a wall at the resort in Koovathur, 90 km from here, and jumped down to escape.
He said he had to disguise himself to get away from the resort where he alleged he was held against his wishes.
After Saravanan's complaint, hundreds of police personnel on Wednesday reached the resort, where a large number of AIADMK MLAs supporting Sasikala are housed.
"Saravanan's complaint is totally false. He himself had told police a couple of days back that he is staying at the resort on his own will. The police had come here to enquire and submit a report to the Madras High Court," Inbadurai, AIADMK lawmaker, told reporters.
While the media is not allowed inside the resort, legislators come out in turns and parrot the standard statement.
The legislators at the resort have switched off their phone lines and some do not answer the calls or cut the call if it is from the media.
Saravanan too has switched off his phone and attempts by IANS to reach him went in vain.
Sasikala supporters insist that the MLAs backing her faction against Panneerselvam are at the resort on their free will.
Many of the legislators made the same point to the media on Wednesday.
One of the legislators, Thenarasu, told the media that the legislators would vacate the resort once the Tamil Nadu Governor invited their leader to form a government.
He said the legislators could also vacate the resort if Palanisamy told them to do so.
Thenarasu said the police made some enquiries and left. But others at the site said they were still massed outside the complex.
Sasikala, who remains the AIADMK General Secretary, earlier left for Bengaluru by road to surrender, a day after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction for corruption.
Also held guilty were the late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and two of Sasikala's relatives.
Bengaluru, Feb 15 : AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, held guilty for corruption, arrived at the Central Jail here on Wednesday to surrender, an official.
"Sasikala arrived in the jail premises with her relatives Elavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran from Chennai," the official told IANS.
She will formally surrender before a trial court set up in the prison complex.
Lahore, Feb 15 : Authorities in Pakistan have formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe Monday's suicide blast here that killed more than a dozen people. The police also arrested at least 43 suspects, mostly Afghan nationals, media reported on Wednesday.
"The JIT is comprised of officials from the CID, ISI, IB and police. The team will review statements of the injured and eyewitnesses and examine CCTV footages," Pakistan Today reported.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan police conducted search operations and arrested 43 people including Afghan nationals on Tuesday.
"The officers conducted raids in various areas in a search operation for the Lahore blast suspect's accomplice and detained 40 Afghanis," the report said.
Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police has also shifted the van of a private news channel to the police station for further investigation.
The forensic official said that various parts of the human body were recovered from the blast spot however, it is difficult to identify the terrorist from them, it said.
The blast which killed at least 13 people, including six police officers -- occurred on the busy Mall Road and apparently targeted the police.
A Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had claimed responsibility for the attack.
London, Feb 15 : A majority of police forces in England and Wales saw record levels of hate crimes in the first full three months following June 2016 EU referendum, according to new analysis.
In some areas, the number of incidents jumped by more than 50 per cent.
The fresh data compiled by the Press Association comes from official statistics which include detailed figures for five core crimes which are deemed to be racially or religiously aggravated, ranging from assaults through to criminal damage.
Following the vote to leave the EU, 75 per cent of constabularies recorded the highest reports of racially or religiously aggravated crimes since figures were first collected in 2012, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
In the three months to September 2016, 33 of the 44 forces in England and Wales saw their highest levels of hate crimes since comparable records began in 2012.
Three forces -- the Metropolitan Police (3,356), Greater Manchester (1,033) and West Yorkshire (1,013) -- recorded more than 1,000 hate crimes each over the period. Only four constabularies reported a decrease.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the findings suggested a small number of people used the Brexit vote "to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice", while the charity Victim Support said that more was needed to be done to encourage victims to come forward.
Provisional figures on hate crimes published by the Home Office in October 2016 suggested that offences in July 2016 were 41 per cent higher than in July 2015.
EHRC Chairman David Isaac said it "must be sensible to prepare for any possible spikes" in hate crime once Brexit negotiations begin.
"The vast majority of people who voted to leave the European Union did so because they believed it was best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others. It is clear, however, that a small minority of people used the Brexit vote to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice."
"We cannot allow such intolerable acts of hate to be condoned or repeated. 'The triggering of Article 50 is the next major milestone and we must do all we can to discourage hate attacks and to support people who feel at risk."
However, UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Paul Nuttall has said that such incidents have been "overblown" in an attempt to "rubbish Brexit".
Lucy Hastings, Director at Victim Support, said: "Hate crime has no place in our society and every victim of this crime is one too many. We believe that more needs to be done to further encourage reporting."
"This includes making third-party hate crime units more accessible to the public," she said.
The figures for hate crimes were compiled from open data published by every police force in England and Wales.
Comparable data was not available for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : INS Viraat -- the world's oldest aircraft carrier in active service -- will be decommissioned on March 6 with a ceremonial send-off in Mumbai, informed sources said on Wednesday.
The ship's name is entered in the Guinness World Records for being the oldest serving warship.
The decommissioning ceremony will be attended, among other dignitaries, by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The gala event will see the lowering and wrap-up of the naval flag installed on the warship at sunset, marking an end to a long sea odyssey lasting 55 years, including 30 years in the Indian Navy.
A decision on the warship's future has not been taken yet, the sources said. Talks are on with the Andhra Pradesh government which has expressed interest in taking in the ship.
Referred to as the 'Grand Old Lady' in the naval community, Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom as 'HMS Hermes'.
It was decommissioned in 1984 and subsequently commissioned in the Indian Navy on May 12, 1987.
Aircraft like Sea Harriers, White Tigers, Seaking 42B, Seaking 42C and Chetak helicopters have been operated from the warship.
The Sea Harrier fleet was recently decommissioned in Goa in May 2016.
Under the Indian Navy, aircraft have clocked more than 22,034 hours of flying from INS Viraat's decks.
The ship spent nearly 2,250 days at sea, sailing 5,88,288 nautical miles, thereby implying that Viraat has been at sea for over six years and sailed around the globe about 27 times.
The warship played a major role in Operation Jupiter in 1989, a mission of the Indian Peace Keeping Force operations in Sri Lanka and Operation Vijay in 1999 during the Kargil War.
As HMS Hermes, it was the flagship of the Royal Navy during the Falklands campaign in 1982.
The last operational deployment of the ship was for participation in the International Fleet Review (IFR-2016) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)
Kathmandu, Feb 15 : In view of the various power projects being developed in Nepal, India and the Himalayan nation have agreed to lay down new cross-border transmission lines.
In this regard, laying of new Butwal (Nepal)-Gorakhpur (India) and Lumki (Nepal)-Bareilly (India) transmission lines and setting up of new 400kV sub-stations at Dhalkebar, Butwal and Hetauda -- all in Nepal -- were discussed during the fourth meeting of the Indo-Nepal Joint Working Group and Joint India-Nepal Steering Committee (JSC) on Power Cooperation that concluded here on Tuesday.
"While the modality of construction and funding would be deliberated in the Joint Technical Team, the Indian side expressed its readiness to consider new LOCs for construction of infrastructure on the Nepali side," an Indian embassy statement in Kathmandu read.
Among other decisions made at the bilateral meeting was India's readiness to impart training for Nepali engineers in operational and commercial issues. The Power Grid Corporation of India expressed readiness to design special training courses to meet the requirements of the Nepali side.
Discussing the progress of various India-funded hydropower projects in Nepal, concern was expressed regarding delays in acquisition of forest land for Arun-III (900MW) and Upper Karnali (900MW) projects, which have led to delays in works and economic viability of the projects.
Nepal conveyed that these issues would be resolved within two months.
Nepal also expressed interest in acquisition of LED bulbs, for which the concerned Indian agency would provide required information. It was mentioned that so far India has installed more than 210 million LED bulbs, which have significantly enhanced power efficiency and reduced cost.
India plans to install 770 million LED bulbs in a few years, and the Indian agency has gained considerable experience in this area.
During the meeting, the Indian side conveyed that the new guidelines issued by India on cross-border trade of electricity is fair and liberal and covers all elements of Power Trade Agreement.
"The guidelines provides a lot of comfort and certainty to power developers interested in exporting electricity to India. The Nepali side appreciated the issuance of the guidelines," said the statement.
In the meeting, Nepal side conveyed its deep appreciation for the efforts by India to supply enhanced quantities of electricity to Nepal that made several parts of the country, including Kathmandu, free of load-shedding this winter.
The current import of 380MW of power from India has been possible on account of the installation of additional transformer at Muzaffarpur by the Indian side, as also by technical improvements at Tanakpur at Nepal's request.
With the commissioning of two new lines -- Raxaul-Parwanipur and Kataiya-Kusaha, the installed capacity for export of power to Nepal will increase by another 100MW to 120MW by the end of February 2017. Further, with the completion of 220kV substation at Dhalkebar, the installed capacity will increase to almost 700MW by the middle of 2017.
India conveyed its willingness to supply additional electricity to Nepal, the embassy said. On the existing and new transmission lines, the quantity and price of these supplies will be decided by the agencies concerned on the two sides.
The Indian side also agreed to extend technical assistance for improvement of existing infrastructure, so that the era of load-shedding can end in Nepal for good.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Wednesday said the number of private sector subscribers of New Pension Scheme (NPS) saw a 60 per cent increase during the April 2016 to January 2017 period due to exemptions provided in the earlier Budget.
"Private sector subscribers have gone up by 60 per cent till January in 2016-17. We are currently at 8.82 lakh NPS subscribers in the private sector. We expect the figure to reach 10 lakh by March 31," PFRDA Chairman Hemant Contractor said here.
Contractor was speaking on the sidelines of the full-day programme to train the trainers of the IL&FS Skill Development Corporation on NPS.
This agency has been recently hired by the regulator to train its intermediaries on NPS and Atal Pension Yojana.
In Budget 2016, the government had given additional tax exemption up to Rs 50,000 for contribution to NPS apart from the Rs 1.5 lakh ceiling provided under Section 80C.
The total corpus of NPS currently stands at Rs 1.66 crore with more than 1.47 crore subscribers, which includes central and state government employees for whom the subscription is mandatory.
In the Budget 2017-18, government has announced another sop and allowed tax-free partial withdrawal of 25 per cent of employee's contribution.
"... it has been proposed to provide exemption on partial withdrawals not exceeding 25 per cent of the employee's contribution in accordance with the terms and conditions specified under the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013," the Finance Ministry said earlier.
The benefit would be effective on partial withdrawals made after April 1.
"This will be another attractive feature. In emergency if we have to withdraw then why should it be taxed. Partial withdrawl has been given as relaxation. I am expecting major boost in terms of the NPS subscribers in 2017-18 as well," he said.
"But I would like to keep the growth target at 40 per cent as to grow even 40 per cent on a larger base is not easy for 2017-18," he added.
Business correspondents through the banks, cooperative banks, regional rural banks, post offices, private and public sector banks will all be contributing towards an increase in the number of NPS subscribers, Contractor said.
The NPS is a voluntary contribution retirement scheme. It enables systematic savings during the subscriber's working life and aims to find a sustainable solution to provide enough retirement income to every Indian citizen.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : After China protested against the visit of a Taiwanese delegation, including parliamentarians, to India, New Delhi on Wednesday said no political meaning should be read into this.
"We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
"Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes," he said.
"I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them."
China on Wednesday lodged a protest over the visit by the Taiwanese delegation and asked India to honour its commitment to the "One China policy".
Beijing also warned New Delhi to be cautious in dealing with Taiwan.
"China has urged India to honour its commitment to the One China policy and cautiously handle issues regarding Taiwan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shunag said.
India has a commitment on issues regarding Taiwan, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, which it has vowed to reunite some day. India is among the countries that have no diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island.
"China has always been opposed to any official contact between Taiwan and countries having diplomatic ties with China," the spokesperson said.
The three-day visit of the Taiwanese delegation, comprising three women parliamentarians, and members from the academic, business and computer sectors, concludes on Wednesday.
The three parliamentarians are all members of the Taiwanese parliament's Taiwan-India Friendship Association.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : With US President Donald Trump's talk of making Mexico pay for a wall he plans to build along the border, deporting undocumented immigrants and revisiting the Nafta, the Latin American nation's Ambassador to India Melba Pria on Wednesday said that one specific administration in Washington cannot change the relationship between the two North American countries.
"The reality is Mexico and the US are neighbours," Pria said in an interaction with the media here.
"The relationship is very comprehensive and complicated and one specific administration cannot change it," she said.
After assuming office in January, Trump has kept to his campaign promise of making Mexico pay for building a wall along the border with the US to check illegal immigration and deporting undocumented immigrants from the southern neighbour.
He has also faulted the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) as being biased in favour of Mexico and has talked of revisiting the accord.
In the light of all these, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has since cancelled a scheduled visit to Washington.
"The Mexican President cancelled the visit to the US because the tone was not conducive for a dialogue," Ambassador Pria said.
She said that since the signing of the Nafta in 1994 by Canada, Mexico and the US, an economy of $19 trillion has been created.
"We do trade of $1 million per minute with the US or $1.4 billion per day."
Stating that Mexico not only did trade with the US but also produced together with its northern neighbour, Pria said that "parts of a car move eight times across the border" in the process of manufacturing.
"We do trade of $92 billion with Texas alone per year."
According to the Ambassador, Mexico was part of the solution and not the problem and Mexican migrants contribute 8 per cent to the US GDP.
She said of the Mexican community of over 34 million in the US, two-thirds were born in the US.
"These are not numbers. These are human stories," she stated.
The Ambassador said that Mexico's strategy was to negotiate with the US by respecting the sovereignty and laws of the two nations.
"We do not believe in doing 'you lose' deals," she said.
As for building a wall along the US-Mexico border, Pria said the border should be secure but the cost for constructing the wall should be spent on building hospitals, schools and infrastructure.
"The wall will threaten as many as 111 species," she added.
Beijing, Feb 15 : In a sign of Beijing's increasing naval power, China will launch towards the end of this year its first indigenous-built aircraft carrier, which it plans to induct in the PLA Navy by 2020.
This will be China's second aircraft carrier after Liaoning, a refitted ship bought from Ukraine in 1998.
China's second aircraft carrier is scheduled to be launched later this year and is expected to enter the service by 2020, Xu Guangyu, a retired Chinese military officer and consultant to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said in an interview with Beijing Media Network.
Beijing has been constantly building up its navy and is growing more assertive at seas. Liaoning has already sailed into the disputed waters of the South China Sea and East China Sea.
It also entered the Taiwan Strait recently, prompting Taipei to scramble jets.
China's first home-made aircraft carrier, designed to be a base for fighter jets and helicopters, is now near completion, People's Daily reported.
The aircraft carrier is the first of the Type 001A class, and represents an important step in advancing China's naval power.
Earlier in October 2016, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian had said the aircraft carrier was being built as planned and most of its major construction and design work was completed.
Yin Zhuo, a Chinese naval expert, also confirmed in a CCTV interview that China's first home-made aircraft carrier is expected to be launched in water in early 2017.
There is still a large amount of work to do at the carrier's outfitting stage after its launching. It will take about one-to-two years to carry out functional debugging for its devices as well as weapons and equipment. The new aircraft carrier could begin its sea trial by early 2019, Xu said.
Xu also said that Chinese carrier pilots are also under training, with an expectation of forming two aviation units.
New Delhi/Patna, Feb 15 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin be shifted from Bihar's Siwan jail to Tihar jail here on the plea of the widow of slain Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.
Asha Ranjan has termed the apex court order a victory for her. Her husband was allegedly ordered killed by Shahabuddin last year.
Asha Ranjan had urged that Shahabuddin be shifted to Tihar to ensure a free and fair trial in the case.
Directing the Bihar government to transfer Shahabuddin to Tihar Jail, the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy said it should be done in a week's time.
Shahabuddin is facing trial in 45 cases. The top court had sent him back to jail on September 30, 2016, as it reversed a September 7, 2016, Patna High court order granting him bail.
The bench said the authorities escorting Shahabuddin to Tihar should "strictly follow the rules applicable to the transit prisoners and no special privilege shall be extended" to him.
The bench also said that the trial in pending cases should be "conducted by video conferencing by the concerned trial court".
The bench in its order noted that in certain cases the Patna High Court had granted stay, and requested the High Court to dispose of the said matters within four months.
The court's order came on a plea by Asha Ranjan whose journalist husband Rajdeo Ranjan, - the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan - was shot dead in May last year allegedly at the instance of Shahabuddin for exposing his activities in Siwan jail, and another plea by Chandrakeshwar Prasad whose three sons were killed in two separate incidents by the henchmen of the RJD strongman.
The plea for shifting Shahabuddin to Delhi was backed by the Bihar government which had on November 29 last year told the top court that it was not averse to it, including transfer of trial in 45 cases.
The court rejected as "unacceptable" the argument advanced on his behalf that the top court in exercise of its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution cannot transfer Shahabuddin to any other jail in another state.
The court said it is the "obligation and duty of this Court to ensure free and fair trial".
The court also said the matter relating to the plea for registration of FIR against RJD president Lalu Prasad's son Tej Pratap Yadav, who is Health Minster in Bihar, and Siwan Superintendent of Police would be heard on April 21, 2017.
Police have already arrested Upender Singh, an aide of Shahabuddin, in connection with Rajdeo Ranjan's killing. Singh is known as a sharpshooter of Shahabuddin.
Police in Siwan have said that Ranjan's killing was part of a pre-planned conspiracy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the murder.
Chandrakeshwar Prasad, father of three brothers allegedly killed at the instance of Shahabuddin, voiced his happiness at the development.
"Now, we will live here without any fear and hope to get justice," Prasad, who along with his wife Kalavati Devi has been living at their house in Siwan town despite threats, told IANS over telephone.
He also said that at last Siwan will be "free from Shahabuddin's terror".
"Shahabuddin's presence in Siwan jail for years was enough to create terror among people. We have been demanding for long to shift him from Siwan jail to Tihar jail in Delhi for free trial to ensure justice to us."
Both Prasad and his wife said they had faith in the justice of the Supreme Court.
"After God, we have our hopes pinned on the apex court for justice," they said.
Asha Ranjan said: "Shahabuddin's shifting from Siwan to Tihar jail in Delhi will provide us a sense of relief and peace. There will be no fear or threat."
Asha, a contractual teacher in a government-run school in Siwan, said she had appealed to the apex court to shift Shahabuddin from Siwan to Tihar jail last year.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : More than 3,000 exhibitors, including 900 permanent marts from all over the country, will be showcasing products in 14 different categories at the 43rd edition of world's largest handicrafts and gifts fair that opens here on Thursday.
Recognised by the Limca Book of World Records as "the world's largest congregation of handicrafts exhibitors under one roof," Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)- Delhi Fair Spring 2017 will be held at at India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida Expressway.
Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) is the organiser of the fair and a nodal agency for promotion and development of handicraft exports from the country.
The fair will be held from February 16 - 20, spread over an area of 1,97,000 sq. metres, informed Executive Director, EPCH, Rakesh Kumar.
"The IHGF- Delhi fair has made significant contribution to the handicrafts trade from India. It has not only enabled Indian exporters to participate in the show in large numbers and secure orders but has also enabled foreign buyers to source their requirements from India at one place, one time and under one roof," said Kumar.
Over 6,500 foreign buyers from more than 80 countries, buying agents based in India and domestic retail volume buyers are expected to visit the mega fair to source their requirements.
Dinesh Kumar, Chairman, EPCH said that despite the fact that USA and Europe have been major buyers of India, the focus of EPCH is now on new emerging markets in hitherto unexplored and under-explored regions like Latin America, Central Asia (CIS), Africa and South East Asia.
One of the main highlights of the show will be a thematic display of products from North Eastern Region and Jodhpur Mega cluster.
A theme pavilion on wooden handicrafts items produced from legally procured wood and certified under Vriksh (an indigenous Indian Timber Legality assessment and Verification scheme) will also be setup to showcase the best of wooden handicrafts items.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Election Commission (EC) has written to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab seeking compliance report from each assembly constituency of the state on the security of the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
In a letter dated February 14, the commission also instructed for strict compliance of its instructions "in letter and spirit".
The EC has reiterated that barring natural calamity, the Returning Officer (RO) or any other officer will not enter the inner perimeter of the strongroom where the EVMs have been kept without the prior permission of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) through the District Election Officers (DEOs).
It has also instructed to bar, by raising barricades, any human or vehicular movement in the 20-foot periphery of the strongroom building.
Polling in the state was held on February 4. The counting of votes will be done, with other states, on March 11 and results declared the same day.
The EC had already instructed to put double locks on the strongrooms and the keys to be kept by the Returning Officer and the District Electoral Officer (DEO).
It had instructed a two-layered security of the strongroom buildings, with inner periphery guarded by central paramilitary forces (CPF) and the outer security ring to be formed by the state armed police.
In the constituency-wise compliance report it has sought from the CEO of Punjab, the EC has asked whether all this is being done, apart from ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the strongroom premises and allowing candidates' representatives to keep a close watch on the strongroom entrance.
On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) approached the poll panel in Delhi and alleged breach of security at the strongrooms. It sought strict security of strongrooms. The party earlier moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this connection.
The AAP delegation led by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia urged the EC to act against the officials involved in the alleged security breach at strongrooms.
"We highlighted major lapses in the security of EVMs seen across Punjab and also criminal negligence on the part of Returning Officers in handling the security of EVMs kept in strongrooms," Sisodia said after meeting the EC.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday accused state officials of trying to move EVMs from a strongroom in Punjab. Officials, however, denied the charge.
The memorandum submitted to the CEC read that on February 6, the Returning Officer of Gill constituency entered the premises of strongroom unaccompanied either by candidates or their representatives.
Another similar incident took place on Monday where the Returning Officer of Nabha constituency in Patiala allowed four people to enter the storage campus on the pretext of collecting certain documents. "Instead, they moved some EVMs kept in steel boxes," it said.
"The lackadaisical approach with which the Returning Officers in Punjab are following the instruction of May 5, 2015, notification -- which lists out instructions regarding the storage and safety of EVMs -- it merits your urgent attention," the AAP memorandum said.
Moscow, Feb 15 : Russia does not return its territories, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said in response to the White House statement that US President Trump was expecting Moscow to return Crimea to Kiev.
"We do not return our territories. Crimea is Russian territory," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, reaffirming Moscow's long-standing position that the issue is permanently closed.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that Trump expected Russia to "return Crimea" to Ukraine.
"President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea," Spicer said at a daily news briefing. "At the same time, he fully expects to and wants to get along with Russia."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said his country's sovereignty over the peninsula could not be discussed as "Russia does not discuss issues related to its territory with foreign partners", reported Sputnik.
According to him, the issue of Crimea had not even been raised in the phone call between Trump and President Vladimir Putin on January 28. The spokesman said Moscow expected the issue to be discussed calmly and in a constructive way once relations with Washington were more positive.
He said Putin would patiently explain to the US the so-called coup in Ukraine, which led Crimean citizens to apply for admission into Russia.
Crimea re-joined Russia after a 2014 referendum, when almost 97 per cent of the region's population voted for the reunification. The referendum was not accepted by Kiev or by the international community.
During the election campaign, according to the report, Trump claimed he would "consider" recognising Crimea as part of Russia following the referendum in the peninsula, adding that the Crimeans wanted to live in Russia.
The US President has repeatedly advocated establishing a political dialogue with Moscow, particularly in regard to the fight against terrorism, and expressed readiness to build positive relations with Russia. Moscow has long been promoting the idea of fruitful cooperation with Washington.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : After Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Mexico last year, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is likely to visit India next year, the Latin American nation's Ambassador here Melba Pria said on Wednesday.
"After Prime Minister Modi's visit to Mexico in June 2016, this year a Mexican parliamentary group will visit India," Pria said during an interaction with the media here.
"The Mexican President is expected to visit India in 2018," she said.
Stating that Mexico-India relations have been good and friendly for many years now, she said that bilateral trade stood at $6 billion.
"Mexico is the first destination of Indian investments in Latin America," Pria said.
"Mexico is the largest investor from Latin America in India. Last year, we surpassed Brazil."
The Ambassador said that Mexico and India were cooperating in a number of areas, including water technology and in space research through the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"Tourism is flourishing on both sides," she stated.
Regarding Mexico's stand on India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in view of China blocking it, Pria said that it was her country that put India's attempt back on track.
"For Mexico, India's membership in the NSG is important," she said.
As for Mexico's position on UN Security Council reforms, she said "we do not want more permanent members" but more non-permanent members.
Mexico is among a group of countries called Uniting for Consensus (UfC) that backed a resolution against expansion of the UNSC permanent members seats.
The others are Canada, Italy, Colombia, Pakistan, Argentina, Costa Rica, Malta, South Korea, San Marino, Spain and Turkey.
The UfC resolution opposed the push by the G4 countries -- India, Brazil, Germany and Japan -- to reform the UN's apex body.
Pria, however, clarified that Mexico's position on this issue has "nothing to do with India's view of UNSC reforms but it is our view of the UNSC".
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred to a Constitution Bench a batch of petitions filed by Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal-led government over conflict with the Centre over the powers to administer the national capital.
Referring the matter for adjudication to the Constitution Bench, a bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.K. Agrawal said the issue involved important question of law and the Constitution.
Not framing the questions to be adjudicated by the Constitution Bench, the court asked the Centre and the Kejriwal government to argue their respective cases before the larger bench.
The Delhi government, through a clutch of petitions, has challenged a Delhi High Court verdict that upheld the primacy of the Lt. Governor in the governance of the national capital.
The Delhi government's counsel told the bench that they will mention the matter before Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar for early setting up of the Constitution Bench because governance of Delhi was impeded due to the conflict over its powers.
In the course of the hearing spread over more than a month, the Kejriwal government told the apex court that the Indian Constitution has given face and identity to the Delhi government which is accountable and the Centre could not have a de facto control over the national capital's administration.
The Delhi government contended that it cannott be treated subservient to an overriding authority of the Lt. Governor, who was sworn in under the Constitution.
The hearing also saw the court favouring a balance in the exercise of powers by the Delhi government and the Lt. Governor for good governance.
Delhi was given an assembly and an elected government through Article 239 (AA) incorporated in the Constitution by the 69th amendment in 1991.
Guwahati, Feb 15 : The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam is now exporting its high quality wax to Indonesia and Dominican Republic, said a NRL spokesman on Wednesday.
A 40-tonne export consignment of Fully Refined Paraffin Wax (FRPW) was flagged off to the two countries from NRL's Marketing Terminal on Wednesday, he said.
"With this, total exports of Paraffin Wax from NRL's wax plant stands at 2,172 tonnes," the spokesman said.
NRL had earlier exported its wax to eight countries -- Mexico, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Thailand, Hong Kong (China) and Brazil. The company is also exploring opportunities of exporting wax to a few other countries in the near future.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated NRL's wax plant to the nation on February 5 last year.
The 50,000-tonne plant was commissioned in March 2015 at a cost of Rs 676 crore and it is the country's largest wax producing unit with indigenous technology developed by the Indian Institute of Petroleum-Dehradun, Engineers India Ltd and the NRL.
"Since the commissioning of the wax plant, the NRL has emerged as the largest manufacturer and marketer of wax in the country," the spokesman added.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Continuing with the revival in exports for the fifth month in a row, Indian merchandise shipments overseas at $20.20 billion in January 2017 registered an uptick of 4.32 per cent over the $21.20 billion exported in January 2015, official data showed on Wednesday.
Imports during the month in consideration at $31.96 billion also marked an increase of 10.70 per cent over the $28.87 billion worth of imports in January last year.
Consequently, the trade deficit in January was higher at $9.84 billion, as compared to the deficit of $7.67 billion during same month of 2016.
"The growth in exports is positive for USA (2.63 per cent), EU (5.47 per cent) and Japan (13.43 per cent), but China has exhibited negative growth of (-1.51 per cent) for November 2016 over the corresponding period of previous year as per latest WTO statistics," a Commerce Ministry release here said.
Chennai, Feb 15 : Tamil Nadu acting Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and the Chief Minister-aspirant, Public Works Minister Edapadi K. Palanisamy, are to call on Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao.
According to an official in Raj Bhavan, Rao will meet Palanisamy at 7.30 p.m.
The Governor will meet Panneerselvam at 8.30 p.m.
Each can take nine other persons along with them, the official added.
Palanisamy, who was elected as AIADMK's leader of legislature party, is expected to stress upon Rao to invite him to form the government.
Raigad (Maharashtra), Feb 15 : In a case of 'strange bedfellows', sworn political rivals, Congress and ruling ally Shiv Sena, have tied up for the upcoming Raigad Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections here on Wednesday.
The alliance has been forged at the local level. Neither Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray nor Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan were involved, leaders of both parties in Raigad have maintained.
People rubbed their eyes in disbelief as posters and banners with names of local candidates, bearing large images of the late Shiv Sena founder-supremo Bal Thackeray and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other leaders were put up soliciting votes for the 'Indian National Congress-Shiv Sena'.
The partnerships have been worked out in Alibaug, Pen and Karjat for the February 21 elections.
However, the Congress state leadership has frowned at the unexpected development - and sought a report from the district party leadership.
"We have asked for information on this. The local unit has done it independently without permission from the party leadership and we are looking into it," a grim MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant told IANS.
The Bharatiya Janata Party criticized the move. Its spokesperson Madhav Bhandari reiterated his earlier statement of a 'match-fixing' between the Congress-Shiv Sena in the state civic polls.
Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam has strongly refuted the BJP allegations of a 'match-fixing', while Thackeray has continued his no-holds barred campaign against partner BJP as elections for the first phase are scheduled on Thursday.
All the major parties - BJP, SS, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena - are fighting the civic polls - described as 'mini-assembly elections' independently.
Besides, candidates from parties headquartered in other states like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, scores of local and regional parties are also in the fray.
Bengaluru/Chennai, Feb 15 : AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, held guilty for corruption, on Wednesday returned to the Bengaluru jail as the battle for supremacy in the AIADMK continued in Tamil Nadu.
Sasikala, 59, was sent to a women's cell in the Central Jail soon after she reached Bengaluru in a convoy of cars from Chennai after her plea for more time to surrender was rejected by the Supreme Court.
A prison official told journalists that the long-time confidante of the late J. Jayalalithaa, who was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu when she passed away on December 5, is expected to make candles in jail.
Sasikala surrendered to the trial court set up in the prison along with her sister-in-law Elavarasi and nephew V.N. Sudhakaran, all of whom were held guilty along with the late Jayalalithaa by the apex court on Tuesday of having assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
All four were lodged in the same prison for three weeks from September 27, 2014 after the trial court sentenced them. They later got bail from the Karnataka High Court.
Even at the prison, where police and AIADMK activists scuffled, Sasikala sought more time to serve the jail term but the judge rejected her request and told her to undergo a health check-up.
The trial court was set up in the jail complex because the civil court complex in Bengaluru is in a congested area and could have faced law and order issues due to the high-profile nature of the case.
In Chennai, Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao prepared to invite acting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam as well as pro-Sasikala AIADMK leader E. Palanisamy to find out who has majority support among party MLAs.
Before leaving Chennai, Sasikala visited the Marina Beach memorial of Jayalalithaa. Hitting the floor thrice with her right hand, she pledged to return to politics after defeating the "betrayers" in the AIADMK.
She later went to AIADMK founder late M.G.Ramachandran's house at Ramavaram and paid her respects before his picture and also meditated for some time.
At both places, hundreds of supporters gathered, most of them looking grim.
Once the Supreme Court held Sasikala guilty of corruption on Tuesday, the MLAs backing Sasikala and housed in a guest house near here elected Palanisamy as their new legislature party leader.
On Wednesday, Panneerselvam aides claimed he had the support of some 40 of the 135 AIADMK legislators but Palanisamy said he had adequate legislative backing to form a government.
Earlier, police registered a FIR against Sasikala and Palanisamy after AIADMK MLA S.S. Saravanan accused them of abducting him. The party denied the charge.
Saravanan, a legislator from Madurai South constituency, filed the abduction complaint against Sasikala and Public Works Minister Palanisamy.
Saravanan told the media on Monday that he scaled a wall at the resort in Koovathur, 90 km from here, and jumped down to escape.
After his complaint, hundreds of police personnel in riot gear reached the resort on Wednesday.
"Saravanan's complaint is totally false. He himself had told police a couple of days back that he is staying at the resort on his own will," an AIADMK MLA, Inbadurai, told reporters.
The legislators at the resort have switched off their phone lines and some do not answer the calls or cut the call if it is from the media.
They said they could vacate the resort if Palanisamy told them to do so or if he was called to form a government.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : On his way back from addressing a political rally in Kannauj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid homage to the four soldiers who were killed in operations against militants in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister laid wreaths at the mortal remains of the soldiers at a ceremony held at Palam IAF Terminal of Delhi airport.
Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat was also present on the occasion.
Four soldiers and as many militants were killed on Tuesday in two separate gunfights in the Kashmir Valley.
In the coffee shop where I am typing, the Band is playing over the speakers (first Atlantic City, then The Weight). On the wall across from me, there is a framed piece of muslin sackcloth printed with the words Cafe de El Salvador. Baristas hand out wooden chips for customers to deposit in one of four jars, casting votes for which charity theyd have the shop donate money to this month; choices include a food bank and a center for mentally ill adults. Near the ceiling, there is a strip of black paint on which is chalked this quotation: There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. William J. Clinton.
This coffee shop is called Blue State Coffee.
Independent coffee shops everywhere tend to have a liberal vibe, but Blue State, which began in 2004 with the location where I sit in New Haven, Conn., and has expanded to eight branches in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, makes its politics explicit. Conservatives can drink here, of course, but while their money is welcome, their politics are not.
Blue State Coffee is a prime example of the politicization of commerce. Where once upon a time profit-minded entrepreneurs were terrified of being identified with one political camp or another, thus alienating potential customers from rival camps, today, theyre embracing partisanship as a strategy. What they lose in mass appeal, they seem to think, they gain in fierce loyalty.
We saw this gamble two weeks ago, when, in response to President Trumps travel bans applying to seven Muslim-majority countries, Starbucks pledged to hire 10,000 refugees over the next 10 years. There was nothing subtle about CEO Howard Schultzs move; in his letter announcing the plan, Schultz praised trade with Mexico and seemed to express support for the Affordable Care Act. In effect, Schultz was saying that Starbucks had joined the resistance.
The same week, Uber canceled surge pricing on rides to JFK Airport in New York City, a move that seemed to undercut a strike called by taxi drivers to protest the detention of foreigners denied entry to the U.S. Sensing an opportunity to stake out turf to Ubers left, rival car-share company Lyft announced a $1 million contribution to the American Civil Liberties Union. But Uber wouldnt let that stand. Faced with numerous deletions of its app, and a vente-sized cup of bad publicity, the company announced a $3 million legal fund for immigrant drivers. It also asked Trump to cancel his temporary travel ban.
Commerce has, of course, always been political. Businesspeople, more often than not conservatives, have networked and lobbied to fight government regulation, unions and other perceived evils. But the politics used to be conducted on the down-low. The National Prayer Breakfast, for example, began in 1953 as the bipartisan, public face of Methodist minister Abraham Vereides right-wing activism. (He got his start organizing businessmens opposition to the New Deal.) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was organized by President Taft to fight the labor movement, but then went through a long period of bipartisanship before returning in recent years, under CEO Tom Donohue, to an open allegiance with Republican business interests.
All of this was largely invisible to most consumers. Now it sometimes seems as if every company in the strip mall has a political brand. I instinctively recoil every time I drive by the Hobby Lobby near me I cant disassociate it from its evangelical owners successful Supreme Court fight, in 2014, to deny employees coverage for contraception in their healthcare plans. The new Chick-fil-A off Exit 9? Right wing, by virtue of its owners anti-gay political donations.
If I am going to be stuck in traffic, Id always rather be stuck behind a Subaru, because at least I can assume Im near likeminded folk Subaru being an early, aggressive seeker of lesbian customers. Later that night, Ill console myself with a movie from gay-friendly Disney and a pint of ice cream from the reliably liberal Ben and Jerrys. (Sometimes too reliable they got suckered by the scientifically suspect anti-GMO panic). Then Ill brush the sugar off with environmentally friendly Toms of Maine toothpaste. Which also will scrub off the stains from my Blue State coffee. And so the circle of virtue is complete.
Self-satisfied as my shopping choices make me, I am not sure they are good for the country, even if they are better for the planet. Third places like coffee shops to use sociologist Ray Oldenburgs term for places that are neither home nor work are crucial for organizing social movements. But they also should function as sites of unexpected conversation, the kind that might change our lives as when we meet our soulmate over an extra-hot non-fat mocha or, perhaps, our political views.
As a progressive, I am cheered by what the Starbucks and Lyft cases tell us about the country: that people who agree with me have buying power, and thus clout.
But if conservatives avoid Starbucks, then something is lost for me, anyway. And maybe Im losing something by never patronizing Hobby Lobby. Im not sure what they sell, but there are no doubt some mighty fine people buying it.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached properties worth Rs 17.17 crore of Nagpur-based company Central Collieries and its Director Govinddas Daga in its ongoing probe in the coal block scam case.
"We attached both movable and immovable properties of Daga and Central Collieries Company Ltd under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act," an ED official said.
Taking congnisance of the existing FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Directorate in August 2014 had filed a fresh case against Daga and the Central Collieries.
Investigators said that Daga entered into a criminal conspiracy with unidentified public servants and submitted false information to the Coal Ministry while applying for Takli-Jena Bellora Coal Block in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra in the guise of captive power plant-cum-washery.
Daga and the Central Collieries later started selling the coal in open market to traders, which was against the policy of allocation of coal blocks.
The agency on Tuesday also attached properties worth Rs 78.25 crore of Nagpur-based B.S. Ispat Limited in the coal block allocation case.
Kolkata, Feb 15 : West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee on Wednesday drew attention to the decline in interest among students to study Science.
"Gradually, the interest in studying science is declining. I am astounded to hear that in many schools and colleges, Economics as a subject is being discontinued. We are not getting teachers in science," Chatterjee said here at an event.
He said an effort has to be made to generate interest in pursuing Science.
"Due to the dearth of students in Science, the inclination is towards studying Commerce and when the interest in commerce dwindles, it switches to Arts. We cannot let that happen," Chatterjee said.
Kohima, Feb 15 : The ruling Naga People's Front on Wednesday accused some government employees of funding the indefinite shutdown imposed by the tribal groups across Nagaland over Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang decision to conduct the civic elections with 33 per cent reservation for women.
The Nagaland crisis has been on since January, after the NPF-led government decided to hold local body elections in 12 towns across the state.
The government later declared the civic elections as "null" and "void".
Three persons were killed and many injured following clashes between police and the public, who were opposing the civic polls.
"It has been confirmed that some of the government servants are even funding the agitation which is unbecoming of government employees," NPF, Central (Media and press Bureau, said in a statement.
The statement said the party was observing and recording the involvement of government servants who are participating and contributing money, materials and other logistical support to wage war against the government.
The move came as agitating tribal groups in Nagaland on Wednesday served a fresh ultimatum to Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang to resign or face further protests over his decision to conduct civic bodies elections with 33 per cent reservation for women.
In a related development, legislators of the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) are in a huddle to discuss the "change of guard" in the wake of the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
On Tuesday night, the legislators also met at the official residence of Zeliang and deliberated on their plan of action if the agitating groups -- Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) -- further intensified their agitation.
"There is a possibility of change of guard, if the tense situation in the state refuses to subside. Some of the NPF legislators have put in their signature to replace Zeliang with NPF President Shurhozelie Liezietsu," a NPF legislator, who wished not to be quoted, told IANS.
When IANS tried to contact Zeliang and Liezietsu for their comment, they did not pick up their phones.
In the 60-member house, the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland coalition government, which comprises 48 NPF legislators, including suspended legislator Imkong Imchen, four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and eight independents.
"We are giving him (Zeliang) another three days time to resign gracefully. We hope that he accedes to the demand of the people," NTAC Convener, K.T. Velie told IANS.
"We are not bothered who is going to replace Zeliang as Chief Minister since the NTAC and JCC are apolitical groups. We cannot allow a person who has blood stains on his hands and betrayed the people and the church to lead our state," Velie said.
He said the JCC and NTAC have also resolved that all apex tribe bodies should call their respective legislators to withdraw their support to Zeliang on or before February 17, failing which the tribe bodies would debar those candidates from entering within their jurisdiction in the next election.
In fact, NPF legislator Neiphrezo Keditsu had resigned as Chairman of Nagaland State Mineral Development Corporation Limited on moral grounds since one of the persons killed in the Dimapur police firing was from his village.
Meanwhile, normal life remained paralysed as the indefinite shutdown sponsored by the tribal bodies entered the third day on Wednesday after Zeliang refused to accede to their demand and step down. Their three-day ultimatum in this regard ended on February 10.
Former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who is also the lone Lok Sabha member from Nagaland, briefed National Security Adviser Ajit Doval about the current situation with regard to the civic bodies elections.
Gwalior, Feb 15 : A youth of Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior city -- who was reported missing for the last three months -- is suspected to have crossed the border and is getting training at an Inter Services Intelligence camp in Pakistan, informed sources said on Wednesday.
Madhav Nagar resident Sunita Khushwaha told media on Wednesday that her son Vishal, who went missing three months ago, called up two days ago and said he was undergoing Army training in "Gangasagar area of Rajasthan", which seemed a suspect claim.
She said Vishal sounded anxious and after brief conversation between the two, the phone was disconnected. Thereafter, she could not contact him. Neither did he call again.
The sources said Vishal was known to at least one of the 11 persons arrested in Madhya Pradesh on charge of spying for the ISI since both lived in the same neighbourhood in the city. It led to suspicion about Vishal undergoing training at the ISI camp in Pakistan.
Gwalior Superintendent of Police Ashish told IANS that Vishal's mother had complained to Madhav Nagar police station on Wednesday.
He said police were probing the whereabouts of Vishal, who was last seen in Thatipur area.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : Packaging and processing major Tetra Pak has tied up with Mumbai's famed 'dabbawalas' or lunch box carriers for a unique initiative -- Cartons Le Aao, Classroom Banao -- to fund education efforts from recycled tetrapak cartons, an official said here on Wednesday.
Under the initiative, part of ongoing 'Go Green with Tetra Pak' campaign, plans are afoot to recycle over 800,000 cartons, which will fund 200 school desks this year. It was launched by Urban Development Principal Secretary Manisha Mhaiskar.
The six-week multi-city effort commencing in Mumbai will be implemented in collaboration with Reliance Fresh's CEO Damodar Mall, Sahakari Bhandar, NGO RUR Greenlife's founder Monisha Narke and Tetra Pak's Jaideep Gokhale.
Special bins to collect used cartons will be placed at 42 Reliance Fresh and Sahakari Bhandar stores, and the cartons will be recycled into school desks for underprivileged schoolchildren.
The Mumbai dabbawalas will spread the message through their daily lunch boxes supplies to Mumbaikars, urging them to recycle their used tetrapak cartons for this initiative, said their President Arjun Sawant.
Tetrapak cartons are paper-based and can be recycled to make articles like desks, notepads, exam pads and even house roofs.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposed amendment to the Statistics Act that will enable the central government to collect data, including demographics, in Jammu and Kashmir as the existing law didn't apply to the state that has its own Constitution.
The proposed bill was approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and would now be introduced in Parliament, according to an official statement.
It extends the jurisdiction of the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008, to Jammu and Kashmir on statistics on economics, demographic, social, scientific and environmental aspects. The state has its own Jammu and Kashmir Collection of Statistics Act, 2010, which is almost a replica of the central legislation.
But the state act did not allow jurisdiction to be exercised by the central government in Jammu and Kashmir and did not extend to statistical subjects falling in the Union List of the Consitution. Data from the state was currently being captured through the National Statistical Survey Organisation.
This, the statement said, had created a "legislative vacuum".
"The amendment is intended to address this vacuum," it said.
The Jammu and Kashmir legislature has powers to enact laws on statistics that falls under the Concurrent List and residuary powers reserved for the state under the Constitution.
The proposed amendment will also provide for appointing a nodal officer at the Centre and in each state and Union Territory to effectively coordinate data collection activities and provide consultation to government departments for avoiding unnecessary duplication, the statement said. The move is intended to help improve the country's statistical data collection.
Kuala Lumpur/Seoul, Feb 15 : A female suspect has been arrested in Malaysia in connection with the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Malaysian police said the woman was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport where Kim Jong-nam was targeted in an apparent poisoning on Monday.
The arrest was made around at 8.20 a.m. (local time), the statement said adding that the suspect, identified from CCTV footage taken at the airport, was alone at the time of her detention.
The woman, a 28-year-old named Doan Thi Huong, was in possession of a Vietnamese passport, Malay Mail Online reported.
Investigators were awaiting the results of an autopsy on the body, believed to be of Kim Jong-nam.
Kim is believed to have been poisoned, South Korea's National Assembly Intelligence Committee Chairman Lee Cheol Woo told a press briefing. Lee did not say how Kim was poisoned or how South Korea obtained the information.
Kim was boarding a flight to the island of Macau, a Chinese territory, to visit his family when he was attacked, Lee said.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said it was working with Malaysian authorities, while the country's acting President and Prime Minister discussed the death at a National Security Council meeting.
Meanwhile, North Korean embassy officials and North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol were seen entering the mortuary at Kuala Lumpur Hospital where the body, believed to be of Kim Jong-Nam, was sent for autopsy, reported the Sun.
Islamabad, Feb 15 : The Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday resumed the Panamagate case hearing, involving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, after a span of two weeks.
The hearing was adjourned due to unavailability of Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on health grounds.
The case is about alleged illegal money laundering by Sharif in 1990s, when he twice served as Prime Minister, to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.
Salman Akram Raja, counsel of Sharif's children, resumed his arguments and said that the record of the Sharif family's 40 to 45 years old business dealings could not be produced as "it was lost during the 1999 martial law", the Dawn reported.
"I will only argue this case based on the evidence present," said Raja, who represented Hassan and Hussain Nawaz.
Counsel said that the available record has been provided in the court. He also said that it has been proved that London flats were not owned by the Prime Minister neither by the Sharif family in year 1999.
"There is no charge against the Prime Minister, so there is no charge against his children either," he continued.
Raja argued that the flats in London were bought by the Al Thani family between 1993 and 1996. Raja said the Sharif family has ties with more Qatari royal families than one but he cannot disclose their names before the court due to certain reasons.
"The Sharif family did not own the flats in 1999, as Hussain Nawaz was given the bearer certificate to the flats by the Al Thani family," Raja argued. He added that the shares for the flats were given to Minerva Financial Services in 2006.
Upon hearing this argument, Justice Azmat Saeed asked counsel to provide a paper trail for these transactions, and said, "You have been moving from one point to the other since the beginning, but have failed to provide any evidence in this regard."
During the break in then hearing, Pakistan Tehreek Insaf party's representative Fawad Chaudhry expressed the view that Sharif family did not answer a simple question, and added that the Sharif family referred to documents harking back to 1980s but failed to present those documents.
The apex court has adjourned the hearing till Thursday and Salman Akram Raja would be continuing his arguments to justify the money trail of Sharif family.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : In a stern message, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the army operations against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir will continue and warned locals against supporting militants.
"Our aim is to bring peace and tranquility in the Kashmir Valley. These terrorists have now entered villages and we are conducting operations against them. We find the local population is somehow not supporting security forces' action," General Rawat told the media here after paying homage to four Army personnel, including a Major, killed in two gunfights in Kashmir on Tuesday.
Speaking on the high casualties among the security forces in anti-terrorist operations, the Chief of Army Staff said: "Our aim has been to conduct operations in a way that don't endanger the civilians. However, sometimes locals prevent us from conducting military operations - at times even supporting terrorists to escape."
"It leads to higher casualties among the security forces," he added.
Warning locals against supporting militants, General Rawat said: "We will request locals in Kashmir that people who have picked up arms -- and these are local boys -- and if they want to continue with acts of terrorism by displaying flags of the Islamic State and Pakistan, we will treat them as anti-national elements and go after them."
"They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. And our relentless operations will continue," the Army chief added.
Four soldiers and as many militants were killed in two gunfights in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Continuing with the revival in exports for the fifth month in a row, Indian merchandise shipments overseas at $22.12 billion in January 2017 registered an uptick of 4.32 per cent over the $21.20 billion exported in January 2015, official data showed on Wednesday.
Imports during the month in consideration at $31.96 billion also marked an increase of 10.70 per cent over the $28.87 billion worth of imports in January last year.
Consequently, the trade deficit in January was higher at $9.84 billion, as compared to the deficit of $7.67 billion during same month of 2016.
"The growth in exports is positive for USA (2.63 per cent), EU (5.47 per cent) and Japan (13.43 per cent), but China has exhibited negative growth of (-1.51 per cent) for November 2016 over the corresponding period of previous year as per latest WTO statistics," a Commerce Ministry release here said.
Cumulatively for the April-January period, exports rose marginally by 1.09 per cent in dollar terms at $220.9 billion, as against exports of $218.5 billion over the same period last year.
"Non-petroleum exports in January 2017 were valued at $19.42 billion against $19.11 billion in January 2016, an increase of 1.6 per cent," a statement here said Cumulative imports for April-January were worth more than $307.3 billion, which was a 5.81 per cent fall from the over $326.3 billion worth imports recorded for the same period of the previous fiscal.
With global oil prices climbing back to nearly $55 a barrel, India's oil imports during January were valued at $8.14 billion, which was a massive 61.07 per cent jump over oil imports valued at $5.05 billion in the corresponding month of 2016.
Non-oil imports in January were static, increasing by 0.01 per cent to $23.82 billion, from $23.81 billion in the same month of last year.
The merchandise trade deficit cumulatively for April-January, however, declined by 19.82 per cent to $86.39 billion, as against $107.7 billion in the same period of 2015-16.
As per Reserve Bank of India data on Wednesday, services exports during December 2016 were valued at $13.80 billion, while imports stood at 8.29 billion, resulting in a positive trade balance of $5.5 billion.
Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-January is estimated at $38.07 billion, which is an impressive 29.7 per cent fall from the level of $54.19 billion during the same period last year.
Bangalore, Feb 15 : Global aerospace major Boeing on Wednesday said that it saw a high potential for air travel growth in India during 2017.
"The major factors we watch - the exchange rate, fuel price and the profitability of the airlines - are all still favourable and we remain confident in the strong growth of India's commercial aviation sector," said Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific and India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
"We see the potential for travel growth in 2017 to continue to be high in India and we expect more than 100 million passengers to fly domestically this year," Keskar spoke during a briefing organised by Boeing at the 2017 Aero India Airshow in Bangalore.
According to Keskar, Boeing continues to provide the airlines in India with the most fuel efficient and capable airplanes in every market segment.
"We look forward to delivering several more 787 Dreamliners to Air India this year and the 737 MAX to SpiceJet and Jet Airways in 2018," Keskar said.
Earlier, Boeing's 2016 India Current Market Outlook (CMO), had shown that the country's airlines would require 1,850 new airplanes, valued at $265 billion over the next 20 years.
As per the 2016 India CMO, single-aisle airplanes such as the Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX will continue to account for the largest share of new deliveries, while wide-body airplanes such as the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 family, will make up for the remainder of demand.
Bengaluru, Feb 15 : Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Wednesday flew a Rafale fighter jet at Aero India.
The Skill Development Minister, who holds a commercial pilot licence, flew for around 35 minutes, and said he reached 8G.
"It's a great machine it's going to empower IAF. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a right decision in inducting such a great machine," Rudy said after flying the machine at Aero India 2017.
"I have been flying other aircrafts too. I've flown in Su-30. This is a different machine. We reached up to 8G and I am not at all tired," he said.
India and France signed an inter-government agreement for purchase of 36 Rafale fighters off-shelf on September 23 this year.
This was after a long negotiation between the two countries over the price and other aspects of the deal which was agreed upon during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France in April, 2015.
The deliveries of the aircraft will start in September, 2019 and be completed in April, 2022 according to the defence ministry.
The procurement includes a provision for offsets of 50 per cent of the value of the Aircraft and Weapons Package, excluding the value of Performance Based Logistics and Simulator Annual Maintenance, which will be discharged by the vendors through purchase of eligible products supplied by Indian firms.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in collaboration with two US agencies on Wednesday announced the launch of a survey that would rate the energy efficiency and commuter-friendliness of the rapid mass transporter in the capital.
The survey result will enable the DMRC for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification -- a globally accepted green building programme that recognizes the best-in-class building strategies and practices.
The two US agencies participating in the rating are US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI) -- the leading agencies in rating eco-friendly infrastructure.
The survey was announced at the Delhi Metro's corporate headquarters, 'Metro Bhawan', which has already been constructed as a green building.
The Delhi Metro has now become the first metro transit system in the world to pursue the criteria laid down under LEED. It would also set benchmarks for efficiencies according to which metro systems in other state will be rated in future.
The performance of the metro stations will be measured across five categories -- energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience.
'LEED for Transit' is the result of an agreement, which was signed between DMRC, USGBC and GBCI in October 2015, to develop a green rating exclusively for transit stations.
Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant, who was present at the launch, said: "The contribution of Delhi Metro has been unique in creating a sustainable mass transportation system in the capital."
"The DMRC has taken the lead in this regard and India will see the emergence of many new metro systems which will not only solve the transportation requirements but will also be energy efficient," Kant said.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : In a major expansion drive, national passenger carrier Air India on Wednesday said it plans to add six new international destinations to its network in 2017.
"We are going to add six more international spots this year," said Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India.
"This year we are going to connect Delhi with Tel Aviv and Delhi with Washington," Lohani said at the travel trade show -- SATTE 2017 -- which is being organised by UBM India at Pragati Maidan here from February 15 to 17.
According to Lohani, the airline is looking at connecting New Delhi with Stockholm or Copenhagen, Mumbai with Franfurt, and Mumbai with either Nairobi or Johanessburg.
Last year, the airline added four new international destinations including New Delhi-San Francisco, Delhi-Vienna, Delhi-Madrid and Ahmedabad-London.
On the regional aviation front, Lohani disclosed that the airline will start the country's "first necklace flight".
The unique flight will start from Kolkata in the morning hours onwards to Raipur from where it will head towards Indore and then to Ahmedabad and subsequently Jaipur. It will finally terminate operations in New Delhi in the evening.
"This is not the only thing we are doing. We are going to base an aircraft in Jaipur and connect Jaipur with Bikaner, Jaipur with Jaiselmer, Jaipur with Jodhpur and so on," Lohani revealed.
"We are also going to add Airbus 320s to our fleet. Will be adding more flights between the tier I cities."
Besides, the national passenger carrier plans to add more turboprop aircraft in its fleet. Currently, Air India has 10 turboprops which operate on regional routes.
"We will be adding another 40 (aircraft) in the next 2-3 years. By the end of this year, it will become 25 (aircraft) which will fly to various tier II and tier III cities," Lohani added.
Lucknow/New Delhi : Lucknow/New Delhi Feb 15 (IANS) The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections saw 65.5 per cent voting across 67 seats on Wednesday, the Election Commission said.
"The polling was 65.5 per cent till 5 p.m. and was continuing," Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Dev told reporters in New Delhi.
Officials said that maximum voting was reported from Saharanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri.
Saharanpur saw 72 per cent polling, Bijnore 67 per cent, Rampur 62, Sambhal 64, Moradabad 65, Amroha 69.50, Budayun 62, Bareilly 65, Pilibhit 65, Shahjahanpur 62 and Lakhimpur Kheri 66 per centage voting, the poll officials said.
He said that Election Commission had made cash seizure of Rs 16.5 crore, liquor worth Rs 9 crore and drugs worth Rs 1.1 crore. The official said gold and silver have also been seized.
Barring some places where Electronic Voting Machines developed some snags, polling was smooth and peaceful in most of the 67 assembly constituencies across 11 districts.
Polling began on Wednesday morning amid tight security at 7 a.m.
Long queues of women, differently-abled and elderly voters were seen in most parts outside the poll booths.
In the 2012 assembly polls, the average polling in these constituencies was 64 per cent.
A total of 721 candidates were in the fray.
Aligarh, Feb 15 : A three-member team from the US Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday visited the Aligarh Muslim University and discussed academic collaboration and cooperation between AMU and various US universities, apart from exchange of faculty and students.
Minister Counsellor Ivan Boelelheide, who led the team, said his country would like to ensure cooperation in academics and research between US varsities and AMU in various fields.
AMU Vice Chancellor Lt. General Zameeruddin Shah (Retd) said cooperation among universities in the US and India for higher academic and research pursuits was the need of the hour. He said it will facilitate stronger ties between the two countries.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the establishment of Food Legumes Research Platform (FLRP) at Amlaha in Madhya Pradesh.
The research platform will be established with satellite hubs in West Bengal (for pulses) and Rajasthan (for natural resource management) by the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).
The Madhya Pradesh government will provide 71 hectares (or 175.42 acre) of land at Amlaha Farm for the project on rent of Re 1 per acre per year for 30 years on lease.
The Cabinet also gave 'in principle' approval for conferring on FLRP an international status as contemplated in Clause 3 of the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, an official release said.
"The establishment of FLRP will enable India to harness the best of international science in meeting the emerging food security challenges. A major international R&D institution will make India an even bigger centre for agricultural research in the world and this in turn, will attract further research and development investment in the country," the release said.
"ICARDA will carry out research through a multi-disciplinary team of scientists for enhancing productivity of crops range-land and livestock. This platform will contribute significantly towards reducing poverty, improving food security, improving nutrition and health, and sustaining the natural resource base," it added.
It said that the research output would benefit farmers of all regions, whether big, small or marginal.
Established in 1977, the ICARDA's founding mandate is to promote agricultural development in the dry areas of developing countries.
Dry areas cover 41 per cent of the world's land area and are home to one-third of the global population. The dry areas face challenges such as rapid population growth, frequent droughts, high climatic variability, land degradation and poverty.
Bhopal, Feb 15 : Druv Saxena, who was arrested on the charge of spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, tapped the phones of prominent people on the bidding of a national-level office-bearer of the BJP, Congress Madhya Pradesh unit chief Arun Yadav said on Wednesday.
He said he had written to the state Director General of Police to demand a probe into the role of the said Bharatiya Janata Party leader, adding that Saxena and this leader had been meeting in the past.
Yadav said a probe should be conducted into the political links of the arrested person as well as how much he was paid for tapping phones.
State Congress unit Chief Spokesperson K.K. Mishra released pictures of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha website that allegedly described Dhruv Saxena as coordinator of the IT Cell of Bhopal unit of the outfit.
He demanded a detailed probe into the matter.
State Bharatiya Janata Party's Media Cell leader Lokendra Prashar said the party had already issued a list of authorised office-bearers of its organisation. "I don't know from where the Congress has got this fake list," he said.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will pay a two-day visit to Bangladesh from February 23, during which he will review bilateral ties with his Bangladeshi counterpart Md. Shahidul Haque, a senior official said on Wednesday.
"Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's visit to Dhaka comes following an invitation by Haque. The two Foreign Secretaries will review areas of cooperation between the two countries, including high-level visits," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Swarup said Jaishankar is expected to call on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the visit.
It remains to be seen whether the dates for Sheikh Hasina's much pending visit to India are finalised during Jaishankar's visit.
Washington, Feb 16 : US President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed what he called the "fake media" and "illegal" leaks for the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who had lied to top government officials about his contacts with Russia.
At a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that the media had treated Flynn "very unfairly".
Trump has asked for Flynn's resignation because he had lost confidence in him after revelations the National Security Adviser had lied about his conversations with Russian officials, EFE news quoted the White House as saying.
In response to a reporter's question at the press conference, Trump called Flynn a "wonderful man", adding that he had been treated very unfairly by the media.
The President also said that the brouhaha over Flynn's resignation is an attempt to "cover up for (the) terrible loss" suffered by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the November 8 election.
These were the first comments Trump had made about Flynn's resignation, which was announced on Monday and which has erupted into a big crisis for his administration.
Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials about his contacts with Russia's Ambassador to Washington Sergey Kislyak with whom he spoke prior to Trump's inauguration about the US sanctions on the Kremlin that former President Barack Obama imposed before he left the White House in retaliation for Moscow's interference in the US election.
Trump decided to ask Flynn to resign because he had lost confidence in him after it emerged that the former army general had lied.
Ryan Parker nails together boards as he works on a playhouse that will be raffled off to benefit Operation Finally Home.
By investing in our communities and the people that we serve, we are hopeful that we can make impactful, long-lasting changes for better health outcomes," said Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, Interim Health Officer of Los Angeles County.
Childrens Bureau was awarded $880,000 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health with funding from the California Department of Public Health and the United States Department of Agriculture. The grant will support the Champions for Change - Healthy Communities Initiative, which aims to reduce the prevalence of obesity among low-income Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education eligible populations by providing nutrition education, physical activity promotion, and working to create healthier environments for low-income individuals and families where they live, learn, work, play, pray, and shop.
Key efforts under the initiative include teaching fundamental skills such as cooking, reading food labels, shopping on a budget, growing fruits and vegetables, and introducing low-cost and fun ways to be physically active. In addition, champions in communities throughout the County will be identified to help improve access to healthier foods and increase opportunities to be physically active in a variety of settings, including early childcare centers, schools, faith-based organizations, corner stores, parks, worksites, and cities.
Childrens Bureau is pleased to be a part of this County-wide initiative, as we are uniquely positioned to reach children and families in University Park, Jefferson Park, and West Adams, explained Giovanna A. Lipow, Project Coordinator at Childrens Bureau. We are working toward making notable changes in grocery stores to make healthier foods more affordable and available as well as identify ways to integrate physical activity into the day to improve the overall health for families in our service area.
According to the LA County: A Cities and Communities Health Report, obesity-related chronic illnesses continue to rank among the top ten leading causes of premature death, including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. While the obesity epidemic continues to impact virtually all population groups, about 29.0% of children in grades 5, 7, and 9 and 32.7% of adults in are obese. For Latinos the situation is much worse with 31.6% of obesity rates for Latinos in Los Angeles County.
Reducing obesity is a priority of Public Health and a key objective of the Champions for Change - Healthy Communities Initiative, said Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, Interim Health Officer of Los Angeles County. By investing in our communities and the people that we serve, we are hopeful that we can make impactful, long-lasting changes for better health outcomes.
ABOUT CHILDRENS BUREAU
Since 1904, Children's Bureau (http://www.all4kids.org) has been a nonprofit leader in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. More than 30,000 children and families are helped each year throughout Southern California with services that include school readiness, parenting classes, family resource centers, support groups, mental health counseling, foster care and adoption. Childrens Bureau is one of the largest investors in child abuse prevention in the country and is developing a national model to transform an entire at-risk community through its Magnolia Community Initiative.
ACTS, enterprise technology solution provider and ISV, today announced it has attained a Gold Competency in Data Platform, demonstrating a best-in-class ability and commitment to meet Microsoft Corp. customers evolving needs. This marks the ninth Gold competency achieved by ACTS, distinguishing itself within the top one percent of Microsofts partner ecosystem.
The Microsoft Gold Competency signifies to the market that a company has demonstrated the highest level of skill and achievement within a given technology specialization. Microsoft competencies are designed to help differentiate a partners specific technology capabilities, helping customers find solution providers quickly and easily. Each competency has a unique set of requirements and benefits, formulated to represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the industry.
ACTS aims to deliver solutions which enable customers to accelerate their business success on a leading technology platform, says CEO James Farhat. By achieving a portfolio of competencies we are able to provide our clients a deeper level of expertise and consistent capabilities on the latest Microsoft technology.
Equipped with exclusive training and the latest software and support, ACTS provides their customers with solutions using the Microsoft suite and ACTS products that have been tailored to enhance MS solutions using cost-effective, flexible and high-performance applications.
Microsoft Competencies are awarded to Partners who have been successfully tested on their levels of technology expertise. Gold Competencies designate certified professionals uniquely to one Microsoft competency, ensuring a certain level of staffing capacity. Partners are required to submit customer references, demonstrating successful projects, past technology and sales assessments. In addition, Partners implement a yearly customer satisfaction study, and for many competencies, meet a revenue commitment.
The Microsoft Partner Network helps partners strengthen their capabilities to showcase leadership in the marketplace in the latest technologies, to better serve customers and to easily connect with one of the most active, diverse networks in the world.
ACTS is a Florida-based ISV and technology solution provider working with businesses to leverage cloud technology for competitive advantage and market share growth. With work grounded in a business outcome methodology, ACTS has been helping clients for more than 15 years. As a Microsoft multi-Gold Competency Partner, ACTS delivers customized solutions to businesses to help increase productivity and enhance efficiency using best practices.
We will be expanding staff in Carlsbad as we enter a new phase in our accelerated growth."
Carlsbad based ACD, a leading claims technology, decision support, advisory and service network aggregator to the property and casualty industry today announced the opening of its new corporate headquarters in Carlsbad, California.
ACD is experiencing rapid growth after ending a year which again saw the company being named for the sixth time to Inc. 5000s Americas Fastest-Growing Private Companies list and honored as one of the Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America by Entrepreneur Magazine.
Our company has experienced amazing growth and weve quickly outgrown our current facility. Im very excited for our move into the new headquarters which will enable us to add even more great team members, stated Brian Bray, Vice President of Operations. We will be expanding staff in Carlsbad as we enter a new phase in our accelerated growth. The additional space will allow for further innovation and expansion of our technology R&D programs centered on future-based software solutions for the property & casualty industry. Were looking forward to making 2017 a great year for our clients as we continue on our mission to be the company of choice for insurers who want a modern solution that drives their success, added Bray.
ABOUT ACD
In an era of connectivity and rapid change, ACD's AutoLink claims workflow platform is a market leader in innovation that connects and unifies a fragmented auto insurance claims industry with digitally empowered solutions. ACD, an award-winning company, has been ranked four years on Deloitte's Technology Fast-500 of North America and six times on the INC. 5000. ACD's technology and claims service group has processed over $3B in claims, smoothing the way for insurers and their customers. ACD is a leading technology firm located in Carlsbad. For more information visit ACD http://www.acdcorp.com
This year marks the 25th anniversary of law firm Levine & Gilbert, a leading litigation team based in New York City. Levine & Gilbert is committed to achieving outstanding results for its clients utilizing thorough investigation, intense preparation and aggressive representation.
Richard A. Gilbert has himself completed 31 years of practice in the New York City area. Since 1986 Mr. Gilbert and law partner Harvey Levine have successfully litigated numerous multi-million dollar settlements in areas including Motor Vehicle accidents, Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death, Construction/Labor Law and False arrest cases. Over the last sixty days alone the team has concluded a $1.45 Million Settlement in Bronx County for wrongful death, a $1 Million Settlement for premises liability in Kings County, a $700,000 Settlement in Onondaga County for premises liability and a $500,000 Settlement for assault in Federal District Court.
A devoted and passionate advocate, Richard A. Gilbert has worked to expand the rights of city employees who have sustained injuries on the job. An active member of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Gilbert has also been voted by his colleagues as being among the top 5% of plaintiffs personal injury lawyers in the New York Metro area, as recognized by rating service SuperLawyers. Richard A. Gilbert is a graduate of SUNY Albany and earned his law degree at Yeshiva Universitys Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Digital marketing agency Vizion Interactive announced today that following a competitive agency review, they have been chosen as Search Agency of Record for Perennials and Sutherland, LLC. This announcement came as an exciting addition to Vizions proud family of clients. Vizion will develop a strategic search engine optimization plan for Perennials with goals of increasing their overall web presence, driving more qualified leads and sales, and increasing ROI.
Vizion Interactive CEO and President Mark Jackson said this about the new partnership, Perennials and Sutherland has been a leader in its field, for some time, yet had not yet taken the steps necessary to drive its presence via organic search. By working with the team at Perennials, understanding their sales process and historic conversions rates, we were able to crunch the numbers to establish a clear path forward. Our team of experts has clearly defined a project scope for this effort and were able to, with a reasonable level of certainty, visualize a significant positive ROI for the investment that Perennials will be putting forth into this effort. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with them, and look forward to reporting positive results in the near future.
The Perennials and Sutherland group of companies are acknowledged leaders in the international design industry. The company excels at collaborating with leading designers to produce the finest luxury furniture, fabrics and accessories. David Sutherland Showrooms are exclusive to the trade and represent the finest in home furnishings, fabrics and accessories, along with the company's signature Perennials and Sutherland brands.
Vizion brings a sound methodology to increasing organic traffic and a measureable way to quantify results, said Allen Evans, Director of Marketing, Perennials and Sutherland, LLC. Im excited to partner with Vizion once again and begin driving more qualified traffic that will increase the size of our digital footprint, increase the quantity and quality of our KPIs and conversion events, and ultimately lead to more sales activity.
About Vizion
Vizion Interactive is a Google Premier Partner and leading digital marketing services agency, bringing the process and tools that you might expect from the largest agencies, the specialized skills and knowledge of a boutique, and the care and attention of an independent contractor. Vizion Interactive provides a wide array of digital marketing services to B2B, B2C, franchise, and ecommerce clients including SEO, PPC, SMM, UX, CRO and Enterprise Analytics and Reporting.
Contact
Kristien Matelski
888.484.9466
Kristien.Matelski(at)VizionInteractive.com
About Perennials and Sutherland, LLC
The Perennials and Sutherland, LLC companies are icons and acknowledged leaders in the international design industry. CEO David Sutherland and President Ann Sutherland share an ingenious talent for curating the finest interior and exterior collections of luxury furniture, fabrics, rugs and accessories. Based in Dallas, Texas, the company is comprised of Sutherland Furniture, Perennials Luxury Performance Fabrics and David Sutherland Showrooms.
Perennials Fabrics is recognized by interior designers and high-end retail customers as the leader in luxury performance fabrics. Perennials Fabrics and Perennials Luxury Performance Rugs combine the look and feel of high-quality, natural materials with the superior performance properties of their genuine 100% solution-dyed acrylic fiber technology. View the full collections at perennialsfabrics.com.
Sutherland Furniture is a world leader in luxury outdoor furniture for modern lifestyles. The company has created the preeminent furniture brand through partnerships with the world's leading designers, along with utilizing the highest quality materials. View the full collections at sutherlandfurniture.com.
David Sutherland Showrooms are full-service, multi-line showrooms which serve the professional design market in showrooms and studios across the United States. For more information and locations, visit davidsutherlandshowroom.com.
Contact
Allison Francis
Public Relations Manager
Perennials and Sutherland, LLC.
1600 Viceroy
Suite 500
Dallas, TX 75235
Tele: 214-389-4277
Cell: 319-572-2145
sutherlandfurniture.com
perennialsfabrics.com
davidsutherlandshowroom.com
Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC), the newly formed nonprofit organization dedicated to safeguarding informed consent in vaccination, has announced open registration for its Inaugural Meeting and Luncheon. Doctors, scientists, attorneys and educators will join dedicated parents and distinguished groups in the community to discuss vaccination safety issues and the need to preserve informed consent for all medical procedures, including vaccination. This public meeting, hosted by PIC, will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa, CA on March 12, 2017.
Candace Lightner of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), public health researcher Gary Goldman, Ph.D., immunologist Tetyana Obukhanych, Ph.D., and pediatrician Paul Thomas, M.D., are among the extensive and distinguished lineup of speakers.
PIC is a nonprofit organization that was formed after the passing of CA SB277, a law that mandates all children be vaccinated on the same schedule in order to attend both public and private schooleffectively eliminating informed consent for vaccination. PIC asserts that mandating vaccines is unethical and threatens public health and safety because the science is not settled.
Vaccine mandates endanger public health, said Dr. Shira Miller, PIC founder and president. "A growing number of physicians, scientists, attorneys, and other community leaders are advocating for scientific integrity, and the right to informed consent for all medical. We are pleased to provide a much-needed platform for education on infectious disease, the immune system and informed consent.
Vaccine injury is under recognized and poorly publicized. Despite the estimate that less than 10 percent of injuries are ever reported, the government has awarded $3.2 billion to victims of vaccine injury through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Vaccine makers and physicians have been indemnified from liability for vaccine injuries since 1986.
Physicians for Informed Consent is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt resource for doctors and parents who seek to preserve informed consent and limit government involvement in medical decision-making. PIC works to eliminate mandatory vaccination laws in California and throughout the United States. To view the entire Inaugural Meeting & Luncheon schedule and to register for the event, visit physiciansforinformedconsent.org.
The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners is excited to announce its launch of a new website, knowyourpainmeds.com, designed to assist Nevada consumers in understanding the impact of using opioid-based medications.
The website, http://www.knowyourpainmeds.com, also serves as a portal for consumers to file a complaint if they feel their medical provider is not prescribing medications appropriately.
The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners understands the impact of the opioid epidemic and the tragic effect on the citizens of Nevada. We feel that the launch of this new informational tool clearly demonstrates the Boards commitment to creating awareness and our efforts to address this problem, said Edward O. Cousineau, J. D., Executive Director.
Opioids killed more than 28,000 people in the U.S. in 2014, more than any other year on record, and at least half of those deaths were attributed to prescription pills, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Closer to home the CDC reports that Clark County has a mortality from drug overdoses and opioid poisonings that were 50 and 70 percent higher than comparable national rates, respectively, from 2012 to 2014.
The objective in developing http://www.knowyourpainmeds.com is to increase awareness of opioid medications and the potential health impacts when these powerful medications are prescribed. The site provides information on Nevadas Prescription Monitoring Program, opioid antagonists (medications that can counteract an opioid overdose) and alternatives to opioids for sufferers of chronic pain.
The Medical Board worked with the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine, Nevada State Board of Nursing and Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners to develop the site. The launch is being supported by social media along with radio and television advertisements.
All healthcare providers who prescribe controlled substances and medications are required to be licensed by a State of Nevada licensing board. These licensing boards are empowered to protect Nevada citizens. If you feel that your medical provider is not acting appropriately relative to the prescribing of medications, you can file a complaint through http://www.knowyourpainmeds.com.
The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners serves the state of Nevada by ensuring that only well-qualified, competent physicians, physician assistants, respiratory therapists and perfusionists receive licenses to practice in Nevada. The Board responds with expediency to complaints against our licensees by conducting fair, complete investigations that result in appropriate action. In all Board activities, the Board will place the interests of the public before the interests of the medical profession and encourage public input and involvement to help educate the public as we improve the quality of medical practice in Nevada.
http://www.facebook.com/knowyourpainmeds/
Florida Business Consulting How we manage the 1440 minutes in each day differentiates the successful from the unsuccessful.
How we manage the 1440 minutes in each day differentiates the successful from the unsuccessful. We all have the same amount of time, but how we choose to use it is crucial, said CEO at Florida Business Consulting Eric Martin.
Florida Business Consulting argues that unsuccessful people are guilty of procrastination, which is the kryptonite to productivity. During the 2-hour workshop, Mr Martin shared his best time management hacks, which are listed below:
1. Complete the most important tasks first
Mr Martin argues that completing the most important tasks first is the golden rule of time management. The sense of accomplishment after completing such important tasks is a huge boost to morale and spurs productivity. During the workshop, Mr Martin urged the firms employees to identify the two or three tasks that are the most crucial to complete, and set about doing those first.
2. Learn to say no
Florida Business Consulting believes that people would be able to use their time more efficiently if they learned to say no. People spread themselves too thin, and end up trying to multi-task and therefore being ineffective, said Mr Martin. The entrepreneur urges people to stop taking on too much and trying to juggle multiple tasks at once.
3. Give each task total focus and attention
Living in a digital world, there are constant distractions from notifications. Florida Business Consulting argues that people fail to give each task their full focus and attention. Mr Martin encouraged the firms employees to put their phone out of reach, close browser windows and concentrate entirely on the task at hand.
4. Get an early start
There is a well-known phrase; the early bird catches the worm, and Mr Martin supports that philosophy. Getting up even one hour earlier can have a dramatic impact on productivity claims Florida Business Consulting.
5. Dont use a to-do list
There are conflicting reports about the effectiveness of a to-do list. Florida Business Consulting believes that while a to-do list can be useful to help remember tasks and act as a visual reminder, if its too long it can be overwhelming, and subsequently lead to procrastination.
6. Give each task a time limit
Having a time constraint is pivotal. Setting a limit for each task will push people to focus and be more efficient.
About Florida Business Consulting: http://www.floridabusinessconsulting.net/about.html
Florida Business Consulting is focusing on productivity this quarter, and Mr Martin is hopeful that the time management workshop will drive productivity levels to a new high.
Based in Miami, Florida Business Consulting specializes in bringing brands and consumers closer together through face-to-face marketing. Working on their clients' behalf, the firm conducts thorough market research to pinpoint the most promising markets for their clients' brands. Then, after identifying key consumer groups, the business delivers their clients' campaigns directly to consumers, opening up the opportunity for one-on-one communication. The firm frequently host educational and motivational workshops and seminars to help their employees expand their knowledge and skill-set.
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SOURCE: http://www.success.com/article/9-ways-to-stop-procrastinating-and-get-things-done
For more information Follow the company on Twitter @FloridaBizC and 'Like' them on Facebook.
Sheikh Muhammed Musallami, from Saudi Arabia, has decided to go ahead with plans to build a water bottling plant in Artavaz, a village in Armenias Kotayk Province.
In 2012, Armenias Ministry of Nature Protection granted, A&M Rare, Ltd, water usage rights. That permit expired in 2015, so the company had to file another application to use the fresh water and mineral springs of the Ulashik River basin. That application is now being reviewed by the ministry.
The ministry allowed Hetq to look at the project documents. Accordingly, water will be taken from two springs for a total of 4.6 liters per second.
Some background information is in order.
In 2010, the Armenian government allocated 96 hectares delineated as public domain lands to the company. Property belonging to 126 of the 150 families living in Artavaz were seized, along with lands belonging to seven families in the nearby village of Pyunik.
In 2011, the Armenian government allocated another 148 hectares of forest land to A&M Rare, founded by A&M Investment, a company registered in Luxembourg. At the time, the executive director of A&M Rare was Aram Abrahamyan; son of Republican Party MP Gagik Abrahamyan, who, in turn, is the brother of Ara Abrahamyan, president of the Union of Armenians in Russia and a wealthy entrepreneur to boot.
However, according to the state corporate registry of Armenias justice ministry, Abrahamyan ceased serving as director in 2013. He was replaced by Amin Jafar Jazaeri, a Saudi citizen. Hetq has yet to ascertain the names of Musallamis new partners. He has evidently found some in Armenia and has relaunched efforts designed to get the bottling plant plan up and running.
The original investment plan was presented to the Armenian government by Swiss Rare S.A. Sheikh Muhammed Musallami is president of the Swiss company.
In the project file, there was a bulletin, dated September 24, 2016, penned by A. Avagyan, chief of the Hrazdan Water Committee addressed to Vahan Davtyan, who heads the environmental ministrys water management service. Avagyan writes that construction work restarted in May 2016. The dispatch also contains photos (below) of catchment systems being installed.
Eventually, the water will be sent to the bottling plant via pipes. Artavaz Mayor Rem Hovhannisyan says that 6-7 water catchment units have already been installed and pipes laid.
This year they will finish building (the factory-KA). Much work has been done. They worked six months till the rains came, said Hovhannisyan.
Today, a public hearing on the project was scheduled at the environmental ministry. It seems it never took place because no objections or opinions were presented in writing. When Hetq asked how could the company install catchments and pipes without having received a water usage permit, ministry staffers gave conflicting answers.
Since the company doesnt have a water usage permit, it has no permission to conduct any activities, said Vahan Davtyan, who heads the ministrys water management service.
But it has the right to carry out construction work on its land, added Sevak Matilyan, temporary manager of the ministrys water usage permit division.
Hetq then specifically asked if the company has the right to install catchment systems. Matilyan answered with a question of his own, It has no right to use water. To what extent can installing catchment systems be regarded as using water? He added, The company has a right to lay pipes on its property, but not water pipes.
According to Armenias Water Code, water usage implies taking water from the countrys water resources, including the utilization of fresh water or decreasing water supplies by other means, collecting water, impeding or diverting the flow of water, spilling pollutants into the water, as well as modifying the banks, flows, bottoms of water resources or their characteristics.
Surely, building catchments all over the area will do just this.
At the hearing, A&M Rare was represented by Armen Ter-Tachatyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Converse Bank. He said he serves as the director of the companys foreign legal affairs office. Also representing the company were attorney Nvard Manoukyan and Artashes Aghinyan, a hydro-geologist.
A new pipe has been installed and the entire network has been rebuilt. The old catchment was substandard, not corresponding to potable water, so a new one has been built according to European standards. Bottling is the aim. The flow of the river will not change. The river will flow as before, Aghinyan claimed.
Ter-Tachatyan tried to convince us that work on the catchment units had started when the companys first water usage permit was in force. But, as weve noted above, A. Avagyan, head of the Hrazdan Water Committee, in his dispatch says that work to install the catchments started in May 2016, when the water usage permit had already expired.
P.S. 25 Artavaz residents have filed suits with the European Court of Human Rights, asking that their property rights be restored. Attorney Mariam Ghoulyan, who represents the residents, says that the cases are in the process of being reviewed.
The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and Innovation Partnership (IPart) have received funding from the U.S. Small Business Administrations (SBA) Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program to support programs for innovative, technology-driven small businesses.
Were excited about partnering with these organizations to help entrepreneurs around the country learn about and compete for SBIR/STTR awards, said John Williams, SBA Director of Innovation. The main goal of FAST is to provide more boots on the ground in local communities through our partner organizations to increase awareness about SBIR/STTRs early stage funding and level the playing field for entrepreneurs, especially those in underrepresented communities.
We are pleased to be working closely with Innovation Partnership to offer the services and support that technology entrepreneurs need to bring their products to market, said Nancy Crickman, Director of the Pennsylvania SBDC Environmental, Technology, and Energy Programs.
From the origination of IPart in 2002 to today, the SBDCs have played an integral role in assisting tech-based entrepreneurs and SBIR/STTR clients with vital business and proposal preparation counseling to receive the benefits of the IPart programs, said Kelly Wylam, Director of the Innovation Partnership. We are excited to be working even more closely with our SBDC tech consultants to broaden their experience and knowledge in specifically helping PAs SBIR/STTR federal applicants, she added.
FAST is designed to stimulate economic development with outreach and technical assistance to science and technology-driven small businesses, with a particular emphasis on socially and economically disadvantaged firms, helping them to compete in federally-funded research and development through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.
The Pennsylvania SBDC is a founding partner of IPart, a consortium of economic development and business assistance organizations located throughout Pennsylvania. IPart is a statewide collaborative between 12 economic development organizations and institutions of higher education and an initiative of the Pennsylvanias Department of Community & Economic Development and Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.
The SBDCs support the innovation economy of Pennsylvania by providing technology-based businesses and all entrepreneurs with individual consultation, comprehensive education, and research and information necessary to help their businesses start, grow, and prosper.
IPart offers assistance to technology-driven companies in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in preparing high quality SBIR/STTR grant proposals for submission to federal funding agencies. Services to accepted participants include pre-proposal technical reviews by professional reviewers and micro grants and vouchers to help offset the cost of the preparation of the final proposal.
Since IParts origination, 168 SBDC clients have utilized its beneficial SBIR/STTR pre-proposal technical reviews, resulting in SBDC clients being awarded close to $7M in federal awards.
Businesses throughout the Commonwealth can access SBDC technology consulting services through all 18 centers in the Pennsylvania SBDC network. Services are delivered by a team of professional staff, who has access to market research tools and university assets such as laboratories, libraries and accelerator facilities. The SBDC Tech Team provides vital assistance to technology entrepreneurs at various stages of their commercialization process including:
Assessing market potential
Assisting with the development of a business and/or commercialization plan
Helping companies build their management and technical teams
Providing professional connections
Assisting with product development planning
Finding funding opportunities to further technical concepts
Accessing Innovation Partnership pre-proposal services
Understanding SBIR/STTR funding opportunities
Small business owners interested in receiving technology assistance can contact their local SBDC by visiting http://pasbdc.org/centers.
About Innovation Partnership (IPart)
IPart is a consortium of economic development and business assistance organizations located throughout Pennsylvania. Under the IPart umbrella, the partners comprise a single SBIR/STTR federal funding assistance program for the entire state. Services available to business include pre-proposal assistance, financial support for grant preparation, financial support for travel and training, and outreach seminars. To learn more about IPart, visit http://www.innovationpartnership.net.
About the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
The Pennsylvania SBDC network is the only statewide, nationally accredited program that provides high quality one-on-one consulting, training and information resources to empower new and existing businesses. SBDC consultants work with entrepreneurs in confidential, individualized sessions to help them with a range of business issues including testing a new business proposition, shaping a business plan, investigating funding opportunities, and much more. The SBDC program is a public/private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 18 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth. For more information on the Pennsylvania SBDC services and impact, please visit http://www.pasbdc.org.
The results for the January 2017 National Dental Hygiene Certification Board Exam (NDHCB) are in!
The Canadian Academy of Dental Health and Community Sciences (CADH) are extremely proud to announce that ALL recent graduates of the dental hygiene program passed the exam. CADH as an institution had a 100% pass rate, the highest in the country, including all private and public sector dental hygiene educators.
CADH would like to extend a sincere congratulations and thanks to Indu Dhir, the Program Director, and her dedicated and hard-working faculty; as well as the dental hygiene graduates on this outstanding achievement.
CADH is a leading Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting college based in Mississauga, Ontario. The college has been providing Dental training for almost 20 years. The next Dental Hygiene program starts on April 24, 2017 and the next Dental Assisting program starts on June 19, 2017. Space is limited so early registration is advisable.
For more information please visit http://www.cadh.ca.
Providing Quality Training for a Safer Tomorrow"
The Delaware Valley Safety Council seeks to provide world-class safety training to contractors and employees working in industrial facilities in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. DVSC continually adds best-in-class training programs to meet the safety-training needs of diverse industrial environments. DVSCs ultimate goal is to have every worker return home safely from work every day.
DVSC is proud to announce the addition of our latest course, Fire Extinguishers in the Workplace. The 90 minute class is taught by John Hoffman, a fire and emergency services professional for more than 40 years. As a long time fire chief, Mr. Hoffman has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry that is simply unmatched. The course, designed for general employees across all working environments under OSHA law 29CFR1910.157, helps students distinguish the different types of fires, the different types of fire extinguishers and of course, how to use them.
The course leaves students with the practical skill of operating a fire extinguisher, necessary in any workplace, and concludes with the use of an actual fire simulator and an associated fire extinguisher with the BullsEye Extinguisher System! At only $53 a person, this course teaches students the required skills useful in any workplace fire scenario that can help prevent or limit the damage done by any potential fire.
The Delaware Valley Safety Council holds these two courses at our facilities in Swedesboro, NJ for Friday morning sessions as well as on-site training.
To register for Fire Extinguishers in the Workplace, or to gain more information please visit our website at http://dvsconline.org/public/fire-extinguisher-training/ and always remember to think and stay safe!
The Delaware Valley Safety Council
510 Heron Drive, Suite 210
Swedesboro, NJ 08085
Whitney Wharf Timber Pedestrian Bridge (York Bridge Concepts) York Bridge Concepts, the builders of the structure, are craftsmen who have constructed a bridge for the citizens of Hingham to be proud of.
A gathering of prominent Town officials recently celebrated at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the long-awaited Hingham Harbor Timber Pedestrian Bridge, a concept that has been fundamental in the development of the highly anticipated community project.
Decero Designed and fully ADA compliant, the York Timber Pedestrian Bridge spans 89 feet long by 12 feet wide. With an H5 capacity, the wood crossing enhances the wharf feel, floating over the water with ease - adding aesthetic allure and charm to the grant-funded project. A safe stroll from the bathing beach, boat ramp & Town Pier area to Veterans Memorial Park, pedestrians can now relish in the expansive exterior as they walk to Hingham Maritime Center at Barnes Wharf.
The towns goal of creating a waterfront park and transforming Hingham Harbor into a destination was appreciated and supported by Lt. Governor Karyn Polito in her recent visit to the developed site. As part of her delegations stop in the area, Town Project Engineer Roger Fernandes enthusiastically conveyed, Our community [recently] celebrated the completion of the Whitney Wharf Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge had been a long-envisioned ambition of ours and the Town is pleased to see this goal become reality. We want to thank the YBC crews and their overall team for the excellent job they did if we have another opportunity like this, we would be delighted to work with your firm again. YBC is a great team!
The long awaited sea-crossing bridge features uniquely designed ramps, decks and enclosures a superior state of the art design that now offers an alternative safe passage with relaxing vantage points of the breathtaking water views. As part of the second phase of the Hingham Harbor Walk, visitors and residents can now access local businesses, integrating the citys requirements and ensuring the protection of the waters.
Combining the Towns vision for the Hingham Harbor Marina, York Bridge Concepts was successful in bringing the citys ten-year concept to reality. Throughout the Decero Design process, the unique nautical YBC Proprietary Coating was developed to mimic a weathered look on the bridge and deck. The York Timber Structure combines masterfully with the overall design and look of the Hingham Harbor Marina with a blended color palette that merges seamlessly into the landscape. William S. Reardon of the Hingham Journal states, York Bridge Concepts, the builders of the structure, are craftsmen who have constructed a bridge for the citizens of Hingham to be proud of.
About York Bridge Concepts
York Bridge Concepts, Inc. (YBC) is the nation's largest on-site timber vehicular bridge builder. YBC works with industry-leading owners and developers on prestigious projects throughout the U.S. and internationally, creating more than just a solution for crossing lakes, streams, creeks, wetlands or ravines. In this competitive real estate market, developers who want to ensure that their project stands apart from the competition use York Bridges to add value and create a feeling of exclusivity, warmth, and quality for their customers. Based in Lutz, Florida, with 32 years of experience, YBC has become well-known for their expertise and cutting-edge innovation in the Longevity and Architectural beauty of timber bridge design.
For more information, contact Gil York at (800) 226-4178 ext. 109 or visit http://www.ybc.com.
Nearby Now, a mobile-enabled cloud platform helping local businesses improve local rankings everywhere they service, today announced a new integration with ServiceTitan, the #1 enterprise software for residential plumbing, HVAC, and electrical contractors.
Home services businesses share a fundamental marketing challenge with other local businesses, which is building lasting organic website rankings, not only for the city where their office is located, but for every single city they serve as well. Nearby Now makes it easy to create rich, relevant, and local content in the form of check-ins describing every job and reviews from customers at a 40% rate, and present the acquired content right on a local business own website to help them rank better, everywhere.
With the new Nearby Now and ServiceTitan integration, completing a job in ServiceTitan will create a rich, local checkin and request a review of the service. Every job will create content to help residential contractors rank higher in the cities that matters most, driving more traffic and more leads to their website, and boosting their engaging content on Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Angie's List and more. Whats more, Nearby Nows white label capabilities enable local businesses and their regional or national parent organizations to completely rebrand Nearby Now as their own.
"This is the easiest way to improve site rankings at the local level in every city you serve," said Billy Coover, CEO and co-founder of Nearby Now. "Now clients that use ServiceTitan can get all the benefits of Nearby Now without any additional effort."
Helping residential contractors grow their business is one of our main focuses at ServiceTitan, says Ara Mahdessian, CEO and co-founder of ServiceTitan. Acquiring more reviews and getting discovered online is a key part of the process, and we are excited to partner with Nearby Now to provide our customers with a solution.
Lawrence Snow of Valley Plumbing, an early user of this integration, says, "We saw the power of this integration early on, and it is already working well for us. The integration has allowed us to completely automate our customer review acquisitions and get a much higher response rate than we had before, and we are using the great content to drive leads to our own website."
The integration is available now on ServiceTitan Marketplace, the first-of-its-kind to connect the home services industry. For more information on the integration, visit https://marketplace.servicetitan.com/partners/reputation-management/nearby-now/.
About Nearby Now
Nearby Now's unique solution enables local business to boost rankings across their entire service areas powered by an industry-leading 40% review response rate. Nearby Now is all about delivering value directly to the client -- better rankings for their own site, more reviews for their business, lasting organic ranking value, a better online reputation, and ultimately more leads and more business. Founded in 2011, Nearby Now is a privately held company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Our team is distributed across the US, and our current clients hail from the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. For more information, visit https://www.nearbynow.co.
About ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan is a mobile, cloud-based software platform that helps home service companies streamline operations, improve customer service, and grow their business. ServiceTitans end-to-end solution for the multi-billion dollar residential home service industry includes CRM, intelligent dispatch, comprehensive reporting, marketing management tools, mobile connectivity for field techs, and Quickbooks integration. ServiceTitan brings a fully operational modern SaaS infrastructure to an industry traditionally underserved by software. ServiceTitan is the preferred software for hundreds of the worlds most successful plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies in the U.S. and Canada. For more information about ServiceTitan, visit http://www.ServiceTitan.com.
Christy Connell extracts artifacts from Cave 12
On her hands and knees, 23-year-old Liberty University graduate student Christy Connell slowly crawled for hours through a narrow cave on the cliffs west of Qumran, near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel, over a two-week span in January.
In the smallest parts of the cave it was so narrow I had to crawl on my stomach, Connell said. It was pitch black. I couldnt see anything in front of me. I was crawling over pieces of animal bones and gravel.
Connell, who is pursuing her Master of Arts in History, was part of a team of six Liberty faculty members and students, led by distinguished research professor Dr. Randall Price, who assisted in discovering evidence that shows Dead Sea scrolls were stored there. While no physical scrolls were found, fragments of storage jars, scroll wrappings, string, and a piece of worked leather that was a part of a scroll were all found inside of the cave. This marks the first discovery related to the Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years.
The finding of pottery and numerous flint blades, arrowheads, and a decorated stamp seal made of carnelian (a semi-precious stone) also revealed that the cave, known as Cave 12, was used in the Chalcolithic and the Neolithic periods, according to a news releasefrom Hebrew University.
Connell said after working for Price at Liberty, she has always kept an ear to the ground about potential archeological digs, especially in Israel. When she learned about the December trip, Connell said she made sure to ask Price if she could go.
When I was there, we had found things that had indicated there were scrolls in the cave. Its just really amazing to be a part of history, especially something that Ive studied for so many years.
School of Communications & Creative Arts associate professor Eva Palmer was also on the trip. Palmer, who teaches studio art, said she had been to Israel before, but had dreamed of exploring the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.
"I was facinated with the caves," Palmer said. "We would always drive by them on the highway, and I wanted the chance to see them up close."
To be at the same site of this discovery was a special experience, she said. "We were so excited to hear that they had found shards of the storage pots," she said. "This is actual evidence of the Bible and what we believe."
The group left on Dec. 28 for the 15-day trip, but Price said it wasnt until they returned to the United States that they learned the true significance of their findings.
I got a text that the team had found something which turned out to be a piece of leather that held the scrolls together, Price said. They told me I needed to get back out there.
He then returned to Israel in January, during the first week of the spring semester, along with junior Biblical Studies major Casey Olson, who documented the finds through her camera lens. Olson was the only team member from the first trip to return to the site with Price. The two were there for an additional week and a half until the dig concluded on Jan. 30.
The dig was the first discovery by the Operation Scroll team, a joint effort by Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria, to protect historical artifacts from thieves.
Cave 12 was first discovered in 2006 by Price, who worked for several years to secure permission to extract the cave, along with Dr. Oren Gutfeld and his assistant Ahiad Ovadi, both of the Hebrew Universitys Institute of Archaeology. While experts have known about the cave for several years, this dig was the first detailed look at the contents inside. It is one of 12 caves that have been found to have housed scrolls at one time.
I knew the cave had potential, said Price, who has been busy this week doing interviews with National Geographic, CBS News, and other major media outlets. This is only the beginning of our search for more scrolls. Undoubtedly, they are out there, and we know of some 300 caves in the area. Our team is planning to return to excavate other caves in the near future.
Price said he was excited to be able to take faculty and students along on the dig to not only learn about field work, but to be part of the extraction of artifacts.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Price said. Now that we were successful, it means there are new opportunities for us to get in there and continue to study these caves. The goal is to find scrolls.
Price is also curator of the Liberty Biblical Musem, located at the terrace level of the Jerry Falwell Library. The museum has thousands of artifacts from the Holy Land dating from 4,000 B.C. to the 6th Century A.D. Special exhibits include a replica of the Dead Sea s5crolls. For more information, including hours of operation, call (434) 592-3249.
About Liberty University
Liberty University, founded in 1971, is the largest private, nonprofit university in the nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world. Located near the Blue Ridge Mountains on more than 7,000 acres in Lynchburg, Va., Liberty offers more than 500 unique programs of study from the certificate to the doctoral level. More than 250 programs are offered online. Libertys mission is to train Champions for Christ with the values, knowledge, and skills essential for impacting tomorrows world.
Pariveda Solutions, a leading technology and management consulting firm, is proud to announce that it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) DevOps Competency within the AWS Partner Competency Program.
This competency recognizes members of the AWS Partner Network (APN) who provide solutions to, or have deep experience working with businesses to help them implement continuous integration and continuous delivery practices or helping them automate infrastructure provisioning and management with configuration management tools on AWS.
As an APN Premier Consulting Partner, Pariveda continues to leverage their certified technical consultants and expertise in AWS project implementation for clients. Pariveda's recognition of the DevOps competency with AWS showcases our desire to help clients continually update and improve the necessary automation in a complex business.
Parivedas DevOps capabilities span multiple industries and give clients the capabilities to improve and update quickly as their business demands it. DevOps solutions are helping Parivedas clients interact with their customers as new updates are more easily deployed improving the customers experience.
DevOps is the new realm of possibility for many clients as they seek to improve relations with their customers, said Dbrav Dunkley, Managing Vice President of Pariveda Solutions. We are proud to be recognized for our expertise in this area as we continue to grow our capabilities we provide clients.
"We are proud to have achieved the AWS DevOps Competency by helping clients envision and implement DevOps solutions and practices," said Christopher Paul, Vice President Alliances for Pariveda Solutions. "AWS provides us with the tools necessary to solve the complex challenges of our clients and is an essential element of our cloud strategy."
About Pariveda Solutions
Pariveda Solutions, Inc. is a leading management consulting firm specializing in improving our clients' performance. We are complex problem solvers who provide strategic consulting services and custom application development solutions to meet the needs of our clients. Talk with us: cloud(at)parivedasolutions.com to engage one of nine locations across the U.S. Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Pariveda Solutions and The Business of IT are trademarks of Pariveda Solutions, Inc., Dallas, Texas, USA.
Daisy Intelligence Corporations inaugural hackathon, held on January 28-29, 2017 at the University of Torontos Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, showcased the power of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and GPU-accelerated computing. The hackathon also exposed engineering and computer science students to the exciting field of modern A.I. The event was sponsored by NVIDIA, a world-leading GPU hardware manufacturer, and Cogeco Peer 1, a tier-1 data centre company.
For 24 hours, students gathered in the Bahen Centre for Information Technology to develop the ultimate tic-tac-toe playing bot, executed on GPU hardware with five seconds of analysis to decide each move. The students were given the opportunity to pre-train their bots prior to the head-to-head double elimination tournament.
We decided to task the students to develop a bot for ultimate tic-tac-toe because this represents a miniature version of the A.I. problem that Daisy Intelligence solves for its corporate retail clients: in a defined, time-constrained environment, make weekly/daily decisions that the clients will execute to maximize profitability, said Gary Saarenvirta, CEO of Daisy Intelligence. In the context of the hackathon, this means creating a program that within five seconds, decides moves it will make that will lead to a win. Similar to real-world retail, ultimate tic-tac-toe environments have practically infinite decision possibilities therefore it is not possible for a human mind or even a traditional computer approach to find the optimal strategy. A.I. combined with parallel computing can search more of the decision space than the human mind and would be expected to win every time.
A total of 34 student teams registered for the hackathon. Almost all teams created a rules-based deterministic strategy executing in serial. The head-to-head tournament began with early rounds as best of three games with penalties for invalid moves or moves that exceeded the five-second decision limit. If a team made too many invalid or time exceeding moves in a single game, that game would be given to the opponent. Later round games were a best of eight with a draw being broken by number of squares won.
The hands-on challenges offered by the Daisy Intelligence Hackathon stimulated creativity and rapid problem solving which are essential skills for our students to develop, said Professor Deepa Kundur, Chair of the Engineering Science program at the University of Toronto. Our programs promote technical excellence broadly and opportunities such as these provide fertile ground for students to learn to innovate under pressure.
The winning team, Team 0.004184, was the one team who developed a deterministic strategy combined with a tree search similar to an A.I. approach. This team did not lose a single match, let alone a game, in winning the tournament. The other teams used deterministic logic with different heuristics. An analysis of the strategies from the submissions prove that a search strategy does better than a deterministic rules-based approach in all instances.
Daisys engineering team developed a bot to test the hackathon environment and played the tournament winner in a best of eight match with one second to execute each move. Daisys parallel random tree search algorithm was allowed to search a maximum of 500 milliseconds. Longer search times were also tested, and Daisy won all those matches 8-0 versus the tournament winner.
We were surprised by what the students were able to accomplish in the allotted time. We didnt expect every team to come up with a GPU-enabled parallel software strategy, said Saarenvirta. This hackathon is a great example of how even a rudimentary parallel A.I. method can defeat a human developed rules-based strategy every time. If we extrapolate this to the business world, A.I. and parallel computing can develop business strategies and tactics better than the best human brains. Not only do we expect financial benefits to the business space as A.I. grows its scope of influence, we also expect A.I. will eliminate much of the repetitive, quantitative and boring tasks that are part of todays jobs.
About Daisy Intelligence
Daisy Intelligence is an artificial intelligence software-as-a-service company that analyzes very large quantities of our clients transaction and operational data in order to make automated operational decision recommendations which our clients can immediately action to improve their business. Using our proprietary mathematical solutions and the Daisy A.I. based simulation platform, Daisy Intelligence analyzes 100% of the tradeoffs inherent in any complex business question and provides weekly, specific recommendations to help our corporate clients grow total sales, improve margins, reduce fraud and delight customers.
http://www.daisyintelligence.com
About University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
The University of Torontos Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering is Canadas premier engineering school and among best in the world. Our diverse community includes more than 5,400 undergraduates, 2,300 graduate students, 260 academic staff and nearly 50,000 alumni. Through innovations in engineering education, we prepare the next generation of global engineering leaders with strong technical foundations and professional competencies in multidisciplinary research, teamwork, leadership and entrepreneurship. Our faculty members are international leaders in research who collaborate across disciplines to address key global challenges, from new diagnostics and treatments for human diseases to wearable technology, smart cities and renewable energy.
For more information, contact:
Gary Saarenvirta
CEO, Daisy Intelligence Corporation
gsaarenvirta (at) daisyintel.com
905.642.2629 ext. 221
Christina Heidorn
External Relations Officer, Division of Engineering Science
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto
engsci (at) ecf.utoronto.ca
416.978.8634
Chief of Staff Jim Britt and Son Eric "The medal is earned when an individual distinguishes himself by heroic or meritorious achievement..."
LifeCenters Development Groups Chief of Staff, Jim Britt, spent over 12 years in the US Navy as a Deep Sea Diver, leaving military service as a Chief Petty Officer. His son, Eric Britt, has been serving in the navy for the last 10 years and has earned the high honor of being named Sailor of the Year (SOY) at his command. Eric was then selected from among over 44,000 military personnel from 190 commands as one of 6 finalists for SOY of the Atlantic Fleet, in the seagoing aviation community.
Since joining the navy in 2006 he has trained for and become an expert in Aviation Electronics (AE). Today 1st Class Petty Officer Eric Britt has oversight of maintenance on MH-60 Knighthawk helicopters at Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26 (HSC-26) in Norfolk, Virginia. The Knighthawks are the Navys version of the Armys Black Hawk and are used in support of combat operations and fleet support services around the world.
While Petty Officer Britt was not ultimately selected as the SOY for the Atlantic Fleet the distinction of being a finalist reflects the commitment to excellence he displays every day; the navy calls that, sustained superior performance. Only 1 in 7500 sailors qualify for this honor and it is an accomplishment that will follow him for the remainder of his career.
During the ceremony Eric was awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal by Admiral Bruce Lindsey, Commander of Naval Air Atlantic Forces. The medal is earned when an individual distinguishes himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service. To merit this award, the acts or services must be accomplished or performed in a manner above that normally expected and sufficient to distinguish the individual above those performing similar services.
LifeCenters salutes AE1(AW) Eric Britt and extends a well-deserved Thank You for his exemplary service to our country. Sustained superior performance is something the LifeCenters team is well familiar with and it seems to run in the family.
Excess is a crossover CDM song that blends the best of EDM and Caribbean sounds including Soca elements.
With Carnival season in full swing and the Ultimate Rejects having the #1 Carnival song in Trinidad & Tobago with Full Extreme, all eyes have been on what will they do next. They surprised the crowd with a curve ball on their follow up release Excess that sees them partner with Los Angeles based DJ/Producer X-Change.
Excess is a crossover CDM (Caribbean Dance Music) song that blends the best of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and Caribbean sounds including Soca elements. The result is a pop-infused dance song that will have you out of your chair, dancing. Featuring vocals from Ultimate Rejects member MX Prime, the song will leave you just saying yes.
The Ultimate Rejects have been busy this year in Trinidad & Tobago performing up to 18 shows a weekend recently. Their song Full Extreme has become somewhat of a national anthem for Trinidad & Tobago during the 2017 Carnival season. Mx Prime said What can I say, amidst all the madness we've found ways to record and this song was made with the ladies in mind. Excess amount of love!
The Ultimate Rejects and X-Change have teamed up in the past on Thunderstorm a high-energy festival track. This time the tempo may have changed but the high energy and infectious nature of their work have not. X-Change said Making this song felt so natural with Johann and myself sending some concepts back and forth and then getting in the studio to record the vocals when I landed in Trinidad for Carnival.
Listen to the Ultimate Rejects & X-Change, Excess here: https://lnk.to/excess
For booking information please contact Nikesha Ali 1-868-325-7177 nikesha(dot)ali(at)gmail(dot)com
Have you noticed that there is no alliance to counter the threat posed by Austria-Hungary? Why ever not? It only ceased to exist in 1918, and Austria is still there maintaining a grandiose capital in Vienna. Who knows when there might be a resurgence of Habsburg power?
To me, such an alliance makes just as much sense today as NATO does in the Year of Grace 2017. Now, unlike most modern NATO enthusiasts, I go back a long way with this organisation. In the mid-1980s it was as fashionable in British politics and media to favour nuclear disarmament as it is now to despise and fear Russia. And it was as unfashionable then to back NATO, is it is now to point out that Russia doesn't actually threaten us. I was right then. I think I'm right now. When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?
Almost everyone I met or knew back then was against the installation of American cruise missiles in Britain, and of Pershing-2 missiles in Germany. The BBC and much of the press gave vast and sympathetic coverage to the Greenham Common Peace Camp, a ramshackle township of mainly female leftists which sought to prevent the deployment of cruise missiles at the airfield there. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which had until then been a dusty relic of the 1950s, revived. Joan Ruddock became a major figure, as did Monsignor Bruce Kent, never off the TV.
I thought the Greenham Common peace camp was a disgrace and a folly. I supported deployment of cruise missiles there. I thought they were an essential counterweight to the SS-20 'Pioneer' rockets being installed in Eastern Europe at the time by the USSR.
While all my Oxford neighbours had No Cruise stickers on their cars and houses, I actually persuaded a friend at NATO HQ in Brussels to send me some rare NATO bumper stickers to put on my car. I believed then, as I believe now, that without a European-based nuclear counterweight to the SS-20s, deterrence would falter and the huge conventional power of Soviet forces then in Germany would compel Western Europe to fall under Moscows influence.
I believe the failure of the (Soviet-backed) campaign to prevent cruise installation was the beginning of the end of Soviet power.
And I rejoiced to see NATOs victory.
So I was astonished, after Soviet Power had gone the way of the Habsburgs, to find that the defensive alliance, created in response to the Soviet Threat, was not only still in existence, but also expanding.
The only result was to irritate Moscow, which had, in the years since the collapse of the USSR, made absolutely no significant threat to those states formerly in its power which had become independent. Find me any evidence of such a threat, if you can. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland had cast off Soviet influence in 1989, along with East Germany and Romania. I was there. I saw it happen. I rejoiced at it.
The Baltic states cast off Soviet power in 1991. Likewise, I was there, I saw it happen. I rejoiced at it.
Name me, if you can, any event of any importance between 1989 and 1999 (when these capitals became NATO capitals) which gave Prague, Budapest or Warsaw the slightest reason to suspect that a revanchist Moscow sought to reconquer them.
Likewise, name me, if you can, any reason for Sofia, Bucharest, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius or Bratislava to fear a Russian reconquest between 1991 and 2004, the years these capitals became NATO capitals.
The point about the original, proper, sensible NATO was that it was a *reaction* to the clear and obvious actions of the USSR, which had in a series of rigged elections and coups detat turned all the states in what was to become the Warsaw Pact into Communist dictatorships.
NATOs foundation in 1949 was a defensive response to a palpable aggression, perhaps most miserably shown in the putsch which destroyed the last vestiges of liberty in Prague in 1948.
It made no boasts of plans to roll back Soviet power. It had none, and indeed sat and did nothing when the USSR crushed risings in Poland , East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and when it built the Berlin Wall, Nothing. It was a defensive alliance. It said, credibly, Take one step further, and we will fight.
Then, its famous Article Five was entirely believable. It was guaranteed by large US, German and British forces stationed permanently in the path of any further Western advance, crucially backed up by a clear threat of nuclear war (renewed and restated by the arrival of cruise missiles at Greenham Common and RAF Molesworth).
These forces were dismantled after 1989 because there was clearly no more need for them. But, while it was easy to disband one of the biggest armies ever assembled on earth, it proved much harder to get rid of a few hundred bureaucrats in Zaventem, in the suburbs of Brussels. They are still there. Why?
Although NATO no longer had any serious forces, it became noisier and noisier, in the way of empty vessels, and accrued more and more members. I will be turning in a future blog to Peter Conradis interesting new book Who Lost Russia?, but I will just mention here that he says there were major political lobbies in the USA for NATO expansion, which do not seem to have been entirely unconnected to weapons manufacturers hoping to sell their wares to the new members.
But I am getting ahead of myself. The new NATO (unlike the proper version I recall and defended against modish criticism) had almost no muscle at all. It had and has no serious conventional military bulk to deter a conventional war and provide a series of tripwires between tension and a nuclear exchange. It really has nothing but British, French and American H-bombs, which it does not actually control.
Its promise to stand by any member if attacked, once credible because of the compactness of the organisation and its acceptance of the status quo, is now totally incredible. No US President will actually sacrifice Chicago for Bucharest or Riga or even Warsaw. No French president will sacrifice Paris for Tallinn. No British prime minister will sacrifice London for Vilnius. the danger is that irresponsible, demagogic governments in these states (not impossible to imagine) might think that the pledge is genuine, and act accordingly -as Poland acted in 1939, after the worthless, empty, lying Anglo-French guarantee. Whoever benefited from that heroic piece of idealism and crazy courage, it certainly wasn't Poland, which to all intents and purposes disappeared from the map soon afterwards, amid hideous terror and slaughter.
So the NATO promise ti the new NATO states, (in the long history of grandiose, stupid guarantees made by this country when it had no intention of keeping them) is actively destabilising.
Let me provide a sort of example: The absurd 2008 war which Georgia started against Russia (Yes it did, do your homework, the EUs independent Tagliavini report clearly concluded that Georgia started it) .
Here we have a small, powerless country close to Russia , led by an immature and romantic figure who had come to power in a mob putsch, thinking that he could gain an advantage over Russia by dragging the NATO powers into a conflict with Moscow.
Luckily for us, good sense prevailed. Moscow responded, counter-attacked and then withdrew. The Western powers were too sensible to be dragged in, though I seem to remember a certain Tory leader grandstanding a bit. But it could very easily have been otherwise, and had Georgia been (as it sought to be and as some people had seriously suggested ) a NATO member, we could actually have seen a shooting war between US and Russian troops in the Caucasus.
Maybe you fancy that. If so, I recommend a cold compress, a darkened room, a trip to a war cemetery and (if that doesnt calm you down) a visit to a hospital for war-wounded civilians and soldiers, anywhere (there are plenty to choose from in this idealistic age).
I am (as anyone who covered the fall of the USSR must be) sympathetic to the nations and people who emerged blinking from the Soviet prison-house after 1989 and 1991. For many months of 1991 I actually hated the company of Russians because of what I had seen the Soviet Army do in Vilnius. I had rejoiced at the fall of the hammer and sickle in Bucharest, Prague and Budapest, and run, with the defiant crowds, from the People s Police during anti-Communist demonstrations in East Berlin.
But I absolutely cannot see how rebuilding NATO helps to keep these nations safe or free. I share the view of Professor Richard Sakwa, which is that the rebuilt NATO has fed and stoked the very fear from which it claims to guard its new members.
Russia has legitimate concerns. It has plenty of recent experience of being invaded, including the starvation siege of Leningrad, now St Petersburg. This city is just 84 miles from Narva, the border town at the eastern edge of NATO Estonia.
Look it up on a map . How would Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, feel if the West Midlands declared independence from the UK, and soon afterwards there were Russian troops stationed in, say, Coventry, which is as far from London as Narva is from St Petersburg? Not happy, Id guess.
Russias sensitivity about hostile armies on its borders is not some sort of pathology, but a perfectly reasonable position. If we continue to treat it with contempt, we will make trouble where no trouble was, and live to regret it. And for what reason? What do we gain from this? We, who massage our defence expenditure by cramming the intelligence budget and some pensions into it, to look as if we are spending substantially on defence when in fact we are letting our conventional forces fall apart with poverty and neglect.
Why did NATOs pen-pushers not go home, when its soldiers did? Its a question worth asking over and over again.
Gowrie, IA "I am very optimistic for this next year and beyond in Gowrie. We keep coming out of these Strategic Planning meetings stronger and even more focused than before. Phillip Deastro, GDC President Past News Releases RSS Gowrie Development Commission...
Everyone in Gowrie, Iowa knows that there is Go in Gowrie but taking that message beyond the communitys city limits is an important part of the strategic planning by the Gowrie Development Commission (GDC).
To begin the session, led by Jerry Chizek from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the group reviewed progress from last years plan. As the second largest city in Webster County, Iowa, Gowrie has made strides over the last year in defining important development issues that include housing, quality of life, image of the community and increasing the membership of the commission to assist in promoting the community and agenda.
Phillip DeCastro, GDC President and owner of The Drill Barbershop commented, I will say that I am very happy with the turnout. Not only quantity of people, but quantity of representation of the local groups, organizations, and community members outside of the City Council and Gowrie Development Commission members. I am very optimistic for this next year and beyond in Gowrie. We keep coming out of these Strategic Planning meetings stronger and even more focused than before.
Housing development plays an important part in the growth of the community. Incorporating the building trade program from Southeast Valley Schools and a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) project for new homes and downtown commercial construction was identified as a giant step forward over the last year.
Another component of this planning session included a vision of the future of Gowrie. What does that community look like? Telling the story about the quality of life that residents experience in the community is an important factor that young families are looking for along with great career opportunities. With Webster County and the surrounding region experiencing several corporations and businesses expanding and hiring, the community provides many of the amenities that are attractive to families moving to fill these jobs. Excellent school system, new downtown development and housing, healthcare facilities and a very safe community are all identified in the planning as positive assets to promote.
"I walked out of this Strategic Planning Meeting with a strong appreciation for what makes Gowrie great and the importance of identifying what it will take to not just maintain our community, but to allow it to flourish." - Mindy Swieter, GDC Vice-President from Security Savings Bank.
The strategic planning summary is available for viewing at http://www.gowrie.org/about-gdc.
Gowrie, Iowa is located in Webster County, Iowa. The Gowrie Development Commission provides information on the community through http://www.gowrie.org via email at gowrie(at)wccta(dot)net and on Facebook and Twitter. The Gowrie City Clerk is located at 1206 Market Street, Gowrie, Ia 50543, and can be contacted by phone at 515-352-3999 or email at gowclerk(at)wccta(dot)net. #ThisIsFortDodge
Dr. E. Michael Harrington, Music Business Chair at SAE Institute Nashville and musicology expert. This case could help establish a dangerous precedent when any potential plaintiff does not have to show actual copying of melody, harmony, rhythm or lyrics, as has always been the case...
SAE Institute Nashville Music Business Program Chairperson, Dr. E. Michael Harrington, will share his expertise as a panelist at the Blurred v. Bright: The Changing Analysis of Copyright Infringement in Music Conference, convening March 23, 2017, at The University of Colorado Law School. The event is organized by Silicon Flatirons and will focus on the Blurred Lines case, in which Marvin Gayes estate won a multi-million dollar judgment against songwriters and recording artists Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke for copyright infringement.
Dr. Harrington is a nationally recognized expert in the area of copyright law in music. His expert opinion on the infamous Blurred Lines verdict has been sought out and shared by several media outlets.
This case could help establish a dangerous precedent when any potential plaintiff does not have to show actual copying of melody, harmony, rhythm or lyrics, as has always been the case up until now, but only a vague and subjective reminds me of claim, says Harrington.
No stranger to lending his expertise as a musicology expert witness in several high profile copyright infringement cases, Dr. Harrington will share his expert views on a panel session Artistic Impact, which will no doubt be a lively discussion considering his strong opinion on the verdict and his support of the plaintiffs.
The Blurred Lines decision is the worst music copyright infringement decision ever because not only was no copyrightable expression copied, but no expression was copied. It is the first case in which a defendant was found guilty in which no melody was copied, no harmony was copied, no lyrics were copied, no rhythmic expression was copied and no sampling occurred, says Harrington. Both songs are in the same style, similar tempo and feel, and feature similar partying sounds. But similarity or reminds me of or you can sing this melody to that other song, which isnt technically true, does not make for an intelligent standard.
Dr. Harrington says there has been a tremendous increase in demand for his expertise in copyright issues from potential plaintiffs. I have seen my work as an expert witness get much busier as I am contacted by more potential plaintiffs now than ever. Most of these plaintiffs feel more emboldened now due to the new, lower and Blurred Lines of musical evidence."
Dr. Harringtons expert opinion on the Blurred Lines verdict has been shared with many media outlets including USA Today, ABC News, Daily Mail, WSMV NBC 4 Nashville, Bloomberg Podcast, Malay Mail Online.
Dr. E. Michael Harrington, CEO of E. Michael Music, has shared his plethora of experience as a consultant and expert witness on many copyright issues involving Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, the Dixie Chicks, director Steven Spielberg, and many others.
About SAE Institute
SAE Institute provides aspiring creative media professionals with a foundation of practical theory and valuable hands-on training in their chosen areas of concentration. Under the guidance of industry-experienced faculty, students gain the essential experience they need for entry-level jobs in the creative media industry. Students are supported in their job searches by SAE Institutes international network of alumni, many of whom are leaders in the music, film, game arts, and live performance arenas. SAE Institute offers programs in Audio Technology in seven US campuses, along with a Music Business program at select locations, all fully accredited and focused on preparing students for employment upon graduation. Bachelors Degree programs in Animation & Visual Effects, Digital Filmmaking, Game Art & Design, Interactive Audio, and Sound Arts are available at SAE Institute San Jose and SAE Expression College in the San Francisco Bay Area, formerly Expression College. SAE Institute Group, Inc. is a part of Navitas LTD. Learn more at usa.sae.edu.
About Navitas
Navitas is an Australian global education leader, providing pre-university and university programs, English language courses, migrant education and settlement services, creative media education, student recruitment, professional development, and corporate training services to more than 80,000 students across a network of over 120 colleges and campuses in 31 countries. Learn more at Navitas.com.
On January 31, 2017 Georgetown Home Care (GHC) promoted its Managing Director, Jessica Salgado, to Chief Operating Officer.
Mrs. Salgado was the companys first hire, bringing her background in business and sales to the senior home care world. In her time with Georgetown Home Care, she has drastically streamlined the way the company communicates with its caregiver staff and clients, as well as refined the day to day operational strategies to secure continued company growth.
"Jessica has been an invaluable and integral part of our growth and our story, said John Bradshaw, President of Georgetown Home Care. She is an innovative leader who cares as much about our employees as she does our clients. We are thrilled that she has accepted this new role as we continue to grow."
Mrs. Salgado received an International Business degree from Georgetown University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Professional Studies in Public Relations at Georgetown University. She previously worked in sales with Grainger.
Georgetown Home Care is a family owned and operated home care company serving the greater Washington DC area. GHCs focus is to keep its clients at home, where their hearts are, and to help them maintain their independence, freedom and connections with friends and family. The companys website http://www.georgetownhomecare.com contains more information.
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The Quirks West Event is a great avenue for Civicom Marketing Research Services to engage with clients in sharing the latest in research innovation.
The Quirks Event was launched in 2015 and has since become one of the most anticipated and well-attended events in the industry. The interactive expo brings together more than a thousand attendees from marketing research suppliers, to corporate researchers, to clients with over 90+ exhibitors. It empowers industry professionals to showcase their products and services as well as connect with peers and industry verticals in a practical and enriching environment. The theme is Big Ideas, Real-World Solutions.
The Quirks Event West 2017 will hold over 70 learning sessions featuring a diverse line-up of guests speaking on the latest trends and techniques in research innovation, data security, and questionnaire design, with real-world case studies, demonstrations, and interactive workshops. By being part of this years expo, Civicom Marketing Research Services looks forward to engaging with industry peers and extending its reach to industry verticals, showcasing its wide-ranging portfolio of telephone and web-enabled solutions that fit the needs of emerging trends in marketing research.
About Quirks Media
Quirks Media started out as a means for marketing research providers to promote their products and services. The company has been doing so for nearly three decades. This is still its main thrust today through Quirks Marketing Research Review, an industry publication covering the full realm of marketing research interests. Also published by Quirks is the Quirks Researcher SourceBook, a specialty directory of research providers, which lists over 7,100 companies worldwide.
About Civicom Marketing Research Services
Civicom Marketing Research Services offers many options to enhance the research process for marketing research professionals. Civicom is the global leader in facilitating telephone and web-enabled IDIs and Focus Groups using Civicom CyberFacility. Civicom also offers Civicom Chatterbox, an asynchronous research platform for online communities and bulletin boards, plus the Civicom ThoughtLight Mobile Insights App, a qualitative mobile tool for collecting richer in-the-moment insights, and offering geolocation plus off line accessibility for places where there is no data connection.
Civicom ThoughtLight works with both iOS and Android and is a useful tool for shopper insights, audio diaries and patient journeys. Civicom operates in over 96 countries and offers extensive translation services for marketing researchers, as well as transcription services through TranscriptionWing, and respondent recruiting through CiviSelect. All of these services are available in Spanish, as well as English, and multiple other languages.
Civicom Marketing Research Services continues to be at the forefront of innovation and new strategies in marketing research, actively participating in various conferences and networks that engage in developing new techniques with the latest technologies globally. Civicom Marketing Research chooses to be as dynamic as it is innovative; always listening to and acting on clients ideas and requests as they see fit. This kind of relationship has paved the way for the development and rollout of new services.
Civicom is known among its clients for dedication to service quality and for the companys motto Your Project Success Is Our Number One Priority.
Civicom Marketing Research Services chooses to be as dynamic as it is innovative; always listening to and acting on clients ideas and requests as they see fit. This kind of relationship has paved the way for the development and rollout of new services.
To learn more, email Civicom at inquire(at)civi(dot)com or call +1-203-413-2423.
VisualSP has invited Microsoft's Bill Baer to explain the benefits of SharePoint Server 2016, the investments Microsoft has made to improve SharePoint, and why a migration might make sense for an organization. The webinar, titled SharePoint Server 2016: What's in it for Me? will be held February 22, 2017, 12:00 1:00pm EST.
During this extensive introduction to SharePoint Server 2016, attendees will learn about the improvements Microsoft has made in:
Infrastructure
Compliance
User Experience
Bill will discuss how Microsoft brought innovation from SharePoint Online experiences to the 2016 on-premises server environment. He also discusses the introduction of MinRole to server farm topology, which enables a role-based installation. Baer is also expected to talk about patching without downtime. During the presentation, he'll provide a walkthrough of the hybrid SharePoint experience.
He is a Senior Technical Product Manager and Microsoft Certified Master for SharePoint in the SharePoint product group at Microsoft. He was previously a Hewlett-Packard Technology Solutions Group MVP, with a background in infrastructure engineering and enterprise deployments of SharePoint Products and Technologies.
VisualSP is inviting all interested parties to this informative live event to find out "What's in it for me?". The company develops contextual, on-demand SharePoint training and help system for on-premises versions, starting with SharePoint 2007. Recently, VisualSP released its cloud training solution for Office 365, which provides guidance for all apps in the suite, including SharePoint Online. To learn more about the Training for Office 365 product, visit visualsp.com.
Webinar: SharePoint Server 216: What's in it for Me?
Date: 2/22/17
Time: 12:00 1:00 PM EST
Register: Save your seat
*****
VisualSP has been a leader in e-learning/performance support integration with SharePoint since 2004. The company introduced its on-demand, inline Help System for SharePoint to assist end users in developing mastery over common SharePoint tasks. In 2016, VisualSP expanded its technology solutions to online Microsoft products. The company is led by Microsoft MVP and MCT Asif Rehmani. To learn more, visit http://www.visualsp.com.
Michele Rist, Pennsylvania Manager I am excited to watch each of our managers and their teams grow, and to help them achieve their personal and professional goals.
Title Alliance Ltd, an ESOP company specializing in title joint ventures, announced today that they have appointed Michele Rist as Pennsylvania State Manager for Title Alliance and their affiliates. Rist was promoted to Corporate Trainer in November of 2015 and will celebrate her 20th anniversary with the company in May.
Rist is a long time member of the Title Alliance family. She graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a degree in Economics. Her career began in their Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania operation in 1997 as a Sales Associate. From that position, she was promoted to Regional Sales Director and ultimately to District Manager, overseeing 12 of Title Alliances joint ventured operations. In this position, Rist was responsible for overseeing daily operations, measuring key performance indicators and assisting with sales initiatives and closing coverage. Rist then was promoted to V.P. of Title Alliance where her focus was on selling joint ventures. In 2006 Rist became the Director of Sales & Operations for one of Title Alliances lender based joint venture affiliates. In 2010 Rist moved to manage and launch the T.A. of Limerick operation in Limerick PA until her promotion to Corporate Trainer in November of 2015.
As Corporate Trainer, Rist worked alongside of Training Director Erika OBrien Mason to create an onboarding experience for new team members. She emphasized what sets Title Alliance apart from the competition and worked to assure that they received a warm welcome to the Title Alliance Family. Rist developed and facilitated the initial contact program with each new employee where she reviewed and covered an introduction to the Title Alliance culture and other housekeeping items.
Michele is an incredible asset for our company, says Jim Campbell, CEO for Title Alliance. Her experience in multiple facets of the business make her a strong mentor and leader. He concludes, Michele will work with each of our managers to provide mentorship, guidance and empowerment so that they can really own their joint ventures. I am excited to see how our flagship region, Pennsylvania, grows.
I thought long and hard about the opportunity before accepting, says Rist. It was important to me to make certain that I fully understood the expectations of the position and the company goals. She continues, Having sat in a desk running my own joint venture, I understand the pressures that the teams experience on a daily basis and I am able to relate to them on a very different level. I am excited to watch each of our managers and their teams grow, and to help them achieve their personal and professional goals.
Title Alliance, Ltd, an ESOP Company is located in Media, PA and has been creating RESPA compliant title joint ventures since 1983 with lenders, mortgage bankers, realtors, builders and credit unions. Their roots date back to 1948 when their first agency, which is still in existence today, was formed. For more information or to find out how a Title Alliance's partnership or title management skills could benefit you visit them online or contact Lindsay Smith at 800-220-3901 x 165.
ODU-MAC PORTFOLIO
ODU, a worldwide leader in designing and manufacturing high performance connectors, is promoting to the US market its advanced modular hybrid connector solutions designed for high reliability rugged test platforms.
The ODU-MAC Portfolio includes: ODU-MAC White-Line that offers manual mating up to 100,000 mating cycles, ODU-MAC Blue-Line - manual mating up to 10,000 mating cycles and ODU-MAC Silver-Line a docking connector that provides more than 100,000 mating cycles for automatic test platforms.
Additional features of this product portfolio include: easy and ergonomic mating with unique spindle lock, 34 different modules with high speed, USB, Ethernet, signal, high voltage, high power, high current, fiber optic, coax, pneumatic or hydraulic connections, large variety of housings, cable entries, bulkhead and docking solutions and low mating and demating forces.
ODU-MAC Portfolio is ideal for applications such as: Test & Measurement, industrial, medical imaging, rugged environments, high vibration, mobile testing, portable testing, configurable testing, and scalable testing.
ODU-USA is vertically integrated and provides in-house molding and custom connector capabilities, cable assembly integrated solutions, competitive lead time, rapid prototyping and product development, local one-on-one engineering support, factory direct.
For additional product information go to: http://www.odu-usa.com/products-solutions/odu-mac-modular-connectors.html
ODU Group: global representation with perfect connections
The ODU Group is one of the worlds leading suppliers of connector systems, employing 1,650 people around the world. In addition to its company headquarters in Muhldorf am Inn (Germany), ODU also has an international production and distribution network throughout Europe, North America and Asia. ODU combines all relevant areas of expertise and key technologies including design and development, machine tool and special machine construction, injection, stamping, turning, surface technology, assembly and cable assembly. The ODU Group sells its products globally through its eight subsidiaries in Denmark, England, France, Italy, Sweden, the US, China and Japan, as well as through numerous international sales partners. ODU connectors ensure a reliable transmission of power, signals, data and media for a variety of demanding applications including medical technology, military and security, eMobility, energy, industrial electronics, and measurement and testing.
For press inquiries, please contact:
Dana Stoica - Head of Marketing, North America
Phone +1 (805) 484-0540 Fax: +1 (805) 484-7458
Email: dana.stoica(at)odu-usa(dot)com
Andrews Federal, a $1.4 billion credit union, headquartered in Suitland, Maryland, is currently looking to hire Remote Call Center Agents across the United States.
The position is ideal for self-motivated individuals who enjoy member service and the benefits of working remotely. Experience in the credit union industry is preferred.
Minimum Qualifications:
Proficient in English - bilingual English/Spanish a plus
1-2 years of experience with Episys
1 year of experience in a call center, or financial institution, providing member service
High Speed Internet connection (minimum 5 mbps)
A hard wired connection from company -provided laptop to your cable modem. NOTE: Wireless Connections are NOT allowed (e.g. Wi-Fi)
Our membership is growing, and to continue providing the exceptional level of service to our members, we are looking for qualified candidates all across the country, said Andrews Federals Kristal Wiggins, Senior Human Resources Generalist.
Andrews Federal offers a wide range of benefits including competitive and comprehensive health plan, annual bonus for eligible staff, 401(k) match up to 6%, education and training opportunities, flexible work schedules, financial employee resources, and more.
Anyone interested in this excellent opportunity can learn more and apply at http://www.andrewsfcu.org. Simply click on the Careers link at the bottom of the page, and view the Remote Telephone Sales & Service Representative job description for complete details.
About Andrews Federal Credit Union
Andrews Federal Credit Union was founded in 1948 to serve the needs of military and civilian personnel by providing a vast array of financial products and services. With over $1.4 billion in assets, Andrews Federal has grown to serve more than 119,000 members in the District of Columbia, Joint Base Andrews (MD), Springfield, Virginia (VA), Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (NJ), and military installations in central Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In addition, the Credit Union serves as a financial partner with many select employee groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and New Jersey.
To learn more about Andrews Federal Credit Union and its community involvement, or to become a member, call 800.487.5500 or visit http://www.andrewsfcu.org.
In October 2016, more than 7,000 Novant Health team members pledged $1.13 million to their local communities through the Novant Health team member giving campaign, Giving. Serving. Together.
The campaign provides an opportunity for Novant Health team members across all Novant Health markets covering a four-state area to join together to make a difference where they work and live.
As a nonprofit organization, we rely on the support of our communities in order to advance health care to the next level, said Kim Henderson, senior vice president of Novant Health foundation and social responsibility. But how could we ask others to support our mission if we dont do it ourselves? This team member giving campaign demonstrates to our communities that our mission and our organization matter, and that our team members are invested in the work we do.
Team members pledged money to their local Novant Health foundation and local community agencies to impact the lives of those who live in their communities, as well as improve the overall health of their communities. Team member pledges support:
Employee assistance funds
Services at free clinics
New technology and updated equipment
Patient programming
New facilities to better serve patients
Assistance for people in need of shelter, food, clothing and personal care
Research funding
Giving. Serving. Together. participation increased 4 percent from 2015.
About Novant Health
Novant Health is an integrated network of physician clinics, outpatient facilities and hospitals that delivers a seamless and convenient healthcare experience to communities in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. Named in 2016 by Beckers Hospital Review as one of the nations 150 best places to work in healthcare, Novant Health consists of more than 1,380 physicians and nearly 24,000 employees and provides care at 530 locations, including 14 medical centers and hundreds of outpatient facilities and physician clinics. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the health system serves more than 4 million patients annually and in 2015 provided more than $706 million in community benefit, including charity care and services. Diversity MBA has recognized the organization as one of the 50 best places for women and managers of diverse background to work and SK&A ranks Novant Health among the top 25 integrated health systems in the nation. Novant Health provides care in Virginia under the joint operating company, Novant Health UVA Health System.
For more information, please visit our website at NovantHealth.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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Workarea platform admin Our goal with Workarea is to empower growing digital commerce teams who need commerce, content management and data-driven insights in a single platform.
Today, WebLinc, the modern provider of commerce and operations management systems, has announced the Workarea Commerce Platform and the launch of its new site at http://www.workarea.com. Formerly called the WebLinc Commerce Platform, Workarea is the only digital commerce platform built on a modern tech stack uniting commerce, content and insights in one application.
Our goal with Workarea is to empower growing digital commerce teams who need commerce, content management and data-driven insights in a single platform, explained Darren C. Hill, CEO and co-founder of WebLinc. The efficiencies and flexibility Workarea provides retailers and merchants comes from more than two decades of direct experience working and learning from retailers. This product name change highlights our purposeful evolution and deep understanding of how productive and efficient online retailers can be when they have total control of modern commerce systems.
Workarea brings an enhanced interface and intuitive workflows to retailers, brands and merchants. A cloud product by WebLinc, Workarea was designed to meet the demand of digital commerce teams to collaborate, execute and perform with confidence. Embracing modern technologies including Ruby on Rails and MongoDB, the Workarea platform is tailored for team performance so that teams can build revenue-generating online shopping experiences from first click to fulfillment.
Key product updates to the unified platform:
Commerce: Confidently run mobile-first multisite storefronts, product and catalog management, inventory and pricing, promotions and discounts, order management, and customer service
Content: Quickly manage responsive content blocks, image assets, video, blog posts, pages and more within an easy-to-use interface built for today's retail marketer. Site Planner tool allows for all assets to be planned, previewed and staged automatically for release, significantly increasing the agility and impact of existing ecommerce teams.
Insights: Discover untapped revenue opportunities through real-time, commerce-tailored, inline analytics that generate insights into a retailers marketing and merchandising efforts. Workarea unleashes the promise of big data for lean teams without dedicated analysts.
Today, Workarea is the SaaS platform of choice for growing mid to enterprise-level online retailers and merchants such as Sanrio/Hello Kitty, Do it Best Corp., U.S. Polo Assn., Woodcraft, Costume SuperCenter, Lime Crime, Rachel Roy, and many others.
Retailers and merchants looking for creative freedom and flexibility on a modern, unified platform are encouraged to schedule a demo of Workarea at workarea.com.
About WebLinc
WebLinc helps great retailers sell more. WebLinc develops modern, digital commerce technologies for growing ecommerce-focused teams. The founder-led company is based in Philadelphia with satellite offices in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Toronto. WebLincs cloud products, Workarea and Orderbot, power commerce sites for dynamic, high-growth retailers including Sanrio/Hello Kitty, Urban Outfitters, Inc.s brands Terrain and BHLDN, U.S. Polo Assn., Do it Best Corp., Woodcraft, Rachel Roy, and others. To learn more, visit http://www.weblinc.com.
Have you ever thought how emerging technologies will affect agriculture in the long run to optimize management and profitability? We have seen the implementation of robotic milking machines, brushes for added cow comfort, and automatic calf feeders on dairy farms across the country and world. But, imagine a data system that monitors your cows activities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from lameness and estrous detection to dry matter intake (DMI). With a new technology that recognizes each cow in the barn, this dairy farmers dream becomes a reality.
During the California State Holstein Convention in January, Robin Johnston, co-owner of the cow facial recognition system, explained how his companys technology works. In addition, he described how the system is operating on Maddox Dairy.
Cainthus is the technology company that created the cow facial recognition system that monitors cattle via cameras located on the roof of the barn. The data is then sent to a server on the farm. The main goals are to utilize the data to maximize production and limit stress levels on the cows.
There are many uses for the artificial intelligence system that can be customized for the dairy farms needs. For example, the system detected that the cows at Maddox Dairy are eating three to four hours a day. Steve Maddox commented on how he has already adjusted his herds feed rations and dairy tour routes based on this information. In addition, limiting pen moves for cattle helps keep feed intake consistent across the herd. Maddox Dairy installed the system in the fall of 2016 and sees the system as a success.
Currently, the technology has only been developed for Holsteins, but Jerseys are next. The Holstein cows are differentiated from one another by the computer memorizing coat pattern and the markings on their face. Facial recognition for Jerseys in the future may use head shape or ear tag position.
This system is just one example of hundreds of new tools that dairy farms are using to adapt to this technological era and ultimately improve their operations.
Elise Regusci grew up on her family's farm in Modesto, Calif. Regusci attends Cal Poly University, majoring in dairy science with an agricultural communication minor. On campus, she is the Los Lecheros Dairy Club Ag Council representative and a member of the Cal Poly dairy judging team. Regusci is the current Brown Swiss Youth Ambassador and will be the 2017 Hoard's Dairyman summer editorial intern.
Marvin Krislov, president of Oberlin College since 2007, has been unanimously elected the eighth president of Pace University, announced Mark M. Besca 81, chairman of the Board of Trustees. Krislov will begin his duties as president of Pace on August 1, 2017. Krislov, 56, will succeed Stephen J. Friedman, 78, who announced in February 2016 that he planned to step down after 13 years with Pace, including the last 10 as president.
On behalf of the entire Board of Trustees, I am pleased to welcome Marvin Krislov as the next president of Pace, said Besca. Pace plays an essential role in the realization of individual dreams of achievement. Our mission is voiced in the motto, Opportunitas, and Marvin embodies it. He is the ideal person to lead Pace into a new era of growth and build on the renewal and revitalization that Pace has experienced under Steve Friedman. Marvin has demonstrated throughout his career the strong, effective, enlightened, and passionate leadership to propel Pace to a new level of impact and stature.
Krislov said, I am honored to be chosen to lead Pace University during this exciting period of growth and revitalization as the University advances its position as one of the nations foremost institutions in fostering the leaders of tomorrow. Paces commitment to access and pathways to success for students inspires me. I look forward to joining a community of scholars and leaders who are dedicated to academic excellence and who have such a powerful impact on so many lives.
Krislovs selection follows a process that began last March and was led by a 15-member search committee representing trustees, faculty, administrators, alumni, benefactors, and students. The committee spent thousands of hours vetting candidates nominated from across the Pace Community and around the country. The search committee chair, Richard F. Zannino 84, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees, said, Marvin was the committees first and unanimous choice among the many highly qualified candidates we interviewed during our search process. Our goal was to identify a leader who had an abiding affinity for Paces mission of Opportunitas and could further accelerate the remarkable progress and momentum achieved under Steve Friedman. In Marvin, we have found that leader.
Zannino stressed the importance of the University community to the search, From the nominations phase through the final stages of this process, this great community showed its enthusiasm for Pace and for the future of the University. The Board and the search committee were buoyed by that interest and passion. It not only helped attract a superb pool of candidates from across the country, but also helped make clear to Marvin the exciting potential of Pace.
Krislov comes to Pace after a transformational 10 years leading Oberlin. During his leadership, Oberlin became more inclusive, strengthened its academic programs, improved student outcomes, created new career opportunities for faculty and staff, expanded fundraising and alumni participation, and improved its campus facilities. As a result of Krislovs leadership and vision, Oberlin:
Created the Oberlin Access Initiative, which removed the loan burden for hundreds of Pell Grant-eligible students, making the college more inclusive and diverse while enrolling greater numbers of highly qualified low-income, first-generation students.
Doubled external grants earned by faculty in the sciences.
Secured external funding to expand and strengthen programs that integrate arts and science faculty, conservatory faculty and the art museum, and the arts and technology.
Initiated a new era of environmental action and sustainability, including the creation of the Green Arts District.
Constructed a new jazz studies building, a new stadium complex, and a new natural gas power plant to replace a coal-fired facility.
Acquired and converted the historic Apollo Theatre in downtown Oberlin into a cinema and cinema studies complex, and brought the Toni Morrison Society headquarters to campus.
Krislov also has led the most successful comprehensive fundraising campaign in Oberlins history. Its $250 million target was achieved 18 months ahead of schedule, raising a total of $318 million, and dramatically boosting alumni participation.
Pace Professor Nancy Reagin, PhD, commented, Im very pleased to welcome Marvin Krislov to Pace as our next president. Marvin is enthusiastic about Paces mission and unique strengths, and he has the skills and accomplishments that we need at this moment in our history. Hell provide effective, collaborative leadership for our community; I am also confident that hell approach all challenges with good judgment and good humor.
While serving as president of Oberlin, Krislov has continued to teach and be active in public service. He has taught advanced courses every semester on aspects of law and public policy. In November 2009, he was appointed to the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Through his writings, speeches and public appearances, and his service to the NEH, Krislov has raised Oberlins international and national profile.
Prior to Oberlin, Krislov was at the University of Michigan, where he had served as vice president and general counsel since 1998. During his tenure there, he led the University of Michigans legal defense of admission policies that recognize the importance of student diversity, which prevailed in a major 2003 Supreme Court decision.
Krislov served in the U.S. Department of Labor as acting solicitor from 19971998 and for two years before that as deputy solicitor of national operations. He took the position in the department after serving as associate counsel in the Office of Counsel to the President.
Krislov earned a bachelors degree, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1982, and was named a Rhodes Scholar. He earned masters degrees at the University of Oxford and Yale, and in 1988 earned a juris doctor degree from Yale Law School, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal.
More information on Krislov is available at http://www.pace.edu/presidential-search.
Pace Progress
Real-world education: Through the Pace Path, the University gives students a real-world education with an integrated combination of strong academics, dedicated mentors, internships, and a customized four-year growth plan for each student.
Pace University ranks first in New Yorkand second in the nationat catapulting students from the bottom fifth of income distribution into the top fifth. A 2017 study by the Equality of Opportunity Project ranking Top Colleges by Mobility finds that Pace graduates are out-earning their parents and peers, bucking a nationwide trend for Millennials.
Market-ready graduates: 95% of Pace undergraduates who use Career Services are employed within six months of graduation.
Expert faculty: 90% of Pace faculty hold doctoral or terminal degrees, and 276 new, full-time faculty have been hired in the last 10 years.
Research growth: In 2015, Pace faculty secured 86 public and private grants totaling $7.4 million, including from the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others.
National reputation: Princeton Review ranks Pace as one of the best colleges in the Northeast, U.S. News & World Report ranks the environmental law program #3 in the country, and The Hollywood Reporter ranks the undergraduate and graduate performing arts programs among the 25 best in the world.
Stronger campuses: Multi-million dollar investments are expanding and enhancing the student experience infrastructure of the Lower Manhattan and Westchester County campuses.
About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, NY, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. http://www.pace.edu.
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Contact: Scott Trent, strent(at)pace(dot)edu, 212-346-1152
Royce Sharf and Pat Murphy The addition of this group will support and enhance our local business as well as provide more opportunities for us to serve clients nationally and internationally.
Savills Studley, the leading commercial real estate firm specializing in tenant representation, announced today it has acquired Cresa Orange County. The acquisition dramatically increases the companys presence in the region and underscores Savills Studleys ongoing initiative to expand its conflict-free platform across North America.
Savills Studley has had an office in Orange County since 1987, founded by Executive Vice President Royce Sharf. He, along with Pat Murphy, former Managing Principal of Cresa Orange County will co-manage the expanded operation. Between the two offices, there will be a total headcount of 56, making Savills Studley the largest tenant advisory group in the region.
This talented team has an extensive background in tenant representation, complementing our already formidable presence in Orange County. The depth of resources available to clients will be significantly enhanced by combining the expertise and reach of both offices, said Mark Sullivan, Executive Vice President, Director and Regional Manager of Savills Studley.
Savills Studleys existing Irvine office and the former Cresa Newport Beach office will consolidate into a new, single workplace midyear. Together, the group will continue to provide tenant representation, transaction management, project administration and workplace solutions to occupiers across all industries, with a particular emphasis on the aerospace, technology and professional services sectors. Additionally, there will be an enhanced focus on industrial services and the Inland Empire, where the company already has a presence.
Both of our firms focus exclusively on representing tenants and by combining forces we are uniquely positioned to take the conflict-free platform to the next level, said Sharf. I have always viewed the Cresa Orange County office as highly respected competitors and look forward to working with them as highly regarded colleagues, leveraging that synergy to the benefit of our clients, he added. Sharf and Murphy have known each other for 30 years.
Savills Studley has recently acquired a number of other firms specializing in tenant representation including offices in North Carolina and Seattle in 2016 and San Jose, Palo Alto, Austin and Toronto in 2015. The firm also hired several top-performing teams in New York, Dallas, Phoenix and Denver earlier this year.
This acquisition further demonstrates our dedication to continuing to invest in west coast hubs, following our Silicon Valley expansion two years ago, said Savills Studley President Michael Colacino. The addition of this group will support and enhance our local business as well as provide more opportunities for us to serve clients nationally and internationally.
About Savills Studley
Savills Studley is the leading commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation. Founded in 1954, the firm pioneered the conflict-free business model of representing only tenants in their commercial real estate transactions. Today, supported by high quality market research and in-depth analysis, Savills Studley provides strategic real estate solutions to organizations across all industries. The firms comprehensive commercial real estate platform includes brokerage, project management, capital markets, consulting and corporate services. With 29 offices in the U.S. and Canada, and a heritage of innovation, Savills Studley is well known for tenacious client advocacy and exceptional service.
The firm is part of London-headquartered Savills plc, the premier global real estate service provider with over 30,000 professionals and over 700 locations around the world. Savills plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SVS.L).
For more information, please visit http://www.savills-studley.com and follow us on Twitter @SavillsStudley and LinkedIn.
We introduced the Romarita with its signature salted rim and special shaker more than 20 years ago, and its still a fan favorite deserving of its own special week-long celebration
Romacorp, Inc., the parent company of Tony Romas, is taking National Margarita Day to the next level with its week-long celebration of its signature Romarita, culminating with National Romarita Day on February 22nd. The perfect complement to its world-famous ribs, Tony Romas signature line of Romaritas gives fans a real reason to celebrate with a unique twist on the classic margarita. Participating Tony Romas USA locations will offer the Classic Romarita for just $5 between Feb. 15 and 21, with an option to get a little spicy and try the new Cucumber Chili Romarita for just $6.66 a devilishly good deal! Fans can then salt the rim of their week and get over hump day by visiting their favorite Tony Romas on Wednesday, February 22nd to enjoy the Classic Romarita for just $2.22.
Not only is the Romarita the signature cocktail of Tony Romas, its the perfect complement to any of our world-famous dishes, from our Baby Back Ribs to our Kickin Shrimp, Onion Loaf and more, said Jim Rogers Chief Marketing Officer for Romacorp, Inc. We introduced the Romarita with its signature salted rim and special shaker more than 20 years ago, and its still a fan favorite deserving of its own special week-long celebration.
While many people believe the margarita originated in Mexico, the exact origin and inventor of the margarita is unknown. Many stories say it was first popularized in San Diego about 70 years ago. However, in the 1990s, Tony Romas decided to put its own unique stamp on the traditional drink with the introduction of the popular Romarita. Featuring Sauza Gold tequila and Cointreau, the Classic Romarita is refreshing and tasty in a uniquely satisfying way. Tony Romas fans will also want to spice up their taste buds by trying the devilishly delicious Cucumber Chili Romarita, a new limited-time twist on the Classic Romarita featuring Sauza cucumber chili tequila, Cointreau and agave syrup.
Sauza Gold tequila has tantalizing notes of sweet caramel and cooked agave that complement the tangy flavors of Cointreau and provide the perfect balance for our Classic Romarita, said Chef Bob Gallagher, Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage. The Classic Romarita and the Cucumber Chili Romarita are the perfect match to our limited-time Turn Up the Heat menu, and a great way for fans everywhere to celebrate our world-famous Romarita.
About Romacorp, Inc.
Romacorp, Inc., is the parent company of Tony Roma's restaurants, the world's largest casual dining concept specializing in ribs. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Romacorp, Inc. has more than 150 restaurant locations in more than 30 countries and is one of the most globally recognizable names in the industry. The first Tony Roma's restaurant opened 45 years ago in North Miami, Florida. Tony Roma's is proud to partner with the Make-A-Wish Foundation (http://www.cnfl.wish.org), one of the world's leading children's charities, in an effort to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses across Central and Northern Florida. For more information about Romacorp, Inc. and Tony Roma's, visit http://www.tonyromas.com.
Please visit http://www.tonyromasfranchise.com or call (866) 981-0586 for information about Tony Roma's franchising opportunities.
We have a longstanding relationship with Professional Education at the University of Utah, and they trust the quality of the education as well as the value we provide their students.
Career Step, an online provider of career-focused education and professional training, has partnered with the University of Utah to address a shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians within the universitys health care system. The university will offer tuition-paid Career Step training to current employees interested in becoming pharmacy technicians with the end goal of hiring them upon graduation.
We are very excited to be able to bring the University of Utah Pharmacy Department this program, which will grow and develop their employees and contribute to the overall health and success of the entire hospital system, said Dr. Denis Petersen, Director, Professional Education at the University of Utah. Professional Education Pharmacy Tech certificate holders will have the skills needed to excel in entry and mid-level jobs in many different departments in the system.
The partnership, which launched Feb. 1, involves Career Step and three groups within the renowned medical university: Professional Education at the University of Utah, University of Utah Health Care Human Resources Department and the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.
Through this program, the University of Utah will cover tuition for current employees and provide program participants with opportunities to fulfill the required externship within the University of Utah Health Care system. Once graduated, the students will have jobs waiting for them within the system; the university hopes to fill 60 positions by the end of 2017.
The partnership boosts Career Steps existing relationship with the universitys Professional Education department, which already offers six Career Step courses, including the recently augmented Pharmacy Technician program.
We have a longstanding relationship with Professional Education at the University of Utah, and they trust the quality of the education as well as the value we provide their students, said Ryan Ewer, Career Step Vice President of Academic Partnerships. When we showed them the updated Pharmacy Technician program, they said it exceeded their expectations. Their initiative to pay for employees to train with the program speaks to its quality, and we look forward to helping the students thrive as they prepare for their exciting new careers.
Career Step enhanced its Pharmacy Technician program earlier this year to meet the accreditation requirements of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). This involved adding 115 hours of new curriculum and a mandatory 200-hour externship. The course can be completed in as little as six months with full-time study; students have up to 12 months to finish the program. Upon graduation, students receive a voucher to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam.
The University of Utah is not alone in facing a shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians. According to reports from the U.S. Department of Labors Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for pharmacy technicians is expected to grow by 9 percent from 2014 to 2024.
Although this tuition-paid partnership is exclusive to University of Utah employees, anyone can take the Career Step Pharmacy Technician course through the universitys Professional Education department.
To learn more about Career Steps Pharmacy Technician program and other courses offered through the University of Utah, please visit https://continue.utah.edu/proed/academy/certificate/pharmacy-technician-training-certificate or contact the University of Utah Professional Education Department at proed(at)continue.utah.edu or 801-585-1780.
About Career Step
Career Step is an online provider of career-focused education and professional training. The company has trained over 100,000 students for new careers as well as more than 100,000 healthcare professionals through its various continuing education courses. More than 150 colleges and universities nationwide have partnered with Career Step, and the company provides training for several of the largest and most respected healthcare employers in the nation. Career Step is committed to helping students and practicing healthcare professionals alike gain the skills they need to be successful in the workplaceimproving lives, advancing careers and driving business results through education. More information can be found at http://www.careerstep.com or 1-800-246-7836.
New Space Business Plan Competition
The Center for Space Commerce & Finance (CSCF), in collaboration with BoomStartup and the Heinlein Prize Trust, will sponsor a shark tank style startup business competition, as the first in a series of regional events leading up to the 2017 NewSpace Business Plan Competition. Salt Lake Citys Business Model Canvas Competition will be a unique program, held in conjunction with local accelerator, BoomStartup.
The competition will be held from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM on March 8th, at Impact Hub Salt Lake, a high-tech incubator in downtown Salt Lake City. Each business will have 15 minutes to present their business model canvas and answer questions before a panel of judges.
The winner of the Salt Lake City regional event will receive a $2,500 cash prize, courtesy of the Heinlein Prize Trust. The winner will also be guaranteed the opportunity to compete at the national NewSpace Business Plan Competition, to be held at the New Worlds Institute Conference in Austin, TX on November 10-11, 2017.
This competition will use a unique Business Model Canvas format for deliverables and contestants are encouraged to read the details of the submission process carefully. The competition is intended to simulate the real world process of entrepreneurs soliciting start up funds from early stage investors and venture capital firms. The judges function as venture capital investors deciding on which business venture they would most likely fund. The quality of the companys value proposition, the strength of the Business Model Canvas deliverable, and the clarity and persuasiveness of the oral presentation, all influence the judges decisions.
All space startup companies in the Salt Lake City area, or anywhere within the Western United States are encouraged to learn about our application process: http://newspacebpc.com/regional-competitions/
Interested investors, media, students, and anyone who would like to be in the audience, are encouraged to RSVP : https://www.meetup.com/BoomStartup/events/237512918/.
To learn more about this and upcoming competitions across the world, sign up for the NewSpace Business Plan Competition newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bF4MBj.
About NewSpace Business Plan Competition
Originally started as a project of the Space Frontier Foundation in 2006, the NewSpace BPC has awarded over $300,000 in cash prizes to space-enabling startups. Now a product of the Center for Space Commerce and Finance, the NewSpace BPC is expanding its reach, hosting regional competitions and raising investor awareness towards space-related startups. Chosen competitors attend a private, 2-day, Boot Camp session, and make a final pitch to investors at the annual New Worlds Conference where a winner is announced. For more information visit http://www.NewSpaceBPC.com. Subscribe to our updates by clicking here: http://eepurl.com/bF4MBj
About BoomStartup
BoomStartup is a lean startup accelerator and mentorship-driven seed-stage investment program for technology-based startups, and a founding member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN). Founded in 2010, BoomStartup is consistently recognized as a nationally ranked accelerator program and has helped raise over $30 million in capital for its companies. BoomStartup's SpaceTech accelerator is designed to bring new aerospace and space-scalable business startups to market. Get started at http://boomstartup.com/
About the Heinlein Prize Trust
The Heinlein Prize Trust honors the memory of Robert A. Heinlein, a renowned American author. The purpose of the Heinlein Prize is to encourage and reward progress in commercial space activities that advances Robert and his wife Virginias dream of humanitys future in space. Efforts include: The Heinlein Prize for Accomplishments in Commercial Space Activities, The Microgravity Research Competition, The Heinlein Commercial Space Activity Prize, and The Flight Into the Future international contests. Find out more here http://www.heinleinprize.com
The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) Second Annual National Conference, The Diversity Gap: From Obstacles to Opportunities has added another reason to attend this prestigious event. The ICMCP Voice joins the first-ever Cybersecurity Minority of the Year Awards elevating the national dialogue on attracting and developing minority cybersecurity practitioners.
The ICMCP Voice competition, to be held at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 14, during the National Conference, will provide a venue for chosen ICMCP members to compete for one-on-one interviews with Hiring Managers from one of three sponsoring companies.
Participant Criteria
1. Must be a member of ICMCP: Not a member? Click here to join!
2. Must be registered for the ICMCP National Conference (March 15-16 at the Washington Plaza): NOT registered? Click here to register!
3. Must be present on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.
Process for Applying
The deadline for participant applications to the ICMCP Voice is 5 pm EST on February 24, 2017. To register, go to https://conference.icmcp.org/the-voice-registration.html.
The National Conference will also launch the first-ever Cybersecurity Minority of the Year Awards in the following categories:
Minority-Owned Cybersecurity Company of the Year
Minority CISO of the Year
Minority Practitioner of the Year
Minority Educator of the Year
For award criteria and nomination forms, please visit https://icmcp.org/icmcp-awards-nomination-forms/ or contact kate.shackford(at)icmcp(dot)org for more details. The award nomination deadline has been extended to 5 PM EST on Friday, February 24, 2017.
ICMCP is the leading voice and destination for issues related to cybersecurity career and industry developments impacting minority cybersecurity professionals, says Aric K. Perminter, President at ICMCP. Whether you are pursuing a new career path, exploring professional development opportunities or searching to fill cybersecurity gaps within your company, the ICMCP National Conference is the place to make it happen!
To view the full ICMCP National Conference program, visit https://conference.icmcp.org/.
The ICMCP National Conference is sponsored by Lynx Technology Partners, Conventus Corporation, ADP, Rapid 7, Carnegie Mellon University, Earnst & Young, ISC 2, Symantec, Tenable, Cybervista, IBM, Cloud Security Alliance, Cybereason, HumanTouch, Prevalent and The Santa Fe Group.
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About ICMCP
The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It began official operations in September 2014 and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes, to provide members with educational/technical scholarships, mentoring opportunities, professional development and networking opportunities. For more information or to become a sponsor, please visit https://icmcp.org, follow @ICMCP_ORG on Twitter or visit the ICMCP LinkedIn page.
This week, an innovative new Bar Preparation Company, Fortnight Bar Prep, launched its website and its new bar review tool, BarSiege . This review tool consists of a day-to-day outline of how and what to prepare - through the final two weeks before the bar exam. Providing a proven approach to help refine focus, improve memorization and avoid burn-out over the final two weeks of bar exam preparation, BarSiege shows students how to master the final two-weeks before any of the 50 states bar exams, as well as the multi-state and uniform exams.
BarSiege acts as the final supplement for all previous review courses and supplies the tools necessary for students to study smarter, not harder when preparing over the final two weeks. It keeps those studying for the bar laser focused and helps them avoid spending too much time trying to figure out what to study, for how long, or how many questions to practice. Simply put: to be successful, students just have to follow the schedule.
BarSiege was created by a team of lawyers with over 15 years of experience who found that traditional bar review courses were expensive, overwhelming, and didnt provide students with a road-map of how and what to study during the final weeks leading up to the bar exam. With hour-by-hour instruction, BarSiege is an inexpensive, but effective daily schedule that helps students avoid the stress of cramming over the last two weeks.
BarSiege incorporates all topics tested on the bar exam, improving memorization in a broad range of subject matter and offering peace of mind that they are not ignoring any area of the law. Students following the schedule are required to write essays, issue spot essays, and answer multiple choice practice questions, DAILY. BarSiege has been successfully used by students for years and has been proven to prepare students with the competency, confidence, and momentum they need to pass their final exam.
BarSiege is available for every examination in the United States, including the District of Columbia for only $24.99.
To learn more about Fortnight Bar Prep or to purchase the BarSiege Schedule, visit http://www.fortnightbarprep.com.
OneLogin, the identity management provider bringing speed and integrity to the modern enterprise, today announced an integration partnership with Sumo Logics cloud-native machine data analytics service.
Through the new partnership, users will be able to use OneLogins enterprise-grade identity and access management solution to enforce login policies across their entire application portfolio, while streaming events to Sumo Logics continuous intelligence service to monitor and visualize user activity and trends over time. The integration will extend Sumo Logic's visibility into logins for laptops (Windows and Macs), SaaS applications, and SAML-enabled Desktop apps.
Sumo Logic is a leader in helping enterprises collect and analyze security data across their entire application environment, said Tim Gunderson, vice president of business development, OneLogin. Together, we are in position to give customers real-time, continuous intelligence into user behavior analytics to help modern enterprises better build, run and secure their entire organization.
By gaining real-time visibility into user behavior, customers will be better able to understand how security threats could have started within a company, especially when it comes to phishing attacks, which are often the first step in a security breach. The integration will also allow customers to better respond to attacks in progress, as OneLogins event stream to Sumo Logic is significantly faster than a polling integration.
Our joint customers use OneLogins leading identity and access management solution as a control plane for accessing cloud based applications and platforms. Combining this critical access and user behavior data with Sumo Logics advanced security analytics solution, provides unparalleled visibility and control for to both Sumo Logic and OneLogin customers, said Randy Streu, vice president of of business development, Sumo Logic. Sumo Logics analytics platform used in combination with OneLogin event streaming equips customers with real-time actionable insights critical to securing their data across users, applications and devices.
To encourage customers to try the integration, OneLogin and Sumo Logic will each be offering complimentary versions of their product for their respective customers. The OneLogin for Sumo Logic Plan will include free single sign-on and directory integration to provide customers with secure access to Sumo Logic through SAML SSO and multi-factor authentication while eliminating the need for passwords.
The free Sumo Logic for OneLogin Plan will include a free out-of-the-box dashboard for customers with an existing OneLogin account, which will allow users to see OneLogin event data, from logins to application sign-ins. This intel can help OneLogin customers monitor, track and audit data to identify and quickly resolve potential security threats.
Resources:
Blog Post: OneLogin Integrates with Sumo Logic for enhanced visibility and threat detection
OneLogin for Sumo Logic Page: Sumo Logic Single Sign On (SSO)
OneLogin App for Sumo Logic: The Sumo Logic App for OneLogin
About Sumo Logic
Sumo Logic is a secure, cloud-native, machine data analytics service, delivering real-time, continuous intelligence from structured, semi-structured and unstructured data across the entire application lifecycle and stack. More than 1,000 customers around the globe rely on Sumo Logic for the analytics and insights to build, run and secure their modern applications and cloud infrastructures. With Sumo Logic, customers gain a multi-tenant, service-model advantage to accelerate their shift to continuous innovation, increasing competitive advantage, business value and growth. Founded in 2010, Sumo Logic is a privately held company based in Redwood City, CA and is backed by Accel Partners, DFJ, Greylock Partners, IVP, Sequoia Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.sumologic.com.
About OneLogin, Inc.
OneLogin brings speed and integrity to the modern enterprise with an award-winning single sign-on (SSO) and cloud identity and access (IAM) management platform. Our portfolio of solutions secures connections across all users, all devices, and every application, helping enterprises drive new levels of business integrity, operational velocity, and team efficiency across all their cloud and on-premise applications. The choice for innovators of all sizes such as Conde Nast, Pinterest and Steelcase, OneLogin manages and secures millions of identities around the globe. We are headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit http://www.onelogin.com.
Susan Houghton promoted to Brooks International's Director of Organizational Development Im very happy to announce the promotions of our Brooks International employees. All of these individuals have made such a positive impact on our organization and we are looking forward to all of their future contributions.
Brooks International (http://brooksint.com) recently announced several staff promotions. Kevin Belovsky was promoted to Director of Assessment Quality and Susan Houghton will now be Director of Organizational Development as part of the Brooks leadership team. In the corporate office, Caryn Stumpfl was promoted to Director of Marketing and Communications, also a part of the Brooks leadership team, and Sophia Damasceno will move up as the Marketing and Communications Specialist. Morgan Baker, previous Corporate Operations Administrator has been promoted to the Corporate Operations Manager.
The Director of Assessment Quality is a key role within Brooks International. Belovsky (pictured) will provide executive support to Executive Analysts, Account Directors and Managers in the Brooks International Operations Department in the consistent delivery of Assessments and superior client satisfaction.
In her new role, Houghton (pictured) will lead and deliver transformational change, bringing executive teams and individuals in alignment with a prescribed outcome. She will conduct organizational development diagnostics such as structured interviews with client executive teams and extracting gaps in expectations.
Stumpfl, as the Director of Marketing and Communications, is now responsible for developing and managing the companys annual strategic marketing and communications plans to support the Brooks International mission, goals and objectives. As the Marketing and Communications Specialist, Damasceno will be maintaining the corporate website and social media pages while executing the companys corporate brand strategy and communications program. In Bakers new role as Corporate Operations Manager, he will be responsible for managing all key meetings, from making all arrangements with off-site facilities and working with vendors to all communication and action items.
Im very happy to announce the promotions of our Brooks International employees. All of these individuals have made such a positive impact on our organization and we are looking forward to all of their future contributions, said Brooks International Chief Executive Officer Lui Damasceno. For more information, visit http://brooksint.com or call 561.214.8800.
ABOUT BROOKS INTERNATIONAL:
With corporate headquarters in West Palm Beach, Fla., and sister companies in Toronto, Canada, and London, U.K., Brooks International delivers significantly enhanced profits and predictable business performance to our CEO clients. We partner with industry leading Fortune 500 clients to deliver Execution Excellence, including substantial and sustainable organizational, operational and financial improvements. Visit http://www.brooksint.com, call 561.214.8800 or connect with Brooks International on Facebook or LinkedIn for details.
3dcart is pleased to exhibit at the Miami Small Business Expo. 3dcart is dedicated to serving the small business market with our all-in-one e-commerce solution.
3dcart will exhibit at the Miami Small Business Expo, a day-long conference and trade show, which travels throughout the countrys top cities for small business, brings together industry thought leaders and experts in a hands-on environment that features more than 20+ free business critical workshops and programs along with 100+ interactive booths, demos and brand exhibits. Headlining the event is Bill Walsh, Founder and CEO of Powerteam International with his presentation The 7 Keys to Build a 7-Figure Business in the Inspiration 2020 Showcase Theater.
Start-ups and business owners can take advantage of free admission and educational workshops covering online/social media marketing, employee benefit plans, credit and financing, strategies for increasing revenue and team productivity, mentoring, cloud technologies, retirement plans, and more.
Small Business Expo expects to have more than 4,000+ registered attendees from across the Miami metropolitan area shopping for business resources, developing business leads, gaining new insights, and networking with peers.
Experts tell us that more and more Miami residents are wanting to take the entrepreneurial leap, says event founder Zachary Lezberg, but that the biggest barrier to
starting a new business is that people dont think they can he adds, With the program weve put together, we believe our attendees will feel more empowered by the end of the day.
3dcart is pleased to exhibit at the Miami Small Business Expo. 3dcart is dedicated to serving the small business market with our all-in-one e-commerce solution, states Gonzalo Gil, 3dcart CEO.
This years Titanium Sponsor: Powerteam International will be joined by Platinum Sponsor: Emerge Anywhere - Office Space Services; and Silver Sponsors: Advance Local, CT Corporation, Host.net, Niche Builders, Rand Internet Marketing, SignOnTheGo, VEDC and ZipLocal.
The Miami Small Business Expo will take place at the Miami Convention Center | Riverfront Exhibition Hall 400 SE Second Avenue, Miami, FL 33131 from 9:00 am until 5:00pm.
3dcart will be located at Exhibitor Booth #512.
For media inquiries, or complimentary press passes please contact:
Alyse Abbe, 212-651-0679, alyse(at)theshowproducers(dot)com.
About 3dcart
3dcart (http://www.3dcart.com), located in Tamarac, Florida, is an All-in-One eCommerce solution for retailers to build, promote and grow their online stores. 3dcart's services include the best Technical Support in the industry, 100+ Mobile-Ready Themes featuring the latest technology, order management software, blog, email marketing tools and more. Since 1997, the company has been a leader in the eCommerce market, building online stores for businesses of all sizes. Today, 3dcart supports over 17,000 retailers, is Visa PCI Certified and a Google Partner.
About Small Business Expo
Small Business Expo is the nations largest small business networking and learning event, and an Inc. 5000 company. Every year, over 100,000 small business professionals and entrepreneurs across the country attend the Small Business Expo in 18 major US Markets to take their business to the next level. The shows owner, Film, Stage & ShowBiz Expo LLC. was founded in 2008 by Zachary Lezberg. The companys headquarters are located at 555 8th AVE Suite 909 New York, NY 10018. For more information, visit http://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com, call (212) 404-2345, or email: info(at)thesmallbusinessexpo(dot)com .
I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay. Deal with it.
I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay. Deal with it. Alvin McEwen
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SelfHelpWorks Cognitive Interventions Our solution is exactly what employers are looking for in today's expensive healthcare climate, and brokers are perfectly positioned to deliver the good news
Rising healthcare costs and the latest hike in insurance premiums are squeezing employers, prompting organizations to search for solutions while creating an uncertain climate for benefits brokers. In response, SelfHelpWorks is now partnering with brokers to offer employers a unique cost-cutting solution that is missing from most corporate wellness programs. This gives brokers an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by helping their clients solve an immediate problem.
SelfHelpWorks is Americas leading provider of video-based lifestyle and disease management programs. Over the past 15 years it has developed a suite of user-friendly online interventions to help employees eliminate unhealthy, tough-to-break habits that are not effectively addressed by standard wellness programming. The SelfHelpWorks cognitive behavioral training methodology is unique, the results are staggering, and experts consider the interventions the missing link in most wellness programs.
By partnering with SelfHelpWorks, benefits brokers have the opportunity to offer their clients a unique benefit that improves workforce health and productivity, reduces absenteeism, and drives down health claims costs. In return, the broker gains a valuable competitive edge for retaining clients, attracting new business and generating more revenue.
"SelfHelpWorks is the only suite of video-based cognitive behavioral training programs to target all the major health risks that drive costly chronic diseases, said SelfHelpWorks founder, Lou Ryan. Our interventions are unmatched when it comes to helping employees overcome tough issues like tobacco addiction, obesity, chronic stress, diabetes, or alcohol abuse. They are the most cost-effective method for creating a healthier workforce, which in turn leads to higher productivity and lower healthcare costs. Our solution is exactly what employers are looking for in today's expensive healthcare climate, and brokers are perfectly positioned to deliver the good news."
By partnering with individual brokers, SelfHelpWorks intends to create a connection that will truly benefit todays employers. SelfHelpWorks will be showcasing its wellness solution and broker partnering opportunity at the upcoming Orange County Association of Health Underwriters (OCAHU) Business Development Summit in Costa Mesa, CA on February 21st.
"It's important to let brokers know that they still have the power to keep their clients happy, even in todays seemingly adverse climate. Partnering with us allows them to gain a strong competitive advantage and take a leap in the right direction," Ryan said.
For more information on SelfHelpWorks, their philosophy, and their methodology, the website demo tour is a good place to start.
ABOUT SELFHELPWORKS, INC.
SelfHelpWorks is the leading provider of online video-based lifestyle and disease management interventions for reducing population health risk. The interventions produce sustained behavior change using an evidence-based cognitive behavioral training approach derived from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). They target important issues such as obesity and unhealthy eating, tobacco addiction, diabetes, chronic stress, alcohol abuse and inactivity. The interventions are primarily offered by corporations interested in improving employee health and productivity, and by top tier value-based health and wellness providers. Users can access them privately and conveniently 24/7 via computer, tablet or smartphone.
Neils breadth of experience in growing startups and mid-size software companies will be an invaluable asset as we innovate and modernize the way developers, retailers and brands approach commerce, said Sara Hicks, co-founder & CEO, Reaction Commerce
Reaction Commerce, the first completely open and real-time commerce platform for modern retailers, today announced that Neil Patil has been named Chief Operating Officer. Neil will report directly to Sara Hicks, co-founder and CEO of Reaction. As COO, Neil will work closely with Sara to oversee the companys day-to-day operations and assume responsibility for the sales, marketing, client success, product management and business development teams.
Neil is a tech industry veteran who, like Reaction Commerce, holds quality and collaboration in the highest regard, said Sara. Neils breadth of experience in growing startups and mid-size software companies will be an invaluable asset as we innovate and modernize the way developers, retailers and brands approach commerce.
With an extensive background in retail and ecommerce, Neil brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in all areas of management, including sales, product management, marketing, customer lifecycle optimization, and organizational planning and scaling. Prior to joining Reaction, Neil was president of Fluids software group, where he led overall strategy, operations and development of the companys software products. He was responsible for managing and growing the companys overall SaaS business of digital retail solutions, which resulted in exponential subscription revenue and customer base growth. He also led the creation of the world's first artificial intelligence-based platform (Fluid XPS - Expert Personal Shopper) for brands to communicate with and present personalized content to consumers. Fluid XPS was recently acquired by IBM. Before Fluid, Neil held numerous top marketing and product strategy roles at public and private companies, including Brio Software, Activant Solutions (merged with Epicor), Oracle and Overtone (acquired by Kana, now Verint).
Retailers and brands are saddled with ecommerce platforms that were built before the iPhone and Facebook, said Neil. Thats why I jumped at the opportunity to join Reaction Commerce. Im looking forward to helping our customers realize what theyve been chasing after: a modern, open platform capable of easing daily operations, achieving real-time performance and delivering unique personalization experiences.
About Reaction Commerce
Reaction Commerce is a modern and open commerce platform built for the scale and simplicity required by todays business owners, designers, and developers. Reaction is the first intelligent and easily customizable cloud solution to provide real-time merchandising, pricing and promotions, and live monitoring of conversions. The full-stack platform is internationalized and localized, architected for shops and marketplaces, and is the largest JavaScript commerce project on GitHub, with developer interest growing more than 232 percent year over year. Their managed cloud solution has now seen over 14,000 signups. Reaction Commerce is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. For more information, visit reactioncommerce.com or email hello(at)reactioncommerce(dot)com.
As weve continued to expand globally, weve seen significant growth and demand for our products in Continental Europe and we intend to continue our investment in the region
Freshdesk, the leading provider of cloud-based customer engagement software, today announced the opening of a new European data center in Frankfurt, Germany. The Frankfurt data center will backup data in Germany, adding an extra level of security as Freshdesk's customer base continues to grow within Europe.
Customer data security is exceptionally important to Freshdesk, said Arun Mani, Managing Director Continental Europe at Freshdesk. After opening our office in Berlin last year, we prioritized getting the data center up and running so that we can provide the level of protection our local customers need.
The new data center, ISO 27001 certified, allows for both local and global Freshdesk customers with a European presence to host their data in Europe. Freshdesk products are already localized for multiple European markets so customers can use the SaaS products in the language they are most comfortable. Customers are also able to manage billing in Euros, making billing seamless and easy to manage in the local currency.
Freshdesk opened their Berlin office in June of 2016, led by Mani. The team has quickly grown to 15 team members in order to support the needs of customers in Continental Europe. The company now has 100,000 customers and five offices across the world. As weve continued to expand globally, weve seen significant growth and demand for our products in Continental Europe and we intend to continue our investment in the region. continued Mani.
The SaaS company will be a main sponsor at this years CCW Conference & Trade Show for Customer Service and Contact Centre where a range of products and product developments will be presented. Leading up to CCW, Freshdesk will host its second Customer Happiness Tour in Berlin on Monday, February 20 with speakers from Berlin School of Digital Business, celexon, idealo, Perdoo and Ringier AG. To register for this event, please visit: http://customerhappinesstour.com/events/2017/berlin/20-feb/
To learn more about Freshdesk or start a free trial, please visit: http://www.freshdesk.com
About Freshdesk
Freshdesk Inc. is the leading provider of cloud-based customer engagement software. Freshdesks suite of products include the flagship product, Freshdesk, which allows organizations to support customers through email, phone, websites, forums, and social media; Freshservice, a cloud-based service desk and IT service management solution; Hotline.io, an in-app support and engagement platform for mobile-first businesses; and Freshsales, a CRM solution and sales system for high-velocity sales teams. With powerful features, an intuitive interface and a freemium pricing model, Freshdesks products are widely used by teams and companies of all sizes, from SMB to enterprise. Based in San Bruno, California, with offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia and India, Freshdesk is backed by Accel, Tiger Global Management, CapitalG and Sequoia Capital India. The company has over 100,000 customers around the world including 3M, Honda, Bridgestone, Hugo Boss, Schneider Electric, Toshiba and Cisco. For more information, visit http://freshdesk.com.
IXIASOFT ...DITA is shifting from technical writers to a much wider audience such as engineers, SMEs ... said Eric Bergeron, IXIASOFT CEO. The DITA CMS web platform is ... using the companys full knowledge to optimize technical documentation quality...
IXIASOFT, a global leader in the Component Content Management Systems (CCMS) marketplace, announced today the availability of a new, intuitive web platform which extends the reach of DITA CMS to non-technical writers. Integrating these users into the documentation process and fully leveraging their knowledge will result in increased content accuracy and overall team productivity.
By using the DITA CMSs new web platform, organizations will:
Facilitate the contribution of content: content contributors will find it easy to provide content through a very intuitive web interface
Streamline the review process: documentation review processes often require many back and forth between users and are not performed in the context of a controlled environment. The new web platform will make it easy to track changes which is imperative within regulated industries.
Optimizing user experience was a key driver when designing the new IXIASOFT DITA CMS web platform. It truly connects employees together and enables them to easily engage in the documentation process.
Gaz Metro has many contributors that need to be included in the documentation process. These people fall into a number of categories including trainers, firefighters and engineers. One thing they all have in common: they dont know DITA and never will! They really need a tool that is easy to use and intuitive said Raymond Bissonnette, Senior Advisor, Learning & Training. We are currently testing IXIASOFTs new web platform which we believe fits the bill! From what weve seen so far: its a slick product and will be a valuable addition to our toolchain.
The DITA CMS web platform offers:
Microsoft Word-like experience intuitive interface allowing anyone to easily create and edit content, track changes, add comments and manage images
No DITA knowledge required DITA complexity is hidden from the users
User-friendly interface easy-to-use web platform for optimized collaboration between technical writers and SMEs/engineers/reviewers
Studies have shown that DITA is shifting from technical writers to a much wider audience such as engineers, support teams, SMEs and reviewers said Eric Bergeron, CEO of IXIASOFT. The DITA CMS web platform is all about using the companys full knowledge to optimize technical documentation quality, in an easy and efficient way.
About IXIASOFT: Founded in 1998, IXIASOFT is a trusted global leader in the XML content management software industry. Its signature product DITA CMS is an award winning, end-to-end component content management solution (CCMS) that has been deployed by industry leaders such as SAP, Qualcomm, Ericsson, AMD and BlackBerry. From authoring to reviewing, localizing and publishing, DITA CMS provides all the tools required for large, global organizations to support their entire DITA documentation process. IXIASOFT is also the developer of TEXTML Server, a native XML database and powerful search engine. IXIASOFT solutions are accessed by thousands of users worldwide in various vertical markets such as software, hi-tech, newspaper, and medical device manufacturing.
For more information, please visit ixiasoft.com or connect with IXIASOFT on Twitter and LinkedIn. Already a DITA CMS user? Join the IXIASOFT DITA CMS User Group on LinkedIn.
"AJMC is proud to once again host the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition Meeting ." - Dr. Jeff Prescott
The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC), the No. 1 ranked journal in managed care by Google Scholar, will host its spring ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition Meeting on May 4-5, 2017, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The meeting will once again focus on some of the most relevant issues impacting managed care.
In making this announcement, Senior Vice President of Managed Markets, Jeff Prescott, PharmD said AJMC is proud to once again host the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition Meeting which topics on the forefront of accountable care and some of the most pressing issues facing managed care professionals are shared and discussed. In this ever-changing political environment, it is imperative we stay up-to-date and engage with practice and business leaders in order to create proactive and effective health care strategies.
The coalition chair, Anthony Slonim, MD, DrPH, CPE, FACPE, president and chief executive officer of Renown Health, will moderate the event. Every year AJMC is committed to improving and strengthening the agenda which includes panel discussions on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal [or remodel] and its expected impact. Other topics to be shared will include cyber and data security, public-private partnerships, conceptual framework for addressing social determinants of health.
The coalitions goals include gathering experts who handle everyday best practices and strategies for care management and gain an understanding in developing successful ACOs. Additionally, this meeting will identify key components of transition-of-care programs in regards to patient and physician engagement and protocol development.
About The American Journal of Managed Care:
The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) is a peer-reviewed, MEDLINE-indexed journal that keeps readers on the forefront of health policy by publishing research relevant to industry decision makers as they work to promote the efficient delivery of high-quality care. AJMC.com is the essential website for managed care professionals, distributing industry updates daily to leading stakeholders. Other titles in the AJMC family include The American Journal of Accountable Care, and two evidence-based series Evidence-Based Oncology and Evidence-Based Diabetes Management. These comprehensive offerings bring together stakeholder views from payers, providers, policymakers and other industry leaders in managed care. To order reprints of articles appearing in AJMC publications, please contact Dr. Jeff Prescott at (609) 716-7777, x331.
This year's winner of the Valentine's Give-a-way is Karl Wabrowetz and his wife, Darcy. Thank you SelfLube so much for the Valentine's Day roses. My wife absolutely loved them!
For customer appreciation, leading U.S. manufacturer of mold and die components, SelfLube, invites its customers every year to participate in its Valentine's Give-A-Way. This year's winner is, Karl Wabrowetz, Visual Manufacturing Administrator of BTM Company, LLC located in Marysville, MI.
Lucky in contest and lucky in love, Karl had his winning roses delivered to his wife, Darcy of 28 years. "Thank you SelfLube so much for the Valentine's Day roses. My wife absolutely loved them. When she got them, she assumed one dozen, but quickly realized that it was too big for that," explains Karl. "They now sit on our kitchen table where we will enjoy them. You guys are great."
SelfLube would like to thank those who participated in this year's give-a-way. The business and relationships that have been built are greatly appreciated. "The Valentine's Give-a-way is something our team looks forward to every year and our customers enjoy it as well," says Jordan Fifelski, SelfLube Marketing Specialist. Those who sign up can either have the roses sent to themselves or they can have them delivered to someone of their choice. "Everyone is very enthusiastic to sign up and this is one more way for us to show appreciation for the relationships we build with our customers. It is these types of things along with our customer service and quality components that keeps customers coming back."
SelfLube is an ISO 9001:2008 registered company with a record of eight straight years of annual audits with zero non-conformances. The company sells mold and die components directly to shops throughout North America that are used in molds, dies and special machines. Its product line consists well over 10,000 part numbers and includes wear plates, wear strips, bushings, gibs, trunnion lifter slides and many other related items.
SelfLube would like to thank its customers again for participating in this year's give-a-way.
Netelligent recognized four straight years as a CRN MSP500 awardee By anticipating the technology needs of our clients, our engineers design and implement the best possible hybrid solutions backed with the best services, shares Aaron Stone, CEO and president, Netelligent Corporation.
Netelligent Corporation, a technology solutions company, announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Netelligent to its 2017 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Elite 150 category. This annual list recognizes North American solution providers with cutting-edge approaches to delivering managed services. Their offerings help companies navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of IT, improve operational efficiencies, and maximize their return on IT investments.
In todays fast-paced business environments, MSPs play an important role in helping companies leverage new technologies without straining their budgets or losing focus on their core business. CRNs MSP 500 list shines a light on the most forward-thinking and innovative of these key organizations.
The list is divided into three categories: the MSP Pioneer 250, recognizing companies with business models weighted toward managed services and largely focused on the SMB market; the MSP Elite 150, recognizing large, data center-focused MSPs with a strong mix of on-premise and off-premise services; and the Managed Security 100, recognizing MSPs focused primarily on off-premise, cloud-based security services.
Netelligent provides clients with hybrid IT solutions that best fit their business needs. Through a Netelligent Innovative Session (NIS), Netelligent defines a strategic IT transformation solution for their clients and takes a neutral approach to develop customized and optimized IT solutions. Netelligents IaaS, DRaaS, HCS, DaaS solutions are Cisco certified. Additional certifications include, Cisco Master Unified Communications, Cisco Master Managed Services, Cylance, SimpliVity, Nimble Storage, VMware and Riverbed.
Managed service providers play an increasingly important role in the day-to-day operations of businesses across North America, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. MSPs help organizations streamline their spending, effectively allocate limited resources, and benefit from advanced expertise in the latest technologies. We congratulate the service providers on CRNs 2017 MSP500 list, who have continually succeeded in meeting their customers changing needs and help them get the most out of their IT investments.
By anticipating the technology needs of our clients, our engineers design and implement the best possible hybrid solutions backed with the best services, shares Aaron Stone, CEO and president, Netelligent Corporation. Our key differentiator in the MSP market is our unique ability to engage clients through an indepth investigation and analysis that strategically transforms and optimizes their business with customized hybrid IT solutions. We are pleased and honored to have this honor bestowed upon Netelligent for the fourth year in a row.
The MSP500 list will be featured in the February 2017 issue of CRN and online at http://www.CRN.com/msp500.
Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
About Netelligent
Netelligent Corporation is a technology solutions company. Netelligent provides companies with the basic technologies they need to run their business (phone system, servers/virtualization, disaster recovery, security, networking, and video). Our mission is to help elevate business above technology. We take a neutral approach in helping to determine what IT consumption model best benefits each clients organization (on-premises, managed, or cloud services). Founded in 2003, Netelligent is headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri and two data centers located in Denver and St. Louis. Netelligent is a Cisco Gold Partner and SOC II Certified. Additional information about Netelligent can be found on their website http://www.netelligent.com.
Copyright 2017. The Channel Company, LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.
Moran Family of Brands, one of the nations leading franchises of general automotive repair, transmission repair and auto accessories, has recently been recognized by some of the top ranking systems in the franchising industry.
Mr. Transmission/Milex Complete Auto Care was ranked in Entrepreneur Magazines Franchise 500, the worlds first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Recognized by entrepreneurs and franchisors as a top competitive tool of measurement, the Franchise 500 places Mr. Transmission/Milex as #474 for its exceptional performance in areas including financial strength and stability, growth rate, and brand power.
We spend months gathering and crunching data in order to produce the Franchise 500 ranking. Were proud of the result and the way it continues to be a resource for the franchise community, said Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. Like every industry, franchising is ever-evolving and must smartly react to new technologies and consumer demands. We know it takes a lot to stay competitive, and are excited to celebrate those that do it best.
Over its 38 years in existence, the Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a primary research tool for entrepreneurs. Mr. Transmission/Milexs position on the ranking reinforces its strength in the industry.
In order to reflect the evolving business world at large, we at Entrepreneur continue to evolve our annual ranking, too, said Ryan Shea, president of Entrepreneur. Weve developed new ways to measure and analyze our collected data as new critical data points come into play. We take into account pertinent factors such as social media presence and financing availability, which have become increasingly important in todays economy. The result is a more complete and relevant Franchise 500 that can serve as a valuable resource for our readers.
To view Mr. Transmission/Milex in the full ranking, visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500. Results can also be seen in the January/February issue of Entrepreneur available now on newsstands.
Moran Family of Brands was #55 in the FranchiseRankings.com list of Best Franchise Opportunities for February 2017. FranchiseRankings.com is the leading provider of reviews and ratings on franchise opportunities. The site uses an independent research team to conduct in-depth analysis of the performance of each franchise. The rankings identify the key strengths and competitive advantages of the leading franchises across a variety of industries.
Mr. Transmission/Milex was listed #93 on the Franchise Gator Top 100 franchise rankings of 2017. The annual ranking of top franchise opportunities is based on factors such as financial stability, growth, transparency, continuity and sustainability. Franchise Gator created the Top 100 list to recognize the best up and coming franchise opportunities with strong growth potential that are also an affordable investment for the average franchise buyer.
We are very proud of the recognition Moran has received in the franchising space to begin 2017, said Peter Baldine, President of Moran Family of Brands. It is a tremendous validation of the growth and success of the brand and the performance of our outstanding franchisees.
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About Moran Family of Brands:
Moran Family of Brands is one of the nations leading franchisors of general automotive repair, transmission repair and automotive accessory centers. Based in Midlothian, Illinois, Moran Family of Brands provides specialty products and services in virtually every aspect of the automotive aftermarket through four individual brands and a total of more than 120 franchise locations nationwide including: Mr. Transmission, The Professionals; Alta Mere The Automotive Outfitters; and Milex Complete Auto Care centers and SmartView Window Solutions. For more information on Moran Family of Brands visit http://www.moranfamilyofbrands.com.
Tabitha Croscut
Devine Millimet, a regional business and litigation law firm, announced today that Tabitha Croscut has joined the firm as a shareholder and chair of the firms ESOP Team. Tabitha is nationally known in the area of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) utilized most predominantly as liquidity and ownership succession strategies for business owners.
We are very excited to have Tabitha join Devine Millimet because she brings a combination of expertise, depth of experience, and national reach that will expand the firms existing ESOP and ERISA practices, said Steve Cohen, chairman of the Devine Millimet M&A Team. Her wealth of experience and network of relationships in the industry at the local, regional, and national level make her an excellent fit for Devine Millimet, and the firms M&A platform will benefit both her existing and prospective clients.
Tabithas current clients include large and small ESOP companies like Harpoon Brewery in Boston, Mass., and Gardners Supply in Burlington, Vt. Tabitha serves as counsel in a variety of capacities. She helps to guide companies in structuring and implementing ESOP transition plans, as ongoing general counsel to operating ESOP-owned companies, and also advises internal and external trustees regarding the acquisition of shares and their fiduciary responsibilities as trustees.
Devine Millimet is deeply rooted in New England and has a stellar reputation, and Im excited to be part of their experienced team, said Croscut. Ownership transition and succession planning are important and growing facets in todays business landscape. I look forward to providing more extensive capacity and support for these services at Devine Millimet to guide clients through the nuances and complexities of the ESOP process.
Tabitha frequently speaks at ESOP conferences throughout the U.S. and is a thought leader on ESOPs. As an ownership transition advisor she develops planning and liquidity strategies that help keep companies local. She is a past president and current director for the Vermont Employee Ownership Center. She is also an active member of The ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Employee Ownership Foundation.
A magna cum laude graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law, Croscut is admitted to practice law in New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Tabitha can be reached at (603) 695-8542 or at tcroscut(at)devinemillimet.com.
About Devine Millimet
Devine Millimet & Branch is one of the largest and most active business and litigation law firms in the region, serving its clients and communities since 1947. At the firms historic headquarters in Manchester, NH- and with regional offices in Concord, NH, Portsmouth, NH, Boston, MA, and Burlington, VT- Devine Millimets professional staff provides counsel to individuals, businesses, and nonprofits in nearly every industry. In addition to its award-winning legal services, Devine Millimet also provides strategic consulting, lobbying, public finance services, and crisis management counsel as part of its government regulation practice and Devine Strategies strategic consulting group. For more information, visit http://www.devinemillimet.com.
Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) has selected 26 global leaders from government, business and civil society to embark on a seven-week fellowship in the U.S., engaging in a transformative exchange of knowledge and ideas with the leading minds in their fields. These Fellows, representing 23 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania, will participate in EFs spring Global Program from April 3 to May 19, 2017.
General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships, said these mid-career leaders advance the mission of the premier 63-year-old fellowship program to enhance international understanding and promote peaceful dialogue. These impressive men and women will serve as outstanding international ambassadors as they travel around the United States and take their place in the Eisenhower Fellowships global network of influential leaders, said General Powell.
Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, vice-chair of EFs Board of Trustees, said this springs Fellows are innovative leaders who apply multi-disciplinary approaches to problem-solving and seek collaboration across geographic borders. They are diverse, they are dynamic and they are doers, Whitman said. We are delighted to help them acquire new perspectives that will allow them to leave their mark on society.
George de Lama, president of Eisenhower Fellowships, noted that these Fellows will come to the U.S. at an uncertain time around the world when American engagement with the international community is more important than ever. These ascendant leaders will connect with Americans from all fields in a thoughtful, substantive exchange that will help build bridges and tear down walls, de Lama said.
The 2017 Global Fellows are thought leaders in agricultural policy, education, health, entrepreneurship, communications, artificial intelligence, music and arts education, immigrant integration and public services.
The 2017 Global Fellows are:
Cecilia Aversa | Argentina
International Cooperation Advisor, Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation
Sue-Ern Tan | Australia
Manager, Access, Shell QGC
Daniela Mendez | Brazil
Country Manager, IE Business School
Chen Dali | China
Director, Division of American and Oceanic Affairs, Ministry of Education
Jamie Lin | Chinese Taipei
Founding Partner, AppWorks
Jonathan Malagon | Colombia
Vice President of Economic and Technical Affairs, Colombian Banking Association
Natalia Ponce de Leon | Colombia
President, Natalia Ponce de Leon Foundation
Harri Ketamo | Finland
Chairman of the Board, Headai Ltd.
Katharina Kurz | Germany
Managing Director, Braukunst Berlin GmbH (BRLO)
Moses Tia | Ghana
Executive Director, Savannah Young
Farmers Network
Sangeetha Madhu | India
Director, Chennai Institute of Learning
and Development
Swati Sharma | India
Special Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, New Delhi
Teguh Dartanto | Indonesia
Director, Undergraduate Program in Economics, University of Indonesia
Benedetta Berti | Israel/Italy
Fellow, Institute for National Security Studies
Kyungsang Yu | Korea
Vice President of Global Strategy, SK Planet
Anita Ahmad | Malaysia
Senior Vice President, Community Development, Hasanah Foundation
Fatima Mohammed | Nigeria
Founder, LikeMinds Project
Jawad Khawaja | Pakistan
Joint Secretary, Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan
Richard Gakuba | Rwanda
Founder and Director, Health Systems Innovations
Diana Mpyisi | Rwanda
Founder and Director, Blue Oceans
Subramaniam Eassuweran | Sri Lanka
Deputy Chairman, Eswaran Brothers Exports
Chevaan Daniel | Sri Lanka
Group Director, The Capital Maharaja Organization
Fredrik Bruhn | Sweden
CEO, Unibap
Dolorosa Gitagno | Tanzania
Regional Manager, Pathfinder International
Selim Dundar | Turkey
Attorney/Partner, Dundar Sir Law Office
Thanh Bui | Vietnam
Managing Director, SOUL Corporation
EF brings together innovative leaders from across geographies and sectors, visionaries who tackle big challenges to better the world around them. Since 1953, nearly 2,000 mid-career leaders from 55 countries have benefited from the unique, customized experience of an Eisenhower Fellowship.
Successful candidates for EF programs are exceptional leaders, around 32-45 years old, eager to advance their personal and professional growth. They commit to lifelong engagement with the organization and its nearly 1,500 active Fellows around the world. Fellows apply what they learn from their peers and in their meetings with experts in their respective fields to maximize their potential and produce sustained impact through their fellowship experience and collaboration within the EF global network.
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Eisenhower Fellowships identifies, empowers and connects innovative leaders through a transformative fellowship experience and lifelong engagement in a global network of dynamic change agents committed to creating a world more peaceful, prosperous and just.
CONTACT:
Jane Grabias
Director, Fellowship Programs
Eisenhower Fellowships
jgrabias(at)efworld(dot)org
+1-215-965-1738
Austal USA proudly hosted the christening of the nations 16th littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Tulsa, here Saturday, Feb. 11.
Tulsa (LCS 16) is the sixth LCS in Austals 11-ship contract, worth over $3.5 billion. With its shallow draft of 14 feet, the Austal-built Independence-variant LCS is an advanced high-speed and agile 419-foot aluminum trimaran combat ship that combines superior seakeeping, endurance and speed with the volume and payload capacity needed to support emerging missions.
We are proud to provide an awesome combat ship to our nations incredible sailors. One that will honor the great city of Tulsa as she defends our nation around the globe, said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. Were equally excited to share this celebration with an amazing patriot in Kathy Taylor who has served veterans and active duty military in so many ways, and now infuses her spirit as the sponsor into this incredible ship and her crew.
Taylor was Tulsas 38th mayor and is currently Chief of Economic Development for Tulsas sitting Mayor, G.T. Bynum. Her administration hired the first veterans liaison in the Mayors office, helped establish the first veterans court in the nation, formed the Tulsa Veterans Advisory Council and worked with local colleges to increase veteran enrollment and completion of college. In 2006, Taylor visited all branches of the United States Armed Forces as a member of the U.S. Department of Defense civilian task force traveling throughout the Middle East. She later partnered with Tulsas 211 Service Helpline to improve communication about services and benefits available to active duty military and veterans.
Traditionally, the christening of a ship is where the ship's sponsor blesses the ship by breaking the bottle of champagne on the bow of the ship and ceremonially gives the ship its name. The roll of sponsorship represents a lifelong relationship with the ship and her crew.
The future USS Tulsa (LCS 16) will launch in mid-March and is scheduled for delivery in 2018. She has a maximum speed of more than 40 knots, a voluminous 28,000 square foot mission bay, and a flight deck capable of simultaneously holding two H-60 helicopters.
Austals LCS program is maturing fast with five ships delivered and six ships under construction. Omaha (LCS 12) will conduct builders sea trials later next month. Manchester (LCS 14) is also preparing for trials. Final assembly is well underway on Charleston (LCS 18) and modules for Cincinnati (LCS 20) and Kansas City (LCS 22) are under construction in Austals module manufacturing facility.
The company has also been contracted by the U.S. Navy to build 12 Expeditionary Fast Transport ships (EPF). Of the 12 ships included in the $1.9 billion multi-ship contract, seven have been delivered.
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About Austal
Austal is a global defense prime contractor and a designer and manufacturer of defense and commercial ships. For more than 27 years Austal has been a leader in the design, construction and maintenance of revolutionary ships for governments, navies and ferry operators around the world. More than 255 vessels have been delivered in that time.
Ships
Defense vessels designed and built by Austal include multi-mission combatants, such as the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) for the United States Navy and military high-speed vessels for transport and humanitarian relief, such as the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) ships for the U.S. Navy and High Speed Support Vessel (HSSV) for the Royal Navy of Oman. Austal also designs, constructs, integrates and maintains an extensive range of patrol and auxiliary vessels for government agencies globally, including the Cape Class Patrol Boat Program for Australian Border Force. Defense vessels are designed and constructed in Mobile, Alabama and in Henderson, Western Australia.
Austal has been at the forefront of the high-speed ferry market since the early days of the industry. Our market leading designs of high performance aluminum vessels have long been at the heart of Austals research and development. Today, commercial ship construction is centered on our shipyard in Balamban, Philippines.
Systems
Austal has expertise in integrating complex systems into its ships, including ride control, ship management, and communication, sensors and weapon systems.
Support
Austal provides a wide range of support services, including through life support, integrated logistics support, vessel sustainment and systems support. These services are delivered through our global support network in the USA, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East together with partner shipyards worldwide.
ENDS
Follow Austal USA on: Flickr | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Further Information:
Austal USA Press
uspress(at)austalusa(dot)com
(251) 445-5911
There are plenty of tasty opportunities for visitors in Westchester County this March.
With over 100 Westchester restaurants participating, Hudson Valley Restaurant Week offers diners every cuisine imaginable, said County Executive Robert P. Astorino. The County is also thrilled to be participating in New Yorks MapleFest this spring. Bring the whole family for a pancake breakfast and discover how Maple Syrup is made right here in Westchester.
Fit for Foodies
The most popular foodie event is back. Spring Hudson Valley Restaurant Week takes place March 6th 19th. Over 100 Westchester County restaurants will be participating in HVRW from classic favorites to brand new spots. Participating restaurants offer a three-course, prix fixe dinner menu for $32.95 per person (plus tax, beverage and gratuity) and may offer a three-course lunch menu for $22.95 per person (plus tax, beverage and gratuity). For more information on Spring Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, visit https://www.valleytable.com/hvrw.
A Sweet Spring
Celebrate New York's Maple Fest Weekend March 18-19 and 25-26. Visit White Oak Farm, the only commercial producer in Westchester County and the closest sugar house to New York City offering visitors tours of the beautiful sugar house and the opportunity to learn how maple syrup is made. No registration necessary for tours. Complete your sweet experience by enjoying a delicious pancake breakfast at Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, which is just up the road from White Oak Farm. Advanced registration is required for Pancake Breakfast. Visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/profile/128237 to purchase pancake tickets.
Stay and Play
Enjoy spectacular views at The Inn on The Hudson. Through February 28th, winter rates are 20 percent off. For more information visit, http://www.innonthehudson.com/
At The Ritz-Carlton New York, Westchester, luxury hotel packages allow visitors to experience everything that makes the hotel unique. The Ritz Carlton has several special offers this spring including the Reconnect Package and the Discover With You Package. Visit http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/new-york/westchester/offers for more information.
The Westchester Marriott is offering many opportunities for rest and relaxation. Visit their spa or enjoy delicious dining at Ruths Chris Steak House. Find out more information at http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-deals/nycwe-westchester-marriott/
Crabtrees Kittle House offers The Lovers Stay at the Cozy Inn all February long. Enjoy a four course or six course chefs tasting menu and a night at the historic inn. Pricing and more information is available by visiting http://www.kittlehouse.com/lovers-special/
For the latest events and happenings in Westchester, log onto http://www.visitwestchesterny.com, like us on Facebook (facebook.com/westchestercountytourism), follow us on Twitter @westchestertour or call 1-800-833-9282. View our new insta travel guide by visiting: https://www.instagram.com/visitwestchesterny/
To view the Westchester County Destination Guide, please visit http://bit.ly/2cCFErf
About Westchester County Tourism & Film
Tourism & Film is Westchester Countys official destination marketing organization. Its mission is to generate economic benefits by enhancing the image and promoting Westchester County as a premier business and leisure destination in the Hudson Valley region. The Tourism & Film Office in Westchester County is a division within County Executive Robert P. Astorinos Office of Economic Development.
Penn Community Bank is proud to introduce a new program to bring no-cost financial literacy programs and convenient banking services to local businesses and schools while supporting Bucks County nonprofit organizations.
Workplace Connections is a bank-at-work program that brings more benefits, including free financial educational workshops, to area employers and their employees. In addition, for every employee who signs up through Workplace Connections, Penn Community Bank will donate $10 to one of five area nonprofits: the Bucks County Opportunity Council, Bucks County SPCA, Central Bucks Family YMCA, Family Service Association of Bucks County, or Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County. This is just one more way that Penn Community Bank demonstrates its commitment to serving the local community.
One of our key initiatives here at Penn Community Bank is to foster and strengthen partnerships with local businesses and community organizations, said President and CEO Jeane M. Coyle. Workplace Connections enables us to offer great benefits to the employers who are driving our local economy while also supporting the nonprofit organizations that strengthen our communities.
As part of Workplace Connections, Penn Community Banks financial experts will visit area employers to provide on-site financial literacy workshops and promote direct deposit enrollment, which can help reduce payroll administration costs. The bank will provide custom promotional materials and an orientation for new employees. Employers that participate in Workplace Connections also will be eligible for the Small Business Spotlight, which highlights a participating local business at Penn Community Banks branch offices.
Anyone who opens a new free checking account as part of Workplace Connections will get a cash bonus deposited into the account. Paychecks can be deposited directly and enrollment can be completed on-site at work no need to make a special trip to the bank.
As a local, independent mutual financial institution, Penn Community Bank exists to serve our community, said Jacob A. Iampietro, Senior Vice President and Director of Retail Banking. We know that giving back matters. Workplace Connections is a way for us to help workers increase their financial wellness while also supporting the missions of the nonprofits that focus on making Bucks County a great place to live, work and play.
To learn more and to find out how the program can benefit your workplace, contact WorkplaceConnections(at)penncommunitybank(dot)com.
About Penn Community Bank: Penn Community Bank holds more than $1.8 billion in assets and employs more than 300 people at 22 bank branches and two administrative centers throughout Bucks County, Pennsylvania. As an independent, mutual financial institution, Penn Community Bank is not publicly traded and operates with its long-term mission in mind: to help businesses grow and prosper, to support individuals and families throughout their lifetimes, to strengthen the local economy, and to partner with local organizations to act as a catalyst for positive growth in every market it serves.
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We are at a critical point in time for sexual and reproductive health and rights globally
The United Nations Foundation today announced a fellowship to Guatemala for a select group of journalists who write for U.S.-based outlets to focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights during the week of March 27th, 2017.
In close coordination with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), international and local non-government organizations, government ministries and other partners with in-country expertise, the fellowship will offer unparalleled opportunities to learn directly from community health workers, reproductive health experts, and officials from the Ministry of Health and the United Nations.
Participating journalists will observe family planning service delivery, comprehensive sexuality education, gender-based violence prevention and response, and initiatives to prevent unintended adolescent pregnancy and support maternal and child health. Journalists will also have the opportunity hear directly from girls, women and their families.
In Guatemala specifically, there have been incredible efforts to address the health and rights of girls and women, particularly for indigenous peoples that tend to be the most marginalized. While there has been progress, the impacts of the Zika virus have cast a new light on long existing inequalities related to access to critical sexual and reproductive health services, education and protection from violence. Guatemala continues to have one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in Latin America with severe implications for girls and womens ability to plan their futures and thrive.
We are at a critical point in time for sexual and reproductive health and rights globally. Traveling with the UN Foundation to Guatemala will allow journalists to explore these dynamics first-hand, and to meet the girls, women, families, community health workers, and UN experts who are striving for change, said Seema Jalan, Executive Director of the UN Foundations Universal Access Project.
This fellowship is intended for journalists who write for U.S. outlets and do not have regular access to key experts in Guatemala, but are interested in sexual and reproductive health and rights globally, gender equality, international development, and the work of the United Nations.
The application deadline is March 1, 2017. To apply, click here. For more information please contact sjiwani(at)unfoundation(dot)org.
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About the United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the worlds most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: http://www.unfoundation.org.
The Childrens Place has helped so many young people in our area overcome child abuse and begin the healing process, and our goal is to ensure they can continue providing these crucial services
Cindi Heal & Associates, an Anchorage area firm offering asset protection services and financial planning assistance to families and business owners in the Matanuska Valley region, is announcing a joint charity event in conjunction with The Childrens Place to raise funds and support for victims of child abuse.
Alaska currently ranks the highest in the nation for substantiated child abuse cases. Since 1999, The Childrens Place has helped improve outcomes for area children by working with government agencies, law enforcement, and area volunteers to build a safe and nurturing facility that provides a central location for the case work, evaluation, and treatment of children victimized by child abuse.
The Childrens Place has helped many young people in our area overcome child abuse and begin the healing process, and our goal is to ensure they can continue providing these crucial services, says Cindi Heal, founder and acting director of Cindi Heal & Associates.
With the help of her professional team, Heal is making connections with nearby families, civic leaders, and business owners over social media and email to help galvanize support for The Childrens Place. Further efforts to generate support for the ongoing charity drive will include a full length feature article scheduled for publication in Our Hometown, a local interest webzine hosted by Cindi Heal & Associates: http://cindiheal.com/magazines/.
Cindi Heal & Associates is one of the newest members of Agents of Change, a nationwide charity support network. As part of this membership, Heal and her team plan to work with and support new charitable organizations in the Anchorage area on a semi-annual basis.
Readers that want to help provide for local victims of child abuse are invited by The Childrens Place and the Cindi Heal & Associates team to follow this link and take action in support of the charity event: http://cindiheal.com/causes/place-heard-place-helped/. Additional information on future charitable organizations and nonprofit agencies sponsored by Cindi Heal & Associates will be provided on the agencys permanent Community Causes listing: http://cindiheal.com/community/.
About Cindi Heal & Associates
As a Personal Finance Representative in Palmer, agency owner Cindi Heal knows many local families. Her knowledge and understanding of the people in her community ensures that clients of Cindi Heal & Associates are provided with an outstanding level of service. Cindi and her team look forward to helping families protect the things that are most important - family, home, car and more. Cindi Heal & Associates also offers clients a preparation strategy for achieving their financial goals. To contact an expert at Cindi Heal & Associates, visit http://cindiheal.com/ or call (907) 746-0505.
US Cyber Vault Unveils Future of Managed Cybersecurity Services at HIMSS 2017 As weve seen time and again in the healthcare world, the cost of cyberattacks are just too great to ignore. Our new managed security services unburden IT teams to ensure their data is secure.
US Cyber Vault, the proven cybersecurity leader helping companies protect, detect, and respond to cyberattacks, today announced its new managed security services that secure companies sensitive customer data and intellectual property in advance of HIMSS, the largest U.S. healthcare IT event, taking place February 19-23.
Usually, something has to break before you realize you have a problem, said Robert E. LaMear IV, Founder & CEO, US Cyber Vault. However, as weve seen time and again in the healthcare world, the cost of cyberattacks are just too great to ignore. Our new managed security services powered by our next-generation infrastructure and seasoned counterintelligence agents unburden IT teams to ensure their data is secure.
Companies Save 90% on Cybersecurity Costs with US Cyber Vault Managed Services
Technology companies are under significant market pressure to innovate quickly, often at the expense of cybersecurity. Securing sufficient funding and talent resources remains an issue. A recent study of Chief Information Security Officers found 80 percent of companies still have inadequate cybersecurity funding, while 51 percent cannot cite a dearth of available cybersecurity professionals. Bureau of Labor statistics estimate 2 million cybersecurity jobs will remain unfilled by 2019.
US Cyber Vaults managed security services deliver security operations center, analyst, counterintelligence and incident response capabilities rapidly, enabling companies to save up to 90 percent on traditional cybersecurity costs.
24/7 Security Operations Center: Extend existing SOC engineers and analysts with US Cyber Vaults software, runbooks, and dashboards.
Security Analysis: Augment existing IT security analyst teams and scale resources quickly and easily to analyze threats in real time.
Cyber Counterintelligence: Investigate cyber war attacker techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs) to identify hackers, stop existing attacks, and prevent future attacks.
Rapid Incident Response: Build up incident response teams (IRT) by filling skills or personnel gaps in forensics, exploit analysis, or threat containment and removal.
To learn more, visit the US Cyber Vault website.
US Cyber Vault at HIMSS
US Cyber Vault is a leading sponsor of the Cyber Security Command Center at HIMSS 2017 in Orlando, FL - Feb 19-23 both in the Cybersecurity Command Center at Kiosk #376-13 and in the flagship booth 487 right next to the Command Center.
Event activities include:
A session led by Edmund Cronin, VP of Business Development, CyberThreat Team: 5 Steps to Create Your Healthcare Cybersecurity Dream Team at 11:30am ET on Wednesday, February 22 at booth #376.
An exclusive VIP Vault lounge, where attendees can meet the US Cyber Vault executive team in a sophisticated atmosphere. Space is limited.
Drawing to win The Crown Jewels: a blue topaz necklace, earrings and ring set, held at 1pm ET on Wednesday, February 22 at booth #487.
US Cyber Vault will also recap the lessons learned and bring clarity to the cybersecurity news coming from the event to help you navigate a post-HIMSS world. Register now for an exclusive webinar at 11am ET on Thursday, March 9.
About US Cyber Vault
US Cyber Vault brings the cybersecurity industrys most seasoned counterintelligence agents and next-generation infrastructure to provide a 24/7 secure managed service that protects, detects, and responds to cyberthreats to secure your data. To learn more, visit http://www.uscybervault.com.
US Cyber Vault Media Contact
Heather Newman Vice President, Business Development
US Cyber Vault
Email: heather.newman(at)uscybervault(dot)com
Tel: 314-300-6000
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Weve been serving the Florida community for several years now and feel the same we way we did when we opened up. We are a 'local first' glass repair service in West Palm Beach
February 18, 2017. West Palm Beach, Florida
Express Glass and Board Up, glass repair professionals serving West Palm Beach and all of Palm Beach County at http://www.expressglassfl.com/fort-lauderdale-glass-window-repair/, is proud to announce a new blog post. As wedding season approaches, the company has renewed a commitment to being the best in glass repair and replacement services for the Florida area.
Weve been serving the Florida community for several years now and feel the same we way we did when we opened up. We are a 'local first' glass repair service in West Palm Beach, explained Yani Santos, general manager of Express Glass. Our new pledge is to continue offering the best glass repair service for West Palm Beach. Our new blog post reflects this renewed vow as a 'local first' small business in the county.
To read the new blog post for a commitment to glass repair please go to: http://www.expressglassfl.com/blog/business-glass-repair/west-palm-beach-business-glass-repair-keepin-local/. For more information about glass repair services, visit http://www.expressglassfl.com/glass-repair/. Details for residential and commercial glass repair as well as 24/7 emergency glass repair can be reviewed, whether city-specific or not.
Express Glass Vows To Offer the Best in Glass Repair for West Palm Beach
Weddings in West Palm Beach can be a popular choice for young couples. Lovely beaches and the mildly tropical weather can add to the dream scenario a bride and groom desire. While a happy couple makes plans, the wedding planner and supporting staff may be committed to offering the best experience. Providing a ceremony to remember can take hours of pre-planning and organization. If a venue requires sprucing up prior to the nuptials, it could include checking all patio doors and windows for cracked or broken glass. At that moment, the commitment to a perfect wedding day may be extended to a top glass repair service.
Express Glass, an expert glass repair service in West Palm Beach has recently announced a renewed commitment to the affluent Florida community of West Palm Beach. Since opening, the business has made it a priority to offer the best in glass repair for all occasions. To avoid the danger of broken window and patio glass at a wedding, a quick inspection from an expert glass repair technician can help. Checking sliding glass doors for a smooth glide and stable glass can help ensure the safety of wedding guests. If a reception becomes too lively and glass is shattered before the last dance, 24/7 emergency glass repair can be provided as well. West Palm Beach brides and the surrounding community can rely on Express Glass, a dedicated glass repair service, to be around for the long run. The new blog post articulates this "local first" philosophy.
About Express Glass and Board Up
Express Glass and Board Up Service Inc. is a family owned and operated glass repair business with more than 20 years of experience. Their professional technicians and the large variety of inventory make Express Glass the top glass repair service. If customers are looking for West Palm Beach glass repair or Ft. Lauderdale glass repair as well as glass repair in Delray Beach or West Palm Beach glass repair, please reach out to the company for a free estimate. If customers need a 24/7 Sliding Glass Door repair service in Ft. Lauderdale or Boca Raton or Miramar, technicians are standing by. The company specializes in sliding glass door repair and window glass repair; technicians will handle any glass replacement situation efficiently. Home or business glass repair is the company's main priority.
Express Glass Repair and Board up
http://www.expressglassfl.com/
Rathje & Woodward, LLC
On January 27, 2017, a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin permanently blocked the state's redistricting plan that denies voters the ability to elect lawmakers of the political party of their choosing, to the legislature. (Case: 3:15-cv-00421-bbc).
This ruling by the court ensures that new, constitutional maps will be in place for the next state legislative elections.
Whitford v. Gill is the first case in 30 years that allowed a partisan gerrymander challenge to go to trial. The case was tried in May 2016, and on November 21, 2016 the court issued an opinion and order holding the 2011 Wisconsin redistricting plan to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The courts subsequent ruling on January 27, 2017, enjoins the state from holding elections under the 2011 redistricting plan, and gives the state until November 1, 2017, to enact a redistricting plan that meets all constitutional and other legal requirements. The state will now decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to court documents, lead plaintiff Bill Whitford and the other 11 plaintiffs in the case are represented by Douglas M. Poland of Rathje & Woodward, LLC's Madison, Wisconsin office, along with co-counsel at the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) in Chicago and Washington, D.C.; Peter G. Earle; Michele L. Odorizzi of Mayer Brown; and Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos of the University of Chicago Law School.
Should Whitford v. Gill reach the Supreme Court, it will provide the nations highest court the opportunity to set a legal standard on partisan gerrymandering for the first time.
Doug Poland of Rathje & Woodward, LLC, who served as co-lead trial counsel, released the following statement:
The November 1, 2017 deadline means the legislature has plenty of time to hold hearings with broad participation from Wisconsin citizens. There is no excuse for limiting participation by all interested parties to draw a fair map in an open and transparent process. The time for cloaking the process in secrecy has ended. The plaintiffs, their lawyers, and all of Wisconsin, are watching.
CLC Director of Voting Rights and Redistricting Gerry Hebert, also co-lead trial counsel, released the following statement:
This is truly another monumental victory for the plaintiffs in this case and for all Wisconsin Voters. Today, the court made a clear statement that holding yet another unconstitutional election under Act 43 would cause significant harm to the voters. The Wisconsin legislature has continuously demonstrated a disregard for the rights of the voters and an inability to craft a fair, legal redistricting plan. In drawing a new plan, the legislature must put voters first, not partisan politics. Rest assured that our plaintiffs will continue to be involved in this process, monitoring the legislatures actions and assuring that the new plan meets all the legal requirements.
Bill Whitford, the lead plaintiff in the case, released the following statement:
Im very pleased with this decision. Today is a good day for Wisconsin voters, and another step in the journey of ensuring that our voices are heard. Now, we will be keeping a watchful eye on the state legislature as they draw the new maps and I ask them, for the sake of our democracy, to put partisan politics aside and the interests of all voters first.
Dale Schultz, former Senate Majority Leader, released the following statement:
Wisconsin citizens deserve clarity, and potential candidates need to know what districts they would be running in, said former Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), who co-chairs the Fair Elections Project. The court is making the right decision to implement their verdict, and we are pleased that Wisconsin is on its way to having honest elections. I hope the Legislature chooses to conduct this new map-drawing process in an open, transparent manner, heeding the concerns of multiple federal panels.
Sachin Chheda, Director of the Fair Elections Project, released the following statement:
Yet again, the federal courts have ruled clearly - Wisconsins district maps are an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, they violate the rights of millions of Wisconsin citizens, and its time to move ahead and draw new maps, said Sachin Chheda, Director of the Fair Elections Project, which helped organize the lawsuit. This is a victory for democracy and we look forward to a process to draw these maps that engage the community and invite public participation.
About Rathje & Woodward, LLC:
The law firm of Rathje & Woodward, LLC was founded in 1938. The firm is committed to providing top quality legal services to businesses and individuals throughout the Midwest and nationwide. Rathje & Woodward, LLC has office locations in Wheaton, Illinois and Madison, Wisconsin.
The experienced attorneys handle a broad variety of litigation, real estate matters, business employment, municipal, and general counsel engagements. For more information about Rathje & Woodward, LLCs specific practice areas and attorneys, or to discuss your legal matter, call 630-668-8500 or visit http://www.rathjewoodward.com.
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Its the stuff of authors dreams. A mother turns her sons bedtime ritual into a picture-book story and sends the manuscript to a single publishing house, where its plucked from the slush pile by an editor who signs up the book, and it becomes a bestseller. This was the serendipitous publishing path of Sherri Duskey Rinkers Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, released by Chronicle in 2011. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, the book reveals cheerful construction vehicles wrapping up their busy day and settling down to sleep. Now, these big machines rev up again and get some help from a new crew of vehicles in Mighty, Mighty Construction Site, out this month from Chronicle with a 250,000-copy first printing.
The concept for Goodnight, Goodnight, which has sold 1.3 million copies and spawned a handful of novelty spin-offs and a newly published board book edition, was quite literally homegrown. Rinker, who worked as a graphic designer when her sons, now 11 and 16, were younger, recalled that she was always exhausted when her kids bedtime rolled around, and her second son did not make the nightly routine easy.
At the age of two, he was obsessed with trucks, and only wanted to read books about them and talk about them, and even mentioned them in his goodnight prayers, said the author. By the time we were done, he was wired and not at all sleepy. And one night I got this idea, and I told him that even dump trucks and bulldozers have to sleep at night, and we got into the habit of talking about trucks finishing their last tasks of the day and falling asleepand that worked!
One night, after Rinker tucked in her sons and settled into that place between being awake and asleep, that bedtime ritual took on a new life for her. I suddenly shot up in bed, and thought, Oh my goshthis could be a book! and I immediately jotted down the title, she said. And images of the construction vehicles popped into my head, and I immediately sketched them.
After completing the manuscript for Goodnight, Goodnight, Rinker submitted her story to Chronicle, inspired, she said, by the Chronicle books that were on my kids bookshelves, which had a high production quality that I, as a graphic designer, found very appealing. I also made a list of other publishers Id send the book to when Chronicle said no, since I thought there was not a chance Id get an offer.
Happily, she was wrong. At an editorial meeting in fall 2009, Mary Colgan, then a Chronicle editor, discovered Rinkers script in a stack of unagented submissions, and asked her colleague, Melissa Manlove, if she thought the story might be something. The answer was yes, and Colgan acquired the book. She then approached Tom Lichtenheld (who had illustrated Amy Krouse Rosenthals 2009 Duck! Rabbit! for Chronicle) about illustrating Goodnight, Goodnight.
Rolling Out the Big Machines
Lichtenheld, who has never lost his boyhood interest in drawing trucks, signed on without hesitation. I like drawing vehiclesIm attracted to anything with wheels, he explained. I was grateful to Chronicle for making the leap to ask me, since my work on Duck! Rabbit! was so very different. I hadnt done a book for a pre-K audience before, and this one sounded like fun, so I jumped right on it.
In preparation for creating the art, Lichtenheld first photographed various construction sites, a process he found inspiring. I came to realize there is a certain beauty to construction sites, especially at sunset and at night, he said. They have a beautiful lighting to them. And I came across a sketch by a Disney background artist that made me aware that cities glow from beneath in the dark, and appear to float at night. I was really taken with that aesthetic.
To create the pictures for Goodnight, Goodnight, Lichtenheld drew on dark paper with opaque crayons rather than using the more traditional dark medium on white paper. That process gave the book its glow, he explained. I also decided the art should have a gritty feel, so I played around with textured paper. The style evolved from experimenting, and I realized, looking at lots of pictures, that construction vehicles from the 1940s and 50s are much more interesting than modern ones, so I gave the vehicles a more classic style.
Rinker and Lichtenheld, who also collaborated on 2013s Steam Train, Dream Train for Chronicle, were cautious about doing a Goodnight, Goodnight sequel, and deliberated for quite some time before deciding to create Mighty, Mighty Construction Site. We did not want to do a sequel for the sake of doing a sequel, Rinker said. Tom and I explored some story ideas, and then I thought about having a new crew of construction vehicles join up with the original crew. That premise really came from being a parent, and watching my kids in playgroup or at school, playing with trucks and building things. I realized that is a group activity, and a team effortand so the idea for the second book developed organically from that.
The process of creating Mighty, Mighty was far more collaborative than that of its predecessor. Rinker and Lichtenheld, who live close to each other in suburban Chicago, met frequently at a local coffee shop to work on the book. Wed get together, and I sketched while Sherri wrote, the illustrator recalled. We were happy to find a new idea that we were both excited about. I think the most fun part of collaborating on a project is when youre just starting out, and know that anything is possible. That is such a creative and pure part of the book process.
Senior editor Manlove, who acquired and edited Steam Train and Mighty, Mighty after Colgan left Chronicle, praised the collaborators for their commitment to their workand to their audience. Sherri and Tom care deeply about the quality of their books, and really try to honor the lives of children, she said. They envisioned their new book as a kind of parallel to a childs play date, suggesting kids can build bigger and more imaginative worlds when they put their imaginations together.
The collaborators and their editor are noncommittal when asked if a third Construction Site book might be in the cards. There are some ideas floating out there, and I believe in never saying never, Rinker said. We are hoping for another book, Manlove added, but it matters to all of us that each project have its own self and its own reason for being. So were taking it one step at a time.
Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. Chronicle, $16.99 Feb. ISBN 978-1-4521-5216-5
Legendary author Roald Dahl (19161990) was, very literally, an idea man. He was forever jotting noteskernels and tidbits that might one day grow into a story. To celebrate that creative process, on March 1, the Roald Dahl Literary Estate, Penguin Young Readers, and Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, alongside Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions, are kicking off Roald Dahls Imaginormous Challenge, an idea contest that encourages U.S. kids and their teachers not to imagine small, but imaginormous, and come up with their most inventive story ideas. Chocolatier Willy Wonka, featured in Dahls 1964 classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its subsequent film adaptations, as well as the new Broadway musical, leads the Challenge as he seeks five new golden ticket winners from among the contest submissions.
Luke Kelly, managing director of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate, and Dahls grandson, explained what sparked the Challenge. Much was written during last years centennial celebrations for my grandfather on how his stories came about, Kelly said. He had a number of Ideas Books in which he would write down the countless ideas that came to him. He would never let an idea get away. He once said that he wouldnt pounce on an idea, but instead wait until the right moment to grab it and start sharpening his pencils. Often, Kelly noted, those ideas would take years to grow into the stories that we recognize and love today. At the Estate, he said, we felt that this approach to creativity could be harnessed to excite children across the U.S.: that no matter how small their story idea, they have the potential to turn it into something extraordinaryjust like the seeds of my grandfathers ideas. And so the Imaginormous Challenge was born.
We work very closely with the Estate, said Jed Bennett, senior director, preschool and young readers marketing at Penguin Young Readers, and one thing we are always talking about is how we can elevate Dahls name and brand in the U.S. so that schoolchildren will know about the wonderful books he created. And, like Kelly, Bennett believes that Dahls creative methods are inspirational, a window for readers into his fictional world. We are fascinated with his process, Bennett said. He jotted two or three words, or two or three sentences, or a drawing in his notebook. Many times these brief thoughts and doodles turned into the great stories we know and love now. The initial idea for the contest was raised during a routine brainstorming session at Penguin Young Readers: Wouldnt it be great to share with kids that you dont just sit down and write a novelit all starts with an idea.
The Challenge is patterned after the great contest in Dahls Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which five lucky children who find a golden ticket wrapped inside a Wonka candy bar win a tour of Willy Wonkas chocolate factory. In the Imaginormous update, Mr. Wonka is looking to award five new golden tickets, and, with the help of his friends and advisorsthe Challenge partnerswill select the five ticket recipients from among those children who submit story ideas. The five grand prize winners will receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Wonka-fy their story idea in a very big way:
A Theatrical Creation: The team behind the Broadway musical Roald Dahls Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which begins performances March 28 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, will turn one winning story idea into a theatrical creation.
A Hollywood Pitch: One winner and their family will be flown to Hollywood to pitch their story idea to an executive at Warner Bros. Animation.
An Immersive Minecraft World: A team of Minecraft gaming engineers will reimagine a winning story idea as a playable Minecraft experience.
Become an Author: Author Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm; The Inquisitors Tale) will pair up with one winner to develop their story idea into a short book.
A Candy Creation: One winners idea will be turned into an edible creationa 3-D printed piece of candywith the help of the team at Dylans Candy Bar, the famous confectionary shop (which also sells candy-inspired lifestyle products) whose flagship store is in New York City.
Roald Dahls Imaginormous Challenge is open to children ages five-to-12 in the U.S. Contestants may submit their story ideasno more than 100 wordsbetween March 1 and May 31, 2017. Complete rules can be found here. And 2017 is only the initial year of the Challenge, which is planned to be an annual contest, though specific prizes or partners may change in the future. The Imaginormous Challenge isnt just a one-off program, Kelly said. This is being devised as an annual Challenge for U.S. schoolchildren, and our goal by 2020 is to have inspired one million new story ideas. Our central vision at the Estate is that one day, every child will unleash the extraordinary power of their imaginations through Roald Dahls stories.
According to Bennett, Penguin Young Readers will do the lions share of the judging for contest entries, employing teams from editorial, marketing, and sales. We have editors that have a keen eye and know what to look for in a good story, he said. This judging process gives the contest an air of legitimacy because the entries are essentially being reviewed by an editorial board. The submitted entries will be whittled down to roughly 1020 finalists per prize category, and then Penguin will work with the participating partners for each prize to select the five final winners who will receive Mr. Wonkas tickets.
Author Gidwitz is enthusiastic about playing his part in the Challenge. Roald Dahl is my favorite author to this day, he said. I always tell kids that when they ask me, and its true, that Ive read Matilda 13 times and The BFG nine times. When Penguin asked me about this contest I said Ill participate in every event youve got! As for what he might look for in a winner, Gidwitz said he wants to keep an open mind. I will not have any preconceived notions about what is good, he said. If you had told me about a story where all the action takes place in a chocolate factory with a crazy chocolate maker, I would have been mighty skeptical. So Im not going into this with any notion about what a good story is. But if it makes me laugh and has good suspense, something like that could be a winner.
Gidwitz has experience workshopping ideas with kids and believes that working with his prize winner will take a similar tack. Ill help them put some meat on the bones of their idea and then get their story out to the world, he said. He imagines there will be no shortage of entries, especially with such an impressive list of prizes. When I saw some of these prizes, like a Hollywood movie pitch, maybe Ill be submitting some of my own stories under a pseudonym, maybe Timmy Adam Gidwitz, age 10, he joked.
Though plans are still in the works, Bennett anticipates announcing the five Challenge winners on June 14. The winning children will be visiting New York City August 46, where they will see the musical Roald Dahls Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and go on a tour of places mentioned in Dahls books, as well as sites that Dahl frequented in the city. From August 710, the winners will travel to London (sponsored by Norwegian Air) and the nearby Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, located in the authors home village of Great Missenden, among other things.
In addition to the story idea submissions from young readers, the Challenge contains key components to involve educators and parents in the fun. The Roald Dahl Literary Estate is teaming with Scholastic on a national campaign that will provide print materials to 160,000 teachers and four million classrooms, as well as provide digital outreach to 12 million parents, teachers, and children. The Estate will also partner with Penguin Young Readers to create teaching resources that align with the U.S. curriculum. Everything is planted firmly and soundly in Dahls backlist, which will be woven throughout all our Challenge materials, Bennett said. Additionally, Post-It, another key sponsor for the Challenge, is giving teachers the opportunity to win Post-It Brand educational materials, and teachers can also enter to win a Roald Dahl library of books valued at $500 from Penguin Young Readers.
We take pride in breathing new life into books published 30, 40, 50, years ago, Bennett noted of his companys ongoing support of Dahl. Its an honor to be the steward of these stories for the next generation. And with a contest like thisto see your invention come to life as a candy from Dylans Candy Bar or as a Broadway performancethose are experiences money cant buy. Its pure imagination in the words of Willy Wonka.
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Europa Editions and Other Press are taking three independent booksellers to the Turin International Book Fair.
Last year, Europa sent bookseller Ariana Paliobagis from Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Mont. to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Now, the publisher is collaborating with Other Press to send three independent booksellers to the Turin International Book Fair (May 18-22).
We think it is a great way to give booksellers the opportunity to experience a foreign book fair first-hand, to take in the culture and, hopefully, reinforce their commitment to selling literature in translation and from abroad, Sophia Franchi, coordinator of the program, told PW.
Dubbed the International Bookfair Scholarship (IBS), the program which is also being run in partnership with Europas Italian publishing partner Edizioni E/O will cover all expenses associated with attending the Turin Book Fair. In addition, the booksellers will be invited to participate in panels, networking, and curate a part of a 345 sq.-ft. pop-up American style independent bookstore that will be part of the show floor. Well have Europa and Other books for sale, said Franchi, and the booksellers will be invited to put their own mark on the store as well.
Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on applicants supporting statements about their interest in selling and engaging with international literature and the ideas they have for bringing international literature to the attention of more readers.
Applications are being accepted until March 1 and can be made by visiting www.internationalbookfairscholarship.com.
According to Franchi, more than 50 booksellers have applied so far.
This article has been updated.
James C. Jim Parker, a longtime Ingram Book Company employee who retired in 2002 as senior executive vice president, died of cancer on February 12 in Columbia, Tenn. He was 77.
After graduating from the University of Alabama, Parker served a stint as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army before beginning a brief career in academia. In 1974, Parker began to work for Ingram Industries in Nashville as a warehouse worker; by his retirement in 2002, he had been named a senior executive v-p at the company. Parker's work at the company included assisting in the development of books on tape and audiobooks.
Parker is survived by his wife, Carese; his children Stewart and Andrew; daughters-in-law Sara and Kristin; and others including siblings and grandchildren. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Columbia, Tenn. Military honors will be provided by the United States Army Honor Guard.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has appointed Jack J. Lynch, Jr. as CEO, president, and a member of the board of directors. Lynch succeeds Linda Zecher, who resigned as CEO in September after five years at the company.
Lynch has a long history in the educational and technology fields. He is currently CEO of Renaissance Learning, which operates in the K-12 learning analytics space. Lynchs background includes being the founding CEO of bigchalk.com, an education network serving 40,000 schools, and serving as president and CEO of the Pearson Technology Group. Prior to joining Renaissance, Lynch was a member of the executive board of Wolters Kluwer.
Commenting on Lynchs appointment, Lawrence Fish, chairman of the HMH board, said Lynch brings an uncommon set of K-12 education and technology experience along with an outstanding track record generating exceptional returns for investors. He is the right leader at the right time as HMH and the education industry continue to transform and evolve.
Indeed, Lynch will have his challenges. HMH, like many educational publishing companies, has struggled with the slow and often rocky transition to greater use of digital materials in schools. For the first nine months of 2016, HMH had a loss of $103 million, compared to a loss of $36 million in the same period in 2015. The company will report results for the full year next week.
HMH is exceptionally well positioned to lead the education industry in the rapid transition to digital and highly personalized learning experiences, Lynch said in a statement. Educators today are seeking solutions from companies they can trust to improve student outcomes, and HMH is well positioned to meet that need.
Lynch will join HMH in the next few weeks after he wraps up his duties at Renaissance Until he moves to the company. L. Gordon Crovitz, a member of the HMH board, will continue to serve as interim CEO.
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NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trump's first weeks in office have spawned anxiety and arguments at workplaces, forcing some owners to protect peace and productivity.
BetterWorks CEO Kris Duggan has noticed a drop in productivity at his Redwood, Calif., software firm, with staffers distracted and having less energy as some of their focus has shifted to politics.
"They're wound up, thinking about what march they're going to," he said. Duggan said he's aware employees aren't getting much rest on weekends. Instead of decompressing, they spend time on social media, sharing content that makes them uneasy.
While divided feelings over Trump's policies and personality affected workplaces before the election, owners say there now are more discussions that can turn disruptive. Plenty of workplaces haven't had issues or say their employees feel reassured by the new president; others say staffers have been subdued and distracted.
Human resources consultant David Lewis said he has been getting calls from small businesses asking how to handle discord among staffers and keep them working constructively.
"People have stopped working with each other in the same way. They've changed their opinions of their co-workers," said Lewis, CEO of Operations Inc., based in Norwalk, Conn. "Clients have seen, in some situations, open arguments."
At his own business, Lewis sent a message to staff saying the firm has a positive culture with employees working together, but acknowledging political passions could hurt that culture and create an atmosphere that would make people not want to work there.
He asked staff members to think about each other's feelings and the company's well-being before any political conversations. He also asked that such conversations "be carefully considered in advance and handled with the utmost level of sensitivity and care."
Some companies see staffers happier. The five employees at MasterMind, Stephen Twomey's website design and marketing company in Traverse City, Mich., have been upbeat since the inauguration.
"Knowing that we have a president who puts the safety of Americans at the forefront of their policy lets them rest safer," he said.
After the Trump administration's travel restrictions were issued, staffers at Lou Hoffman's marketing company in San Jose, Calif., started worrying about a co-worker who's applying for a green card. The staff has kept working, he said, but their morale has been affected.
"I do see more worried faces," Hoffman said. "It's a combination of unsettling and disturbing, and a feeling among the staff of, 'Why does it have to come to this?'"
Owners who see a change in morale or productivity shouldn't try to ban political conversation, said Midge Seltzer, president of EngagePEO, a human resources provider based in Hollywood, Fla.
She said a better approach is to remind everyone why they're there to conduct company operations. Owners shouldn't get involved in political discussions, Seltzer said.
"They should be leading by example," she said. "They need to stay neutral."
Dont give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Keep these, the homeless, tempest-tossed far away from here. I refuse to lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Have we broadcast this message before in our history as we seem to be doing now to Syrian refugees? The historical record appears to be yes.
Once upon a time, there were large numbers of refugees desperate to get out of where they were.
Many sensed full well what their fate would be if they were trapped. They lined up in droves at U.S. embassies and consulates begging to be let in to America.
But, those embassies and consulates were ordered to delay, delay, delay their visas.
Why?
1. Many claimed they included infiltrators intent on spreading violent mayhem in the U.S. and it was too hard to sort out who was a legitimate refugee and who wasnt. And, it was also argued that those who did get to come legitimately would have received warnings that if they didnt cooperate with the authorities back home that their own parents and close relatives would be taken out and shot.
2. Quite a few believed that these refugees were part of a global conspiracy to take control of the U.S. from the inside. It was said that thanks to our lax immigration regulations, many would get in who hated our institutions and wanted to overthrow them.
3. Others feared that these refugees were out to steal jobs from good patriotic Americans. One of the main publicists for these advocates said he simply wanted our own fine boys and lovely girls to have all the jobs in this wonderful country.
4. At least 60 anti-alien proposals were submitted to the 76th Congress to keep these refugees out and one included a provision for any who had managed to get in that they should be forthwith deported. These bills were supported by the American Legion, the DAR, and a fair number of Christian and nationalist organizations. Polls showed that fewer than 5 percent of Americans believed these refugees should be encouraged to come here. Efforts to pass a bill to let in 10,000 refugee children failed to get sufficient support.
5. Certain elected officials argued that the refugees were not Christians and thus not wanted here. As a result, very few were able to get here.
Who were they? Jews trying to escape the Nazis.
Who do we as a nation want to be: with the sheep or the goats at the end of time?
Will any of the desperate Syrian refugees be able to say:
"I was a stranger and you invited me in?"
The Augustana Symphonic Band will start its first tour of Spain on Friday, presenting five concerts near Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. Led by James Lambrecht, director of bands and co-chair of the music department, the 53-member band has a tradition of touring across the country and around the world that goes back decades, according to the college.
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"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" is Londons longest-running comedy and features three actors who perform all of Shakespeares 37 plays in about 90 minutes.
Students at St. Ambrose University will perform the wild, wacky compendium at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday. It features actors Max Moline, Jackson Green and Jordon Webster Moore, directed by Brent Tubbs, a Quad-City native who performed in the original touring production.
Mr. Tubbs joined the Reduced Shakespeare Company in 2005 and toured around the world, including places such as Holland and Belgium, to perform in the production, according to an SAU release. Four years ago, Mr. Tubbs moved back to the Quad-Cities and performs locally. He most recently was in "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)" at the QC Theatre Workshop.
The SAU comedy is one of three Shakespearean productions being staged this year on the Davenport campus, 518 W. Locust St. It follows a fall production of "The Tempest" and precedes the spring production "Richard III," which will be performed April 21-23.
Shakespeare (1564-1616) and his works are the subject of St. Ambrose Universitys academic project theme during this school year. Throughout the year, lectures, performances and classes have focused on Shakespeare, in honor of 2016 being the 400th anniversary year of the Bards death.
Daniel Rairdin-Hale, SAU associate professor and theater department chair, described the current production as a "mashing of all of Shakespeares comedies, histories and tragedies into a comedic, high-energy romp."
If you know Shakespeares plays, you will really find this funny. If you dont know Shakespeares plays, you will still find it really funny and you might learn a little bit about Shakespeare, too, Mr. Rairdin-Hale said in a recent release.
Tickets are $11 for adults, $9 for faculty/staff/senior citizens, $8 for non-SAU students, $8 for groups, and free for SAU students with a university ID. The show contains adult content.
CHICAGO (AP) Chicago Public Schools filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the governor and state education officials, claiming the way Illinois funds its schools violates the civil rights of the predominantly-minority student population in the nation's third-largest school district.
The complaint, filed on behalf of black and Hispanic families who say Chicago's schools are underfunded, seeks to have a Cook County judge declare the funding system unlawful.
The lawsuit cites the landmark Brown v. Board of Education civil rights case. It argues Illinois essentially has one way of funding Chicago schools, where 90 percent of the students are Hispanic and black, and another for the other districts statewide, which are predominantly white.
Chicago officials also argue the district is penalized since it's the only one in Illinois where local taxpayers, not the state, help pick up teacher pension costs. The lawsuit contends that when all state funding is factored in, Chicago students receive 15 percent of Illinois' education spending while having nearly 20 percent of the state's students.
"Chicago students, who are overwhelmingly students of color, are learning in a separate but unequal system," Schools CEO Forrest Claypool said in a statement. "The message from the state is that their educations matter less than children in the rest of Illinois, and that is both morally and legally indefensible."
A statement from Gov. Bruce Rauner's office said state officials were reviewing the lawsuit.
Such school funding lawsuits aren't unusual.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in nearly every U.S. state, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. While states have often lost, legislative changes have varied.
Illinois disperses money to schools through a complex calculation that provides per-student funding that even state officials acknowledge is insufficient, causing school districts to rely heavily on local property tax revenues. There's wide consensus that the 1997 formula is unfair with a wide spending gap between low and high poverty districts, like Chicago. But there's little agreement on how to overhaul it and the nearly two-year state budget impasse has overshadowed other issues at the Capitol.
When asked about the lawsuit, Rauner's office issued a statement from Secretary of Education Beth Purvis. She noted the work of a bipartisan task force on school funding and said she hopes "CPS will be a partner in that endeavor."
Chicago' school system faces other serious financial problems.
Credit rating agencies have placed the district at "junk status." The nearly 400,000-student district recently instituted a spending freeze, program cuts and furlough days because the roughly $5.4 billion budget was contingent upon $215 million in pension relief from the state. Rauner, who's accused the district of years of fiscal mismanagement, vetoed it. State officials have also said that Chicago received hundreds of millions of dollars in block grants that other districts aren't eligible for.
Along with Rauner, the lawsuit names State Board of Education officials and Comptroller Susana Mendoza, whose office controls Illinois' checkbook.
CHICAGO (AP) A Cook County judge on Wednesday set aside the convictions of four Chicago men who were imprisoned for years for their alleged involvement in 1995 double murder during an auto dealership robbery.
Prosecutors in July dropped the charges against Charles Johnson and Larod Styles, but then State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said they would be retried. Both men were freed on bail.
Alvarez's replacement, Kim Foxx, decided not to retry the men, saying in a statement Wednesday her office would not be able to sustain its burden of proof if the cases were retried.
"There were times I felt like it was too much for me to bear, he was like, 'Man, it's going to be all right, you're going to make it,'" Styles said after the judge's decision.
Johnson and Styles were sentenced to life in prison for the 1995 murders of Yousef Ali and Khalid Ibrahim during a robbery of the victims' car dealership.
The men were granted new trials in light of fingerprint evidence their attorneys say points to another culprit.
Lawshawn Ezell, who was convicted of armed robbery, completed his 20-year prison sentence. Troshawn McCoy, who has nearly finished serving his 55-year prison sentence, remained behind bars awaiting a hearing on his petition for a new trial.
Johnson, a Cola-Cola deliveryman, signed a confession saying he planned to steal cars for parts to sell on the black market. Johnson, 39, now claims Chicago Police detectives pressured him into confessing. Styles, like Johnson a teenager at the time, also confessed.
Johnson's lawyers argued he signed the confession only after he was told it was a routine document that would lead to his release.
Lawyers from several firms, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful Convictions worked for years to overturn the convictions. Lawyers say a fingerprint lifted from dealership price sticker peeled from a stolen vehicle and discarded in the lot matched a convicted drug dealer who lived just a block from where the vehicle was ditched.
CHICAGO (AP) Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush says the Justice Department should re-open the case of the Emmett Till lynching now that a key witness has been quoted as saying she lied about what the black teen said and did before he was murdered in Mississippi.
A new book by author and historian Timothy B. Tyson says Carolyn Donham told him a decade ago she wasn't telling the truth with her claims of sexual advances by the 14-year-old Chicago boy.
In August 1955, Till was kidnapped, tortured, shot, mutilated. Donham's first husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, were acquitted of the murder, but both later claimed responsibility.
The Justice Department in 2007 determined the Till case did not warrant federal prosecution due to the statute of limitations on any potential federal crimes.
Rush said Tuesday the department's decision should be reevaluated.
GENESEO A development agreement for a 44-lot phase-one Mel Foster subdivision on the north edge of Geneseo will move forward despite animated arguments against it from five people Tuesday.
The council voted 7-1 to approve the agreement with Maple Leaf Farms, removing a sunset clause for a final turn-lane payment from the park district and continue negotiations with the Illinois Department of Transportation on the state-mandated turn lane.
John Loucks said he wondered why the issue was coming up again since residents voted down bonds for the turn-lane project in 2010. Darrell Strohman said it amounted to subsidizing one individual. Greg Ryner said Geneseo needed work on existing streets, sewers and sidewalks. Carl Smith said a vote of the people used to stand for something. This is not right, he said.
Two council members Alds. Bob Wachtel, 2nd Ward and Sue Garlick, 1st Ward -- said they had voted against the turn lane seven years ago but changed their minds now. Six taxing districts are participating with the city, and their boards voted to devote future tax revenue to the turn lane, reducing the citys cost to $40,000 for a $400,000 project.
Ald. Wachtel said he knew the city needed houses at that time, but the funding then was a total mess.
Sue Garlick said she had voted no before, but now she cant take her constituents exact words but instead has to take all the information Im given and weigh it.
Making the motion to approve the agreement, Ald. Martin Rothschild, 3rd Ward, said there wasnt one business, school or church in town that cannot use more people.
Other people would like to have our quality of life, he said.
He said overall, comments hes heard from residents are five to one in favor of the subdivision.
I made my motion and stand by it and proudly stand by it, he said.
Ald. Brenda Johnson, 3rd Ward, said some of the people who built new homes in Weber Estates might have chosen the new subdivision had it been available and there are now 18 students attending Geneseo schools from there. A detractor said those were existing Geneseo families and not new ones, but Ald. Paula Simosky, 1st Ward, said she knows from experience that people move to town from outer subdivisions.
Young families get tired of doing the whole Wolf Road thing, she said.
The matter will return to the council after bids are obtained and the turn lane project has a ceiling of $450,000. If bids are higher, the project will automatically come back to the council.
City administrator Lisa Kotter urged the opponents to contact her and get answers to their questions, noting she has already met privately with a number of people.
Certainly more than not, people have a better understanding when they come in. Its certainly not a perfect science, she added.
The council also approved the low bid of $655,093 from Walter D. Laud of East Moline for the water/sewer project of First Street and Oakwood Avenue to alleviate flooding. The construction estimate had been $722,000. Completion date is late August. Most of the funding will come from the water and sewer budget; the rest will come from the general fund.
Ald. James Roodhouse remarked on what a good project it was.
I just hope people see that we are moving forward. Were not just talking about it, were moving forward and getting things done, said Ald. Rothschild.
MOLINE Aldermen at Tuesday's city council meeting approved releasing city funds in order to receive up to $2,624,000 in federal money from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The federal pot is available for three resurfacing projects: 12th Avenue from 34th to 53rd streets, River Drive from 23rd to 34th streets, and 16th Street from John Deere Road to 52nd Avenue. To receive the money, the city must provide a 20 percent match and has $656,000 in motor fuel tax money from which to draw.
The approval was unanimous.
The council also unanimously approved these measures:
A $1,434,885 pavement patching contract with Centennial Contractors.
A $193,450 contract with Tri-City Blacktop Inc. for street seal coating.
A $162,475 contract with Precision Pavement Markings Inc. for making pavement markings on city streets.
A $123,760 contract with Walter D. Laud for replacement of inlets and catch basins.
The purchase of parking management systems for the parking lots at The Q the Quad-Cities' multi-modal passenger rail station and business development. The systems will cost about $200,000 total.
In other council business:
First reading for a development and economic incentive agreement between Moline and SPA Development LLC. It will assist the company as it remodels the interior and exterior of the new location of Duckys Formal Wear and Little Black Dress, 1721 5th Ave. The project is expected to cost about $536,157.
City assistance through the agreement includes providing a tax-increment-financing district rebate of up to $80,423.55.
First reading is a measure's usual introduction to city council, paving the way for final action.
Two closed sessions. No action was taken after either.
The first lasted from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. During it, aldermen heard from the attorney assisting them in an investigation into accusations of employee misconduct.
The city council announced the investigation in late September. The allegations have been described as theft and whistle-blower violations related to inaccurate time reporting in the pay system.
Other details of the alleged wrongdoing, how many employees are suspected of involvement, and when and how it was brought to the city's attention have yet to be released.
The aldermen have hired Lane & Waterman LLP as independent legal counsel for the investigation, and the firm has been reviewing the allegations.
Ald. Mike Wendt, 3rd Ward, said the review of the report was not yet done, and another closed session would be scheduled to continue going through its contents.
The second executive session was after the regular council session and pertained to matters involving employees and property acquisition.
Acting as committee of the whole, the aldermen also gave initial approval to the final ordinances that will create the Avenue of the Cities/27th Street business district plan.
Dolan Commons LLC is planning a mixed-use development in the area. Through the business district and other measures, Moline would provide nearly $2 million in property tax and sales tax incentives to Dolan spread out over about 20 years and drawn from increases brought about by the improvements at the development.
The committee also approved these measures:
An $82,695 contract with Needham Excavating Inc., to carry out maintenance on the 16th Street Ditch.
An $96,700 agreement with Freehill Asphalt Inc. to do joint and crack sealing for 2017.
Anything approved at committee of the whole usually must receive final approval at a future city council meeting.
MOLINE Over lunch Tuesday, three state legislators talked with Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce members about economic development once Illinois finally gets a budget.
State Reps. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, and Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, and state Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Rock Island, took questions from local elected officials and business leaders. They talked of the importance of monetary award program grants for students, infrastructure investment and economic development.
But the conversation often veered to the lengthy budget stalemate.
"Nothing can really happen without a budget being passed," said panel moderator Henry Marquard, the Chamber's director of government affairs. The legislators agreed.
"The budget has to be top priority," Rep. Halpin said. "It's the one thing preventing us from doing anything else at the moment."
That elephant in the room aside, Mr. Marquard lauded the cooperation chamber members get when they ask area legislators for help with issues important to chamber priorities. He cited last year's Future Energy Jobs Bill that saved hundreds of jobs at Exelon's Quad City Nuclear Generating plant near Cordova.
The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Anderson, passed Dec. 1 after months of negotiations and much input from chamber members.
"We do need your input. We need your activity," Mr. Marquard told chamber members. "We appreciate you being here and encourage you to continue to be engaged in the future."
The state budget impasse creates uncertainty about most everything else, with senate negotiations ongoing. Sen. Anderson explained why his party last week turned down efforts by Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, to pass portions of a budget compromise in four separate votes.
"Our position, which I totally agree with, we can't vote on these bills because we're not done negotiating," Sen. Anderson said. "Negotiations aren't done until both sides agree that we're done. ... As a caucus we agreed, we're not going to vote for these bills."
All three lawmakers want MAP grants to survive the budget battle.
"Everybody thinks for the most part that MAP grants are absolutely vital, not only to students but to communities," Sen. Anderson said. "A lot of people don't understand what kind of economic activity those MAP grants create, especially in a district like ours."
"I agree, and I think it's time for those of us who run for office, that we run on a campaign that education comes first," added Rep. McCombie.
"Why is education not funded first in our budget?" she said. "And then go back into the rest of it."
Rep. Halpin said he expects MAP grants will be in the final budget agreement.
"As Sen. Anderson said, I don't think there's any opposition to the program itself," Rep. Halpin said. "The resistance has just been: there's no budget. We're trying to not tackle these things piecemeal if we can avoid it, and it's just one of those programs that's caught in the middle."
Rock Island County board member Drue Mielke, R-Coal Valley, asked about a House bill that would increase the share of state income tax disbursed to municipalities and counties. On Monday, the county board's Governance, Health and Administration Committee discussed lobbying for the bill introduced last month as an avenue to increase revenues.
"I think it's a wonderful thing for municipalities to get additional funds," Rep. McCombie said. "My only question, just like everything else, is how are we going to pay for it?
"As a former mayor of Savanna, I would love to see that happen," she said. "What are we going to be taking it from?"
Rep. Halpin said the bill is fair and he voted to pass it out of the Cities and Villages Committee last week. By 2020, the bill would increase local government's share of the income tax from 8 to 10 percent the same percentage awarded before the state income tax rate was raised to 5 percent in in 2011. The rate was lowered to 3.75 percent in 2015.
"Cities and villages understood that the increase was generally to benefit the state, because the state wasn't paying its bills," Rep. Halpin said of the 2011 tax increase. "So they agreed to lower that to 8 percent. Now that that income tax increase has expired, the cities and villages are now paying for less revenue coming into the state, and they're only getting that 8 percent.
"To me, it's not a question of how do we pay for it," he said. "This is essentially the cities' and villages' funds that they agreed to take a hit on in order to help the state out. We have to keep that bargain."
Police in western India have arrested nine people as they investigate the collapse of a newly repaired 143-year-old suspension bridge. The collapse Sunday evening in Gujarat state plunged hundreds of people into a river, killing at least 134. As families mourned the dead, attention turned to why the bridge, built during British colonialism, had collapsed and who might be responsible. Security video showed hundreds of people clinging to the broken structure and trying to make their way to safety. The pedestrian bridge had reopened just four days earlier after more than six months of repairs. Officials said it was overloaded with people drawn to the attraction during the Hindu festival season.
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WITH the expansion of highway networks and introduction of heavier lorries, wagonload rail has been under sustained pressure for decades. For Swiss rail freight operator SBB Cargo, however, it is a fixed part of their strategic plan and ripe for improvement.
A new system for wagonload traffic, dubbed WLV 2017, is now in operation in Switzerland. It offers collection and delivery up to three times a day instead of just once, with a booking system for customers that provides fixed slots at fixed times - they can simply look at the timetable to find out what time and where trains are offered, then book. The aim is to bring wagonload services up-to-date so they are faster, more efficient and more punctual in order to meet the needs of modern logistics systems. And SBB Cargo is embracing the system following a major change in the Swiss timetable on December 11 2016, when the 57km Gotthard Base Tunnel began full operations after 17 years of construction.
Under the new system, freight wagons are handled on a 24-hour rota in three shifts at the major shunting yards such as the main yard at Limmattal near Zurich, Lausanne and also Ticino, where there is a growing market. These phases are timed to avoid conflicts with peak passenger services, and mean that same-day delivery can be offered. It also means the load on locomotives can be optimised, leading to greater efficiency and a higher return on investment. And it means shift work for the train drivers, so fewer need to be employed. This is still a topic for SBB Cargo, which made a loss of SFr 22 million ($US 21.7m) in 2015, but is looking forward to a better result for 2016 thanks to cost-cutting measures.
Rail is very important for Switzerland, and we are aiming to offer a modern service, says SBB Cargo CEO Mr Nicolas Perrin. We have a huge advantage over road, which is very traffic-dependent, as we can make plans according to a fixed schedule.
SBB Cargo carries 205,000 tonnes of freight per day, 25% of all goods transported in Switzerland. This makes it the biggest single carrier in a market that is hotly contested by the rail and road sectors. A 25% market share is extremely high, Perrin says. To increase this will be hard, but we certainly dont want to lose any clients.
At the same time, Perrin emphasises the importance of cooperation. Partnership between road and rail for large quantities of freight is essential, and weve been working together with our customers for some time to develop this concept, he says. There are 30 top customers among SBB Cargos list of around 1000 clients, including the road haulage company Planzer, and the Migros and Coop supermarket chains. There is also the Feldschlosschen brewery which has used combined transport throughout its 140-year history.
It needs both sides to develop a system and make it work, Perrin continues. The cement manufacturer Holcim is one of our big customers, and their products naturally belong to rail not road. Its up to us to work with them to find solutions.
International wagonload traffic offers a certain amount of scope as well. For example, the X-Rail alliance of six rail companies, which is slowly making progress, he points out. Were thinking what we can do; the problem is the infrastructure in other countries. We already have intermodal customers and are talking with potential new ones, but its a huge change for companies that have never used intermodal services and it needs time. We have a new terminal in Ticino which is really good, so were well-placed. And its encouraging that were attracting more road haulage companies.
Strong franc
One of the factors promoting the development of WLV 2017 was the economic situation in Switzerland, which is still battling the effects of a strong Swiss franc. With the decline in heavy industry and the resultant loss of business, we decided to target a third sector, including services and consumer products, which meant we had to adapt to the higher speed of service and greater productivity demanded by the logistics sectors, Perrin explains. The real pioneer for this is Green Cargo in Sweden.
Also important is the technical side. The freight wagon is the most important link in the chain between the customer and the operator. Basically, its a dumb metal box with low engineering, and if were going to meet the needs of modern logistics it has to be quieter and faster with more automatic functions, Perrin says.
He says the situation is changing with the development of asset intelligence. Included in the programme is the use of mobile devices, automatic operating in shunting yards, automatic brake testing, predictive maintenance, automatic coupling and wayside technology. SBB Cargo also introduced a project in November to fit all of its wagons with RFID tags over the next two years. Were working on all of these aspects, and were confident that itll bring a lot of benefit in the future.
SBB Cargo is part of the Technical Innovation Circle for Rail Freight Transport (TIS), a multi-sector organisation set up to devise ways of applying existing innovations and standardising the rail freight sector for greater compatibility. To this end the Swiss operator is launching the 5L demonstrator train in a four-year project. The first four wagons of the train are being equipped with automatic coupling systems, new bogies, measures for noise reduction, braking systems, wheelsets and telematics applications, trials are due to start this spring.
SBB Cargos plans for dragging its wagonload sector into the 21st century are enviable, but whether other countries are likely to follow suit is a moot point, according to Perrin.
France and Italy have put wagonload traffic on the backburner, and in any case, it is understood that any route under 1000km is not economic. It is also a question of topography: Switzerland is a small, mountainous country with a well-developed, heavily-used railway system, and the solutions it develops are not necessarily applicable in larger countries with less challenging geography. But Perrin is reasonably sanguine:
With our intelligent freight wagons, we hope that other railway companies will jump on the bandwagon, he says. After all, digitalisation offers a huge chance of boosting both customer communications and automated operating systems, and our sector would be well-advised to take it up.
Illinois Department of Transportation awarded Siemens a $US 228m contract in 2014 to supply 32 of the 200km/h diesel-electric locomotives for use on Amtrak services in the states of Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington. Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has ordered eight locomotives as part of its $US 800m federally-funded Cascades High-Speed Rail Program.
The locomotive being used for testing is destined for Illinois, and the first SC-44 for Washington is due to arrive in the Pacific Northwest in early April. WSDOT says these locomotives will receive a Cascades inspired livery.
The delivery of new traction and other improvements will enable WSDOT to introduce two additional daily Cascades services between Seattle and Portland in the autumn.
Production of the SC-44s is being carried out at Siemens plant in Sacramento, California.
The four-axle ac traction Charger is the first locomotive to be equipped with Cummins' QSK 95 power unit. The 95-litre 16 cylinder engine is rated at 3.28MW and is equipped with Cummins' Modular Common Rail Fuel System (MCRS) with quad-turbocharging. The QSK95 is also equipped with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) exhaust aftertreatment, enabling it to meet US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 emissions standards.
Canadian Pacific has promoted John Brooks to senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, responsible for business units and sales and marketing staff based throughout North America.
He reports to Keith Creel, CP president and chief executive officer.
Reporting directly to Brooks will be Tommy Browning, vice-president of sales and marketing, Merchandise and Bulk, and Jonathan Wahba, vice-president of sales and marketing, Intermodal and Grain.
Brooks was vice-president of marketing at the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern prior to it being acquired by CP in 2007. He began his career in railroading more than 20 years ago with Union Pacific and later helped start I&M Rail Link, which was purchased by the DM&E in 2002. He has held senior responsibilities in all lines of business including coal, chemicals, merchandise products, grain and intermodal.
Browning started his rail career with Illinois Central in 1989 and has held a number of senior marketing and operations-related roles in his nearly three decades in the industry. Since joining CP in 2013, Browning has played an integral role in enhancing CPs merchandise and bulk portfolios while building relationships with key customers.
Wahba, who was most recently chief operating officer at Kriska Transportation Group, has also held leadership positions at Schneider National, Canadian National and Midland Transport. His extensive experience in trucking and rail will support CPs intermodal business.
Late on Feb. 14, CSX Corp. announced it plans to hold a special shareholder meeting on Feb. 16 after discussions for E. Hunter Harrison to take over the reins as the next CEO appear to have hit an impasse. Cowen and Company Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl weighs in:
CSX wants to know what investors think. Management and the Board of Directors are receptive to Hunter Harrison becoming the next CEO, but the costs and stipulated conditions seem steep as they stand today. We think this is likely a classic move by [activist hedge fund] Mantle Ridge LP and Harrison to ask for more than they think they can get up front, with the expectation that the final agreement will be more equitable.
CSX revealed that it has made numerous proposals for Harrison to join CSX as CEO, but it seems as if the offers were not enough. The main sticking points appear to be the size and terms of Harrisons compensation package, medical pre-screening (he has had health issues the past few years), the timing of payment, repayment of fees incurred by Mantle Ridge, designation of numerous board members, selection of compensation committee chairs, and a change to the bylaws to extend the age limit for a board member.
At the meeting, shareholders will be asked to approve the compensation package proposed by Harrison and, if he is hired, the corporate governance changes proposed by Harrison and Mantle Ridge. Hence, it is entirely possible for shareholders to approve his hiring and pay package but reject the changes to the companys corporate governance. CSX has taken a stance not to recommend shareholders vote for or against either proposal, but it appears to us from the language in the press release that while CSX thinks Harrison becoming CEO is a long term positive for the business, current management and the Board feel that Harrisons/[Mantle Ridge CEO Paul] Hilals demands are excessive. Top CSX shareholders include Vanguard, Capital Research, State Street, Blackrock, Wellington, Fidelity, Nomura, Lazard, Janus and Dimensional Fund Advisors. Collectively, these top ten investors own just over one-third of the company.
The proverbial ball is now in the court of CSX shareholders. Discussion of Harrison coming to CSX has provided the company with over $10 billion in market capitalization, so it is hard to fathom that shareholders will squabble with the compensation package even if the current CSX board finds it excessive. However, it is entirely possible for them to vote against the changes in corporate governance. This would place the ball back in Harrisons hands, which could prove interesting as CSX appears the best fit for him at this stage, given that management is somewhat receptive.
National certification testing of Amtraks new Charger locomotive is being conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The WSDOT said that the Siemens SC-44 Charger units are testing on the Amtrak Cascades corridor throughout February. If all goes well they are scheduled to enter regular service later this year.
The WSDOT has ordered eight of the 4,400-horsepower locomotives, which are being assembled by Siemens in Sacramento. Siemens is headquartered in Germany.
Washington, along with Illinois, California, Michigan and Missouri jointly developed specifications for the Charger. Washington operates the Cascades Corridor service with the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Floridas privately-run Brightline passenger service has been testing the first of an order of five Charger trainsets delivered in January.
Hauling a Cascades trainset sans passengers, the Chargers will transit various sections of the existing Vancouver, British Columbia to Eugene, Oregon corridor. Amtrak and Siemens staff will test and monitor how the locomotive performs.
The agency added that because its eight locomotives are under construction in California, an Illinois unit has been deployed for testing. The WSDOT units are slated to arrive in April.
The Charger was previously tested at the AARs facility in Colorado.
The new locomotive is part of WSDOTs $800 million federally funded Cascades High-Speed Rail program.
The added motive power and other improvements will enable the WSDOT to add two more daily Amtrak Cascades roundtrips between Seattle and Portland beginning in the fall.
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As countries of the Asia-Pacific develop policies to regulate large maritime zones of jurisdiction, the importance of coast guards as instruments of state policy has become increasingly important as a means of enforcing national maritime laws. Although the topic of coast guards has been dominated as of late by China's massive coast guard expansion and its role in territorial disputes, the operations of smaller coast guards, such as the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA),[1] have received comparatively little attention. This article attempts to highlight the roles, force structure, and effectiveness of operations of the CGA.
The modern CGA was founded in 2000 with the integration of Taiwan's Coast Guard Command and the Maritime Police and Customs into one civilian law enforcement agency. Like the United States Coast Guard, the CGA serves homeland security functions during peacetime and national defense missions during wartime. The CGA is under the administration of the Executive Yuan.
The top three missions of the CGA are: 1) the regulation of coastal zones under national jurisdiction, 2) the inspection of cargo entering and exiting ports, and 3) the investigation and seizure of smuggling operations and illegal vessels or people entering or exiting the country. Other missions include search and rescue, intelligence gathering, and support for maritime research and development.
The CGA is organized functionally across two directorates: a Maritime Patrol Directorate General (MPDG) (), responsible for far seas operations and patrols, and a Coastal Patrol Directorate General (CPDG) (), which patrols coastal waters, rivers, ports and bays. The CGA is organized regionally into Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern sectors, which cover the island of Taiwan proper (1,130 miles of coastline), as well as the waters surrounding the islands of Kinmen, Lienchiang (composed of Nangan and Dongying townships), Penghu, Pratas, and Taiping Island in the South China Sea. The total maritime area under Taiwanese jurisdiction covers over 335,000 square miles of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters.
According to CGA statistics, by the end of 2015 ( PDF ), the CGA had 13,061 personnel dispersed among the two directorate fleets. The MPDG is the CGA's blue water fleet that must cover far sea maritime areas. Therefore, the MPDG has many of CGA's largest cutters, such as the 3,000-ton Yilan class (CG-128) and Kaohsiung class (CG-128), both outfitted with helicopter landing pads and auto-cannons. The MPDG executes its mission with only 20 percent of total CGA personnelabout 2,550 officers. The bulk of the CGA is concentrated in the CPDG, with 10,222 personnel stationed across 13 patrol areas (), and dozens of brigades () and corps () units.
The total size of the CGA fleet is around 140 patrol and coastal vessels and is eight years into a 37 vessel, 24 billion NTD (US$ 782 million) shipbuilding program which will reportedly add 17,000 tons of capacity. When completed, the CGA will boast a total fleet size of 36,000 tons and 173 vessels.
Illegal fishing within Taiwan-administered waters is an area of increasing emphasis for Taiwan's Coast Guard.
Illegal fishing within Taiwan-administered watersin particular cracking down on illegal fishing activities from the People's Republic China (PRC) (as is happening in other parts of East Asia)is an area of increasing emphasis for the CGA. These waters include Taiwan proper as well as the islands of Kinmen, Lienchiang, Penghu, and Pratasterritory claimed by the PRC but which the PRC does not actively contest. The only territory that Taiwan administers that could be considered contested is Taiping Island in the South China Sea, which is claimed by the PRC, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In other words, the illegal fishing that the CGA is attempting to neutralize appears to be occurring in largely uncontested maritime zonesthe jurisdiction and laws over which are tacitly accepted by the PRC.
Starting in March 2012, the CGA initiated an aggressive campaign against illegal fisherman from the PRC called the Clear Ocean Program (), which increased the number of investigations (), expulsions and fines for fishing violations occurring within Taiwan-administered waters. The program appears to have been effective, as the number of illegal fishing inspections has gradually decreased over the past few years.
In 2015, for example, only 2,120 ships were inspected, of which 96 percent (2,035) were expelled () and 4 percent (85) were detained (). This represented a decrease from an average of 5,110 inspections over the previous five years, according to CGA statistics. Most of the vessel detentions occurred near Kinmen, Lienchiang and Pratas islands, areas where 90 percent of fish stock has been depleted over the past 30 years.
Of the illegal fishing vessels inspected over the past five years, almost half (47.1 percent) were interdicted in waters off of Taiwan proper. The other half (43.5 percent) occurred off of Kinmen and the waters surrounding Lienchiang Countyislands located only a few miles from mainland China. The other 10 percent occurred off Pratas and Taiping Island.
The size of vessels inspected range from 5-200 tons, with 100-200 ton vessels ranking first among all vessels seized in the past five years. 96.8 percent of these vessels came from the PRC, according to official CGA statistics.
Furthermore, between 2012 and 2015, fines against fishermen from the PRC increased substantially and peaked at 275 vessels in 2014, with fines averaging 175,100 NTD per vessel. The heavy fines and aggressive patrols seemingly had a deterrent effect, as only 78 vessels were fined in 2015.
The PRC is not the only country against which the CGA has stepped up operations. The CGA on occasion seeks to protect Taiwanese fishing and, in some cases, activists' interests near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands. In the course of protecting a flotilla of Taiwanese activists attempting to assert sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands in 2012, the CGA reportedly bumped into Japanese Coast Guard vessels that were attempting to apprehend the activists. The CGA has also gotten into numerous skirmishes with Philippine Coast Guard and fishing vessels in the past. However, among illegal foreign activities in Taiwan-administered waters, Chinese fisherman represent the primary challenge to CGA authority and will likely remain so in the near future.
Finally, one mission of the CGA that has received relatively little attention is its jurisdiction over the disputed Taiping Island within the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. In January 2000, the CGA replaced the Taiwan Marine Corps station in Taiping Island (with stations on Pratas and Kinmen Islands following suit), marking an important shift in administrative control from military to civilian personnel. The CGA also oversees biannual live-fire and search and rescue drills with the Taiwan Navy off Taiping and Pratas Islands to enhance interoperability and defense capabilities between the two services. The shift in command to the CGA reflects an understanding on the part of Taiwanese leaders that the South China Sea should be demilitarized.
The main point: The CGA is an increasingly effective constabulary force facilitating the protection and regulation of Taiwanese maritime rights and interests in the East and South China Sea.
Note
Lyle J. Morris is a policy analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, where he focuses on Asia-Pacific security issues. The author would like to thank Logan Ma and Arthur Chan for research assistance for this article.
This commentary originally appeared in Global Taiwan Brief on February 15, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
Costa Rica will switch off analogue TV by the end of the year, while Brazil and Ecuadors switchovers are scheduled for 2018.
Mexico will remain for at least another year as the only Latin American country to have switched off analogue TV, according to ANTV, Colombias TV authority . Costa Rica will be the second territory in the region to complete TV digitalisation, as its switch-off is scheduled for December 2017.Ecuador was supposed to be the second Latin American country to complete the digital switchover, but the Government announced a postponement in January.Brazil is on track to meet its deadline and is preparing to switch off analogue TV for Sao Paulos 12 million inhabitants by the end of March.According to ANTV, Argentina and Colombia will be next, as the digitalisation process is expected to conclude by August and December 2019, respectively.Chile and Paraguay have scheduled the switch-off for 2020 and Perus is set for 2025.Deadlines are difficult to predict for the rest of the Latin American countries, in which the process has not been fully scheduled. Some, like El Salvador, were forced to rethink their DTT plan and start from scratch.
9 Story Media Group has landed a major coup in a licensing deal with Discovery Kids Latin America for its childrens series Nature Cat.
Aimed at children three to eight-year-olds, Nature Cat helps children relate to and engage with the natural world. Nature Cat cant wait to get outside for a day of nature excursions and bravery, but theres one problem: hes a house cat with no instincts for nature. With the help of his animal friends, Nature Cat embarks on action-packed adventures that include exciting missions full of investigation, aha discovery moments and humour, all while inspiring children to go outside and play.Created by the creative team at Spiffy Pictures and co-produced by Spiffy Pictures and WTTW Chicago, 9 Story handles international distribution and consumer products outside of the US, while HiHat Media handles brand licensing within the US. The series was nominated for a 2016 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animation Program as well as a Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming. Nature Cat already runs on PBS KIDS in the US and on Family CHRGD in Canada. Internationally, the series has been previously licensed to SVT (Sweden), TG4 (Ireland), SIC (Portugal), Canal Panda (Spain), AMC Networks (Spain), Nick Jr (Italy) via Funwood Media, Cineplex (Thailand), Discovery Asia (Indian Subcontinent), Mediacorp (Singapore), E Junior (Middle East), and Hop TV (Israel).Discovery Kids also airs 9 Storys Wild Kratts and Peg + Cat
Former Crimean Vice-Prime Minister suspected of taking bribe
MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI) A criminal case has been launched against a former Vice-Prime Minister of Crimea on suspicion of taking a large-scale bribe, the Investigative Committees Main Department in Crimea announced on Wednesday.
Investigators claim that the arrested official is suspected of receiving a part of a 27-million-ruble ($467,600) bribe through an intermediary. Reportedly, the suspect is former Crimean Vice-Prime Minister Oleg Kazurin who was resigned in late December 2016.
According to investigators, between August and December 2016, the suspect received money for protection during selection of a government contractor which would be involved in housing construction in Crimea.
A criminal case was also opened against an intermediary who is suspected of mediation in bribery. He is under travel restrictions.
The New York Times, February 14, 2017
By Zahra Nader and Rod Nordland
KABUL, Afghanistan An armed mob that included relatives of a young woman who had eloped with her lover stormed a police station holding the couple in eastern Afghanistan over the weekend, then dragged the lovers off and killed them, officials and witnesses said.
The mob wounded three police officers, one of them seriously, the officials and witnesses said Sunday and Monday in providing accounts of the couples violent deaths, often called honor killings.
The woman, Fatiha, 18, was described as having been married against her will and eloping instead with a young man, Hedayatullah, believed to be in his early 20s, from a neighboring village in Wama District of Nuristan Province. But on Saturday the police caught and arrested the couple on suspicion of adultery.
Within hours an armed mob formed at the police station, led by Fatihas husband and his family, but also including her brothers and cousins, the officials and witnesses said.
The authorities said there were only 30 police officers at the station facing a mob of 250 to 300 heavily armed men. If police had fired bullets at the people, a massacre could have happened, said Hafiz Abdul Qayoom, the governor of Nuristan, claiming the police had no option but to surrender the couple to the mob, especially after three officers had suffered gunshot wounds from the angry crowd.
Enayatullah, the district governor in Wama, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said the couple were apparently killed soon after they had been taken out of the police station.
We asked for additional police, but the road to the district was closed due to snow, he said. If the police had resisted more, a disaster would have taken place.
Salam Khan, 22, a witness from Fatihas village, Sar-i-Pul, said he saw what had happened to the couple after the police surrendered them. Some of Fatihas relatives, her cousins, were beating her with their fists and saying, Why did you do this? Then her older brother got angry and shot her with a hunting rifle and her younger brother shot her with an AK-47. I dont know how many bullets they fired, Mr. Khan said, speaking by telephone from the remote village.
The man described by officials and witnesses as the womans husband, who was not identified, shot and killed Hedayatullah, with whom she had eloped, according to Mr. Khan.
Farkhunda was killed by a mob in Kabul in March 2015. She was accused of burning the Quran. She was beaten, run over by car, and burned to death. Farkhunda was killed by a mob in Kabul in March 2015. She was accused of burning the Quran. She was beaten, run over by car, and burned to death.
Hedayatullah was described as a member of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistans paramilitary intelligence service, who was stationed in the village.
It is common in many parts of rural Afghanistan for fathers to marry off their daughters without the daughters consent, even though both Afghan civil law and Islamic Shariah law require such consent.
The authorities, however, often side with the families, and honor killings in cases where the girl refuses the marriage are common, although rarely publicized.
The Nuristan case recalled a 2014 case in which a young couple from Bamian Province eloped to escape an arranged marriage, but last year fled to asylum in the United States to escape family retribution.
Such cases happen a lot in Nuristan, but they dont come into the media, said Hawa Alam Nuristani, a member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission from Nuristan.
This case came to attention because of the notoriety surrounding it and what Ms. Nuristani said was a high bride price paid to the girls father, reputedly 30 goats and seven cows. In such cases when something goes wrong, people do not know other ways except killing, and women are not aware of their rights, Ms. Nuristani said.
Governor Qayoom said he was sending a delegation to the district to investigate the crime. People there are ignorant, just like what people did in Kabul with Farkhunda, he said. He was referring to a 2016 killing in which a female Islamic scholar was lynched by a mob over false rumors that she had burned a Quran.
As of Monday in the Nuristan case, no one had been charged or arrested in the fatal shootings of the couple or the shootings of the police officers.
Governor Qayoom said there had been reports of several recent cases of elopements in the district, so villagers were on the lookout for unaccompanied women. Saeedullah Payendazai Kamparwal, the chairman of the Nuristan provincial council and a native of Wama District, said Fatihas plan had been to climb the mountain above her house to a road on the other side, where Hedayatullah was awaiting her. Two young boys were suspicious after seeing her on her own, however, and they alerted police officers.
The Afghan police typically consider an unmarried couple alone together to be guilty of adultery or attempted adultery, and the couple were presumably arrested for that. They claimed to be married but the police could tell they were from different districts and therefore did not believe them, according to Mr. Kamparwals account.
Once word reached the families of the woman and her husband that she was being held, they formed the mob that stormed the police station, according to the authorities. People said to the police, Hand them over to us or we will raid the offices and break off relations with the government, Mr. Kamparwal said. The district is in a pro-government part of a province where the Taliban also have some control.
Saheb Dad Hamdard, the head of the Nuristan Journalists Shura, or council, cast doubt on claims that such large numbers of people had attacked the police station.
How can anyone believe that 250 to 300 people attacked? Wama District in total has four villages. Where would 300 people come from? he said. And where did they get arms? Theres no armed group in the village.
Mr. Hamdard suggested that the authorities had acquiesced in turning the couple over to the families. Others, however, said that in such rural areas of Nuristan Province, people are often heavily armed.
Given the Democratic Partys success in capturing the Presidency in 2008 and 2012, the results of the 2016 election left many election forecasters in disbelief. Had the razor-thin margins of victory in Wisconsin (.8 percent), Michigan (.3 percent) and Pennsylvania (1.2 percent) gone the other way, the Democratic Party would have maintained control of the White House. Given these numbers, understanding the 2016 election will involve splitting hairs. Here we analyze two: Rust Belt voters and black voters. In 2016, many current and former union-affiliated Rust Belt voters, amid declining labor union influence, flipped to the Republican Party, while both the Democratic Party victory margin and turnout among black voters fellbut why?
These two factions have previously and will likely continue to share economic policy viewpoints. Like other factions, they use their size to push candidates to voice their concerns in their policies and have the most to lose if their candidate is not victorious; yet, the economic policies now likely under consideration may in fact harm these groups.
Given their shared incentives, why did the coalition weaken? It may be driven in part by a diminished organizational capacity among them to whip their respective votes. First, the institutional mechanisms that empower organized labor in Rust Belt states, and black Americans nationwide, to assemble voting blocs historically relied in part upon union and black church membership. For an example, President George W. Bushs Faith-Based Initiatives, which provided federal funding to support the social services work of religious organizations, combined with the Bush campaigns outreach to African American voters and endorsements from leading black pastors, was credited for a 2-percentage point increase in his share of the black vote before his re-election in 2004.
The number of unionized workers, both private and public, has steadily decreased over the last several decades: membership has fallen by almost one-half from the early 1980s to 2015. Likewise, the nations black churchgoers appear to be thinning. A 2009 Pew study revealed a significant increase in the number of African Americans who identify as having no religious affiliation. While only 7 percent of black Americas civil rights generation identified as having no religious affiliation, 19 percent of black millennials now do. Absent a new organizing frame, these trends in declining membership potentially weaken the political power of organized labor and blacks.
Second, both factions now have considerable historical distance from the landmark policy reforms that galvanized them. Within labor, reforms during the New Deal raised wages and gave workers protections, showing the value of union membership and political loyalty. Black Americans likewise experienced civil rights gains, employment discrimination protection, and expanded access to the nations social safety net via the Great Society. Today, these factions are both 50 or more years removed from the moment when they benefited from large-scale reforms. Spatial distance may make the heart grow fonder, but temporal distance can dampen memories, and may further complicate mobilization.
Voters across these factions share many of the concerns of their parents and grandparents, including both economic security and physical health and safety. Seemingly current issues such as police misconduct have been grappled with for decades, and more often occur within minority communities disconnected from economic opportunity and political clout. Meanwhile, rising white mortality across the U.S. is driven largely by deaths from drug and alcohol use and suicide, with many of these households also facing rising economic insecurity without the requisite education and labor market skills to respond. Lacking the same organizational framework, current and former union-affiliated Rust Belt state voters, and black voters, may increasingly approach the political process as individuals, eroding their collective influence. This also challenges policymakers who try to create policy that responds to technological changes that favor workers with higher education, and helps workers better protect against and prepare for economic risk and change.
Todays policy choices, including opaque-sounding proposals to block grant Medicaid and food stamps, could have far reaching consequences for these factions. Some analyses of policy proposals for the incoming Administration suggest that income support and health programs would likely face severe budget and benefit cuts. This was largely the case for the 1996 welfare reform that block granted assistance for the poor, according to some. The consequences of block granting might seem immediately clearer for black Americans nationally, given that roughly 1 in 4 lie below the poverty line, but the Rust Belt labor faction would get hit, too: Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania experienced double-digit increases in poverty since the 1980s thanks in part to the decline of manufacturing and textile-based employment. While many Rust Belt workers are still employed, they are oftentimes stuck in jobs that pay less and provide fewer benefits. For both factions, important policy choices lie ahead on health, poverty, and reforms to education and workforce training programs.
Looking back, Thomas Jeffersons Democratic-Republican Party defeated John Adams and the Federalists in 1800 by successfully uniting the support of plantation owners in the slave-holding South and small farming families of the free North. Today, it is unclear how the current and former labor and the black voter factions will politically mobilize, but it seems that neither past (unions and churches) nor current (data-driven voter databases) mechanisms will prove sufficient on their own. What does seem clear is that the issues themselvessecurity, both in terms of the economy as well as day-to-day health and safetyhave resonance with both groups. More work should be done to understand how changing institutions and a changing economy impact these two factions. While they are sometimes discussed in oppositional terms, they have historically had much in common and a shared fate, for better or worse.
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Partcel situated in the Brevard County, Florida, more particularly know as Lot1, Block 172, Port Malabar, Unit 7, a subdivision according to the plat thereof as recorded 1 Plat Block 14, page 125 of the public records of Brevard County Florida.This is one lot on the NE corner between Brescia and Celtic Ave. *****************Closing can be done with a Title Company in Florida or Warranty Deed paid by me.******************** Note: Please read the lot information on the listing which indicates the ...
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Up for Auction is HUGE Apartment building. The property has over 10 apartment units including 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom and also 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom units. This is a great investment opportunity for the first time investor or anyone else that wants to fix up the building and have instant rental income. The property will be conveyed via Warranty Deed. Any questions, please feel free to ask.753 E 103rd St. Cleveland OH 44108Parcel ID: 108-24-106 Please Bid Only If You Intend To Buy and If You'...
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FINAL PRICE REDUCTION - PRIVATE PROPERTY FOR SALE IN HISTORIC BEDFORD COUNTY PA FINAL PRICE REDUCTION For Sale by owner: This beautiful 12 year old all brick 4/5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home set on nearly 10 acres of land in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, is ideal for the individual, privacy-minded home owner, a hunting lodge operator or a bed and breakfast proprietor. Property is in historic Bedford County which was founded in 1771 and located less than one hour driving time to 4 popular area ski reso...
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Holocaust survivors light candles at the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism, after a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. More than a million people about 90 percent of them Jews died at Auschwitz. Jan. 27, the day the camp was liberated, is now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. PHOTO BY CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The last thing the mother and child expected to find upon their arrival was this same pitbull lying on the roadway with two, clean small holes in his body, according to the Athens-Clarke County police report.
Many couples are fortunate enough to live in the same city and go to the same school. Their
Thanks to the flaws in the way it is implementing dynamic pricing, the Indian Railways is losing its premium travel base faster than ever before, say RailYatri's Manish Rathi and Kapil Raizada.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
On December 20, Suraj Rastogi, a RailYatri user, went looking for a train ticket for a journey between Guwahati and Pune. The only option was a Suvidha train with 45 seats on AC III class. The price tag? Rs 6,590 for a 52-hour journey.
A three-hour flight option, for the same day, was available for Rs 4,790.
We at RailYatri -- based on our data analysis and traveller surveys -- now fear that the Indian Railways (IR) is losing its premium travel base faster than ever before. Much of the blame falls on the pricing schemes implemented in the last few years.
Historically, Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto are among the premier trains, catering to travellers willing to pay for added comfort, reliability, and timeliness. These premier train passengers have already seen fares increase by nearly 70 per cent in the last few years (without taking dynamic pricing into consideration).
Our findings show that premier travellers understand the rationale behind dynamic pricing. The issue is with implementation.
We can't blame them, because the existing slab-pricing implementation is indifferent/not adaptable to the ground reality. It may be called dynamic pricing, but there is nothing dynamic in it. A good dynamic pricing implementation should encourage demand when it is needed and increase the value of the service when the demand is higher.
Dynamic pricing has made trains 15 per cent more expensive than airlines
The emerging rule is higher the class, lower the distance travelled.
Long distance (above 1,000 km) premium travellers are increasingly opting for air travel over trains. Even at the same costs, flights provide added advantages, with simpler booking processes, shorter travel hours, no wait-lists and lesser delays.
Our research indicates that 8-12 per cent of travellers migrated from trains with dynamic fares.
The percentage is similar to the number of wait-listed travellers. This implies these trains are now running at less than full capacity.
With January to March being a relatively lean season, the demand is expected to drop further.
Migration of the last-minute/mid-distance traveler
If flights are taking away premium long distance travellers, buses provide alternative options for distances less than 1,000 km.
The biggest selling proposition of bus travel is its near guaranteed supply. It is possible to walk to a counter and book a bus ticket for immediate travel. While the flat-bed sleeper bus replicates the train experience, the improvement of road networks has reduced travel time, too.
Wait-list in non-premium trains has increased
At least 48 trains ply between Kanpur and New Delhi. However, it is not unusual to see Shatabdi with 500 seats vacant even as all other trains have longer wait-lists. This shows the market is highly price-sensitive and some premium traffic has spilled over to other trains.
Unless addressed, the demand for subsidised classes will continue to increase.
This being the segment that is contributing to losses, the question remains about the Railway's ability to attract profitable customers.
Loss of pricing power
There is growing convergence of pricing across trains, buses and flights. For the first time in the Railways' history, fare determination is being driven by market forces.
The Railways is used to determining its own fares, but those days are coming to an end. Players who cannot work within market-determined pricing will be punished by consumers, who will simply stay away.
The way forward
We understand the need to serve budget travellers even if they contribute to losses. However, for economic viability it is equally important for IR to retain its once profitable loyal customer base.
Here are a few suggestions:
i) Overhaul dynamic fares -- pricing is science;
ii) IR needs to stop spreading itself thin. Selling secondary items such as rooms, taxis, etc while bleeding the customer base does not make sense;
iii) Revisit quotas. Quotas take away seats from the market and create uncertainty for the traveller, who then looks for other options.
Manish Rathi is CEO and co-founder, RailYatri.in. Kapil Raizada is co-founder, RailYatri.in.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar says global aircraft makers will have to get approval from their own governments to transfer technology and build jets in India.
Alnoor Peermohamed reports from the Aero India show.
IMAGE: Indian Air Force Commandoes exit a Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules after its induction ceremony at Hindan Air Force Station in Uttar Pradesh. Lockheed Martin has offered to transfer its Fort Worth, Texas, production line to India and make the latest Block-70 of F-16 fighters. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.
Trump govt taking fresh look at F16 sale to India: Lockheed
India has mandated that global aircraft makers such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing get approvals of their governments to transfer technology and build jets with a local partner in India, if they are to bid for the country's single-engine fighter requirement.
"The product which I want to buy, I want it to be made in India. Export to a third nation is an additional bonus. If someone wants to shift a facility to India it's their choice, or they wants to assemble a new one. I am no way concerned with it," said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar after inaugurating the biennial Aero India show on Tuesday.
"If they're proposing something, their government has to give them in-principle approval so that they can quote it to me. If something is not given or someone has not given it to them, then they cannot give a quote to me," he said, but did not clarify whether a request for proposal has been issued.
Parrikar was responding to queries on US President Donald Trump's push for Make in America, to revive US manufacturing and generate local jobs.
In October, India floated a request for information to global jet makers to partner with Indian companies and jointly bid to sell single-engine fighters for the Indian Air Force.
The contest is different from the 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, which was finalised with a 36-plane order from France's Rafale, which will begin delivery from September 2019.
Lockheed Martin has offered to transfer its Fort Worth production line to India and make the latest Block-70 of F-16 fighters.
Saab, which makes the Gripen fighter, has not only offered to help with Mark-1 and Mark-2 of India's light combat aircraft Tejas, but also co-develop the advanced medium combat aircraft, which the Defence Research and Development Organisation plans to develop.
Independently, the Indian Navy has floated a tender to supply and produce 57 twin-engine carrier-borne fighters, for which Boeing has expressed interest to participate with its F-18 twin-engine planes. It opted to buy from the global market after it publicly rejected the navy version of the Tejas, saying it was overweight and would not meet its requirements.
Parrikar also reiterated the country's stand that 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence in select areas would be allowed only to bridge technology gaps, than a blanket approval.
"Suppose someone comes to manufacture engines, which we don't have technology in, I will definitely consider it. 100 per cent FDI in areas where I do not have any expertise, I will definitely consider it. What's the point of getting stuck and continuing to import?" he said.
IMAGE: Tejas, India's first locally-built Light Combat Aircraft, before its induction into the IAF at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Airport in Bengaluru in 2016. The Tejas fighter has been powered by the GE-404 engine since its development. Photograph: Abhishek N Chinnappa/Reuters .
GE requires a US government approval to collaborate on military programmes before its Bengaluru team can work on the jet engine programme.
Raghu Krishnan reports.
General Electric (GE) has delivered two qualified 414 engines to be tested on the planned home-grown Tejas Mk-2 single engine fighter and is looking to collaborate with India to build engines for the proposed advanced medium-combat aircraft.
The Tejas fighter has been powered by the GE-404 engine since its development and the Indian Air Force plans to induct over 120 planes with the same engine.
So far, India has ordered around 100 engines for the fighter from GE and plans to buy more engines in the coming years.
The single engine fighter being developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), a DRDO unit, will undergo an upgrade with more features that requires a more powerful engine and GE has been tasked to supply its GE-414 engine.
"The first two engines are for flight test. They are ready to go as and when the plane is ready. We are committed to deliver six more engines," said Mark Pearson, who leads the military engine programme for GE.
Pearson is betting on the over 700 engineers who work on design and take charge of manufacturing parts of GE's commercial aero engines, at its India centre in Bengaluru, to push for local co-development of the engine for AMCA, which ADA is developing.
India has begun preliminary design work on the stealth aircraft, but has not launched a programme officially.
GE is looking to partner with ADA, but it also requires a US government approval to collaborate on military programmes before its Bengaluru team can work on the jet engine programme.
The Bengaluru team has worked on the GE-9D engine that powers the Boeing 777 planes and the engine that powers the A380 aircraft. It is also developing the 9X, which the local team in India is collaborating on for the replacement engine of Boeing 777-9D.
"The foundation is already here built over 17 years," said Pearson.
GE, which has a manufacturing facility in Pune whose 40 per cent contribution is engine components, says it could meet the mandated 50 per cent requirement of local production for defence contracts within India.
"We can deliver on our commitments as and when we see more orders," said Alok Nanda, general manager, (India engineering operations) at GE.
Amid Donald Trump's expected action against employment visas, India's bellwether IT firms reveal they have been preparing for this eventuality for years.
Monali Sarkar surveys the Indian IT landscape.
IMAGE: cancelled US visa at the Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia,February 6, 2017. Photograph published only for representational purposes.
Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
While the threat of an overhaul of the H-1B work-visa programme has become more pronounced since Donald Trump was sworn in as the president of the United States on January 20, the biggest names in India's information technology sector have been preparing for this for a long time.
Under pressures of profitability, threat of lawsuits (Oracle has been sued for discriminatory hiring practices against White, Hispanic and African Americans in favour of Asians, particularly 'Asian Indians'), and hurting stock prices (TCS shares fell 4.47%, Infosys' 2% and Wipro's 1.62% on January 31 on the back of H-1B rumours) all of the top IT firms have revealed how they have been bracing themselves for a tightening of the employment laws for years.
>IMAGE: Data compiled by MyVisaJobs.com based on 647,852 Labour Condition Applications filed by 64,381 US employers in fiscal year 2016. The number of LCA includes new, renewed, transferred and cap-exempt LCA.
Graphic: Satish Bodas/Rediff.com
TCS
Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT outsourcing company, had begun tightening its use of the H-1B visa much before Trump's election, N Chandrasekaran, the company's outgoing CEO and Tata Sons' chairman-designate, revealed while announcing the company's Q3 results last month.
The company, Chandrasekharan said, had applied for only 4,000 new US visas in 2016, as against 14,000 in 2015; it was granted only around 1,300.
TCS, Chandrasekaran added, had been addressing the commentary about the increase in the visa fee as well as the visa numbers 'very proactively.'
'In terms of the number of visas that we will get,' he elaborated, 'we decided more than a year ago that we have to operate in a visa-constraint regime. We are able to successfully execute (our orders) by making changes to our business model. So, we believe that we are preparing ourselves well to handle the headwind should it arise.'
According to a December note prepared by Investec Securities, an increase in minimum annual wage to $110,000 for H-1B workers may hurt TCS' gross margin by 230 basis points.
Infosys
As early as April 2016, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka had told Business Standard, 'It's the year of presidential elections in the US, and we continue to be influenced in the near term by the visa situation. Our view is to become independent of visas and hire locally.'
'I am a local hire in the US and we have thousands of people hired locally working in the US, Europe, Australia and other places. Our effort is to get independent of this visa as much as possible and I believe it's possible to achieve that. We believe this idea of a location independent experience of delivery is something in our reach because of technology.'
The company is setting up 'region-specific hubs' to hire freshers and experienced young professionals in the US and Europe to combat growing anti-immigration policies of local governments.
Ravi Kumar S, who has been elevated as Infosys' deputy chief operating officer, recently told investors, 'We started hiring freshers from US campuses in the past couple of years, so that will continue. Our focus is to hire locals and supplement skills, which are not available with the visa programme. We are also looking for setting up specific hubs, which we have experimented with in the last couple of years.'
Infosys Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy also spoke about this recently.
'They (Indian software companies) must recruit American residents in the US, Canadians in Canada, British people in Britain etc. That's the only way, we can become a true multinational company and in order to do that, we should stop using H1-B visas and sending a large number of Indians to those countries to deliver services,' he told NDTV.
If Trump does issue an executive order restricting the use of H-1B, Murthy said, 'we should look at it more as an opportunity for Indian companies to become more multi-cultural than we have been, rather than looking at it as a lacuna.'
According to a December note prepared by Investec Securities, an increase in minimum annual wage to $110,000 for H-1B workers may hurt Infosys' gross margin by 170 bps.
Wipro
Wipro CEO Abidali Z Neemuchwala told NDTV at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last month that the company had been preparing for the H-1B headwinds for a while by hiring locally and investing in delivery and innovation centres in the US.
Noting that Wipro has been associated with many US schools and universities to boost its local hiring, he said, 'We could have hired more (in the US) if got STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educated campus recruits in the US.'
But he added, 'Wipro as part of the Indian IT industry, spearheaded by Nasscom, is participating in representing what we believe is a fair opportunity to compete in any market. We will continue to pursue that.'
Neemuchwala expressed confidence that the Indian IT industry could handle this challenge.
'I have been with this industry for 25 years. We had different challenges across these 25 years. Every challenge has brought an opportunity. Indian IT industry has been very agile in terms of being able to evolve into something completely different and new,' he told NDTV.
'This is the time for great transformation for the industry,' he said.
Wipro HR head Saurabh Govil told The Times of India, 'The focus the industry had on hiring will shift into re-skilling. The entire industry is hiring fewer freshers. Given the macro environment, people are hiring more onsite. Jobs at the bottom of the pyramid are getting automated.'
Cognizant
Cognizant, which has about 70 to 75 per cent of its over 200,000 workforce based out of India, said it hired over 4,000 US citizens and residents in 2016 and that it is planning to 'significantly increase' the size of its US workforce in the coming years.
'As you know, there has been considerable discussion recently on the topic of skilled immigration in the US. This has been an ongoing discussion for many years,' the Press Trust of India quoted Cognizant President Rajeev Mehta as saying.
'The plan we have announced (for ramping up digital services offering) will require us to continue to build our team in the US and in other geographies around the world where we operate,' Mehta added.
'Consistent with this need, we continue to focus on taking steps to ensure that we have access to a robust supply of talent in the US.'
The company has built a network of over 20 US-based delivery centres and plans to add additional capacity in 2017.
The US accounts for a significant chunk of the global IT spending. For Cognizant, North America contributed over 78 per cent of its December quarter revenues.
HCL
HCL Technologies, India's fourth largest software exporter, too said it already had 'stepped up' efforts in the US for campus and entry-level hires.
'We have really looked at our current base of employees and looked at how local hiring can be ramped up... We are stepping up our campus and entry -- level hiring in the US to support some of the growth that we will see in coming quarters,' HCL Technologies President and CEO C Vijayakumar told the media last month.
HCL, he noted, has been applying for 'less than 1,000 visas a year' on an average over the past 3 to 4 years.
'It has been coming down. Our strategy has been in all IT outsourcing deals, we re-badge a lot of people from our clients and we hire people from local geographies. So, that's why we have a very high percentage of our employees in the US who are local hires.'
Without disclosing the exact figure, Vijayakumar said HCL currently recruits over 55 per cent local employees in the US.
The second-longest serving chairman introduced quite a few measures for the primary market and implemented a new corporate governance framework.
UK Sinhas six-year term as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the second longest after that of DR Mehta, ends in two weeks, bringing down the curtains on a tenure during which the 1976-batch Indian Administrative Services officer from the Bihar cadre administered many significant changes in the securities market.
Some of Sinhas big measures since he took charge on February 18, 2011, are implementing the minimum public shareholding norms for private and government entities; introducing the new corporate governance framework derived from the Companies Act, 2013; implementing Takeover Code regulations to increase the open offer trigger and size; overseeing the merger between Sebi and erstwhile commodities regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC); and steps to boost the primary market like shortening the listing timeframe and changing the allotment process to accommodate more retail investors.
Some of the reforms to Sinhas credit include implementing uniform know-your-customer rules for the entire securities market, setting up a sprawling campus for Sebis educational arm NISM on the outskirts of Mumbai, and ushering in a new regime for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and alternative investment funds (AIFs).
During Sinhas tenure, the government allowed Sebi to conduct search and seizure operations and also empowered it to issue disgorgement orders.
Unlike his predecessor CB Bhave, Sinhas tenure lacked any abrupt action such as turf wars with others regulator or overnight changes to the mutual fund commission structure; however, it had its own share of controversies.
The first one erupted within days of Sinha assuming office when a public interest litigation was filed challenging his appointment, alleging irregularities. The PIL was dismissed by the Supreme Court after nearly four years.
Another controversy emerged when Sebis former wholetime member KM Abraham shot off a letter to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 alleging he was under pressure from Sinha to favour the Multi Commodity Exchange and corporate houses like Reliance and Sahara.
Sinha stood his ground on implementing the minimum public shareholding norms and Sebi not only stuck to the deadline for meeting them but also acted against 105 companies, including those from the Tata, Adani and Essar groups.
Sebi with equal rigour made the government dilute at least 10 per cent stake in all listed public sector undertakings. The move helped deepen the Indian capital market and improve price discovery.
Sinha also had to oversee the tricky merger between Sebi and FMC, which was triggered by a Rs 5,600 crore scam at National Spot Exchange Ltd. The merger involved issuing new regulations and bringing commodity market intermediaries and FMC employees under Sebis fold.
The FPI regulations were hailed by most market participants. Incidentally, Sinha was the chairman of a government committee set up in 2010 to ease norms for overseas investors.
This experience proved handy at Sebi. Similarly, the AIF regulations provided a boost to the venture capital industry and helped many startups.
Sebi introduced many new measures for the primary market during Sinhas tenure. To reduce opening-day volatility and to curb manipulation, the regulator brought in circuit filters for listing day.
It also changed the allotment process in initial public offers (IPOs) to ensure allotment to as many retail applications as possible.
It shortened the time between an IPO closing and listing to six days and made large-scale changes to the buyback and delisting framework.
Another highlight of Sinhas term was implementing the new corporate governance framework, which empowered minority investors by providing them equitable treatment and brought greater transparency in board-level activities and related-party transactions.
It also had provisions to ensure promoters did not have their way at the cost of ordinary shareholders.
In fact, the provisions were so stringent that some corporate titans raised their voices against them, forcing the government and Sebi to dilute a few rules.
To address the capital-raising needs of new-age technology companies, Sebi introduced a separate listing platform meant for startups.
The norms for listing on this platform were far more relaxed than those on the main exchanges.
Despite Sebis efforts, the concept failed to take off in a meaningful way. Similarly, other new instruments such as municipal bonds, real estate investment trusts (Reits) and infrastructure investment trusts (InViTs) also have not made much headway.
Another area where Sebi faced difficulties was over illicit money collection schemes, the so-called collective investment schemes (CIS).
Changes to the Sebi Act brought CIS regulations under the regulators fold, but Sebi faced challenges in cracking down against Ponzi schemes like Sharada and Rose Valley.
In its defence, Sebi said the operators of these schemes exploited the regulatory arbitrage between state and central laws.
Sebi has also delayed passing an order in an alleged insider trading case against Reliance Industries.
Sebi and Reliance Industries were at odds for not settling the matter under a consent mechanism. Reliance Industries had moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Sebis decision not to allow the consent settlement. The SAT ruled in Sebis favour in 2014. The regulator, however, is yet to issue a final order in the matter.
Sebi had to face flak often from the SAT for its quality of work, however, the regulators success rate before the tribunal improved significantly during Sinhas tenure.
Trump's foreign policy juggernaut has shelved the 'Deep State' and 'Axis of Evil'. But where is India, asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
I suggested a couple of years ago that the American #DeepState had invented a new Axis of Evil, a trio of enemies: Putin, Abe and Modi, in an updated version of the earlier axis of evil which was Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
It certainly looked like the Obama administration was doing its damnedest to harass and intimidate all three: Encouraging Georgian and Ukrainian aggression towards Russia, humiliating Modi for a dozen years with a supercilious visa ban, and bullying Japan when it attempted to rid itself of the outdated pacifist Article 9 in its United States-imposed constitution.
It was only to be expected that President Trump would reverse this stance, because he and his close aides such as Steve Bannon stressed repeatedly that America's foes were, instead, China and Islamist terrorism.
And sure enough, a month into his term, Trump and his main aides have shown that they are positive towards Russia; and Shinzo Abe's recent visit to Trump's ranch in Florida apparently ended with smiles all around.
So, if my theory is correct, the next outreach should be to India, the remaining member of the Axis.
Unfortunately, India seems to be taking a decidedly cool approach to Trump, sort of a wait and see. Perhaps it is because of the trauma of demonetisation followed by the preoccupation with state elections.
However, I am concerned about the plausible alternative: That Modi is trying to curry favor with the Leftie 'intellectuals' and media who -- blindly following in the footsteps of their American counterparts -- simply loathe Trump.
If that is the case, then India is letting a foreign policy opportunity slip through its fingers while the more alert are quickly getting their cards on the table.
As I write this, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is about to arrive in the US, and the noises from the Trump administration have been decidedly friendly. (Compare to Obama's parting shots: He abstained in the Security Council in a resolution condemning Israel, and pretty much his very last act in office was to allocate $122 million to the Palestinians.)
If Trump is indeed worried about China and Islamist terrorism, then India is one of the parties most affected by both.
Further, Pakistan, which has had a bit of a riot act read to it apparently by the Trump cabinet, is clearly another factor that should draw the US and India closer.
But there has apparently been little initiative on the part of the Indian foreign affairs mandarins to present the case: Perhaps they have been sidetracked by the H1-B issue, too.
I do wish they'd get their act in gear, or risk being deemed irrelevant in the Trump world-view.
Besides, the #DeepState is only bending, but it is not beaten.
They are fighting back because they have the intelligence establishment as well as much of the bureaucracy on their side.
The spectacular setback to Trump due to the resignation of his national security advisor General Mike Flynn on the very question of covert ties to Russia shows this.
The fond hopes expressed by some in the media that a path is now open to impeach Trump on the same issue shows how they will fight back.
There is reason to believe that Trump is involved in a Huntingtonian clash of civilisations, wherein the Russians, as fellow-white-Christians, must naturally be an ally to the West, as contrasted with Muslims and Chinese.
This may explain part of his eagerness to arrive at a detente with Russia, lest it be tempted to move further into the Chinese dhritarashtra alinganam.
In China's case, too, Trump's perspective has been ups and downs.
The bonhomie shown by Trump towards Abe, and his ringing declaration that the US would stand by Japan over, for example, the Senkakus, which the Chinese are nibbling at, was, for all intents and purposes, an unambiguous statement of support.
On the other hand, there was disappointment as well.
There was a good start wherein Trump's phone call with the president of Taiwan suggested that he was not particularly bothered about China's easily ruffled feathers, or their political theatre.
It is not even clear why anybody should be that bothered -- other than China -- whether there was 'One China' or three.
I read in the Financial Times that this is standard Chinese strategy: Declare something is non-negotiable, and repeat it until everybody else falls in line. And Trump, to begin with, did act like he got this.
Thus, the consternation over the abrupt U-turn after a call with Chinese strongman Xi.
Why is Trump toeing the Chinese line?
What was the quid pro quo?
Or did Trump just wake up and smell the roses and wonder if China is just too big to beat?
Before that happens, and Trump attempts (of course, it will be futile) to accommodate China, it is important for India to get its act in gear and reach out to Trump.
India offers a lot in terms of containing China, its geostrategic position dominating the Indian Ocean, and its front-line status in the war on terror.
The #DeepState still intends to punish India.
The recent publication of an absurdly Hinduphobic report by a Pakistani working for the USCIRF, a quasi-governmental body that is mostly concerned about large-scale conversion of Hindus and others, is an indicator of the fact that the beast has been defanged, but is by no means dead.
A large Trump constituency, Southern rednecks, may be highly supportive of the execrable USCIRF.
Acknowledging that the hostile conduct of locals was causing higher casualties in the Kashmir valley, Army chief Bipin Rawat has warned those attacking security forces during anti-terrorism operations of "tough action".
The stern message from Rawat came a day after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against terrorists holed up there.
Alerted by the stone-pelters, the militants got an opportunity to fire hand grenades and empty a few magazines from AK-rifles into the advancing troopers, leaving three jawans dead and some others, including a Commanding officer of CRPF, injured. One terrorist managed to flee the area.
General Rawat said security forces in Jammu and Kashmir were facing higher casualties due to the manner in which the local population was preventing them from conducting the operations and "at times even supporting the terrorists to escape".
"We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them.
"They may survive today, but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue," the Army Chief told media persons in New Delhi, sending out a stern message to those who support terrorists.
Rawat's assertion came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he paid last respects in New Delhi to three of the four soldiers, including a major, who were killed in two separate encounters in Kashmir on Tuesday.
The Army chief said if "they do not relent and create hurdle in our operations, then we will take tough action."
The Prime Minister, in a tweet, said, "Paid tributes to the brave men who lost their lives fighting terrorists in J&K. India will always remember their valour & sacrifice."
General Rawat said those supporting terror activities are being given an opportunity to join the national mainstream but, if they continue with their acts, security forces will come down hard on them.
"We are giving them an opportunity, should they want to continue to (do what they are doing now) then, we will continue with relentless operations may be with harsher measures. And that is the way to continue," he said .
Four terrorists were gunned down in two separate encounters on Tuesday. Four army personnel, including a Major, were also killed in the encounters at Handwara and Bandipora.
Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo
Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombing, has been released from a halfway house and is now free to live where he chooses, according to a new decision from the Parole Board of Canada.
Parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said that Reyat's parole officer assessed those with whom he will live "to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him."
The parole board's notes said, "Your case management team reports that since your release to the community, you have been abiding by all the conditions of your release. There has been no evidence of communication with any negative associates who may hold extremist views or be involved to political activity. There have been no police concerns since your release. And the High Risk Target Team is supportive of the removal of your residency condition. You have been participating in ongoing counselling to address cognitive distortions and violent behaviour. You have been described as higly accountable for your activities and your whereabouts." (Read the full document HERE)
Reyat had been serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of perjury in 2010 for repeatedly lying during his testimony at a trial into the bombing deaths of 331 people. The parole board said that resulted in his co-accused not being convicted in Canada's worst mass murder.
In January 2016, Reyat was given statutory release after serving two-thirds of his sentence and was expected to be closely monitored at a halfway house at an undisclosed location for another 18 months.
Reyat was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver.
One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including entire families.
The second exploded at Japans Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo to another Air India plane.
The blasts followed a crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland, and those behind it were allegedly seeking revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops.
China has lodged a protest with India for hosting a Taiwanese parliamentary delegation and asked it to deal "prudently" with Taiwan-related matters but New Delhi on Wednesday dismissed the issue saying no "political meanings" should be read into such trips.
Briefing the reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "China lodged representations with India" over the Taiwan parliamentary delegation's visit to New Delhi.
"We hope that India would understand and respect China's core concerns and stick to the 'One-China' principle and prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations," Geng said.
The remarks evoked a prompt reaction from New Delhi, where External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India. Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes.
"I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them."
A three-member women's parliamentary delegation from Taiwan visited India earlier this week amidst signals of increasing engagement between the two sides.
Taiwan currently has Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre located in New Delhi. India's office in Taiwan is called India-Taipei Association.
China which considers Taiwan as part of its mainland opposes any diplomatic relations as well as political contacts with Taipei by countries which have diplomatic relations with it.
China has been objecting to such visits to India, maintaining that countries that have diplomatic relations with it should fulfil their commitment to the 'One China' policy.
Elaborating further on China's stand on Taiwanese Parliamentary delegation to India, Geng said, "those who are visiting India are so-called legislators from Taiwan" and Beijing is opposed to any official contacts between Taiwan and other countries with whom China has diplomatic relations.
"The reason why China lodged the representation is because that we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the 'One China' principle," he said.
"So by making our representation we are urging the Indian side to stick to the 'One China' principle and take concrete actions for steady development of China-India relations," he said.
He also declined to answer a question about when the protest was lodged with India, saying that "not all the information about diplomatic activities are open to the public".
"All I can tell is China has lodged diplomatic representation with India," he said.
Geng said that "the Indian side has made commitment on the Taiwan-related issues."
The Defence Research and Development Organisation has said that the extended range version of the BrahMos missile of 450 km is likely to be tested on March 10.
Responding to a question whether the Russia has agreed to enhancement of the range to 450 km and when it will be tested, DRDO Chief S Christopher said on the sidelines of the Aero India 2017 in Bengaluru, "Yes... March 10 is the tentative date."
He said that another version of BrahMos with a range of about 800 km was under development and it will take about two-and-a-half years for it to get tested.
BrahMos is a joint venture with Russia.
The government on December 16 last had said that India and Russia have agreed to extend the range of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles beyond the current 300 km, with the country joining the elite Missile Technology Control Regime.
Membership of the MTCR, a key anti-proliferation grouping, helps India procure high-end missile technology and surveillance systems by leading manufacturers, which are allowed to be accessed by only MTCR member countries.
The aim of the MTCR is to restrict the proliferation of missiles, complete rocket systems, unmanned air vehicles and related technology for those systems capable of carrying a 500 kilogramme payload for at least 300 kilometres, as well as systems intended for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction.
In its first entry into any multilateral export control regime, India joined the MTCR in June last as a full member.
China, which had stonewalled India's entry into the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group at the Seoul plenary in June, is not a member of the 34-nation MTCR.
The space agency launched 104 satellites, breaking the previous record of 37 by Russia.
Space agency Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday scripted history by successfully launching 104 satellites, including India's weather observation Cartosat-2 Series, in a single mission onboard its dependable Polar rocket from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Bettering Russian space agency's feat of launching 37 satellites in a single mission in 2014, Indian Space Research Organisation injected the Cartosat-2 Series satellite and 103 nano satellites into precise orbit after a textbook lift-off from Sriharikota spaceport, about 100 km from Chennai.
The previous highest number of satellites launched by ISRO in one mission was 20 in June 2015, the agency said.
Cartosat-2 Series satellite, a remote sensing spacecraft with a five-year life span, would send images that would be utilised in coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water, creation of land use maps among others, ISRO said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO for the successful launch, saying, "This remarkable feat by @isro is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists."
Break-up of the satellites >> Cartosat-2 Satellite - India
>> 88 Dove satellites - USA
>> 8 Lemur satellites USA
>> BGUSat Israel
>> 1 Al-Farabi Kazakhstan
>> PEASSS The Netherlands
>> 2 DIDO Switzerland
>> 1 Nayif - UAE
The complex mission has once again proved ISRO's capabilities in undertaking commercial launches with the PSLV achieving its 38th consecutive success.
So far, ISRO has launched 226 satellites, including 179 belonging to foreign countries.
At the end of the 23-hour countdown, the shortest so far by ISRO, the agency's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, on its 39th flight, blasted off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 9:28 am and soared into clear skies.
ISRO said it was able to reduce the countdown time, which normally varies upto 52 hours, as the preparations were completed in a shorter span.
After a flawless flight, the rocket first orbited 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series satellite followed by the co-passengers, ISRO's INS-1A and INS-1B, 96 other nano satellites belonging to two US companies, and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and UAE.
The satellites were placed in the polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in a gap of about 30 minutes during a series of separations.
A beaming ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar announced that "All 104 satellites successfully placed in orbit. My hearty congratulations to the entire ISRO team for the wonderful job they have done."
Kiran Kumar said 77 of the satellites have already started communicating with the earth stations after the launch.
He said that the mission was about maximising ISRO's returns and improving its capabilities.
"Through PSLV, we are trying to capture a particular segment of (space launch market)," he told the post-launch media conference.
Replying to a question, he said that US firms approach ISRO for launch of smaller satellites as the frequency of PSLV launches was more by India.
Project Director B Jayakumar said that ISRO had lived up to the expectation of customers.
"It was a very good learning experience for us. We have launched 226 satellites out of which 179 are from foreign nations."
With a total payload of 1378 kgs, ISRO opted for the most powerful XL variant of the PSLV for the 16th time in Wednesday's mission. It had earlier been used in the 'Chandrayaan' and the Mars Orbiter Mission among others.
The nano-satellites belonging to international customers were launched as part of their arrangement with the Antrix Corporation Ltd (ANTRIX) the commercial arm of the ISRO.
CARTOSAT-2 Series satellite was similar to the earlier four satellites in the Series.
INS (ISRO Nano Satellite) 1A and 1B carry a total of four different payloads from Space Applications Centre (SAC) and Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems (LEOS) of ISRO for conducting various experiments.
Photographs: PTI Photo
Loyalists of Chief Minister O Panneerselvam may be rejoicing at All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief V K Sasikala's conviction in a corruption case but are caught in a dilemma over the legacy of late party supremo J Jayalalithaa since she has been indicted by the Supreme Court as well.
The loyalists, however, went on to maintain on Wednesday that the former chief minister was a victim of wrong doings by others.
With the AIADMK criticising the celebration by supporters of Pannerselvam and questioning whether they were rejoicing the verdict in the case in which Jayalalithaa was also indicted, the rebels contended that her name was misused by others for which she cannot be faulted.
"I defend my leader late Jayalalithaa. She was a charismatic leader. We had worked with her for many years. We knew her very well. She had always worked only for the people's welfare," veteran AIADMK leader and former minister, S Semmalai said.
Asked about the verdict indicting Jayalalithaa, he declined to be drawn into the nitty-gritty of the verdict, stating that he was yet to fully go into it, even while standing behind 'Amma'.
"Jayalalithaa was a leader with the pure heart of a child, who could do no wrongs, and she had always been interested only in helping people," Semmalai, also a sitting MLA from Mettur constituency said.
On the conviction of Sasikala and others, he said "Amma cannot be held responsible for the wrongs committed by some others who had used her name."
Semmalai had been the Health and Education Minister during the 2001-06 AIADMK regime. He was also the Deputy Leader of AIADMK Parliamentary Party, in the 15th Lok Sabha.
Former MLA and another Panneerselvam follower, R M Babu Murugavel said, "Jayalalithaa was a victim. The verdict has strengthened our conviction that late chief minister was made a scapegoat (in the case)."
Babu, who was recently expelled from the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam said there was "no point" blaming Amma.
He said that Jayalalithaa was focussed only on good governance. He asserted that the alleged wrong doings of others cannot be let to cloud "Amma's reputation."
Panneerselvam has not commented on the verdict so far even while appealing to AIADMK MLAs to sink differences and support him for continuance of "Amma's government" led by him.
The apex court had on Tuesday restored a lower court order convicting Sasikala and two others, while abating charges against Jayalalithaa due to her demise.
Stunned by the body blow dealt to Sasikala's hopes of becoming the chief minister due to the order, her supporters sought to turn the tables against Panneerselvam pointing to the celebrations and distribution of sweets in some places.
They accused Panneerselvam supporters of celebrating a verdict which they said also went against Jayalalithaa.
Seeking to capitalise on the impasse, Pattali Makkal Katchi founder chief S Ramadoss sought to know why Panneerselvam was maintaining silence on the verdict.
"Is it not the attribute of a good chief minister to welcome the verdict against corruption?" he asked.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam working president M K Stalin had on Tuesday said that when the trial court gave its verdict in 2014, AIADMK men had labelled it as a result of conspiracy by his party.
"All those who were against the trial court verdict are today distributing sweets," he had said.
Before the situation in the Naxal-affected areas got out of hand, the Raman Singh government intervened to calm tempers between the police and human rights activists.
R Krishna Das reports.
Last month, Chief Minister Raman Singh was on a visit to Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of restive Bastar.
As his cavalcade entered the main road of the city, a poster put up by a vigilante group called the Samajik Ekta Manch (also called Action Group for National Integrity or AGNI) drew his attention: 'Stop supporting the rights activists.'
Singh, a doctor by training, was scheduled to meet noted human rights activist, academic and researcher Bela Bhatia during his visit.
A few days earlier, she had been intimidated and served an ultimatum by a mob, led allegedly by members of AGNI, to vacate her rented house at Parpa, a village on the fringes of Jagdalpur, within 24 hours and leave Bastar for good.
Those who had put up the poster did not want the three-time chief minister to go soft on Bhatia, a PhD from Cambridge, and others who have consistently pointed out atrocities committed by the police in the Naxalite-infested zone.
Singh stayed the course.
S R P Kalluri, the controversial inspector general of police for Bastar, was moved to Raipur where he was attached to the headquarters.
AGNI, along with another vigilante group called the Bastar Vikas Sangharsh Samiti, was proscribed.
Dr Bhatia has moved to Jagdalpur where she has been provided accommodation and security by the Chhattisgarh government.
Dr Bhatia is among several human rights activists in the region who have been hounded by unfriendly mobs in the conflict zone.
Their crime was that they raised their voice against cases of police atrocities against the Adivasis.
Last year, journalist Malini Subramaniam, lawyers Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal, and Aam Aadmi Party leader Soni Sori were not only intimidated and physically attacked but were also driven out of Bastar by vigilante groups.
Academic and activist Nandini Sundar too had to face their wrath.
On November 1, a first information report, or FIR, was lodged in the Peddagalur village of Bijapur district that policemen had raped Adivasi women in large numbers in November 2015 in Bastar, following an enquiry by the Women against Sexual Violence & State Repression.
The National Human Rights Commission last month endorsed that at least 16 women had been sexually assaulted.
Dr Bhatia came in AGNI's crosshairs after she accompanied the National Human Rights Commission team in the region to record the statements of the assault survivors who had filed FIRs against the police personnel.
The Raman Singh government, which will seek re-election next year, was aware that the attack on Dr Bhatia could snowball into a serious affair, and hence it swiftly took action.
The government in the state remains more or less unchallenged.
With a weak Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has never come across any serious political crisis in the last 13 years.
With a slew of welfare measures and fiscal prudence aimed at delivering to the poor, Dr Singh's popularity graph has remained intact.
The only blemish is that the relationship between the police and vigilantes on one side and activists on the other has touched a new low in Chhattisgarh.
While activists say the vigilantes, propped up by the police, are silent on the atrocities committed by the State, the vigilantes, in turn, say the activists are sympathetic towards the Left-wing extremists and ignore their misdemeanours.
The situation was not so hostile three years ago.
Soon after Kalluri took over as IGP in Bastar in June 2014, the police-activist confrontation in Bastar reached a new pitch.
The activists have been openly blaming him for backing AGNI.
In its no-holds-barred fight with the extremists, the Chhattisgarh police have tried to take the people along.
In the middle of the last decade, they had mobilised an armed militia, which was called Salwa Judum and comprised the local youth, and deployed in the Naxalite-affected areas.
In 2011, the Supreme Court found it illegal and unConstitutional and accordingly ordered it to be disbanded.
The vigilante groups were not armed, but didn't shy away from intimidating those who did not agree with their narrative of the Naxal-police conflict.
The 'withdrawal' of Kalluri from Bastar is a major development that underlines the Raman Singh government's acknowledgement that all was not well with the way things were being done in Bastar. Or else, it wouldn't have removed him.
That is because the operations against the Naxalite extremists have reached a decisive junction.
Though he was under the scanner of the rights activists, the credit for pushing the Naxalites to the back foot must go to Kalluri.
No major bloodbath by rebels has been reported from Bastar in the past year-and-a-half.
Removing him at this crucial juncture shows that the government wanted to put a lid on the confrontation with activists at all costs.
Kalluri had vowed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make Bastar Naxalite free before the next state polls in November 2018.
He was pulling all the strings to achieve that target. In his view, nothing short of a serious war was going on in Bastar and it had to be won.
But the intolerance of the police against critics has opened a new front in the region. The police claim the activists support the extremists.
Anyone against the police or raising his voice in support of the tribes runs the risk of being dubbed a Naxal sympathiser.
Kalluri has allegedly never taken gently to any interference from 'outsiders' in his efforts to ensure 'law and order' in the region.
In this, he received unwavering support from the vigilantes.
AGNI National Convener Anand Mohan Mishra says activists from 'outside' are complicating the issue.
"The activists talk about police atrocities, but never say a word when Naxalites brutally kill security personnel and poor villagers," he says, adding that there cannot be two standards for human rights violation.
To be fair, the activists have never convincingly countered this allegation, which has widened the rift.
When Dr Bhatia met Chief Minister Singh, she submitted a letter and appealed to him to ensure the 'observation of the rule of law by all State institutions including the police.'
The Opposition parties have come out in support of the activists.
Chhattisgarh's Leader of the Oopposition, T S Singhdeo of the Congress, says the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state are subverting democratic institutions and the rule of law.
The chief minister finally realised that the confrontation between activists and the police was not wise.
'Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and its violation is a serious issue,' Dr Singh said in Jagdalpur, giving a clear indication that the security forces were not on the right track.
The removal of Kalluri and the ban on the two vigilante groups followed. Mishra in a statement on February 9, said in the given circumstances, without any specific reason, AGNI has been dissolved with immediate effect.
Had the actions come earlier, Bastar would not have been aflame with police-activist conflict.
IMAGE: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh pays homage at the Amar Jawan Smarak in Jagadalapur. Photograph: Kined courtesy Raman Singh/Twitter
The environment ministry has suggested "blacklisting" of a BBC producer for "grossly erroneous" reporting after its documentary projected the government's anti-poaching strategy at Kaziranga Tiger reserve as "shoot-to-kill" policy.
An Office Memorandum issued by National Tiger Conservation Authority has taken strong objection to the documentary for portraying India's wildlife conservation efforts at the reserve in "negative" light.
BBC News South Asia Bureau and the producer of the documentary -- 'Killing For Conservation'-- Justin Rowlatt has been issued a showcause notice asking them as to why their permissions should not be revoked.
The documentary examines the government's anti-poaching policy and seeks to find if the communities in the areas near the reserve have been affected.
The NTCA in its showcase has also asked the documentary to be removed from online portals with immediate effect and directed the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom to take action.
"As per (powers) vested by section 38 0(k) of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, this authority hearby directs the BBC News South Asia Bureau and Justin Rowlatt to showcause as to why their permissions should not be revoked for violating clauses of the no-objection and clearances given by this authority within seven days," the OM said.
If the BBC fails to comply, its filming permission in all the tiger reserves of the country stand revoked, it said.
"Further, the said documentary uploaded on various online portals be removed with immediate effect by parties concerned. The Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom is requested to take action as appropriate in the matter," the OM said, adding it was a "breach of trust" by the producer.
A BBC spoksperson, when contacted said the film makes clear the successes achieved by India's conservation policies in preserving the country's most iconic wildlife.
"However, the film also expressly set out to explore the challenges of India's conservation drive and during production it became clear that one of those challenges was the impact on communities living next to the park.
"Our audiences expect us to bring them the full picture, while adhering to our editorial standards and this piece is no different," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The statement further said, "The issues raised in the film are part of an important international debate on the appropriate way to combat poaching. We did approach the relevant government authorities to make sure their position was fully reflected but they declined to take part."
The NTCA, which comes under the Environment Ministry, said the producer, with "scant" understanding of laws of place, has used "spasmodic" event as an umbrella to judge a gamut of conservation efforts that go into safeguarding "our wildlife heritage".
"The immunity provided to the forest officials under section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been constructed as a 'shoot-to-kill' policy," it said.
The NTCA found the producer guilty of "dishonouring" the undertaking provided and not working constructively with the government which resulted in portraying the conservation efforts in India in "extremely negative light".
It also said the documentary "deviated" from original programme submitted to the Ministry of External Affairs, giving a "false" synopsis with the "surreptitious mal-intent" of obtaining permission from relevant authorities.
It said it is not incorrect to assume that portrayal of wildlife conservation in India by Rowlatt and his production house shall provide a "fillip" to wildlife offences especially poaching.
"It is suggested that the said producer Justin Rowlatt be blacklisted and the BBC be given a warning to adhere to clauses provided in clearances and approvals of government," it said.
An Onalaska angler caught with more than 2,500 panfish will have to pay more than $4,800 and surrender his fishing license for exceeding Wisconsin game limits.
Stanley Paalksnis, 74, could have been fined more than $24,000, although prosecutors requested just over $10,000 in exchange for his plea of no contest to four non-criminal citations.
Paalksnis will also lose the 15-foot boat, motor, trailer and two freezers seized during a search of his home on Nov. 4, 2015, after Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wardens watched him keep 47 bluegills on Lake Onalaska. The daily limit is 25.
In his house, authorities found 2,066 bluegills, 418 perch and 88 crappies, according to reports. The possession limits are 50 for each species.
Paalksnis told a warden that he had been selling bags of fish in Chicago for about 20 years, according to the reports.
La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke cited Paalksniss history of game violations and stated disregard for law enforcement. Paalksnis was cited eight times, and twice lost his license between 1989 and 2011.
According to police reports, Paalksnis was uncooperative and vulgar when talking to the warden supervisor, telling him if he was younger he would beat him up.
I hate game wardens, Paalksnis said. The only thing I hate more than game wardens is (racial slur for African-Americans).
Hes basically ignored the law for years, Gruenke said. He seems to be a belligerent, angry person who doesnt want anyone to tell him what to do.
Attorney Todd Schroeder said his client lives on Social Security benefits and can no longer indulge his passion for hunting because of health problems.
At his age, the meaning he finds in life is catching fish, Schroeder said.
Schroeder objected to the confiscation of Paalksniss property and requested a three-year suspension of his fishing license.
Judge Elliott Levine revoked Paalksniss license for 12 years, the maximum period allowed, noting that limits are in place to assure everyone equal rights to limited natural resources.
Hes lost his right to fish, Levine said. Hell have to find another hobby.
DNR Warden Dale Hochhausen said he plans to donate the frozen fish to a food pantry or soup kitchen.
They wont go to waste, he said.
Hell have to find another hobby. Judge Elliott Levine, after imposing a 12-year revocation of Stanley Paalksniss fishing license.
HOLMEN None of the female students, teachers or staff at Holmen High School left empty-handed this Valentines Day.
Holmen Senior Zack Peterson handed out more than 625 long-stemmed roses Tuesday morning at the high school as the female students were called to the schools large group room one grade at a time. The sweet gesture was met with screams of glee and hugs from his female classmates as each received her rose.
This was such a complete surprise, senior Lily King said. Its kind of a great feeling.
Peterson said he came up with the idea as a pick-me-up for students. He said students were still grieving the death last year of sophomore Kevin Romanowski, and Peterson thought the gesture would be a simple way to help raise spirits and make sure that none of the girls felt left out on Valentines Day.
King said Petersons surprise was one of the sweetest things anyone could do. Her boyfriend lives more than three hours away, so she wont be able to see him to celebrate the romantic holiday, and this was a great way to feel included.
Its just nice to know that somebody cares, fellow senior Vanessa Clark said. It is such a super sweet surprise.
The gift set Zack back about $450 after he ordered the roses in bulk from Ecuador through Sams Club. He said he liked giving out flowers and that the reaction on peoples faces was awesome especially after being very nervous before everyone started lining up.
The school needs a pick-me-up, he said. It is an easy way to help people feel happy.
Sophomore Alizabeth Mahlum said she needed her spirits lifted this week. It was her uncles birthday, and Valentines Day is always a somber reminder her uncle died a few years ago.
I was really surprised, she said. It wasnt a good day for me and now things have been turned around.
Even Zacks sister Abigail, a sophomore, was taken by the surprise. The family used air fresheners to mask the scent of the hundreds of roses over the weekend as Zack spent more than eight hours trimming, cleaning and arranging the flowers.
Abigail said she was happy her brother did this for her classmates and glad they appreciated the gesture. The two of them get along pretty well, and she was impressed at how hard he worked to keep the flowers surprise for everyone, including her.
A lot of girls left in tears, they were so happy, she said. It is great there are people like him in this world.
Disclaimer
This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Bahrain: Fears of further violent crackdown on uprising anniversary
Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Bahrain: Fears of further violent crackdown on uprising anniversary, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a41be54.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Authorities in Bahrain must refrain from using excessive force against protesters, Amnesty International urged as mass protests are under way on 14 February, to mark the sixth anniversary of the 2011 uprising.
Bahrain is on the verge of a human rights crisis, as recent weeks have seen a pattern of increased repression, characterized by violence against protesters, executions, arbitrary detentions and a crackdown on freedom of expression.
"Bahrain is at a tipping point. The first two months of 2017 alone saw an alarming upsurge in arbitrary and abusive force by security forces as well as the first executions since the uprising in 2011," said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director at Amnesty International's Beirut regional office. "The authorities must rein in the security forces, respect the rights to peaceful assembly, association and expression, and stop executions, otherwise a full blown human rights crisis risks breaking out."
On the evening of 12 February, hundreds of protesters took to the streets throughout several villages, in protest against the authorities' not allowing the performance of religious funeral rituals for three men who were killed by coast guard forces on 9 February after they escaped from Jaw prison on 1 January. Bahraini Shi'a religious figures had called for mass rallies in protest. Some protests remained peaceful, while others turned violent.
Amnesty International obtained reports and photos of injuries caused by birdshot on the back, ear, foot and leg of protesters. In Sitra, a large armoured vehicle was filmed driving towards protesters, appearing to fire tear gas at body height, causing injuries. The vehicle was then bombed, with the group Al-Muqawama Liwehdat al-I'lam al-Harbi claiming responsibility for it. The Bahraini authorities have not responded publicly to this attack.
On 15 January 2017, three men were executed in Bahrain after nearly a seven-year hiatus and after a grossly unfair trial. In response, protests erupted in 20 villages across the country, a number of which turned violent, seeing government armored vehicles charging at protesters and almost running them over, as well as government forces using tear gas and shotguns to fire birdshot directly at protesters.
Tension has since continued rising, with scores of people arrested after 15 January, including Munir Mshaima, the brother of Sami Mshaima, one of the three men executed. He was arrested immediately after his brother's funeral, accused of "insulting the King" during the proceedings. He was released the following day.
Amnesty International saw video footage of armed men wearing black balaclavas firing Benelli semi-automatic shotguns during clashes in Duraz on 26 January. It is unclear whether they were firing live ammunition or less-lethal riot control ammunition.Additional masked men were seen carrying drawn semi-automatic handguns, as well as one carrying an MP-7 Personal Defense Weapon.
In some instances, protesters also resorted to violence against the security forces, throwing Molotov cocktails and burning tyres, injuring at least two police officers. According to the Ministry of Interior, two police officers have also been killed. One police officer was shot in Bani Jamra on 14 January and later died from his injuries, while an off-duty police officer was shot and killed by armed men in Bilad al-Qadem on 29 January.
More protests erupted on 29 January seeing thousands of people peacefully protesting the following day's trial of Sheikh Issa Qassem, the spiritual leader of the Al Wefaq opposition party, which was dissolved in July2016.
"For six years, the Bahraini government has been claiming that it has taken meaningful steps towards reform and upholding its human rights obligations, including by prosecuting those who were responsible for the violations that took place during the 2011 uprising. But the past few weeks have seen a very concerning renewed pattern of violations, including arbitrary detention and torture, facilitated by a continuing climate of impunity", said Lynn Maalouf.
Despite these claims, the Bahraini government has cracked down over the past six years on freedom of expression, by increasing arbitrary restrictions on the media, banning protests in Manama and imprisoning those who voice their opinion.
In 2016, for example, prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was yet again imprisoned, the main opposition party Al Wefaq was dissolved and its spiritual leader, Sheikh Issa Qassem's nationality arbitrarily revoked and its Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman given a nine-year prison sentence for peacefully stating his party's goal of pursuing power in Bahrain, to achieve the reform demands of the 2011 uprising and to hold those responsible for human rights violations to account.
On 16 January the Ministry of Information issued an order suspending the online edition of Al-Wasat, an independent newspaper, due to its "repeated broadcastings inciting to discord in society and the spirit of sedition, disruption of national unity that affects public peace." The Ministry of Information reinstated the online edition of Al-Wasat on 19 January.
Also, the government of Bahrain continues to detain Dr Ali al-Ekri and 11 opposition activists including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Hassan Mshaima and, who were arrested for peacefully opposing the government during the 2011 uprising. Many of those detained have alleged they were tortured during their interrogations. They described being beaten, forced to stand for extended periods of time and being threatened with rape by officers of the National Security Agency.
"Dr Ali al-Ekri and the 11 opposition activists are all prisoners of conscience who remain behind bars because of their peaceful involvement in the uprising - the Bahraini authorities must release them immediately and unconditionally".
Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International
Guinea-Bissau: Sustaining economic growth requires political stability, says UN envoy
Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Guinea-Bissau: Sustaining economic growth requires political stability, says UN envoy, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a41c5a40c.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
14 February 2017 - In the face of continued political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, a more sustained and well-coordinated approach is required to sustain economic gains, said the United Nations envoy for the country, calling for "faithful" implementation of a regionally-brokered road-map.
"Any breakthrough in the political dialogue would remain short-lived if the structural causes of the instability are not addressed," Modibo Toure, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Guinea Bissau, told the UN Security Council today.
"It will therefore be critical for national actors to implement the provisions in the Conakry Agreement related to the review of the Constitution in order to clarify the provisions that have given rise to inter-institutional conflicts in the past," he added in his briefing, parts of which were in French.
The Conakry Agreement was signed in October last year following talks between political leaders, civil society and religious leaders of Guinea-Bissau. The talks were hosted by the regional bloc Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) in Guinea's capital Conakry.
However, the implementation of the Agreement and the ECOWAS roadmap has been challenging, Mr. Toure outlined.
Urging authorities of Guinea-Bissau to focus on revising the electoral law and the laws governing political parties, as envisaged in the Conakry Agreement, in preparation for legislative elections scheduled in 2018, the UN official also underlined that "at the same time, it is important not to lose sight of the critical reforms in the judicial, human rights, security and economic sectors."
Despite political crisis, country's economic performance has been remarkable
Further in the briefing, Mr. Toure highlighted that the national economy was estimated to have expanded by five per cent in 2016, on the back of very good cashew harvests and favourable terms of trade.
The growth last year follows favourable growth rates in 2015 and 2014.
He, however, added that sustaining the economic growth would require stability.
Furthermore, the Government successfully paid salary arrears of several months particularly in the health and education sectors. There was also progress in fostering national reconciliation and social cohesion, as evidenced in a recent symposium organized at the premises of the National Assembly and attended by the country's President.
Mr. Toure also pointed out that in the absence of a fully functioning Government, the UN and international financial institutions must continue to coordinate efforts towards mitigating risks, reducing socioeconomic vulnerabilities, including through business for peace initiatives.
In pursuit of this objective, he said that the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), that he heads, is currently working to take forward a partnership initiative with the UNCT, the World Bank, and other interested bilateral and multilateral partners to effectively strengthen local resilience and promote peace in Guinea-Bissau, in line with relevant the Security Council resolution on a more integrated political, security and developmental approach to sustaining peace.
Reported killings in DR Congo town could amount to serious rights violations - UN rights arm
Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Reported killings in DR Congo town could amount to serious rights violations - UN rights arm, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a41c8440d.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
14 February 2017 - At least 101 people are reported to have been killed by soldiers in clashes between military forces and members of the Kamuina Nsapu militia in central Democratic Republic of the Congo over the last five days, the United Nations human rights wing has said.
Some 39 individuals among those killed in the violence between 9-13 February were women, caught in the shooting, when Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) soldiers opened fire indiscriminately with machine guns when they saw militia fighters, Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told the media at the bi-weekly news briefing at the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG), citing information received from several sources.
The militia members where reportedly armed mainly with machetes and spears.
We are deeply concerned at the reported high number of deaths, which if confirmed would suggest excessive and disproportionate use of force by the soldiers, said Ms. Throssell, noting that the UN Joint Human Rights Office is seeking to verify the exact number of victims.
Calling on call on the FARDC soldiers to abide by standards under national law and international human rights law in their responses and urged the military commanders to reinforce this message with their troops, she added:
In particular to exercise restraint and to use force only when necessary and proportionate to the threat, to minimize damage and injury and to respect and preserve human lives.
According to OHCHR, this latest violence said to have occurred in and around the town of Tshimbulu in DR Congo's Kasai Central Province follows atrocities committed by both sides it has documented since August last year, when a customary chief (after whom the Kamuina Nsapu militia is named) was killed by the armed forces.
VIDEO: OHCHR calls on the FARDC soldiers to "abide by acceptable standards of national law and international human rights law" in their operations. Credit: UN News
Calling on the authorities for a full and independent investigation into the latest violence, the UN human rights office offered its support to investigations into others allegations of serious human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of the ongoing conflict in Kasai Central Province by the FARDC and the militia.
Given the ongoing violence, we also reiterate our call for increased efforts to find durable solutions to conflicts with customary chiefs in Kasai Central Province, said Ms. Throssell.
Ukraine: UN warns of civilian casualties in 'face to face' fighting in country's east
Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Ukraine: UN warns of civilian casualties in 'face to face' fighting in country's east, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a41cd940d.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
14 February 2017 - Intensified fighting between Government and non-Government forces near densely populated areas in eastern Ukraine is endangering civilians, the senior United Nations humanitarian representative in the country told reporters in Geneva today.
"The situation in eastern Ukraine is actually quite serious, you will be aware that between 21 January and 3 February the fighting intensity increased," said Neal Walker, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, citing frequent violations of the ceasefire and fighting near the towns of Avdiivka, Yasynuvata, Makiivka and Donetsk.
"There was extremely intense fighting from the 29th until the 3rd of February," Mr. Walker recalled, noting that that the number of ceasefire violations exceeded 30,000 in a week or so, compared to less than 30,000 over the course of a month.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in March 2014. A ceasefire was eventually negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, in February 2015 but there have been frequent violations. The latest truce began on 23 December last year.
"The approximation of fighting forces, armed separatists in the east and Government troops, the distance separating them has narrowed, has narrowed incredibly," Mr. Walker said. "And they are now face to face. You also have an increased presence of heavy weapons directly in violation of the Minsk accord."
Mr. Walker also mentioned that the humanitarian situation is quite critical. "Let's not forget temperatures in the past weeks have been between 10 and 20 below zero centigrade," he said.
VIDEO: UN relief official in Ukraine warns of critical humanitarian situation and calls for further civilian protection, as ceasefire violations peaks in the country. Credit: UN News
The UN Resident Coordinator also warned about environmental damage to critical civilian infrastructure due to shelling. "We have for instance a phenol chemical plant which has enormous potential to do severe environmental damage if the shelling is continued and it is damaged further," he said.
"There are probably between 800,000 and one million IDPs (internally displaced persons) in government controlled areas of Ukraine," Mr. Walker estimated. "We estimate another 200,000 have actually returned to non-government controlled areas from government controlled areas," he added.
Since the beginning of the conflict, around 10,000 people have been killed in the violence, with civilian deaths on the rise.
RSF calls for release of six journalists held for "false information"
Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF calls for release of six journalists held for "false information", 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a41d514.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is stunned and dismayed to learn that six mostly very senior journalists have been detained since 12 February for reporting that bonuses were paid to members of the army's special forces who staged a mutiny in the southeastern town of Adiake.
The six journalists, who include three newspaper publishers and an editor, are being held in cells at the gendarmerie's Agban barracks in the Abidjan district of Williamsville. RSF is very worried by their detention, especially as media offences are decriminalized in Cote d'Ivoire.
The six detainees are Coulibaly Vamara, publisher of Soir Info and L'Inter; Yacouba Gbane, publisher of Le Temps; Bamba Franck Mamadou, publisher of Notre Voie; Hamadou Ziao, L'Inter's editor; Ferdinand Bailly of Le Temps; and Jean Bedel Gnago, Soir Info's correspondent in Aboisso (a town near Adiake).
They are all charged with "publishing false news" and "inciting army personnel to insubordination and rebellion" in articles published on 10 and 11 February about payment of bonuses to the Adiake-based special forces who staged a mutiny for more pay on 7-8 February. The government issued a statement denying the reports.
"We call on the Ivorian authorities to respect their own laws and to release these six journalists at once," RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said. "As media offences are decriminalized in Cote d'Ivoire, journalists should not be jailed, regardless of what they report in their articles. Legal recourse is available if what they write is considered preposterous or defamatory."
Gbane and Bailly were questioned for eight hours on 11 February at the gendarmerie's department of investigations on prosecutor-general Richard Christophe Adou's orders, and were asked to name their sources within the special forces and defence ministry.
The other journalists were summoned for questioning the next day. If convicted on these charges, they face the possibility of jail terms of one to five years and fines of 300,000 to 3 million CFA francs.
RSF points out that article 68 of Cote d'Ivoire's press law clearly states that "the penalty of imprisonment is excluded for press offences." Only the National Press Council (CNP), which regulates the media, has the power to impose penalties on journalists for violations.
This is the third time since Alassane Ouattara became president that journalists have been arbitrarily detained for media offences. Three Notre Voie journalists - publisher Cesar Etou, assistant editor Didier Depri and chief political correspondent Boga Sivori - were arrested in November 2011 and were held for 13 days before being tried and acquitted.
Kazakh editor's arrest aims to silence opposition paper
Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Kazakh editor's arrest aims to silence opposition paper, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a41deb4.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by the way gendarmes handcuffed and tortured newspaper reporter Robert Avotor when he tried to cover a land dispute in a Lome suburb on 7 February.
The gendarmes arrested Avotor after first ordering him to leave the scene of the dispute in the western suburb Akato-Viepe, although he was wearing a press vest and had his press card. He works for the biweekly L'Alternative.
After handcuffing and torturing him for more than two hours, the gendarmes took him to the gendarmerie base in Sagbado, where they deleted the photos in his camera and mobile phone and then released him.
"We strongly condemn the violent and degrading way this journalist was treated and we call for an investigation so that those responsible are punished," RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles. "We also remind the authorities that journalists must be free to cover events in the field."
The Togolese Media Observatory (OTM), Togo Independent Journalists Union (UJIT) and National Press Owners Council (CONAPP) also condemned the violence in a joint statement.
Their statement urged "the ministry of security to take the appropriate measures against those responsible for this highly reprehensible act, which jeopardizes the good working relations that the security forces and media professionals are trying to establish."
Togo is ranked 88th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
Bangladesh: Stop Persecuting Unions, Garment Workers
Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 15 February 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Bangladesh: Stop Persecuting Unions, Garment Workers, 15 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a45de64.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Dozens of garment workers and labor leaders are facing unfair or apparently fabricated criminal cases in Bangladesh after wage strikes in December 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. Arbitrary arrests by the Bangladesh police are growing with each passing day nine more union organizers were arrested on February 10, taking the number of known arrests to 34.
The Bangladesh authorities should immediately release those still in detention and drop all politically motivated charges.
Global brands and donors attending the February 25, 2017 Dhaka Apparel Summit hosted by the country's garment export association should call on the government to stop all persecution of union leaders and protect workers' freedom of association.
"Targeting labor activists and intimidating workers instead of addressing their wage grievances tarnishes Bangladesh's reputation and makes a mockery of government and industry claims that they are committed to protecting worker's rights," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Global garment brands sourcing from Bangladesh and aid donors should press the government to stop persecuting workers and labor rights activists."
Thousands of garment workers outside Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, participated in wage strikes between December 11 and 19. They came from an estimated 20 factories that supply global brands based in the Ashulia industrial area. According to information by local groups and official information, the vast majority were from factories that had no unions. The national union federations deny they had any role in or prior knowledge about these strikes. But the Bangladesh authorities used these strikes as a justification to arrest national union federation leaders and labor activists for "leading" and "planning" the strikes.
Workers say that strikes are often the only means for them to raise their grievances, in part because the government and local employers retaliate against union organizers and workers trying to organize. As a result, workers are unable to bargain collectively with employers and use formal channels for addressing grievances.
The workers coalesced behind a demand for a monthly minimum wage increase from 5,300 takas (US$67) to 15,000 ($187) or 16,000 ($200). In 2016, the Fair Labor Association found that the purchasing power of a Bangladesh factory worker's average compensation was below the World Bank poverty line. Both the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association (BGMEA) and the government rejected a wage review. The export association closed about 60 Ashulia factories for several days, effectively locking out thousands of workers and ending the strikes.
In early January 2017, about 20 global brands sourcing from Bangladesh, including H&M, Inditex, Gap, C&A, Next, and Primark, wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina supporting a wage review and expressing their concerns that union leaders and worker advocates were targeted.
Rights groups have information about 10 criminal complaints filed in December 2016, implicating about 150 named workers and over 1,600 "unknown" people for crimes, including property destruction at the factories, during the strikes. Union leaders and organizers have also now been questioned or arrested in relation to older cases. These groups are aware of 34 people who were arrested, most of them union leaders. In addition, a journalist from the ETV, a local news channel, was arrested for reporting about the strikes. A news report from early January suggests the numbers are higher, stating the police had arrested at least 44 people and were identifying another 159 suspects. The police have not provided a full list of all those arrested and where they are being held.
Based on interviews with rights groups, lawyers, and workers, and police records, Human Rights Watch found the circumstances of many of the arrests following the Ashulia strikes point to politically motivated abuse of police powers to retaliate against labor organizers rather than credible allegations of crimes. Some of the police abuse tactics in the aftermath of the Ashulia strikes mirror those previously used by authorities in other related and unrelated human rights matters. These include:
Arrests based on vague or repealed offenses from the draconian Special Powers Act, 1974;
The use of criminal complaints against large numbers of "unknown" people allowing the police to threaten virtually anyone with arrest, to repeatedly re-arrest detainees even though they are not the named accused in the cases, and to thwart bail;
The misuse of powers of "arrest without warrant" in violation of Bangladesh High Court directives, effectively making pretrial detention itself a form of punishment;
Violations of procedural safeguards aimed at counteracting forced confessions through torture, or cruel, inhuman, and other degrading treatment;
Threats by police to kill two detainees and claim they were killed in "crossfire" in a shootout with police, and a death threat to an official from the Bangladesh Independent Garments Union Federation;
Harassment and intimidation of labor activists and workers in the name of "investigations";
The arrest of a journalist under the vague section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2015.
The Bangladesh authorities should stop pressing these criminal cases and hold any police officers who used forced disappearances, torture, death threats, and other abusive police practices after the Ashulia strikes accountable, Human Rights Watch said.
According to a news report, the National Revenue Board has also written to banks requesting all account-related information dating from July 1, 2009 for six union leaders and some of their spouses.
"The Bangladeshi authorities seem determined to intimidate labor leaders and workers with the constant threat of arbitrary arrests to fill up the 'unknown' tally of alleged troublemakers," Robertson said. "A familiar pattern of criminal cases being used against rights activists is unfolding after the Ashulia strikes."
Based on information from workers, local labor rights groups, and newspaper reports, some Ashulia factories have also retaliated against an estimated 1,500 workers by indiscriminately firing or suspending them.
Donors and brands sourcing from Bangladesh have the responsibility to respect and protect workers' rights, Human Rights Watch said. They should call for an end to all harassment of labor leaders, workers, and journalists, including by ending the false criminal cases.
Brands sourcing from Bangladesh should make binding agreements with local and global unions to protect freedom of association, modeled on the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, an enforceable agreement between workers and brands with a dispute resolution mechanism. Voluntary commitments in brands' codes of conduct are ineffective to counter factory retaliation against unions.
In the interim, brands should ensure their suppliers develop corrective action plans with worker representatives, including the option of reinstating fired workers and negotiating collective bargaining agreements to resolve wage disputes.
For details about the strikes and the aftermath, please see below.
The Bangladesh Garment Industry
The Bangladesh garment industry employs about 4 million workers and generates exports worth about US$25 billion. But the country's dismal labor rights record is marked by persistent abuses including a lack of periodic wage reviews, wage theft, management thwarting unionization in factories, and poor fire and building safety. The 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 workers and injured another 2,000, forced the Bangladesh government, global brands, and factories to take steps to address fire and building safety, leading to some improvements.
In 2016, the Fair Labor Association found that for the factories it assessed in Bangladesh, the purchasing power of average compensation fell below the World Bank poverty line compared with other big apparel producers like China and Vietnam, where average compensation is 2.5 times the poverty line.
In the aftermath of the Ashulia strikes, Human Rights Watch conducted interviews with 32 workers, residents, and passersby in Ashulia. Human Rights Watch also interviewed union leaders, rights groups, and legal experts in Bangladesh, and reviewed police and other official documents and news reports. The interviews were conducted with informed consent and all names have been withheld to protect them.
The Ashulia Strikes
A wildcat strike started in Windy Apparel Ltd., which has no union, on December 11, 2016. Between December 11 and 19, workers from other factories joined the strike for various reasons. For example, in addition to seeking better wages, workers from one factory with about 400 workers told Human Rights Watch that they joined the strikes because they were also aggrieved by sexual threats and abusive taunts by a supervisor and the recent firing of a worker who was trying to form a union.
Some workers from other factories told Human Rights Watch they joined the strikes when their factory owners or managers promised a wage increase if other factories did the same. In some instances, workers said supervisors and other mid-level factory management encouraged them to strike because they believed they would also receive a pay increase if workers' demands were successful.
During this period, high-level government officials convened multiple rounds of discussions with some factory owners and national federation union leaders about the strikes. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association (BGMEA) refused workers' demands for a wage review, contending that the government could not order one until 2018, that is, until five years after the previous wage review, and the government agreed. However, labor law experts told Human Rights Watch that the government can order a wage review at any time under section 140A of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006.
Labor rights groups told Human Rights Watch that in these meetings government officials ordered union federation leaders to compel workers to return to factories, disregarding the union leaders' explanations that they had no power over workers in Ashulia's striking factories because a vast majority of them have no unions. The strikes were ended by the December 20 factory shut down by the BGMEA.
Meanwhile, Donglian Fashion (BD) Ltd., one of the few Ashulia factories that has a registered union and whose workers did not join the spontaneous strike, resolved the wage dispute in January through a collective bargaining process that had started in November. The final agreement lays down the percentage of annual wage increase for workers, rules governing attendance bonus, and a grievance redress procedure.
Disappearance and "Arrest" Technique
Based on information from lawyers, labor rights groups, and other credible sources, many union leaders vanished. More than 24 hours later, police brought them before a court; at no times before did the police acknowledge or provide any information about their formal arrest or legal detention:
Shoumitro Kumar Das, president, Garment Sromik Front Regional Committee;
Ahmed Jibon, general secretary, Garment Sromik Front;
Al Kamran, president, Shwadhin Bangla Garment Sromik Federation Savar-Ashulia-Dhamrai Regional Committee;
Shakil Ahmed, general secretary, Shwadhin Bangla Garment Sromik Federation Regional Committee;
Shamim Khan, president, Bangladesh Trinomul Garment Sromik-Kormochari Federation;
Mizanur Rahman, Textile Workers Federation;
Mohammed Ibrahim, coordinator, Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity;
Rafiqul Islam Sujon, president, Garment and Industry Sromik Federation;
Jahangir, president, Designer Jeans Ltd. factory union;
Nazmul Huda, journalist.
Following a meeting with the industrial police on the morning of December 21 in an Ashulia theme park, seven union leaders vanished. Their phones were switched off and calls from relatives and colleagues to various police departments yielded no information about them. Plainclothes policemen went to Jahangir's home late that night and took him away, promising his wife that he would return in 30 minutes. He did not return and was unreachable. Police did not inform his family about his whereabouts.
On the night of December 22, the police produced the eight labor leaders in court. Because contact with those in detention is limited, details of their detention conditions are patchy. Lawyers said at least four of them Kamran, Ahmed, Rahman, and Ibrahim reported being blindfolded and detained in an undisclosed location by the detective branch; one was beaten, and another was threatened with being "cross-fired" (being killed in a staged exchange of fire with the police).
Before the detainees had access to lawyers or were produced in court, the police recorded in Complaint No. 30/524, filed on December 22, that the eight union leaders had "confessed" to instigating the strike by conducting secret meetings, distributing leaflets, and providing economic support.
On December 23, police called Huda, the journalist, invited him to a news conference, and when he arrived, forced him into a police vehicle, beat him, and drove him around Dhaka until around 4 a.m., threatening him with a "cross-fire" killing. He was produced in court the following day. Ahmed Jibon also vanished following a detective branch police phone call asking him to meet with them on the morning of December 27, and was untraceable until he was produced in court the following morning.
Use of the Repressive Special Powers Act
The draconian Special Powers Act violates the accused's rights to due process and other international human rights standards. A leading criminal law expert told Human Rights Watch that these cases are the first time these offenses have been used against garment workers and union organizers. He also said that these are usually triable by a special tribunal, making it harder for regular criminal courts to grant pretrial bail.
The police accused some labor leaders of "sabotage" an offense so vaguely defined that it can be abused to criminalize any exercise of workers' freedom of association. For example, a person commits the offense of sabotage if he or she does any act "with intent to impair the efficiency or impede the working of, or to cause damage to[a] factory."
The police have similarly filed spurious criminal complaints against nine labor leaders for committing "prejudicial acts," an offense that has been repealed. The Shomajtontrik Sromik Front, a national union federation, challenged the use of the repealed offense in January 2017 in the Bangladesh High Court, which ruled it unlawful and ordered the magistrate's court to release a leader of the union, Ahmed Jibon, on bail.
According to a leading criminal law expert who spoke with Human Rights Watch, the police violated Bangladesh Supreme Court rulings in their application of the Special Powers Act, where the court clearly held that even where there is damage to private property, the Special Powers Act offenses cannot be used since it does not constitute a security related offense against the state. Rights groups have repeatedly called for full repeal of the act.
Abusing the Threat of Arrest and Re-Arrest
The police intimidated labor leaders and workers by registering criminal complaints against "unknown" persons, allowing them to misuse the threat of arrest against anyone. Human Rights Watch has documented previous and routine use of this technique. The open-ended complaints against over 1,600 "unknown" people for committing crimes during the Ashulia strikes have been abused to implicate union leaders, some of whom have been arrested in as many as nine cases each. Most recently, the police rearrested Jibon, soon after a magistrate's court released him on bail.
Police arrested three more labor leaders Asadur Zaman, Golam Arif, and Ronju from the Bangladesh Independent Garment Union Federation (BIGUF) soon after the Ashulia strikes and implicated them in old cases from January 2015 unrelated to the strikes. These were filed in Gazipur during the 2015 nationwide blockade called by a 20-party alliance led by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. None of them had been accused or previously questioned in relation to those cases. Nine more labor organizers were similarly arrested on February 10, in relation to case from August 2016, accused of obstructing police work, and released on bail on February 13.
Trumped Up, Vague Allegations
Nine of the complaints were filed by factories against some known and many "unknown" persons, each alleging a variety of crimes.
A leading criminal law expert who has reviewed these complaints told Human Rights Watch that most allegations are vague and appeared as if the "FIRs [police first information reports] were prepared at the instruction of the same person. Police just copied them by changing the names."
Where allegations specifically detailed property damage, such as destruction of factory doors, windows, and machinery, there is no corroborating information. None of the workers Human Rights Watch was able to interview in a few of these factories and who had resumed work inside these factories said they had seen any freshly replaced machinery or fixtures, or recently damaged machinery or fixtures awaiting repairs. Local residents said they did not witness any looting or violence. On the contrary, they said the areas were teeming with police, who had put up barricades.
In one case, the factory alleged in its complaint that workers made an "irrational demand" on December 14, 2016, then disrupted work by going on strike. Workers told Human Rights Watch that a fire alarm went off that day, and management told workers to leave. Some who tried to return were told they did not need to. Workers also said that mid-level factory management and supervisors had encouraged them to leave the factory and join the strike telling the workers that if they joined the strikes, the managers' salaries would increase too.
The same factory manager alleged in his complaint that some workers turned violent at about 8:45 a.m. on December 20, allegedly breaking machinery and damaging glass doors and windows worth 1 million takas (US$12,492). However, workers told Human Rights Watch that on the evening of December 19, supervisors had instructed at least some of the workers to arrive late the following morning. By the time these workers arrived, the gates were closed and they were told the factory was indefinitely closed.
In another case, a factory official filed a complaint alleging that at around 8:45 a.m. on December 19, 15 named workers and 40 to 50 unknown people damaged machinery, doors, and windows worth 300,000 takas (roughly US$3,770) and looted garments worth 200,000 takas (roughly $2,515) after beating and threatening factory officials. They also alleged that the workers they named colluded with 40 to 50 unknown others and rioted on the street outside the factory, destroying vehicles. They said this forced the factory to close down for a few days.
Factory workers told Human Rights Watch that on December 19, officials announced through loudspeakers that the factory was closing and ordered workers to go home. The workers complied and left and said they saw no evidence of violence on the way out. And despite allegations of extensive damage, the workers who resumed work inside the factory after it re-opened said they did not see any freshly repaired or installed fixtures, or damaged fixtures, or hear about any such damages.
Police Harassment of Labor Activists and Death Threats to BIGUF Leader
Starting in mid-December, the Solidarity Center, which works closely with workers and unions, documented instances in which 14 national union federations were either forced by police to shut their offices in Ashulia, Gazipur, and Chittagong, or closed them because of police harassment.
According to a written incident report by the Bangladesh Independent Garment Union Federation (BIGUF) on January 20, two plainclothes policemen interrupted an ILO-sponsored health and safety training program organized in BIGUF's Gazipur office, demanding to meet with two BIGUF organizers. More uniformed police officers entered the premises, gathered all BIGUF staff and program participants in the seminar room, noted down their personal details, and warned that they should not participate in BIGUF's activities. According to BIGUF, one of the policemen also threatened Rashedul Alam Raju, the union federation vice-president, who was not in the room, saying that he would be caught and drowned in drain water.
Human Rights Watch has reported on a recurring pattern of such harassment in the past. In 2010, the police detained and harassed activists from the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS). Aminul Islam, one of the detainees, told other rights groups that the police had tortured and threatened to kill him. In April 2012, Aminul vanished and was subsequently found murdered with torture marks under circumstances that raise concerns of involvement by Bangladeshi security forces. Till today, the police investigation has failed to find suspects, and officials have not responded to a call by international rights groups and aid donors for an independent investigation.
Retaliatory Firing, Black-Listing of Factory Workers
According to information from rights groups and news reports, factory managers dismissed or suspended an estimated 1,500 workers in Ashulia after the strikes. Some workers told Human Rights Watch that their factory managers promised to send them a show-cause notice back in their homes in the village but had received no further information. Other workers said that factory officials or supervisors told them on the phone that they should not come to the factory because they would be arrested, without offering any further explanation. A third group said that factory officials gave them a show-cause notice, in standard format, with seven days to respond to allegations that they participated in or instigated violent strikes. Human Rights Watch has seen some of these notices. None was tailored to an individual worker, specifying clearly how they were implicated in the strikes, but included broad, vague allegations addressed to a group of workers.
These retaliatory dismissals and suspensions appear indiscriminate, Human Rights Watch said. Factory management also opportunistically dismissed workers perceived as "unproductive" or "trouble-makers." A pregnant worker said that she was dismissed even though she did not participate in any strikes because of her pregnancy. A male worker who was on sick leave said he was dismissed, and a female worker said she believed she was targeted because she had complained of sexual harassment at the workplace.
One worker who was fired said he was finding it impossible to find employment in other factories:
My life has been seriously affectedI tried for a job in several factories after the incident. In January, I joined Envoy Group and worked for about half an hour. But an official came and said he cannot appoint me, without giving any explanation. Later a security guard told me our photos were emailed to other factories and that's how they identified me. I am thinking of leaving the Ashulia area, but I don't know if I will get a job in other areas. I have to pay my bills here house rent and other things before I leave.
Union-Busting
Government information from August 2016 shows that only 23 factories in Ashulia had registered unions. Human Rights Watch documented numerous examples of factory officials thwarting union formation in Ashulia's factories. Union busting has been an unchecked labor rights risk in global apparel brands' supply chains in Bangladesh.
One union federation leader said that "participation committees" employer-worker committees under the Bangladesh Labour Act had begun to subtly replace factory unions. A few workers from various Ashulia factories said their factory managers did not allow "unions" but allowed workers to vote for representatives to these committees. The Solidarity Center told Human Rights Watch that participation committees either exist only on paper or are dominated by employers and do not represent worker interests.
A union office holder from a factory said: "Our factory union got the registration three months ago. When the owner became aware of this, he terminated 74 workers including the union presidentNow I got dismissed along with 150 others, though I had no role in the recent protest." In another case, workers had attempted to form a union in their factory three times, only to face factory retaliation.
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Kazakhstan: Editor-in-chief in pre-trial detention must be immediately released
Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 15 February 2017 Cite as Article 19, Kazakhstan: Editor-in-chief in pre-trial detention must be immediately released, 15 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a462d54.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
On 11 February, Zhanbolat Mamay, editor-in chief of Sayasi Kalam Tribuna, an independent newspaper known for its reporting on politically sensitive topics, was arrested on money laundering charges and sentenced to two months pre-trial detention. ARTICLE 19 believes the charges to be politically motivated and calls upon the Kazakh authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mamay.
"This arrest aims to silence Mamay, a critic of the Kazakh authorities, while seeking to intimidate anyone else considering expressing their discontent with state policy", said Katie Morris, Head of the Europe and Central Asia Programme at ARTICLE 19. "Mamay was well known for his opposition to proposed land reforms in Kazakhstan. His arrest is yet another blatant attack on freedom of expression, and leaves very few independent papers left who can criticize or hold the government to account," she added.
On February 10 Zhanbolat Mamay was detained by officers of the National Bureau to Combat Corruption following searches of his house and the newspaper's offices. Next day, the Medeu district court of Almaty ordered Mamay to be held in a pre-trial detention facility for two months as a measure of restraint. He is accused of using his newspaper to launder funds allegedly stolen from BTA Bank in 2005 - 2009, by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh oligarch, in exile since 2009, known for his political opposition to the Kazakh government. Ablyazov has yet to be sentenced formally on these charges.
Mamay been charged under Article 193 (3b) of the old Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, "Legalization of Monetary Funds or Other Property Obtained Illegally" (money laundering), punishable by deprivation of liberty of up to seven years.
Mamay has released a public statement denying these charges and calling the case "politically motivated", with the aim of closing his newspaper. Meanwhile, Ablyazov has posted on Facebook describing the charges as "absurd" and denying any ties with Mamay. A significant inconsistency in the charges is that Mamay only became head of the newspaper in 2012 - that is, three years after the funds were allegedly stolen, suggesting it would have been difficult for him to have used the newspaper for money laundering purposes during the time indicated by the Kazakh authorities.
Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
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Niang v. Gonzalez
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Publication Date 12 June 2007 Citation / Document Symbol 492 F.3d 505 Cite as Niang v. Gonzalez, 492 F.3d 505, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 12 June 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_4,58a46a774.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
492 F.3d 505 (2007)
Mame Fatou NIANG, Petitioner,
v.
Alberto R. GONZALES, Respondent.
No. 06-1470.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued: March 14, 2007.
Decided: June 12, 2007.
*506 ARGUED: Peter Nyoh, Enow & Patcha, Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Kristin Kay Edison, United States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Kell Enow, Enow & Patcha, Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, M. Jocelyn Lopez Wright, Assistant Director, United *507 States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Before NIEMEYER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and T.S. ELLIS, III, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.
Affirmed by published opinion. Senior Judge ELLIS wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge NIEMEYER joined. Judge WILLIAMS wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.
OPINION
ELLIS, Senior District Judge:
This is an appeal from a final order of removal of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"), denying petitioner's application for withholding of removal because (i) she failed to establish a "clear probability" of persecution and (ii) she could not assert a claim based on a fear that her five-year old U.S. citizen daughter would be subjected to female genital mutilation ("FGM")[1] if petitioner were removed to Senegal and her daughter accompanied her. We affirm on the record presented.
I.
Petitioner, Mame Fatou Niang ("Niang"), is a native and citizen of Senegal. In August 2000, she was admitted to the United States as a non-immigrant visitor authorized to remain in the U.S. until November 8, 2000.
Soon after her arrival in the U.S., Niang became romantically involved with Papa Samba Ane ("Ane"), a Senegalese native who has nearly completed the process of adjusting his status in the U.S. On July 8, 2001, Niang gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Fatime Ane ("Fatime"). Two years later, on February 11, 2003, Niang gave birth to the couple's second child, a son named Mohamed Ane ("Mohamed").
Several months after the birth of Mohamed, in August 2003, Niang filed an asylum application with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), seeking relief from removal based on her religion and her membership in a particular social group. In an affidavit appended to her application, Niang stated that she is from northern Senegal and is a member of the Toucouleur ethnic group, a group that, as she put it, practices FGM at "an alarming[ly] high rate." J.A. 87.[2] Indeed, Niang stated she was subjected to FGM at a young age, causing her to suffer long-lasting health and psychological problems. Niang further stated that Fatime's paternal grandparents have been requesting, in "intimidating and threatening letters," that Niang take Fatime to Senegal to undergo FGM.[3] Moreover, Niang stated Ane is "indifferent" *508 to his parents' request and "[t]his indifference . . . means [Ane] tacitly accept[s] their request." J.A. 88-89. As a result of Ane's indifference and his parents' request, Niang stated she feared that if she were removed to Senegal, her daughter would be forced to undergo FGM there. J.A. 87.
On October 28, 2003, DHS charged Niang with removability, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(1)(B), for remaining in the U.S. beyond the time permitted by her non-immigrant visa. In response to this charge, Niang, represented by counsel, appeared before an Immigration Judge ("IJ") and admitted the charges against her, conceded removability, but sought relief from removal in the form of asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"), or, alternatively, voluntary departure.
At a December 7, 2004 hearing on her various requests for relief from removal, Niang testified that she is a citizen of Senegal and a member of both the Mandingo and Toucouleur tribes and that while in the U.S. she gave birth to Fatime and Mohamed, who, at the time of the hearing, were 3 years old and 22 months old, respectively. Initially, Niang testified that Ane lives with her, but later testified that Ane does not live with her, but that "he's around sometimes." J.A. 44, 54. She further testified that the Toucouleur tribe is "traditionalist" and continues to practice FGM and that although the Senegalese government has made FGM illegal, "people continue to practice excision in hiding" and she "saw many violations of that law." J.A. 42. She also testified that in 2002 she read a letter from Fatime's paternal grandfather asking that Fatime be sent to Senegal to undergo FGM and learned that Ane "agrees with his family." J.A. 45. Niang's asylum application was, in part, prompted by this letter.
In support of her application and testimony, Niang submitted (i) medical documents indicating that she had been subjected to FGM and that in December 2000, she suffered from fibroids; (ii) her Senegal passport and her children's birth certificates; (iii) the June 12, 2002 letter, purportedly from Ane's father; and (iv) a U.S. Department of State report concerning FGM in Senegal, released June 1, 2001. This report states, inter alia,
(a) that studies estimate between 5% and 20% of the female population has been subjected to FGM;
(b) that up to 88% of "females among the minority Halpularen (Peul and Toucouleur) in rural areas of eastern and southern Senegal practice FGM;" and
(c) that in January 1999, the Senegalese government made FGM illegal, but there have been no convictions as of the 2001 report.
J.A. 112-15.
The government also submitted documentary evidence, namely the 2003 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Senegal, prepared by the U.S. Department of State and released on February 25, 2004. This report states, inter alia,
(a) that FGM is not practiced by the Wolof, the largest ethnic group, constituting 43% of the Senegalese population;
(b) that one of the most extreme forms of FGM is sometimes practiced by the Toucouleur, particularly in rural areas;
*509 (c) that FGM is most prevalent in eastern Senegal;
(d) that FGM is a criminal offense, carrying a jail term of 6 months to 5 years for those practicing FGM or ordering that it be carried out. As of the 2003 report, trials in a 2002 and a 2001 case were still pending;
(e) that the government has established programs to educate women about the dangers of FGM and there are national and local government action plans against FGM; and
(f) that since 1997, 1,031 villages, including 13 in northern Senegal, have prohibited FGM, constituting over 20% of the villages that had previously practiced FGM.
J.A. 64-75.
Following this hearing, the IJ denied all of Niang's applications for relief and ordered her removed to Senegal. Specifically, the IJ found Niang's asylum application untimely, as it was filed more than three years after her arrival in the U.S. The IJ also found that circumstances did not warrant tolling. Despite this finding, the IJ went on to address the substance of Niang's asylum claim and found it meritless because Niang had not established that she would be persecuted on the basis of any protected ground if removed to Senegal, nor had she established any valid derivative claim given that her daughter, a U.S. citizen, was entitled to remain in the U.S.[4] The IJ also denied Niang's claim for withholding of removal based on a fear of persecution for the same reasons, noting correctly that this result follows from the fact that the standard applicable to a withholding claim is more rigorous than the standard applicable to an asylum claim. See Camara v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 361, 367 (4th Cir.2004). The IJ further concluded that Niang's CAT claim failed and that she was ineligible for voluntary departure.
Niang appealed the IJ's decision to the BIA, which affirmed the IJ's factual findings and specifically concurred with the IJ's conclusions that Niang's asylum application was untimely and that Niang had failed to demonstrate either past persecution or a clear probability of future persecution.
Niang now appeals only two aspects of the BIA's decision, thereby presenting two questions for review: (i) whether Niang can assert a claim for withholding of removal based on the psychological harm she will suffer if her daughter accompanies her to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM; and (ii) whether Niang can assert a "derivative" claim for withholding of removal based on the alleged persecution her *510 daughter will face if she accompanies Niang to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM[5]
II.
At the outset, it is important to note that FGM a barbaric practice unbecoming of a civilized society is prohibited by law in this and many other countries, including Senegal.[6] Accordingly, we and our sister circuits have appropriately recognized that FGM constitutes "persecution" within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., and thus the threat of FGM may serve as a basis for asylum or withholding of removal claims. See Barry v. Gonzales, 445 F.3d 741, 745 (4th Cir.2006). This settled principle is not at issue here. Instead, the essential question presented in this appeal is whether the record in this case compels reversal of the BIA's determination that Niang is not eligible for withholding of removal on the grounds she asserts.
The question is appropriately framed in this fashion because an alien asserting a claim for withholding of removal on persecution grounds must show "that it is more likely than not that her life or freedom would be threatened in the proposed country of removal because of her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." Haoua, 472 F.3d at 232.[7] More precisely, an applicant for withholding bears the burden of demonstrating a "clear probability" that she will face persecution in the country of removal. Rusu v. INS, 296 F.3d 316, 324 n. 13 (4th Cir.2002) (citing INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 430, 104 S. Ct. 2489, 81 L. Ed. 2d 321 (1984)); see 8 C.F.R. 1208.16. It follows from these principles that where, as here, the BIA has found that the petitioner has not met this burden, we will affirm the BIA's determination if it is supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481, 112 S. Ct. 812, 117 L. Ed. 2d 38 (1992). Thus, the IJ's or the BIA's factual *511 findings[8] are "conclusive unless the evidence before the BIA was such that any reasonable adjudicator would have been compelled to conclude to the contrary." Haoua, 472 F.3d at 231 (emphasis added). And significantly, where the "record [] plausibly could support two results: the one the IJ chose and the one [the petitioner] advances," reversal is only appropriate where the court "find[s] that the evidence not only supports [the opposite] conclusion, but compels it." Balogun v. Ashcroft, 374 F.3d 492 (7th Cir.2004) (emphasis added) (citing Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 481 n. 1, 112 S. Ct. 812).
In sum then, the specific questions presented, distilled to their essence, are whether the record compels reversal of the BIA's determinations (i) that Niang cannot assert a claim for withholding of removal based on the psychological harm she will suffer if her daughter accompanies her to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM; and (ii) that Niang cannot assert a "derivative" claim for withholding of removal based on the alleged persecution her daughter will face if she accompanies Niang to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM.
A.
Niang's first claim for withholding of removal focuses on the psychological harm she claims she will suffer if her daughter accompanies her to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM. This claim fails as a matter of law because it is well-established that "[p]ersecution involves the infliction or threat of death, torture, or injury to one's person or freedom." Li v. Gonzales, 405 F.3d 171, 177 (4th Cir.2005) (emphasis added). This settled principle is firmly anchored in the statutory language stating that withholding of removal is warranted where "the alien's life or freedom would be threatened . . ." on the basis of a protected ground. 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(A) (emphasis added). Thus, to establish a claim for withholding an applicant cannot rely solely on psychological harm or a threat of such harm to others, but must also establish injury or a threat of injury to the applicant's person or freedom.[9]See Osigwe v. Ashcroft, 77 Fed.Appx. 235 (5th Cir.2003) (finding petitioners could not establish an asylum claim "based solely on their daughter's risk of being subject to FGM if she is returned to Nigeria").[10] The record reflects that Niang has not met this requirement.
*512 Niang hopes to avoid this conclusion by relying on Abay v. Ashcroft, 368 F.3d 634 (6th Cir.2004). There, the Sixth Circuit, relying on BIA decisions suggesting a "governing principle" in favor of granting parents refugee status where their child faces physical torture, held that an alien mother was eligible for asylum, in her own right, based upon her fear that her minor daughter, also an asylum applicant, would be forced to undergo FGM if the daughter were removed. Id. at 642. Significantly, Abay is the only federal decision permitting a parent to seek relief, in her own right, based solely on the psychological suffering she will endure if her daughter will be subjected to FGM upon removal. We do not find Abay persuasive here, both because it is factually distinguishable and because psychological harm, without any accompanying physical harm, does not constitute "persecution." First, Abay is clearly distinguishable because, unlike the asylum applicant in Abay, Niang's daughter is a U.S. citizen; accordingly, there is no clear probability that Niang's daughter will be subjected to FGM as she could remain in the U.S., albeit without Niang, and avoid any potential persecution. Second, Abay is unpersuasive because its holding is an unwarranted expansion of the statutory definition of persecution. See 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(A); Li v. Gonzales, 405 F.3d at 177.
In sum then, because "persecution" cannot be based on a fear of psychological harm alone, Niang's withholding claim fails as a matter of law because it focuses solely on the psychological harm she claims she will suffer if her daughter accompanies her to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM. Accordingly, we affirm the BIA's determination in this respect.
B.
Niang also asserts a "derivative" claim for withholding of removal based on the alleged persecution her daughter will face if she accompanies Niang to Senegal and is there subjected to FGM. While Niang concedes that the INA does not provide for a "derivative" withholding of removal claim,[11] she argues that we should *513 nonetheless recognize a derivative claim in this case because of the barbaric nature of FGM. While we have not previously addressed whether such a claim may be asserted, other circuits have done so and declined to recognize this derivative claim. Oforji v. Ashcroft, 354 F.3d 609, 618 (7th Cir.2003) (holding that "[A]n alien parent who has no legal standing to remain in the United States may not establish a derivative claim for asylum by pointing to potential hardship to the alien's United States citizen child in the event of the alien's deportation."); Olowo v. Ashcroft, 368 F.3d 692 (7th Cir.2004) (same); Axmed v. United States AG, 145 Fed.Appx. 669, 675 (11th Cir.2005) (upholding BIA's decision to deny motion to reopen asylum application, sought because petitioner feared that if she were removed her U.S. citizen daughter would join her and be subjected to FGM, agreeing with circuits declining to find a derivative claim where petitioner's daughter is a U.S. citizen because "asylum is only available to aliens who are personally at risk").
The INA compels this result because the statutory text is clear to establish eligibility for withholding of removal the alien must demonstrate that "the alien's life or freedom would be threatened" in the country of removal. 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3) (emphasis added). Thus, the statute permitting withholding of removal does not encompass derivative withholding claims, that is, claims for withholding of removal based on persecution to another person; instead, an alien seeking withholding of removal must establish that they will suffer harm if removed. The one exception to this general rule is provided by 1229b, which provides that the Attorney General may cancel removal of an alien if the alien (i) has been physically present in the U.S. for ten years or more before seeking cancellation of removal; (ii) has been of good moral character during such period; (iii) has not been convicted of certain statutory offenses; and (iv) "establishes that removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the alien's spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States." Thus, the INA provides that hardship to U.S. citizen children may be a basis for cancellation of removal in certain specific circumstances not present here. Indeed, Niang's counsel conceded at oral argument that Niang is not entitled to relief under 1229b, presumably because she cannot satisfy the ten year physical presence requirement.
As 1229b does not apply here, Niang may be entitled to relief from removal only if she satisfies the standard set forth in 1231, that is, by demonstrating that she will suffer persecution if removed to Senegal. See 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3) (requiring that "the alien's life or freedom would be threatened" in the country of removal) (emphasis added). She has not done so on this record, choosing instead to rely on the alleged persecution her daughter will face if the daughter accompanies Niang to Senegal. Where, as here, an alien is not eligible for relief under 1229b, there is simply no statutory or regulatory authority for her to claim withholding of removal based on threatened hardship to her U.S. citizen minor daughter.[12] As Congress has not provided for such a derivative withholding claim, we will not judicially amend the statute to create one.
*514 We are, of course, mindful that the result reached here presents Niang with a heart-wrenching dilemma: either allow Fatime to remain in the U.S. with her father but without her mother, or take Fatime to Senegal where Niang fears Fatime will be forced to undergo FGM. The tragic nature of this choice is undeniable, but it does not warrant that we recognize a derivative claim where Congress has not seen fit to provide for it.[13]See Oforji, 354 F.3d at 618 (recognizing the difficult choice faced by petitioner, but explaining that "Congress has foreseen such difficult choices, but has opted to leave the choice with the illegal immigrant, not the courts"). Accordingly, consistent with the other circuits that have considered this question, we conclude that Niang may not assert a derivative claim for withholding of removal based on the potential persecution of her U.S. citizen daughter if Niang is removed to Senegal and her daughter accompanies her.[14]See Oforji, 354 F.3d 609; Olowo, 368 F.3d 692; Axmed, 145 Fed. Appx. 669.
For the foregoing reasons, we dismiss the petition for review and affirm the BIA's decision. We do so reluctantly because we recognize that removal places Niang on the horns of a terrible dilemma. While it is entirely reasonable to believe that the law ideally should not present mothers with such dilemmas, the existing law does. Thus, the state of the law and the contents of this record require that we affirm the BIA.
AFFIRMED
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in the majority's analysis of Niang's derivative claim of withholding of removal based on harm to her daughter.[1] I disagree, however, with the majority's disposition of Niang's claim of with-holding based on the psychological harm Niang claims she will suffer if she is removed to *515 Senegal and forced to subject her daughter to female genital mutilation (FGM). For the reasons that follow, I believe that the majority, by independently creating a per se rule that psychological harm alone cannot constitute persecution, without considering the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)'s interpretation of the term "persecution" and without remanding the case for the BIA to address the issue in the first instance, oversteps its bounds and fails to afford appropriate deference to the BIA. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
I.
A.
Although the majority opinion purports to apply the substantial evidence standard, it in fact conducts a de novo inquiry into the meaning of the term "persecution" in 8 C.F.R. 208.16 (West 2007). From this de novo inquiry, the majority derives a broad and potentially far-reaching legal precedent that "psychological harm, without any accompanying physical harm, does not constitute `persecution'." Ante at 512. This holding stands in tension with the BIA's decision in In re C-Y-Z, 21 I. & N. Dec. 915 (BIA 1997) (en banc), which held that an applicant for asylum and withholding of removal could establish persecution by virtue of his wife's forced sterilization. Neither the statute nor its implementing regulations define "persecution," and the majority, by (1) ignoring the BIA's interpretation of the term "persecution" in In re C-Y-Z and (2) independently establishing such a broad precedent without remanding for the BIA to consider the question in the first instance, fails to afford appropriate deference to the agency.
Although we review de novo questions of law determined by the BIA, Blanco de Belbruno v. Ashcroft, 362 F.3d 272, 278 (4th Cir.2004), we must afford appropriate deference to the BIA's interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA or "the Act") and any attendant regulations, Christensen v. Harris County, 529 U.S. 576, 586-88, 120 S. Ct. 1655, 146 L. Ed. 2d 621 (2000) (stating that Chevron deference should be afforded to an agency's interpretation of an ambiguous statute and Auer deference to an agency's interpretation of its own regulation). Because the BIA adopted, affirmed, and supplemented the Immigration Judge (IJ)'s decision, "we review the decision of the IJ as supplemented by the BIA." Chen v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir.2005).[2]
Under Chevron, a court reviewing an agency's construction of the statute it administers must first determine "whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue." Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842, 104 S. Ct. 2778, 81 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1984). "If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress." Id. at 842-43, 104 S. Ct. 2778. If, however, "the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agency's answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute." Id. at 843, 104 S. Ct. 2778. Pursuant to Auer, an agency's interpretation of its own regulations is "controlling unless *516 plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation." Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452, 461, 117 S. Ct. 905, 137 L. Ed. 2d 79 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted).
The majority does not suggest that the term "persecution," which both the INA and its implementing regulations leave undefined, is unambiguous. Nevertheless, the majority declines to afford deference to, or even address, the BIA's interpretation of the term. The BIA, however, has not interpreted "persecution" to require a physical assault. To the contrary, in In re C-Y-Z, the Board, sitting en banc, held that an applicant for asylum and withholding of removal could establish persecution by virtue of his wife's forced sterilization. The Board reversed the IJ's determination that the applicant was "in effect . . . seek[ing] to ride on his wife's coattails" and had not himself been persecuted. Id. at 916. Board Member Rosenberg wrote a separate concurring opinion noting that it is not unusual in asylum cases for an applicant to demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution "although the harm experienced was not by him, but by a family member," and that "it . . . constitutes persecution for the asylum applicant to witness or experience the persecution of family members." Id. at 926 (Rosenberg, concurring).
Also, we have previously stated that torture may constitute persecution. See Li v. Gonzales, 405 F.3d 171, 177 (4th Cir.2005) (stating that "[p]ersecution involves the infliction or threat of death, torture, or injury to one's person or freedom" (internal quotation marks omitted)). The majority, however, does not consider legal and non-legal definitions of "torture," which indicate that torture may be purely mental. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), defines "torture" as involving an "act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person. . . ." CAT, Article 1 (emphasis added). Section 2340 of Title 18, which implements the CAT, provides that "`torture' means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control." 18 U.S.C.A. 2340(1) (West 2000 & Supp.2006) (emphasis added). Similarly, dictionary definitions of "torture" include anguish "of body or mind." See, e.g., Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 1320 (11th ed.2004).
Prior to 1965, the INA authorized the Attorney General "to with-hold the deportation of any alien within the United States to any country in which in his opinion the alien would be subject to physical persecution. . . ." Pub.L. No. 82-414, 66 Stat. 163, 214 (1952) (codified at INA 243(h), 8 U.S.C.A. 1253(h)) (emphasis added). In 1965, Congress amended INA 243(h) "by striking out `physical persecution' and inserting in lieu thereof `persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion.'" An Act to Amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, Pub.L. No. 89-236, 79 Stat. 911, 913 (1965). Thus, it appears that when Congress has intended to restrict the availability of withholding of removal only to aliens who face persecution that is physical in nature, it has done so explicitly.
Accordingly, I believe that the majority has established an interpretation of "persecution" that the BIA might well consider too narrow. The majority's expansive holding is in tension with, and makes no attempt to distinguish, the most analogous BIA decision available, In re C-Y-Z. This conflict has occurred because the majority, rather than reviewing an interpretation of *517 "persecution" advanced by the IJ or BIA, has independently established a judicial interpretation of the term that is unnecessary for the resolution of this case.
Neither the IJ nor the BIA purported to base its decision on the interpretation of "persecution" established by the majority. Because the BIA did not address whether the psychological harm Niang alleged could constitute "persecution" within the meaning of 8 C.F.R. 208.16, I believe that we are required to remand Niang's claim to the BIA for the agency to address the issue in the first instance. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16, 123 S. Ct. 353, 154 L. Ed. 2d 272 (2002) (per curiam) ("A court of appeals is not generally empowered to conduct a de novo inquiry into the matter being reviewed and to reach its own conclusions based on such an inquiry. . . . Rather, the proper course, except in rare circumstances, is to remand to the agency for additional investigation or explanation." (internal quotation marks omitted)); SEC v. Chenery Corp., 318 U.S. 80, 95, 63 S. Ct. 454, 87 L. Ed. 626 (1943) (holding that "an administrative order cannot be upheld unless the grounds upon which the agency acted in exercising its powers were those upon which its action can be sustained").
B.
The IJ premised his ineligibility determination on the finding that Niang "ha[d] not shown that anything would happen to her because of the action that may be performed against her daughter," and therefore "ha[d] not made a case for herself in regards to persecution." (J.A. at 25.) In concluding that Niang had not shown anything would happen to her, the IJ did not address the evidence in the record that Niang would be prevented from protecting her daughter from FGM, an experience that would cause Niang severe mental suffering that she claimed would compound the psychological harm she had already suffered from enduring FGM as a young girl. The IJ also did not address evidence demonstrating the child's relatives' readiness to employ "mystical and social means [of making Niang] regret" her resistance to subjecting her daughter to FGM. (J.A. at 106.)
Niang described the Toucouleur ethnic group, to which she belongs, as "very traditional or traditionalist." (J.A. at 41.) She explained that, for a Toucouleur girl, FGM represents an essential initiation ceremony, and although the government has made the practice illegal, "family . . . has more weight than the laws," and she saw many violations during her time in Senegal. (J.A. at 42.) Niang testified that, as a result, she will have no means of protecting her daughter in Senegal, where she will have "no power" and "wouldn't have any choice" in whether her daughter was subjected to FGM. (J.A. at 50.)
Niang also supplied a letter from her daughter's paternal grandparents urging the child's father, Papa Samba Ane, to bring the child to Senegal for FGM. Niang testified that Ane "agrees with his family" and wants his daughter to undergo FGM. (J.A. at 45.) Niang's parents also believe that Niang "ha[s] no right to refuse to have the child circumcised," and that, if she refuses to subject her daughter to FGM, "it will be a shame on them and they will be a target for insults from other members of the society." (J.A. at 89.)[3]
*518 Niang further claimed that this mental suffering would be compounded by the lasting effects of the FGM that was performed on Niang as a child. When Niang was seven years old, her parents took her to a family circumciser for "excision," which the World Health Organization classifies as "Type II" FGM. This form of FGM involves "the excision (removal) of the clitoral hood with or without removal of all or part of the clitoris." (J.A. at 112.)[4] Niang's affidavit provided that, as a result of this abuse, she "developed health complications ranging from vaginal infections [to] difficulty [in] conceiv[ing] to vaginal bleeding." (J.A. at 88.) A doctor in Gabon diagnosed Niang with primary sterility and informed her that she would be unable to have children. Nevertheless, Niang, "fought all [her] life to have children." (J.A. at 48.) She was fortunate to have the benefit of the excellent gynecological and obstetrical assistance available in the United States, and, in 2001, at age 37, she gave birth to her daughter. In 2003, when Niang was 39, her son was born. Niang had difficult pregnancies with both children. During her first pregnancy, she experienced fibroids and bleeding and had an exam that was monitored as an emergency because she had a condition known as placenta previa.[5] Medical records submitted with her application also reveal that she required a Cesarean section to deliver her second child.[6]
Niang also asserted that her psychological development was "considerably hampered," *519 (J.A. at 88), by the physical trauma that she experienced as a young girl. She stated that "[t]he pains that I went through and the blood that was shed on [the day she was mutilated] keeps on revisiting me up until today." (J.A. at 88.) While in Senegal, Niang "witnessed young girls and at times women die due to complication[s]" resulting from FGM. (J.A. at 90.) She opposed excision, and because of this resistance, became estranged from her parents, who "considered [her] as a rebel against established rules and customs of the Toucouleur society." (J.A. at 88.) The IJ recognized that Niang had been a victim of FGM and did not make an adverse credibility finding or otherwise indicate that he disbelieved Niang. And, as Niang asserts, no reasonable fact-finder could deny that a devoted mother who continues to experience health and psychological problems as a result of FGM would experience severe mental suffering if she were forced to allow her daughter to suffer the same type of persecution. The IJ's finding that Niang "ha[d] not shown that anything would happen to her because of the action that may be performed against her daughter," (J.A. at 25), is irreconcilable with the record, which reveals that Niang would experience considerable mental suffering if her relatives prevented her from sparing her daughter the same persecution she endured as a child. Thus, I believe the record compels the conclusion that Niang would suffer an actual and concrete psychological harm if she were prevented from protecting her daughter from FGM. Accordingly, the IJ's conclusion that she would be unaffected is not supported by substantial evidence.
Finally, I note that, after finding that nothing would happen to Niang as a result of her daughter's persecution, the IJ reached another conclusion. The IJ found that, "[a]dditionally, there's no showing that the daughter would have to go back to Senegal," because the father, Ane, "seemingly [wa]s getting ready to be able to adjust his status through his employment," and Niang could allow the children to remain with him. (J.A. at 25.) That the child would not have to return to Senegal to live, however, does not resolve the issue of whether the child would be sent to Senegal to undergo FGM. The IJ noted that although Niang feared that Ane would acquiesce and see that his daughter suffered FGM, Ane had not previously made any effort to take the child to Senegal. It is unclear, however, whether the IJ viewed Ane's past indifference as sufficient to support a finding that there was no clear probability Ane would acquiesce to his parent's demands if Niang's opposition were no longer an impediment to sending the child to Senegal.[7]
Moreover, the IJ's conclusion that the child would not have to return to Senegal ignores Niang's definitive statement that she would take her children with her to Senegal, where she would be sent if removed. Niang seems to face a Catch-22 either leave her daughter with a father who believes the child should undergo FGM, or take her daughter with her to *520 Senegal, where she will be powerless to prevent her daughter's relatives from subjecting her to FGM.
Because the IJ assumed that Niang would be unaffected by her daughter's persecution, the IJ did not consider whether the harm Niang would suffer constituted persecution within the meaning of the INA and its implementing regulations. And, as a result, the IJ did not fully consider whether the harm Niang would suffer was more likely than not to occur. Because the IJ's findings contradict the record and do not take into account all of the evidence submitted by Niang, and because neither the IJ nor the BIA fully considered whether the type of harm Niang alleges can constitute persecution, the best course of action would be to remand to allow the BIA to address these issues.
II.
In sum, I believe that the majority, by independently establishing a per se rule that psychological harm alone cannot constitute persecution, without considering the BIA's decision in In re C-Y-Z and without remanding the case for the BIA to address the issue in the first instance, oversteps its bounds and fails to afford appropriate deference to the agency. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
NOTES
[1] "FGM" refers to a group of "surgical procedures involving the removal of some or all of the external genitalia, performed primarily on girls and young women in Africa and Asia." Haoua v. Gonzales, 472 F.3d 227, fn. 5 (4th Cir.2007). These barbaric surgical procedures constitute an extreme form of child abuse and are an insult to human dignity and an affront to any civilized people. As we have previously noted, FGM is "[o]ften performed under unsanitary conditions with highly rudimentary instruments" and results in the painful, permanent disfigurement of the female genitalia, and exposes victims to a myriad of serious and potentially life-threatening complications. Id. (listing as possible complications: bleeding, infection, urine retention, stress, shock, psychological trauma, and damage to the urethra and anus).
[2] Citations to the "J.A." refer to the joint appendix filed in this appeal.
[3] Fatime's maternal grandparents in Senegal do not appear to be a factor in the FGM equation, as Niang reports that they believe a daughter belongs to her father's family and that Niang "has no right to refuse to have the child circumcised." If she does refuse, Niang believes "it will be a shame on [Niang's family] and they will be a target for insults from other members of society." J.A. 89.
[4] The IJ noted that Niang was not eligible for a grant of humanitarian asylum because the fact that she was subjected to FGM thirty-three years ago was not sufficiently compelling under In re Chen, 20 I. & N. Dec. 16 (BIA 1989), which held that an IJ, in his discretion, may grant asylum in the absence of a well-founded fear of future persecution where an applicant suffered past atrocious forms of persecution. See 8 C.F.R. 1208.13(b)(1)(iii)(A) (providing that an applicant who demonstrates "compelling reasons for being unwilling or unable to return to the country arising out of the severity of past persecution," may be granted discretionary asylum absent a well-founded fear of future persecution).
While Niang did not appeal this decision, it is worth noting that a humanitarian grant of asylum may be warranted in circumstances where a mother, who has been subjected to FGM, fears her daughter will be subjected to FGM if she accompanies her mother to the country of removal. See Osigwe v. Ashcroft, 77 Fed.Appx. 235, 235 (5th Cir.2003)(remanding to BIA to adjudicate humanitarian asylum claim where applicants claimed their minor daughter, a U.S. citizen, would undergo FGM if they were removed and she accompanied them).
[5] Notably, because Niang does not appeal the BIA's decision with respect to her untimely asylum application, her CAT claim, or her claim for voluntary departure, she has waived these issues. United States v. Al-Hamdi, 356 F.3d 564, 571 n. 8 (4th Cir.2004) (stating that issues not raised on appeal are waived).
It is worth noting that, even assuming Niang had not waived the timeliness issue with respect to her asylum claim, we lack jurisdiction to review the BIA's decision in this respect. 8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(3); see Balde v. Gonzales, 223 Fed.Appx. 265, 266 (4th Cir. 2007) (finding no jurisdiction to review asylum claim denied as untimely); Lin v. Gonzales, 190 Fed.Appx. 301, 305 (4th Cir.2006) (stating where an alien simply challenges "the timeliness of an alien's asylum application [this] is usually a question of fact . . . [which] courts of appeal will not have jurisdiction to review").
[6] See 18 U.S.C. 116 (making the practice of FGM illegal); Senegal Law No. 99-05 of 29 January 1999 Amending Various Provisions of the Penal Code [Art. 2]; Report of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 14, U.N. GAOR, 45th Sess., Supp. No. 38 & Corr. 1, at 80, P 438, U.N. Doc. A/45/38 (1990); Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, G.A. Res. 104, U.N. GAOR, 48th Sess., Art. 2(a), U.N. Doc. A/48/629 (1993); Traditional or Customary Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Girls, G.A. Res. 128, U.N. GAOR, 56th Sess., Supp. 49 at 2, U.N. Doc. A/RES/56/128 (2001).
[7] In particular, 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(A) provides that the "Attorney General may not remove an alien to a country if the Attorney General decides that the alien's life or freedom would be threatened in that country because of the alien's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."
[8] Because the BIA affirmed the IJ's order and supplemented it, the factual findings and reasoning contained in both decisions are subject to judicial review. See Haoua, 472 F.3d at 230.
[9] While the dissenting opinion argues that "[t]his holding stands in tension with the BIA's decision in In re C-Y-Z, 21 I. & N. Dec. 915 (BIA 1997) (en banc)," a review of that decision reveals no such tension. As the dissent points out, C-Y-Z held that a petitioner could apply for asylum on the basis of his spouse's forced sterilization. Importantly, the BIA reached this holding based on "the enactment of section 601(a) of the IIRIRA [defining refugee] and the agreement of the parties that forced sterilization of one spouse on account of a ground protected under the Act is an act of persecution against the other spouse." Id. at 919. Thus, the BIA's holding was not based on, nor did the BIA even discuss, any alleged psychological harm that would be suffered by the petitioner if his spouse was forced to be sterilized. It appears, then, that C-Y-Z stands for the proposition that the BIA permits a petitioner to support his petition by relying on harm to another person only in the limited context of forced sterilizations; it does not stand for the proposition that the BIA permits petitioners to rely on psychological harm, without physical harm, to establish eligibility for withholding of removal under the INA.
[10] See also Mengistu v. INS, No. 98-2003, 1999 WL 170091, at *2, 1999 U.S.App. LEXIS 5776, at *6 (4th Cir. March 29, 1999) (affirming BIA's determination where petitioner "[a]lthough she may have been verbally abused, she did not offer any evidence of a particular physical assault or other type of assault that could be characterized as an act which would rise to the level of persecution"); Shoaira v. Ashcroft, 377 F.3d 837, 844 (8th Cir.2004) (holding that petitioner's psychological damages, resulting from the "rough treatment" of government authorities and witnessing her father's arrest, did not rise to the level of persecution, noting "[w]hile mental or emotional injury may in part constitute persecution, persecution is an extreme concept."); but see Mashiri v. Ashcroft, 383 F.3d 1112, 1120 (9th Cir.2004) ("Persecution may be emotional or psychological, as well as physical.").
[11] The INA does recognize a derivative asylum claim, thereby granting asylum status to a spouse or child who accompanies an alien who is granted asylum status, even though the spouse or child is not otherwise eligible for asylum. See 8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(3). As Niang conceded at oral argument, this provision is inapplicable here because, even assuming 1158(b)(3) extends to withholding claims, the statutory language does not provide a derivative claim to parents of U.S. citizens. See 8 C.F.R. 207.7(b) (listing parents as ineligible for derivative asylum). This omission may be intended to "prevent wholesale circumvention of the immigration laws by persons who enter the country illegally and promptly have children to avoid deportation." Hernandez-Rivera v. INS, 630 F.2d 1352, 1356 (9th Cir.1980). While such omission may work a hardship on U.S. citizen children, who may be forced to accompany their parents to the country of removal, we and our sister circuits have held that this hardship is countenanced by the INA and not violative of the children's constitutional rights. Gallanosa v. United States, 785 F.2d 116, 120 (4th Cir. 1986).
[12] Cf. In re S-L-L, 24 I. & N. Dec. 1, 14 n. 1 (Pauley, concurring) ("While FGM may be a pernicious form of persecution, it is difficult to understand why a fear that it may be performed on another person, albeit one's child, is a ground for asylum, any more than if a parent had a fear that a child would be singled out for persecution on account of political opinion, race, or religion") (emphasis in original).
[13] It is worth noting that, in some circumstances, it might be appropriate to remand to the BIA a claim presenting such a Sophie's choice to determine whether it warrants a grant of humanitarian asylum. See Osigwe, 77 Fed.Appx. at 235 (remanding to BIA to adjudicate humanitarian asylum claim where applicants claimed their minor daughter, a U.S. citizen, would undergo FGM if they were removed and she accompanied them). In this case, the IJ considered whether the circumstances warranted humanitarian asylum and decided that they did not. As the humanitarian asylum claim was decided, and as Niang has not appealed that decision, a remand is not appropriate here.
[14] Notably, even assuming Niang could assert a derivative claim, the record does not compel reversal as Niang did not establish a "clear probability" that Fatime would be subjected to FGM if Niang is removed. This is so because (i) Fatime is a U.S. citizen, entitled to remain in the U.S., despite her mother's removal; (ii) beyond Niang's testimony, there is no record evidence that Ane favors FGM; (iii) aside from the 2002 letter, purportedly from Ane's father, there is no evidence of "threatening or demanding letters" from Ane's family, as Niang testified she received; (iv) there is no clear record evidence that FGM is practiced by the Toucouleur in northern Senegal; and (v) State Department reports indicate FGM is growing less common and "hardly practiced at all in the most heavily populated urban areas;" thus, Niang might protect Fatime by residing in an urban area.
[1] I agree with the majority that we lack jurisdiction to review the BIA's denial of Niang's asylum application as untimely, see INA 208(a)(3), 8 U.S.C.A. 1158(a)(3) (West 2005), and that Niang has waived appeal of her Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim and her claim of voluntary departure, see Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 241 n. 6 (4th Cir.1999) (noting that Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(a)(9)(A) requires an appellant's opening brief to set forth the appellant's "contentions and the reasons for them" and that failure to comply with the Rule's dictates with respect to a particular claim triggers abandonment of that claim on appeal).
[2] The majority opinion correctly states that we review the BIA's administrative findings of fact under the substantial evidence rule. See 8 U.S.C.A. 1252(b)(4)(B) (West 2005); INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481, 112 S. Ct. 812, 117 L. Ed. 2d 38 (1992) (stating that an appellate court must uphold the BIA's factual findings if they are "supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole" (internal quotation marks omitted)).
[3] I am unpersuaded by the Government's contention that Niang has not demonstrated a clear probability that her daughter's relatives would subject her to FGM if the child accompanied Niang to Senegal because the Senegalese government has banned the practice, and, as a result of education and outreach programs, FGM is becoming less prevalent in Senegal. The Government concedes that "[t]he State Department Report of record provided that . . . in general, female genital mutilation was a problem in Senegal." (Appellee's Br. at 22.) Moreover, a State Department Report specifically addressing FGM in Senegal provides that "up to 88 percent of females among the minority Halpularen (Peul and Toucouleur) in rural areas of eastern and southern Senegal practice [FGM]." (J.A. at 112.) This report states that, "[a]lthough the government has been actively seeking to eradicate this practice, we are unaware of any protection in place that might help a woman who wishes to avoid it." (J.A. at 114.) Furthermore, in addition to reports addressing generalized country conditions, Niang presented evidence specifically related to her particular case. Her testimony and corroborating documentation revealed that her daughter's relatives have a strong desire to subject the child to FGM, and that the father agrees with his parents that his daughter should undergo FGM, but has thus far been indifferent to their demands. The Government does not question the reliability of the evidence related to Niang's family, and the IJ's decision does not address the likelihood that the child would suffer FGM in Senegal.
[4] Both this court and the BIA have recognized that FGM constitutes persecution within the meaning of the INA and its implementing regulations. See Haoua v. Gonzales, 472 F.3d 227, 231 (4th Cir.2007) ("We have heretofore recognized that FGM constitutes persecution within the meaning of the Act. . . ." (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted)); In re Kasinga, 21 I. & N. Dec. 357, 365 (BIA 1996) (concluding that FGM constitutes persecution within the meaning of the Act). We have previously noted that the practice, which the majority aptly describes as "an extreme form of child abuse . . . [,] an insult to human dignity and an affront to any civilized people," ante at 507 n. 1, is "[o]ften performed under unsanitary conditions with highly rudimentary instruments, . . . is extremely painful, permanently disfigures the female genitalia, and exposes the girl or woman to the risk of serious, potentially life-threatening complications," Haoua, 472 F.3d at 230 n. 5 (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted).
[5] Placenta previa is a condition in which the placenta develops in the lower uterine segment, in the zone of dilation, so that it completely or partially covers the cervical os (opening). See Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 1442 (30th ed.2003). Complete placenta previa creates a risk of blood loss, and may become life threatening. See Shelton v. Univ. of Med. & Dentistry of N.J., 223 F.3d 220, 223 & n. 3 (3d Cir.2000).
[6] It is unclear from the record whether Niang's first child was also delivered by a Cesarean section.
[7] It is worth noting that, under the regulations governing adjustment of status applications,
the departure of an applicant who is not under exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings shall be deemed an abandonment of the application constituting grounds for termination of any pending application for adjustment of status, unless the applicant was previously granted advance parole by the Service . . ., and was inspected upon returning to the United States.
8 C.F.R. 245.2(a)(4)(ii)(A) (West 2007). Thus, Ane could not freely depart to Senegal while his adjustment of status application was pending.
Goswell-Renner v. Holder
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Publication Date 7 August 2014 Citation / Document Symbol 762 F.3d 696, 700 Cite as Goswell-Renner v. Holder, 762 F.3d 696, 700 , United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 7 August 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_8,58a46b164.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Myra Goswell-Renner, a citizen of The Gambia, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge's order that she be removed from the United States. Goswell-Renner argues that the immigration judge erred in finding that she was ineligible for cancellation of removal. She also argues that the Board erred in rejecting her claim for withholding of removal due to her fear of persecution as the mother of daughters at risk of suffering female genital mutilation in The Gambia. We deny the petition.
I.
Goswell-Renner entered the United States on a non-immigrant student visa in 1990. Several years later, her mother filed a petition for Goswell-Renner to become a resident as an unmarried daughter over the age of twenty-one. That petition was approved in 1998. The next year, Goswell-Renner married. The marriage automatically revoked the approval of her petition, because the petition was premised on her status as an unmarried daughter.
Without revealing her marriage, Goswell-Renner applied for adjustment of status to that of lawful permanent resident. Goswell-Renner told the immigration officer who conducted her adjustment interview that she was not married and never had been married. If she had revealed her marriage, then the Department of Homeland Security would have discovered that she was ineligible for adjustment of status. Based on what they knew, however, immigration officials adjusted Goswell-Renner's status in 2004.
In July 2010, the Department initiated removal proceedings against Goswell-Renner on the ground that she had procured an immigration benefit (i.e., adjustment of status) by fraud or willful misrepresentation
and did not have a valid entry document. After a hearing, an immigration judge concluded that Goswell-Renner was removable because she had given false testimony in the adjustment interview for the purpose of obtaining adjustment of status. Based on Goswell-Renner's false testimony in 2004, the immigration judge also concluded that she was ineligible for cancellation of removal because she had not demonstrated good moral character under the law during the ten-year period preceding her application. The immigration judge ruled that Goswell-Renner's asylum claim was untimely.
Goswell-Renner sought withholding of removal on the ground that her United States citizen daughters were at risk of female genital mutilation if Goswell-Renner were removed to The Gambia and the daughters accompanied her. The immigration judge rejected the argument because Goswell-Renner claimed a risk of harm only to her children, not a risk that she herself would be persecuted, and the Board has ruled that an alien may not establish eligibility for withholding based solely on fear that her daughter may be harmed. See In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 275 (BIA 2007). The immigration judge concluded in addition that Goswell-Renner showed only a speculative fear that some distant relative or other person would kidnap her daughters and subject them to female genital mutilation. Recounting that Goswell-Renner testified that she and her husband would return to The Gambia with their children and that they oppose the practice, the immigration judge found that Goswell-Renner failed to show a likelihood that she could not protect their daughters. The immigration judge ordered Goswell-Renner removed and granted her an opportunity to depart voluntarily.
Goswell-Renner appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Board affirmed. Goswell-Renner challenged the decision on removal, arguing that her misrepresentations about marital status were not willful, because she did not realize that her marital status was relevant to her eligibility for adjustment of status. The Board saw no clear error in the immigration judge's determination that her claim of ignorance was not credible, "considering her education level, her fluency in English, and the lack of a persuasive explanation for consistently misrepresenting her marital status throughout the adjustment process." On cancellation of removal, the Board agreed with the immigration judge that Goswell-Renner gave false testimony under oath that she was not married and never had been married, and that she was thus precluded from establishing the good moral character required by 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1)(B).
The Board also rejected Goswell-Renner's request for withholding of removal based on the risk that her daughters would be subjected to female genital mutilation in The Gambia. The Board agreed with the immigration judge that the fear was "speculative," noting that Goswell-Renner, her sisters, and her mother were not subjected to the procedure. The Board determined that she had not shown a "realistic possibility" that her United States citizen daughters would be harmed by unidentified individuals. The Board also reasoned that Goswell-Renner's fear that her daughters could be persecuted if they were to accompany her to The Gambia is not a basis for Goswell-Renner to obtain relief, because she did "not allege that she herself risks being personally targeted for persecution based on any protected characteristic."
Goswell-Renner petitions for review, challenging the decisions on cancellation of
removal and withholding of removal. Because the Board affirmed the decision of the immigration judge based on a clear-error standard of review for findings of fact, but also added reasoning of its own, we review the two decisions together. See Krasnopivtsev v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 832, 837 (8th Cir.2004). The administrative findings of fact are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary. 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(B); INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84, 112 S.Ct. 812, 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992).
II.
A.
To be eligible for cancellation of removal, an applicant must demonstrate good moral character for ten years preceding the date that she applied for cancellation of removal. 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1); see Flores v. Holder, 699 F.3d 998, 1004 (8th Cir.2012). A person must not be regarded as one of good moral character if she "has given false testimony for the purpose of obtaining" immigration or naturalization benefits. 8 U.S.C. 1101(f)(6); Kungys v. United States, 485 U.S. 759, 779-80, 108 S.Ct. 1537, 99 L.Ed.2d 839 (1988).
There was substantial evidence to support the immigration judge's finding that Goswell-Renner gave false testimony for the purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit. Goswell-Renner is well-educated and speaks English. The agent who conducted her adjustment interview testified that when he asked her if she was married, she replied that she had never been married. Goswell-Renner claims that she did not understand the significance of her failure to reveal her marriage, and that she did not disclose the information because she thought the marriage was over. But the immigration judge reasonably found that she was not credible. Although Goswell-Renner was separated at the time of the interview, she was not divorced or legally separated. And even a mistaken belief that the marriage was over would not explain her failure to acknowledge that she had been married in the past. The immigration judge found that Goswell-Renner lied about her marriage because she understood that her eligibility for adjustment of status depended on her status as the unmarried daughter of her mother. This was a finding that a reasonable adjudicator could reach based on the record as a whole, and we therefore deny Goswell-Renner's petition for review on the issue of cancellation of removal.
B.
Goswell-Renner argues alternatively that she is eligible for withholding of removal. To establish eligibility for withholding of removal, an alien must show a clear probability that her life or freedom would be threatened on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(A); Guled v. Mukasey, 515 F.3d 872, 881 (8th Cir.2008).
An alien parent claiming fear that her child will be subjected to female genital mutilation upon return to another country might bring a claim for withholding of removal based on two different theories. One is a "derivative" claim in which the alien parent seeks relief based on the likelihood of persecution directed at her child. This court has rejected that theory, holding that "an applicant may not establish a derivative claim for withholding of removal based upon the applicant's child's fear of persecution." Gumaneh v. Mukasey, 535 F.3d 785, 789 (8th Cir.2008). The second theory is that risk that a child would be subjected to female genital mutilation against the alien parent's wishes amounts
to "direct" persecution of the alien parent. See Kone v. Holder, 620 F.3d 760, 765 (7th Cir.2010). This court has identified that theory but not addressed whether or in what circumstances it would be sufficient to justify withholding of removal. See Hounmenou v. Holder, 691 F.3d 967, 971-72 (8th Cir.2012).
In her petition for review, Goswell-Renner raises a claim of direct persecution, arguing that she herself is likely to be persecuted based on her membership in the particular social group of "mothers of daughters forcibly repatriated to countries where FGM [female genital mutilation] is practiced." To prevail on this claim, Goswell-Renner must show that it was properly presented and exhausted in the administrative proceedings, see Sultani v. Gonzales, 455 F.3d 878, 885 (8th Cir.2006), and that no reasonable adjudicator could agree with the immigration judge and the Board that there is insufficient risk that Goswell-Renner's daughters would be subjected to female genital mutilation if they accompany her to The Gambia. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 483-84, 112 S.Ct. 812. An alien seeking withholding of removal must show it is more likely than not that she would be persecuted upon removal. 8 C.F.R. 1208.16(b)(2).
On careful review of the administrative record, we conclude that Goswell-Renner did not present a claim of direct persecution to the Board. In her brief to the Board, the title of her argument on withholding of removal referred to "Parent's claim to derivative asylum based on likelihood of children's claim of fear of future persecution via FGM." A.R. 43. She acknowledged that this court in Gumaneh rejected a "derivative" claim for withholding of removal, but argued that the law was not well-settled and asserted that there was controversy "with the Board itself" on "whether a parent has any derivative claim." Id. She concluded by arguing that "[a]lthough the 8th [C]ircuit may have settled law" on the question, the Board should "reconsider the issue of harm to family members not at risk of the procedure itself and consider the derivative harm associated with the [e]ffects upon those ... witnessing harm to one's children." Id. at 45.
In light of this brief, it is not surprising that the Board treated Goswell-Renner's appeal as a derivative claim for withholding of removal and rejected it on that basis. Goswell-Renner did not properly raise before the Board a claim of direct persecution against her as a parent of children who might be subjected to harm in The Gambia. To preserve a claim for review in the court of appeals, however, an alien must properly exhaust administrative remedies before the agency. Sultani, 455 F.3d at 884. Because Goswell-Renner failed to do so, we lack jurisdiction to consider a claim of direct persecution for the first time on a petition for review. Id. The Board did not violate Goswell-Renner's due process rights by construing her appeal to raise only a derivative claim for withholding of removal, as that reading was the most straightforward construction of her brief.
Oforji v. Ashcroft
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Publication Date 31 December 2003 Citation / Document Symbol 354 F.3d 609, 61718 Cite as Oforji v. Ashcroft, 354 F.3d 609, 61718, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 31 December 2003, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_7,58a489174.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Doris C. Oforji appeals from an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming, without opinion, the decision of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying her application for asylum and withholding of deportation. Oforji argues on appeal that the BIA erred by failing to appropriately weigh and consider the evidence presented; in failing to extend derivative asylum and relief to Oforji on behalf of her United States citizen children; and in issuing an affirmance without opinion. We affirm.
I.
Oforji is a Nigerian citizen who sought entry into the United States at Chicago on April 4, 1996. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (now part of the Department of Homeland Security) denied Oforji entry, detained her, and charged her with being an alien seeking to procure entry by fraud or willful misrepresentation, as well as an alien not in possession of a valid immigration document.
Oforji's exclusion proceedings commenced on April 4, 1996. After delays, an initial hearing before an IJ was held on August 28, 1997, wherein Oforji admitted that she was an alien not in possession of a valid immigration document at the time of her entry, but denied the fraud and willful misrepresentation charges. She also requested
asylum, withholding of deportation, and protection under the Convention Against Torture.
At the hearing, Oforji testified that she is a member of the Ogoni Tribe of Nigeria and that the Tribe lived without roads, schools, and potable water. She further stated that due to these poor living conditions, the Ogoni Tribe formed the "Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People" to petition the Nigerian regime of General Sani Abacha for these services. She also claimed that the Abacha regime tortured and arrested, as well as killed members of the Movement, and that she participated in demonstrations against the Abacha administration. She testified that in 1995, the Abacha administration arrested her husband, "Chukwker," at their house for his participation in the Movement. She claims to have fled Nigeria to avoid arrest because she was too "outspoken." However, on cross-examination she admitted that she fled because "the back of the house was, was falling any way." In addition, at the hearing she acknowledged that Abacha has died since she fled, but stated in a conclusory fashion that the government was nevertheless going to persecute her because of "oil." In addition, she claimed without corroboration that the Nigerian government would persecute her because she left the country without a visa and because she was a runaway Ogoni.
Finally, Oforji testified at the hearing that if she returned to Nigeria, her two daughters, citizens born in the United States, would undergo female circumcision or female genital mutilation (hereinafter collectively referred to as "FGM"). Oforji testified that she had undergone the procedure and that the Ogoni people required this of all women, with refusal punishable by death. She also testified that she did not have anyone with whom to leave her children in this country in the event she was deported to Nigeria. She admitted on cross-examination that she did not mention the fear that her then-unborn daughter would undergo FGM when asked by the immigration inspector about her political asylum claim.
After hearing this testimony, the IJ held that the evidence did not establish that she sought to procure entry by fraud or willful misrepresentation, but found that she was inadmissible on the separate ground of lacking a valid entry document. The IJ then denied Oforji's request for asylum relief primarily on the basis of an adverse credibility finding regarding her testimony, and due to the fact that she had already suffered FGM. Oforji filed a timely notice of appeal with the BIA.
Pursuant to statutory streamlining procedures of 8 C.F.R. 3.1(a)(7)(ii)(A)-(B), the BIA issued a written decision on October 7, 2002, affirming without opinion the IJ's decision. Thus, the IJ's decision became the final agency determination for purposes of judicial review. Oforji filed a timely appeal to this court, arguing that the BIA incorrectly denied her claims and that the BIA's streamlined process was invalid.
II.
A. Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
Because the BIA adopted the IJ's decision, we review the IJ's analysis for substantial evidence. Krouchevski v. Ashcroft, 344 F.3d 670, 673 (7th Cir.2003); see generally Moin v. Ashcroft, 335 F.3d 415, 418 (5th Cir.2003) (explaining why the substantial evidence standard applies to cases in which the INS employs its streamlined procedure). Oforji, as the applicant for asylum, bears the burden of proof to establish asylum eligibility. See 8 C.F.R. 208.13(a) (2002); Dobrican v.
INS, 77 F.3d 164, 168 (7th Cir.1996). We reverse in this context only if "no reasonable fact-finder could fail to find" that Oforji had suffered from past persecution or faced future persecution. Georgis v. Ashcroft, 328 F.3d 962, 967-68 (7th Cir. 2003) (citing INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 484, 112 S.Ct. 812, 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992)).
To be eligible for asylum, Oforji is required to establish "refugee" status, i.e., that she is an alien unwilling or unable to return home "because of ... a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(A); Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 481, 112 S.Ct. 812. She could show this by proving either that she (1) suffered past persecution on account of one of the enumerated categories, creating a rebuttable presumption of future persecution, or (2) has a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of one of the enumerated categories. Yadegar-Sargis v. INS, 297 F.3d 596, 601-02 (7th Cir. 2002); Toptchev v. INS, 295 F.3d 714, 720 (7th Cir.2002).
Although "persecution" is not statutorily defined, we have said that it "means more than plain harassment and may arise from actions such as `detention, arrest, interrogation, prosecution, imprisonment, illegal searches, confiscation of property, surveillance, beatings, or torture.'" Tesfu v. Ashcroft, 322 F.3d 477, 481 (7th Cir.2003) (quoting Mitev v. INS, 67 F.3d 1325, 1330 (7th Cir.1995)). Persecution can also include threats of "death, imprisonment, or the infliction of substantial harm or suffering." Sharif v. INS, 87 F.3d 932, 935 (7th Cir.1996).
A well-founded fear of future persecution must be both subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. Mousa v. INS, 223 F.3d 425, 430 (7th Cir.2000). To establish the objective reasonableness of the fear, the alien must show, based upon credible, direct, and specific evidence, that a reasonable person in the same circumstances would fear persecution if returned to the petitioner's native country. Bhatt v. Reno, 172 F.3d 978, 982 (7th Cir.1999).
We turn first to the IJ's adverse credibility findings which are entitled to "highly deferential review." Mansour v. INS, 230 F.3d 902, 905 (7th Cir.2000); Efe v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 899, 903 (5th Cir. 2002) ("We give great deference to an immigration judge's decisions regarding an alien's credibility."). We require that an adverse credibility finding merely be supported by "specific, cogent reasons" that "bear a legitimate nexus to the finding." Ahmad v. INS, 163 F.3d 457, 461 (citations omitted). Adverse credibility findings are overturned only under "extraordinary circumstances." Pop v. INS, 270 F.3d 527, 531-32 (7th Cir.2001).
Here, the IJ found multiple inconsistencies in Oforji's testimony and these "specific, cogent reasons" "bear a legitimate nexus" to the denial of her claim. As an initial matter, Oforji does not dispute the IJ's finding that she presented no evidence such as a membership card or letter from a party representative corroborating that she was in fact a member of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People. Cf. Abdulrahman v. Ashcroft, 330 F.3d 587, 598-99 (3d Cir.2003) (upholding adverse credibility finding based in part on alien's failure to substantiate his generalized testimony by providing documentation of his membership or involvement in a politically active student union).
At the hearing, Oforji conceded that she told the immigration inspector on the date of her arrival that she was seeking political asylum solely for economic reasons and
that she had not been persecuted in Nigeria. This is inconsistent with her testimony at the hearing that she fled because of her political activity and because the Abacha administration had arrested and killed her husband. To this date, Oforji has failed to explain why she told the immigration inspector that she had never been persecuted in Nigeria.
In addition, at the hearing, Oforji testified that she fled because the government had planned to arrest her because she was too "outspoken," but she offered no support for this statement. On cross-examination, consistent with her response to the immigration inspector at the time of her attempted entry to this country, she admitted that she fled the same night of her husband's arrest because the back of her house was falling away. Further, Oforji claimed that the Ogoni Tribe lived in "River State," and suffered from poor roads, schools, and water. However, Oforji acknowledged that her sister also lived in River State, but did not suffer from a lack of water, nor did she have problems with the Abacha administration. Similarly, Oforji also claimed that the Abacha government was persecuting her because of "oil" but failed to offer any facts supporting this conclusion, other than her assertion that she "knew it to be true." Importantly, despite claiming that she fled because of persecution from the Abacha administration, she conceded that Abacha was no longer in power in Nigeria due to his death.
Contrary to Oforji's contention, it was her responsibility to ensure that the inspecting immigration authorities had knowledge of her main reasons for seeking asylum in the U.S. See, e.g., Roman v. INS, 233 F.3d 1027, 1034 (7th Cir.2000) (placing burden on asylum applicant to prove eligibility for asylum by proffering sufficient evidence to support her claim). Moreover, in an attempt to bolster the asylum claim, the addition of new factual assertions that were not originally set forth can be viewed as inconsistencies providing substantial evidence that the applicant is not a reliable and truthful witness. See Malek v. INS, 198 F.3d 1016, 1020-21 (7th Cir.2000) (citing "a number of clear inconsistencies" between applicant's application and testimony). Oforji's claim that her statements were made under great stress and without the benefit of counsel not only implies an acknowledgment that her statements were not accurate, but also incorporates protections not required in immigration inspection questioning.
The above inconsistencies and gaps in Oforji's claim establish substantial reasons for the IJ to question her credibility and deny her claim for asylum and withholding of deportation.1 See Khano v. INS, 999 F.2d 1203, 1208 (7th Cir.1993).
B. Oforji's Claim for Derivative Asylum Under the Convention Against Torture
We turn next to Oforji's argument that her United States citizen daughters are likely to suffer FGM in Nigeria if Oforji is deported. Oforji bases this claim of "derivative asylum" or "constructive deportation" (hereinafter used interchangeably) on the United Nations Convention Against Torture as made judicially enforceable through 8 C.F.R. 208.16(c)
and 208.18(b)(2). See Castellano-Chacon v. INS, 341 F.3d 533, 551 (6th Cir.2003) (explaining briefly the process by which the non-self executing provisions of the Convention Against Torture became judicially enforceable).
The conditions under which an alien may be found eligible for the withholding of removal as a result of the probability of being subjected to torture in the country of removal are set forth in 8 C.F.R. 208.16(c). The regulation states in relevant part that:
In considering an application for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, the immigration judge shall first determine whether the alien is more likely than not to be tortured in the country of removal. If the immigration judge determines that the alien is more likely than not to be tortured in the country of removal, the alien is entitled to protection under the Convention Against Torture. Protection under the Convention Against Torture will be granted either in the form of withholding of removal or in the form of deferral of removal.
8 C.F.R. 208.16(c)(4) (emphasis added).
We review the BIA's determination against withholding the removal of an alien for substantial evidence. See, e.g., Ambati v. Reno, 233 F.3d 1054, 1059 (7th Cir. 2000). The language of the regulation unambiguously permits withholding of removal due to torture personally suffered by the alien:
The burden of proof is on the applicant for withholding of removal under this paragraph to establish that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal. The testimony of the applicant, if credible, may be sufficient to sustain the burden of proof without corroboration.
8 C.F.R. 208.16(2) (emphasis added)
Oforji has testified that she had already undergone FGM before entering this country, thus there is no chance that she would be personally tortured again by the procedure when sent back to Nigeria.2 The regulation language is confined to the alien-applicant and seemingly forecloses a derivative claim. Nevertheless, Oforji requests this court to "extend derivative asylum" to her based on "new expansions and considerations" reflected in case law such as Nwaokolo v. INS, 314 F.3d 303 (7th Cir.2002), and In re Kasinga, 21 I & N. Dec. 357 (BIA 1996). Oforji bases this request on her claim that "[t]his court has previously recognized that when an alien minor's parent is deported, the minor will have to accompany the parent into exile and is also effectively deported."
It is important to understand that claims of constructive deportation are cognizable only if such a claim falls squarely within the narrow holdings of the cases creating the doctrine. A brief review of these cases distinguishes Oforji's circumstances from the narrow ambit required for a claim of constructive deportation.
Salameda involved a review of the now amended section 244(a)(1)3 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1254(a)(1), which permitted the BIA to suspend deportation in its discretion if the alien proved, inter alia, physical presence in the United States for at least seven years and that deportation would "result in extreme hardship to the alien or to his spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence." The Salamedas' child, Lancelot, was not a United States citizen, nor was he admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Accordingly, the IJ determined that the above statute precluded consideration of the hardship to Lancelot due to his parents' deportation. Id. However, the Salameda court concluded that since Lancelot was an alien with no legal right to remain in the United States, the deportation of his parents would result in him being "constructively deported" and that this hardship should have been considered by the INS. Id.
Significantly, unlike Oforji's children, the minor child in Salameda was not a United States citizen. Yet he was subject to deportation because his parents were being deported. The question raised was whether he was "entitled to ask for relief on his own account." Id. at 451. Since he was not the target of deportation, the order in that case "had the effect of depriving him of the right to request suspension of deportation." Id. The panel majority labeled the failure of the INS to include the minor in his parents' deportation hearing as an "ignoble ploy."
Oforji's claim does not fall within the narrow ambit of Salameda. Oforji's two female children potentially subject to FGM are both United States citizens, and thus, unlike the child in Salameda, have the legal right to remain in the United States. Moreover, Salameda involved both parents of the child being deported. Despite having the burden of proof regarding eligibility for withholding of removal under 8 C.F.R. 208.16(2), Oforji has failed to set forth any evidence regarding the existence or whereabouts of the father (or on the additional alternative of having a guardian appointed - a distasteful Solomonic choice) of her United States citizen children.4 The children, as citizens, have an independent right to not be deported, but obviously they are dependent on their mother. So depending on the father's whereabouts, or the appointment of a guardian, they may have an opportunity to not follow their mother to Nigeria.
Turning to the remaining cases cited by Oforji, Nwaokolo is inapposite because it presented an alien's appeal from the denial of a petition to reopen removal proceedings. The appellant needed to show to this court "some" likelihood of success on the merits, part of a relatively low standard of review. Nwaokolo, involving an alien mother who had not been subjected to FGM, merely noted that "[i]t is arguable, therefore, that the BIA abused its discretion in denying Ms. Nwaokolo's motion to reopen if it failed to consider the threat that four-year-old Victoria will be subjected to FGM as a direct consequence of the decision to remove her mother." Id. at 308 (citation omitted) (emphasis added).
Ms. Nwaokolo, also a native and citizen of Nigeria, legally entered the United States in the early 1980's. Because she accepted a job in violation of the terms of her visa, she was ordered deported but never left after being granted voluntary
departure in 1986. She did not appeal, but beginning in 1996 filed several motions to reopen, seeking a stay of deportation. At that point she had three children, including a four-year-old girl who was a United States citizen. Also, she apparently had a continuous presence in the country for more than the prescribed seven-year time period. Given that status, under 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1)(D), she had an opportunity to have her removal cancelled and her status adjusted if she could establish that "removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to [her] ... child who is a citizen of the United States..." Because the BIA may have "failed to consider the threat that four-year-old Victoria [would] be subjected to FGM as a direct consequence of the decision to remove her mother," this court concluded that the BIA did not exercise its discretion by considering "all relevant factors" regarding the motion to reopen. See id.
Unlike Nwaokolo, Oforji did not first enter the United States legally, nor has she resided in the United States for the required continuous seven-year period. Thus she does not qualify for the "exceptional hardship" claim for her child under 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1)(D). Although the threatened hardship for her children is apparent, there is no statutory or regulatory authority for Oforji to have her own deportation suspended because she fears for her children if they return to Nigeria with her. Of course, as indicated above, as United States citizens they have the right to stay here without her, but that would likely require some form of guardianship - not a Hobson's choice, but a choice no mother wants to make. Given the undesirable consequences of the choice she has to make, Oforji is in effect requesting that we amend the law to allow deportable aliens who have not resided here continuously for seven or ten years to attach derivatively to the right of their citizen children to remain in the United States. Any such amendment is for Congress, not the courts, to consider.
Finally, Kasinga is of no avail to Oforji because it involved an applicant who feared that she personally would be subjected to FGM if deported to her native country. Kasinga made specific findings that the alien applicant for asylum had a "well founded fear of persecution," a fear that is obviously not present in Oforji's case since she has already been subjected to FGM.
Oforji is correct that the IJ's opinion (adopted by the BIA) does not reflect consideration of the hardship that her deportation would cause in that it could potentially place her children at risk of FGM; however, Oforji cannot identify a legal basis for considering such hardships in the context of this case. As an excludable alien, it is undisputed that Oforji does not qualify for suspension of deportation. In addition, the continuous presence requirement5 for suspension of deportation (which it is undisputed that Oforji does not meet) demonstrates that Congress considered the possibility of hardships to the family members of aliens not meeting the requirements for suspension of deportation, but limited the possibility of suspension to those who remained in the United States continuously for ten years. See 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1) (2002).
Undoubtedly, any separation of a child from its mother is a hardship. However, the question before us is whether this potential hardship to citizen children arising from the mother's deportation should allow an otherwise unqualified mother to append to the children's right to remain in the
United States. The answer is no. Our prior cases have suggested that the threat of FGM to a United States citizen child resulting from the alien parents' deportation is a relevant factor to be considered in the context of a motion to reopen an alien's case; however, we now hold that an alien parent who has no legal standing to remain in the United States may not establish a derivative claim for asylum by pointing to potential hardship to the alien's United States citizen child in the event of the alien's deportation.
Assuming that the father of Oforji's children is out of the picture (which, as previously stated, cannot be assumed based on the record), Oforji will be faced with the unpleasant dilemma of permitting her citizen children to remain in this country under the supervision of the state of Illinois or an otherwise suitable guardian, or taking her children back to Nigeria to face the potential threat of FGM. Congress has foreseen such difficult choices, but has opted to leave the choice with the illegal immigrant, not the courts. The law is clear that citizen family members of illegal aliens have no cognizable interest in preventing an alien's exclusion and deportation. See, e.g., Garcia v. Boldin, 691 F.2d 1172, 1182-83 (5th Cir.1982); Burrafato v. United States Dept. of State, 523 F.2d 554 (2d Cir.1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 910, 96 S.Ct. 1105, 47 L.Ed.2d 313 (1976); Cervantes v. INS, 510 F.2d 89, 91-92 (10th Cir.1975); Swartz v. Rogers, 254 F.2d 338 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 357 U.S. 928 (1958). Under the present law a woman who is otherwise a deportable alien does not have any incentive to bear a child (who automatically becomes a citizen) whose rights to stay are separate from the mother's obligation to depart.
C. The BIA's Decision to Affirm Without Opinion the IJ's Decision
The final issue raised by Oforji presents two challenges to the BIA's issuance of a decision without an opinion. Her first argument is a facially-based challenge to the regulation permitting an affirmance without opinion, and her second argument challenges the Board's actual decision to affirm without an opinion in her particular case.
At issue is the streamlined procedure found at 8 C.F.R. 3.1(e)(4) (Sept. 2002)6, permitting a single Board Member to affirm, without opinion, the results of an IJ's decision when the Board Member determines: that the result was correct; that any errors were harmless or nonmaterial; and that the issue on appeal is not novel, but is squarely controlled by existing Board or federal case precedent or that the factual and legal issues are not substantial enough to warrant a written opinion.
This court has upheld the 1999 streamlining procedures as not depriving the court of a basis for judicial review nor as violating due process. See Georgis v. Ashcroft, 328 F.3d 962, 967 (7th Cir.2003). Oforji fails to articulate any legally significant difference between the 1999 streamlining regulations and the current 2002 streamlining regulations under review and we therefore uphold the 2002 streamlining provisions.
The Georgis panel suggested that in some cases, the Board's decision to streamline and not publish an opinion may be subject to judicial review. Id. at n. 4. Regardless, this appeal is not such a case since it merely involves Oforji's misapplication of established legal authority. The
present opinion demonstrates that the court may simply conduct a full and fair review of the IJ's decision directly without the intervening step of a written BIA decision. Oforji's appeal is fact-dependent and, "[s]ince we review directly the decision of the IJ when a case comes to us from the BIA pursuant to [the streamlining provision], our ability to conduct a full and fair appraisal of the petitioner's case is not compromised, and the petitioner's due process rights are not violated." Id. at 967.
III.
The decision to deny Oforji's claim for asylum and withholding of removal is supported by substantial evidence. Oforji's claim to derivative asylum under regulations implementing the Convention Against Torture is rejected for lack of legal support. We reject Oforji's facial challenge to the BIA's streamlining provisions, and we reject her challenge to the BIA's decision to streamline because that decision did not harm her in this case. For these and the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM.
POSNER, Circuit Judge, concurring.
I join Judge Manion's opinion in the main, though we interpret some of the facts in this confusing record differently. I write separately not to quibble over these differences but to invite congressional attention to a pair of anomalies in the immigration laws.
Doris Oforji was turned down for asylum. One of her grounds for seeking it was that she has two young daughters (Nina, 6 years old, and Ingozi, 4) who if they go to Nigeria with her will be subject to a very high risk of undergoing when they reach puberty the procedure that has come to be called "female genital mutilation," although I prefer the older terms "female circumcision" and (in the alternative) "clitoridectomy and infibulation," because they are slightly less loaded and remind us that a related practice, male circumcision, is widespread in this country without being described as mutilation. I do not mean to suggest that I approve of female circumcision, but we should recognize that the cultures that do approve of it don't think that what they are doing is aptly described as "mutilation." But that is an aside; the risk of being forced to undergo the procedure is a recognized ground for asylum in this country. Abankwah v. INS, 185 F.3d 18, 20, 25-26 (2d Cir.1999); In re Kasinga, 21 I. & N. Dec. 357 (BIA 1996). And in the case of a child, especially a small one, the parent will ordinarily be the child's proper representative and therefore authorized to file the asylum claim on the child's behalf. See Gonzalez v. Reno, 212 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir.2000); Guidelines for Children's Asylum Claims INS Policy and Procedural Memorandum from Jack Weiss, Acting Director, Office of International Affairs, to Asylum Officers, Immigration Officers, and Headquarters Coordinators (Asylum and Refugees), Dec. 10, 1998, 1998 WL 34032561(INS).
But because Oforji's daughters were born in the United States, they are U.S. citizens, and since U.S. citizens cannot be deported they are ineligible for asylum. And because Oforji does not argue that the children will be circumcised as a way of persecuting her, the risk of their being subjected to that procedure, great as that risk is conceded to be, does not strengthen her claim, and so they will be separated from their mother unless they return to Nigeria with her. Apparently the children have no relatives in the United States with whom they might live (they are also very young to be separated from their mother), for when asked at the immigration hearing,
"Well, couldn't you leave your children here if you wanted to return?" she answered: "Who would I leave it for? Who is going to take care of it? Only I survive because when I was little my mother passed on so I know what I went through so how, how can - when in my life my children start going into the 15th year." This is obscure, but the implication is that the children have no relatives living in the United States, at least relatives capable of taking care of two young girls. We know that the father of the older girl is either dead or in Nigeria, where she was conceived. There is nothing in the record about the father of the younger girl. Probably, then, the only condition in which the girls could remain in the United States after their mother returned to Nigeria would be as foster children. That is the same unlovely status they would occupy were they aliens granted asylum while their mother was deported. So although they are citizens they are treated as badly as aliens.
Had their mother lived in the United States for at least seven years before deportation proceedings were instituted, however, she could plead hardship to the children as a basis for suspension of deportation. The period has been lengthened to ten years for deportation proceedings - now called "removal" proceedings - begun after April 1, 1997, see Romero-Torres v. Ashcroft, 327 F.3d 887, 888-89 and nn. 3-4 (9th Cir.2003); Jimenez-Angeles v. Ashcroft, 291 F.3d 594, 597 (9th Cir.2002), but it seems that deportation proceedings were begun against Oforji in 1996. However, she hadn't been here for seven years, so she can't obtain a suspension of deportation even under the earlier rule. And so the U.S. citizen children are to suffer severe hardship, either by being returned to Nigeria to face a procedure that we regard as torture or by being separated from their mother and consigned to a foster home, because the mother didn't have the wit to elude the Immigration Service for seven years.
The seven-year (now ten-year) rule has only a tenuous relation to the hardship of children whose parent is ordered deported. What is true is that the longer the children have lived in the United States, the greater the hardship to them of being sent back to their parent's native country - one of the unappetizing choices facing these children and a choice made more excruciating the longer they remain here and become acclimated to American ways. But the length of time a child has lived in the United States depends on when she was born as well as on when her parent came to the United States. The parent may have been here for ten years but the child have been born six months ago; or the parent may have been here for nine years but the child have been born eight years ago. The seven-year (or ten-year) rule is irrational viewed as a device for identifying those cases in which the hardship to an alien's children should weigh against forcing her to leave the country.
That is one rule that Congress should rethink and another is awarding citizenship to everyone born in the United States (with a few very minor exceptions, such as the children of accredited foreign diplomats and of foreign heads of state on official visits to the U.S., United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 693, 18 S.Ct. 456, 42 L.Ed. 890 (1898); United States Citizenship, United States Department of Justice Immigration & Naturalization Service Interpretation Letter, Interpretation 301.1(a)(4)(i), 2001 WL 1333852(INS); 8 C.F.R. 101.3(a)(1), 1101.3(a)(1)), including the children of illegal immigrants whose sole motive in immigrating was to confer U.S. citizenship on their as yet unborn children. This rule, though thought by some compelled by section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides
that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," and in any event codified in 8 U.S.C. 1401(a), which provides that "the following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth: (a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," makes no sense. "The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that 165,000 babies are born each year in the United States to illegal immigrants and others who come here to give birth so their children will be American citizens." Kelley Bouchard, "An Open-Door Refugee Policy Has Its Critics," Maine Sunday Telegram, June 30, 2002, p. 11A. "Captured fighter Yaser Esam Hamdi is not a U.S. citizen, despite his Louisiana birth, argues the Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement. The group says the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment doesn't mandate the practice of granting `birthright citizenship' to children born on U.S. soil to temporary workers, illegal immigrants and tourists. ... `The situation we have today is absurd,' says the group's director....' For example, there is a huge and growing industry in Asia that arranges tourist visas for pregnant women so they can fly to the United States and give birth to an American. Obviously, this was not the intent of the 14th Amendment; it makes a mockery of citizenship.'" John McCaslin, "Inside the Beltway: Rotund Tourists," Wash. Times, Aug. 27, 2002, p. A7.
We should not be encouraging foreigners to come to the United States solely to enable them to confer U.S. citizenship on their future children. But the way to stop that abuse of hospitality is to remove the incentive by changing the rule on citizenship, rather than to subject U.S. citizens to the ugly choice to which the Immigration Service is (legally) subjecting these two girls. A constitutional amendment may be required to change the rule whereby birth in this country automatically confers U.S. citizenship, but I doubt it. Peter H. Schuck & Rogers M. Smith, Citizenship Without Consent: Illegal Aliens in the American Polity 116-17 (1985); Dan Stein & John Bauer, "Interpreting the 14th Amendment: Automatic Citizenship for Children of Illegal Immigrants," 7 Stanford L. & Policy Rev. 127, 130 (1996). The purpose of the rule was to grant citizenship to the recently freed slaves, and the exception for children of foreign diplomats and heads of state shows that Congress does not read the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment literally. Congress would not be flouting the Constitution if it amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to put an end to the nonsense. On May 5, 2003, H.R. 1567, a bill "To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States of parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens," was referred to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims. I hope it passes.
Our hands, however, are tied. We cannot amend the statutory provisions on citizenship and asylum.
FootNotes
1. Oforji's request for asylum in this context is automatically considered to include a request for withholding of deportation. 8 C.F.R. 208.3(b); INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 420 n. 13, 104 S.Ct. 2489, 81 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984). As the standard of proof for withholding of deportation is higher than that needed to establish eligibility for asylum, the failure to sustain the burden of proof for asylum necessarily precludes eligibility for withholding of deportation. See Bradvica v. INS, 128 F.3d 1009, 1014 (7th Cir.1997). 2. It is undisputed that FGM as practiced in Nigeria constitutes "torture" within the meaning of the CAT. See Nwaokolo v. INS, 314 F.3d 303 (7th Cir.2002). 3. The present version of this section, amended effective April 1, 1997, authorizes cancellation of removal upon a showing of, inter alia, exceptional hardship and a minimum of ten years continuous physical presence in the United States. INA 240A(b)(1), 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1) (2002). It is undisputed that Oforji does not meet the seven-year physical presence requirement, in place at the time her removal proceedings commenced, to qualify for suspension under this law. See infra at 616-17. 4. We may not reverse based on evidence outside of the administrative record. State of New York v. EPA, 133 F.3d 987, 993 (7th Cir.1998). 5. See 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1)(D). 6. The regulations are now found at 8 C.F.R. 1003.1, 1003.2 (2003). Because the parties referred to the 2002 regulations and because the new regulations are either identical or substantially similar to the older versions, we continue to refer to the 2002 regulations.
Kone v. Holder
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Publication Date 31 August 2010 Citation / Document Symbol 620 F.3d 760, 764 Cite as Kone v. Holder, 620 F.3d 760, 764, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 31 August 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_7,58a48a864.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
*761 Isuf Kola, Attorney (argued), Kola & Associates, Ltd., Glen Ellyn, IL, for Petitioners.
Linda Y. Cheng, Attorney (argued), Department of Justice, Civil Division, Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for Respondent.
Before MANION and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and DARRAH, District Judge.[*]
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.
Lead petitioner Fatoumata Kone ("Kone"), her husband Lasanna Diarra ("Lasanna"), and their oldest daughter Kamissa Diarra ("Kamissa") are natives and citizens of Mali. They entered the United States on August 18, 2001 and remained in the country after the expiration of their visas. Kone and Lasanna then had a second daughter, Mariam, who by virtue of her birth here is a United States citizen. In 2006, Kone, as lead petitioner for her family, filed for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture on the basis that if made to return to Mali, Mariam would be forced to undergo female genital mutilation ("FGM"), a common practice in Mali to which both her mother and sister have already been subjected. An immigration judge denied the application, finding the asylum petition untimely and denying other relief on the grounds that Kone could not make a "derivative" claim based on a threat of persecution to her daughter. The Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirmed the denial of relief, and Kone petitioned this court for review. Because the BIA did not address Kone's claim that FGM of her daughter would constitute direct psychological persecution *762 of her parents, we remand for further consideration.
I. BACKGROUND
Kone, Lasanna, and Kamissa are natives and citizens of Mali and members of the Bambara ethnic group. Kone and her family entered the United States on August 18, 2001 on nonimmigrant B2 visas and remained in the country after they expired, living first in New York and then Chicago. In November 2004, Kone and Lasanna had a second daughter, Mariam, born a United States citizen. On January 5, 2006, Kone, as lead petitioner, filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT").[1] Kone sought asylum based on her fear that if her family were made to return to Mali, Mariam would be forced to undergo FGM just as her sister and mother had. Kone acknowledged that her asylum application had been filed outside of the one-year deadline (at that point it had been over four years), but stated that she had only recently become aware of the fact that she could apply.[2]
Kone, Lasanna, and Kamissa were deemed removable and issued Notices to Appear in Immigration Court. On July 10, 2007, a merits hearing was held before an Immigration Judge ("IJ"). At the hearing, Kone testified to the high likelihood that Mariam would be subjected to FGM if brought to Mali, where, she said, all female Bambara tribe members undergo the procedure. Kone's testimony regrettably is backed up by State Department statistics indicating that approximately 95% of all women in Mali have been subjected to FGM. See U.S. Department of State, 2009 Human Rights Report: Mali, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/ hrrpt/2009/af/135964.htm (last visited August 3, 2010). Kone testified that she herself underwent FGM at the age of five, and that it had been performed on her first daughter Kamissa when she was two years old, without Kone's knowledge. Kone explained that a relative snatched Kamissa away while Kone was not home and performed the procedure under primitive conditions without anesthesia. She claimed that while she and her husband oppose FGM, they would not be able to prevent it from being similarly performed on Mariam. Kone stated that even if she and her husband maintained constant vigilance over Mariam, it was likely that she would still be forcibly taken from them so that the procedure could be performed. Kone also testified about the emotional trauma she would feel if FGM were in fact performed on her daughter against her will.
The IJ found Kone's testimony to be credible and determined that it was more likely than not that Mariam would be forced to undergo FGM if she were to go to Mali. However, the IJ denied all requested relief in an oral decision at the close of the hearing. The IJ first denied Kone's asylum claim as untimely under Section 208(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), which provides for a one-year time limit for asylum applications except for when the alien demonstrates changed or extraordinary circumstances warranting the delay. 8 U.S.C. 1158(a); see also 8 C.F.R. 1208.4(a). The IJ found that while Mariam's birth was a changed circumstance that excused part of the delay in applying for asylum, the application was still untimely because *763 Kone had waited another 14 months after the birth before filing. The IJ next denied Kone's claim for withholding of removal (for which there is no analogous time limit), ruling that Kone could not obtain withholding for herself based on potential hardship to her daughter. Relying on our decisions in Olowo v. Ashcroft, 368 F.3d 692 (7th Cir.2004), and Oforji v. Ashcroft, 354 F.3d 609 (7th Cir.2003), the IJ concluded that a petitioner cannot obtain "derivative" relief based on a fear that a non-petitioner child will undergo FGM. The IJ denied protection under the CAT for the same reasons he denied withholding of removal.
Kone appealed to the BIA and made two main arguments. She first argued that if Mariam were to be subjected to FGM in Mali, the anguish that her parents would suffer would constitute direct persecution of her parents under the CAT. Alternatively, Kone advanced a derivative asylum theory, arguing that while Olowo and Oforji foreclose derivative asylum based on the likelihood of FGM to a child in some situations, those cases are distinguishable because they did not involve a situation where both parents were in removal proceedings.
In the BIA's written ruling denying Kone's appeal, it concurred with the IJ's ruling that Kone's asylum application was untimely for having failed to file it within a reasonable time of the birth of Mariam. The BIA also agreed with the IJ's denial of withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The BIA cited Olowo and Oforji for the proposition that parents cannot establish derivative claims for relief based on potential hardship to their children, and rejected Kone's argument that her situation was distinguishable. The BIA was silent, however, as to Kone's argument that FGM of Mariam against her parents' will could constitute direct persecution of her parents. Kone petitioned this court for review of the BIA's denial of withholding of removal and protection under the CAT.[3]
II. ANALYSIS
When, like here, the BIA issues its own written analysis instead of summarily adopting that of the IJ, we review the BIA's decision. Chen v. Holder, 604 F.3d 324, 330 (7th Cir.2010). We review the agency's legal conclusions de novo, Atunnise v. Mukasey, 523 F.3d 830, 835 (7th Cir.2008), and factual findings for substantial evidence. Huang v. Mukasey, 525 F.3d 559, 564 (7th Cir.2008). We will disturb factual findings only if the evidence compels a conclusion contrary to that of the BIA. Kedjouti v. Holder, 571 F.3d 718, 721 (7th Cir.2009).
While our review is deferential, remand is appropriate when the BIA "overlooks key aspects of an asylum-seeker's claim and might reach a different conclusion after a more complete evaluation of the record." Chen, 604 F.3d at 330; see also Gonzales v. Thomas, 547 U.S. 183, 186, 126 S. Ct. 1613, 164 L. Ed. 2d 358 (2006) (remand to agency is proper course when additional determination or explanation is necessary); I.N.S. v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, *764 16, 123 S. Ct. 353, 154 L. Ed. 2d 272 (2002) (per curiam) (same). Remand is proper for additional analysis if the BIA "has not adequately explained its result and it seems possible to us that the agency might be compelled to reach the opposite conclusion depending how it evaluates the record after remand." Gomes v. Gonzales, 473 F.3d 746, 752 (7th Cir.2007).
We conclude that the BIA overlooked a key aspect of Kone's claim and that a more complete evaluation is necessary. See Chen, 604 F.3d at 330. The BIA effectively only addressed half of Kone's argument: it concluded that Kone could not assert a derivative claim based on potential hardship to her daughter, but failed to address her assertion that FGM of Mariam would also constitute direct persecution of her parents.
A. Kone's Derivative Claim
The BIA rejected Kone's claim for derivative relief based on a threat of FGM to her daughter, relying on our rulings in Oforji and Olowo.[4] In those cases, the petitioners, both Nigerian women who had undergone FGM, sought asylum and withholding of removal based on their fear their daughters would be subjected to FGM as well if brought to that country. In both cases, we rejected the petitioners' claims, holding that the parents could not make a derivative claim for asylum based on a likelihood of persecution not to themselves, but to their children. See Olowo, 368 F.3d at 701; Oforji, 354 F.3d at 618. In Oforji, we noted that in contrast to the cancellation-of-removal provision set forth in INA 240A(b)(1), 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1), the statutory scheme for asylum does not permit consideration of hardship to a petitioner's children when determining eligibility. 354 F.3d at 616-17. We ruled that an alien parent "may not establish a derivative claim for asylum by pointing to potential hardship to the alien's United States citizen child in the event of the alien's deportation." Id. at 618. And a year later in Olowo, we again concluded that both the asylum and withholding of removal standards "require an applicant to demonstrate that she herself will be subject to persecution if removed, and do not encompass any consideration of persecution that may be suffered by otherseven family memberswho may be obliged to return with her...." Olowo, 368 F.3d at 701; see also Gumaneh v. Mukasey, 535 F.3d 785, 789 (8th Cir.2008) ("an applicant may not establish a derivative claim for withholding of removal based upon the applicant's child's fear of persecution"); Niang v. Gonzales, 492 F.3d 505, 513 (4th Cir.2007) (same).
There is, however, a distinction between the situations in Oforji and Olowo and Kone's situation here. In both Oforji and Olowo, only one parent was in removal proceedings, meaning there was at least the possibility that the other parent could take care of the child in the United States. Cf. Olowo, 368 F.3d at 701 (father was available); Oforji, 354 F.3d at 618 (father may have been available). Here, both parents are in removal proceedings. The BIA somewhat cursorily rejected Kone's attempt to highlight this distinction, noting that because the whereabouts of the petitioner's husband in Oforji were unknown, it was not clear that the children in that *765 case could have stayed with their father. The BIA did not address Olowo, however. On remand, the BIA should do so, in light of Olowo's implication that there may be a claim for constructive deportation when both, not just one, parent is in proceedings. See Olowo, 368 F.3d at 701 ("[W]hen there is a parent who is available to care for the daughters in the United States, they are under no compulsion to leave. Accordingly, the facts here do not support a claim for derivative asylum."); see also Gatimi v. Holder, 606 F.3d 344, 349 (7th Cir.2010) ("Gatimi II") (noting that in Olowo and Oforji, "the children had one parent with legal status and so were not subject to removal."); Benyamin v. Holder, 579 F.3d 970, 977 (9th Cir.2009) (remanding to BIA to consider whether father qualified for derivative asylum based on threat of FGM to daughter, in case where both parents were subject to removal).
B. Kone's Claim of Direct Persecution
In addition to asserting a derivative claim, Kone also made a separate argument to the BIA: that FGM of Mariam would constitute direct persecution of her parents cognizable under the Convention Against Torture.[5] The BIA did not address this argument in its decision, but should have. Kone's direct-persecution argument finds support in recent case law, both in our circuit and in others.
In Gatimi v. Holder, 578 F.3d 611 (7th Cir.2009) ("Gatimi I"), a Kenyan man had defected from a criminal political/religious organization in Kenya and faced retribution for having done so. He sought asylum (along with his wife and daughter as derivative applicants) based on a fear of returning to Kenya where he claimed the persecution could continue. Id. at 613-14. Part of Gatimi's claim was that his wife would be subjected to FGM if returned to Kenya, because the organization compelled wives of defectors to undergo the procedure. Id. We found that this potential harm to Gatimi's wife could "constitute persecution of him." Id. at 617 (emphasis in original). We noted:
Genital mutilation of one's wife, unless one happens to be a supporter of the practice, is a way to punish one, and so the menace to Mrs. Gatimi is a legitimate component of Mr. Gatimi's case. To send her back to Kenya to face female genital mutilation would be to enable persecution of him.
Id.; see also Gatimi II, 606 F.3d at 348 ("persecution of Mrs. Gatimi can constitute persecution of Mr. Gatimi, and so her fear of persecution is relevant to his (and therefore their) claim for asylum.") (emphasis added). While not directly analogous to the situation before uswe see no evidence in this case indicating that Mariam would be subjected to FGM as a way to "punish" her familythe Gatimi cases are relevant here because they address the concept that genital mutilation of a petitioner's family member can constitute direct, as opposed to derivative, persecution of the petitioner. Kone made this argument on appeal, and the BIA should consider it.[6]
Other circuits have also recognized the possibility that the prospect of FGM of one's child can constitute harm to an unwilling parent and similarly remanded to *766 the BIA for further consideration of the issue. In Kone v. Holder, 596 F.3d 141, 143 (2d Cir.2010) (no relation to petitioner in this case), a woman from Cote d'Ivoire sought asylum based on, inter alia, the fear that her daughters would be forcibly subjected to FGM against her wishes were they to go to that country. The Second Circuit remanded the case to the BIA, and indicated that it could consider "whether the mental anguish of a mother who was herself a victim of genital mutilation who faces the choice of seeing her daughter suffer the same fate, or avoiding that outcome by separation from her child" would qualify as sufficient persecution of a petitioner so as to warrant a grant of asylum under 8 C.F.R. 1208.13(b)(1)(iii)(B). Id. at 153. The court recognized, as Kone did in the argument she made to the BIA here, that such a theory is "distinct from a claim of derivative asylum." Id.[7]
The Sixth Circuit has similarly indicated that a petitioner can potentially qualify for relief in her own right based on threats of FGM to a child. In Abay v. Ashcroft, 368 F.3d 634, 636 (6th Cir.2004), an Ethiopian mother and daughter sought asylum and withholding of removal based on the fear that the daughter would be subjected to FGM, as her mother had previously been, if they were deported to Ethiopia. Surveying previous BIA decisions, the court found that Abay could demonstrate persecution based on the harm she would suffer by "being forced to witness the pain and suffering of her daughter" if she were subjected to FGM. Id. at 642. The BIA itself has also addressed the possibility. See Matter of Dibba, No. A73 541 857 (BIA Nov. 23, 2001) (mother's argument that being forced to allow FGM of daughter in Gambia would cause her mental suffering was sufficient to reopen case).
In light of the precedent we have discussed above, Kone may have a viable claim that FGM of Mariam against her will constitutes direct persecution of her parents. In light of the BIA's silence on the theory, it is "impossible to be confident" that Kone's claim has been "fully understood or analyzed." Chitay-Pirir v. I.N.S., 169 F.3d 1079, 1081 (7th Cir.1999). Remand is appropriate so that the BIA can more fully address Kone's direct-persecution claim in light of the case law we have set forth. See Gonzales, 547 U.S. at 186, 126 S. Ct. 1613; Chen, 604 F.3d at 335; Gomes, 473 F.3d at 752.
III. CONCLUSION
We GRANT the petition for review, VACATE the BIA's decision, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
NOTES
[*] The Honorable John W. Darrah, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, sitting by designation.
[1] The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as implemented by 8 C.F.R. 208.16(c).
[2] Because Kone is the lead petitioner, we refer to her alone throughout this opinion unless otherwise necessary.
[3] Kone does not appeal the BIA's determination that her asylum application was untimely, recognizing that we lack jurisdiction to review that decision. 8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(3); see Ogayonne v. Mukasey, 530 F.3d 514, 519 (7th Cir.2008). Kone's only argument on appeal regarding the asylum portion of her application is that the agency erred when it did not consider an "independent claim for asylum" from her daughter Kamissa. Kone never raised this argument to the agency, and we cannot entertain it here. 8 U.S.C. 1252(d)(1); see also Ishitiaq v. Holder, 578 F.3d 712, 717-18 (7th Cir.2009). And in any event, Kamissa has never filed a freestanding application for asylum; her application was derivative of her mother's, who filed as lead petitioner on behalf of her family.
[4] Kone also argues that she and her daughter are entitled to withholding of removal and protection under the CAT based on their own past persecution. The government correctly points out that Kone did not make this argument to the IJ or the BIA. The IJ found that Kone's claim was based "solely" on a fear of future persecution of her daughter, and Kone did not dispute this in her appeal to the BIA. Kone cannot seek judicial review of issues she did not raise before the BIA. 8 U.S.C. 1252(d)(1); see also Zeqiri v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 364, 369-70 (7th Cir.2008).
[5] It is clear that FGM constitutes persecution under the asylum and withholding of removal standards, and torture under the CAT. See Oforji, 354 F.3d at 615 n. 2; Nwaokolo v. I.N.S., 314 F.3d 303, 308-09 (7th Cir.2002) (stating FGM is a "horrifically brutal procedure"). It is also clear that mental suffering can qualify as torture. See 8 C.F.R. 208.18(a)(1).
[6] Both of the Gatimi cases were decided after the BIA issued its decision in this case.
[7] Kone made her direct-persecution claim to the BIA for relief under the CAT, not asylum, but the theory is the samethat harm to the child can constitute direct persecution of the parents who are unable to stop it.
Kane v. Holder
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Publication Date 28 August 2009 Citation / Document Symbol 581 F.3d 231, 24042 Cite as Kane v. Holder, 581 F.3d 231, 24042 , United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 28 August 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_5,58a48b634.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
*234 Alicia J. Triche, Herbert Todd Nesom, Nesom Law Office, Oakdale, LA, for Kane.
David J. Schor, Thomas Ward Hussey, Dir., Aviva Lea Poczter, Emily Anne Radford, Asst. Dir., U.S. Dept. of Justice, OIL, Washington, DC, Trey Lund, U.S. Imm. & Customs Enforcement, Field Office Dir., Attn: Carl Perry, New Orleans, LA, for Holder.
Before JONES, Chief Judge, and WIENER and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
WIENER, Circuit Judge:
Petitioner Abou Kane, a native of Senegal unlawfully present in the United States, seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("the BIA") reversing a decision of the immigration judge ("the IJ") that had granted Kane's application for withholding of removal. The BIA rejected Kane's derivative claims grounded in allegations that his minor U.S. citizen-daughters would be subjected to female genital mutilation ("FGM") when they accompany him and his wife to Senegal. Agreeing with the BIA that, under the current state of the law, Kane's derivative claim for withholding of removal is not cognizable and that we lack jurisdiction to consider his asylum claim, we deny review.
I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Kane first entered the United States in 1989, staying for approximately 10 months before leaving for Gabon, where he operated a clothing business. In 1996, Kane illegally re-entered the United States, followed shortly thereafter by his wife, whom he had married two years earlier. They now have five children, including two daughters who are under ten years old and hold birthright citizenship of the United States.
In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") commenced proceedings against Kane by issuing a Notice to Appear, charging him with removability pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). Following a hearing on that charge, the IJ found that Kane's removability had been established by clear and convincing evidence. After Kane declined to specify a country for removal, the IJ designated Kane's native Senegal as the removal country.
Kane then filed an application for cancellation of removal, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). He claimed to be seeking to remain in the United States because his minor daughters would be subjected to FGM if he were removed to Senegal.
During a subsequent hearing before the IJ, Kane testified that he, his wife, and his daughters are all members of the Fulani tribe, which practices FGM. Kane stated that, because he would be unable to earn enough money in Senegal to support his family in the United States, his wife and daughters would have to accompany him if he were removed. According to Kane, he would be helpless to prevent members of his tribe from subjecting his minor daughters to FGM once they were in Senegal. As evidence of the risk to his daughters, Kane testified that his relatives recently requested that he bring the girls to Senegal for the express purpose of FGM. When questioned whether he feared for *235 his own safety, Kane replied that his family members and fellow tribesmen would likely humiliate him for opposing FGM, but that he did not believe that he would be beaten or physically tortured for his opposition, insisting that his primary concern was for his young daughters' health and well-being.
Kane's wife also testified at the hearing, explaining that, like her mother and sisters, she had been subjected to FGM as a young girl and had suffered serious negative health effects, including FGM-related complications in giving birth. Mrs. Kane testified that the Fulani tribal edict of FGM is so deeply ingrained that, if she and her daughters followed her husband to Senegal, it would only be a matter of time before someonelikely one of her or her husband's relativeswould perform FGM on her daughters, regardless where in Senegal the Kane family might choose to live or how vocal their opposition might be.
The IJ granted Kane's application for withholding of removal but dismissed his CAT claim as moot and did not address asylum. Finding that both Kane and his wife were credible witnesses, the IJ concluded that, if Kane were removed to Senegal, members of the Fulani tribe would likely take any steps necessary to ensure that his young daughters were subjected to FGM. The IJ reasoned further that Kane himself would likely suffer persecution for his opposition to FGM if he attempted to prevent tribal elders from subjecting his daughters to the process. Citing humanitarian grounds as an additional basis for granting Kane's request, the IJ explained that "it is, quite frankly, difficult for this Court to expose two young U.S. citizens to this practice, simply because their parents were not of status in this country."
The DHS appealed the IJ's decision to the BIA, framing the issue on appeal as whether an alien father may succeed on a derivative withholding claim based on a fear that his minor daughtersboth U.S. citizenswould be subjected to FGM if the father were removed to his native country. The DHS advocated reversal of the IJ's decision on the grounds that (1) the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") does not authorize derivative claims for withholding of removal, and (2) the practice of FGM was in decline, as evidenced by the Senegalese government's criminalizing FGM and providing for terms of up to five years imprisonment for anyone who either directly commits the offense or orders it committed against a third person.
In Kane's brief on appeal to the BIA, he insisted that, although the IJ had correctly granted withholding of removal, he had failed to consider whether Kane is also eligible for asylum in addition to his eligibility for withholding of removal. Kane contended that, if removed to Senegal, he would be subject to persecution (1) as a member of a social group of "parents of minor daughters of the Fulani Tribe who have not had FGM, and who oppose the practice," (2) as a result of his political and religious opposition to FGM, and (3) by having to endure his daughters' FGM. Kane urged that if it deemed the IJ's withholding of removal to be in error, the BIA should not order him removed but should remand the case to the IJ for a determination regarding Kane's claims for asylum and relief under CAT.
The BIA reversed the IJ's order and directed that Kane be removed from the United States.[1] In holding that Kane could not establish eligibility for withholding of removal based solely on the *236 fear that his daughters would be forced to undergo FGM in Senegal, the BIA determined, inter alia, that (1) the INA does not authorize derivative claims for withholding of removal, (2) Kane had not established that he himself would be persecuted or tortured as a result of his opposition to the practice of FGM, (3) Kane's daughters, as United States citizens, could remain safely in the United States in the custody of their mother or a guardian ad litem after Kane's removal, and (4) if Kane's daughters did accompany him to Senegal, the family could likely prevent the girls from being subjected to FGM by settling in an area of relative safety. The BIA also declined to remand to the IJ for further consideration, ruling instead that (1) Kane's CAT claim failed because he did not allege that he had been tortured in the past or had a reasonable fear of torture in the future, and (2) Kane had waived any right to seek asylum by failing timely to raise the issue before the IJ.
In addition to petitioning this court for review of the BIA's removal decision, Kane asked the BIA to reconsider its rejection of his asylum application as untimely, contending that he had failed to raise the issue of asylum during the proceedings before the IJ because he had mistakenly believed that he was ineligible to do so. Kane insists that the IJ was obligated to inform him that he might be eligible for asylum, and that the failure to do so entitles Kane to apply for asylum now. The BIA denied reconsideration of Kane's asylum claim, and he did not seek review of that denial in his petition to us.
II. ANALYSIS
A. Standard of Review
When the BIA conducts a de novo review of the record evidence and does not adopt any part of the IJ's decision, our review is limited to the BIA's decision.[2] For review of orders of removal under the INA, "the administrative findings of fact are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude the contrary."[3] We review factual findings to determine if they are supported by substantial evidence in the record.[4] "The substantial evidence standard requires only that the [BIA's] conclusion be based upon the evidence presented and be substantially reasonable."[5] We will reverse the BIA only when the evidence is "so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could fail to find" in favor of the petitioner.[6] "We may not reverse merely because we would have decided the case differently."[7]
B. Asylum
Before reaching the merits of Kane's petition for review, we must first address any jurisdictional problems that it raises. In his brief to us, Kane claimsas he did to the BIA in his motion for reconsideration that the IJ had a duty under 8 C.F.R. 1240.11(c) to inform him that he was apparently eligible to apply for asylum. According to Kane, the IJ's failure to inform him of his apparent eligibility *237 entitles him to apply for asylum now. In response, the DHS contends that we lack jurisdiction to resolve this issue because Kane did not raise it before the BIA in his direct appeal, and that only matters addressed in that direct appeal are properly before us for review at this time.
We have jurisdiction to review a final order of removal.[8] Judicial review of such an order is only available, however, if the applicant has exhausted all administrative remedies of right.[9] Failure to exhaust an issue through administrative proceedings creates a jurisdictional bar, preventing our review of that issue.[10] "An alien fails to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to an issue when the issue is not raised in the first instance before the BIAeither on direct appeal or in a motion to reopen."[11] "When a petitioner seeks to raise a claim not presented to the BIA and the claim is one that the BIA has adequate mechanisms to address and remedy, the petitioner must raise the issue in a motion to reopen prior to resorting to review by the courts."[12]
In Kane's brief on direct appeal to the BIA, he contended that the IJ had correctly granted withholding of removal but had erroneously failed to consider the merits of his asylum claim as well. Kane claimed that he qualifies for asylum because, if removed, he would suffer persecution consisting of (1) emotional and economic suffering resulting from his daughters' being subjected to FGM, and (2) constant harassment from family and tribal members for his religious and political opposition to FGM. Critically, however, Kane failed to raise his "apparent eligibility" argument to the BIA on direct appeal. It was not until Kane filed his motion for reconsideration that he asserted to the BIA that the IJ's failure to inform him of his apparent eligibility for asylum should excuse his tardiness in applying. In the absence of that argument, the BIA ruled that Kane had waived any claim he might have to asylum by not timely raising the issue before the IJ.[13] As Kane's petition for review does not raise the BIA's subsequent denial of reconsideration of his time-barred asylum claim based on "apparent eligibility," however, the only decision properly before us now is the BIA's initial order denying withholding of removal and holding his asylum claim waived.[14]*238 Consequently, we lack jurisdiction to review the merits of Kane's asylum claim.[15] To the extent that Kane seeks review of the BIA's initial holding that he waived his asylum claim, we find no error, particularly in light of the record that was before the BIA at the time of its decision.[16]
C. Withholding of Removal
To be eligible for withholding of removal, an applicant must demonstrate a "clear probability" that he will be subject to persecution on his return to the country of removal.[17] The applicant may demonstrate such a probability by showing that it is more likely than not that his life or freedom would be threatened by persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.[18] Persecution has been construed to require a showing that "harm or suffering will be inflicted upon [the applicant] in order to punish [him] for possessing a belief or characteristic a persecutor sought to overcome."[19]*239 "Demonstrating such a connection requires the alien to present specific, detailed facts showing a good reason to fear that he or she will be singled out for persecution."[20]
In his petition to us, Kane raises several arguments that he had not presented to the BIA on direct appeal. For example, Kane now contends that he has a legal right to serve as his daughters' guardian for medical decisions, irrespective of his immigration status. According to Kane, removal would interfere with his constitutionally protected custodial rights by subjecting his daughters to FGM, thus violating his legal right both to live with his minor children and to control their medical treatment. We have no jurisdiction to review issues raised for the first time in Kane's petition, which the BIA did not have the opportunity to consider in the first instance.[21]
As for the remainder of Kane's assertions, we are satisfied that the BIA's decision to deny withholding is supported by substantial evidence. For example, Kane claims that Fulani tribal elders enforcing the practice against his daughters would in effect be persecuting him. In its decision on direct appeal, the BIA conceded that there may be "cases where a person persecutes someone close to an applicant, such as a spouse, parent, child or other relative, with the intended purpose of causing emotional harm to the applicant, but does not directly harm the applicant himself."[22] As the BIA explained, however, "in such a case, the persecution would not be `derivative,' as the applicant himself would be the target of the emotional persecution that arises from physical harm to a loved one."[23] After the BIA reviewed Kane's testimony and all the evidence in the record, it concluded that Kane had failed to demonstrate that he would be the target of such persecution. We see no reversible error in this decision, and note that Kane himself testified that Fulani tribal elders would likely enforce the practice against his daughters only because they believe that their culture compels them to do so and not as a way to persecute Kane for any particular belief or characteristic that he exhibits.
In response to Kane's contention that he would be persecuted simply for opposing the practice of FGM, the BIA concluded that he had failed to show that "it is more likely than not that his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his opposition to this practice."[24] In reaching this conclusion, the BIA cited as persuasive Kane's "repeated and specific testimony that he has no fear of any persecution to himself if he were to return to Senegal."[25] The BIA's determination on this point is supported by substantial evidence, particularly considering that Kane himself stated numerous times during his testimony that he did not fear any personal harm *240 other than perhaps humiliation or harassment, neither of which rises to the level of persecution.[26]
Further, as we have previously held, the INA does not recognize derivative claims for withholding of removal.[27] Although Kane insists that he is not making a derivative withholding claim, this assertion is inconsistent with his testimony before the IJ.[28] To the extent that Kane does seek withholding based on a fear that his daughters will be subjected to persecution if they accompany him to Senegal, we see no error in the BIA's determination that Kane is not entitled to derivative withholding.
The BIA also reasoned that Kane could avoid the risk of his daughters being subjected to FGM altogether by having them remain in the United States, "which they are legally entitled to do, either by staying with the parent who is not currently in removal proceedings, or through the appointment of a guardian to ensure their welfare until such time as they reach majority."[29] The BIA alternatively concluded that, in light of recent efforts by the Senegalese government to frustrate the practice of FGM, "even if [Kane's] children were to accompany him to Senegal, they could avoid FGM by relocating to an area of comparative safety."[30] Although this admittedly presents Kane with a difficult and painful decision, we see no reversible error in the BIA's determination.
Other circuits are in accord. Presented with similar facts, the Seventh Circuit held in Oforji v. Ashcroft that an otherwise-removable alien is not entitled to withholding based solely on the possibility that her U.S. citizen-daughter might be subjected to FGM following the alien's removal.[31] In Oforji, the court stated:
Although the threatened hardship for her children is apparent, there is no statutory or regulatory authority for [petitioner] to have her own deportation suspended because she fears for her children if they return to Nigeria with her. Of course, . . . as United States citizens [the daughters] have the right to *241 stay here without her, but that would likely require some form of guardianship not a Hobson's choice, but a choice no [parent] wants to make. Given the undesirable consequences of the choice she has to make, [petitioner] is in effect requesting that we amend the law to allow deportable aliens . . . to attach derivatively to the right of their citizen children to remain in the United States. Any such amendment is for Congress, not the courts, to consider.[32]
Recognizing that "any separation of a child from its [parent] is a hardship," the court nevertheless framed the legal issue before it as "whether this potential hardship to citizen children arising from the parent's deportation should allow an otherwise unqualified [alien] to append to the children's right to remain in the United States."[33] At least according to the Seventh Circuit, "[t]he answer is no."[34] The Oforji court explained that, although its holding left the illegal immigrant with a painful choice, "Congress has foreseen such difficult choices [and] has opted to leave the choice with the illegal immigrant, not the courts."[35]
Taken to their logical conclusions, Kane's contentions essentially suggest that any time an illegal immigrant from a country where FGM is practiced has a female child while present in the United States, he should prevail on a claim for asylum or withholding of removal. If Congress had intended such a broad expansion to our nation's immigration laws, however, it would have expressly provided for this result; it did not. In fact, the INA suggests just the opposite, viz., that Congress did not intend asylum or withholding of removal in such a situation, preferring instead to leave for the illegal immigrant the difficult and painful choice of how to proceed.[36] As the Fourth Circuit stated in *242 Niang, "there is simply no statutory or regulatory authority for [an illegal immigrant] to claim withholding of removal based on threatened hardship to her U.S. citizen minor daughter. As Congress has not provided for such a derivative withholding claim, we will not judicially amend the statute to create one."[37]
D. UNHCR Guidance Note
After briefing in this matter was complete, Kane filed a letter pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(j) to apprise us of a guidance note recently issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the "UNHCR").[38] The UNHCR guidance note cited by Kane addresses a parent's claim of fear of persecution by virtue of the genital mutilation of his or her female child.[39] Although the UNHCR note is not binding on either this court or the BIA,[40] Kane asserts that it constitutes persuasive new authority in support of his claim, counseling in favor of remand to the BIA. The DHS opposes remand, arguing that the guidance note is not only non-binding, but is also unpersuasive, as it contradicts the express terms of the INA. Moreover, the DHS contends that the guidance note is beyond the scope of our review, which is limited by statute to the evidence in the administrative record.
The Supreme Court has explained that, "[g]enerally speaking, a court of appeals should remand a case to an agency for decision of a matter that statutes place primarily in agency hands."[41] Remand might also be appropriate when an intervening change in the law or binding precedent renders an agency's order unsustainable.[42] The UNHCR guidance note at issue, however, is not such a change: It neither constitutes binding precedent nor renders the BIA's order unsustainable.[43] Further, it is doubtful whether this particular guidance note offers persuasive authority, as it appears to contradict the express terms of the INA. Finally, even if we were inclined to remand for consideration of the guidance note, we likely lack the jurisdiction to do so, as 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(A) expressly instructs us that we may only "decide the petition . . . on the administrative record."[44] We decline to remand.
*243 III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Kane's petition for review is
DENIED.
NOTES
[1] In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 275 (BIA 2007).
[2] Girma v. I.N.S., 283 F.3d 664, 665 (5th Cir.2002).
[3] 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(B).
[4] Mikhael v. I.N.S., 115 F.3d 299, 302 (5th Cir.1997).
[5] Ontunez-Tursios v. Ashcroft, 303 F.3d 341, 350 (5th Cir.2002).
[6] I.N.S. v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84, 112 S. Ct. 812, 117 L. Ed. 2d 38 (1992).
[7] Hassan v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 661, 666 (8th Cir.2004).
[8] 8 U.S.C. 1252(a), (b).
[9] Id. 1252(d)(1).
[10] Wang v. Ashcroft, 260 F.3d 448, 452 (5th Cir.2001).
[11] Id. at 452-53 (citing Goonsuwan v. Ashcroft, 252 F.3d 383, 388-89 (5th Cir.2001)).
[12] Goonsuwan, 252 F.3d at 390.
[13] See In re A-K, 24 I. & N. Dec. at 281. In its initial order, the BIA explained the proceedings below in detail:
At the time of [Kane's] May 18, 2006, Master Calendar hearing, the Immigration Judge gave him additional time to apply for all forms of relief for which he was eligible and advised him that any application that was not received at the time of the next hearing would be considered abandoned. However, at the time of the next hearing, which was held on July 5, 2006, counsel for [Kane] indicated that he was only applying for withholding of removal under section 241(b)(3) of the Act and protection pursuant to the Convention Against Torture. According to the regulations, "[i]f an application or document is not filed within the time set by the immigration judge, the opportunity to file that application or document shall be deemed waived." We therefore find no basis for a remand for consideration of [Kane's] asylum claim in this matter.
Id. (internal citations omitted).
[14] This conclusion comports with the statutory text of 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(6), which contemplates the filing of separate petitions for review following both the BIA's initial order and the resolution of any subsequent motion to reconsider or reopen. See 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(6) ("When a petitioner seeks review of an order under this section, any review sought of a motion to reopen or reconsider the order shall be consolidated with the review of the order."); see also Stone v. I.N.S., 514 U.S. 386, 394, 115 S. Ct. 1537, 131 L. Ed. 2d 465 (1995) ("By its terms [8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(6)] contemplates two petitions for review and directs the courts to consolidate the matters."). In Stone, the Supreme Court noted that such an interpretation not only is compelled by the statutory text, but also furthers "considerations of administrative and judicial efficiency, as well as fairness to the alien." 514 U.S. at 398, 115 S. Ct. 1537. As the Court explained:
The consolidation provision in [ 1252(b)(6)] reflects Congress' understanding that a deportation order is final, and reviewable, when issued. Its finality is not affected by the subsequent filing of a motion to reconsider. The order being final when issued, an alien has 90 days from that date to seek review. The alien, if he chooses, may also seek agency reconsideration of the order and seek review of the disposition upon reconsideration . . . . When the original petition is still before the court, the court shall consolidate the two petitions.
Id. at 405-06, 115 S. Ct. 1537 (emphasis added). In Stone, the Court affirmed the circuit court's holding that it lacked jurisdiction to review a petition for review filed more than 90 days after the issuance of the BIA's initial order of removal. Id. Presented with a somewhat analogous situation in the instant case, we lack jurisdiction to consider the BIA's denial of Kane's motion to reconsider because Kane has not petitioned for review of that order.
[15] Even if we were to consider the merits of this claim, it is doubtful that Kane would be entitled to relief, for essentially the same reasons we set forth below detailing why he cannot prevail on his claim for withholding of removal.
[16] Neither do we perceive error in the BIA's decision that Kane was ineligible for CAT relief, therefore obviating the need for remand to the IJ for further consideration. As the BIA correctly stated in its order, "[t]here is no legal basis for a derivative grant of such protection [when], as here, [Kane] has not alleged any past torture, or fear of future torture, to himself." In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. at 280.
[17] Faddoul v. I.N.S., 37 F.3d 185, 188 (5th Cir.1994).
[18] Bah v. Ashcroft, 341 F.3d 348, 351 (5th Cir.2003).
[19] Faddoul, 37 F.3d at 188. We have previously defined persecution as:
The infliction of suffering or harm, under government sanction, upon persons who differ in a way regarded as offensive (e.g., race, religion, political opinion, etc.), in a manner condemned by civilized governments. The harm or suffering need not by physical, but may take other forms, such as the deliberate imposition of severe economic disadvantage or the deprivation of liberty, food, housing, employment or other essentials of life.
Eduard v. Ashcroft, 379 F.3d 182, 187 (5th Cir.2004).
[20] See Faddoul, 37 F.3d at 188; see also Efe v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 899, 906 (5th Cir.2002) (explaining that withholding of removal must meet a higher standard than asylum, which requires only a showing of past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on one of the five stated grounds).
[21] Roy v. Ashcroft, 389 F.3d 132, 138 (5th Cir.2004).
[22] In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. at 278.
[23] Id. According to the BIA, "[a]utomatically treating harm to a family member as being persecution to others within the family is inconsistent with the derivative asylum provisions, as it would obviate the need for these provisions in many respects." Id.
[24] Id. at 280.
[25] Id.
[26] See Tesfamichael v. Gonzales, 469 F.3d 109, 116 (5th Cir.2006) ("Persecution cannot be based on mere denigration, harassment, and threats."); see also In re S-L-L, 24 I. & N. Dec. 1, 14 n. 1 (Pauley, concurring) ("While FGM may be a pernicious form of persecution, it is difficult to understand why a fear that it may be performed on another person, albeit one's child, is a ground for asylum, any more than if a parent had a fear that a child would be singled out for persecution on account of political opinion, race, or religion.") (emphasis in original).
[27] Arif v. Mukasey, 509 F.3d 677, 682 (5th Cir.2007) ("As Petitioner has asserted that she qualifies for withholding of removal based solely on her husband's claim, and there are no derivative benefits associated with a grant of withholding of removal, Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that the BIA erred in denying her request for withholding of removal.").
[28] We note, however, that even referring to Kane's application as a "derivative" claim for withholding of removal is somewhat misleading, particularly given that his daughters both U.S. citizenscannot themselves be subject to removal, and are therefore not in need of withholding of removal.
[29] In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. at 277. Although not currently the subject of removal proceedings, Mrs. Kane, an illegal immigrant, is potentially subject to removal in the future. As a result, we recognize that the only practical, long-term option available to Kane for leaving his daughters in the United States is through the appointment of a guardian or other legal representative.
[30] Id.
[31] 354 F.3d 609, 618-19 (5th Cir.2003). Here, the BIA specifically stated that it considered the facts of Kane's case "nearly identical" to those presented in Oforji.
[32] Id. at 617.
[33] Id. at 617-18.
[34] Id. at 618.
[35] Id. In Niang v. Gonzales, 492 F.3d 505 (4th Cir.2007), the Fourth Circuit reached a similar result, holding that a Senegalese mother was not entitled to withholding of removal based solely on the fear that her U.S. citizen-daughter might be subjected to FGM upon returning to Senegal. The court explained:
We are, of course, mindful that the result reached here presents [petitioner] with a heart-wrenching dilemma: either allow [her daughter] to remain in the U.S. with her father but without her mother, or take [her daughter] to Senegal where [the mother] fears that [her daughter] will be forced to undergo FGM. The tragic nature of this choice is undeniable, but it does not warrant that we recognize a derivative claim where Congress has not seen fit to provide for it. Accordingly, consistent with the other circuits that have considered this question, we conclude that [petitioner] may not assert a derivative claim for withholding of removal based on the potential persecution of her U.S. citizen daughter if [petitioner] is removed to Senegal and her daughter accompanies her.
Niang, 492 F.3d at 514 (internal citations omitted). The court further explained that, "[w]hile it is entirely reasonable to believe that the law ideally should not present [parents] with such dilemmas, the existing law does." Id.
[36] It is important to differentiate derivative claims for asylum, which are expressly provided for by statute, from Kane's claims that are here under review. Derivative asylum claims typically involve the grant of asylum status to a spouse or minor child (but not a parent) who accompanies an alien already eligible for asylum status, even though the spouse or child might not otherwise be eligible for asylum. See 8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(3). The reverse is presented here: Kane (the parent) seeks asylum or withholding based on the potential hardship that his removal might occasion for his minor children, both of whom hold birthright U.S. citizenship. The difference is significant. In the former, the child's derivative claim flows from the parent's a result that is expressly contemplated, through statute, by the initial grant of asylum. Under the latter framework, however, which is not contemplated by the INA, an illegal immigrant from a country that practices FGM could "create" a right to remain in the United States via asylum or withholding of removal simply by having a female child at any time during the immigrant's presence here.
[37] Niang, 492 F.3d at 512.
[38] U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Female Genital Mutilation (May 2009).
[39] Id.
[40] I.N.S. v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 438-39 & n. 22, 107 S. Ct. 1207, 94 L. Ed. 2d 434 (1987).
[41] I.N.S. v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16, 123 S. Ct. 353, 154 L. Ed. 2d 272 (2002).
[42] See, e.g., Arce-Vences v. Mukasey, 512 F.3d 167, 172-73 (5th Cir.2007) (remanding to the BIA for further consideration in light of an intervening Supreme Court decision).
[43] See I.N.S. v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 427, 119 S. Ct. 1439, 143 L. Ed. 2d 590 (1999) ("The U.N. Handbook may be a useful interpretative aid, but it is not binding on the Attorney General, the BIA, or United States courts."); see also Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. at 439 n. 22, 107 S. Ct. 1207 ("We do not suggest . . . that the explanation in the U.N. Handbook has the force of law or in any way binds the INS. . . .").
[44] 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(A) ("[T]he court of appeals shall decide the petition only on the administrative record on which the order of removal is based. . . .").
Cai Luan Chen v. Ashcroft
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Publication Date 20 August 2004 Citation / Document Symbol 381 F.3d 221, 227 Cite as Cai Luan Chen v. Ashcroft, 381 F.3d 221, 227, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 20 August 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_3,58a48c024.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Cai Luan Chen petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. Chen's primary argument is that he is eligible for asylum based on his fiancee's forced abortion at the hands of Chinese government officials. In making this argument, Chen relies on a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals holding that the spouse of a person who was forced to undergo an abortion or sterilization is deemed under a 1996 amendment to 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42) to have suffered past persecution. Matter of C-Y-Z-, 21 I. & N. Dec. 915 (BIA 1997) (en banc). Chen argues that, while he and his fiancee were never married, they would have married had it not been for China's inflated minimum marriage age requirement, which was instituted as part of the country's oppressive population control program. Chen contends China's refusal to permit him to marry constituted persecution and that therefore the BIA's decision to limit C-Y-Z- to married persons is irrational and arbitrary and must be rejected.
We disagree. While limiting C-Y-Z- to married persons may produce undesirable results in some cases, the BIA's interpretation, which contributes to efficient administration and avoids difficult and problematic factual inquiries, is reasonable. We accordingly deny the petition for review.
I.
Chen and his fiancee, Chen Gui, are both natives and citizens of the People's Republic of China. Chen and Chen Gui started living together at Chen's parents' house in July 1994. At the time, Chen was 19 and Chen Gui was 18.
In September 1995, the couple discovered that Chen Gui was pregnant, and they then applied for a marriage license at the local government office without disclosing the pregnancy. However, the office told them that their application could not be approved, since the legal age to marry was 25 for men and 23 for women.
Government officials soon became aware of the pregnancy and told Chen Gui that the child would have to be aborted. Chen and Chen Gui delayed compliance with the order, and this prompted a group of local officials to visit the home of Chen's parents. Chen Gui, having been warned of the visit, was not there when the officials arrived, and Chen was accordingly asked to disclose Chen Gui's whereabouts. When Chen refused, the officials started hitting him with "sticks," and Chen fought back with a "plumbing tool." Finally, Chen's parents intervened to end the scuffle. The officials left, warning Chen that he would be arrested if Chen Gui did not report for an abortion in three days.
Chen and Chen Gui went into hiding, and Chen left the country shortly thereafter. He entered the United States in April 1996. About two months later, Chen contacted his family and was told that Chen Gui had ultimately been found and had been forced to submit to an abortion in the eighth month of the pregnancy. Chen was also informed that Chen Gui was continuing to live with his parents.
The INS initiated removal proceedings against Chen, who subsequently sought asylum under the reasoning of the BIA's decision in C-Y-Z-. The IJ concluded that, although Chen and Chen Gui had never formally married, the case did "fall by analogy within C-Y-Z-, if not by the letter." App. II at 116. However, the BIA reversed on appeal, noting summarily that the decision in C-Y-Z- had "not been extended to include unmarried partners," App. I at 3, and that Chen's "own experiences with the authorities in China [did] not rise to the level of past persecution." Id. Chen then filed this petition for review.
II.
The respondent in this case (hereinafter "the government") contends that the BIA's interpretation of 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42) as covering the spouses but not the unmarried partners of persons who have been forced to undergo abortions or sterilization is entitled to deference under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., [1984] USSC 140; 467 U.S. 837, 843-44[1984] USSC 140; , 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984), and should be sustained. Chevron applies when "it appears that Congress delegated authority to the agency generally to make rules carrying the force of law, and that the agency interpretation claiming deference was promulgated in the exercise of that authority." United States v. Mead Corp., [2001] USSC 54; 533 U.S. 218, 226-27[2001] USSC 54; , 121 S.Ct. 2164, 150 L.Ed.2d 292 (2001). If Chevron applies, a court must ask (at what is customarily called step one) "whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue." Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842[1984] USSC 140; , 104 S.Ct. 2778. "If so, courts, as well as the agency, `must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress.'" Household Credit Servs. Inc. v. Pfennig, ___ U.S. ___, ___[2004] USSC 1189; , 124 S.Ct. 1741, 1747, 158 L.Ed.2d 450 (2004) (quoting Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43[1984] USSC 140; , 104 S.Ct. 2778). "However, whenever Congress has `explicitly left a gap for the agency to fill,'" a court must proceed to step two, and "the agency's [interpretation] is `given controlling weight unless [it is] arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to the statute.'" Id. (second brackets in original) (quoting Chevron, 467 U.S. at 843-44[1984] USSC 140; , 104 S.Ct. 2778). The Court has described this test as one of reasonableness. See Chevron, 467 U.S. at 845, 865, 866[1984] USSC 140; , 104 S.Ct. 2778.
Here, there is no dispute that "the BIA should be accorded Chevron deference for its interpretations of the immigration laws," Tineo v. Ashcroft, [2003] USCA3 263; 350 F.3d 382, 396 (3d Cir.2003) (citing INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 424[1997] USCA9 2391; , 119 S.Ct. 1439, 143 L.Ed.2d 590 (1999)), and Chen does not contend that 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42) unambiguously covers the unmarried partners of persons who have undergone forced abortions or sterilization. Instead, Chen focuses on step two of the Chevron analysis and argues that the BIA's interpretation of 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42) is arbitrary, capricious, and irrational.
III.
Before we can address Chen's argument regarding the limited scope that the BIA has given to its decision in C-Y-Z, it is helpful to review that decision and the statute on which it is based.
A.
Under 8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1), the Attorney General may grant asylum to an alien who is a "refugee" within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42). In order to establish refugee status under the latter provision, an applicant must generally show that he or she "is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of [the country of such person's nationality or in which such person last habitually resided] because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42). By regulation, see 8 C.F.R. 1208.13(b)(1), "[a] showing of past persecution gives rise to a rebuttable presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution." Mulanga v. Ashcroft, [2003] USCA3 252; 349 F.3d 123, 132 (3d Cir.2003).
The BIA initially rejected the argument that "implementation of [China's] `one couple, one child' policy in and of itself, even to the extent that involuntary sterilizations may occur, is persecution or creates a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." Matter of Chang, 20 I. & N. Dec. 38, 44 (BIA 1989) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). This holding, however, was superceded several years later by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-546 ("IIRIRA"). Section 601 of the IIRIRA amended 1101(a)(42) by adding the following language: [A] person who has been forced to abort a pregnancy or to undergo involuntary sterilization, or who has been persecuted for failure or refusal to undergo such a procedure or for other resistance to a coercive population control program, shall be deemed to have been persecuted on account of political opinion, and a person who has a well founded fear that he or she will be forced to undergo such a procedure or subject to persecution for such failure, refusal, or resistance shall be deemed to have a well founded fear of persecution on account of political opinion.
Id. 601, 110 Stat. at 3009-689; see also Matter of X-P-T-, 21 I. & N. Dec. 634 (BIA 1996) (en banc). (For convenience, we will refer to this new provision as "the 1996 amendment to 1101(a)(42)" or simply "the 1996 amendment.")
The IIRIRA also imposed a cap of 1,000 persons per fiscal year on the number of aliens who may be granted asylum under the 1996 amendment. 8 U.S.C. 1157(a)(5). Accordingly, aliens found eligible for asylum under this provision are approved only conditionally, subject to an administrative determination that a final grant of asylum would not push the annual total above the statutory cap. See X-P-T-, 21 I. & N. Dec. at 637. Because the number of conditional grants issued per year has exceeded 1,000 for some time, the waiting list now includes more than 7,000 applicants. See News Release, U.S. Department of Justice, EOIR Notifies Persons Eligible for Full Asylum Benefits for Fiscal Year 2003 Based on Coercive Population Control Policies (Sept. 30, 2003), at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/press/03/CPCA-sylumRelease0903.pdf. This means that applicants awarded conditional asylum today face a waiting period of at least seven years before becoming eligible for the full benefits of asylum, including the ability to apply for lawful permanent resident status and to obtain the admission to the United States of family members not included in the original asylum application. See id.; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Resistance To Coercive Population Control (CPC) Programs (Oct. 30, 2003), at http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/cpc.htm.
B.
In C-Y-Z-, the BIA, sitting en banc, considered the asylum petition of a man who claimed that his wife had been forcibly sterilized. The government conceded that the man was a victim of past persecution as defined by the 1996 amendment to 1101(a)(42), asserting that "past persecution of one spouse can be established by coerced abortion or sterilization of the other spouse." C-Y-Z-, 21 I. & N. Dec. at 917; see also id. at 919 (noting agreement on the proposition that "forced sterilization of one spouse ... is an act of persecution against the other spouse"). The BIA accepted this proposition, but unfortunately, it did not explain the basis for this conclusion. However, two rationales seem possible.
The first would proceed on the assumption that the persecution of one spouse by means of a forced abortion or sterilization causes the other spouse to experience intense sympathetic suffering that rises to the level of persecution. Cf. Abay v. Ashcroft, [2004] USCA6 169; 368 F.3d 634, 642 (6th Cir.2004) (suggesting that "mental suffering" resulting from "being forced to witness the pain and suffering of [a] daughter" constitutes persecution) (citing Matter of Dibba, No. A73 541 857 (BIA Nov. 23, 2001)). There is some evidence that this rationale may represent the BIA's thinking in C-Y-Z-. Board Member Rosenberg explained:
It is not ... unusual ... that the applicant should be granted asylum although the harm experienced was not by him, but by a family member.... It ... constitutes persecution for the asylum applicant to witness or experience the persecution of family members....
C-Y-Z-, 21 I. & N. Dec. at 926 (Rosenberg, Board Member, concurring). This interpretation would presumably look to the language in the 1996 amendment that refers to persons who are "persecuted for... other resistance to a coercive population control program." See id. at 928 (Filppu, Board Member, concurring in part and dissenting in part) (explicitly noting the possibility that the majority holding rested on the "persecuted for ... other resistance" clause). The suffering felt by the spouse who did not personally undergo the procedure would constitute the "persecut[ion]" to which this language refers, and the other spouse would be deemed to have "resist[ed]" the "coercive population control program," presumably on the assumption that he or she opposed the procedure.
This interpretation, however, is not without difficulties. For example, it is not clear why every spouse of a person who undergoes a forced abortion or sterilization should be deemed to have "resist[ed]" the "coercive population control program." What if the spouse who did not personally undergo the procedure sided with the government and favored the abortion or sterilization?
The second possible rationale for the C-Y-Z- decision is that performing a forced abortion or sterilization procedure on one spouse constitutes persecution of the other spouse because of the impact on the latter's ability to reproduce and raise children. The Ninth Circuit has suggested this interpretation, stating in Lin v. Ashcroft, [2004] USCA9 48; 356 F.3d 1027, 1041 (9th Cir.2004), that the forced sterilization of a wife could be "imputed" to her husband, "whose reproductive opportunities the law considers to be bound up with those of his wife." See also C-Y-Z-, 21 I. & N. Dec. at 918 ("[T]he husband of a sterilized wife can essentially stand in her shoes and make a bona fide and non-frivolous application for asylum based on problems impacting more intimately on her than on him."); see also id. at 921 n. 2 (Rosenberg, Board Member, concurring) (citing international law regarding "right to procreate" and "right to... found a family"); Matter of Y-T-L-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 601 (BIA 2003) (en banc) (Pauley, Board Member, dissenting) ("I understand our ruling in Matter of C-Y-Z- to be based on the theory that the persecution of one spouse by forced sterilization is imputed to the other"). It takes some effort to reconcile this interpretation with the language of the 1996 amendment, since the phrase "a person who has been forced to abort a pregnancy or to undergo involuntary sterilization" is most naturally read as referring only to a person who has personally undergone one of those procedures. But perhaps it could be argued that the loss of opportunity to have and raise children also constitutes "persecut[ion] for ... other resistance to a coercive population control program."
In this case, however, it is not necessary for us to decide whether C-Y-Z-'s interpretation of the 1996 amendment is permissible. If it is not and the 1996 amendment applies only to persons on whom a forced abortion or sterilization procedure has actually been performed, Chen obviously cannot prevail. On the other hand, if C-Y-Z-'s interpretation is permissible (and we assume for the sake of argument that it is), the distinction that the BIA has drawn between married and unmarried couples satisfies step two of Chevron.
IV.
With the possible bases of the C-Y-Z- decision in mind, we turn to Chen's argument that the BIA's interpretation of the 1996 amendment, by drawing a distinction between married and unmarried couples, "evinces such a lack of rationality as to be arbitrary and capricious." Petitioner Br. at 16-17 (quoting Zhao v. United States DOJ, [2001] USCA2 347; 265 F.3d 83, 95 (2d Cir.2001)).
A.
As we understand it, C-Y-Z- uses marital status as a rough way of identifying a class of persons whose opportunities for reproduction and child-rearing were seriously impaired or who suffered serious emotional injury as the result of the performance of a forced abortion or sterilization on another person. Of course, this use of marital status as a proxy is undoubtedly both over- and under-inclusive to some extent, but neither over-nor under-inclusiveness is alone sufficient to render the use of a metric like marital status irrational. See Heller v. Doe, [1993] USSC 92; 509 U.S. 312, 321[1993] USSC 92; , 113 S.Ct. 2637, 125 L.Ed.2d 257 (1993) (citation omitted) ("A classification does not fail rational-basis review because it `is not made with mathematical nicety or because in practice it results in some inequality.'"); Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485[1970] USSC 108; , 90 S.Ct. 1153, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970); Lofton v. Sec'y of the Dep't of Children & Family Servs., [2004] USCA1 120; 358 F.3d 804, 822-23 (11th Cir.2004) ("The Supreme Court repeatedly has instructed that neither the fact that a classification may be overinclusive or underinclusive nor the fact that a generalization underlying a classification is subject to exceptions renders the classification irrational.").
This principle is well illustrated by cases involving immigration laws that attempt "to provide somebut not allfamilies with relief from various immigration restrictions that would otherwise hinder reunification of the family in this country." Fiallo v. Bell, [1977] USSC 64; 430 U.S. 787, 797[1977] USSC 64; , 97 S.Ct. 1473, 52 L.Ed.2d 50 (1977). For example, in Fiallo, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of provisions that excluded illegitimate children and their fathers (but not illegitimate children and their mothers) from special preference immigration status. The Court acknowledged that these provisions could have the effect of "deny[ing] preferential status to parents and children who share strong ties," id. at 798[1977] USSC 64; , 97 S.Ct. 1473, and the Court noted the argument that "the statutory distinction [was] based on an overbroad and outdated stereotype concerning the relationship of unwed fathers and their illegitimate children," id. at 799 n. 9[1977] USSC 64; , 97 S.Ct. 1473. Nevertheless, the Court concluded that the statutory distinction could be viewed as serving two purposes: (1) providing a convenient way to weed out cases in which "close family ties" were lacking and (2) avoiding "problems of proof and the potential for fraudulent visa applications." Id. at 798, 799 n. 8[1977] USSC 64; , 97 S.Ct. 1473; see also Nguyen v. INS, [2001] USSC 51; 533 U.S. 53, 62[2001] USSC 51; , 121 S.Ct. 2053, 150 L.Ed.2d 115 (2001) (finding need for reliable evidentiary verification "that a biological parent-child relationship exists" to be an important government interest justifying disparate treatment of illegitimate children born to citizen mothers and those born to citizen fathers). Likewise, a law requiring aliens who married United States citizens while in removal proceedings to wait outside the country for two years before qualifying as I-130 "immediate relatives" has been found to be rational as a method of deterring sham marriages. Almario v. INS, 872 F.2d 147, 152 (6th Cir.1989); Anetekhai v. INS, [1989] USCA5 1123; 876 F.2d 1218, 1222 (5th Cir.1989) ("Congress logically could have concluded that aliens who are engaged in deportation proceedings are more likely than aliens not so situated to enter into fraudulent marriages as a means of avoiding expulsion from the United States.").
Similarly, we may say that the BIA "logically could have concluded that aliens who are [married] are more likely than aliens not so situated" to be severely injured in the ways noted above when their partners are forced to endure forced abortions or sterilization. Indeed, in light of the "crushing caseload" faced by the BIA in recent years, see Dia v. Ashcroft, [2003] USCA3 278; 353 F.3d 228, 235 (3d Cir.2003) (en banc), it was entirely rational for the Board to adopt a position requiring marriage, which can often be proven easily and reliably through objective documentary evidence such as marriage certificates or "household registration booklets." See, e.g., Zhao, 265 F.3d at 87; C-Y-Z-, 21 I. & N. Dec. at 916. By contrast, a rule extending C-Y-Z- to non-spouses would create numerous practical difficulties that the BIA might reasonably have chosen to avoid. For example, in cases in which a male applicant claims to have fathered an illegitimate child who was forcibly aborted by government officials, the problem of proving paternity would be even more acute than those presented in Fiallo and Nguyen. Moreover, the BIA might reasonably have decided that, in general, forced abortions and sterilization procedures tend to have a more severe impact on spouses than on unmarried partners. The BIA might also have been concerned that unmarried asylum-seekers would falsely claim to have had an intimate relationship with a person who suffered a forced abortion or sterilization, and the BIA might have felt that it would be too difficult to distinguish between those unmarried persons who had a truly close relationship with the person who underwent the medical procedure and those unmarried asylum seekers who did not. Chen does not explain why the BIA was irrational in deciding on a bright-line rule for this class of cases, rather than submitting each individual claim to a detailed (and probably inconclusive) psychological analysis concerning the nature of a claimed relationship.
For these reasons, we conclude that the BIA's decision not to extend C-Y-Z- to unmarried partners satisfies step two of Chevron. The BIA's interest in promoting administrability and verifiability is sufficient to clear the low hurdle presented by the step two standard, especially in light of the limited number of spots allowed by Congress for asylum claims based on the 1996 amendment.
B.
Chen argues, however, that even if it is rational not to extend C-Y-Z- to cover all unmarried partners, it is irrational to exclude him and other unmarried persons who wanted and indeed tried to get married but were prevented from doing so by a law that is an integral part of a program of persecution. This argument must be rejected for reasons similar to those already discussed. Chen's situation simply shows that C-Y-Z- is underinclusive with respect to a narrow but sympathetic class, and as noted, a rule is not irrational just because it is underinclusive to some extent.
Of course, if the Chinese authorities' refusal to permit Chen and Chen Gui to marry was itself an act of persecution, then Chen suffered past persecution. But although minimum marriage ages of 23 and 25 are contrary to our traditions and international practice, we cannot go so far as to say that enforcement of these laws necessarily amounts to persecution.
American constitutional law recognizes marriage as a fundamental right, see Loving v. Virginia, [1967] USSC 168; 388 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1817, 18 L.Ed.2d 1010 (1967), but all states impose minimum marriage age requirements, and we assume that these laws are constitutional. See Moe v. Dinkins, [1982] USCA2 35; 669 F.2d 67, 68 (2d Cir.1982) (per curiam) (law requiring parental consent for marriage of individuals under 18 deemed constitutional, as a rational means for helping "prevent[] unstable marriages among those lacking the capacity to act in their own best interests"); Maynard v. Hill, [1888] USSC 101; 125 U.S. 190, 205[1888] USSC 101; , 8 S.Ct. 723, 31 L.Ed. 654 (1888) (state legislature may prescribe "the age at which parties may contract to marry"); see also Zablocki v. Redhail, [1978] USSC 12; 434 U.S. 374, 386[1978] USSC 12; , 98 S.Ct. 673, 54 L.Ed.2d 618 (1978) ("[R]easonable regulations that do not significantly interfere with decisions to enter into the marital relationship may legitimately be imposed."); cf. Zablocki, 434 U.S. at 392[1978] USSC 12; , 98 S.Ct. 673 (Stewart, J., concurring) ("A State may not only `significantly interfere with decisions to enter into the marital relationship,' but may in many circumstances absolutely prohibit it.") (footnote and citation omitted). Laws setting reasonable minimum marriage ages are also recognized as legitimate and desirable under international human rights law.
It is certainly true that marriage laws in this country set the minimum age for marriage considerably below 23 or 25. Almost all states set 18 as the minimum age to marry without parental consent. Where parental consent is provided, as it apparently was in the case now before us, most states permit marriage at the age of 16. It is also true that the marriage laws of other countries generally set the minimum marriage age at 18 years or less, and it appears probable that no other country sets the minimum as high as does China.
A law or practice, however, does not necessarily rise to the level of "persecution" simply because it does not satisfy American constitutional standards or diverges from the pattern followed by other countries. As we have noted, persecution is an "extreme" concept that "does not encompass all treatment that our society regards as unfair, unjust, or even unlawful or unconstitutional." Fatin v. INS, [1993] USCA3 1406; 12 F.3d 1233, 1240 & n. 10 (3d Cir.1993).
Here, we cannot say that the BIA was bound to conclude that minimums of 23 and 25 amounted to persecution. Chen and Chen Gui were not permanently barred from marrying, and marriage at the minimum ages in question would not have precluded them from having a long life together or from raising children. See Li v. Ashcroft, [2004] USCA9 62; 356 F.3d 1153, 1164 (9th Cir.2004) (en banc) (Kleinfeld, J., dissenting) ("[T]he higher marriage age does not necessarily restrain people from having the number of children they want.... People can ... still have 2, or 3, or 10 children, if their individual biology and preferences lead them to do so and the government does not forcibly abort their children or sterilize them."). It is perhaps worth noting that the median ages of first marriages for men and women in this country now exceed the minimum age requirements that Chen contends amount to persecution. Although defining the outer boundaries of the concept of "persecution" is hard, we cannot say that requiring a person to wait until reaching the age of 23 or 25 is so far outside the accepted realm of human decency as to constitute persecution.
C.
We acknowledge that our reasoning may appear to be in tension with that of Ma v. Ashcroft, [2004] USCA9 154; 361 F.3d 553 (9th Cir.2004). In that case, the petitioner Ma and his partner were married in a "traditional" Chinese ceremony in their village. Because Ma was underage, the marriage could not be officially registered with the Chinese government. Ma's partner conceived two months later and went into hiding to avoid detection by the authorities. Ultimately, however, she was found and forced to undergo an abortion, and the couple was fined for "early" pregnancy and marriage. Ma subsequently fled to the United States. When he attempted to apply for asylum under C-Y-Z-, the BIA rejected his claim on the ground that he was not legally married under Chinese law. By this time, however, Ma had actually reached the legal age to marry in China. He therefore applied for and obtained a certificate from the Chinese government indicating that his marriage was considered valid, and he submitted this certificate to the BIA with a motion to reconsider, which the BIA ultimately denied. Ma petitioned for review, and the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that C-Y-Z-'s interpretation of 1101(a)(42) could not rationally be limited to exclude "husbands whose marriages would be legally recognized, but for China's coercive family planning policies." Ma, 361 F.3d at 561 (emphasis added).
Because Ma's marriage had been recognized by the Chinese government by the time of the BIA's decision, it was unnecessary for the Ninth Circuit to reach the question whether the BIA can reasonably refuse to extend C-Y-Z- to cases involving persons whom the Chinese authorities refuse to recognize as married. But assuming that the holding in Ma reaches all persons married in traditional ceremonies that the Chinese government does not sanction, Chen would still not qualify, since he does not claim that he and Chen Gui ever formalized their relationship in that way. Indeed, Chen has never argued that he is actually married in any sense, and in fact he affirmed precisely the opposite in his asylum application. See App. II at 265 (checking box labeled "not married"). Because Ma's express holding applies only to putative husbands and not unmarried partners, it is inapposite here.
Nevertheless, we acknowledge that Ma's reasoning could be applied to someone in Chen's shoes. The Ma court reasoned that it is "absurd and wholly unacceptable" to deny asylum to a person based solely on a consequence of a population control policy expressly "deemed by Congress to be oppressive and persecutory." Ma, 361 F.3d at 559. According to Ma, this would "contravene[ ] the purpose and policies of the [IIRIRA] statutory amendment." Id. at 560. In other words, the Ma Court concluded that the BIA's interpretation of 1101(a)(42) failed step two of Chevron because it was clearly contrary to Congress's intent, or, as the Ma Court put it, Congress's "purpose and policies." Id. We must disagree with this analysis because we see no basis for concluding that Congress's intent in amending 1101(a)(42) was to afford relief to every person who is a victim of any rule or practice that forms a part of the Chinese population control program.
"The starting point in discerning congressional intent is the existing statutory text...." Lamie v. United States Tr., [2004] USSC 9; 540 U.S. 526, ___[2004] USSC 9; , 124 S.Ct. 1023, 1033[2004] USSC 9; , 157 L.Ed.2d 1024 (2004). The language of the 1996 amendment to 1101(a)(42) has several indications of intent that we think are unmistakable. The first is that proof of "persecution" or "well-founded fear of persecution" is absolutely required to make a successful claim for asylum, just as was the case prior to the amendment. The second point is that, with the exception of forced abortions and sterilizations, the concept of "persecution" is left completely undefined. We infer from Congress's use of this ambiguous term an intent to delegate interpretive authority to the agency, including the ability to decide, within a reasonable range, the precise contours of its meaning. FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., [2000] USSC 24; 529 U.S. 120, 159[2000] USSC 24; , 120 S.Ct. 1291, 146 L.Ed.2d 121 (2000) ("Deference under Chevron to an agency's construction of a statute that it administers is premised on the theory that a statute's ambiguity constitutes an implicit delegation from Congress to the agency to fill in the statutory gaps."). Third, the imposition of a yearly cap clearly reveals an intent to carefully limit the scope of relief made available by the amendment.
Against this background, it is hard to see how Ma could have concluded that a rule limiting C-Y-Z- to married couples was contrary to Congress's intent. If Ma meant to say that individuals who suffer under a coercive population program may be eligible for asylum even if their suffering (or feared suffering) is not proved or presumed to rise to the level of persecution, we emphatically disagree. As we have explained, the asylum statute plainly limits relief to cases involving "persecution." That scheme necessarily excludes cases involving lesser harms, even when those harms implicate to some degree the humanitarian interests that animated passage of the asylum statute.
Alternatively, it may be that Ma's position was that the BIA's interpretation of the term "persecution" fell outside the acceptable range of meanings within which Congress authorized the agency to choose. However, there is no indication that Congress intended to put limits on the meaning of the term "persecution" beyond those imposed by the normal understanding of the word. Matter of Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. 211, at 223 (BIA 1985). ("Congress chose not to define the word `persecution'... because the meaning of the word was understood to be well established by administrative and court precedents."). Of course, with the 1996 amendment, Congress did add the constraint that "persecution" could not be interpreted in a way that would exclude involuntary sterilizations or abortions. But this merely shows that Congress knew how to be very specific regarding what constituted persecution when it wanted to. Furthermore, we find it highly unlikely that Congress could have intended to dramatically broaden the notion of "persecution" with respect to persons suffering under coercive population programs while contemporaneously imposing a yearly cap strictly circumscribing the relief available to them.
An examination of the relevant legislative history only confirms our understanding of Congress's intent. We cannot locate any evidence that the legislators who considered the amendment to 1101(a)(42) thought that persons such as Chen would qualify thereunder. To the contrary, it seems that some legislators had reservations about the ease with which "young Chinese single-unmarried-males" might falsely claim eligibility for asylum under the proposed amendment, resulting in a flood of meritless applications. 142 Cong. Rec. S4593 (daily ed. May 2, 1996) (statement of Sen. Simpson). Statements from others suggest that the reference to "persecut[ion]" in the amendment was simply intended to include actions such as "torture" and "sexual abuse" that would qualify as persecution under the prevailing definition of the term. See 142 Cong. Rec. H2634 (daily ed. Mar. 21, 2996) (statement of Rep. Smith).
At a more general level, we note that some members of Congress have in the past actually considered-and rejected-the possibility of providing an explicit definition for "persecution" in connection with another portion of the INA. It was reasoned that
any such definition would necessarily limit application of the provision to particular, presently foreseeable situations. Persecution, however, has and will continue to take many forms and it is the intention of the committee in recommending this legislation to allow the maximum amount of flexibility possible in its administration. The inclusion of a necessarily limited and rigid definition would be inconsistent with such an intent.
H.R. Rep. 95-1452, at 6-7 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4700, 4705-06; cf. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, [1987] USSC 32; 480 U.S. 421, 449[1987] USSC 32; , 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987) ("In enacting the Refugee Act of 1980 Congress sought to give the United States sufficient flexibility to respond to situations involving political or religious dissidents and detainees throughout the world.") (internal quotation omitted).
To be sure, we assume that the members of Congress who voted in favor of the 1996 amendment to 1101(a)(42) considered the Chinese population control program as a whole to be objectionable and that they found fault with many specific features of the program. However, the 1996 amendment to 1101(a)(42) is limited in scope. Under that amendment, the worst effects of the Chinese program forced abortions and involuntary sterilization are deemed to constitute "persecution," but the amendment does not provide similar treatment for other adverse effects of the program, such as, to take one example, dismissal from employment for failure to abide by the one-child policy. Even though a person who is fired for violating the policy is a victim of the objectionable Chinese program, such a person cannot prove past persecution simply by establishing the occurrence of and the reason for the dismissal. It is apparent, therefore, that it was not Congress's intent to provide relief for every victim of any feature of the Chinese program. Rather, Congress obviously had the more modest purpose of providing relief for a much more limited class. Especially in light of the rather low yearly cap on the number of asylum applications that may be granted under the 1996 amendment, the BIA's refusal to extend C-Y-Z- may be viewed as furthering this congressional goal.
V.
A few remaining issues must be addressed. First, Chen suggests that the beatings he suffered at the hands of government officials combine with the forced abortion and the marriage license denial in such a way as to constitute past persecution. They do not. Chen's scuffle with the local officials does not appear to have been serious. For example, the government points out that Chen has never alleged that this altercation resulted in any injuries that required medical treatment. Respondent Br. at 24. Physical abuse similar to this has been held to not constitute persecution. See, e.g., Prasad v. INS, [1995] USCA9 361; 47 F.3d 336, 339 (9th Cir.1995) (no past persecution where petitioner was arrested, hit, kicked, and detained for four to six hours). The BIA found that Chen's experiences with the authorities in China did not rise to the level of persecution, and we cannot say that "any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary." 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(B).
Chen further argues that, even if he did not suffer persecution in the past, he still has a well-founded fear that he would suffer future persecution if he returned to China. He points to several cases and secondary sources generally describing incidents of harsh treatment that Chinese prison officials have inflicted upon political prisoners, including refugees returned to China. See Petitioner Br. at 20-22. This generalized evidence presented by Chen, however, by no means compels the conclusion that the BIA erred in determining that he had not "established a well-founded fear of persecution." App. I at 3; 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(B).
Finally, Chen does not appear to have challenged the rejection of his claim for withholding of removal in the brief accompanying his petition for review. Accordingly, the claim has been waived. See FDIC v. Deglau, [2000] USCA3 49; 207 F.3d 153, 169-70 (3d Cir.2000); Ma, 361 F.3d at 557 n. 5; Qin v. Ashcroft, [2004] USCA1 82; 360 F.3d 302, 305 n. 5 (1st Cir.2004).
VI.
In sum, assuming that C-Y-Z- permissibly applied the 1996 amendment to spouses, we hold that the BIA's decision not to extend C-Y-Z- to unmarried partners is reasonable and therefore, under step two of Chevron, is entitled to controlling weight. We defer to this interpretation and deny the petition for review.
Notes:
The Honorable J. Clifford Wallace, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation
We note that officially the minimum age for marriage in China appears to be 22 for men and 20 for womenSee Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, art. 6 (as amended April 28, 2001), available in LEXIS, China-lawinfo Selected PRC Laws file at PRCLEG 1793. It is conceivable, however, that some local variation in these requirements may exist. See United States Department of State, China: Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions (April 14, 1998) ("The minimum age for marriage in China is 22 for males and 20 for females. In some localities the ages are set higher."). For the purposes of this case, we assume the accuracy of Chen's description of the age requirement to which he was subject.
The statute provides: "For any fiscal year, not more than a total of 1,000 refugees may be ... granted asylum ... pursuant to a determination under the third sentence of section 101(a)(42) (relating to persecution for resistance to coercive population control methods)." 8 U.S.C. 1157(a)(5)
The Sixth Circuit inAbay appeared to agree that the implication of Board Member Rosenberg's concurring opinion in C-Y-Z- was that a "family member may be eligible for asylum based upon the physical harm inflicted upon another family member." See Abay, 368 F.3d at 641.
In the case of a forced abortion, conception in violation of the program could constitute the "resistance," and since involuntary sterilization often follows prohibited conception, this same theory might work in that context as well
While this argument bears some similarity to a rational-basis Equal Protection Clause argument, it is clear that Chen is not attempting to make a constitutional argument here. Nor does Chen contend that any standard of review more stringent than "rationality" ought to apply
Indeed, the marriage relation is used in so many areas of the law (income tax, welfare benefits, property, inheritance, testimonial privilege, etc.) that it would seem absurd to characterize reliance on marital status inC-Y-Z- as arbitrary and capricious. Cf. Montgomery v. Carr, [1996] USCA6 1782; 101 F.3d 1117 (6th Cir.1996) (deeming rational the enforcement of a school anti-nepotism policy against married couples but not cohabitants).
The Supreme Court has reversed at least one prior attempt by this Circuit to engage in more searching review of line-drawing exercises by the political branches of government in the area of immigration law. InINS v. Hector, [1986] USSC 221; 479 U.S. 85, 107 S.Ct. 379, 93 L.Ed.2d 326 (1986) (per curiam), the Supreme Court rejected a holding allowing for the possibility of treating nieces as "children" in a hardship analysis if it could be shown that a "parental-type relationship" existed. See id. at 87[1986] USSC 221; , 107 S.Ct. 379. Whether any unfairness to the nieces in such "parental-type relationship[s]" may have resulted did not enter into the Court's calculus; all that mattered was that Congress, in defining "children," had not seen fit to include nieces raised as effective adoptees. See id. at 90-91[1986] USSC 221; , 107 S.Ct. 379.
An analogy may be drawn here to the tort of negligent infliction of emotional harm. As explained in Restatement (Second) of Torts 436, recovery under this tort may be available when members of theimmediate family of a victim witness the infliction of harm. Id. 436(3) (emphasis added). "However, where a stranger is involved ... there may be sufficient uncertainty as to the genuineness or seriousness of the emotional disturbance to justify, as a matter of administrative policy, a denial of liability." Id. cmt. h. Here, the BIA may have concluded that, given the difficulty of determining the "genuineness" of emotional harm felt by one upon hearing of harm to his fiancee, the strict limitation of C-Y-Z- to married couples was justified "as a matter of administrative policy."
Thatsome applicants could conceivably be able to present such convincing evidence is beside the point. We note that Fiallo did not require any special exception to be carved out for fathers who could prove actual paternity of illegitimate children when they had not adopted or legitimated them. Nor did Almario and Anetekhai provide those who married during removal proceedings an opportunity to present evidence showing that their marriages were not shams. Such rules, like the one adopted by the BIA here, represent pragmatic approaches that make it possible for an overburdened agency to do the work with which it is charged.
The government offers an alternative explanation for the BIA's distinction between married and unmarried asylum applicants, noting that "[a] grant of asylum to an applicant present in the United States enables the asylee to have his or her spouse and children admitted to the United States as derivative beneficiaries of the asylee's status." Respondent Br. at 19. Because "the existence of a valid, legal marriage is required before an immigrant visa may be issued," the government concludes that the disparate treatment of married and unmarried applicants is "consistent with the statutory design and the family unification policies underlying the issuance of immigration visas."Id. This argument is not without some merit. However, given the current length of the conditional asylee waiting list, spouses granted conditional status under C-Y-Z- today must wait at least seven years before they can even apply for such a visa on behalf of their spouses. Accordingly, we doubt as a practical matter that the potential eligibility for preferential visas actually operates to hasten the admittance to the United States of spouses directly persecuted under coercive population control programs.
See Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, Marriage Laws of the Fifty States, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, at http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/Table_Marriage.htm (citing age requirements and pertinent statutes) (hereinafter Marriage Laws of the Fifty States).
See Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, Dec. 9, 1964, art. 2, 521 U.N.T.S. 231, 234, at http://untreaty.un.org/English/access.asp ("States parties to the present Convention shall take legislative action to specify a minimum age for marriage."). We note, however, that the apparent purpose of the Convention's minimum age requirement (as stated in the preamble) is not population control, but rather the elimination of child marriages and the "betrothal of young girls before the age of puberty." Id. pmbl., 521 U.N.T.S. at 232.
See Marriage Laws of the Fifty States, supra note 11.
Id.
Angela Melchiorre, Right to Education Project,At what age? 15-21 (2d ed.2004) (listing marriage age requirements 156 countries). A few countries, including Algeria, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Togo, and Vietnam, set age requirements above 18 years. Id.
See United States Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States 60 (123d ed.2003) (noting that 85.4% of males and 74.0% of females under the age of 25 in the United States have never been married).
See, e.g., Ma, 361 F.3d at 559 ("The question presented here is whether husbands, whose marriages are denied recognition by virtue of the population control program that Congress has condemned, may be deprived of eligibility for asylum on the basis of that denial.") (emphasis added); id. at 560 ("BIA's decision to limit asylum eligibility so as to exclude husbands ... contravenes the purpose and policies of the statutory amendment.") (emphasis added); id. at 561 ("Application of the BIA's rule would result in the separation of a husband and wife....") (emphasis added).
There is no question that Congress has delegated authority to the BIA generally to "make rules carrying the force of law,"cf. Mead, 533 U.S. at 226-27[2001] USSC 54; , 121 S.Ct. 2164, and that its interpretations of ambiguous statutory terms are entitled to Chevron deference. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. at 425[1997] USCA9 2391; , 119 S.Ct. 1439.
We note that the opinion inMa never explicitly finds or assumes that the petitioner had actually suffered persecution.
For example, the statute extends relief to those who are persecuted "on account of race." 8 U.S.C. 1101(42). The primary purpose of that provision is no doubt to extend aid to certain individuals who suffer the effects of gross racial inequality in their countries of origin. Yet courts routinely deny relief to those who suffer racial discrimination that falls short of "persecution,"see, e.g., Nagoulko v. INS, [2003] USCA9 392; 333 F.3d 1012, 1016-17 (9th Cir.2003), even though it might be said that such denials disserve Congress's broader policy of providing relief to victims of racial injustice.
There is at least one statement in the Congressional Record which speaks disparagingly of China's "marriage bans," but that statement is made in reference to permanent restrictions on marriage motivated by a desire to "avoid new births of inferior quality," and not the sort of age-based restrictions at issue in this caseSee 140 Cong. Rec. S327-28 (daily ed. Jan. 28, 1994) (statement of Sen. Helms).
In such cases, the amendment would serve to clarify that such actions, if taken in response to resistance to a coercive population control program, should be deemed inflicted "on account of political opinion."
See United States Dep't of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices-2002: China (2003) (noting China's reliance on "education, propaganda, and economic incentives, as well as on more coercive measures such as the threat of job loss or demotion and social compensation fees").
Under the 1996 amendment the reason for the dismissal (failure to comply with the one-child policy) might well qualify as "resistance to a coercive population control program," but the person who was fired would still have to show that dismissal was severe enough to amount to persecution. While we express no opinion on this point, we reiterate that "persecution" is an extreme concept that "does not encompass all treatment that our society regards as unfair, unjust, or even unlawful or unconstitutional."Fatin, 12 F.3d at 1240 & n. 10.
Camara v. Holder
Publisher United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Publication Date 26 July 2013 Citation / Document Symbol 725 F.3d 11, 16 Cite as Camara v. Holder, 725 F.3d 11, 16, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 26 July 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,USA_CA_1,58a48d2f4.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Moulaye Abdel Camara of Senegal has been ordered removed to Guinea and has foregone the opportunity for voluntary departure. He petitions for review of a September 28, 2012, decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed the decision of an immigration judge (IJ) denying his application for withholding of removal (WOR) and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Camara was found not to have suffered past persecution and had not established the likelihood of any future personal injury to him rising to the level of persecution.
His claim of persecution was based on his future opposition to the possible female genital mutilation (FGM) of his daughters if he took them with him to Guinea. Camara was also found ineligible for relief on the basis of any prospective harm to his daughters. CAT protection was denied because Camara had not established the likelihood of torture at the hands of or with the acquiescence of his home government.
Camara makes two arguments in his petition. First, he argues that the IJ and the BIA erred in finding that it would be reasonable for him to relocate internally, away from his family and home village in Guinea, to avoid any personal injury. Second, he argues that both erred in failing to consider whether the threat of forced FGM to his daughters, should they return with him, constituted a threat of direct
persecution to him in the form of emotional harm. The first argument fails because the findings of reasonable relocation that Camara questions were supported by substantial evidence. The second fails because Camara's theory of "direct" persecution of him based on the possible risk to his daughters has been foreclosed by the BIA, in a reasonable interpretation of the statute, and by circuit precedent. We deny his petition.
I.
Camara is a native of Senegal and a citizen of Guinea. He entered the United States on May 1, 1999, as a visitor, with permission to remain for five months. He did not leave. The Department of Homeland Security served Camara with a Notice to Appear almost a decade later, charging that he was removable pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(1)(B) as an alien who remained in the United States beyond September 30, 1999, without authorization. Camara conceded removability, requesting relief in the form of WOR and protection under the CAT.
A merits hearing was held before an IJ on July 13, 2011. There, Camara testified that, once he was in the United States, he and his wife had three children. Camara's wife lacked legal residence in the United States, and was pursuing cancellation of removal in another proceeding. Their three children, two girls and a boy, were all United States citizens. Camara testified that, despite the children's legal residence in the United States, he would be forced to take them with him to Guinea if he was removed. He claimed that this would be so even if his wife obtained legal residence in the United States, as well. Camara said no one could provide for the children like him.
Camara testified that, if removed to Guinea, he would be subjected to beatings and voodoo at the hands of his family and other members of his tribe. This would be on account of his opposition to his daughters being subjected to FGM. Camara claimed further that he would be subject to such violence even if his daughters remained in the United States, because he had refused to bring them to Guinea.
Camara denied that internal relocation would do any good, although he had testified that his persecution would come from his family and his tribe. FGM was a nationwide practice 1 that, although illegal, the Guinean government did nothing to prevent. Wherever Camara might relocate within Guinea, the threat to him would be the same, he said. When asked about relocating to Senegal, Camara seemed to concede that his lack of Senegalese citizenship would be no bar. What made that option infeasible, however, was that he "ha[d] nothing there."
The IJ denied Camara's requests for relief. As to WOR, she found that Camara had not been threatened in the past and had not established the probability of future persecution on a protected ground. More specifically, she found that Camara had not shown that his United States citizen daughters would be forced to return with him to Guinea if he was removed. Further, she found that any threat posed by his family and fellow tribes people could be avoided through relocation within Guinea, a course of action that would be reasonable to expect him to follow under the circumstances. As to CAT relief, the IJ found that the hostility Camara feared came from private citizens. Camara had
provided no evidence that he would be targeted in any way by a government actor, let alone targeted for persecution.
Camara appealed to the BIA, which dismissed the appeal on September 28, 2012. The Board agreed with the IJ that Camara had not established past persecution. It agreed further that Camara had not established the likelihood of future persecution by his family or by members of his tribe. The Board observed that, although Camara had introduced evidence that FGM was widespread in Guinea, that evidence did not establish a threat of harm rising to the level of persecution to him in particular. In addition, the Board agreed with the IJ that the evidence on the record did not support a finding that relocation within Guinea would be unreasonable.
Finally, the BIA held that, insofar as Camara's claim was predicated upon a fear of his daughters being subjected to FGM, the Board had already determined in In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 275 (BIA 2007), that such a fear is, by itself, not a basis for WOR. As to CAT relief, the Board noted that Camara had not specifically challenged that denial on appeal. And, anyway, it agreed with the IJ that Camara had not established the likelihood of torture by or with the acquiescence of Guinean officials. 2 The Board ordered that Camara be removed.
On October 26, 2012, Camara petitioned this court for review of the BIA's decision.
II.
Where the BIA adopts the IJ's findings, we review the BIA's decision in conjunction with those findings. Romilus v. Ashcroft, 385 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.2004). We review the agency's findings of fact under the substantial evidence standard. Matovu v. Holder, 577 F.3d 383, 386 (1st Cir.2009). "Under this deferential standard, we accept these findings so long as they are grounded in reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole," id. (quoting Sharari v. Gonzales, 407 F.3d 467, 473 (1st Cir.2005)) (internal quotation marks omitted), granting a petition only "if the record compels a conclusion contrary to that reached by the agency," Lopez Perez v. Holder, 587 F.3d 456, 460 (1st Cir.2009).
We review the agency's legal conclusions de novo, but afford "substantial deference to the BIA's interpretations of the underlying statutes and regulations according to administrative law principles." Scatambuli v. Holder, 558 F.3d 53, 58 (1st Cir.2009); see also Holder v. Martinez Gutierrez, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 2011, 2017, 182 L.Ed.2d 922 (2012) ("[The BIA's] position prevails if it is a reasonable construction of the statute, whether or not it is the only possible interpretation or even the one a court might think best." (citing Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 843-844 & n. 11, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984))); INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 425, 119 S.Ct. 1439, 143 L.Ed.2d 590 (1999) ("[J]udicial deference to the Executive Branch is especially appropriate in the immigration context....").
To qualify for WOR, "[t]he burden of proof is on the applicant ... to establish that his or her life or freedom would be threatened in the proposed country of removal on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." 8 C.F.R. 208.16(b); see also 8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(A). An applicant can satisfy this burden by demonstrating past persecution, which gives rise to a rebuttable presumption of a future threat to the applicant's life or freedom, or by showing that it is "more likely than not" that he or she will suffer future persecution on account of one of the protected grounds. 8 C.F.R. 208.16(b)(1)(i), (b)(2); see also Tay-Chan v. Holder, 699 F.3d 107, 111 (1st Cir.2012).
Here, substantial evidence supports the determination that Camara faced neither past persecution nor a likelihood of future persecution. Camara argues that, because the practice of FGM within Guinea is "nearly universal," the IJ and in turn the BIA erred in finding that internal relocation had not been shown to be unreasonable. 3 This argument suffers from at least two defects. First, the evidence in the record does not clearly establish that any harm would be inflicted upon the parents who oppose FGM in Guinea, or that it would rise to the level of persecution of those parents. Indeed, the evidence that Camara relies upon here indicates only that "parents who do not have their daughter cut might be considered neglectful." R. Van Rossem & A. Gage, The Effects of Female Genital Mutilation on the Onset of Sexual Activity and Marriage in Guinea, 38 Archive Sexual Behav. 178, 179 (2009) (emphasis added); see also Barsoum v. Holder, 617 F.3d 73, 79 (1st Cir.2010) ("To show persecution, an alien must show more than `unpleasantness, harassment, and even basic suffering.'" (quoting Jorgji v. Mukasey, 514 F.3d 53, 57 (1st Cir. 2008))). Second, the argument assumes, without support, that if Camara is removed, his two daughters would be forced to accompany him to Guinea. Camara also claims that, even if his daughters were not to come to Guinea, he would face persecution for failing to present them for FGM. The IJ reasonably disregarded this claim. As the IJ observed, no law would require Camara's United States citizen daughters to leave this country if Camara were removed. Moreover, at the time of his hearing, Camara conceded that his wife's separate application for cancellation of removal was still under consideration. This court requested a supplemental filing from both parties on the matter, and we have been informed that Camara's wife was granted cancellation as well as permanent residence on October 2, 2012. She may thus lawfully remain in the United States. 4
Camara also argues that the IJ and the BIA erred in failing to consider whether the threat of FGM to his daughters constituted a threat of "direct" persecution 5 to him in the form of psychological
injury. Again, this argument suffers from at least two defects. First, it assumes without support that Camara's removal would result in his daughters' accompanying him to Guinea.
Second and more fundamental, it relies on a theory of persecution that has been foreclosed by the BIA and this court. In In re A-K-, a FGM case, the BIA held squarely that "allowing an applicant to obtain asylum or withholding of removal through persecution to his child would require granting relief outside the statutory... scheme established by Congress." 24 I. & N. Dec. at 278; see also Negusie v. Holder, 555 U.S. 511, 516, 129 S.Ct. 1159, 173 L.Ed.2d 20 (2009) ("[T]he BIA is entitled to deference in interpreting ambiguous provisions of the [immigration statutory scheme].").
This court has recognized the authority of that holding. See, e.g., Mariko v. Holder, 632 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir.2011) (citing In re A-K- and holding scheme does not permit relief for parent on basis of threat of FGM to child); Kechichian v. Mukasey, 535 F.3d 15, 22 (1st Cir.2008) (observing that In re A-K- "foreclose[s]" any claim by a parent of "psychological harm based solely on a child's potential persecution").
Other circuits agree that, in situations parallel to this, fear that a petitioner's children will be subjected, if they accompany the parent, to FGM is not in itself a basis for immigration relief to the petitioner. See, e.g., Kane v. Holder, 581 F.3d 231, 241-43 (5th Cir.2009) (denial of WOR); Gumaneh v. Mukasey, 535 F.3d 785, 788-90 (8th Cir.2008) (denial of WOR); Oforji v. Ashcroft, 354 F.3d 609, 614-18 (7th Cir.2003) (denial of CAT relief).
Camara invokes Abay v. Ashcroft, 368 F.3d 634 (6th Cir.2004), as contrary precedent. See id. at 640-42 (affording refugee status to parent based on fear of child being subjected to FGM). Abay preceded In re A-K-, and did not have the benefit of the BIA's reasoning in that case. Indeed, the concurring opinion notes the need to first get guidance from the agency. See id. at 646 (Sutton, J.). Moreover, as this court has noted, Abay "is the `only federal decision' to have reached such a result ... and in any event it does not bind this circuit." Kechichian, 535 F.3d at 22 (quoting Niang v. Gonzales, 492 F.3d 505, 512 (4th Cir.2007)).
Camara argues that In re A-K- dealt only with theories of "derivative" persecution, whereas the persecution that he theorizes is "direct." Not so. In re A-K- distinguished claims of "direct" persecution (cognizable under the statutory scheme) from claims of "derivative" persecution (not cognizable). Thus, the BIA explained, in "cases where a person persecutes someone close to an applicant ... with the intended purpose of causing emotional harm to the applicant ... the persecution would not be `derivative,' as the applicant himself would be the target of... emotional persecution." In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. at 278 (emphasis added). 6
Label aside, the risk of persecution Camara alleges is thus derivative, not direct.
The petition is denied.
So ordered.
FootNotes
1. State Department reports in the record state that somewhere between 96% and 98.6% of women in Guinea are subjected to FGM.
2. The IJ granted Camara a 60-day voluntary departure period, subject to the condition that Camara post a $500 bond. Camara failed to post the bond. The BIA did not reinstate Camara's period of voluntary departure in its final order because Camara had not submitted within 30 days of filing his appeal any proof of having posted the $500 voluntary departure bond. See 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(c)(3)(ii).
3. Camara argues further that the burden is on the Government to establish that relocation would be reasonable, citing In re M-Z-M-R-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 28 (BIA 2012). In that case, however, the applicant had shown past persecution, creating a presumption of risk of future persecution and shifting the burden onto the Government to rebut that presumption by establishing the reasonability of relocation. Id. at 29. By contrast, where, as here, the applicant has not shown past persecution, the burden rests with him or her to establish that relocation would be unreasonable. 8 C.F.R. 208.13(b)(3)(i).
4. On October 24, 2012, Camara's wife filed a petition for her husband to obtain an immigrant visa as an immediate relative (an I-130 petition) under the Immigration and Nationality Act section 204(a), 8 U.S.C. 1154. That petition is still pending.
5. In addition, Camara argues that the IJ and the BIA erred in failing to consider whether the (alleged) threat to his daughters constituted a threat of direct torture to him. As both the IJ and the BIA observed, Camara presented no evidence of prospective government involvement or acquiescence in the harms that he fears, aside from his bare and uncorroborated claim that "[i]f you go to the police to file a complaint or to seek protection, they won't even, you know, look at you." Camara does nothing to challenge those findings here, and so the CAT claim must fail. See also Warui v. Holder, 577 F.3d 55, 58 (1st Cir. 2009) (expressing skepticism concerning cognizability of claims of "derivative" torture under CAT); In re A-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 275, 280 (BIA 2007) ("There is no legal basis for a derivative grant of [CAT] protection where, as here, the respondent has not alleged any past torture, or fear of future torture, to himself.").
6. Camara has not alleged that this is a case in which his daughters are at risk of being persecuted as a means of inflicting psychological harm upon him. Nor could he at this stage, having made no such allegation during the administrative stages of the proceeding. See Kandamar v. Gonzales, 464 F.3d 65, 71 (1st Cir.2006) (requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies); 8 U.S.C. 1252(d)(1) (same). Rather, Camara has alleged only that his daughters are at risk of FGM, and that he is in turn at risk of incidental albeit "extreme and grave emotional suffering."
Russia: Warnings and forced community liquidations increase
Publisher Forum 18 Author Victoria Arnold Publication Date 15 February 2017 Cite as Forum 18, Russia: Warnings and forced community liquidations increase, 15 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a4902b4.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Russia's forced dissolution of local communities, literature bans, and "extremism" prosecutions increasingly restrict Jehovah's Witnesses' freedom of religion and belief. On 16 January, their national Administrative Centre in St Petersburg lost its latest legal challenge of a prosecutors' warning threatening it with liquidation.
Title United States: Immigration and Nationality Act (last amended February 2013)
Publication Date February 2013
Country United States of America
Cite as United States: Immigration and Nationality Act (last amended February 2013) [United States of America], February 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a49c5f4.html [accessed 6 November 2022]
Comments This act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (amended to March 2010). Users are advised not to rely soley on this version, and should visit the US Citizenship and Immigration Service website (www.uscis.gov) to access the most current copy of the INA.
A longtime Madison chef, who most recently worked as a line cook at Estrellon, is opening a new bakery and restaurant on Monona Drive.
Vicente Sacramento, who also worked as a baker at La Brioche, plans to open Monona Bakery and Eatery at 4544 Monona Drive on Friday.
"He'a a super guy. I'm stoked for him," said Estrellon owner Tory Miller. "I'm excited he's finally opening his place."
The Monona restaurant was supposed to open Wednesday, but Sacramento and his wife and co-owner, Claudia Santos, didn't want to interfere with the "Day Without Immigrants," formerly called "Day Without Latinos," strike on Thursday. So the restaurant will open Friday instead.
"We are Latinos, too, and many people close the business, so if we are open maybe it's not good," Sacramento said. A number of local restaurants are expected to close as many employees turn out for the rally.
Santos calls the food at Monona Bakery and Eatery "Latino food," because she is from Honduras, and Sacramento is from Mexico. So the menu will have both components.
"I'm trying to do something different here," Santos said. She's been looking for Honduran food, but can't find it in Madison. She calls Honduran cuisine similar to Puerto Rican cuisine. "It's Caribbean food."
The menu will feature baleadas, a traditional Honduran dish with a thick, flour tortilla and deep-fried beans, scrambled eggs, avocado, cheese and cream; and tostones, or double-fried plantain slices.
The Mexican side of the menu will offer tilapia, shrimp and other seafood. Both of them are from coastal areas, she from Atlantida, Honduras, and he from Veracruz, Mexico, Santos pointed out.
"I love his food," Santos said about her husband, who will also do the baking. "He makes amazing, amazing desserts."
For the past three years, Sacramento has baked at La Brioche. At the same time, in the last year and a half, he's worked at Estrellon. Sacramento was at the former Spanish restaurant La Paella in Fitchburg for 13 years, 10 years as chef. "All my life there," he said.
The Monona restaurant will also serve American-style breakfasts, Santos said.
Everything at the restaurant will be homemade, she said. "It's our priority to make everything fresh and from scratch."
Sacramento owned Emian's bakery in the same Monona Drive location from 2005 to 2008. The location was most recently El Bolillo, where Sacramento worked for a short time.
He's put in a new floor, new kitchen, new tables and new chairs. "We changed everything," Sacramento said.
Sacramento had an accident in December, falling from the roof of the yet-to-open restaurant, which set back its opening. He's still wearing a neck brace.
When Santos moved to Madison in 2006, she found a full-time cleaning job, but applied for a second job at Sacramento's bakery, Emian's.
Sacramento wanted to know why Santos was looking for another job when she already had full-time work. She told him that as a single mother she had to work harder to support her two young daughters better, and he said, "Really? You want to leave something better to your daughters? Give time."
He told her that her daughters needed her more than she knew. "In that moment I didn't understand," Santos said.
But she began to understand what a good person Sacramento was. The couple got married last year, but have been together 11 years.
A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty Tuesday to striking and killing a bicyclist while driving under the influence of drugs.
Kevin D. Meister, 36, also pleaded guilty to drug possession related to the Aug. 5 crash that killed Shelton Berel, 33, of Madison, who was struck while riding his bicycle on Lincoln Road in the town of Oregon.
Meister also pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor theft, for thefts that occurred while on the job last year. In January, Meister pleaded guilty to bail jumping, for attempting to substitute clean urine for his own urine while taking a drug test for the Dane County Bail Monitoring Program on Aug. 25.
Meister entered the pleas about three weeks before he was scheduled to go to trial for Berels death.
Prosecutors did not state a maximum sentence that they would seek when Meister is sentenced by Circuit Judge William Hanrahan in about two months. But the homicide by driving under the influence of drugs conviction carries a penalty of up to 40 years of combined prison and extended supervision, and the drug possession conviction carries up to 3 years.
Each of the theft charges carries a maximum sentence of nine months in jail, and the bail jumping charge has a six-year maximum sentence.
Other charges, such as hit and run causing death, were dismissed but some may be considered by Hanrahan when he sentences Meister.
A criminal complaint states that Meister was driving to his job at a landscaping firm when he struck Berel after Meisters truck veered toward the left side of the road. After a description of Meisters truck was broadcast by local media, Meisters sister called 911 to report that it sounded like her brothers truck.
Police found Meisters truck with fresh damage. Meister initially told police that he thought he had hit a deer.
Lab tests of Meisters blood found that he had cocaine in his body at the time of the crash.
The complaint also states that investigators searching Meisters truck after the crash found materials used to cook, inject and smoke drugs in a pocket of the drivers side door.
The theft charges stem from landscaping equipment that Meister took from his employer, Glacier Landscaping, and from Sub-Zero Group in Fitchburg, where Glacier did work, according to a criminal complaint.
Meister will remain in custody until his sentencing date, which will be set later.
An activist in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin stood trial on for subversion after he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with satirical nicknames for President Xi Jinping, including "Xitler."
Kwon Pyong, an ethnic Korean whose name in Mandarin is Quan Ping, stood trial at the Yanbian Intermediate People's Court on , charged with "incitement to subvert state power," his lawyers told RFA.
But Kwon's defense team was "fired" by his parents just before the trial, after the authorities had tried to have his lawyers disqualified using bureaucratic means, former defense lawyer Zhang Lei said.
Zhang, who was fired along with fellow defense lawyer Liang Xiaojun, said few details of the trial are publicly available, now that his lawyers have been prevented from entering the courtroom.
"Back when we went to fill out forms at the court, they were already saying that we needed a letter of introduction from the bureau of justice where our law firms are located," Zhang said. "Without it, we wouldn't be recognized as [Kwon's] instructed lawyers."
"Then ... on evening, we got a call from the Yanbian Intermediate People's Court telling us that our client's parents had confirmed that they weren't hiring either myself or Liang," Zhang said.
"That's why we don't know what went on during the trial," he said.
An employee who answered the phone at the Yanbian Intermediate People's Court on confirmed that the trial had started.
"This trial just opened here , but until the facts of the case are clearly established, and there is a clear verdict ... I will have to stick to our unified policy [and not give media interviews]," the official said.
80 social media posts
Kwon Pyong's mother, Li Lianhua, also declined to comment when contacted by RFA on .
"Please don't call me again, OK?" she said, before hanging up the phone.
However, a reliable source told RFA that that the indictment against him is largely based on some 80 posts he made to Facebook and Twitter between 2014 and 2016.
These posts "used words, images and video to insult and slander this country's government and the socialist system," the indictment said.
Calls to the prosecution officers who wrote the indictment were unsuccessful during office hours on .
Meanwhile, Zhang said the court's request for a letter of introduction was illegal in the first place, and that Kwon Pyong's parents were likely placed under huge pressure by the authorities.
"They are just using this as an excuse; it's a very clear breach of the law," he said. "They have been working on Kwon Pyong's parents to get them to fire us."
Liang agreed. "The authorities are definitely breaking the law by preventing us from attending the trial," he said.
Kwon, 28, a graduate of Iowa State University, has previously spoken out online in support of dozens of detained Chinese human rights lawyers, as well as Guangzhou-based rights activist Guo Feixiong.
Parents under threat
He was detained on Sept. 30 after posting selfies wearing a T-shirt with several satirical nicknames for President Xi, including "Xitler," and "Baozi Xi" in a reference to the president's widely publicized visit to a regular restaurant to eat baozi, or steamed pork buns, with local people.
Guangzhou-based rights lawyer Sui Muqing said he wasn't surprised that Kwon's parents had fired the two lawyers.
"I don't think this is unusual," Sui said. "Kwon's parents are business people, so they must have received all manner of threats from the authorities."
"Anyone who does business in China, or who has any money and doesn't do what the government says can see all of their money disappear in an instant," he said.
China's powerful state security police has the power to freeze the bank accounts of anyone considered a threat to "national security," which would include anyone linked to a subversion case.
"The aim of the Yanbian authorities has been to ensure that there are no human rights lawyers acting for the defense," Sui said.
An online activist who gave only his surname Gong said satirical comments about China's leaders should be covered by freedom of expression.
"Kwon Pyong's T-shirt was a form of performance art, and would never be regarded as a crime in a Western democracy," Gong said.
"In [those] countries, it's normal to criticize your leaders, and to poke fun at public servants; it happens all the time in a normal country, and nothing bad happens," he said.
Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Ng Yik-tung and Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
This combo shows a file photo (L) taken on May 4, 2001 of a man believed to be Kim Jong Nam, and a file photo (R) of his half-brother, current North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The suspected assassination of the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has helped thrust the secretive nation and its secretive first family back into the limelight. Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 en route to hospital after being attacked at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the Malaysian capital. Authorities in the U.S. and South Korea suspect that he was poisoned by two women on orders from Pyongyang. Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Un are both sons of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who died in late 2011, but they had different mothers. Kim Jong Nam, the elder of the two, whose mother was an actress named Song Hye Rim, said his father kept his parents' relationship secret. Kim Jong Un, the youngest son, was born to another mistress, Ko Yong Hui. Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, a former Tokyo Shimbun editor, got closer to Kim Jong Nam than most reporters. In 2012 he published the book: "My Father, Kim Jong Il, and I -- Kim Jong Nam's Confessions," based on interviews and about 150 emails he exchanged with Kim Jong Nam for seven years. Gomi recently talked to RFA journalist Jung Min Noh about the man whose apparent assassination has captured the worlds attention. An edited version of the interview translated by Soo Min Jo follows.
RFA: What did you think when you heard Kim Jong Nam was dead?
YG: I felt shock and pity.
RFA: Do you think his half-brother gave an assassination order?
YG: Although Kim Jong Uns approval of an assassination is possible, I think it is also possible that the regimes high-ranking officials close to Kim Jong Un may have acted out of loyalty and internal competition. As you know, many of them are getting purged or dismissed, and Kim Jong Nam was still an influential person, so there is a possibility that the people who decided to get rid of Kim Jong Nam were afraid of Kim Jong Un.
RFA: While he was one of the only members of the family who criticized the North Korean government and argued for reforms, there are reports that he feared for his son Kim Hansols safety. Do you know if thats true?
YG: I heard that Kim Jong Nam was not going to do interviews for a while because of possible situations with Kim Jong Nams son, Hansol, who was attending a university in France. I have been trying to contact him for five years, but I have been unable to connect with him. I have heard that Hansol is still in France. I heard that they got along really well and met often.
RFA: According to your research, Kim Jong Nam was viewed as a possible alternative to Kim Jong Ill. What does his death mean to North Koreans who might seek reform?
YG: Not only me, but other North Korean defectors whom I met in Japan, said something like this about Kim Jong Nam: North Korea can change. There are people inside of North Korea who think that it is necessary for North Korea to reform and open up. That day will come someday. Now, I feel like these possibilities are gone because Kim Jong Nam lost his life. I feel disappointment and regret. It breaks my heart.
A suspect (white shirt) in the murder of Kim Jong-Nam is seen in CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, Feb. 13, 2017.
Updated at 2:40 p.m. ET on 2017-02-15
Malaysian police said Wednesday they had arrested a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport and were looking for five other suspects in the alleged murder of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
The arrest took place at the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpurs international airport where, two days earlier, a man whom South Korean officials have identified as Kim Jong-Nam died en route to hospital after a woman reportedly attacked him with a chemical spray.
On 15 February 2017 at about 0820 hours, the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) arrested a female suspect at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2). She was in a possession of a Socialist Republic of Vietnam travel document, said a statement issued by Malaysian police.
The body of the victim was taken early Wednesday to Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, the countrys largest and best-equipped government hospital, where an autopsy was conducted, a police source told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Sepang district police chief Abdul Aziz Ali said the post-mortem on the deceased had been completed but declined to comment on the cause of death.
An official close to the investigation told BenarNews that North Korea had requested the Malaysian government to release the victims body without a post-mortem.
But we turned down their request, the official familiar with the case said.
Another police official said Malaysian police would pursue their investigation and release the body only after a post-mortem and related procedures were completed.
"[The] incident happened here so we have to follow the rule of the land," the officer said.
Malaysian authorities have not officially confirmed whether Kim Jong-Nam was the man who died in Mondays airport attack. So far, they have identified the victim from his passport as a 46-year-old North Korean man, Kim Chol.
The suspect in custody, 28-year-old Doan Thi Huong according to her passport, was positively identified from the CCTV footage at the airport and was alone at the time of her arrest, the statement said.
Apart from her, Malaysian authorities were searching for several more suspects, including a female accomplice and four men allegedly connected to the murder, The Star newspaper quoted Deputy Police Inspector-General Noor Rashid Ibrahim as saying.
The arrested suspect is to appear on Thursday morning for a remand order at the Shah Alam Magistrates Court in Selangor, according to a police official.
Murdered man is Kim Jong-Nam: Seoul
On Wednesday, South Korean officials said they had no doubt the victim was the estranged brother of the North Korean leader.
Our government is certain that the murdered man is Kim Jong-Nam, said Chung Joon-Hee, a spokesman for Seouls unification ministry that handles inter-Korea affairs.
If the murder of Kim Jong-Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong-Un regime, South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's acting president, told a meeting of security officials in Seoul.
A U.S. government source told Reuters that Washington strongly believed that North Korean agents carried out the assassination.
Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
A retired military officer allegedly masterminded the killing last month of a prominent Muslim rights attorney and ruling-party advisor in what the Myanmar government has called a politically motivated terrorist act, the Presidents Office said Wednesday.
A statement issued by the office of President Htin Kyaw said Aung Win Khaing, a former army lieutenant colonel who retired voluntarily from the military in 2014, orchestrated the assassination of Ko Ni on Jan. 29.
Police and the military are on the lookout for Aung Win Khaing, who is on the run, and other possible conspirators, the statement said.
Aung Win Khaing is the brother of Aung Win Zaw, who was arrested on Jan. 30 in Kayin state in connection with the murder.
Aung Win Zaw told police that Aung Win Khaing promised to pay him 100 million kyats (about U.S. $73,000) to have Ko Ni assassinated and gave him 10 million kyats (U.S. $7,400) upfront.
Aung Win Zaw allegedly hired a third man named Kyi Lin to assassinate Ko Ni in exchange for a car.
Kyi Lin shot 63-year-old Ko Ni at close range in the back of the head outside Yangons international airport after the attorney had returned with a delegation of government and civic leaders from a trip to Indonesia where they participated in a workshop on interfaith tolerance and reconciliation.
He also shot and killed taxi driver Ne Win, who had given chase after the attorney was gunned down.
On the day of the murder, Aung Win Khaing called his brother twice and told him to have Ko Ni killed, the governments statement said.
The gun used by Kyi Lin to shoot Ko Ni was purchased in October 2016 from a man named Myint Swe in the Umpiem Mai refugee camp in Thailand, about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the Myanmar border, according to what Aung Win Zaw told police.
The government previously said that the assassination was a politically motivated act meant to destabilize the state.
The murder occurred at a time when religious tension between Myanmars Buddhist majority and Muslim minority is running high.
A crackdown in Rakhine state by Myanmar security forces on Rohingya Muslims since October has left more than 1,000 dead and forced about 69,000 villagers to flee to safety in neighboring Bangladesh, according to United Nations estimates.
Some of the Rohingya who fled have accused Myanmar security forces of extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and arson during the lockdown.
Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A traffic stop for speeding Monday night led to the arrest of three people on felony charges in Grant County, with a drug-sniffing police dog from Illinois helping make the case.
The traffic stop happened at about 11:15 p.m. Monday on Highway 11 at Sandy Hook Road in the town of Jamestown, the Sheriff's Office said.
Five people were in the vehicle and three were arrested on a variety of charges:
Tanner Ervolino, 22, of Waterloo, Iowa, tentatively charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun and possession of a silencer.
Lee Shaffer, 31, of Dubuque, Iowa, tentatively charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia and possession of burglary tools.
Jay Mess, 26, of Dubuque, tentatively charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia and possession of burglary tools.
Jonnie Connolly, 23, of Dubuque, was cited for possession of marijuana, and Sabrina Neff, 22, of Marshalltown, Iowa, was not cited or charged.
When the vehicle was stopped, a police dog unit from the Jo Davies County Sheriff's Office in Illinois was requested, and the dog sniffed an odor of drugs from the vehicle.
During the search of the vehicle, police found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, marijuana, a loaded handgun and silencer, and a large amount of suspected burglary tools.
Chinese authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang shot dead three people who reportedly attacked passersby with knives, killing five of them in an incident that sources said was the latest of several in the area.
Three people attacked crowds in a residential area of Guma (in Chinese, Pishan) county in the Silk Road region of Hotan (Hetian) on Tuesday, killing five and injuring five others, a government report said.
"At 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, three thugs started attacking people with knives in a residential compound in Pishan county," the Hotan government said in a brief statement on its official news website on Wednesday.
"Within one minute, police from the nearby police station had mobilized, and shot three of the thugs dead at the scene," it said.
"The incident led to ... the deaths of five people who died in spite of emergency treatment for their injuries in hospital," the statement said. "Five other injured people were successfully treated."
The report said order had been restored with no further signs of unrest.
"Investigations are ongoing," it said.
Armed police deployed
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile group World Uyghur Congress said six Uyghurs had been arrested in connection with recent attacks, while the authorities had deployed helicopters and huge numbers of armed police in a security lockdown of the area.
"The information we are getting from both direct and indirect sources in the area is that six Uyghurs were arrested after the incident in the Guma county town," Raxit said.
"Two other Uyghur youths have also been detained on suspicion of spreading rumors after they posted news of the incident using their phones," he said.
Raxit said huge numbers of armed police had been deployed in and around Guma county amid widespread raids on Uyghur households.
"There is also an increased military presence on the national highway between Hotan and Kashgar," he said. "They are doing spot checks on Uyghurs, while warning local Han Chinese people to avoid going out if possible."
"Everyone can see the helicopters circling overhead," he said.
Raxit said the official report of the incident had likely understated the total numbers of dead and injured.
String of similar attacks
Meanwhile, a local source told RFA that the Guma incident was the latest in a string of similar attacks in the same area in recent days, including an attack in Yengisar (Yingjisha) on Feb. 12 which left two dead and three people injured.
Similar attacks had also occurred in Aksu (Akesu) and Qarghiliq (Yecheng), but without casualties, the source said.
"The official media has only reported the Pishan county incident, but there were three or four murderous attacks in Kashgar [Kashi] and Hotan in southern Xinjiang," the source said.
"These are actions against the government, demonstrating the tension between Uyghurs and Han Chinese," he said.
According to the source, the attackers are all prisoners recently released after serving jail terms in connection with ethnic violence in Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, on July 5, 2009.
Local residents confirmed that the entire region is under tight security on Wednesday, with armored vehicles and armed police patrolling the streets of Guma and neighboring counties, as well as gas stations and schools.
Just lock your door
An officer who answered the phone at the Hotan municipal police department on Wednesday, believing an RFA journalist to be a Han Chinese tourist, said everyone should stay in their rooms and refrain from posting online about the incident.
"Don't worry, all the hotel doors are locked, and there are lots of police inside," the officer said. "Even if you went to a police station, there would be nobody to help you because they are all so busy."
"Just lock your door, and don't go spreading rumors, or you'll feel the force of the law," the officer said. "Just do as you're told and stay in your room, and don't go talking to people or posting stuff on WeChat."
"If you do, we'll be able to trace the post, and then we can arrest you," he said.
An employee who answered the phone at a hotel in Guma county, however, said business is carrying on as usual.
"We are going to work and doing what we have to do ... There are police cars patrolling past the door the whole time, and they [the police] don't sleep," the employee said, adding that there is usually a strong police presence anyway.
"We are used to this; we don't feel particularly scared," he said.
Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Goh Fung for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has reaffirmed the United States' commitment to NATO ahead of his first meeting with his alliance counterparts. At NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 15, Mattis said the alliance "remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States and for all the transatlantic community." NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the comments during what he called "a crucial time" for the alliance. (RFE/RL)
Supporters of two opposition leaders in Montenegro gathered to protest a move to prosecute them in an alleged pro-Russia plot to overthrow the government. The legislature voted on February 15 to lift the parliamentary immunity and allow criminal prosecutions to go forward against Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)
Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged heavy artillery fire in multiple locations, officials in both countries said, as Russian-appointed officials continued evacuating people from the west bank of the Dnieper River amid a mounting Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Ukraine's national grid operator, meanwhile, said on November 5 that it would increase rolling blackouts in Kyiv and seven other regions as the countrys national grid remained severely damaged by weeks of Russian air strikes.
Electricity consumption is rising across Ukraine as the weather turns colder, and energy providers have raced to do repairs, ordering planned power cuts to avoid overloads.
Ukraines General Staff said that its troops thwarted Russian attacks a day earlier in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The military also claimed that Ukrainian air defenses shot down multiple Russian and Iranian drones and two Kalibr cruise missiles. The claim could not be immediately verified.
The head of the Vynnytsya region, Serhiy Borzov, said the central region was hit overnight by Russian kamikaze drones.
Russian troops have been actively using Iranian drones in recent weeks to attack critical civilian and infrastructure objectives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the fiercest fighting over the last week had taken place around Bakhmut and Soledar in Donetsk and that Ukrainian forces are holding their positions there and elsewhere.
He also spoke of "good gains" in the south, praising infantry and artillery brigades for destroying enemy equipment, Russian manpower.
The claims of battlefield success could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian forces have been mounting a slow, incremental counteroffensive in the southern Kherson region for weeks now, moving closer to directly threatening the Dnieper River port of Kherson, which was captured early after Russias February invasion.
In response, Russian authorities have been evacuating civilians and military troops to the opposite bank of the Dnieper.
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-installed administration in the Kherson region, announced a 24-hour curfew on November 4, saying it was necessary to defend it from an expected Ukrainian attack.
The Russian military said "more than 5,000 civilians" were being evacuated daily to the east bank of the river. And Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 4 called for civilians to be moved out from Kherson.
Those who live in Kherson must now be removed from the zone of the most dangerous hostilities, Putin said in remarks broadcast on state television. The civilian population should not suffer from shelling, from the offensive, counteroffensive, and other measures related to military operations.
Russias Defense Ministry said on November 5 that troops had repelled Ukrainian attacks in in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions. In the Kherson region, which the Kremlin last month declared had been annexed, authorities reported the heaviest artillery fire in days.
Ukrainian officials have likened the departures of Kherson residents to Soviet-style deportations, though its unclear to what extent the departures are forced or voluntary. Russian officials said people were being moved to safety from the path of the Ukrainian advance.
Ukraines counteroffensives in Kherson and the northern Kharkiv region have been powered in large part by powerful Western weaponry. On November 4, the U.S. Defense Department announced another $400 million shipment of weapons and other equipment, including refurbished tanks, surface-to-air missiles, new coastal defense boats, and other items.
The announcement came around the same time that the U.S. national-security adviser, Jake Sullivan, made an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet with top Ukrainian officials.
At a news conference later, Sullivan sought again to calm Ukrainian jitters about whether U.S. weapons would continue after the upcoming midterm U.S. congressional elections.
Polls show that Republicans are poised to take control of one, or possibly both, chambers of Congress, and a small but vocal number of Republicans have voiced misgivings about the amount and duration of U.S. aid for Ukraine.
There will be no wavering, Sullivan said at a news conference. Im confident U.S. support for Ukraine will be unwavering and unflinching.
Asked about the prospect of peace talks with Russia, Sullivan repeated what U.S. officials have said in the past: "Nothing is discussed about Ukraine without Ukraine."
"For me, the main question about these negotiations is what a just peace looks like and how it can be achieved, Sullivan said. If you look at Russian accusations, Russian actions, in particular regarding the annexation of [Ukrainian] territories, it does not really encourage negotiations.
With reporting by RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, Reuters, dpa, and AP
Congressional leaders said they will investigate growing questions over contacts between Russia and top advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump in the weeks and months before he took office.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on February 14 that he expects the Senate Intelligence Committee will interview Michael Flynn, the White House national security adviser who was pushed out on February 13 over his undisclosed pre-inaugural conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.
The calls for inquiries in Congress came as U.S. media reported that Trump associates and staff had numerous contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the November 8 presidential election, though no evidence of collusion was reported.
And it came as the White House conceded that Trump knew for weeks that Flynn, his ousted security adviser, had misled the White House about his contacts with Russia.
Flynn was not forced out until news reports came out last week saying he had discussed Russian sanctions with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, undercutting public statements by both Flynn and Vice President Mike Pence that the conversations did not involve sanctions.
Flynn: 'No Lines Crossed'
Flynn told the Daily Caller on February 14 that "there were no lines crossed" in his conversations with Kislyak. He said they spoke only about the 35 Russian diplomats expelled by the Obama administration on December 29 as part of a final round of sanctions against Russia. That same day, the Obama White House sanctioned Russia's intelligence agencies for their roles in allegedly hacking the U.S. presidential election.
"It wasn't about sanctions. It was about the 35 guys who were thrown out," Flynn said. "It was basically: 'Look, I know this happened. We'll review everything.' I never said anything such as, 'We're going to review sanctions,' or anything like that."
But Reuters reported that phone transcripts show that Flynn told Kislyak that if Russia did not to respond in kind to the Obama sanctions as it had when sanctions were announced in the past, that could smooth the way toward a broader discussion of improving U.S.-Russian relations once Trump took power.
After the U.S. sanctions were announced, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the uncharacteristic step of announcing he would not respond in kind, and instead he invited U.S. diplomats in Moscow to join Christmas celebrations at the Kremlin.
The growing questions about Russia's relations with the Trump administration prompted U.S. lawmakers, including some leading Republicans, to call for a deeper inquiry into not just Flynn's actions but broader White House ties to Russia.
Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump only moved against Flynn because he was attracting to so much news media attention.
"The reason they lost faith or trust in General Flynn only last night when they knew for weeks that he had been lying was that it became public," Schiff told MSNBC.
FBI Interview
The White House confirmed on February 14 that the FBI interviewed Flynn about his conversations with Kislyak as part of its investigation into Russian influence in the U.S. election and the Justice Department notified the White House about discrepancies between Flynn's public and private accounts of the conversations shortly after Trump took office.
But White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted there were no legal problem with Flynn's conversations, but rather the way the matter was handled undermined Trump's and Pence's trust in him as an adviser.
WATCH: White House Says 'Unsustainable Situation' Led To Flynn Resignation
But the White House explanations satisfied few in Congress. Two leading Senate Republicans, Bob Corker and John Cornyn, agreed with McConnell that the Senate Intelligence Committee should investigate Flynn's contacts with Russia.
McCain, a leading Republican voice on foreign relations, said Flynn's resignation raised questions about the administration's intentions toward Putin's Russia.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats called for aggressive independent investigations into the matter and demanded to know how much Trump knew about his aides' Russia ties.
U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for an investigation of potential criminal violations surrounding the resignation of Flynn.
"What I am calling for is an independent investigation with executive authority to pursue potential criminal actions," to be led by newly installed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions or White House lawyers, Schumer said.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, and New York Times
Two years ago today, the guns were supposed to fall silent.
They didn't.
In fact, since the Minsk cease-fire went into effect on February 15, 2015, thousands have been killed in fighting in the Donbas.
Two years ago, Russian fighters were supposed to begin leaving eastern Ukraine.
They haven't.
Despite Kremlin claims that its troops were never in the Donbas in the first place, the documentary evidence that they were there -- and still are there -- is overwhelming and undeniable.
Two years after the Minsk cease-fire went into effect, Ukraine is no closer to peace than it was when the ink on the agreement dried.
And the reason for this is simple.
The Minsk agreement was fatally flawed from the outset.
It was flawed because it was negotiated, signed, and implemented based on the fiction that Russia was a mediator in a conflict in which it was, in fact, the aggressor and the instigator.
It was flawed because it placed impossible demands on Ukraine to implement constitutional reforms with a gun to its head.
And it was flawed because it established an internationally recognized political mechanism for the Kremlin to continue meddling in Ukraine's affairs.
Two years after Minsk one can still hear ridiculous arguments over whether Moscow or Kyiv is to blame for its failure.
But this misses the crucial point that there would never have been a need for a Minsk agreement in the first place if Russia had not effectively invaded Ukraine.
Minsk failed because, for the Kremlin, is was never a peace agreement at all.It was a tool to dominate a neighbor.
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France says it will not accept meddling by Russia or any other country in its upcoming presidential election, and that it could respond to such interference with "retaliatory measures."
The remarks by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on February 15 come in the wake of what U.S. intelligence officials have described a Kremlin-directed campaign of hacking and public-opinion manipulation that aimed to help President Donald Trump win the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
"We will not accept any interference whatsoever in our electoral process, no more from Russia, by the way, than from any other state," Ayrault told parliament.
Ayrault said France could respond to such meddling with "retaliatory measures when that is necessary."
His warning came after aides to Emmanuel Macron, a pro-Europe candidate in the two-stage presidential election beginning on April 23, accused Moscow of responsibility for cyberattacks targeting the website and e-mail servers of his campaign.
The Kremlin on February 15 dismissed the accusation as absurd.
Russia also denies it interfered in the U.S election in order to help Trump defeat his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in the November 8 U.S. election.
With France's major parties on the right and left both struggling amid scandals and internal divisions, Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front has emerged as the front-runner to win the first-round vote.
But polls now suggest Macron is likely to defeat Le Pen in a second-round runoff.
As Macron's status in French opinion polls has been rising, Russian state-run media and pro-Kremlin websites increasingly have been attacking the 39-year-old former economy minister.
In January, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that cyberattacks targeting his country had increased dramatically in the past three years and that the presidential votes in April and May could be targeted.
Russia has also been blamed for a cyberattack on the German parliament in 2015, with German politicians warning in December that the country's 2017 parliamentary elections are at risk from "outside manipulation" from hackers and others acting for the Russian state.
Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merke's conservative Christian Democratic Union, warned of "influence-peddling through targeted infiltration from outside, with the goal of manipulating facts or opinions" during Germany's election campaign.
The warnings in France and Germany come after a U.S. intelligence report released on January 6 concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered" a campaign of hacking and media manipulation aimed at influencing the U.S. presidential election.
Russia denies involvement in cyber-intrusions that resulted in Democratic Party e-mails being hacked and leaked during the U.S. presidential campaign.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, BBC, and The New York Times
PODGORICA -- Montenegro's parliament has voted to strip two opposition leaders of immunity over their suspected involvement in what authorities say was a foiled coup meant to undermine the country's bid to join NATO.
The two leaders of the pro-Russian Democratic Front, which opposes NATO membership, are suspected of involvement in the alleged October 16 coup attempt that prosecutors say included plans to kill the then-prime minister and seize power.
Several hundred opposition supporters have protested outside the parliament building on February 15 as lawmakers from the ruling coalition unanimously approved the motion against Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic.
WATCH: Supporters of two opposition leaders in Montenegro gathered to protest a move to prosecute them in an alleged pro-Russia plot to overthrow the government. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)
Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic has accused the two politicians of "establishing a criminal organization" and threatening "the constitutional rule and security of Montenegro."
Mandic and Knezevic, who can now be arrested, have dismissed the plot allegations as "fiction."
Mandic has made several recent visits to Moscow, where he received support from the Kremlin for his anti-NATO position.
He has warned of civil war in Montenegro over the issue of NATO membership.
But Markovic's government remains committed to forging ties with the West.
Montenegro in October arrested about 20 people -- including two Russian citizens -- in connection with the alleged coup plot.
Most of the others arrested in October are pro-Russian citizens of Serbia.
The Kremlin has denied involvement, but has actively supported local groups that oppose Montenegro becoming a NATO member.
Twenty-four of NATO's 28 members have approved Montenegrin membership, which was endorsed by NATO leaders at a Warsaw summit in July 2016.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on February 14 that it was not clear when the remaining four NATO members will ratify Montenegro's accession protocol.
But Stoltenberg said the alliance was "on a good track to have the membership of Montenegro relatively soon."
The United States is one of the four countries yet to formally approve Podgorica's NATO bid.
Stoltenberg on February 14 said "there has been no sign that the U.S. administration is not supporting the ratification."
"It has a strong bipartisan support in the Senate and the [Senate] Foreign Relations Committee has supported it, so I think it is also on a good track in the U.S.," Stoltenberg said.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump's description of NATO during the 2016 presidential campaign as an "obsolete" organization and his calls for improved relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin have worried many in Montenegro that Trump may try to block Podgorica's membership bid.
With reporting by AP and AFP
The "going to jail if you don't send money" scam was taken to a new level this week, when a scammer claiming to be a Dane County sheriff's official put other fake officials on a conference call to the victim, putting enough pressure on the victim to where the victim's family sent money just in case.
The scam was played on an 88-year-old Madison woman, and was reported to police on Monday, Madison police said.
It started with "Commander Jeffrey Hook of the Dane County Sheriff's Department" calling the woman, angrily demanding money while eventually putting other high-ranking officials on the line to explain how this came about.
"There is a real Jeff Hook at the real Sheriff's Office, and scam artists have used his name in the past to con area residents."
The fictitious Hook told the victim deputies had tried to hand deliver a federal subpoena to her, and he had body camera footage to prove it.
"The subpoena was left in her mailbox, he said, and when she failed to show, in violation of federal law, she only had a few hours to wire $500 bail if she didn't want to be arrested by U.S. marshals," DeSpain said.
The woman told the scammer she needed to wait for a ride to make the transaction, but Hook started yelling at her and transferred her to "U.S. Attorney Bill Humphries," who got "Judge Patricia Windmell" on the conference call as well.
"The victim was provided with many details, many of which seemed plausible," DeSpain said.
The victim contacted her son and daughter to see what she should do.
"The daughter went to the real federal courthouse in Madison and learned there was a Hook at the Sheriff's Office, but she was told it sounded like this was a scam," DeSpain said.
"Her son called the number left by 'Hook,'" DeSpain said. "A person answered by saying 'Dane County Dispatch Center.'"
The son, who has a criminal justice degree, ended up getting a job offer from 'Commander Hook.'
The son and daughter both felt it was a fraud, but just in case it was real, they decided to wire the $500.
"An officer later confirmed their intuition and advised them to block any additional calls from 'Commander Hook' or any of his other despicable role-playing associates," DeSpain said.
Two separate explosions have killed at least seven people in northwestern Pakistan.
A suicide bomber killed five people and injured seven in an attack targeting the administrative headquarters of the Mohmand tribal district in Ghalani Tehsil, officials said.
The Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack.
The breakaway faction is based in the Mohmand area -- part of rugged, lawless regions along the Afghan border that have long served as safe havens for local and Al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants.
Hospital officials told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that three of those killed were members of the tribal police, known locally as Levies.
In a separate attack, two people were killed in the northwestern city of Peshawar when a bomb exploded near a hospital.
Local media cited police sources as saying the bomb went off near the Hayatabad Medical Complex in a wealthy neighborhood of Peshawar. No group has immediately claimed responsibility.
Pakistan's main opposition leader Imran Khan was due to visit the hospital on February 15, but it was not immediately clear whether he was there at the time of the blast.
The attacks come two days after a suicide bombing claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar killed 13 in the eastern city of Lahore on February 13.
Pakistan has waged several offensives against Islamic militants in recent years.
With reporting by AP and AFP
The governor of Russia's northwestern region of Karelia, Aleksandr Khudilainen, has become the fifth regional leader to step down in recent days.
Khudilainen told journalists on February 15 that he had submitted his resignation in order to give a candidate to be proposed by President Vladimir Putin time "to show himself in Karelia" before an election in September.
The Kremlin said hours later that Putin accepted Khudilainen's resignation and appointed the director of the federal bailiffs service, Artur Parfyonchikov, as acting governor of the region bordering Finland.
Khudilainen's resignation comes a day after the governor of the Ryazan region, Oleg Kovalyov, announced about his resignation. On February 13, the Novgorod region's governor, Sergei Mitin, resigned. Last week, the governors of Buryatia and the Perm Krai, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn and Viktor Basargin, stepped down.
The five governors' resignations are widely believed to have been submitted at the request of the Kremlin, which oversees political processes nationwide.
Regional elections in September will be the last before a presidential election due to be held in March 2018.
Analysts say the Kremlin is seeking to bolster support and increase control ahead of the presidential vote, in which Putin is widely expected to seek a fourth term.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 14 that the resignations were part of "a routine rotation process" and called on journalists not to seek hidden motives.
With on reporting by RIA, Interfax, and TASS
U.S. media are reporting that Russia has deployed a new cruise missile that the United States contends is in violation of an arms control treaty.
The AP news agency and The New York Times said Moscow has secretly deployed a ground-launched cruise missile that contravenes the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in southwest Russia.
The Times said Russia has two battalions of the missiles, which became operational late last year.
The Obama administration previously accused Russia of violating the treaty by testing the missile. The treaty bans ballistic missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the missile program, arguing that the United States is also in breach of the treaty and new missiles are needed to maintain the balance of power..
The alleged treaty violation may arise when U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends his first NATO meeting in Brussels on February 15.
The deployment has stirred concern in Congress, where Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain called it a "significant military threat to U.S. forces in Europe and our NATO allies."
McCain said the timing of the deployment suggests Putin is "testing" President Donald Trump.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and New York Times
WASHINGTON -- The two top diplomats and top military officers from Russia and the United States are set to meet for the first time since the U.S. officials took office.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 16 in Bonn, Germany.
Their talks are the highest-level official meeting between U.S. and Russian officials since President Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova didn't specify what Lavrov and Tillerson would discuss -- saying only that their talks would concern "bilateral relations that were driven into deadlock by the previous [U.S.] administration."
A U.S. State Department official told RFE/RL, "We don't have any meetings to preview at this time."
General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also plans to meet his counterpart, Russian General Valery Gerasimov, on February 16 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
A statement released by Dunford's office on February 15 said their agenda would focus on "the current state of U.S.-Russian military relations and the importance of consistent and clear military-to-military communication to prevent miscalculation and potential crises."
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on February 15 that the Baku meeting between Dunford and Gerasimov was "important."
Stoltenberg said he welcomed attempts by "NATO allies on a bilateral basis" to "develop lines of communications and develop the dialogue with Russia."
Stoltenberg also noted that in the last two NATO-Russia Council meetings -- which were aimed at addressing "military transparency, risk reduction" and other military issues between NATO and Russia -- there had been "no direct contact" between Gerasimov and Czech General Petr Pavel, the chairman of NATO's Military Committee.
The Military Committee is the senior military authority in NATO and the primary source of military advice to NATO's civilian decision-making bodies -- the North Atlantic Council and the Nuclear Planning Group.
With reporting by Mike Eckel in Washington and Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says Moscow will not discuss the return of Crimea to Ukraine with the United States or any other country.
Dmitry Peskov spoke on February 15, a day after White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that U.S. President Donald Trump has "made it very clear" that he expects Russia to "return Crimea" and reduce violence in eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin spokesman referred to Crimea as Russian territory, saying that "Russia never discusses issues related to its territories with foreign partners, including the United States."
Russia seized control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegal by the United States and a total of 100 countries in the UN General Assembly.
Peskov said that Trump did not raise the issue of Crimea in his January 28 telephone conversation with Putin.
He also dismissed a February 14 report in the New York Times that cited current and former U.S. officials as saying members of Trump's campaign and other associates had contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the months before the November 2016 presidential election, claiming it was "not based on any facts."
"Let's not believe anonymous information," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
The Kremlin spokesman also responded to U.S. media reports that cited U.S. officials as saying that Russia has deployed cruise missiles in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a 1987 pact between Moscow and Washington.
"Russia has been and remains committed to its international commitments, including to the treaty in question," Peskov said.
"Nobody has formally accused Russia of violating the treaty," he said.
More broadly, Peskov said that it is too early to talk about the "normalization" of ties between Russia and the United States as Trump's administration is still being built.
Trump has repeatedly said he hopes relations between the United States and Russia will improve during his administration.
Ties have been badly strained by rancor over issues including Russia's interference in Ukraine, its role in the war in Syria, and what U.S. intelligence agencies say was a hacking and propaganda campaign to meddle in the U.S. presidential election with the aim of undermining the United States, discrediting Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, and helping Trump.
With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and Reuters
It's not official yet, but the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) appears set to make Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic its candidate for president. The party leadership's decision was announced late on February 14, and the move is expected to be confirmed by the party's general assembly on February 17.
"I accepted the candidacy only because I believe it is important for the continuity and stability of Serbia," Vucic told public broadcaster RTS. "There is nothing that I would not do for that cause."
Vucic added that he did not rule out the prospect of early parliamentary elections, and said a decision would be forthcoming soon.
The SNS statement suggests Vucic will "continue talks" with President and fellow SNS member Tomislav Nikolic in an effort to avoid any split within the party's ranks. Nikolic is regarded by many observers as a hard-liner who has played an undersized role on the Serbian political stage as president. However, he recently made waves by saying in the aftermath of the "promo train" dispute between Belgrade and Pristina that he was ready to go to war "to defend Serbs in Kosovo."
The train's planned crossing into Kosovo from Serbia -- plastered with the message "Kosovo is Serbia" -- threatened to further sour relations between the two countries, and Nikolic's statement did nothing to defuse the tension. After a January 15 meeting of his National Security Council, Nikolic told journalists: "We don't want war, but if it is necessary to protect Serbs from being killed, we will send an army to Kosovo. We will send soldiers; we'll all go. I'll go, and it won't be the first time that I go [to defend Serbs]."
At the time, his critics interpreted the statement as the opening salvo of a reelection campaign. Yet Nikolic has repeatedly said he won't run again for president without his party's backing.
"Defending Serbs outside Serbia" is no longer a winning ticket, it seems. The most recent national poll shows that 73 percent of Serbs would not go to war for Kosovo, with 17 percent undecided and only 10 percent saying they would respond favorably to a call to arms like the one issued by Nikolic.
Recent polls also suggest that those most inclined to take up arms identified themselves as supporters of the Serbian Radical Party, while the majority of those who expressed a preference for the peaceful resolution of political problems said they would vote for the governing Progressives, a party founded by former Radical Party members Vucic and Nikolic.
It thus appears that Progressive leader Vucic's repeated statements in favor of diplomatic solutions resonate more among the party's supporters.
One of Vucic's potential rivals for the presidency is Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, no doubt adding color to the campaign. Seselj spent 11 years in UN detention while on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) for alleged ethnic cleansing. He was acquitted in 2016 on all counts, pending appeal, and returned to Serbia in time for the elections that year, when he led his Radical Party to 23 seats in the national parliament.
Seselj has been President Nikolic's most outspoken critic, whereas he has never had a major public dispute with Vucic. He is, however, opposed to Vucic's pro-European policy and is strongly in favor of closer relations with Russia.
Another pro-Russian candidate in the looming presidential vote is Bosko Obradovic, the president of the Dveri (Door) party. A former Serbian foreign minister and onetime president of the UN's 67th General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, is selling himself as a European politician but he is very close to Moscow. In the opposition camp, the only clearly pro-European candidate is former Serbian ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, who made his name fighting corruption and defending the rule of law in Serbia.
None of the opposition candidates is currently considered much of a match for Vucic, who is widely expected to secure more that 50 percent of the popular vote, enough for outright victory in the first round. The official start of the Serbian presidential race is set for early March, with the election expected a month later, in April, although no date has been finalized.
The Serbian Constitution gives limited powers to the president, and incumbent Nikolic has been seen by many as a marginalized figure in Serbian politics.
But with Vucic in office, that could change, in no small part because of his personal clout with the electorate and among the country's international partners.
If elected president, Vucic might well seek to maintain his balancing act between Moscow and Brussels. And while he might continue to purchase weapons in Russia or Belarus, he has been assertive in implementing a European agenda. Importantly, he is seen by EU leaders as a reliable partner. But above all, Vucic appears eager to pin his campaign's hopes on an ability to deliver what his Balkan country needs most at the moment: stability.
The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL
ON MY MIND
Russian missile deployments in violation of the 1987 INF treaty.
Russian aircraft buzzing a U.S. naval destroyer in the Black Sea.
A Russian spy ship spotted off the U.S. east coast.
More Russian hacking allegations, this time in France.
Is it me, or has the Kremlin been hyperactive even by its own high standards?
And this doesn't even take into consideration Moscow's behavior in its neighborhood like the escalation in the Donbas, rising tensions with Belarus, and threats from a lawmaker on northern Kazakhstan.
There is no doubt that the Kremlin has turned up the temperature of late.
The question is, why?
Is this a sign of a confident regime that sees things going its way and is ready to push the envelope?
Is Vladimir Putin testing the waters to see what he can get away with as the West enters a period of uncertainty?
It's unclear and, in either case, it is worrying.
IN THE NEWS
U.S. media are reporting that Russia has deployed a new cruise missile that the United States contends is in violation of a landmark arms control treaty.
The U.S. military said multiple Russian military aircraft buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea last week in "unsafe and unprofessional" maneuvers. They were the first such incidents reported during the Trump administration. Russia denied that they occurred.
Congressional leaders said they will investigate growing questions over contacts between Russia and top advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump in the weeks and months before he took office.
The White House has said that President Donald Trump fully expects Russia to return control of Crimea to Ukraine.
Russia has denied carrying out media and Internet attacks against French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.
Russia's embassy in Ankara has expressed anger about the awarding of the prestigious World Press Photo Award to a photographer who shot an image of an off-duty Turkish policeman assassinating Russia's envoy to Turkey.
Former Russian State Duma Deputy Denis Voronenkov, who defected to Ukraine last year, has called Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region "a mistake" and compared present-day Russia with Nazi Germany.
Montenegro's prime minister, Dusko Markovic, has told Russia and its allies within Montenegro to stop destabilizing the country as part of their opposition to Podgorica's NATO membership bid.
Moldova's pro-Russian President Igor Dodon says he thinks the planned opening of a permanent NATO liaison office in Moldova would amount to a provocation.
A court in Moscow has sentenced three men from Russia's volatile North Caucasus region to prison on terrorism charges.
NATO defense ministers are expected to discuss defense spending and the fight against terrorism at a Brussels meeting attended for the first time by the new U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis.
WHAT I'M READING
Flynn And The Russians
David Frum, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a speechwriter for former U.S. President George W. Bush, has a piece on why the resignation of Michael Flynn as U.S. National Security Adviser matters.
How To Deal With Putin
Eugene B. Rumer, Richard Sokolsky, and Andrew S. Weiss have a piece in Foreign Affairs on "the right way to manage relations with Russia."
"Its possible to stand up for American interests and principles while pursuing a less volatile relationship with Russia," the authors write.
"The Nixon administration sowed mines in a harbor in North Vietnam, a Soviet ally, while seeking detente with Moscow. The Reagan administration aggressively challenged Soviet-backed regimes and groups in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America at the same time as it signed arms control agreements with Moscow."
The Kremlin's Nukes
Dave Majumdar, defense editor of The National Interest, has a piece looking at Russia's recent nuclear weapons deployments.
"The Soviet and Russian military only grudgingly accepted the INF treaty at the end of the Cold War-era hostilities. Now, with permissive leadership in the Kremlin, the Russian forces are resuming their pre-Gorbachev-era nuclear posture," Majumdar writes.
Lukashenka The Wily
In BNEIntellinews, Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, looks at Alyaksandr Lukashenka's game of chicken with Putin.
"'Batya [Lukashenka] has obviously decided it is time for a bit of a shake-down, that Putin will huff and puff, but ultimately needs to have some allies, and will make a deal to buy one. Or at least rent one, as Lukashenko has made it clear he does not stay bought for long. If he gets away with it, this will be a useful indicator to just how confident the Russians really are behind their facade of cynical bombast," Galeotti writes.
The Ghosts Of Revolutions Past
Veteran Kremlin-watcher Edward Lucas, author of The New Cold War, has a piece on the Center for European Policy Research's website, "Russia's propaganda machine and the ghosts of revolutions past," that looks at the Kremlin's dilemma in commemorating the centennial of 1917.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Alexander Clarkson, a lecturer in European studies at Kings College London and the author of the book Fragmented Fatherland: Immigration And Cold War Conflict In The Federal Republic of Germany, 19451980, has a piece in Politico on why Russia and China should fear the end of Pax Americana.
Turkish media reports say a new suspect has been detained in connection with the December assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey.
Police detained the suspect in Ankara on February 15, the state-run Anadolu news agency cited an unidentified security source as saying.
Anadolu said authorities believe the suspect had telephone conversations with Mevlut Mert Altintas, the off-duty policeman who shot Ambassador Andrei Karlov dead at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19.
The 22-year-old Altintas shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and other apparent references to Russia's involvement in the Syrian civil war, during the attack. He was later killed by police.
Anadolu said the suspect apprehended on February 15 is one of four -- including a police officer -- currently in custody in connection with the investigation.
Based on reporting by Anadolu, Yeni Safak, and TASS
The U.S. Embassy in Georgia has condemned plans by separatist authorities in South Ossetia for a referendum on a proposed name change for the Russia-backed breakaway region.
Along with a presidential election on April 9, the separatists who control South Ossetia plan to hold a plebiscite on a proposal to rename the region the Republic of South Ossetia -- the State of Alania.
In a statement on its website on February 14, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi said the United States would not recognize the results of an "illegitimate" referendum conducted "without the explicit consent" of the Georgian government.
"Such provocative actions erode trust and confidence and undermine the Geneva International Discussions," it said -- a reference to talks to ease tension that persists years after Russian forces invaded Georgia in a brief war over South Ossetia in 2008.
South Ossetia's separatist leader, Leonid Tibilov, signed a decree on February 6 scheduling the referendum.
Georgia considers the proposed name provocative because it echoes the name of a neighboring Russian region that is also populated mainly by ethnic Ossetians, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, seeming to suggest the two should be unified.
Tibilov stopped short of calling for referendum on a merger of South Ossetia and North Ossetia, an idea he floated a few years ago.
Russia recognized South Ossetia and another separatist region in Georgia, Abkhazia, as independent countries after the 2008 war. It has kept thousands of troops in the regions, deployments that NATO says violate the EU-brokered deal that ended the fighting.
The United States and all but a handful of countries consider South Ossetia or Abkhazia to be parts of Georgia and do not recognize the results of elections held in the two regions.
With reporting by civil.ge
The pants hems, dress alterations and zipper replacements, along with a daily banter that switches between English and Japanese, are coming to an end at the corner of State and West Dayton streets.
Marys Tailoring, a shop founded by Mary Toki and with a customer list that is a demographic and economic cross-section of the city, will close next week after a three-decade run and miles of colorful thread.
Mariko Narita, who took over the business following the death in 2012 of her mother, Shoko Narita, has announced that she will close the shop on Feb. 24. Ayumi King, the business chief designer who has worked at Marys for the past 17 years, wants to reopen the business in another Downtown location but has not yet found a suitable site.
Ive been emotional as we get to the end, said Narita, 47, who plans to pursue other interests. Ive really enjoyed the relationships with the customers, and I know Ill miss this.
The shop is tiny, with just over 200 square feet of space, but has one of the most visible spots on State Street, across from the Overture Center. A red dress and neon sign in the front window advertise the business but most of the windows are covered in a thin, white curtain that shields passers-by from the detailed work being done on the other side of the glass by Narita and King.
The interior includes a three-sided mirror, small counter, a pair of dressing rooms, sewing machines made in Sweden, Japan and the U.S., and stacks, piles and racks of clothing, some ready for pickup, others waiting in queue. There are awards from Madison Magazine for best tailor shop, Japanese knick-knacks and a framed photo of Shoko Narita, who had battled cancer for 31 years prior to her death at the age of 71.
Bill Cox, who has owned the building since 2000 and has had a neighboring key and trophy business for over 35 years, said he has leased the tailor shop space at 132 State St. for what will be a second location for Red Square Flowers. The floral shop was founded in Fitchburg in 2013 by Alina Poletskova, who then moved the shop to 333 W. Mifflin St. in 2015.
Cox said he initially wanted to offer a lease to King but the talks never materialized because King wasnt sure if she wanted to continue the business. That led to an agreement with Poletskova, who plans to open by June, Cox said.
Theyve been great (tenants). They always pay their rent, theyre quiet and very good people, Cox said of Marys Tailoring. I felt bad that they initially turned (the lease) down. I gave them every opportunity.
King, 60, and her husband, Wilkins King, said had they chose to stay at the current location, they would not have been able to afford the estimated $20,000 to $30,000 in improvements that are needed for the space. Its unclear when and where the Kings will reopen.
I prefer Downtown because most customers are from the area, said Ayumi King, who also makes custom-ordered dresses. Many customers are asking me where Im gong to be.
The tailor shops roots can be traced to the closing in 1984 of Martins, a mens clothing store at 427 State St., where Mary Toki was the head of the tailoring department. Marys Tailoring was initially located on West Dayton Street before moving to Capitol Square and ultimately to State Street.
The Toki name is well known in Madison. Mary Tokis husband, Akira Toki, was a decorated World War II veteran who farmed in the Madison area and later was an active volunteer at the Veterans Hospital. Toki Middle School was named in his honor in 1993. He died at the age of 96 in 2012, and she died two years later.
Over the years, Marys Tailoring customers have included state lawmakers, at least one state Supreme Court justice, CEOs, business owners and other Downtown residents. Henry Aschauer, 29, has been a customer for four years and owns Roast Public House and Forage Kitchen, both on State Street.
Its a good neighborhood institution, for sure, Aschauer said.
The shop has also had a front row to the construction of the Overture Center, the redevelopment of the block across the street, Act 10 protests, Halloween celebrations and Ironman competitions. A boutique hotel is planned a few doors away, while more residents continue to move to Downtown with the construction of more apartment buildings.
The closing marks the end of an era and the loss of a piece of retail history on a street in constant flux.
Its also the first time the business has had to turn away customers knowing the closing of the shop is nearing.
With this kind of business the work is never-ending, Ayumi King said. Thats why its weird that we have to stop.
A U.S. citizen wanted in Uzbekistan on suspicion of crimes related to terrorism has been detained in Georgia.
Georgia's Interior Ministry said on February 15 that a 39-year-old American citizen, identified only as L.K., was detained at the international airport in the capital of Georgia's Ajara autonomous region, Batumi.
The statement said that the U.S. citizen was detained on the request of Interpol's bureau in Tashkent. According to the ministry, the man is wanted in Uzbekistan for alleged terrorism, creation of a criminal group, "saboteur activities," and illegal ammunition possession.
The suspect's possible extradition to Uzbekistan is pending, it said.
Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.
But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown.
The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes dual-use technology.
The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case.
The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war.
At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products.
But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States.
A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers.
These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations.
To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components.
The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.
Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU.
"Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL.
In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24.
"Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
Chinese Cameras, California Chips
Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets.
Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media.
"The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019.
The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components.
One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone.
Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers.
Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military."
The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology.
Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone.
Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication.
Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone.
Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran."
"TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said.
Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions.
"This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes.
AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
'No Authorization'
Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).
The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia."
"As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. .
But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020.
The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries.
The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine.
BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward."
The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes.
"For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations."
BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines."
Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has told Washington's NATO allies that the United States will "moderate its commitment" to the alliance unless they boost their defense spending.
Mattis told NATO defense ministers gathered at NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 15 that U.S. taxpayers could no longer carry "a disproportionate share of the defense of Western values."
Mattis told the ministers that if their countries "do not want to see America moderate its commitment to this alliance," each of their capitals "need to show support for our common defense."
Earlier on February 15, Mattis said the NATO alliance "remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States and for all the transatlantic community."
"As President Trump has stated, he had strong support for NATO," Mattis told reporters in Brussels ahead of his meeting with NATO defense ministers -- his first since being sworn in on January 27 as the defense chief in President Donald Trump's cabinet.
NATO members have voiced concern about Trump's attitude toward the alliance, which he referred to as "obsolete" during the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign.
NATO allies have also expressed concerns about Trump's campaign statements suggesting he may take a softer approach toward Russia than his predecessor.
Trump has also criticized NATO members that fail to meet the alliance's defense spending target of 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP).
Mattis told reporters on February 15 that it was "a fair demand that all who benefit from the best defense in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary cost to defend freedom."
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen supported the U.S. position of February 15, telling reporters ahead of the NATO ministers meeting that it was a "question of fairness that we Europeans together also make an effort and the burden [of defense spending] is not too much on the Americans."
In 2014, the year Russia seized Crimea and backed separatists in a war that has since killed more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine, NATO leaders committed to halt defense spending cuts and move to raise their military budgets to 2 percent of GDP within a decade.
Twenty-four of the 28 members have stopped cutting defense spending. Stoltenberg has said the United States, Britain, Poland, Greece, and Estonia are "already meeting the 2 percent target," while Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania are getting close.
The ministers said they will also aim to send a clear signal of unity.
"I'm absolutely certain that the message of this meeting will be a message of transatlantic unity, of the importance of that we stand together and protect each other, and a very strong commitment of the United States to NATO," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists before the meeting.
The fight against terrorism, in particular against the extremist group Islamic State (IS), was also expected to be high on the agenda during the two-day meeting.
The ministers were set to decide to establish a coordination center in Naples, Italy, where intelligence from countries such as Libya, Syria, or Iraq would be analyzed.
"This will help us to coordinate information on crises...and help us address terrorism and other challenges stemming from the region," Stoltenberg said.
With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
WASHINGTON -- U.S. House Democrats are pushing forward with legislation to make sure Congress can block any effort President Donald Trump's administration might make to lift sanctions on Russia.
The House legislation, introduced on February 15, mirrors a measure put forth a week earlier by Republican and Democrats in the U.S. Senate.
The Russia Sanctions Review Act would make it harder for the White House to lift the asset freezes, visa bans, and other measures imposed during Barack Obama's presidency.
Those sanctions are aimed at punishing and pressuring Russia for its illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and the Kremlin's support for pro-Russia separatists who are battling Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.
Trump has signaled he wants better ties with Moscow.
Revelations about conversations in 2016 between Trump's aides and Russian officials have fueled concern in Congress that Trump may try to lift the sanctions.
Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives, insisted the measure had bipartisan support. However, there were no Republicans present at a February 15 news conference on the House bill.
The U.S. military said on February 14 that multiple Russian military aircraft buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea last week in "unsafe and unprofessional" maneuvers.
They were the first such incidents reported during the Trump administration. Russia denied that they occurred.
Captain Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for U.S. European Command, cited three separate incidents on February 10 involving Russian aircraft and the USS Porter. Two involved Russian Su-24 jets and a third involved a larger IL-38.
"USS Porter queried all aircraft and received no response," Hernandez said. "Such incidents are concerning because they can result in accident or miscalculation."
The incidents involving the Su-24 were considered to be "unsafe and unprofessional" by the commanding officer of the Porter because of their high speed and low altitude, while the IL-38 flew at an unusually low altitude, Hernandez said.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said "There were no incidents of any kind on February 10 related to flights by Russian military jets in the Black Sea near the U.S. Navy destroyer Porter."
U.S. and European authorities reported several similar encounters with Russian aircraft last year.
Based on reporting by Reuters, Washington Free Beacon, and TASS
A pioneering Uzbek banker who was widely seen as a political prisoner has been released after serving his 19-year sentence.
Relatives of Rustam Usmonov, 69, told RFE/RL on February 15 that he was released on February 13.
Kyrgyzstan-born Usmonov became the owner of Uzbekistan's first-ever private bank, Rustambank, in the wake of the 1991 collapse of the communist Soviet Union.
He was found guilty of extortion and illegal currency-exchange operations and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1998.
In 2012, his prison term was prolonged by five years for what the authorities said was "bad behavior while in custody."
He spent the last five years of his sentence in the infamous Jaslik prison in the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakistan.
Relatives and rights groups say Usmonov's imprisonment was politically motivated.
In November, organizations including Human Rights Watch and Freedom House called on the government of then-interim President Shavkat Mirziyaev to release him along with several other people they said were "imprisoned on politically motivated charges."
Activists have urged Mirziyaev, who was elected to a five-year term in December, to improve what they say is the tightly controlled Central Asian country's atrocious human rights record.
When schoolteacher Osman Ulasyar took steps to protect an ancient Buddhist site in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley in 2008, he was lucky to escape the brutal retribution of the Tehrik-e Taliban (Pakistani Taliban). The extremist group, in control of much of the region at the time, considered the site to be filled with "symbols of infidels." The militants have since been routed from the area, but Ulasyar's struggle to safeguard local history from thieves and developers continues.
WASHINGTON Republican Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois has a safe seat in Congress. So whats he running from?
First, supporters of the Affordable Care Act showed up at his office for a previously scheduled meeting with his staff. But the 16 of them were turned away when Roskam staffers discovered they were accompanied by a reporter, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Next, Roskam went to the Palatine Township Republican Organizations monthly meeting, billed as open to all. But organizers shut out the general public because of intense interest. With hundreds of protesters massed outside, Roskam left through a back door. Some people chased after his fleeing car. Then, Roskam announced he would hold a telephone town hall meeting instead. I have no plans to have one of these big, sort of circus meetings, he said, informing WGNs Rick Pearson that hes always thought those larger meetings are just not productive.
They certainly arent productive for Roskam and his fellow Republicans not now, anyway. An early backlash against the Trump presidency has led to many verbal confrontations between Republican lawmakers and the citizenry. President Trumps face plant since the inauguration most recently the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn over dealings with Russia is only making matters worse.
As recent town-hall meetings of GOP Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Tom McClintock of California, Gus Bilirakis of Florida, Diane Black of Tennessee and others turn into well-publicized tongue lashings, their colleagues are ducking and running.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-New York, canceled a constituent event in Southampton Village scheduled for April. His office told the Southampton Press they feared he would be harassed again by those who rallied at his recent appearance at a Rotary Club.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, was caught on video slipping out of his own community event last month before its scheduled ending time. Coffmans office told KUSA that the he had planned to have a series of one-on-one meetings, not a town-hall event. The result: Scores were still waiting for Coffman in the lobby when he left via an unmarked exit.
In California, McClintock left his town-hall meeting with a police escort. Its the first time Ive ever had a police department have to extract me from a town hall, and Ive done well over 100 of them, he told the Los Angeles Times.
The scene is reminiscent of the tea party summer of 2009, but the energy is on the other side this time. Now, as then, the victims say the perpetrators are outsiders Chaffetz said those who protested him included paid people from out of state, an echo of Nancy Pelosis claim of astroturfing but now, as then, the anger is real.
Trump has become increasingly toxic, with Flynns resignation and other Russia revelations, the travel ban struck down in court, chaos involving Obamacare, attacks on the federal judiciary and a series of bizarre pronouncements on everything from Ivanka Trumps fashion line to Frederick Douglass. The Washington Posts Sean Sullivan and Ed OKeefe found Republican members of Congress increasingly wary of defending Trump.
You cant make it up, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said after Trump was seen in Facebook photos making sensitive national security decisions in his Mar-a-Lago Clubs main dining area.
Trump canceled an event in Milwaukee because his would-be host, Harley-Davidson, feared protests. The White House just canceled a visit to Ohio that had been scheduled for Thursday. No reason was given, but protests had been planned.
Even congressional aides have felt demonstrators wrath. Staffers for Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue and Rep. Jody Hice, all Georgia Republicans, were met by hundreds of protesters last week in Greensboro, Georgia, for what was supposed to be a mobile office hours event to help constituents with bureaucratic matters.
And so others are retreating. A Feb. 21 town hall scheduled with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, at the Fairview City Hall was removed from the hosts website. Fairviews mayor told CNN the session would instead be a low-key gathering.
Rep. Chris Collins, R-New York, in response to a question from WGRZ television, declared he wouldnt have a town-hall meeting, because of demonstrators who come and shout you down and heckle you.
Then theres Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, whose office this week edited his Wikipedia entry to remove a recently added line claiming Tiberi has steadfastly refused to hold a town hall meeting to discuss health care reform with his constituents.
His office, confirming its role in the Wikipedia editing, said Tiberi is instead offering to meet with the protesters in small groups and in private.
Mekong restaurant at 6004 W. Broad St. has gotten another beer award - this time from the folks at Thrillist.com.
The West End Vietnamese restaurant with the incredible beer selection was named the "best beer bar in Virginia" by the site.
"A true beer bar obsesses over beer and caters to those who do the same. It cares about stuff like clean lines and proper glassware. It generally has a bunch of interesting beers on tap, but doesn't cheapen quality in a chase for sheer quantity."
Stroops Heroic Dogs the gourmet hot dog joint from the folks behind the award-winning restaurant Dutch & Company is in the process of rebranding or possibly even closing.
The restaurant posted about the changes on its Facebook page Monday, writing: While weve had a blast with the Stroops concept, it just wasnt cuttin the mustard. We are open to accepting emails if you are interested in our space (stroopsrva@gmail.com). But in the meantime, we thought wed change it up.
The restaurant wrote that handcrafted heroic dogs will not completely go away, but additions such as sandwiches, pastas ... and prepared meals to go may make their way onto the menu as early as this week or whenever the current inventory sells out.
Stroops opened in November 2015 at 2709 E. Marshall St. in Church Hill.
***
Ashland residents got a new restaurant last week with the opening of Pie Hole Pizza at 412 England St.
The restaurant is from Karen Verdisco, the woman behind Brew American Gastropub, which opened in 2013 in Chesterfield County.
At Pie Hole, diners can find Neapolitan-style pizza cooked in a brick oven, plus 24 taps largely dedicated to local craft beer.
There are nearly a dozen signature pizzas on the Pie Hole menu, such as spicy chorizo, fig and goat, and pancetta pesto. A few salads, desserts and small plates round out the menu. All pizzas are 12 inches and priced $10-$16.
Pie Hole Pizza is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
***
It looks like The Crazy Greek has found a new home. The owners recently signed a lease at 5905 W. Broad St. in the former Huynhs Restaurant location, just west of Libbie Avenue.
Owners Anna and Perry Pergiotis had a 20-year lease on the original location at 1903 Staples Mill Road, but closed it in October when the lease was up.
The original owners of The Crazy Greek took the Staples Mill location back and plan to open The Greek Taverna in that space.
***
Speaking of new restaurants, Kabob Place opened this month at 8906 W. Broad St. in the former Crustacean Boil N Grill space in the Golds Gym Plaza.
The restaurant serves Middle Eastern and Indian food and is now open for lunch and dinner daily.
***
The Hard Shell at 1411 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Slip has reopened after being closed for a five-week full renovation.
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The words from White House adviser Stephen Miller during Sundays Face the Nation program, in which he defended President Trumps dreadful executive orders on immigration, were straight out of The Idiots Guide to Authoritarianism: Our opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.
The executives power to implement immigration policy is indeed substantial. But should it be unquestioned? Of course not, especially when the policy runs hard up against constitutional protections. It is a fundamental principle of American democracy that the policies and statements of a president any president should and must be second-guessed by citizens, experts, artists, and, of course, the media. ...Political protest is part of the lifeblood of American democracy, from the Boston Tea Party to the modern-day tea party to the Womens March on Washington last month.
Millers comment should have sent a chill down the spines of civil libertarians across the political spectrum. And its not out of tone with what others in the administration are saying. ... Trump strategist Stephen Bannon, for instance, called the media the opposition party. Trump himself tweeted nastily about a judge after a ruling didnt go his way, and he has sought to delegitimize news reporting about his administration by shouting fake news when he reads articles he doesnt agree with.
Legislatures in 10 states are contemplating laws aimed at squelching public protests. One law in Indiana would require police to use any means necessary to clear protesters blocking a road. Another in North Dakota site of the Dakota Access pipeline showdown would exonerate any motorist who, while exercising reasonable care, kills or injures a protester who is intentionally obstructing vehicular traffic.
A Virginia law would increase the penalty for failing to disperse from a $500 fine to $2,500 and up to a year in jail. A proposed Michigan law which died in the last legislative session but could be reintroduced would authorize fines of $1,000 a day for individuals and $1,500 for unions if they hinder or prevent by mass picketing access to a business or private home....
Of course, protesters shouldnt damage property or interfere with traffic, but laws already exist to penalize such behavior. Making them harsher and imprisoning people for political expression are the actions of a government afraid of its people, not of a mature democratic government. ...Trump and his acolytes need to be reminded of that.
A man died after being stabbed in the chest during a fight with another man, who police arrested, Tuesday in South Richmond.
David Jones, 40, of the 1400 block of Clarkson Drive, was found in a breezeway of an apartment building in the same block where he lived.
Police were called shortly after 6:30 p.m. to the 1400 block of Clarkson Road, off Warwick Road, where a fight had reportedly broken out.
Jones was taken to Chippenham Hospital, where he died at 9:36 p.m., police said.
Devell L. Carson, 36, of the 2400 block of Whitcomb Street, was arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter.
Officials in Richmond attributed a delay last week in residential trash collection to an issue with the temporary workers the city has for years relied on to staff refuse trucks.
Sharon North, a spokeswoman for the citys Department of Public Works, said the agency that had been providing the workers to the city decided it could no longer do so.
Facing a decision of bringing on new employees from a different staffing firm or bringing the temporary employees in-house, the city opted for the latter something temporary employees had pushed for during a half-day strike in the summer of 2015.
The delay came into play when the temporary workers were being processed as city employees on Monday of last week, said John Buturla, the citys deputy chief administrative officer for operations.
Buturla, addressing the City Council on Monday, apologized for not notifying the public about the delay.
We had to take them off the trucks in order to process them, and it snowballed, he said. We should have let citizens know.
North characterized the agencys decision as a business one tied to the companys insurance coverage. Because solid waste collection is considered a very dangerous job, she said.
North said the city is hiring about 45 employees as refuse collectors who had previously worked for the temp agency, though it will continue to use about 30 temporary employees as well.
In the past, officials have said they rely on temporary workers because the work is difficult and its hard for the city to find employees who want to do it and stick with it.
"We have been working to better understand the facts of these situations and, importantly, both the intent and impact of these events on members of our community," the provost says.
A federal judge on Friday ordered that a Charlottesville man convicted in a $10.5 million bank fraud case be taken into custody.
Magistrate Judge David J. Novak made the decision, which was later affirmed by U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, after a federal prosecutor said the defendant was a flight risk because he had been in negotiations to buy a multi-million-dollar airplane.
Michael P. Klekamp, 68, sat down in his chair and shook his head after Novak announced he was revoking the convicts bond.
Klekamp pleaded guilty on Dec. 9 to defrauding the Fauquier Bank, causing a $10.5 million loss. He had been released on bond as he awaited sentencing next month in the case, an arrangement that initially raised no objections from federal prosecutors.
But David T. Maguire, an assistant U.S. attorney, urged Novak to revoke that bond during Fridays court hearing. Maguire laid out a case in court where Klekamp tried to purchase the aircraft for no more than $4 million using a Washington, D.C. airplane broker.
There are new circumstances that scream out that say he is a risk of flight, Maguire said.
FBI Special Agent Jane Collins testified that she received an email Feb. 6 from officials at a complaint line that the bureau maintains. That email summarized a complaint from a Washington-based plane broker who told federal law enforcement officials that he had been in contact with Klekamp about him buying the plane, which is located in Dallas, Collins said.
Negotiations over the plane had cooled down for a period of time before Klekamp contacted the broker again on Feb. 2, Collins said. A federal probation officer, Diane Moczydlowski, testified that she had received a call from Klekamps wife saying he was distraught and had suicidal thoughts over the possibility of going to prison and worried about his safety while incarcerated.
Maguire had argued in court papers that Klekamps attempts to buy the plane amounted to an attempt to obtain property by false pretenses since he had nowhere near $4 million in assets, is unemployed and is likely going to jail over the bank fraud.
Maguire told Judge Novak that Klekamps actions constituted wire fraud and demonstrated he was a danger to the community, but the judge rejected those arguments. The federal magistrate was more swayed by Maguires argument that Klekamp might flee if he wasnt taken into custody.
Novak asked Klekamps attorney, Paul G. Gill, what his client was planning to do with the aircraft.
Why else buy the airplane if not flight? the magistrate asked Gill.
Gill explained during the court hearing that his client has long had an interest in airplanes. The defense attorney dismissed as pure folly any notion that securing an aircraft would be the most efficient way to flee authorities.
Under questioning by the defense attorneys, federal witnesses acknowledged they had no evidence that Klekamp is a pilot or that he put down any money for the airplane.
In court documents, Gill wrote that emails the government relied on for its case indicated he met the airplane broker in Charlottesville in August, months before he first appeared in court.
Court records show Klekamp was the president of Capitol Components and Millwork Inc. of Culpeper, which manufactured and distributed building material for mid- to high-end residential and commercial buildings.
The company drew money from a secured revolving line of credit at Fauquier Bank. In pleading guilty, Klekamp admitted fraudulently maintaining the credit line by misrepresenting the true financial condition of his company and lying to the bank about the true value of the firms collateral.
On Oct. 25, 2015, Klekamp told the bank that there was approximately $17 million of total accounts receivable and inventory to secure the banks $11.5 million credit line, while there was actually no more than $3.4 million of total accounts receivable and inventory.
The company was not able to repay the interest or principal amount of the loan, resulting in a loss of approximately $10.5 million as a result of the scheme.
Klekamp is expected to be sentenced on March 24 by Hudson.
A man who was shot and wounded after opening fire on law enforcement as he charged out of a Greensville County home is now facing a number of a charges, including five counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer, Virginia State Police said Wednesday.
Anthony Dangelo Wilkins, 33, of Emporia, also is charged with five counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
State troopers, Emporia police and Greensville County deputies went to the home Sunday night while looking for a suspect in a shooting in neighboring Emporia. Wilkins, who had a gun in each hand, began firing as he came out the front door and officers returned fire, wounding him, state police said.
He was flown to VCU Medical Center, where he is being treated for serious injuries, state police said.
A Henrico County man was among 11 arrested as part of a cyber sting in which Spotsylvania County Sheriffs Office investigators posed as underage teenage girls on chat websites.
Most of the men arrested, unaware that they were communicating with undercover officers, thought they were going to have a sexual encounter with a child, the sheriffs office said.
Those swept up in the operation were arrested between October and earlier this month and were charged with indecent liberties and electronic solicitation of a minor, authorities said. They are:
Reginal Linwood Johnson, 64, of Henrico;
Stephen Lewis Redford, 27, of Amelia County;
Howard Daniel Dowden, 32, of Caroline County;
Jon-Paul Patterson Snyder, 31, of Caroline;
Mohammed Wail Nuri, 20, of Spotsylvania;
Thomas Wayne Petry, 28, of Spotsylvania;
Michael Wade Miller, 62, of Spotsylvania;
Austin Thomas Fowler, 26, of Stafford County;
Michael Allen Silver, 20, no fixed address;
Gabriel Allen Hester, 33, of Caroline, who also is facing a charge of felony prostitution; and
Colin Wade Clayton, 21, of Spotsylvania, who also was charged with possession of marijuana and driving on a revoked license.
Nine men showed up at locations in Spotsylvania thinking they were picking up a 13-year-old girl and were arrested on site by investigators, Spotsylvania Capt. Elizabeth Scott said in a Tuesday news conference. Two suspects did not show up to predetermined locations where the stings occurred, and investigators sought warrants to pick them up.
The FBI assisted Spotsylvania investigators in arresting Johnson at his Henrico home, said Dee Rybiski, an FBI spokeswoman. He was booked Feb. 7 at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, according to VINELink.
Scott did not identify the other suspect who did not show up at the meeting spot.
Johnson has been working part-time for the last four months as a custodian picking up trash at Richmond's Grove Christian School, said The Rev. Ken Winter, a senior associate pastor at Grove Church. That's a Southern Baptist church in the city's West End that houses the K-12 religious school.
Johnson was employed by a contractor that provides janitorial services for the school, Winter said, adding that the contractor has said Johnson cleared a background check prior to starting work.
The pastor said Johnson typically started work around 4:30 p.m. after classes had already ended, and that the church is not aware of any complaints regarding Johnson and the students.
"To the best of our knowledge, he never had any contact with children or students at Grove," Winter said.
The Spotsylvania operation was paid for using funds awarded by the Virginia State Police. The money pays for overtime, training and equipment, the sheriffs office said.
I think we could probably continue doing this and make 11 more arrests, Scott said. And I know that doesnt sit well with parents at home, but thats why its incredibly important to know what sites your children are going onto and whom theyre talking to.
By the 2018-19 school year, thousands of Chesterfield County school students will be going to school at a different time.
School Board members unanimously signed off Tuesday on a plan pitched last week to alter school start times. All 11 high schools and the majority of elementary schools will see later start times, and class will begin earlier for seven of the 12 middle schools.
The change pushes back some of the earliest high school start times in the state, an idea Chesterfield school leaders have tossed around for years.
Currently, Chesterfield high schools and some middle schools start earliest, at 7:20 a.m. Then a second group of middle schools and some elementary schools begin class at 8:25 a.m., while bells of the remaining elementary schools ring at 9:15 a.m.
Under the approved plan, high schools would start 70 minutes later, at 8:30 a.m. Seven of the countys 12 middle schools would start 50 minutes earlier, at 7:35 a.m., while five others would see virtually no change. Bell starts at elementary schools are broken into three groups, causing 30 of the 38 schools to start later.
The plan received a mix of responses from a dozen speakers Tuesday, a slice of the more than 10,000 responses school leaders said they received overall.
Teachers, school staff members and parents were mostly split between supporting pushing back high school start times for safety and health reasons and opposing later start times for some elementary schools. Critics pointed to how the change would affect when parents could get to their jobs, and the later hour in which more elementary school students would be learning more rigorous material.
This is not a perfect solution, School Board Chairman Javaid Siddiqi said. The target has always been addressing high school start times. ... This is definitely a move in the right direction ... a big step for a belabored conversation.
School leaders hope to purchase enough buses over the next 10 years to create a system where all students could start school after 8:30 a.m.
Superintendent James Lane said the fact that high schoolers drive more than middle schoolers was one of the biggest reasons why some middle schools are starting earlier and high schools later.
With the crash statistics that Ive seen since I came here, that certainly drove a lot of my thinking, Lane said.
The approved plan shaves millions off of previous proposals. School Board member John Erbach commended Lane for finding a plan that reduced the cost, one of the biggest causes of school leaders opposition to previous proposals.
The lower tab stems mainly from spreading elementary school bus runs over three groups of bell starts, rather than two. The plan also would lengthen the overall time that bus drivers spend on routes.
About 30 new buses will be needed, causing about $4.1 million in first-year costs and $1.9 million in annual expenses. About $2.6 million would be needed to purchase the 30 new buses. In the next school year, $500,000 could be put toward improving bus drivers salaries to recruit more drivers, which would become an annual expense. An additional $1.4 million in annual expenses would be needed to operate the extra buses.
Chesterfield is one of three localities in Virginia that have high schools starting at 7:20 a.m., Dr. Suzanne Mazzeo of Virginia Commonwealth University recently told school leaders. No other locality in the state starts earlier, the sleep specialist has said.
An analysis by the American Academy of Pediatrics helped revive the countys discussion over school start times. That study formally recommended that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., and was based on the growing body of research that shows the benefits of later starts and the risks of early ones.
In addition to improved grades, research suggests that teen car crashes and tardiness are reduced with high school start times of 8:30 a.m. or later.
Also on Tuesday, five school employees commented on the proposed budget. Three of the speakers pleaded for raises above the 2 percent salary increase Lane has proposed for 7,400 full-time employees. Another employee urged School Board members to not change the benefits of the supplemental retirement program.
The United States has long been a leader in medical technology innovation and discovery, and Wisconsin has been a leading state in medical breakthroughs and medical device manufacturing.
Unfortunately, we have tax policies, including the medical device tax, that have stifled innovation and job creation, putting our research and technological leadership at risk.
Fortunately, lawmakers such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, have long understood the negative consequences of such policies on medical innovation, jobs and the U.S. economy.
The U.S. medical device tax, implemented in 2013, is a burdensome 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers. Thanks to Speaker Ryan, Kind, Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, and others, this tax was temporarily suspended in late 2015 with strong bipartisan support.
The temporary two-year suspension of the tax has given medical technology companies including GE Healthcare and dozens of other large and small medical technology manufacturers in Wisconsin opportunities to redirect their savings into research and development, their employees and communities.
According to Jay Hill, general manager of imaging technology for GE Healthcare, his company has been able to grow its servicing hub in Oak Creek and improve its lab in Waukesha, which attracts young people to advanced manufacturing. He attributes this directly to suspension of the medical device tax.
The economic and human impact of medical innovation is hard to overstate. The medical device industry is an important and thriving sector in the U.S. economy, creating jobs in all 50 states and representing a sizable portion of the nations economic output. Here in Wisconsin, the medical device industry contributes about $8.9 billion to the states economy and is responsible (directly and indirectly) for more than 48,000 high-quality, well-paying jobs.
The industry is proof that fostering innovation can lead to positive outcomes. Yet without permanent repeal of the device tax, uncertainty looms. This tax, if it isnt stopped again, would inhibit life-changing innovations while weakening job creation and economic growth.
Research and development require significant capital investments over many years. And that impacts every aspect of a companys innovation cycle, from workforce retention and job creation to employee compensation and benefits, facility expansion and the medical device pipeline itself.
There are ripple effects as well, because medical innovation supports collaboration with universities, independent institutions and medical centers.
The two-year suspension of the device tax was a good start. Also encouraging is congressional approval of the 21st Century Cures Act, which will improve the innovation ecosystem and accelerate breakthroughs.
Full repeal of the device tax is the next logical step.
Andrew Joseph Drew Gillespie III, 71, a former Richmond vice mayor, city councilman and accomplished mechanical engineer for Philip Morris USA, died Feb. 7 of cardiac arrest, after battling health problems in recent years.
Family members remember him as a Renaissance man and described him in his obituary as an engineer, writer, leader, civic activist, artist, woodworker, chef, athlete, storyteller, speaker, tutor and mentor. He lived in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., during his retirement.
My dad never did anything halfway, said Beverly Finnen, one of his three daughters.
Whether it was earning 23 patents for his machine designs as a mechanical engineer for Phillip Morris, cheering on his daughters when they competed in school athletics or staying up through the night helping with a school project, Finnen said her father honed in on whatever he was doing and was a patient family man and dedicated community leader.
He invested himself in everyone he met, she said.
Mr. Gillespie began serving on the Richmond City Council and became vice mayor in 1982, representing the citys 4th District. He ended his political career as a City Council member in 1988 despite pleas by some for him to continue in politics.
On the City Council, Mr. Gillespie fought for infrastructure improvements to battle flooding issues at Reedy Creek and adamantly pushed for an increase in police patrols.
Im sure (police) are doing the best they can do. What concerns me is that they dont have enough people. Theres only one place to get them (for special assignments), and thats off the beats, Mr. Gillespie was quoted as saying in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in October 1985. If they get down to a bare-bones situation, which I think we are, the beats will go uncovered.
A month later, he continued that plea for more officers, referencing a TV news crew being fired upon in Richmond while taping a series on crime.
There are people dying every day. ... I guess everybody saw the report on TV when the reporters were actually fired on. It looked like something out of Vietnam, Mr. Gillespie said, as reported by The Times-Dispatch.
At one point, in August 1985, he begged for the city manager to please, please make police officers a budgeting priority, The Richmond News Leader reported.
Finnen said her father made friends easily and was sometimes long-winded.
He opined on a wide range of subjects in news articles, including in a 1986 column in The News Leader in which he discussed his excitement for Cheerwine coming to Richmond.
When I talked to Gillespie yesterday, he had not heard the news about Cheerwines arrival in Richmond. He reacted like a man who had just found a $100 bill on the floor of a telephone booth, columnist Steve Clark wrote.
Terrific! Mr. Gillespie said to Clark. That means I wont have to smuggle it across the border every time I come back from a visit to Salisbury.
Mr. Gillespie graduated from North Carolina State University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He worked at Philip Morris until his retirement in 2004.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Gillespie is survived by his wife, Gigi Marie Gillespie; two other daughters, Elizabeth Wetmore and Sarah Levine; a stepdaughter, Emily Laughery; a stepson, Chad Laughery; and nine grandchildren.
Virginia gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello apologized Wednesday after video surfaced of the former Democratic congressman comparing President Donald Trumps victory to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The election of Donald Trump was a little bit like, you know, a political and constitutional September 11 for us, if I can be honest, Perriello said in a video circulated on state conservative blog Bearing Drift and other right-leaning news outlets. Perriello made the remark Friday at a campaign event in Nelson County.
The nine-second video clip was uploaded to a YouTube account that appears to focus on opposition research against Democratic governors.
Perriello, who has said he was inspired to run largely to combat Trump, quickly apologized for the comment. Still, the analogy drew bipartisan condemnation from Republicans and Perriellos Democratic primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam.
Those are certainly not the words I would use, and I think the analogy is awful and offensive, Northam said in a written statement from his campaign. However, Donald Trumps first month is proof his policies will hurt Virginias families. From the outrageous Muslim ban to his promise to defund Planned Parenthood and attacks on womens reproductive rights, his administration has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.
The two Democrats had largely avoided criticizing one another, but Northams response Wednesday is another signal the lieutenant governor is prepared to crank up the heat on Perriello.
Republican Party of Virginia Chairman John Whitbeck said Perriellos comment shows Democrats have become unhinged, over Trump, and denunciations from GOP gubernatorial contenders came fast and furious.
#DopeyTom is at it again. Always putting his foot in his mouth, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said on Twitter.
This statement could only be made by someone without any perspective grounded in loss and sacrifice for our great nation, distillery owner Denver Riggleman said in a written statement.
To compare democratically elected Donald Trumps election to the mass murder of 3,000 Americans by terrorists is absurd, said state Sen. Frank W. Wagner, R-Virginia Beach.
Tom Perriellos 9/11 comparison is offensive, Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and the front-runner in the GOP primary, said on Twitter. His calculated outrage is becoming increasingly outrageous.
I apologized for my comment, Perriello tweeted in response to Gillespie. Still waiting on your apology for supporting Trumps immoral and unconstitutional Muslim ban.
Perriello, a Charlottesville native who represented the central 5th congressional District for one term before losing his first re-election bid in 2010, joined the Virginia governors race unexpectedly last month after working as a U.S. State Department diplomat under the Obama administration.
Perriello has pitched himself as a bold option for progressives who want to make Virginia a firewall against Trump.
Northam, a former state senator and pediatric surgeon backed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the Democratic establishment, is running as the steady hand while trying to establish anti-Trump bonafides.
A 16-year-old Culpeper youth was charged with failing to keep his vehicle on the right side of the road after he lost control and collided with a Culpeper County school bus Wednesday morning, state police said.
According to Sgt. Les Tyler of the Virginia State Police, the teen was driving a 1999 Honda Accord east on Black Hill Road in the Jeffersonton area (State Route 626) when he ran off the road, over-corrected, came back onto the road and struck the bus, which was heading west.
The accident involving bus No. 71 occurred around 7 a.m. about one-tenth of a mile west of State Route 229, according to the school system.
The driver of the Honda was transported to Fauquier Hospital. The extent of his injuries was not available.
The bus driver and the 29 students on board were not injured, Tyler said.
No students needed medical attention at the scene, according to the school system. Students were loaded on another bus and taken to school, where they were checked by the nurses and parents were notified.
Gov. Scott Walker sent a strong message to young people in his recent budget address, but he left out one important detail.
Citing research by the Brookings Institution, the Republican governor urged teenagers to follow three rules for success.
Graduate from school, get a job and wait until youre 21 and married to have a child, the governor said. Research shows that those who do so are overwhelmingly more likely to succeed.
Hes right. And state Rep. Amanda Stuck, D-Appleton, was wrong to overreact.
Stuck demanded the governor apologize to successful single and unmarried parents for his closed-minded remark. Stuck said she became a single parent at 19, then went on to finish school and today is married with two children.
As a proud former single mother who has raised children through thick and thin, I am insulted that the governor thinks that only married parents can successfully raise children, she said. The road to success takes many forms, often with twists and turns along the way.
Indeed it does. But the governor never said only married couples can succeed as parents. He merely cited extensive studies showing they succeed at much higher rates. Only 2 percent of Americans who earn high school diplomas, get a job and wait until theyre 21 and married to have children fall into poverty, according to Brookings researchers Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill. And close to 75 percent are in the middle class.
The governor has proposed spending $1 million in his state budget to publicize these and related statistics, called the Success Sequence. He also wants to incorporate the information into school curriculums.
Encouraging young people to study, work and make responsible choices about sex is important. But a strong abstinence message must be coupled with education and access to contraception.
Thats where the Republican governor fell short.
The same Brookings researchers cite birth control as key to avoiding unwanted pregnancy. Diffusion of birth control has dramatically improved womens academic, professional and financial success, according to Brookings. And 95 percent of unplanned pregnancies occur when birth control isnt used consistently or at all.
The governor and his Republican colleagues too often ignore or discourage birth control education and distribution, Stuck correctly noted.
He has cut funding to organizations providing health care services for women, she said, and signed legislation repealing comprehensive sex education in our schools.
For more young people to succeed, Wisconsin needs tighter families, strong schools and accurate information about sexuality so teens make good decisions about their futures.
That will require more than some numbers and a slogan. But sharing a positive message in a powerful way will surely help.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited President Donald Trump in Florida. While the two convened, North Korea launched a missile that landed in the waters between Korea and Japan. The missile presumably was capable of carrying a nuclear payload. Trump emphatically stated his support for Americas Japanese allies. He said the right things.
The U.S. and others have been contending with North Koreas nuclear ambitions for many years. The Bush and Obama administrations failed to restrain Pyongyang. Although reports depict a Communist Korea in dire straits, diplomacy with the communists always has been doomed. Deterrence must rely on massive retaliation. A Korean strike must invite Koreas annihilation, the communists need to know.
The struggle against ISIS and Islamic terrorism has dominated the Trump administrations opening days. East Asia also is hot. Trump created a stir when he cuddled up to Taiwan. He subsequently reiterated his support for the traditional policy of one China that has typified Sino-American relations through successive presidencies. Ronald Reagan confronted a similar dilemma. American conservatives long have preferred Taiwan to the Mainland, and have been right to. The Republic of China remains superior in every regard to Red China. Old China hands know this. The reputation of Chiang Kai-shek, the Generalissimo, continues to wax while the reputation of Mao Zedong continues to wane.
Carol Schall and Mary Townley, one of the two couples who were plaintiffs in the Virginia lawsuit that led to legal gay marriage, visited the Capitol on Tuesday to mark the three-year anniversary of the U.S. District Court ruling.
Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen in February 2014 ruled Virginias ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Her ruling was upheld on appeal.
The couple, of Chesterfield County, joined lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam for a news conference.
That was a historic moment in Virginia when we proclaimed that equality means everyone, and were here today to celebrate that moment, Schall said. On that great day, we won a very simple right. The right to call our families by their legal names. Names matter names like mom and wife make all the difference in the world.
Virginians in 2006 approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Del. Mark D. Sickles, D-Fairfax, is among lawmakers who have filed legislation to strike that now-unconstitutional language.
Republicans who control the General Assembly, however, have not advanced the legislation.
Sickles said the cultural norm of 2006 shouldnt forever remain Virginias law.
All we need is a vote, he said. We need to get it before the whole House of Delegates and vote yea or nay.
Richmonds list of streets that evoke vivid images is impressively long. Consider Monument Avenue, with its stately mansions rising above the statuary and the tree-lined median. Or Riverside Drive, with its bluffs-edge vistas of the James River. Or East Grace Street in Church Hill, with its rows of elegantly understated, antebellum homes.
Pope Avenue, which meanders in appealing curves through the northwestern corner of the Bellevue neighborhood in Richmonds North Side, might not spring as readily to mind, but it should. At some point, you might even have done a double take as you drove past it. If youre traveling on Hermitage Road, its easy to spot. A large granite arch rises above it with the word Bellevue chiseled into its crown.
Nearly 50 years ago, Rob Snowden, who was studying at Virginia Commonwealth University, made a point to drive under the arch on his way to shop at Azalea Mall.
I would drive through the arch because it was cool, Snowden said.
In fact, driving under the arch introduced Snowden to Pope Avenue and its attractive mix of Craftsman, Tudor, Colonial and Mediterranean revival-style homes, and he fell in love with the idea of owning a house there. He had to wait a while, but he and his wife, Kathy Snowden, bought a large Craftsman with deep, overhanging eaves on Pope Avenue in 1996.
Moving in here was like a goal attained, Snowden said.
The arch, it turned out, was a pretty good marketing tool, and it has been for a long time.
The Bellevue arch was erected in 1894 to serve as an eye-catching entryway to one of the idyllic suburban communities that Richmond businessman Lewis Ginter and his business partner, John Pope, had planned to develop on farmland that was then in Henrico County.
Ginter, Richmonds wealthiest resident, had made his fortune in tobacco, and Pope was his protege, serving as first vice president of Ginters American Tobacco Company as well as playing leadership roles in Ginters other business interests.
Ginter molded him into a leading capitalist devoted to Richmonds prosperity, development and image, said Brian Burns, author of Lewis Ginter: Richmonds Gilded Age Icon.
Among Ginter and Popes land purchases was the tract that would eventually become a part of todays Bellevue neighborhood.
They werent the only ones branching into suburban developments in the late 1800s. Several prominent businessmen bought tracts in northern Henrico, hoping to capitalize on the growing demand for residential communities that didnt have the problems associated with cramped, often unsanitary city conditions.
However, the Panic of 1893, which triggered a nationwide economic depression, brought a sudden halt to residential construction, and Ginter and Popes plans for the Bellevue tract as well as others were delayed. They installed the granite arch and laid out roads, including present-day Pope Avenue, but they didnt put individual lots on the market, Burns said. (The granite for the arch probably came from Ginters quarry near the intersection of Lakeside Avenue and Oakwood Lane, he added.)
Other serious setbacks followed in the wake of the economic depression. Pope died in 1896 at the age of 39 from a throat infection, and Ginter, grief-stricken by his proteges death, died the following year at the age of 73.
Nearly a decade passed before Popes brother, George Pope, laid out half-acre and larger lots for the Bellevue tract and began advertising them as part of the Bellevue Park subdivision. (George Popes plans called for portions of present-day Princeton Road to be a park along the subdivisions northern boundary.) He also named Pope Avenue in honor of his brother.
In an ad from 1906, it was called John Pope Avenue, Burns said. It later got abbreviated.
Still, the development failed to get traction until Popes sister, who had inherited the land after George Popes death, sold it to two brothers, J. Lee Davis and C.W. Davis, in 1919. The brothers company, Davis Brothers Inc., built homes throughout the city beginning in the 1910s, and they played a major role in Richmonds postwar expansion.
In the meantime, construction on another Ginter-and-Pope project, Ginter Park, had begun in earnest in 1906, and it became central Virginias first master-planned, suburban community.
In the midst of the citys postwar housing boom, Davis Brothers built houses steadily along Pope Avenue throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, by which time it was nearly built out. (Today, the street has approximately 25 houses.) Its eclectic aesthetic reflects the eras interest in a variety of architectural styles, including European ones such as Tudor and Mediterranean revivals.
Its like a drive through Hollywood, said Joan Peaslee, a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway PenFed HomeServices Realty.
The streets expansive houses (the largest is 4,091 square feet, according to tax records) along with the large lot sizes (the largest is 1 acre, according to tax records) have proved to be perennially popular among homebuyers.
Houses on Pope Avenue dont come on the market often, but when they do, theyre bought instantly, Peaslee said. People like to move up in Bellevue, and Pope Avenue is the street in Bellevue.
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Authorities said a man in Washington state typed out a text message about a plan to hire someone to kill his wife and their 4-year-old daughter but it was mistakenly sent to his former boss, not a hit man.
Jeffery Scott Lytle, 42, was arrested early last week in Monroe, Washington, on suspicion of planning a murder-for-hire after Snohomish County sheriff's deputies were alerted to a chilling text message sent from Lytle's phone and addressed to someone named "Shayne." But the message, which detailed Lytle's apparent intent to have his family killed, was erroneously sent to his former boss, police said.
"Hey Shayne hows it going," Lytle wrote, according to a probable cause statement. "You remember you said that you would help me kill my wife. I'm going to take you up on that offer."
It's not clear whether Lytle has an attorney.
Lytle wrote in the text message that he would split his wife's life insurance payout, which he said was worth $1 million. If the hit man wanted a bonus, Lytle wrote, he could also kill the 4-year-old girl, whose policy was worth $500,000.
"I go to work 5 in the morning," Lytle wrote, according to court records. He reportedly added that his wife "goes to work at 2:00pm so if you can make a robbery gone wrong or make it a accident she works at walmart she gets off at 11:00."
"I'll split everything with the insurance 50/50," he said.
Lytle was arrested last week and charged with two counts of felony criminal solicitation for the crime of murder in the first degree, according to the court records.
Authorities said Lytle first denied communicating with anyone about a plan to kill his wife and child but later admitted that he had written the message as a way to "vent" during an argument he had with his wife about his talking with another woman, according to the court documents. He told investigators that he had saved the message on his phone and that his daughter must have sent it, police said.
Lytle also denied knowing anyone named "Shayne," saying it was "just a name" he used when he wanted to "vent," according to the court documents.
He told police that he often expresses his frustrations in text messages and then deletes them but had no intention of hurting his wife and daughter.
Debbie Willis, a public information officer for the Monroe Police Department, which is investigating the incident, said Tuesday that investigators have not found an insurance policy on anybody in the family.
She said they are still waiting to serve a search warrant on Lytle's cellphone.
German Ellano, who CBS affiliate KIRO identified as Lytle's roommate, told the news station that the text message could have been a misunderstanding, saying, "He's not going to do something like that."
According to the probable cause statement:
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A person is guilty of criminal solicitation when, with intent to promote or facilitate the commission of a crime, he or she offers to give or gives money or other thing of value to another to engage in specific conduct which would constitute such crime or which would establish complicity of such other person in its commission or attempted commission had such crime been attempted or committed.
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It states that Lytle "admits to authoring a text communication to which appears to be to another person with the intent to facilitate the killing of his wife and daughter for financial gain."
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
RICHMOND A state senator spoke out Tuesday against what he said is an obvious conflict of interest as legislation intended to address the cost of higher education continues to stall in the General Assembly.
Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, objected when the Senate higher education subcommittee advanced a bill to the full committee with the understanding it would then be referred to Senate Finance, where a half-dozen other proposals related to tuition charges have died.
The committee is co-chaired by Sen. Thomas Norment, R-James City, who is on the faculty of the College of William and Mary.
Thats an obvious conflict of interest if you have someone whos an employee of an institution who is going to sit in judgment on all these tuition bills, Petersen said after the meeting.
Norment did not return a call seeking comment.
Meanwhile, Senate-approved legislation to provide consumer protection to student borrowers was rejected by the House Commerce and Labor Committee. The legislation (SB 1053), sponsored by Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, was known as the Student Loan Borrowers Bill of Rights.
The bill would have required that student loan providers doing business in Virginia be licensed by the State Corporation Commissions Bureau of Financial Institutions.
It was supported by the McAuliffe administration and by student advocacy groups, including Virginia21.
Student debt is an issue that transcends politics and must be addressed, Tim Cywinski, Virginia21 communications director, said by email after the vote. He said the group will work with members from both parties to pass similar legislation next year.
The bill before the Senate subcommittee (HB 1410), by Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, would require that schools with out-of-state enrollment exceeding 30 percent use a portion of that tuition revenue to lower the cost for in-state students. W&M and the University of Virginia are the targets of the bill.
I dont know why its going to Finance, Petersen objected when the panels chairman, Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, said the bill was headed to the Finance Committee.
Well, its going to Finance when you start messing around with out-of-state numbers, responded Saslaw, who said the General Assembly did not need to micromanage universities.
Saslaw also is a member of the Finance Committee, which last month tabled proposals that were intended to put limits on tuition and on the autonomy of governing boards.
Among them was a proposal by Petersen (SB 1379) that would have required a portion of budget surpluses to be used to reduce in-state tuition.
Also killed in Finance were several bills each by Sens. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, and Glen Sturtevant, R-Richmond, that they had promoted at a news conference at the start of the session.
We havent had a single, substantive bill on tuition reform come to the floor not one, Petersen said. Every single one goes to Senate Finance and it dies.
RICHMOND While first-term Congressman Tom Garrett, who represents part of the Lynchburg and Roanoke areas, hosted his second online question-and-answer session this week, veteran Rep. Bob Goodlatte hasnt responded to demands from constituents who want to meet him in person, according to an organizer.
Pressure on representatives to hold town hall meetings is rising since Republican President Donald Trump took office along with a GOP-controlled Congress, according to news reports nationally. Some elected officials who have held such meetings have faced hostile crowds.
A national group called Indivisible, with chapters in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, has led part of the effort. While the 6th Districts Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, and 5th Districts Garrett, R-Buckingham, offer opportunities to communicate online or by phone, some constituents say those options act more as doors than windows.
Roanoke Indivisible claims Goodlatte has not scheduled an in-person town hall meeting since 2013.
So, we did it for him, reads a Facebook event announcing a town hall the group has scheduled in Vinton on Feb. 22. Roanoke Indivisible has invited Goodlatte and his staff.
Goodlattes website, meanwhile, offers a sign-up form for constituents to participate in telephone town halls he holds. Since 2012, Goodlatte has hosted 24 town hall meetings by telephone with nearly 189,000 constituents, an aide said in an email.
Besides the Roanoke Indivisible town hall invitation, at least two petitions circulating this week seek town hall-style meetings with Goodlatte. About 100 people visited Goodlattes Lynchburg office Tuesday with Valentines Day cards protesting Trumps and Goodlattes immigration policies as well delivering a 300-signature petition asking for a town hall meeting in Lynchburg, according to organizer Phil Stump.
An online petition out of Harrisonburg Indivisible requests Goodlatte hold a meeting by April 8 in Roanoke, Lynchburg or Harrisonburg, and had at least 380 signatures Tuesday evening.
Kala Melchiori, a James Madison University assistant professor of psychology, said she started the online petition after repeatedly contacting Goodlattes office about actions by the Trump administration and hearing nothing directly from her congressman. Melchiori left messages with aides asking Goodlatte to appear in person, she said.
I dont know if he will ever respond to these requests. It sounds like he hasnt talked directly to his constituents in an open forum like this since 2013, Melchiori said. Its frustrating that he is our representative, yet the lines of communication seem to have a lot of barriers.
In response to the online petition, spokeswoman Beth Breeding emailed a statement from Goodlatte. I meet regularly with groups or individuals who have requested appointments, attend community events, and correspond with constituents who have contacted my office via phone, email, postal mail, and social media, Goodlatte said in the statement. In addition, I host telephone town hall calls that allow me to reach thousands of people at once and take questions from callers as they listen. I appreciate the input of all of my constituents, and I am looking at their requests.
Roanoke Indivisible members said they have made multiple trips to Goodlattes Roanoke office seeking a meeting with the congressman.
Were focused on convincing our representatives that even though they won these districts handily, that doesnt mean they get to ignore their constituents that dont agree with these maximalist policies, said Ivonne Wallace Fuentes, founder of Roanoke Indivisible. We dont believe theres a sweeping mandate.
The groups mission is local and defensive, she said.
Its working in partnership with two other grass-roots groups, Together We Will, which formed just after the election, and Strong Women Strong America, which organized the womens march in Roanoke last month that drew an estimated 4,000 people.
Garrett, meanwhile, held his first Facebook Live town hall Monday night, answering questions compiled from social media posts, emails and phone calls.
The decision to host the live broadcasts did not arise from constituent pressure, he said Tuesday.
We only started now because we are finally getting our legs under us and getting fully staffed up, Garrett said via text. We have always been hands on. Eight debates and 64,000 miles in one year on one car speak to that.
Garrett anticipates hosting at least two live social media meetings per month, he texted Tuesday. His Facebook page was to host another chat Wednesday night.
Garretts Facebook Live stream Monday drew participants from every locality in the district, he said.
Garrett expects to plan in-person meetings as he swings through the district, which is larger in size than New Jersey. The summer will allow him more time in the 5th District, he said.
Roanoke Times staff writer Matt Chittum contributed to this report.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes told jurors he is a patriotic American as he took the witness stand to defend himself against charges in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Rhodes is trying to counter allegations his far-right extremist group planned an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of presidential power. Rhodes began testifying Friday after prosecutors spent weeks laying out their case against him and four others accused of a violent plot to keep Joe Biden out of the White House. Rhodes decision to testify carries will open him to intense cross-examination from prosecutors, who will get a chance to question him when the trial resumes next week.
A 44-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after a woman was found dead inside a northwest Roanoke home Monday, according to police.
Spokesman Scott Leamon said a neighbor found Tiffany Early Carroll, 43, dead inside her home in the 2600 block of Avalon Avenue at 5:29 p.m. Police did not say how Carroll died, although Leamon said there was no indication at this time a firearm was used.
After interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence, police developed Steven Ray Hartman as a suspect. Hartman was in a relationship with Carroll, Leamon said. Police found Hartman in the 1100 block of 16th Street Southeast and arrested him.
Hartman was also served with three outstanding warrants from Roanoke County. He was taken to Roanoke City Jail early Tuesday morning, where he remains without bond. Police said Hartmans residency was in Roanoke County. His commitment paperwork at the jail listed his residency in the Blue Ridge area of Botetourt County.
Hartman doesnt appear to have a violent criminal history, according to Virginia court records. He has a lengthy history of larcenies and issuing bad checks. He got out of prison in June 2014, according to court records.
In a November 2014 letter to a judge asking to make smaller payments on fines and court fees, he wrote, I just out of prison in June of this year, and Im really doing well and working hard to get my life together.
Carrolls death marks the citys third reported homicide this year. Earlier this month, Asia Denay Wade was shot at Shenandoah Village Apartments on 29th Street Northwest. Last month, Michael Lee Nance was shot on Staunton Avenue Northwest. Roanoke ended last year with 12 reported homicides.
Most neighbors in the area of Avalon Avenue said they didnt know Carroll and just saw her coming and going from her duplex.
The Greater Grandview Area Neighborhood group gathered for its regular meeting Tuesday night at the Northminster Presbyterian Church just a block from Carrolls home. Bert Boyd, the groups president, said the incident was a reminder of how important it is to be vigilant of neighbors.
Lets watch things in our community and our neighbors, and lets not be reluctant to call 911, he told the group. Its not being nosy, its about being concerned about your neighbors and yourself.
By Tuesday night, a pink heart balloon was stuck in a planter outside of Carrolls home with a message scrawled on it saying rest in peace and she will be missed.
Kari Zimmerman worked with Carroll at Vistar Eye Center. She said she wasnt really close to her or knew much about her personal life, but Carroll was always smiling.
She was just a joy to be around, Zimmerman said.
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Lucara Q3 revenue, output drop Lucara Diamond, which wholly owns the Karowe mine in Botswana, realised $49.9 million in revenues in the third quarter of 2022 compared to $72.7 million in the comparative quarter. The revenue includes $46.5 million from the sale of 99,301 carats and...
Gemfields to auction 187,775-carat cluster of emeralds Gemfields is set to auction a 187,775-carat cluster of emeralds discovered at its 75%-owned Kagem mine in Zambia in March 2020. Viewing of the Kafubu Cluster commenced on 31 October and bidding will close on 17 November.
Tiffany jewellery pieces to highlight Jewels & Jadeite auction in Hong Kong Jewellery pieces by Tiffany & Co, including those by renowned designer Jean Schlumberger, are among the highlights of Bonhams Jewels and Jadeite auction in Hong Kong on November 26, 2022.
ALROSA President Andrey Zharkov said during International Diamond Week in Israel (IDWI) that the diamond producer is planning to launch marketing programs promoting Russian-mined diamonds. Zharkov is a guest of honor at the event.
Rapaport quoted Zharkov as saying that company will run pilot programs in key markets this year, marking the first time it is engaging in direct marketing of its own.
The move by the diamond producer to rename its Arcos Diamonds Israel office into ALROSA Israel was part of that strategy, he said.
High-value, competing alternatives have fared better than diamond jewelry over the last decade, he said during International Diamond Week in Israel. We all need to increase our marketing effort. Over the next few years, its one of the strategic goals of the industry to increase demand at the consumer level.
The Russian miner is one of seven member companies of the Diamond Producers Association, which is mandated to produce generic marketing on behalf of the industry.
Zharkov noted that millennial consumers were looking for assurances regarding the authenticity of their purchases, and therefore responsible sourcing of diamonds is necessary to protect the supply chain from undisclosed synthetic diamonds.
That is why ALROSA is participating in the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)s mine to market program, Zharkov reported, which achieves the highest level of authentication and information about the entire life cycle and processing of a diamond, starting from mining the gem and ending in jewelry manufacturing.
Zharkov also reiterated ALROSA's plans to increase production by 5 percent to 39 million carats in 2017.
Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow
Stornoway Diamond Corporation has announced that its production at the Renard diamond project amounted to 448 887 carats during 2016. The average grade was 112 carats per hundred tonnes.
The results are significantly better than the company's guidance for 2016, which was 218 400 carats at 97 carats per hundred tonnes.
Commercial production at Renard was declared on January 1st, 2017 with a total of 399 162 tonnes of ore processed.
The company has managed to sell 38 913 carats of diamonds in 2016 for gross proceeds of US$7.6 million.
Matt Manson, Stornoway President and CEO, commented: In 2016 we completed construction of the Renard Diamond Mine ahead of schedule and below budget, achieving commercial production at year end. Our ability to bring the project into production early resulted in significantly higher carat production than planned for the year, and an earlier than expected first sale that gave us unbudgeted pre-production revenue. For 2017 we are being cautious with our diamond price forecasting, due to uncertain market conditions and a reduction in pricing for smaller and certain lower quality items. Our focus in 2017 is the maintenance of our good operating performance and the progressive improvement in the quality of our recoveries as our plant ramp-up continues."
In 2017, Stornoway expects to produce 1.7 million carats and sell 1.8 million carats at an average price between US$100 and US$132 per carat.
Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow
Lucapa Diamond said it recovered a 227 ct diamond at its Lulo project, in Angola.
The stone was uncovered from Mining Block 28, which was some 4 km south of Mining Block 8, where the company recovered the 404 ct diamond.
The 227 ct diamond, which was type IIa D in colour, was also the seventh diamond larger than 100 ct to be recovered at Lulo.
Luapa, which owns the mines together with Endiama and Rosas & Petalas said the 227 ct stone was the biggest diamond recovered to date from the recently installed XRT large-diamond recovery circuit.
It is fitting that, within a week of the anniversary of recovering Angolas biggest diamond, we have now recovered Angolas second biggest diamond on record, said Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall.
We are also delighted to have recovered this spectacular diamond from a new mining area at Lulo which is 4 km from the prolific Mining Block 8 area. This further underlines the potential there is for the remainder of the 50 km stretch of the Caluilo river to continue to produce large valuable alluvial diamonds.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
Tata Group company Titan's Tanishq jewellery sales reports 15.4% increase in sales in its jewellery business during Q3 2017, with income rising to $489.27 million this year as compared to $ 423.92 million last year. Profits before tax from the segment rose 15.1% during the quarter, from $43.63 last year to $50.247 last year.
For the nine-month ended December 2016, the jewellery business recorded a growth of 7.5% growing from $1033.57 in the comparative period of 2015 to $1111.285 last year.
Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director of the company stated that The third quarter was an extremely encouraging quarter for the Company. Despite initial headwinds on account of demonetization, the Company clocked a growth. The festival season was very good for both our jewellery and watches business. Our effort continues therefore to be one of generating demand, through new product introductions and network expansion while retaining our focus on cost control.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
Canadian Pacific has enhanced its sales and marketing team in a move the railroad said will better meet the needs of its current and potential customers.
CP named John Brooks senior vice president and chief marketing officer where the railroad said he will apply his two decades worth of experience in a way to be CPs continued and future success.
Reporting directly to Brooks will be Tommy Browning, vice president sales and marketing, Merchandise and Bulk and Jonathan Wahba, vice president sales and marketing, Intermodal and Grain.
As CP moves into the next phase of its impressive turnaround, it is time to focus on further strengthening our customer base and growing the top line, said Keith Creel, CP president and CEO. We are confident that John and his talented team can leverage our superior operating model, diversify our book of business and deliver for our customers and shareholders.
CP said that since joining the railroad in 2013, Browning has played an integral role in enhancing CPs merchandise and bulk portfolios while building relationships with key customers. Wahba has experience in the many markets within the transportation industry including trucking and rail and CP said his experience will support its intermodal business.
Better service, more in-depth analysis through Trip Planning and the most disciplined operating team in North America, combined with a strong sales and marketing team positions us well for the future, said Brooks. Jonathan and Tommy have proven track records in this business and I look forward to working closely with them and the rest of the team as we continue to deliver for our customers.
During Brooks sales and marketing career he has held senior responsibilities in all lines of business, including coal, chemicals, merchandise products, grain and intermodal.
Over the [p]ast four years, we have made operational improvements that have benefited our customers, said Brooks. This is an exciting time to be leading this important function within the company, selling the value of our service.
Burlington Coat Factory is reportedly the latest apparel retailer to drop Ivanka Trump products.
According to Business Insider, the South Jersey-based discount retailer has stopped selling Ivanka Trump clothing and accessories on its website. However, its not clear whether Burlington's 563 retail locations have also dropped the line.
Burlington Stores, a Fortune 500 company, has 570 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico, according to its website.
Several retailers have dropped the first daughter's clothing line in recent weeks, citing poor sales.
Earlier, retailer Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD), the parent company of Sears and Kmart, had discontinued online sales of 31 Trump Home items.
In early February, Seattle-based department store chain Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) said it will discontinue selling Ivanka Trump clothing and accessories due to poor sales performance.
The move comes amid the ongoing "Grab Your Wallet" campaign by an anti-Trump group that encourages shoppers to boycott products that has ties with President Trump or his family.
The anti-Trump group has called for the boycott of more than 70 companies for doing with the Trump family or selling Trump products.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
Australian retailer Wesfarmers Ltd. (WES.AX,WFAFF.PK) reported a net profit after tax of A$1.577 billion for the half-year ended 31 December 2016, an increase of 13.2 per cent on the prior corresponding period. Earnings per share increased 12.8 per cent to A$1.40 per share.
Operating revenue grew 4.3% to A$34.92 billion from last year.
The directors declared an increase of 13.2 per cent in the interim dividend to $1.03 per share.
The Group continues to remain generally optimistic in its outlook. Strong momentum and strong market positions provide for a positive outlook for BANZ, Kmart and Officeworks for the second half of the financial year. Coles will continue to focus on delivering a strong customer proposition to support long-term growth in earnings and returns.
Wesfarmers announced Rob Scott will be the next Wesfarmers Managing Director, succeeding Richard Goyder who will step down towardsthe end of 2017 after more than 12years in the role.
Scott becomes the Group's Deputy Chief Executive Officer effective immediately and will join the Board as Managing Director at the conclusion of the 2017 Annual General Meeting in November. He willmaintain his current role as head of Wesfarmers' Industrials division until 1 July 2017.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
Fortress Investment Group (FIG) announced after the bell Tuesday that it has agreed to be acquired by SoftBank Group Corp. for approximately $3.3 billion in cash.
Fortress Investment Group gapped open sharply higher Wednesday morning and is now up 1.80 at $8.01 on the highest volume of the year. The stock has soared to a new high for the year.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
In another move to dismantle Obama-era regulations, the Senate voted Wednesday to strike down a rule seeking to prevent individuals with mental disorders from purchasing a gun.
The Senate voted 57 to 43 in favor of the resolution of disapproval, with four Democrats and Senator Angus King, I-Maine, joining with Republicans to pass the measure.
The resolution would eliminate a regulation requiring the Social Security Administration to submit a list of beneficiaries with certain disorders to the national background check system.
Earlier this month, the House voted along party lines to approve the resolution, which now heads to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the author of the resolution, argued that the regulation is overly broad.
"Under the regulation, the agency is not required to adequately prove that individuals meet the established legal definition of 'mental defective' or even provide due process before revoking their Second Amendment rights," Grassley said.
He added, "Today's vote brings us one step closer to reversing this misguided regulation and reaffirming our commitment to guarding the constitutional rights of all Americans."
Grassley claimed the regulation unfairly stigmatizes people with disabilities and noted it was opposed by more than 20 disability and civil rights groups.
Meanwhile, Democrats argued that the rule was carefully tailored to affect only those with seriously debilitating mental illness and suggested any problems could be fixed without a full repeal.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
Signaling a potential shift in longstanding U.S. policy, President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that a two-state solution is not necessary to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
During a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump indicated he would support a solution that the two sides can agree upon.
"I'm looking at two state and one state. And I like the one that both parties like," Trump said. "I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one."
Previous administrations have called for the creation of a Palestinian nation alongside Israel as an important part of the peace process.
Responding to a question about the two-state solution, Netanyahu said he was focused on substance rather than labels.
Netanyahu reiterated his position that a peace deal would require Palestinians to recognize the Jewish state and for Israel to retain overriding security control over the West Bank.
The prime minister's visit to the White House comes as Trump looks to improve relations with Israel, which become strained under President Barack Obama.
Trump and Netanyahu signaled common ground on preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and combating the rising tide of radical Islam.
However, in a potential area of disagreement, Trump suggested he would like to see Israel hold back on settlement construction.
"I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit," Trump told Netanyahu. "We'll work something out, but I would like to see a deal be made."
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
Saudi aggression warplanes continue heinous strikes against civilians
SANA'A, Feb. 14 (SABA) - The US-Saudi aggression warplanes continued to launch airstrikes on several provinces over the past hours, a military official told Saba on Tuesday.
In Hodaida province, two people were killed in Saudi airstrikes on the telecommunications corporation office in Hodeida province and a fisherman was killed in Saudi air raid on al-Erj coast in Salif area. The aggression fighter jets launched four strikes on each of Zabid district and Qatabah area of Khukhah district. Two raids were launched on al-Nakhail area of al-Daraihmai district.
In Hajjah province, the Saudi aggression warplanes launched 18 air strikes on Medi and Haradh districts, causing serious damage to public and private properties.
Meanwhile, six members of a family were killed in a Saudi airstrike on their house in Mokha district Taiz province. The aggression struck twice al-Omari School in Dhubab district.
In Mareb province, Saudi fighter jets hit Serwah district eight times, using cluster bombs.
The enemy warplanes struck Mukayras district in Baidha province once, and Bayhan district in Shabwa province twice.
Meanwhile, three citizens were killed and four others wounded in a Saudi airstrike on al-Demnah area in Baqam district of Sa'ada province.
AA/AF
Saba
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[14/February/2017]
Roundup: 309 airstrikes hit Yemen in five days
By Baseema al-Absi
SANA'A, Feb. 15 (Saba) At least twenty one civilians were killed, Including three children, and dozens wounded in 309 airstrikes launched by US-backed Saudi aggression warplanes on several Yemeni provinces over the past five days, officials and residents told Saba.
In Sana'a province, the aggression warplanes launched ten air strikes on Nehm district and six raids on Belad Alroos area.
In Sa'ada province, the aggression launched 33 airstrikes on several districts, targeting civilians and their properties. Eight civilians, including three children, were killed in an airstrike on Haidan district of Sa'ada.
Also three children were killed in Sa'ada in an airstrike on Husama residential area in Dhahir district.
Also in Sa'ada, the air strikes targeted telecommunication networks.
In Jawf province, the aggression warplanes launched two raids on Milhan directorate and al-Maslob district.
In Taiz province, the aggression fighter jets waged 68 air raids on large swaths of residential areas, particularly in Mokha coast city. In Mokha, a ten-member family, mostly children, were killed in one of the airstrike.
Also in Taiz, the air strikes targeted telecommunication networks.
In Mareb province, the aggression warplanes carried out 38 raids on several civilian regions, in which large-scale of farms were damaged.
In Hodeidah port city, the aggression launched 48 air strikes on different areas, particularly the port itself, hampering food and medical import supplies.
In Hajja province, the aggression warplanes launched 102 airstrikes, particularly on Medi port city and boirder crossing of Haradh.
In Mahweet governorate, the aggression fighter jets launched one air strike on AL-Khabt district.
In Shabw province, the Saudi aggression launched one air raid on Aselan district.
BS-zk
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[15/February/2017]
Still Standing: Four the Moments legacy honoured at Nova Scotia Music Week
When a quartet of Halifax women began singing together a cappella in the name of social justice in 1982, there was little in the way of a music industry at play in Atlantic Canada. And even if there had been, its likely that Four the Moment would ...
Here are 5 takeaways from Kansas' 37-16 win against Oklahoma State
The Jayhawks are bowl eligible for the first time since 2008. Kansas just topped Oklahoma State for that pivotal sixth win.
Heres the good news. In a few months time, Samoa this year is celebrating 55 years of political Independence. Its an exciting time.
Its a milestone thats well worth anticipating. After all, Samoa, relatively tiny compared to her Pacific neighbours, became the first country from hundreds of islands in the vast Pacific Ocean to break free from outside political interference.
It was a brave move. One that no doubt would have been done with strong faith and believing in the unseen. We say this because for our forefathers, not having the slightest idea about freedom would have felt like, they really had to believe. They would have had to have a strong conviction.
And here we are nearly 55 years later. Happy and free.
To be honest, its long period during which even the toughest of foundations could have been easily shaken and destroyed by testing challenges.
But the fact Samoa has been able to remain amicably strong during these many years is a testament of her character and the rock-solid foundation upon which her Independence was founded.
What would Samoa be like today if we werent independent? Some of us do wonder from time to time. Its not a bad question to ask.
Glancing across the ocean at our brothers and sisters in American Samoa and their continuing struggle to break free from the United States, one can only wonder.
Mind you, the road to freedom and independence for Samoa was not easy. It was a journey fraught with difficulties, sweat, tears and blood. To appreciate how far we have come, its worth to stop for a moment and look back at some of the defining moments in that journey.
Briefly, according to historical account, from the end of World War I until 1962, New Zealand controlled Samoa as a Class C Mandate under trusteeship through the League of Nations.
The most significant event at the time was the non-violent Mau movement, which had its beginnings in the early 1900s in Savaii and led by Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe, an orator chief deposed by Solf.
Recalls the Encyclopedia; In 1909, Lauaki was exiled to Saipan and died en route back to Samoa in 1915. By 1918, Samoa had a population of some 38,000 Samoans and 1,500 Europeans. By the late 1920s, the resistance movement against colonial rule had gathered widespread support during the mistreatment of the Samoan people by the New Zealand administration.
One of the Mau leaders was Olaf Frederick Nelson, a half Samoan and half Swedish merchant. Nelson was eventually exiled during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but he continued to assist the organization financially and politically.
In following the Maus non-violent philosophy, the newly elected leader, High Chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, led his fellow uniformed Mau in a peaceful demonstration in downtown Apia on 28 December 1929.
The New Zealand police attempted to arrest one of the leaders in the demonstration. When he resisted, a struggle developed between the police and the Mau. The officers began to fire randomly into the crowd and a Lewis machine gun, mounted in preparation for this demonstration, was used to disperse the Mau.
Chief Tamasese was shot from behind and killed while trying to bring calm and order to the Mau demonstrators, screaming Peace, Samoa. Ten others died that day and approximately 50 were injured by gunshot wounds and police batons.
That day would come to be known in Samoa as Black Saturday. The Mau grew, remaining steadfastly non-violent, and expanded to include a highly influential womens branch.
After repeated efforts by the Samoan people, Western Samoa gained independence in 1962 and signed a Friendship Treaty with New Zealand. Samoa was the first country in the Pacific to become independent.
Its a day that will live in the history of this country forever, when Samoas flag was raised at the Malae o Tiafau in front of the old Fale Fono.
Sadly that old fale fono is no longer there. Parliament has yet to honour its word about building a monument to remember that place.
Its sad because that particular place is a remnant of the struggles by our forefathers to secure our freedom and independence. Come to think of it, you would think this government would have valued such an important piece of history by preserving it?
Obviously not.
The question today is how is freedom maintained in Samoa?
We all have different answers.
But if you were to judge purely from what has been happening lately, some of the developments have been extremely sad.
Freedom of expression and freedom of worship guaranteed by our Constitution are under threat. Whereas the government is insisting with its Media Council designed to intimidate and bring the last bastion of democracy in Samoa under its powerful authority, the government is again amending the Constitution with another bill that will make anyone who is not a Christian feel unwelcomed on these shores. These are sad times. We need to remain alert.
Have a peaceful Thursday Samoa, God bless!
The appeal against Judge Fepuleai Ameperosa Romas decision to acquit the suspended Director of the National Prosecution Office, Mauga Precious Chang, of traffic related charges will be called for re-mention next Monday.
The decision was made by the Supreme Court this week when the matter was called.
Kirstin Kruse appeared on behalf of New Zealand-based independent prosecutor for the A.Gs Office, Satiu Simativa Perese.
Representing Mauga was the former Attorney General Aumua Ming Leung Wai and Queens Counsel Aaron Perkins.
Both counsels were ready to set a hearing date.
The Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu suggested that the earliest hearing date is the week commencing 11 July 2017.
What about Tuesday 11th of July and if that is not possible then Wednesday 12th of July, he said.
But Aumua requested for an earlier hearing date and informed Chief Justice of Mr. Aaron Perkins QCs unavailability.
With all due respect Sir, Mr. Perkins will not be available during that time sir, Aumua said.
I have been informed by Mr. Perkins that he will not be available from the 5th of June up until the 25th of August.
He also informed the Chief Justice that Mr. Pereses estimated of one day hearing is too long as half a day will suffice.
But Chief Justice told Aumua that the earliest available dates are the week commencing the 10 July 2017.
In terms of the list of available dates before me now I cannot give an earlier date, the earliest is the week commencing the 10th of July.
Ms. Kruse told the Court that any other date is suitable for Mr. Perese except for 12 April.
I have been told that Mr. Perese is not available on the 12th of April but any other date is suitable for him.
Chief Justice then adjourned the matter for re-mention next week.
Okay I will adjourn this matter to Monday next week at re-mention at 10am, said His Honour Patu/
This is for counsels to liaise with the registrar whether there can be an earlier date than July. And I think it might be best to not set a fixed hearing date for the matter.
The laid-back tropical Pacific islands are becoming like everywhere else in the world with young people constantly in tune with their technological gadgets.
Once a place where internet access was very limited or not at all accessible, the Pacific has several service providers with reach from white sandy beaches and lush green mountaintops to fast developing urban settlements.
Information and communication technologies (I.C.T.) including the Internet and mobile phones have brought benefits to millions of children, but at the same time I.C.Ts can put children and young people at risk of violence, exploitation and abuse.
If we are not trained to equip ourselves with the right tools in communities, our children could be victims of cyber bullying or other related harmful issues.
Some people call these cyberbullies; parasites or stalkers either using their real names or having fake profiles on any social media network.
Keyboard warriors is how a Polynesian girl in a Facebook group forum described these cyberbullies, who through their relentless tormenting and teasing made her best friend commit suicide. These are some of the realities we face when we log onto the internet.
As a step forward to battle cyberbullying in the Pacific, U.N.I.C.E.F. is working with the government of Samoa and Tonga to keep children in Pacific countries safe from cyber related harassment.
While launching the Cyber Security Strategy plan 2016 2021, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai said: Cyber-attacks can negatively impact the prosperity of Samoas economy, and prove to be a hindrance to the success of its private sector. It is a concrete move towards a safer Samoa with an initiative to ensure personal information, privacy and security is safely guarded as a top priority for the Government.
U.N.I.C.E.F. is in discussion with the Police and the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development in Samoa to develop standard operating procedures for children in conflict with the law which includes cyber safety measures.
In the neighbouring Pacific Island Country of Tonga, U.N.I.C.E.F. supported a workshop initiated by the government and held outreach activities in schools on cyber-bullying in 2014. As a result, the Government of Tonga established a Cyber Committee with membership from the church, youth, and private sector.
Last year, U.N.I.C.E.F. supported a technical consultation which led to the government of Tonga endorsing a week in October solely to promote cyber safety.
The government launched a website (http://stopthinkconnect.gov.to) as part of the Stop, Think and Connect initiative to address the problems of computer and internet misuse. The new website contains information to help educate people about the benefits of internet usage as well as the dangers of cyber space.
At the launch, U.N.I.C.E.F. Pacific Representative Sheldon Yett commended the government, faith based organizations and civil society partners in Tonga for their Combined efforts in putting Tonga at the forefront of its commitment towards nurturing a safe environment for children both online and offline.
He said Partnerships likes these continue to raise awareness and engagement around cyber safety with a specific focus on the protection of children. With rapidly growing connectivity, we have a responsibility to ensure that our children understand the role of the internet and social media and respecting one another as good digital citizens.
Cyber bullying is becoming more and more common in the Pacific. We are concerned about how children without parental supervision are exposed to harmful comments or indecent content available on the internet, said Mr Yett.
We encourage more governments in the Pacific to look at cyber safety issues especially for children and young people.
Samoa can be a beautiful place if we work together.
Thats the opinion of 43-year-old father from the village of Vailele, Sauni Ioane.
Sauni was working to beautify his village when the Village Voice approached him.
This is our usual cleanup day to beautify our village, Sauni said.
He said cleaning the village is one way to attract tourists to Samoa.
To me, it is always good for us to be well-prepared and work together because we never know when tourists or relatives from overseas will visit, he said.
The truth is, if we keep our villages clean, our visitors will go back to their home countries with nice stories to tell to their families and friends so that they can all again visit our shores over and over.
At Vailele, the village clean up is done every two weeks.
To us, we dont want to wait on others to come and do it for us, we work together because we need to keep our village clean, he said.
Its something that we all need to do, not just for us but other villages in our country.
Sauni said people need to change their mindset about keeping Samoa clean.
E le aoaia e le matapia le manaia, he said in Samoan. It translates that he doesnt want to tell people what to do.
However, he humbly asks them to change their mindset to change their beliefs upon which they base their views of ourselves and the world were living in.
If we believe we can work together for the betterment of our children and their future for tomorrow...then together we can stand.
He understands that changing mindset is not easy.
I know that changing our beliefs and mindsets is not that easy to do but we have to keep on pushing ourselves.
Just let alone a whole range of beliefs based on negative conditions, but we need to work and focus on what is important that is our childrens future.
If we lack belief in ourselves our children suffer.
Looking back to the old days gives good memories.
Personally, in my life, I really appreciate having had the opportunity to share in a wonderful time with matai and taulelea in our village in the past years.
Ive grown up in this village and rolling back on my experience of growing up in the village brings back many good memories.
This is one of those good memories - working together with all the great people like parents, siblings, relatives, matai and everyone brought me a beautiful melody with a great life lesson.
Ive learned a lot from them, of how to work together as one village, one family, one heart and in one soul.
How to join hands and minds for the good of everyone, how to support each other and those good old memories from the elders and parents are still alive.
That is the lesson that I want my children to grow up with.
I believe setting good examples to our children of how to go on in life when they grow older is a must.
A young mother of one has told of the struggles of raising a family with only one person working.
Twenty-two- year-old Petesa Sianamau from Vaitele says life has become a real struggle especially the cost of living.
Hardship due to finances is one of her biggest challenges.
To be honest, income poverty is the condition of not having enough income to meet basic needs for food, clothing, as well as family obligations and so forth, she said.
This is the worst part of everyday life that I have to face.
Petesa says she believes these challenges lead to poor nutrition, fewer learning experiences; instability, lower quality of schools, violence and other social challenges.
You see my husband earns $90 during the week with all the expenses and I tell you, it isnt enough.
Especially that I have a one year old kid that needs to be fed every time and of course my sons school to pay.
Petesa said she does her best to help her family.
Every parents main focus is for their children to create a better future and thats the same for me and my husband.
For her the struggle started because she did not complete her education. She was pregnant and was forced into marriage.
I cant do anything to change the past, she said.
It is what it is. All you have to do is feed your kids and try to overcome whatever youre facing.
She also had a message for all the young girls of Samoa.
She wants them to learn from her experience and finish their school before raising their families.
To be honest, I dont want to see my children experience poverty and hardship like we are.
I want them to realize that their parents are taking risks just to provide for them and they should be motivated to succeed and lead a better life when they grow up.
Petesa is also concerned about a lot of the social problems especially in Vaitele.
What saddens me the most is the fact that my poor young children can hear these things and are influenced by these bad people.
So usually every evening I make sure they are in bed early.
She said Vaitele should consider setting up a Village Council to govern the behaviour of some of the residents who act as if they are from another country.
Kim Jong Nam, the outcast half brother of North Korea's leader, told medical workers before he died this week that he had been attacked at a Malaysian airport with a chemical spray, according to Malaysian officials. A look at notable assassinations or attempted assassinations involving poison or chemicals:
ALEXANDER LITVINENKO
Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence agent, was given tea laced with a fatal dose of polonium-210 at a London hotel on Nov. 1, 2006. He died three weeks later of "acute radiation syndrome." In January 2016, a British judge said Russian President Vladimir Putin probably approved a plan by Russia's FSB security service to kill Litvinenko, who had become a Britain-based critic of the Kremlin. Litvinenko made a deathbed statement that he was poisoned on orders from Putin. No one has ever stood trial for the killing, which soured Russian-British relations for years.
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VICTOR YUSHCHENKO
Then a Ukrainian presidential candidate, Yushchenko fell ill from a massive dioxin poisoning in September 2004 that knocked him off the campaign trail for weeks and left his face severely pockmarked. Despite the near-fatal illness and several contested runoffs, Yushchenko won the presidency on a wave of popular support that was dubbed the Orange Revolution. In October 2005, the incident was declared to be "an assassination attempt" by Ukraine's Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun.
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KHALED MASHAAL
Agents from Israel's secret intelligence service, Mossad, sprayed a substance believed to be a fentanyl analog into the Hamas leader's ear as he walked down a street in Amman, Jordan, in a botched 1997 assassination attempt. Jordan's King Hussein threatened to hang the captured Mossad agents in a downtown square unless Israel provided an antidote, which it did. Israel's relations with Jordan were shaken by the botched assassination and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to free a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the agents. After the agents were released, then-Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon declared on Israeli television that Israel would try again.
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GEORGI MARKOV
Markov, a Bulgarian dissident, was waiting for a bus at Waterloo Bridge in London in September 1978 when he was jabbed in the thigh with a poisoned umbrella tip in one of the most sensational assassinations of the Cold War. The journalist and harsh critic of Bulgaria's communist regime died four days later. After his death, British government scientists discovered the umbrella had been used to inject a pinhead-sized pellet of the poison ricin into Markov's leg. Though no one has ever been charged with the killing, many suspected the KGB and Bulgarian secret police of involvement.
Tony Hunters research has paved the way for dozens of cancer therapies. On Tuesday, he was recognized with one of the highest honors a scientist can get: A prestigious award, along with a large cash prize.
The $500,000 award was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as part of its newly established Sjoberg Prize for Cancer Research. The academy is best known for awarding the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry.
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Hunter, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, shared the inaugural honor with James Allison at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Allison also received $500,000.
A ceremony to celebrate the two scientists has been scheduled for March 31 in Stockholm, Sweden. In a nod to the Nobel Prize ceremony, the king and queen of Sweden are set to participate in the event.
The Sjoberg Prize was established by the Sjoberg Foundation last year with a donation of about $223 million from the late Swedish businessman Bengt Sjoberg.
Hunter and Allison were chosen for their groundbreaking studies of cellular processes that have led to the development of new and effective cancer drugs, the academy said in an announcement Tuesday.
Hunter has received many awards over the years stemming from his groundbreaking discovery in 1979 of a process that contributes to normal cells turning malignant. This process, called tyrosine phosphorylation of protein, laid the foundation for a new class of cancer drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Tyrosine kinases are a class of enzymes that perform tyrosine phosphorylation; at last count 90 genes are known to code for these enzymes.
This prolific family has yielded 26 approved drugs for a variety of cancers. These include imatinib, sold under the brand name Gleevec for chronic myeloid leukemia; gefitinib, sold as Iressa for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer; and sunitinib, marketed as Sutent, for renal cell cancer and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
Still more are under development.
You cant overstate (Hunters) role in cancer research, said Michael Melner, director of the Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry of Cancer program at the American Cancer Society. It was fundamental, beautiful science that opened up this whole area.
In 2008, Hunter was dubbed the Kinase King in an article in the Journal of Cell Biology. And in 2015, Hunter and colleagues published a study indicating that another kinase family, protein kinase C, does not promote cancer as originally thought. In fact, it actually suppresses cancer. That explained why no drug developed against the target has ever succeeded in clinical trials.
Big payoff
Hunters other awards include the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge award in biomedicine; the Royal Medal in the Biological Sciences of the Royal Society; the Wolf Prize in Medicine and the Gairdner International Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and the Royal Society of London.
Tony Hunter is a world-class researcher and an outstanding colleague and collaborator, said Kristiina Vuori, President of Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. His groundbreaking work has revealed how a change in proteins known as phosphorylation controls cells growth. Several current cancer therapeutics are based on his discoveries. His work will continue to have a significant impact on human health.
Jonathan Cooper, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, has collaborated with Hunter on research papers. He described Hunters tyrosine kinase work as providing a unifying theme to explain how several different proteins transformed normal cells into cancerous ones. A number of genes with known cancer-causing mutations, or oncogenes, turned out to work by this mechanism.
In addition, a number of growth factors, substances tumors used to grow, also turned about to stimulate tyrosine phosphorylation, Cooper said.
For a while, it seemed like every oncogene, every growth factor Im kind of exaggerating was something related to tyrosine kinase, he said.
Today, Hunter wears a number of hats. Hes Deputy Director of the Salk Institutes Cancer Center, its Renato Dulbecco Chair in Cancer Research and an American Cancer Society Professor. And he has his own laboratory, with younger researchers he supervises.
As a basic research scientist, Hunter focuses on uncovering fundamental biological mechanisms of cancer, while other scientists translate the findings into clinical work that results in new therapies. But it was a federal translational program, President Nixons war on cancer in the early 1970s, that brought Hunter into the field.
Hunter was born in 1943 in Ashford, Kent, in the United Kingdom. He had been brought to the Salk Institute as an early-career scientist by cancer researcher Walter Eckhard.
I became a cancer biologist not out of a burning desire to cure cancer, but because Walter had just been funded by the new war on cancer, Hunter said. And so without that funding, I dont think I would have gone into cancer research.
But after being exposed to the field, Hunter found it fascinating.
I was hooked, he said.
Looking ahead
The war on cancer necessarily included basic research, because scientists and doctors had to admit they just didnt know much about cancer; how it arises, why some forms are more deadly than others, and the best way to treat and prevent cancer.
And while vastly more is known about cancer today than when Nixon announced his program, Hunter said theres still much more that we dont know. That means the need for funding basic research continues.
Im worried that theres too much emphasis on translation and not enough on pure blue-sky research, Hunter said.
In his own lab, Hunter says he likes to give his team that kind of flexibility. For example, a 2016 study on how developing neurons become dependent on oxygen arose from the initiative of one of his researchers.
I have an unusual philosophy: I try and recruit good people and tell em to find something interesting to do, Hunter said. That work on neurometabolism came out of a fellow who said, thats what I want to do.
The researcher used stem cell technology to produce neurons with mutant mitochondria, the cellular powerplants, and studied how they behaved compared to normal neurons.
I think it keeps me young, to have all these people doing something totally different, he said.
Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds
bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-1020
As San Diego races into a tech-heavy future, business and civic leaders say public buy-in is still necessary to success.
If people arent brought in within the organization or the community, then we will have resistance and we wont be able to deploy as much as fast or as broadly, said David Graham, deputy chief operating officer of the city of San Diego. If we forget about people when it comes to smart cities, then we will have forgotten about why we did all this.
Graham was a panel member at a local Urban Land Institute breakfast forum Tuesday that touched on robots in hospitals, sensors at recreation centers and perfectly coordinated traffic signals.
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But things are changing so fast that that even those in the know are worried about keeping up.
Its harder and harder, particularly for those of us looking into the future, to have a clue whats going to happen, said Nancy Johnson Sanquist, vice president of global strategic planning for Planon, a facility management company. What scares me most is what I dont know.
A member of the audience asked if residents movements and personal information will be tracked on city streets.
Jason Anderson, president and CEO of Cleantech San Diego, a clean-energy industry group, said people already share personal information online with supermarkets and other retailers to get a few cents off on a product.
Graham said such user data information could help manage city assets. As an example, he said park planners could schedule recreational center classes better if they knew that only three people were going to show up at a pilates class or 10 for a weaving class.
On the other hand, he acknowledged that sometimes experts plans and customers preferences conflict. That was the case with the confusing bike lane design on Fourth Avenue from Bankers Hill to downtown, said one attendee at the breakfast forum.
Panelists at the Urban Land Institute panel were, from left, Nancy Johnson Sanquist, Jason Alexander, David Graham and moderator Heather Foley. (Roger Showley/U-T)
In the big picture, the panelists said San Diego local governments are trying out new technologies even as Silicon Valley software engineers attract attention for state-of-the-art products. Anderson said San Diego and Chula Vistas efforts will be showcased at a May smart cities conference in Santa Clara.
Anderson said he may be scared by the discourse at the national level, but he said he sleeps better having moved from Texas to California.
Were not losing here, were winning here, he said, citing the Golden States global reach and economic power.
However, San Diego innovators still need to pay attention to trends around the world. When asked about robots, Sanquist cited a new hospital in Scotland, where robots are deployed to deliver supplies from the basement to upper floors via elevators.
Its not a question that robots are necessarily taking over, but that we have to work with robots, she said.
Graham said planners and traffic engineers also dont have to fear for their careers because of great quantities of data available.
Its just going to be much more data is available to use in a real-time way, Graham said.
For example, he said, new sensors in traffic lights will be able to make adjustments automatic rather than wait for a city worker to physically adjust times on red and green lights.
Other sensors will make it easier to find parking spaces, he said, and new transportation services, such as bus rapid transit, extended trolley lines and free shuttles will give workers an alternative to driving to work.
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roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley
Qualcomm is rolling out a new technology aimed at boosting capacity on increasingly congested Wi-Fi networks in homes and businesses.
The San Diego wireless technology giant on Monday announced its latest Wi-Fi chips, which are designed to help handle the wave of connected TVs, security cameras, pet monitors, thermostats and other Internet of Things gadgets forecast to reach the market in the next few years.
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Qualcomm estimates that the average number of Wi-Fi connected devices per four-person household will grow from eight in 2012 to 50 by 2022.
The company said its latest Wi-Fi technology delivers four times more capacity than todays top Wi-Fi routers, along with boosting speeds and expanding coverage area.
It is taking Wi-Fi to a new level from a user-experience point of view, said Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager of connectivity at Qualcomm Technologies. What it is trying to do is prepare the Wi-Fi network, which in many cases is experiencing a lot of congestion, largely because the network is becoming dense and is not able to deal with the amount of traffic.
The technology called 802.11ax is the next evolutionary step on the Wi-Fi industrys road map for improvements. Qualcomm is the first company to announce 802.11ax chips.
But the 802.11ax standard is still a work in progress. While Patel said Qualcomms new chips could show up in some top-tier routers and Wi-Fi access points late this year, the technology likely wont expand into smartphones, laptops, cars and other gadgets until 2018 or 2019.
Wi-Fi was originally designed for local computer networks, replacing the need for Ethernet cables. Over time it has emerged as a popular way for households and businesses to wirelessly connect all kinds of devices, ranging from smartphones to smart TVs. Its use is growing with the rise of the Internet of Things.
Wi-Fis role is expanding, said CCS Insights, an industry research firm, in a report this year. Its no longer a simple Internet connectivity method, but is developing to support communications between a wide range of devices. Given Wi-Fis ubiquity and range, it will be hard to resist.
As the number of connected Wi-Fi devices grows, Wi-Fi networks need to be able to manage dense data demands and a mix of applications, including video.
The challenge is we are going to experience a lot of congestion, Patel said. The frequency bands are unchanging, but people have a lot more going on.
Qualcomms 802.11ax chip portfolio taps techniques used in cellular communications to improve Wi-Fi efficiency without the need for more spectrum the airwaves that carry wireless data.
Instead of adding lanes of spectrum to get Wi-Fi network traffic flowing, Qualcomm said its better managing Wi-Fi traffic in existing lanes so emails and video can be delivered smoothly.
The growing dependence on Wi-Fi hasnt gone unnoticed by broadband service providers. This month, Cox Communications launched Panoramic Wi-Fi in San Diego and other markets.
For $10 a month, subscribers get a high-power Wi-Fi router with current generation technology, called 802.11ac. Cox technicians then pinpoint parts of the home where the signal weakens. They then can provide extenders, which plug into the homes coaxial network to expand Wi-Fi signals and eliminate dead zones.
There are more devices in the home and theyre doing more things, whether thats gaming or streaming or working from home, said Suzanne Schlundt, vice president of field marketing for Cox. Consumers are really looking at dead zones now. They want the best Wi-Fi experience.
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mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;
Twitter:@TechDiego
760-529-4973
Poway Unified School District may have to cut planned spending by $24.5 million over the next two years if Gov. Jerry Brown proceeds with plans to slash a half-billion dollars in education funding across the state.
When the governor released his proposed budget in January, it was kind of a shock, said school district spokeswoman Christine Paik. He eliminated over $500 million in guaranteed funding for schools, based on a pessimistic funding proposal. He didnt think enough money would come in through property taxes.
The spending cuts would take place in fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19, with the district eliminating $7.5 million from next school years budget, and carving out an additional $17 million the following year.
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That would ultimately bring the 2018-19 budget from more than $384 million to just under $360 million.
On Tuesday the board will consider whether to make those aggressive cuts, or to adopt an alternate spending plan that would trim just $5 million in 2017-18 and another $8.3 million in 2018-19. That plan takes into account savings from the current years budget such as unfilled position or unspent funds that could forestall steeper cuts, Paik said.
School board President Michelle OConnor-Ratcliff said the board must prepare for steep budget cuts, but said shes hopeful the district can whittle that down in the coming months.
We might be down to cutting only a few million out, as opposed to what we were looking at, which was daunting, OConnor-Ratcliff said.
Poway isnt the only school district grappling with a possible budget shortfall next year. San Diego Unified School District faces a $124 million deficit in its $1.3 billion budget that could jeopardize school programs and jobs in the states second largest school district.
While the Poway board will vote on a budget now, the plan for trimming expenses will take months to develop. Layoffs are possible, but the district would try to reduce spending in other areas before dismissing teachers or other staff, and will try to reduce the impact on students, officials said.
We want (the cuts) to be as far from the classroom as possible, OConnor-Ratcliff said. We have a long way to go in discussions with the administrative groups, teachers and all of our classified support employees to come to agreement about where we can trim some fat without losing people.
The board must draw up a budget by March, but may revisit it once the governor finalizes his spending plan in May. Paik said district officials believe that education cuts may be less severe once the state budget is finalized.
In most cases because the governor tends to be very conservative in budgeting, the May revise tends to be more favorable, she said.
Although federal education spending is also uncertain with the election of President Donald Trump and his appointment of public school critic Betsy DeVos as secretary of education, the current budget discussion doesnt account for those changes. The Poway School District hasnt received information on how the new administration may affect its federal funding, and relies more heavily on state money anyway, Paik said.
Five years ago, Barbara McQuiston was in line for a top position in the U.S. Defense Department. Today, shes happily selling gluten-free waffles and bread at The Curious Fork. Life, she says, has a wonderful way of working out.
McQuiston was a 30-year veteran of the defense and aerospace industries when President Obama nominated her in May 2011 to serve as the nations Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition.
But a funny thing happened in her nearly two-year wait for confirmation, which was delayed by the threat of budget sequestration and an election year. The Leucadia resident turned 50 and decided shed rather follow her dreams of going to culinary school and opening a gluten-free restaurant. So she retired.
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For two years I was a lady in waiting and Im a terrible lady in waiting because I like to be busy, McQuiston said. A friend once told me if I wanted to start over, Id better do it in my 50s while I still had the energy and the wherewithal. So I did.
In 2013, she withdrew her nomination and enrolled at the San Diego Culinary Institute, and in June 2014, she opened The Curious Fork in Solana Beach. The gluten-free cafe serves breakfast, lunch and Sunday brunch, and offers cooking classes two to three nights a week.
The Curious Fork owner Barbara McQuiston, right, talks with one of her cutomers, Helen Eckmann. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune)
McQuiston recently launched a wholesale business selling gluten-free bakery goods and within the next few months shell open a retail bakery.
The name, Curious Fork, comes from McQuistons philosophy on cooking and trying new things. Its something she was forced to do 20 years ago when she, and her now-33-year-old son, were diagnosed with Celiac disease.
The more she learned about preparing healthy and alternative foods, the more she fell in love with the idea of owning her own restaurant someday and offering cooking classes to spread that love.
People have lost that side of life, making good foods and experimenting with food at home. I want people to think about new food and healthy food and just stay curious, she said.
McQuiston said gluten-free food has come a long way over the past decade. But when she opened The Curious Fork, she was so afraid of turning off potential customers, she didnt advertise her business as gluten-free for a full year. As a result, most of her longtime customers arent gluten-intolerant.
The cafe serves coffee drinks, egg and waffle dishes, salads, wraps and sandwiches served with baguettes, English muffins, bagels, waffles, popovers, tortillas, challah bread and pastries baked in-house with a mix of non-wheat flours and ingredients.
Classes in gluten-free cooking are part of the mix of demonstration and hands-on classes offered on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons at The Curious Fork. The classes are taught by chef and education director Katherine Emmenegger and several other instructors who moved over from The Good News cooking school in Pacific Beach after it closed in June 2015. Classes range from $30 to $60 each and are designed for average, not advanced, cooks.
Every Friday morning, The Curious Fork serves as a pickup spot for a subscription farm box program. In keeping with McQuistons desire to encourage experimentation, she always tucks recipes inside the boxes for some of the more unusual items each week like eggplant, rutabagas or bok choy.
Because the restaurants baked goods developed by in-house pastry chef Sonja Knowles are so popular, McQuiston is now selling several Curious Fork-brand items to a growing number of wholesale customers including Cardiff Seaside Market, Harvest Ranch Market in Encinitas and Elixir Espresso Bar in Del Mar.
Next up is the Curious Fork bakery, which is in the final stages of construction in the space next door to the cafe. McQuiston is also waiting on a liquor license to begin selling wine and gluten-free beer.
To help fund the wholesale business and bakery, McQuiston brought in two investment partners: Jeffrey Strauss, who owns nearby Pamplemousse Grille restaurant, and Ken Baca. The rest shes funding with her own savings and sweat equity.
Everything costs money so Im doing as much as I can as soon as I can, she said, but its all a labor of love.
The Curious Fork
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sundays. Plus select hours for evening cooking classes
Where: 512 Via de la Valle, Suite 102, Solana Beach.
Phone: (858) 876-6386
Online: thecuriousfork.com
pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
The National City council recently approved a resolution that, at the request of the mayor, removed all references to being a welcoming city to everyone regardless of immigration status.
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Mayor Ron Morrison changed the language to read that National City would continue to be a community that supports all residents and visitors.
It was approved 3 to 2 with Councilwomen Alejandra Sotelo-Solis and Mona Rios opposed.
The subject of welcoming city has turned thorny for some municipalities. And such council resolutions are sometimes confused with a more formal immigration stance involving law enforcement that is taken by sanctuary cities.
Under the new resolution, National City will continue to be a city that serves its residents and visitors with a constitutional right and due process.
But in his rewrite, Morrison removed the sentence: City employees will serve all residents, and city services will be accessible to all residents, regardless of immigration status.
During the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, more than 40 speakers urged the council to support the resolution as it was recommended by staff.
This included supporting all residents and visitors regardless of immigration status.
Numerous cities did not have problems with making this (resolution) their own...so for it to be reconstructed, I just feel that youre not hearing people, Councilwoman Rios told her colleagues.
Councilman Albert Mendivil said he trusts the city manager and chief of police to fairly enforce policies and procedure regarding undocumented persons and foreign nationals.
A draft resolution with National City support of becoming a welcoming city was presented to the City Council on Jan. 17. It was pushed through with a 3-2 vote with Morrison and Councilman Jerry Cano against it.
The original item was a request by Alliance San Diego, a community organization that builds coalitions to promote justice and social change.
National City is home to nearly 25,000 immigrants and refuges who represent nearly two out of every five of the citys residents, according to the latest U.S. Census Data.
The National City Council voted in December to appoint three regional economic and financial experts to oversee the spending of Proposition D funds.
As a stipulation of Prop. D passing, the City Council must appoint an independent committee every five years. That panel will recommend to the City Council whether the tax should remain at a rate of 1 percent, be reduced or terminated.
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Committee members must account for how revenue from the 1 cent sales tax is spent. They are holding their first meeting this week.
The tax is estimated to generate more than $10 million a year for the city.
Committee members include:
(Committee chair) Sarah Waller-Bullock, finance director for the city of La Mesa
Haney Hong, president and CEO of the San Diego Taxpayers Association
Ray Major, chief economist with the San Diego Association of Governments
Q: Why did you decide to participate on the committee?
Haney: In my role Im responsible for making sure peers understand whats happening at local city halls and keeping governments accountable. This is the bread and butter of the taxpayers association evaluating the effectiveness of municipal government.
Waller-Bullock: I have a 20-year background in governmental finance. Aside from understanding government complexities, I love working in governmental finance in San Diego County because we want to help each other out, were not competitors.
Q: How will you use your knowledge and experience on this committee?
Haney: We stand for effective public management and good governance. The citizens of National City are smart to make sure that the fail safe (tax) they approved is not a blank check, and the city should not get a blank check.
Reporters note: The taxpayers association opposed the original Prop. D tax in 2006 and the extension because there were concerns about the citys operating budget deficit.
Major: With my focus on the long-term economic and demographic growth in the San Diego region, I can add a regional perspective to National Citys specific vision and help assess and understand how their plans are aligned with the region as a whole.
Q: What are your thoughts about where the city is at financially? What struck you the most?
Haney: The folks at City Hall in National City are right to make sure they have the resources to do what it is they need to do. Part of reason we exist is to see how gloom and doom it (the financial forecast) is. Constituents will say they want all sorts of things at the same time not understanding what it costs. There needs to be a balance.
Major: Theyre pretty frugal and very focused on being able to provide services for the constituency. They are really running a pretty tight ship from what I can tell by prioritizing their infrastructure needs. They are completely built out and have to do this more creatively with infill. I dont see a lot of fluff or wasted money, I see a small money making ends meet the best way they can.
Waller-Bullock: La Mesa and National City are similar in land size and population. We both have very stable tax revenue. La Mesa is built out and dense. In looking to try and develop and redevelopment large parcels of land you have to look at what developers can tear down and redo. National City has the same challenge.
When a 17-year-old Olga Ferreira met Edward Braga for the first time in 1938, she said it was his smile that did her in.
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The two met in Massachusetts through Edwards sister Anna, who she would pal around with.
At the time Olga was working as a caretaker and companion for a wealthy woman in South Dartmouth.
Olga, her daughter Paula Kosmicki and Paulas husband George were among about a dozen people who attended a Valentines themed event, hosted by the Imperial Beach Historical Society at City Hall.
The organization holds monthly meetings with different themes.
Olga, 97, sat across from Paula recalling the memories she shared with her honey Edward, who died of cancer in August 2013 at the age of 91.
Kosmicki, 61, described her father as reserved and her mother as talkative.
It was one of those opposites attract things, she said of her parents.
And attract each other they did.
While courting her, Edward told Olga that he didnt know how to ice skate so she could teach him. She later found out he already knew how to skate.
Sweethearts from the beginning, Olga said Edward was her first and only love.
He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served during the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive during WWII.
He was in the 12th Armored Division of the 92nd Infantry doing reconnaissance with the Hellcats, and he drove an armored personnel carrier. Olgas name was written across the side of it.
During the war the two wrote each other love letters.
Edward returned for good in 1946 and the two married the following year. Olga was 27 and Edward was 25.
He worked as a civilian at Naval Air Station North Island, and she was employed at the Imperial Beach post office.
The two enjoyed vacations together with their daughters Paula and Gail Braga.
Olga said they would save up for a two-week family getaway each year during the summer. Their destinations included Yosemite, Seattle at the Worlds Fair, the Grand Canyon, Victoria Island in British Columbia and back home to Massachusetts to spend time with family.
The couple also traveled on cruises to Germany, Spain, Australia, Alaska and the Panama canal to name a few.
Olga recalled how she and Edward would sit on the back porch each time they wanted to discuss an expensive purchase.
They would never buy anything unless they could pay cash for it, Kosmicki said.
She said while her father was frugal he was willing to splurge on the right items.
One such occasion ended up being when Olga lost the diamond in her engagement ring.
Edward, who disliked shopping for anything especially jewelry, didnt give a second thought to replacing the entire ring for Olga, his daughter said.
He surprised Olga with it for Christmas.
She was totally shocked, Kosmicki said.
Olga still lives in the three-bedroom home with wood floors on Evergreen Avenue and Third Street that Edward built for them in 1948.
The home sits on two lots with a big yard and many trees.
The home he built was what I wanted, she said.
Menacing, crudely written signs hung from highway bridges or left with mutilated corpses have delivered the message: Mexicos fastest-growing drug trafficking group, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, is now in Tijuana and fighting to expand its influence.
The groups growing presence coincides with a surge in homicides in Tijuana that started last spring, authorities said, and have continued in these first weeks of the new year, with many of the perpetrators and victims described as low-ranking members of the citys neighborhood drug trade.
Drug-related killings accounted for more than 80 percent of Tijuanas 670 homicides in 2015, the highest number in five years, according to the Baja California Attorney Generals Office. A total of 71 homicides last month marked the most violent January in the city since 2010.
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With the participation of Nueva Generacion, the battle for control of Tijuanas neighborhood drug trade and lucrative smuggling routes to the United States has entered a new phase, one that has left the Sinaloa cartel increasingly on the defensive and led to the defections of some of its members, according to law-enforcement officials.
Nueva Generacion is the new player in town that is trying to gain control of the Tijuana plaza, said Gary Hill, assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations San Diego office.
While the extent of Nueva Generacions physical presence and influence is the subject of some debate, there is consensus about this: The group is now involved in both the street-level sales, narcomenudeo, and cross-border smuggling activities, called trasiego.
Daniel de la Rosa, Baja Californias public safety secretary, said Nueva Generacion does not have a significant physical presence in the state, but has focused on forging alliances with members of the Tijuana underworld in a challenge to the Sinaloa cartel, which has been widely acknowledged in recent years as the citys dominant drug trafficking group. Their rivalry preceded the recent recapture of the Sinaloa organizations longtime leader, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
As far as a visible head of Grupo Jalisco Nueva Generacion, we dont have one, de la Rosa said last week. You dont see the presence of their operators, their hit men, criminal logistics. The only thing that weve detected is smuggling, and the protection of their loads heading to the United States, and the importing of cash and weapons from the United States.
Changing dynamics
For years, Tijuana was known as the domain of the Arellano Felix Organization, and that familys control extended over both the smuggling of drugs to the United States and the local drug trade, authorities said.
That supremacy unraveled amid the detentions and deaths of its leaders and challenges from rivals in the drug trade. The final blow came in 2008, when an Arellano former lieutenant, Teodoro Garcia Simental, mounted a bloody challenge to his former bosses, with backing from the Sinaloa cartel.
Now, it seems the tables have been turned.
To gain control in Tijuana, Nueva Generacion has been recruiting former members of the Arellano Felix Organization and persuading Sinaloa operatives to switch sides, according to one U.S. law-enforcement official. Theyre not just lightly treading through here. Theyre setting up shop and digging in their heels, he said.
Authorities said the pressures have prompted the Sinaloa cartels alleged leaders in Baja California brothers Alfonso Arzate and Rene Arzate to flee the state. But even in absentia, the brothers, who are under indictment in San Diego on drug trafficking charges, still have their influence, said Hill from the DEAs San Diego office.
A key figure said to have switched his allegiance from the Sinaloa cartel to Nueva Generacion is Arturo Gomez Herrera, better known by his nickname, El Gross.
According to Tijuana police, El Gross now leads a criminal cell that has been fighting for control of the drug trade in Tijuanas impoverished Sanchez Taboada neighborhood. Last week, police announced the arrest of a 19-year-old they said was a hit man working for El Gross and connected him to the killings of at least five neighborhood drug dealers.
Rise to power
Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, often called CJNG, is a relatively new player in Mexico that emerged from a power struggle among drug traffickers in the countrys central region. The group rose to power around 2009 with the decline of the Valencia-Milenio cartel, according to the U.S. State Department.
The current leader is said to be 49-year-old Nemesio Oseguera Ramos, El Mencho, a native of Michoacan who has been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Oseguera served nearly three years in a U.S. prison following a 1994 federal conviction of heroin distribution in Californias Northern District. In 2014, he was indicted in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C. And last April, the U.S. Treasury Department named Oseguera a kingpin, a designation that involves freezing any of his or his groups U.S.-based or U.S.-controlled assets and prohibiting transactions with them.
The U.S. State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his capture and conviction. Through extreme violence, corruption and extortion, CJNG has increased its presence in Mexico, engaging in turf battles throughout the country and steadily expanding its territory and control, reads the agencys description of the organization.
On both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, law-enforcement authorities and drug experts are watching the group closely. What happens with Nueva Generacion over the next year is going to reshape the landscape of drug trafficking in Mexico, said David Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego who studies the drug trade and Mexicos justice system.
Alejandro Hope, a Mexican analyst and the security and justice editor of the website El Daily Post, expects Nueva Generacion and other cartels to continue fragmenting.
The large-scale, vertical, highly visible, highly identifiable cartels that were so prominent between the 1980s and the 2000s are increasingly a thing of the past, Hope said. Thinking about cartels is a misnomer about what is going on in Mexico. The fragmentation that has dominated the Mexican underworld is here to stay. Ten years from now, neither Sinaloa nor Nueva Generacion will exist.
Drop in common crimes
The rising count of homicides in Tijuana has been in counterpoint to the fall in common crimes there, as well as a sharp drop in kidnappings last year, according to law-enforcement statistics.
Police forces in Baja California have worked to reduce corruption and step up training and certification programs and that shows in the results, said Gustavo Fernandez del Leon, president of the Tijuana business group Coparmex. We see a renewed police, we see coordination in fighting common crimes, he said.
But even though most of the killings appear to target members of the drug trade, we cannot accept it, Fernandez said. We need to demand that federal authorities intervene with greater efficiency so that this does not continue.
State officials said in many of the homicides, the victim and assailant were acquaintances. Theyre street traffickers who know each other. They go to their houses and kill them there, or abduct them and then dump their bodies, said de la Rosa, the Baja California public safety secretary. In some cases, they might have a confrontation in a bar.
Jose Maria Gonzalez, Baja Californias deputy attorney general for organized crime, sees a direct connection between the presence of Nueva Generacion and the increased violence. It went up because a third group is in the process of becoming established that previously had not been playing a role in the local drug market, he said.
In some cases, the killers have left signs on victims bodies, proclaiming their allegiance to Nueva Generacion and its local offshoot, which calls itself Nueva Generacion Tijuana. But in many instances, those who investigate these crimes are hard-pressed to identify which groups are involved.
Were dealing with the lowest level; all they know is that theres a dispute for the local trade, Gonzalez said. When we show them the groups that they may belong to, they dont even know. They just say, This guy came up to me, he asked if I wanted to sell these packets, that I could earn 20 to 30 to 50 pesos for each one.
For Tijuana human-rights activist Victor Clark, authorities are too quick to dismiss the crimes as disputes between low-level members of the drug trade.
The idea is that these are minor players and its not important. But they fail to explain that they form the base of the structure of drug trafficking organizations, Clark said. This is organized crime, and nothing else.
sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com
The University of San Diego has announced a plan to enroll at least 35 students from local Catholic high schools each year.
Our vision is to set the standard for an engaged, contemporary Catholic university where innovative Changemakers confront humanitys urgent challenges, said USD President James Harris, who was joined by Bishop Robert McElroy on campus Tuesday in announcing the Torero Promise. We want Catholic students from across San Diego to be major contributors to this vision.
Under the Torero Promise, local students will be accepted to USD if they achieve at least a 3.7 weighted GPA by the end of their junior year. Student applications still must be reviewed by admissions staff before an acceptance letter is issued.
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The Torero Promise applies to students from the Catholic high schools in the region: Academy of Our Lady of Peace, St. Augustine, Mater Dei, Cathedral Catholic, and Vincent Memorial. The initiative includes a level of financial assistance.
USD also announced other initiatives aimed at strengthening Catholic education in the area.
The Learning and Teaching Department of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at USD will begin offering a Masters and Credential cohort program for teacher candidates.
The Leadership Studies Department in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences is developing a Certificate in Catholic Educational Leadership.
In another new initiative, faculty from the SOLES Department of Counseling and Marital and Family Therapy have been working collaboratively with the San Diego Diocesan Office of Schools to develop a proposal for wellness centers in local Catholic Schools.
The research-based model will include a continuum of services from universal preventive activities to intensive individualized services for students and their families. The program is designed to be strengths-based and will target Diocesan K-8 schools in the San Diego area serving primarily low-income students.
gary.warth@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @GaryWarthUT
760-529-4939
The San Diego Unified School District will not permit immigration raids or similar activities that disrupt campuses, families of students were told in an e-mail from Superintendent Cindy Marten.
The purpose of this letter is to assure you that the San Diego Unified School District is committed to preserving the constitutional right of every student to an education, regardless of immigration status, the letter read.
Marten wrote that the letter, sent Tuesday, was meant to ease anxiety some members of the community have felt since the election of Donald Trump in November.
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Trump had said during his campaign that he would crack down on illegal immigration, deport people who are in the country illegally and revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, which allows certain unauthorized immigrants who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year deferment from deportation
In a similar letter to faculty members, Marten directed campus personnel to forward to the districts legal services department any request for student documents received from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If ICE appears on your campus or facility, please refer them to school police, she also wrote. ICE agents should not be permitted on campus unless approved by school police.
In an interview Wednesday, Marten said the e-mail to faculty members did not mean school police would confront ICE agents, but rather would work with them to ensure both sides are cooperating and following the law.
Its about mutual respect of both agencies, she said. If they (ICE) approach the school and they have business to take care of, we totally respect them.
The 2011 law still in place, however, says the Department of Homeland Security considers schools, churches and hospitals off-limit for immigration enforcement, she said.
The e-mail to parents comes on the eve of four community forums on immigration planned for Hoover High, San Diego High, Mira Mesa High and Mann Middle School this month.
Marten said the letter also went sent this week because students have seen reports of immigration raids on the news in recent days. While unrelated, the news has created some anxiety for families, she said.
We know kids cant learn if theyre scared, she said.
Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego, was one of the district parents who received the e-mail and said she appreciated it.
I think it addresses peoples concern about protecting our students, she said. In my capacity at Alliance San Diego, one of the things we do is field calls from community members, and calls were getting over the weekend were from parents concerned that ICE would come and raid their school and their child would be in a danger. They wanted to know whether to go to school or not.
Guerrero said people have a right to be concerned because the president has not been clear about his plans regarding students.
That uncertainty is fueling anxiety and fear in the community, she said.
While Trump has not issued an executive order specifically about immigrants in school, there have been at least one report of a student who was detained by immigration authorities.
The student, 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina of Seattle, has filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Seattle detained him Feb. 10.
Medina, who was born in Mexico and came to the United States at age 7, is registered with the government under DACA. His lawsuit alleging a violation of his constitutional rights is believed to be the first of its kind filed by a DACA student.
While there havent been any similar cases reported locally, San Diego Unified is not alone in taking a preemptive stance on the issue.
The San Diego Community College District board adopted a resolution last month stating it would follow laws in place to protect student privacy unless the laws are overturned or there is a court order.
That resolution said the college board would not allow federal immigration officials on campus without legal authority; act on behalf of federal agencies to enforce immigration laws or aid in deportation, or share student records containing immigration or citizenship status.
The California Community College Board of Governors had adopted a similar resolution earlier, and in November leaders of Californias three public college and university systems sent a letter to Trump urging him to preserve DACA.
The presidents at CSU San Marcos, University of San Diego and UC San Diego have added their names to a statement expressing their concern and support.for DACA.
Chula Vista Elementary, San Diego Unified and Southwestern Community College districts also have adopted resolutions in support of DACA since the election.
San Diego Unifieds Board of Education passed a resolution in December affirming its commitment to protecting the rights of all students and their families, regardless of immigrant status.
San Diego Unified believes strongly that every student has a civil right to a free public education, and is committed to serving all children, Marten wrote in her letter Tuesday.
Marten also wrote that the Family Educational Rights & Protection Act prohibits the release of student records without parental consent, including information that might indicate immigration status, unless mandated by law.
San Diego Unified is further committed to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment, she wrote. The district believes that the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is likely to lead to a disruption of the educational setting. Therefore, the district will not permit immigration raids or other activities on campus that disturb the school setting.
She also wrote that since 2011, the Department of Homeland Security has considered schools off limits for immigration enforcement.
Marten ended her letter urging family members with questions about their legal rights to seek independent counsel or contact the districts Family and Community Engagement Department.
gary.warth@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @GaryWarthUT
760-529-4939
This Wednesday Feb. 15, our County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to authorize a feasibility study recommended by staff on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). An increasingly popular option throughout California, CCAs (also known as CCEs) provide local residents an alternative to investor-owned utilities and a chance to select a mix of less carbon-intensive electricity at competitive prices. A San Diego County CCA program would be a big step towards a cleaner, healthier future for everyone.
Community Choice Aggregation programs came into being in California in 2002 with the passage of AB 117 in the California State Legislature. This Bill created the framework for establishing local, not-for-profit public agencies that would partner with existing utilities to provide additional electricity choices for state residents.
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Californias first CCA, Marin Clean Energy, was established in the Bay Area in 2010 and serves over 175,000 customers. Its electricity mix features solar power, with options of either 50 or 100% clean energy at competitive prices. The states second program, Sonoma Clean Power, offers greener, more local energy sources at lower prices than those of their utility, PGE. Four more CCEs exist across California, and the trend is clear: 26 of 58 counties operate a CCA, are about to begin one, or are actively investigating the possibility.
In contrast, investor-owned utilities are publicly traded for-profit entities. In most locations, they operate as de facto monopolies offering customers no choice outside their standard contracts. Of the three state utilities, SDGE is the most expensive for its customers, based on both price per kWh and monthly bills. Marketing itself as a green company, SDGE still burns natural gas to generate the majority of their electricity, which is piped from Texas and New Mexico where widespread fracking often leads to water table contamination and leakage of methane a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.
The burning of fossil fuels is the chief driver of climate change, and electricity generation accounts for the largest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S.. Already, our state has seen worsening heat waves, more frequent and prolonged fires, new infectious diseases like West Nile and Zika virus, and reduced availability of healthy food and water from severe, prolonged drought. Children under the age of five, according to the World Health Organization, will suffer the majority of the health impacts from our climate crisis. As physicians, were strongly in favor of doing whatever it takes to prevent this kind of avoidable suffering.
In light of these risks and our regions growing commitment to 100% renewable energy, its time to take bold action. Community Choice Aggregation represents a rare win-win for all of San Diegos residents: it will help protect our health, expand choice, and create local jobs- all without increasing customers utility bills. Done at the County level, additional cost efficiencies would be realized compared to piecemeal CCAs by individual cities.
The County already purchases its own electricity on the open market without SDGE involvement, saving millions of dollars annually. We are simply asking the Board of Supervisors to investigate whether a CCA could accomplish the same for local citizens and businesses. They vote this Wednesday, Feb. 15; concerned residents are urged to contact their Supervisor (write, call and/or visit!) and encourage their support. If you can attend the meeting, here is the link to the meeting Agenda: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/cob/bosa.html
About the authors:
Bruce Bekkar is a s a former gynecologist and obstetrician who now works full time on issues of climate change. Hes the vice chairman of Del Mars sea-level rise committee.
Donald Mosier is the former mayor of Del Mar and a professor emeritus in the Department of Immunology & Microbial Science at the Scripps Research Institute.
Guest Voices is always open to new points of view. If you have an opinion to put forth in a column on environmental issues, email us at: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com.
As conditions on San Diego Countys nearly 2,000 miles of roads continue to deteriorate and maintenance costs rise, supervisors are trying to find a way to repair the backlog of potholes, patches and cracks.
Since 2010 the county-owned streets have, on average, fallen from a 71 to 60 on a well-known rating system of road quality a record low. At the same time, revenue from the state gas tax, the primary way to fund road maintenance, has decreased from around $58 million to $51 million while the cost of repairs has increased.
Shortfalls in revenue combined with ongoing expenses put the county on track for a $62.2 million shortfall by fiscal 2019. Operations will be $11.9 million short, while surface repairs will have a $50.3 million backlog, a county report shows.
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On Tuesday, supervisors voted unanimously to have county staff find options to pay for the growing gap between backlogged road maintenance, rising costs, and declining funds in order to bring conditions back up to at least a 70 rating in the next five years. Staff was also directed to encourage Sacramento to increase transportation funding. Supervisor Ron Roberts was not at the meeting.
Pay now, or pay a lot more later, said Dianne Jacob, chair of the Board of Supervisors. Its a lot more expensive to keep those roads up when they are in a certain condition that waiting until they are in a deteriorating condition.
Repairs are more expensive for roads in worse conditions, and range from $80,000 to apply a seal to a mile-long lane in good condition, to $310,000 for a major rehabilitation on a span the same length in poor condition. On the Pavement Condition Index, a standardized measure of road conditions used around the country, 39 percent rate very good, 29 percent are good, 23 percent are poor, and 9 percent rate very poor.
As soon as you start slipping, its nearly impossible to catch up, Supervisor Kristin Gaspar said.
Supervisor Greg Cox said hed like a long-term plan to emphasize repairs to high-traffic roads over less traveled ones.
I hope we can maybe take a look at what the priorities might be as we evaluate this, he said.
In 2016 the county began a four-year plan to increase spending on road resurfacing by diverting $18 million of its budget surplus, up from $11 million. The Department of Public Works, a wing of government with about 500 employees and a $245 million budget, also cut the number of road crews, eliminated positions, and downsized its inventory of heavy equipment in order to trim replacement costs.
This fiscal year the county will spend $13.4 million on road capital projects, and another $79 million to fill potholes, stripe center lanes, plow snow, and other types of maintenance and operations. The $92.4 million budget is mostly funded by $51 million from the 27.8-cent-per-gallon gas tax, a stream of revenue that has dwindled as the rate has been decreased, while fuel-efficient hybrid and all-electric vehicles have become more popular.
Statewide gasoline tax revenues dropped from $5.76 billion in fiscal 2013 to $5.37 billion in 2014, the last year with full data readily available. In July, however, the gas tax rate will increase by 1.9 cents and the revenue collected is expected to increase slightly.
The state and federal governments are the major sources of revenue used for road maintenance, but San Diego County also allocates a portion of funds collected from the TRANSNET sales tax.
Twitter: @jptstewart
joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-1841
Two gunmen robbed a Metro PCS cellphone store in San Diegos Serra Mesa neighborhood Tuesday, marking the ninth in a county-wide robbery spree that began in late January, police said.
About 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the thieves walked into the cellphone store on Mission Village Drive south of Taft Middle School, police said. The men, each armed with a semi-automatic handgun, made a demand.
They left with cellphones and cash, police Officer Billy Hernandez said.
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One of the gunmen was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 215 pounds, with a beard. He was wearing a grey hoodie and shorts. The second robber was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 180 pounds. He was wearing a grey hoodie and black or gray pants. Both were said to be in their late 20s.
From what I can tell this is going to be related to our series, San Diego police Lt. Eric Hays said.
The armed men behind the string of robberies targeted other Metro PCS stores on:
San Marcos Boulevard near Twin Oak Valley Road in San Marcos on Friday
El Cajon Boulevard near Montezuma Road in the College Area on Feb. 8
Clairemont Mesa Boulevard west of Interstate 805 in Clairemont on Feb. 7
Poway Road near Pomerado Road in Poway on Feb. 6
Coronado Avenue near 19th Street in Egger Highlands on Feb. 1
Adams Avenue near John Adams Elementary School in Normal Heights on Jan. 30
El Cajon Boulevard near 42nd Street in Kensington on Jan. 27
Jamacha Road near Sweetwater Road in Spring Valley on Jan. 25
One of the robbers in the series is described as black or Latino, in his 30s, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a medium to heavy build. The other is said to be black or Latino, 25 to 30 years old, about 6 feet tall, with a thin to medium build.
Anyone with information about any of the robberies was asked to call San Diego polices robbery unit at (619) 531-2299 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.
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Metro PCS store robbed in San Marcos
Police: Cellphone store marks seventh in spree
Police: Duo robs fourth cellphone store at gunpoint
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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com
Phone: (619) 293-1876
Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
UPDATES:
6:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 4:40 p.m.
The home invasion robbery suspect killed by a Lemon Grove resident last week was identified Wednesday as a 15-year-old San Diego boy.
Derrick Harris Jr. was fatally wounded in a struggle over a handgun he brought to a house on Edding Drive, sheriffs homicide Lt. Kenn Nelson said.
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It took authorities nearly a week to identify Harriss body, using DNA.
His family, who live in San Diego, filed a police missing persons report on the teen the day after the shooting, Nelson said. The report made its way to homicide detectives, who thought the boys description was close to that of the unidentified suspect.
Detectives obtained a DNA sample from a family member, and the results confirmed the boys identity, Nelson said.
Nelson said either Harris or his accomplice, who remains at large, shot Francisco Suarez Jr. 22, at the Lemon Grove home. Suarezs father then grabbed Harris and the gun. It went off as they struggled.
The number of times Harris was shot has not been released. There were four bullet holes in the front screen door at the Suarez house and one or two others in a window.
Harris died inside the house and the younger Suarez, wounded in his upper torso, called 911 shortly before 2 a.m.
He has since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
Robbery was apparently the motive, Nelson said, but he would not disclose what the intruders were after. He said investigators have found no connection between the residents and Harris.
Detectives are following some leads to identify the accomplice who escaped, but Nelson said the publics help is needed.
Were hoping people who knew Derrick know who he hung out with, Nelson said.
Anyone with information can call investigators at (858) 974-2321 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
A GoFundMe page created for Harris family on Sunday identified the teen as Derrick Harris-Fanua.
They have suffered an unimaginable, unexpected tragedy with the loss of their beloved 15 yr old Son/Brother, Derrick, said a posting on the page.
He appeared to use an alias, Foolie Stu, on his Facebook page. The same photo on his page was used on the GoFundMe site.
The Right Rev. James R. Mathes is resigning as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego. His last day in the post will be July 1, when he will preach and preside over a service at St. Pauls Cathedral in downtown San Diego.
Mathes will then cross the country to become associate dean of students and chaplain at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Although the bishop and his wife, Teresa Terri Mathes, had recently bought and renovated a house in Point Loma, he could not resist returning to his alma mater.
When he saw this opportunity, said Hannah Wilder, a diocesan spokeswoman, he jumped at it.
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Mathes, 58, became the local dioceses fourth bishop in 2005. A 1991 Virginia Theological Semninary graduate, he was ordained in 1992 and became an assistant minister at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass.
His resume also includes stints as rector of St. James the Less in Northfield, Ill., and the Diocese of Chicagos canon to the ordinary that is, the bishops second in command.
In San Diego, he succeeded the Right Rev. Gethin Hughes.
He inherited a diocese dealing with tumultuous events, local and national. Mathes defused one crisis by reorganizing San Diegos Episcopal Community Services, which had been accused of mismanagement.
The other crisis lingered. The 2003 installation of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire led numerous American congregations to sever ties with the Episcopal Church. At least nine left the San Diego diocese.
Today, the local diocese includes 43 congregations serving 20,000 people in San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties, plus Yuma, Ariz.
During his time as bishop, Mathes was awarded an honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2008; the Mayor George Moscone Humanitarian Award from San Diegos Nicky Awards in 2014; and a Solidarity Award from the Islamic Center of San Diego in 2016.
The bishop and his wife are the parents of two adult children, Lee Mathes and Sarah Mathes.
San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, right, and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, left. (John Gibbins/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The American carnage that President Donald Trump lamented in his inaugural address last month? San Diego hasnt seen anything like it.
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Crediting partnerships with the community, San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said this week the citys crime rate was at its second-lowest level in 47 years. Notably, property crimes had even dipped from the prior year when a spike in San Diego and elsewhere caused authorities across California to prematurely point the finger at Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for several such crimes.
The citys 2016 rate of 24.4 crimes per 1,000 residents is where it was in the 1950s and 1960s. Year over year, aggravated assaults, burglaries and thefts are down from 2015 while rapes and robberies are up slightly and auto thefts up significantly. Troublingly, homicides have risen over the past three years to 49 in 2016, but that figure means San Diego still has the lowest homicide rate of the nations 10 largest cities.
Zimmerman shared some educated guesses on why crime is down in San Diego, but the truth is its complicated. There are many contributing factors, such as police staffing levels, enforcement priorities, social services reductions, mental health issues and homelessness. Thats why Zimmerman and her Police Departments focus on building bridges via community events, Neighborhood Watches and homeless outreach will pay dividends for years.
The jury is still out on Proposition 47, but on both it and crime rates, the long view is best.
Twitter: @sdutIdeas
Facebook: UTOpinion
Michael Flynns sudden resignation as national security adviser does not mean the lingering questions about his contacts and Donald Trumps contacts with Russia before Trump became president will go away. House and Senate investigations are certainly appropriate, and White House and national security officials should also make themselves available to the media to explain what they knew and what the president knew and when.
But the Trump administrations problems go far beyond Flynn. The administration is off to a chaotic start, with the botched execution of the presidents travel ban the prime example. Every day, rival power blocs leak selected information in attempts to push the president one way or the other, or, as columnist Michael Gerson notes, to display their loyalty. There is little sense of forward momentum.
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The Washington Times Wesley Pruden, a big admirer of the president, suggests what seems like disarray is actually a strategy setting up an administration with forceful personalities who are empowered by Trump to speak their minds. Calling him comfortable with controversy, Pruden compares the presidents unorthodox approach to the styles of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
But there is no precedent for a modern presidency operating in such a fashion and succeeding. The example that Pruden could have cited is Bill Clinton. His administration got off to a disorganized start in January 1993, with the highest disapproval ratings for any president since the Gallup poll began 40 years earlier and senior aides squabbling over access to the president and his influential wife, Hillary Clinton. White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, a former Arkansas utility executive and a friend of Clintons since kindergarten, was in over his head an observation thats also been made about Trumps chief of staff, Reince Preibus. But McClarty and other top officials were also stymied by what The New York Times called Clintons anguished indecisiveness. This led to an extraordinary moment in July 1993, reported by Bob Woodward, in which Clintons dithering over whether and when he should unfold his broad economic plan led Vice President Al Gore to urge him to get with the (expletive) program! The Clinton presidency remained rocky until Leon Panetta, a tough, disciplined former Democratic congressman from Monterey, took over as chief of staff in July 1994 and helped bring coherence to the White House.
The Trump administration cannot afford such a long delay before hitting its stride. Its not just public approval the president should worry about. Its the Republican Congress, which is going to be asked by the administration to work together on bold initiatives in health care and financial regulation and to possibly support a reorientation of U.S. alliances and foreign policy. Clinton got nowhere with a Democratic Congress in 1993-94 with his push for broad health reform partly because of doubts about the White Houses competence and agenda, and then he was further weakened by the 1994 Republican Revolution. A similar fate could await Trump if his administration doesnt find its bearings.
Donald Trumps decisions have the potential to affect the lives of everyday Americans and many people around the world. It would be reassuring to finally get the sense that these decisions are made after informed deliberation not because the president was looking to make a splash on Twitter.
Twitter: @sdutIdeas
Facebook: UTOpinion
Oroville Dam episode points to short-sighted leadership
In another glaring example of politics overwhelming common sense, the entire Oroville Dam situation is disgusting.
Were letting hundreds of millions of gallons of water (from Oroville and other filled Northern California dams) run into the ocean because of the short-sighted, politically influenced leaders who havent built new dams over the past 30 years despite our doubled population in California since 1980. How many families water needs would that have taken care of in the coming five years?
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Letters and commentary policy
The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy.
E-mail letters@sduniontribune.com
Mail: Andrew Kleske, Reader Outreach Editor San Diego Union-Tribune P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191.
You can also leave a comment below
Despite being warned of damages at the Oroville Dam in 2005 and with it empty enough to make repairing it easy in the past five years, our leaders didnt repair it.
Letting the water run to the ocean wouldnt be so aggravating if it wasnt coupled with our policies limiting desalination plants.
My question is, what good are the strengths of California when we run out of water?
Tom Isaak
El Cajon
* * *
I couldnt help but notice that Gov. Moonbeam reached out to the Trump administration for assistance with the Oroville Dam. What?
What happened to all the citizens of Lollipop Lands outrage and we are going to fight Trump at every turn, we dont need his administration or anything from D.C.
We are as big as many countries in the world, well take care of ourselves! Less than a month in office and our liberal leadership is crying for help from Uncle Donald. Lollipop Land spends all its money on illegal immigrants, welfare, environmental enforcement, outlandish state employee salaries and retirement packages. No money for the first disaster of the year? Pathetic.
Steven Quinn
North Park
Police are not at fault in the Alfred Olango shooting
Regarding Olangos sister files suit in fatal police shooting (Feb. 14): Let us be real clear about something if you point something that even looks like a gun at a cop, you will die.
This is a life-or-death decision that cops have to make in milliseconds and they are going to defend their lives. If anyone is going to die, it is going to be you. If society wants anyone to be cops, we must support their right to defend their lives.
The ultimate solution is, of course, to change our culture of violence so that such soul-searing decisions are no longer necessary.
Bruce Higgins
City Heights
All this talking of defending U.S. borders never ends
Apparently, certain political parties have chosen to forget/overlook Bill Clintons Jan. 24, 1995, speech to Congress about our huge immigration problem and his plan to enforce our immigration laws vigorously.
Check it out on C-SPAN. Twenty-two years ago, but the same problem exists. Not surprising.
J.B. Harrington
La Mesa
Stores dont explain why they add, drop products
Regarding Cliff Lindroths letter about Ivanka Trumps fashion line (Brand name dismissal smacks of politics (Feb. 10): Do news stories about stores deleting a brand typically report the numbers justifying that decision?
Context would be needed to make those numbers meaningful. I dont see how the writers conclusion that Nordstrom made a political decision is supported. It may reflect consumers spending decisions based on taste, price or politics.
Trumps tweet is the problem. Sounds like a parent who argues with a professor if his child doesnt receive the grade the parent wants. Many wonderful people are not able to make a living on their art or business idea. What parents would publicly threaten an individual who did not buy the painting, the book, or the shoes produced by their adult child?
And if that parent were a movie character using great power to get his way, he would be the villain.
Cindy Schuricht
La Mesa
It is time for the U.S. to walk away from Afghanistan
Regarding the U-Ts report on Afghanistan, we are now informed that the army theatre commander has asked for a few thousand more troops.
This new buildup is a sad commentary on the Afghan saga and it adds these few thousand troops to the 8,400 boots on the ground. Lets not kid ourselves, there are many more noncombat troops there for logistic support.
What this new addition of troops really means is that Afghanistan cannot support the ongoing effort to get free of the stalemate. Now we understand that Russian intervention complicates the effort.
The many months of telling Americans that we will gradually draw down the effort and remove our troop support is not the truth and we should not be held to this overwhelming support for an effort that has all the earmarks of failure and the significant amount of money necessary for victory is just not a sensible and fiscally responsible effort.
Time to depart.
Rodgers T. Smith
El Cajon
The pro-life party seems disinclined to protect lives
Regarding House GOP dismantles Obama regulation protecting streams from coal mining debris (Feb. 1): Could someone please explain to me how or why a person or political party that claims to be pro-life would vote to OK a measure allowing coal mining debris to be dumped into nearby streams?
Doesnt that poison the water, kill fish and possibly make us sick? And, on top of this, the House backed a separate resolution doing away with extended background checks for gun purchases by some Social Security recipients with mental disabilities. So much for pro-life and physical safety.
Now, how about financial security: On Feb. 4, we read another directive Trump signed will effectively halt an Obama Labor Department rule that requires brokers to act in a clients best interest rather than seek the highest profits for themselves when providing retirement advice. If they wont be doing this any longer for retirees, how can anyone trust investment brokers?
I thought the Apprentice president claimed to represent all of the people.
Carole Lombardi
Del Cerro
Immigrants in the past had to make on their own
Ellis Island opened in 1892 and over time 12 million people immigrated into the United States. I dont recall those immigrants getting assistance of any kind (history teachers please correct me if Im wrong about this).
They had to work or fight for everything they got. I think this is one of the biggest differences in immigration today. Our government helps them in many ways that we do not for our own citizens. I understand why this rankles many U.S. citizens. I recall my mother telling my father one time, you seem to care more about other people than you do your own family.
Our immigration policy today seems similar.
Greg Pharis
Spring Valley
We have heard promises like Trumps in the past
As an immigrant from Germany who came to this country in 1957 and whose father fought for Germany and whose mother who lived in Berlin throughout the war, I have a good prospective on someone who promises Only I can fix it.
Our current administration, with the Republicans sitting quietly on the sideline, are using the same techniques as in pre-war Germany. Find a group to blame for your economic problems, Mexicans. Create fear, Muslim terrorists. Use false facts, alternative facts and outright lies, discredit the media and any groups with opposing views.
When done well and your supporters follow you, no questions asked, we are doomed as a free country. Whats next after the Muslim ban, a Muslim registry and yellow crescent moon for Muslims to wear?
Art Schaefer
Chula Vista
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Youd expect Democrats to raise concerns, but the outrage over former national security adviser Michael Flynn s resignation has been bipartisan to a certain extent. Heres a look at how the GOP is reacting.
The resignation came late Monday after The Washington Post and other major news outlets reported on conversations Flynn had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about U.S. sanctions on Russia and the fact that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about the nature of those conversations.
The uproar over Flynns actions didnt end with his departure from President Donald Trump s administration. Top Democrats were calling for an investigation even before Flynn resigned. Tuesday Republicans joined in.
RELATED: 9 questions Michael Flynn's resignation leaves unanswered
Prominent GOP politicians raised questions about who knew what when, and at least one demanded an exhaustive investigation.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks with reporters on the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn at the U.S. Capitol on February 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona
McCain, chairman of the Senate s armed services committee outright scolded the Trump administration.
General Flynns resignation also raises further questions about the Trump administrations intentions toward Vladimir Putins Russia, including statements by the President suggesting moral equivalence between the United States and Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, threats to our NATO allies, and attempted interference in American elections. American policy toward Russia must be made clear and unequivocal: we will honor our commitments to our NATO allies, we will maintain and enhance our deterrent posture in Europe, we will hold Russian violators of human rights accountable for their actions, and we will maintain sanctions on Russia so long as it continues to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-South Carolina
Graham wondered whether Flynn acted alone.
"I'd like to know, did he just do this as a rogue, General Flynn just decided to call the Russians up one day and say we're gonna have a different view on sanctions don't worry about it, or did it come from somebody else in the White House?"
Sen. Roy Blunt , R-Missouri
Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for a thorough investigation.
I think we should look into it exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldnt reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions.
Other Republicans seemed less concerned, and Trump himself sought to steer attention to White House leaks.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky
I just dont think its useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party, Paul told Fox News. Well never even get started with doing the things we need to do like repealing ObamaCare if were spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans. I think it makes no sense."
Rep. Devin Nunes , R-Tulare
"I want to hear from the FBI as to how this got out," Nunes said. "We don't even know if this is true. We just know this from press reports."
President Donald Trump
Trump didnt seem as outwardly upset about what Flynn did as much as he was about the contents of his conversations being leaked
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and others such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, are leaving it up to the Senates Intelligence Committee, which is already investigating possible Russian interference in the election.
Do you think theres more to this story? Is the resignation enough?
Tell us in the comment below.
Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @abbyhamblin
ALSO
9 questions Michael Flynn's resignation leaves unanswered
Selling a home after a loved one has died can be very stressful. Emotions often run high, especially if surviving family members arent always in agreement as to the next step.
Renovation Realty, founded in 2011, is part general contractor and part real estate broker. That combination is often just what people who are trying to liquidate homes of loves ones need a one-stop shop to deal with a home they dont know what do with.
The idea behind Renovation Realty is to fix up and update the home to get it sold at the highest possible price.
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Theres no out-of-pocket cost to the homeowner, said Keith Christian, the companys chairman.
Renovation Realty pays for the cost of the renovations and is then reimbursed through escrow once the house is sold. The renovation cost is a fixed price, just like any contractor.
The advantage is that home buyers will pay market price for a turnkey home.
When Theresa Reicherts father, Gilbert Huey died unexpectedly in June 2011, Reichert, as executor of the estate, was left to deal with the Bay Park home where she and her four siblings grew up.
I had no idea what to do with it, Reichert said. I knew it needed a lot of work. I didnt know where to start.
Her fathers estate attorney eventually suggested Renovation Realty. The team came out to look at her property, which Reicherts parents bought in the mid-1960s, and estimated the as is value at $450,000. That seemed low for a five-bedroom home with pool, so Reichert got a second option. That quote was even lower.
Christian suggested a scope of work that included a new kitchen and bathrooms as well as new flooring, windows, landscaping, paint and lighting. That makeover, which started in January 2013, transformed the home, Reichert said.
It was amazing to watch. It went from a dark, sad house to open and bright, she said.
By April 2013, the renovated property sold for $713,000. Reichert and her siblings ended up making $409,000 instead of the approximately $257,500 if they would have sold the house in its original condition. The renovation cost of $91,000 was taken out of the sales price during escrow.
You have a lot of homes out there that havent been touched in 30, 40, 50 years, Christian said. Those homes are not designed for todays style of living and are harder to sell as is.
Homes sell quicker and dont fall out of escrow as often if they have been renovated, he said.
The first thing Renovation Realtys team addresses are safety issues such as the foundation, the roof, plumbing and electric problems so the home can pass code inspections.
Cosmetic upgrades are mostly centered on the kitchen, bathrooms, flooring and landscaping. Thats where you get the most bang for you buck, Christian said.
The renovations, which usually take from two weeks to one and a half months, average about $60,000 to $70,000 and are designed to appeal to as many buyers as possible.
The process starts with a plan for the project from start to finish. Because inherited homes are such a large part of Renovation Realtys business, they have the expertise to help coordinate with estate sales and movers as well as make recommendations for attorneys, accountants and fiduciaries.
The companys real estate agents and construction managers then draw up options for the renovations. Construction will start once the client signs a listing agreement.
We give recommendations for the scope of the work, Christian said, but the homeowners have the final say. The key, he said, is not to over-renovate. Homeowners tend to fall in love with renovations.
This is where it sometimes gets tricky, he said, because people are emotionally attached to the house. We try to guide them, give them the best advice as possible. Its their house, but at the same time we are the experts.
That wasnt an issue for Reichert. She and her siblings all agreed with the companys plan.
One of the great things about it was that I didnt have to make any decisions, she said.
Each renovation is different because the style of the house dictates the design. But the goal is to stay as neutral as possible. Hardwood floors, quartz countertops and new dual-paned windows are usually a safe bet.
Christian and his son, Cannon Christian, the companys president, conceived the idea for the Renovation Realty after a deal fell through for a home they wanted to buy and flip. Since its inception, the company has refurbished and sold 260 homes; 120 projects were completed this year. The company has now opened an office in San Francisco.
This model works well anywhere, Christian said. Every house is a different story.
A Pacific storm thats expected to tap into moisture from the sub-tropics will hit San Diego County on Friday and Saturday and drop 1.5 to 3 of rain at the coast, says the National Weather Service.
The winds could gust close to 50 mph in San Diego, and to nearly 40 mph in Oceanside.
Usually, the regions mountains and foothills receive the heaviest precipitation from such storms. But forecasters say the coast could record the heaviest precipitation during this system.
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As this storm develops, the typical rainfall pattern of mountain shadowing, with more in the mountains than on the coast, is not expected, the weather service said in an advisory.
The weather service also said that, Aquifers below our main stem rivers have filled sufficiently so that the coming rain will likely result in significant flows in all rivers and streams
The Santa Margarita, San Diego, Whitewater, Mojave and Tijuana rivers will record significant flows. The faster responding rivers like the San Diego and the Santa Margarita may reach monitor or flood stage early Saturday.
Since Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport has recorded 8.05 of rain, which is 1.98 above normal. Oceanside Airport has gotten 10.52, which is 2.88 above normal. Ramona Airport has recorded 15.00, which is 6.35 above normal.
Twitter: @grobbins
gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com
This morning I started thinking about what it is like to live in a popular tourist destination. My hometown of San Pedro, Belize for the last 10 years is the most visited spot in the country of Belize.
And before I moved here, I lived in ManhattanNew York City one of the most visited locations in the world. THE popular tourist destination. A city where almost everyone on the planet could list a few of New Yorks most iconic, bucket-list sites. The Empire State Building. The Statue of Liberty. Times Square where I worked for the last few years of my office career.
As a New Yorker (who obviously wore all black, was cynical about all things and way too cool for school ), you work hard to minimize your time with or near tourists. You avoid Times Square and all the big attractions like the plague, you roll your eyes (oh tourists!) when you pass by a bustling TGIFriday chain or midtown Macys and you would never eat a hot pretzel from a corner cart.
Becauseduh! Thats for tourists!
Like Manhattan there are LOTS of great reasons people visit Ambergris Caye.
The caye is ridiculously beautiful white sand, the bluest ocean, the barrier reef, the wildlife. There are great restaurants, fun bars and plenty to keep you busy day and night, if thats what you like to do.
But a vacation to Belize is so differentso obviously unlike visiting NYC or Paris or Miami and, not as obviously, so different from other Caribbean trips Ive taken. There is a reason that I went to Aruba and Curacao, Grenada and Costa Rica, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and St. Maarten and never thought about relocating there
When you arrive on Ambergris Caye, take a walk around town. You are vacationing within a community.
Pause for just a second there are kids in uniform going to school, there are street vendors selling fruits or tacos to people on their way to work, there are parades and holidays, there are signs for fundraisers and school parties, talent shows and business openings -it doesnt take too long to see that the community is pretty fantastic.
Here the locals dont actively avoid the tourists
There are no huge chains no Senor Frogs, no McDonalds or Starbucks. When you drink a Belikin beer after your snorkeling trip, you are just as likely to be sitting next to a San Pedrano as you are another visitor.
When you head home after your Belize vacation, I bet that one of the reasons that you want to return is to visit the local friends you met.
Despite the growth that the island has seen over the last 5 or 10 years San Pedro still retains this community feel because, wellthis is a living, working, tightly knit community.
And its the thing that made me want to visit here againand then againand then to make San Pedro my home.
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You go to Alaska to experience the world on a grand scale bigger than what youll find anywhere else in America. To actually see and get a taste of what our land was like before it was stripped, slashed, fracked, and cluttered with strip malls. As Thoreau wrote, Think of our life in nature, daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! The actual world!
Yes, think of it! In T.C. Boyles novel Drop City, a band of hippies decides to fall off the map and head for Alaska because, as one character says, Alaskas the real thing, the last truly free place on this whole continent. It all ends badly, as their idealism masks a remarkable naivete about what it takes to survive a 40-below winter.
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Maybe thats another reason Alaska fascinates. It can kill you. Plenty have died there, including pioneers, climbers, and of course the gold miners who came at the turn of the 20th century, succumbing to scurvy, dysentery, malaria, typhoid, bears and wolves, or just plain starvation and frigid weather. In modern times, we have the example of Christopher McCandless, a bright but disturbed young man who imagined he could be set free from the blight of civilization if he could but survive alone on the Alaskan tundra. He couldnt, as youll remember from Into the Wild.
Kneeling on the ground, staining my pants blue, guzzling handful after handful of the sweet blueberries, I feel that I could be setting some kind of record, until I learn that grizzlies will consume up to 100,000 in a day.
Few of us have that kind of death wish, but many nonetheless want to (safely) experience the magic and wonder of this great northern land. My wife, Estelle, and I had the opportunity to do so this past September, traveling with Princess Cruises, which runs many tours of the region, the best of which are land and sea combinations that start you off (or finish you up, depending on which direction you choose to travel) in Fairbanks, roughly the middle of the state. If you travel southward, as we did, you next go by bus down through Denali National Park and then by train to the ships debarkation point in Whittier. The ship takes you through Prince William Sound into magnificent Glacier Bay, then down the Inside Passage, with stops at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan, ending in Vancouver or San Francisco.
Along the way, we experienced nature, as advertised, including plenty of animals: moose, bear, caribou, wild mountain sheep, ptarmigan, eagles (bald and golden), whales (humpback and killer), seals, porpoises, and more. Then, theres the bigger-than-anywhere-else Alaskan landscape: spectacular glaciers, their fissures gleaming azure; the braided, silt-filled rivers that flow from them; the vast, spongy tundra; and the snow-capped spires of Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley), our nations highest peak. So much, so big!
Our starting point is subarctic Fairbanks, which, being in central Alaska, is subject to extreme temperature swings, from minus 40-degree (Fahrenheit) days in winter to 90-degree days in summer. Its also a region where the sun pretty much doesnt quit in summer, but barely shows up for work in winter. As we were there in the waning days of August, there was already a slight chill in the air, foretelling the savagely cold weather to come. (A local brag is that parking spaces downtown need to be outfitted with electric sockets into which to plug the engine warmers required in cold months.)
For a sample of what that weather feels like, theres a refrigerated 40 below room at the embarkation point for the Riverboat Discovery stern-wheeler cruises that ply the Chena River for the benefit of tourists like ourselves. We take the cruise, where 23-year-old Captain Madison Binkley somewhat recklessly allows me briefly to take the wheel. I immediately oversteer coming out of a turn, but she expertly talks me back on track. Afterward, I cant resist the temptation of the 40 below experience. You start in an antechamber, like walking into a freezer, then, through another door, you enter a deeper freeze, where the huge thermometer indicates 58 below. Immediately, the inside of my nose starts icing up, and then the cold begins to penetrate my clothes, my skin, my bones. I last about five minutes, but feel the chill for a couple hours afterward.
For its land tours, Princess operates its own hotels. We spend the first night at their Fairbanks lodge, along the Chena River, feasting on salmon and crab legs. Wine tasting, too!
The next day, were off by bus to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, just inside the fringe of Denali National Park along the Nenana River. In the afternoon, with a group of eight, I ride a helicopter for a hiking expedition up on the tundra, while Estelle goes whitewater rafting on the river with a young guide who playfully asks, Hey, want to get wet? and then, after he promises to fish her out safely if the raft flips, maneuvers them into the frothiest part of the river for a truly wild ride.
For us hikers, its a short flight to a ridge at about 4,500 feet, along the way passing a cluster of Dall sheep that look like puffs of cotton clinging to minuscule ledges along the black stone spires. In just a few minutes we reach the tundra, a flat, treeless region where the subsoil is permanently frozen. It looks like a huge meadow set high in the sky all lichens and mosses and low, hardy grasses interspersed with tiny flowering plants and wild berries. The ground is spongy with snowmelt that sits on top of permafrost. Due to its location, the region gets little rain and wind, so theres barely any erosion. Were looking at a vista that is very likely just as it was at the end of the ice age, about 11,500 years ago, says our guide.
Its a clear day, and about 80 miles away to the south, we make out the 20,310-foot peak of Denali. All around us are steep, treeless mountains, green valleys, and white glaciers, no visible signs of human habitation in any direction, a top-of-the-world feeling.
We start out along a ridge, looking for signs of wildlife slight depressions where sheep have spent the night, bear scat, caribou tracks. We find geodes, petrified wood, caribou antlers. Dont take anything, says the guide, but I cant resist slipping a tiny geode and a sliver of petrified wood into my pocket as reminders that this was not a dream.
Descending into a bowl, we come across a patch of mossberries, black in color, bland in flavor then some cranberries. A golden eagle swoops low over a rise nearby. Suddenly we come across wild blueberries. Kneeling on the ground, staining my pants blue, guzzling handful after handful of the sweet berries, I feel that I could be setting some kind of record, until I learn that grizzlies are capable of consuming up to 100,000 blueberries in a day.
Some signs of change: warmer-than-normal temperatures have melted a steep section of what had previously been permafrost, causing a mudslide that looks like a man-made excavation which, in a sense, it is. Here and there, we also see fir trees poking up out of the low undergrowth. There are not supposed to be trees of any kind on the tundra, and our guide remarks that about 10 years earlier, when he saw the first invaders pushing through the low undergrowth, he would uproot them as he hiked by, vainly attempting to stop the unstoppable. He pretty soon gave up that battle.
The next day, our group of about 15 takes a school bus into Denali Park. With few exceptions, private cars are not allowed. That means less air pollution and fewer people in the park. Anyone whos been to the garbage-strewn traffic jams of Yellowstone knows how important that is.
The bus is outfitted for sightseeing with oversized windows. There are also video monitors linked to a telescopic video lens controlled by the driver so you can get closer looks at wildlife along the way. And we do see plenty of animals: caribou (a group of four bulls resting together, each one supporting a huge rack of antlers, the velvet peeling off in loose tatters), a moose, then suddenly a large male grizzly. The bear is cooling off in a stream, mere yards from the road, panting like a dog on a hot day. After several minutes, he clambers to his feet, shakes off, and disappears into the brush.
The turnaround point is about 40 miles in, just over a rise, giving way to a view of Denali. The mountain is glorious, and importantly, visible. Denali, which has its own microclimate, is frequently enveloped in clouds even on a sunny day. But here it is!
Late afternoon brings another helicopter excursion, this time to a glacier. Stepping off the copter, looking out across the vastness of the ice, the deep blue shade of the pooling meltwater, the immensity of the mountains roaring up around us, I am, for a moment, ecstatic. (The actual world!)
The night brings more spectacle, the aurora borealis enhancing the sky in swirling greens, reds, and purples a light show I will never forget.
The next day begins with a long bus ride to Princess McKinley lodge, where, thanks to another crisp, clear day, we are treated again to a spectacular view of the mountain this time from the south side.
In the afternoon, we head to the nearby one-horse town of Talkeetna, which accommodates tourists and serious mountain climbers with equal affability and a bit of Wild West edginess. (A sign at an ice cream shop warns playfully, Patrons taking more than 3 seconds to choose a flavor will be shot.) From multiple choices of excursions horseback rides, float trips, flightseeing tours Estelle and I choose a jet boat ride that takes us up and around three rivers (the Chilitna, Talkeetna, and Susitna, each one a slightly different shade of silty gray). The water is shallow (hence the need for the jet boat, which only draws about one-and-a-half feet of water), swirling around boulders and logs, forming Rorschach patterns on the surface, challenging the captain. Several bald eagle sightings, including one bird that swoops low, maybe 10 feet over our boat. The boat is glassed in, but Estelle and I step out onto the tiny rear deck for fresh air. Above us, a deep blue cloudless sky and piercing sun. Around us, only rushing water and still woods. The wind blows Estelles hair in her face and she laughs with joy. Damn, she looks good! Forty years of marriage, but I just cant help myself; Im falling in love all over again.
A day later, were back in Talkeetna for a small-plane tour up and around the spires of the Alaska Range, ultimately within 500 feet of Denali itself. After the plane ride, a quick stop for lunch and a flight of delicious beers at Denali Brewing Company, and then almost before we can clean our plates, its off to the Alaska Railroad station, just outside of Talkeetna, where railway cars await to take us down to our ship in Whittier.
Its raining in Whittier. Its always raining in Whittier, which ranks as one of the top 10 rainiest cities in America. We dash under awnings for the short walk to the Star Princess. Shes one of the larger cruise ships, 951 feet long, 201 feet high, capable of holding 2,600 passengers. To give you an idea of the scale, each week the 150 galley staff bake upwards of 24,000 fresh bread rolls, grind nearly 3,000 pounds of beef for burgers, and serve more than 10,000 slices of pizza. Over the course of the voyage, lets just say we are well fed: crab legs, salmon, steak, shrimp, lamb chops sometimes all of the above. But overindulging is one of the perks of taking a cruise, and who are we to argue?
We crowd the forward deck, oohing and aahing as city-building-sized chunks break off the glacier and fall into the sea with cannon-like booms.
One day in, we find ourselves anchored in Yakutat Bay, just a few hundred yards from Hubbard Glacier. This massive display of natures power is sooty black and white, with streaks of blue light flaring through the cracks. The leading edge stands 350 feet high and extends another 250 feet below water. We crowd the forward deck, 12 stories high, about midway up the side of the front glacier wall, oohing and aahing as city-building-sized chunks break off (a process known as calving) and fall into the sea with cannon-like booms. These ice chunks are 400 years old, having traveled 76 miles down the valley from the mountains beyond, moving like a very slow river at a pace of just a few feet each day.
Two days later, we make Skagway, the first of three stops in small historic Alaskan towns, visiting one per day. While many passengers disembark to roam the streets hunting for deals on hats, sweatshirts, and jewelry, for me, the secret is to sign up for one of the excursions that get you out of town. At each stop, there are numerous options, from flightseeing to rafting to train rides to hikes in the woods.
At Skagway, Ive booked a tour to a dogsled camp, which requires a bus ride out of town, transferring to a four-track to navigate a steep logging road that leads to the camp. Up in the high country, we meet and play with sled dogs and are taken for a spin in a (wheeled) sled pulled by a dog team. Running the one-mile circular track is a lark for these canine master-athletes the dogs howl and bark in anticipation of the command mush! seeming to want nothing so much as to run.
Theres a somewhat touristy feel to this excursion the way were expertly moved from the dog sled lecture station to the pet-the-puppies kennel to the 10-minute dogsled ride to the gift shop, all in about an hour but what makes it authentic is that these are real working sled dogs. Theyre here, not for our benefit, but to train for their winter in competitive dogsled races like the 1,000-plus-mile Iditarod from Anchorage to Nome, during which they will run at an average pace of 10 to 12 miles per hour for five-hour stretches, followed by five hours of rest, on and off for eight to ten days straight. As the Iditarod race approaches the northern city of Nome, temperatures routinely get down to 40 below or colder, so frostbite is a serious hazard. We learn that its common for sled drivers to be missing a finger or two. The dogs are better protected, thanks to the natural insulation of their coats. In fact, we learn the only part of the sled dog that isnt safe from frostbite is the penis. (Special doggie pants are fitted on the males for the coldest parts of the run.)
A day later, in Juneau, Estelle and I take a bus ride out of town, happily skirting the touristy hustle (Closeout Diamond Sale!, $5 T-Shirts!) to go on a short nature hike to Mendenhall Lake, about a mile across, looking at the terminus of the Mendenhall Glacier. About 120 years ago, there was no Mendenhall Lake, only the glacier.
Another day at sea and were in Ketchikan, where weve signed up to go salmon fishing. As we walk along the dock to the small fishing boat, the gloomy captain greets us with a warning that this has been the worst fishing season in 40 years. And indeed, out of four boats that go out that morning as part of our group, only three legal salmon are caught none in our boat. Still, even with slack fishing lines, its a beautiful day on the water, with a pod of humpback whales spouting and diving nearby.
For the dearth of salmon in the waters, our captain blames fish factories, the mammoth ships of foreign registry that scour the sea floor just beyond our territorial waters for everything and anything they can dredge up. These boats are taking in excessive quantities of herring, he says, which the humpback whales normally feed on in addition to plankton and shrimp-like krill. He theorizes that the whales turn to salmon fingerlings when herring is in short supply, and as a result, the precious salmon population takes a hit.
Two days later, were in Vancouver, the end of the line. We spend a day there, and I rent a bicycle to take a ride around Stanley Park, with its terrific views of the harbor. I watch as the Star Princess, fully loaded and replenished, disembarks for the return trip up to Whittier.
Across the harbor, the ship is grand. But you dont take the Alaska cruise to experience the ship. You go for the pristine landscape, for the diverse wildlife, and for indelible memories of flying through heaven-scraping mountains, hiking on frozen tundra, watching eagles soar and whales spout and dive, witnessing a glacier slowly melting before the inexorable onslaught of a warming climate, and thrilling to those amazing northern lights the greatest light show on the planet.
Steven Slon is editorial director of The Saturday Evening Post. In the last issue, he interviewed artist Mort Kunstler. See more of Laura Griers awe-inspiring travel photography at lauragrier.com.
Arlington, VA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2017 -- Advanced Concepts and Technologies International, L.L.C. (ACT I), an industry-leading provider of Total Acquisition Management solutions, was awarded a Task Order under its GSA OASIS Small Business Pool 1 contract to provide the Headquarters Pacific Air Forces (HQ PACAF) Office of the Command Surgeon General (PACAF/SG) with Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) over the next 3 years. ACT I will provide program management of medical technology and modernization planning, programming, management, innovation, and acquisition services at HQ PACAF/SG on Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
"ACT I's direct support of Research & Development activities for the strategic modernization of medical equipment and knowledge transfer in the Pacific Rim will have long-lasting effects. We value this new relationship with HQ PACAF/SG and the opportunity to contribute our expertise to the success of the organization," stated Dr. Leo Sandvig, ACT I Project Manager.
HQ PACAF/SG has the responsibility to lead the modernization of aerospace and ground-based expeditionary and in-garrison medical capabilities in PACAF's area of responsibility. HQ PACAF/SG is the focal point for Combat Support modernization strategic planning; Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) and Line of the Air Force (LAF) Program Objective Memorandum (POM) development; planning, programming, research, development, and acquisition (RDA) of aerospace and ground-based expeditionary medical capabilities; and medical modernization management and innovation activities.
About ACT I
ACT I is an ISO 9001:2008 certified small business delivering mission-critical Total Acquisition Management solutions to customers across the globe. We are retained by the U.S. Department of Defense, Federal Agencies and allied partners to support their most complex programs in the areas of Acquisition Strategy, Program Management, Engineering, Logistics, Financial Management, Security and Cyber, Contract Negotiation Support, and Security Cooperation and Assistance services. ACT I was selected as a prime contractor for the following GSA contracts: OASIS Small Business Pool 1, Professional Services Schedule, and IT Schedule 70.
For more information, visit our website at http://www.act-i.com and follow us on Twitter @ACT_I_llc.
Huntsville, AL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2017 -- The Isabela province of the Philippines was rampaged by a tsunami in October, 2016. This huge natural calamity resulted in damages amounting to billions of dollars. A few months down the line, the area still struggles with the dire necessity of food, shelter, clothing, and rebuilding. Corky Goe has just launched a crowdfunding campaign via Go Fund Me to raise $1,000,000 for these helpless tsunami victims.
Most of the people residing in the province of Isabela can't afford insurance because of their financial limitations. Making things even worse, this area is not covered by the insurance service providers because of the past storms.
Corky Goe had left Isabela to return home just before the tsunami hit. By partnering with Pastor Rony Buena-Agua in Isabela and in ministry with other churches, he was involved in several great accomplishments through the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Rony represents an association of pastors with The Assembly of God churches that have over three hundred and fifty Pastors.
All funds raised by Corky Goe via Go Fund Me will be spent to provide relief to the tsunami victims in Isabela. Pastor Rony and his associates will join hands with him in this initiative. "They will place all donations received where they are needed the most. Many homes, farm buildings, churches and businesses were either completely destroyed, or are in need of much reconstruction to make them whole again," said Corky Goe.
Backers making a contribution of $500.00 or more, will receive a tax deductible receipt, upon request, from one of the Assembly of God churches in Isabela.
To find out more about the campaign, please visit http://bit.ly/2k8TK80
Atlantic City, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2017 -- Saints and Sinners, the hottest club for lifestyle parties in the Delaware County, PA, area, is celebrating the year's most sinful weekend this February. The club will host not one, but two Mardi Gras parties on February 24 and February 25, 2017. Mardis Gras is the perfect time for long-time sinners and curious newcomers to go wild, and no lifestyle party club near Delaware County, PA, does it better than Saints and Sinners.
On Friday, February 24, Saints and Sinners' Philadelphia location (located at 2533 Emery Street), will host a warm-up to their big weekend Mardis Gras bash. The Beads and Bras Party will start at 9 PM and keep going until 3 PM. Gentlemen should come prepared with their stashes of Mardi Gras beads, because the ladies at Saints and Sinners will be ready to collect them. Entry fees for the party at $50 for couples, $5 for single females and $80 for single males.
The next night, the party heats up even more with Saints and Sinners Philadelphia's Boobs, Beads & Booze Mardi Gras Party. There will be special prizes for the top three bead collectors. This party will be an official SLS event, meaning that SLS member couples will receive a discounted door price of $50 (SLS couples must put their names on the SLS guest list by 9 PM on Saturday night). Non-member couples pay $70 for entry, single females pay $10 and SLS single females get in for free.
Learn more about Saints and Sinners by visiting their website at http://www.saintsandsinnersac.com.
About Saints and Sinners
Saints and Sinners is the newest Couples' Lifestyle Members' Only Club in Philadelphia, PA. The club offers the best swinger parties where couples will have the most exciting and erotic times of their lives. The club offers free on-site parking with a separate entrance into Saints and Sinners. They also have a bar where they provide all the mixers for the swingers, and have liquor lockers that people can rent to store their alcohol for the next party. Erotic movies are shown throughout the night to get people in the mood for a good time. Food is always provided throughout the night.
For more information on how to be a part of the best swinger parties in Atlantic City, visit http://www.saintsandsinnersac.com.
[NAIROBI] Harnessing smart and sustainable approaches including planting crop varieties suitable for the right soil types and using emerging technologies could boost food production in Sub-Saharan Africa, a meeting has heard.
Experts who spoke at the Yara East Africa Annual Distributors Event held in Kenya last month (20 January) agreed that there are various impediments affecting the agricultural sector in the region and it is time to find workable solutions.
James Craske, Yara East Africa country manager, says that African countries could create better yields through better knowledge, providing crop nutrition solutions programmes to farmers while maintaining soil quality and environmental values.
Innovation and training will enable smallholder farmers have access to worlds best technologies to achieve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Johnston Irungu, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya
Vitalis Wafula, regional agronomist at Yara, an organisation that helps farmers increase yields and sustain the environment, points out that for a long time farmers have not been accessing correct information, right input and modern technologies, which would improve harvests.
Wafula explains that capacity building and training are needed for agricultural extension officers to deliver correct services and information to farmers.
For example, they should advise farmers on the type of fertilisers [to use], how to apply fertilsers on their farms and which crops they should plant depending on the type of soil and climate, Wafula says.
He is urging farmers not to depend on the rain alone but dig boreholes to get water for irrigation where water is scarce and try to harvest and store rainwater for future use.
According to Wafula, African governments should create proper policies and infrastructure that will make movement of products easy for farmers, and tackle counterfeit products including fertilisers.
Johnston Irungu, director of crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Kenya, says that the agricultural sector is key to the overall economic growth and development because it contributes about 25 per cent of the countrysgross domestic products and 75 per cent of industrial raw materials.
Innovation and training will enable smallholder farmers have access to worlds best technologies to achieve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, Irungu tells SciDev.Net.
He notes that most smallholders depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, adding that encouraging them to apply best farming practices could help them increase their yields, incomes and eradicate poverty.Irungu is calling for African governments to promote investments and private-public partnerships in agriculture to boost farming
The controversial executive order of U.S. President Donald Trump of immigration ban gets several rejections from different groups. Recently, a federal judge in Virginia stands out and impede saying that the order is unconstitutional and issued a ruling.
ABC News reported that an injunction was made recently by Judge James Robart extends the temporary restraining order which he issued earlier. Additionally, a federal court in Virginia issued another preliminary injunction on the executive order of President Trump, but applicable only to the state of Virginia.
This is to oppose President Donald Trump order of barring people from seven Muslim countries and shut down the refugee program for 120 days. Evidently, Trump's order is said to be his way of making his campaign promise to ban Muslims realized. However, lots of U.S. citizens are obviously affected, the reason why federal estate judges impede the executive order.
According to Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema from Alexandria said, "Maximum power does not mean absolute power." Judge Brinkema is one of the judges who blocks the immigration ban and issued court order. The court order ruling states that the President Trump executive order cannot be enforced in Virginia.
Judge Brinkema insists that the Trump administration has "no evidence" to justify the order. She argues that even though President Trump holds on to his broad power over immigration, he must also operate under the constitution. Meanwhile, the government explains that the temporary barring of Muslim visitors and immigrants is a must to stop terrorists from entering the country.
Brinkema added that the government has no legal evidence other than the executive order released by President Trump. Her ruling is confined only to state residents and institutions only, and will not be applicable nationwide to grant the request of Attorney General Mark Herring. However, even if the scope is small it still interferes the order of the administration to shut U.S. borders to countries connected with terrorism.
India has now the world's worst air pollution. They have beaten China in it. Specifically, it is New Delhi, India's capital that has the worst air pollution on Earth.
Industrialization, coal-fired power plants, and a low regulation has made the air pollution in India so much worst. Technology Review has reported that there have been 1.1 million deaths recorded last year due to air pollution in India. The country has been tied with China as having deadly air pollution. India's rapid industrialization, too much use of coal for energy, growing population, and an aging populace that is affected by air pollution are the factors why there are many deaths.
According to Quartz India, there are as many Chinese people as Indians that are killed annually because of the polluted air. However, China is changing its course unlike India, explained a study conducted by Health Effects Institute in Boston and the Seattle-based Institute of Health Metrics. India's pre-mature death has risen while China's is steadily decreasing. Developed countries like the United States and some European countries have passed strict rules and regulations that control the air pollution in their respective countries.
China is now doing the same. There were laws that were passed to remove old vehicles that emit more pollution than the new ones. China has also created more public transportation that will lessen private car use. Scientist said India should move now and do something about its air pollution. Though India is not the sole country that has this problem, air-pollution should be regulated by the government.
There are reports that even though industrialization is upping India's GDP, it is being decreased by less work days and more welfare use. Since India is aiming to be more economically independent, it should work on its environmental issues like air pollution first. Indian government should pass laws to stop the increase of deaths.
Scientists have found a fossil of a pre-mammalian reptile called Euchambersia therapsid. It has lived in South Africa about 260 million years ago.
Apparently, scientists have found the first evidence of the oldest mammal to produce venom. A pre-mammalian reptile named therapsid Euchambersia, which is as big as a dog has been discovered to have a space in it skull for venom storage. The CT scans of its fossils showed anatomical features, designed for venom production.
According to Science Daily, this pre-mammalian reptile, the therapsid Euchambersia, has to have venom to protect itself. In order to survive the harsh environment, it is in, it has developed a deep and circular fossa. They were placed behind its canine teeth in the upper jaw. Lethal poisonous cocktail is produced and delivered straight into the mouth through a fine network of bony grooves and canals.
About 260 million years ago pre-mammalian reptile therapsid Euchambersia has lived in the Karoo, near Colesberg in South Africa. Mail Online has reported that this pre-mammalian reptile, the therapsid Euchambersia, is not related to snakes at all. There were two fossils that were found in 1932 and in 1966. They were found just a few centimeters apart from each other in the farm Vanwyksfontein.
"This is the first evidence of the oldest venomous vertebrate ever found, and what is even more surprising is that it is not of a species that we expected it to be," Dr. Julien Benoit, a researcher at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and lead author of the study, said.
Snakes are not as old as the Euchambersia. The fossil record of snakes disappeared about 167 million years ago. Unlike the pre-mammalian Euchambersia, it is dated at 260 million years ago. They have existed even before the first snake was born.
Scientists get lucky for having an up-close view of the elusive boa (Corallus Cropanii) for the first time. The snake is one of the world's rarest snake breed which researchers are looking for the past 64 years.
Express reported that the elusive boa was almost hacked to death when a rural worker has spotted it for the first time. Fortunately, the worker was able to realize that it was the five-foot long snake which the Brazilian research team is looking for. Due to the interest to find the rarest snake in the world, these Brazilian research team spread pictures of the elusive boa to inform the people.
The Brazilian research team from the University of Sao Paulo's Museum of Zoology's interest in the elusive boa had the idea of producing warning signs to locals. Their eagerness to find an alive species of the rarest snake finally came true. Their information dissemination with the locals at the Brazil Ribeira Valley communities on not to use their machetes when they come across the snake had been effective.
According to Science Magazine, 1953 was the last time when a species of this elusive boa (Cropan boa) was seen. From that on, the snake earned the record of the rarest snake in the world due to its disappearance for more than six decades. For the world's record, the species of elusive boa was only seen just five times.
Unluckily, the last elusive boa which was spotted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest south of Sao Paulo was seen dead. As usual, when locals see snakes they will be forced to kill or eat it. This is the reason why scientists could not study such snake species.
Cropan's boa is marked as "endangered," and like another boa, this is "non-venomous." Moreover, the elusive boa is a female with a yellowish belly, black diamond patterns on its back and deep sensory pits lining on the lips. Right before the snake was released again into the forest, it carries a small radio tracker for finding and research purposes.
Since Canada's glacier and ice caps are melting at a really high speed, it has contributed to the rising of sea levels near arctic the most.
Irvine glaciologists at the University of California have found that the melted ices in Canada's Arctic glaciers are what making the sea level rise around the world. Phys has reported that in Queen Elizabeth Islands the percentage of the melted ice caps is super high. It has increased by an astonishing 900 percent from 2005 to 2015. It has increased on an average of three gigatons to 30 gigatons per year, stated in results published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters. "In the past decade, as air temperatures have warmed, surface melt has increased dramatically," said lead author Romain Millan, an Earth system science doctoral student.
The team also found that in the last ten years the ice mass has declined. Canada has the second largest part of Arctic ice, covering 23% of it they are after Greenland. According to UCI, the study has provided the long-term analysis for the event. The scientists and researchers even thought that the melting of ice caps in the Arctic was because of the release of water into the sea. That 'fact' was only used until 2005; they debunked it and learned the real reason.
The melting of ice was because the glacier surfaces were exposed to warm temperature thus melting it. That is accounted for the 90 percent ice loss. Before it only accounted for 48 percent and the remaining 52 percent was because of calving icebergs from glacier fronts into the ocean. It rose because of the continuous rise of the atmospheric temperature.
In the last few years, only some release of water from melted ice caps from few basins were at fault for the rising of sea levels. However, it was the short term increases of ice loss from these little basins that contributed to the higher rise of sea levels, said Millan.
Scientists were surprised and alarmed to find extraordinary amounts of banned chemicals in the deepest parts of the ocean, While many things that the deepest part of the oceans are safe from pollutants brought about by humans, a new study shows that this is not so.
BBC reports that pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and other pollutants were found more than 10 kilometers below sea level in the Mariana Trench. These types of chemicals were actually banned in the 1970s.
A team from the University of Newcastle, led by Dr. Alan Jamieson, took the sample from the fatty tissue of a type of crustacean called amphipods. The amphipods look like shrimps and live in the deepest waters found on the planet. Samples for the study were taken from the Mariana Trench and the Kermadec.
In the study that was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, Jamieson said that the levels of pollutants found in the samples were similar to the contamination in Suruga Bay, Japan. That area is known as a very industrial zone and is one of the most polluted places in the northwest area of the Pacific.
The Independent UK says that the persistent organic pollutants or POPs has been banned for 40 years. These were used in many products such as electrical insulators and flame retardants. It is estimated that around 35% of the chemicals may have leaked into the open ocean since it was banned.
The chemicals may have reached the bottom of the ocean as plastic may have sunk into the sea. Or it may have been consumed by other animals which went down and were eaten by the creatures found at the bottom of the sea.
Jamieson says that there is no conclusion yet on what the findings could mean for the wider ecosystem. Further research and study are needed to know what challenges may occur due to the findings.
Archaeologists discovered another tomb built for a royal scribe named Khonsu behind the tomb of a high official in Egypt. They found the tomb when they were cleaning the high official's tomb and noticed a hole. They searched the hole and were surprised to see the royal tomb.
The discovery was led by Egyptology Professor Jiro Kondo of Waseda University in Tokyo and colleagues. The royal tomb dated about 3,000 years old and beautifully decorated. There is a frieze pattern accented near the ceiling that is typical of the Ramesside period, dated about 1200 B.C.
Professor Kondo told Observer that no one knows than unknown tombs that still have beautiful decorations or inscriptions remain undiscovered. He further said that there might be more tombs hidden in this area.
Meanwhile, the high official's tomb belongs to Userhat, who was a high official under Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. Prof. Kondo also discovered the tomb of Khonsuemheb in this area in December 2013.
The T-shaped royal tomb is about 15 feet long from east to west and 18 feet from north to south. On the entrance area, a carved image of four baboons worshipping the solar boat of the god Ra-Atum can be seen. There are hieroglyphics that describe Khonsu as a "true renowned scribe" printed next to the carved images. Khonsu and his wife together with two ram-headed deities in the background are shown worshipping the gods Osiris and Isis, as depicted in the northern part of the eastern wall, according to Fox News.
A scribe is a person who is involved in the art of writing. He writes books or documents by hand using hieratics, cuneiform or other scripts. The scribal profession includes copying books and sacred texts and having secretarial and administrative duties.
In ancient Egypt, the scribes were considered part of the royal court and they did not pay taxes. They were exempted from the heavy manual labor, too. This profession complemented other professions such as the artisans and painters who decorated relics with scenes, personages or hieroglyphic text. In modern times, this profession evolved to public servants, lawyers, journalists, accountants and typists.
If you are single on Valentine's Day, you would be sad to know that a planet and its host star may have a better love story than you. After analyzing 350 hours of Spitzer data, scientists discovered a love story written in the cosmos:
According to the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Spitzer Space Telescope was able to detect "heartbeat-like" pulsations in the outer shell of the HAT-P-2 star. These most likely came from a closely orbiting planet.
Julien de Wit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy told NASA that they discovered the first example of a planet that seems to have caused a heartbeat-like behavior in its host star. It is just in time for Valentine's Day. It seems that the agency concluded the rare "romance" of the celestial beings can be detected from 370 lightyears away.
AJC.com noted that the planet is usually relatively far from its star. However, it comes nearer every 5.6 days and with it comes what is similar to a "kiss" that causes its star to "beat like a heart." However, since the planet and star cannot simply fall in love, the agency offered a less romantic notion. When the gravity is near the star, the planet's gravity hits with a bell-like approach that makes it ring throughout orbit.
Still, the planetary system remains a mystery. Co-author Jim Fuller predicted the vibrations to be more quieter than the frequency found by the Spitzer, leading him to believe that he and his team need to study more stars in systems similar to the HAT-P-2 and its planets. These could have stories to tell through their "heartbeats."
Study co-author Heather Knutson of the California Institute of Technology also said in a statement, "It's remarkable that this relatively small planet seems to affect the whole star in a way that we can see from far away."
The new glass polymer-based metamaterial developed by scientists is capable of cooling objects underneath, by the application of the principles of radiative cooling. It took two years for the researchers of the University of Colorado Boulder to develop it, after the proposal was approved for funding by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The material is made up of glass microspheres, silver and a polymer, which helps it to emit infrared radiations and reflect the incident solar radiations at the same time. This not only helps in dissipation of the inherent heat of the object but it also prevents further heating up, which makes it an excellent portable, replaceable and durable cooling device. It does not require electricity or any other source of power. Therefore, the newly developed material can function all day everyday, without needing any human intervention, PhysicsWorld.com reported.
The study findings of the research project were published in the Science journal and explain that the glass microsphere-polymer film is so designed that it is completely transparent to all the wavelengths of the solar spectrum. This helps it avoid getting heated up when exposed to the Sun for longer durations.
Furthermore, the films has a high infrared emissive behavior in the 8-13 m atmospheric range, which helps it to cool down. However, the key feature that marks its applications in various sectors is its scalability, The Star Online reported.
Lead researcher of the study, Ronggui Yang, said, "The key innovation of this work is to produce the designed material at scale using the roll-to-roll process."
"When produced at scale, we estimate that the material cost is only $0.50 per m2 (yes, 50 cents per square meter), since it can be produced at 100 square meters per minute," Yang added.
This groundbreaking innovation can be used to cool down the heating up of machinery in thermal power plants and other industries. It can thus help avoid the wear and tear of machine parts due to the heat generated during the operation. Furthermore, the rolled up material can be used to cover water pipes, which will help in supplying cool water. It can also be used to cool buildings, greenhouses and solar panels to increase their longevity.
The ancient Roman amphitheater in Palmyra was attacked and destroyed by the Islamic State formerly referred to as ISIS/ISIL, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. It released a new video showing the destruction of the famous amphitheater as well as the city's tetrapylon, which is an arrangement of 16 columns marking the city's main crossroads, on Monday.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that they have detected an upsurge in truck movement near the ancient city amid Syrian troops' successful advance on Palmyra. It further stated that this indicates that the IS wants to bring in explosives to deal maximum damage to the remaining architectural relics before they leave. The terrorists blew up the central part of the ancient theater, which is the proscenium.
According to Chicago Tribune, the video taken by the drone is released in Moscow. It showed the militants destroying the amphitheater.
This latest activity by the Islamic State in the ancient city of Palmyra suggests that the IS wants to destroy the remains of the ancient city's architecture, thus savaging them into rubble before they move away, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov hopes that Palmyra together with its invaluable monuments will be freed from terrorists soon.
Irina Bokova, the head of UNESCO, disparaged the destructions as a "war crime." The destructions in Palmyra started when the ancient city was captured by the Islamic State in May 2015. They also demolished the Monumental Arch of Palmyra, the Temple of Baalshamin and the Temple of Bel, according to The Washington Post.
Palmyra is an ancient Semitic city in Syria, dated back to the Neolithic period. It became the subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. The ancient city was wealthy, in which most of the Palmyrenes were renowned merchants. Palmyrenes were a mixture of Arameans, Arabs and Amorites. It was influenced by Greco-Roman culture and built unique art and architecture that had concepts from both eastern and western traditions. The Palmyrenes worshiped Arab gods, Mesopotamian and local deities.
Earlier this year, in January, Bolivia was hit by a plague of locusts that decimated the country's agricultural industry. President Evo Morales declares a state of emergency across the nation to combat the plague of locusts.
Fox News reports that the swarm of locusts invaded south of the eastern city of Santa Cruz, which is one of Bolivia's wealthiest areas, two weeks ago. The plague spread rapidly and now could reach 18 miles from Bolivia's largest city. The President stated that this was the first time Bolivia had seen locusts.
The government has prepared $700,000 in additional funds for fumigation. They are planning to fumigate about 17,000 hectares to prevent the locusts from spreading and endangering the food supply. The local producers are determining where the eggs and locust nymphs were so they could control the initial stages of the plague, according to BBC.
It is estimated that over 2,700 acres (4,100 hectares) of corn, beans and sorghum have been devastated by the locusts, according to Bolivia's eastern Agriculture Chamber. The officials are fearful that the plague could reach the region that supplies over 80 percent of Bolivia's food. An extensive fumigation is conducted now to avoid the further devastation of the locusts.
The plague of locusts follows an extreme drought in Bolivia. This has caused rationing and conflicts over water use.
Locusts belong to the family of Acrididae, which are species of short-horned grasshoppers. The adult locusts are powerful fliers and could travel great distances. They consume most of the green vegetation wherever they settle.
It is known that locusts have formed plagues since prehistory way back in the ancient Egypt, in which it was mentioned in the Bible and the Quran. As of today, there are reports that plagues of locusts are invading some parts of the world including Bolivia and Argentina, among others.
DARLINGTON, S.C. The Special Victims Unit investigators took Charlene Lynn Hammons, age 43, of Darlington into custody on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
She has been charged with second degree sexual exploitation of a minor which carries a penalty upon conviction of two to 10 years imprisonment.
On Feb. 13, SVU investigators were notified by Cabarrus County Sheriffs investigators from North Carolina of an alleged sexual assault of a minor that took place in NC that was captured on video.
Through a joint investigation, it is alleged that Hammons possessed video of the assault. Hammons was taken into custody at the Darlington County Sheriffs Office without incident.
Hammons bond hearing will be at the Darlington County Detention Center today at 4 p.m. This case remains under investigation.
FLORENCE, S.C. Students crowded into the gym as sweethearts and groups of friends danced to celebrate their love for each other at the annual Theodore Lester Elementary School Sweetheart Dance on Tuesday.
Kinda McInnis has coordinated the dance for a few years, and this year she also acted as DJ for the event. She said that all children at the school, from child development through sixth grade, were invited to the dance.
Its mainly to give the kids something to do for Valentines, McInnis said.
Principal Janett Williams said that its always been a tradition, at least for 13 years, to have a sweetheart dance, but neither Williams nor McInnis knew exactly when the dance started.
For one thing, its so that the kids can celebrate the holiday, Williams said. A lot of parents were concerned that we didnt have Valentines parties, and since today was picture day, we figured todays the perfect day for them to have the Valentines Dance immediately after school.
Typically the dance has been an evening event, but this year the school moved it to right after classes dismiss so more students could come.
We decided not to do it at night because a lot of people have so much going on, and its hard for some of these kids to come back, McInnis said.
McInnis said it was easier to change the time of the dance because people who are regularly car riders can be picked up from school an hour later.
Its just to give the kids something to do, let them know that we love them, give them a little outing to let their hair down and dance and have fun, McInnis said.
Two second-grade girls, ZaKiya Morris and Braylin Rogers, said their favorite part of the dance was the dancing, but they also said that the giving nature of Valentines Day reminded them of another favorite holiday. The two young girls also had Valentines this year, but said their parents dont know about it.
You share and love each other and be loved, Za'Kiya said.
Braylin had a similar feeling.
My favorite part is when you get to spend time with your family, and you get to share your gifts, and have fun, give love to each other, and spend time with your family, she said. Its just like Thanksgiving.
Megan Bolt, a music teacher, and Michele Allen, an art teacher, said that the buzz of the dance surrounded the students all day, especially because it was also picture day.
Crazy, Bolt said. I literally pulled one kid over and said, How much sugar have you had today?
First of all its picture day, so thats out of the norm, Allen said. Its hard to keep their attention when theyre all excited about things that are in the future. Theyre very talkative, and not on task as much as normal.
Allen said she did a special Valentines Day project for her fourth-grade students. She used Japanese notans to teach students about positive and negative space.
The ones who did celebrate Valentines Day if they wanted to, they could do Valentines shapes, Allen said. Some of them got it, but some of them even with two demonstrations, well, they were so excited.
Bolt said one of the best things that happened to her during the day was hearing sweet comments about love from her students.
I had this kindergartener, and he said, Ms. Bolt, since todays Valentines Day, can I give you a kiss on your it was cheek or hand, I dont remember, Bolt said. I was like, Youre 5, yeah. It was so cute.
One fifth-grader wanted to impress Bolt with his manly musk that he wore just for the day.
He came up to me and said, Smell me, Bolt said. I was like, Oh, you smell good, John. He said Yeah, I wore cologne for the ladies today. He said Im gonna catch me a lady.
Miriam Singletarys son, kindergartener Tavaris, ran around the gym with his friends at the dance while Singletary watched.
Its kind of amazing, Singletary said. I mean, its amazing just to see him interacting with other kids at the dance, and he really wanted to come, so I allowed him to come.
Singletarys son had a Valentine this year, but said hes going to wait a while until he makes his move.
Its a special little girl he wanted to dance with, Singletary said. Im like What do you know about dancing with somebody? and he said, I want to dance with her. He said no, hes too young for girlfriends. Hes going to wait until he turns about 17, 18, so I said good job; that sounds great to me.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. The Hartsville City Council approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing the city to apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to buy body cameras for police officers.
The city will apply for a grant of $11,500 and provide matching funds of $5,750 to purchase the cameras.
Police Chief Jerry Thompson said all Hartsville police officers currently wear body cameras on patrol.
The new cameras, he said, will be in addition to the cameras the department already has and some will replace some older cameras that are starting to wear out.
The council members also approved a resolution for a mutual aid agreement between the city police department and the Darlington County Sheriffs Office. According to the resolution, the sheriffs office requested the agreement.
Sheriff Tony Chavis and Chief Thompson were both present for the vote.
Im looking to continuing to work with Chief Thompson, Chavis said.
The council also voted to apply for a historic preservation grant from the State Historic Preservation Office. The $5,000 grant, which will be matched by an additional $5,000 from the city, will pay for a cultural resources survey of the city.
The proposal is based on advice from experienced local historians, according to the resolution. It would ensure an end product that guides future building and development in a manner that leverages Hartsvilles cultural and historical assets.
Councilman Johnny Andrews said the project will survey some 1,800 properties citywide.
City Manager Natalie Zeigler said the survey could be instrumental in developing historic trails in the city, including an African-American heritage trail.
The council also gave final approval to an ordinance to purchase two adjoining pieces of property on Sixth Street for $130,000. The site is where city officials plan to eventually build a public safety complex that would house the police and fire departments. The properties are currently vacant lots.
Council members tabled a proposed ordinance aimed at regulating abandoned and derelict nuisance vehicles. The ordinance had been placed on the agenda for first reading.
The city currently has an ordinance dealing with abandoned vehicles. But some members had questions about the new ordinance, including questions about enforcement and penalties, how such vehicles are defined and vehicle owners rights.
Council members want to get some additional legal advice before moving forward with the measure.
Finally, the council presented two proclamations signed by Mayor Mel Pennington. One recognized the month of February as Random Acts of Kindness Month. On hand for that presentation were representatives of the Hartsville Branch of the NAACP, the Hartsville Ministerial Alliance, the African American Heritage Commission and Butler Heritage. Kindness is fundamental to human experience and essential to the success of human relationships, the proclamation reads in in part.
Another recognized Ryan White Awareness Day Feb. 17. The proclamation, presented to representatives of Care South, notes that the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program provides a comprehensive system of care that includes primary medical care and essential support services for people living with HIV who are uninsured or underinsured.
MARION, S.C. Council members representing Marion County, Mullins, Marion, Nichols and Sellers met two weeks ago with state delegates and officials with the S.C. Disaster Recovery Office and S.C. Department of Commerce to discuss an action plan for $52 million in relief aid.
S.C. Sen. Kent Williams organized the meeting, at which program management director J.R. Sanderson and grant administrator Daniel Young shared information about the funding and process of developing an action plan.
Williams said the meeting was a chance for local leaders to receive firsthand information about the way the S.C. Disaster Recover Office will assist, the steps that will need to be taken and details about how to apply for the funding.
I met with the recovery team last week and they shared this information with me, he said. I wanted the leadership of this county to hear it firsthand how this process works and the priorities they would be focusing on.
Williams said those most vulnerable are the focal point, but there is no limit toward helping as many residents as possible while meeting federal guidelines.
I think it was a very good meeting, Williams said.
Young said the funding will target storm victims with low-to-moderate incomes.
What we are trying to do is help those people that cant help themselves get back in their houses, Young said. Right now were trying to get 1,500 people back in their home across the state.
Sanderson said the organization will plan, coordinate and execute recovery efforts. The 730-day project is set to help more than 600 homes in Marion County. More than 1,200 were reported affected and 108 with major damage.
Officials have until April 21 to come up with an action plan. Case managers will be on the ground in March, but repairs arent expected until October.
The good news is we can come and help Marion County, he said. Im saying 600 homes in Marion County specifically.
Marion County Administration Tim Harper said he continues to have concerns but appreciates the funding.
There are a lot of questions we have to get answered from the state, and we understand that there are going to be some public meetings, and we hope the public will get involved in asking for assistance, he said.
Two weeks ago, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., announced $52 million of South Carolinas $65 million allocation in relief aid has been secured for Marion County to help recover from Hurricane Matthew damages and subsequent flooding in October.
The Housing and Urban Development Department has deemed Marion County as the most impacted and distressed area of South Carolina, qualifying 80 percent of the states allocation to the county, he said.
CHARLESTON, S.C. Three Florence County residents were among the record 300 young farmers and ranchers from across the state to attended the annual South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference.
Olivia and Trae Gaster and Dustin Coleman came to network, become better leaders in their communities and learn how to overcome challenges within the agriculture industry.
Ty and Tracy Woodard of Darlington County won the 2017 Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award. The couple was awarded $1,000 and a new Chevy pickup truck both courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company. They also will receive an expense-paid trip to the 2017 AFBF FUSION conference in Pittsburg and an expense-paid trip to compete at the 2018 AFBF annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Achievement Award recognizes young farmers and ranchers who derive the majority of their income from an owned agricultural operation and have excelled in their farming or ranching operations while exhibiting superior leadership abilities. Participants are evaluated on a combination of their agricultural operations growth and financial progress, Farm Bureau leadership and leadership outside of Farm Bureau.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. The United Way of Hartsville is seeking nominations for Volunteer of the Year to be presented Monday at the 96th annual membership banquet of the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce. The deadline for nominating someone was Friday.
The banquet will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a networking social and dinner and program at 6:30 at the Harris E. and Louise H. DeLoach Center at Coker College.
Joann DeLong, executive director of United Way, said there are so many people who give of their time in this community that United Way wanted a way to publicly recognize the most deserving.
Last year was the first year of presenting this award at the chamber banquet. DeLong said there were eight nominations. That is more than I expected, she said. She hoped those whose nominee didnt win last year would renominate them this year.
Last year, DeLong said, she sent the nominations to friends in Utah, New York, New Jersey and other places for judging. The recipient of the first Volunteer of the Year award was Clayton Richardson.
We have so many Hartsville heroes, DeLong said. Each one of those nominated was deserving of recognition, she added.
Criteria for the award include being at least 18 years of age and being a volunteer within the Hartsville area for a minimum of two years. The nominees may volunteer anywhere and at more than one place. Also they may not receive any wages, but may be reimbursed for mileage and expenses.
Banquet sponsorships and tickets are available online. For more information or to purchase tickets over the phone, call the chamber at 843-332-6401.
I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm...
3 weeks ago
Hyderabad: A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Rameshwar Goud, son of State Excise Minister T. Padmarao, by the Market police for allegedly assaulting a man at Pot Market on February 13.The accused was called by a few shop owners after they got into an altercation with a pickle shop owner named Mohit Rathore during a drive by the civic authorities to demolish encroachments.
According to the Market police, the incident took place on the afternoon of February 13 when Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) workers were demolishing an encroachment on the footpath by Mohit. He objected and told the GHMC officials that they should also do the same in front of other shops which have also encroached the footpath, said an official.
Rameshwar Goud allegedly assaulted one Satyanarayana, an uncle of the Mohit, who lodged a complaint with the police in the evening later. Mohit was also reportedly roughed up another relative of his named Arvind Rathore and some others who have establishments near his shop. When he objected to the drive, the others told Mohit to mind his own business, and a scuffle followed, added the official.After Mohit lodged a complaint, the police registered a case under Sections 341, 323 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code against Rameshwar Goud, said Market police station inspector M. Mattaiah. He added that the Ministers son is yet to be taken into custody.
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Hyderabad: A woman was relieved of her gold chain while she was on her morning walk in the outer periphery of the KBR Park on Tuesday. The incident took place at about 9.30 a.m. . A case has been registered and the police have some clues about the offender, said an official.According to a senior police official, Reshmita was walking ahead of her husband Lokesh Reddy when the chain-snatcher sprang up suddenly and stole her three-tola gold ornament.
The incident took place near the Milan Complex close to Road No. 12 at Banjara Hills. That part of the road still does not have CCTV cameras, as the installation work is still in process, said the official.He added that the spot where the incident took place comes under the civic authorities and not the Forest Department, which is in charge of the KBR Park. The official pointed out that there are about 20 policemen posted in pickets at different places in the park every morning between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and in the evenings between 5.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m., as many VIPs come to the park for walking everyday.Though the Forest Department is supposed to arrange for security, it is minimal, said the senior official. N. Murali, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Banjara Hills division, said that the public is advised to walk in the park when there is police presence in the mornings and evenings everyday.
Sales for the four new cruises, which will operate on Insignia, opened today. This makes a total of seven Cuba sailings for Oceania.
'There is tremendous demand from consumers for voyages to Cuba and our inaugural voyages to the island have been a sell-out success,' said Bob Binder, president and ceo.
All the cruises and excursions are designed to fully comply with US regulations.
'Panoramic Caribbean,' sailing Nov. 14, is a 10-day voyage offering two days in Havana plus Roatan, Santo Tomas (Guatemala), Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Nassau.
'Hemingways Hideaways,' Nov. 24, is a week-long cruise visiting Key West, Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba. On Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, Insignia will offer 'Timeless Cuba,' a seven-day trip with two days in Havana, plus Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.
'Vibrant Vistas,' Dec. 15, is a six-day program visiting Key West, Havana, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay.
'Holidays in the Tropics,' sailing Dec. 21, is a 13-day voyage to Key West, Havana (two days), Roatan, Santo Tomas, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, Cozumel (two days) and Nassau.
On-board programming includes expert lecturers and Cuban cuisine. The ship will spice up continental specialties offered at its four open seating gourmet restaurants with an array of authentic Cuban dishes. The lectures will cover Cuban history, art and music.
A newly released brochure details the Cuba offerings.
In December, Oceania announced its first three Cuba voyages, all aboard Marina, on March 7 (14 days), March 21 (10 days) and March 31 (10 days). Those, too, operate round-trip PortMiami.
The 40-room luxury boutique hotel is located less than 10 minutes from the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam in the heart of the trendy 'nine streets' shopping area. The Dylan is situated directly on Keizersgracht canal and is the home of a Michelin-star restaurant, Vinkeles.
The 'Linger Longer' package includes a two-night stay in a double room, breakfast, 40 food credit for Bar Brasserie OCCO (one per stay), taxi transfer to or from the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam and a Dutch gift.
Rates for the two-night package start at 950 (approximately US$1,002) based on double occupancy. 'Linger Longer' is valid for stays from April 1 to Oct. 1, subject to availability. To save an additional 50, travelers can book at the reduced non-refundable rate starting at 900 per package. To reserve, email [email protected]
The Dylan is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
The French line said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alibaba on Tuesday in Hangzhou to cooperate in the digital area.
As with Maersk, CMA CGM is seeking to cooperate with Alibaba to provide online booking services via its OneTouch platform. The proposal under the MoU is to provide a direct online booking platform for Chinese customers shipments from China on the CMA CGM MEX 1 service to the Mediterranean and the BEX service to the Adriatic.
On the MEX 1 service customers would be able to book direct on the Alibaba platform for shipments Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Yantian with discharge at West Mediterranean base ports as Barcelona and Valencia.
For the BEX the proposed load ports Shanghai, Ningbo and Chiwan and discharge in Adriatic base ports such as Rijeka, Koper, Trieste and Venice.
Such a service would essentially bypass freight forwarders allowing direct online booking, in common with disruptive developments seen in many other industries in recent years.
Germanys largest universal port achieved an uptick in seaborne cargo throughput, reaching a total 138.2m tonnes in the general and bulk cargo segments.
Seaborne cargo throughput in the Port of Hamburg again developed upwards with an increase of 0.3%, said Axel Mattern, joint ceo of Port of Hamburg Marketing
Stronger general cargo throughput offset a slight downturn in bulk cargo throughput. The Port of Hamburg is also contemplating a positive trend for 2017.
The successful development of seaport-hinterland transport by rail was further during the year.
Hamburg is further extending its position as Europes leading rail port, said Ingo Egloff, joint ceo of Port of Hamburg Marketing.
In 2016, 46.4 million tons of freight (up 1.5%) and 2.4 million teu (up 2.4%) were transported in/out of the port by rail we are delighted about this record result. Now at 46.6%, the proportion of freight transported by rail received a further boost.
After an initially modest start at the beginning of the year, container throughput picked up during the last six months, achieving a 1.0% advance over 12 months to 8.9m teu, while at 91.7m tonnes, total containerised cargo volume rose by 1.2%.
Other notable results
Container traffic with Asia up by 1.3% at 4.7m teu.
Container throughput with Chinese ports up by 1.6% to 2.6m teu.
Container services on trade routes with North and South America up 2.9% at 1.2m teu.
European container trade flat at 2.6m teu
Container traffic with Russia up 4.5% to 453,000 teu
Although it's hardly unique among the states, Michigan's government has a representation problem. According to the Reflective Democracy Campaign's 2015
In light of that issue, and the greater national discussions of racism that have arisen around Donald Trump's candidacy and presidency,
Each installment will focus on a different group of government officials continuing with city council members in this installment.
Raquel Castaneda-Lopez: Demystifying politics
Detroit city council member Raquel Castaneda-Lopez says she "totally understands" many people of color's feeling of fundamental disconnect from government, because she once shared their perception.
"I grew up in a community [Southwest Detroit] where people were rarely reached out to and not many people voted," she says. "I myself didn't really understand our political process and the importance of voting until my mid-20s. I knew it was important, but there was not a conversation at home, nor really in the community, about that."
Castaneda-Lopez first dabbled in politics through an internship with former state Rep. Steve Tobocman while she was pursuing her master's degree in social work at the University of Michigan. From there, the political world wouldn't let her go. She was recruited first by state Rep. Rashida Tlaib to serve as Tlaib's campaign manager and then by her own neighbors to run for Detroit city council.
Now, she says it's vital to actively encourage more young people of color to understand and engage with what seems like a "foreign system" to many of them. Castaneda-Lopez serves on the board of advisors of the
However, Castaneda-Lopez has navigated some challenging racial issues since being sworn in as the first Latina on Detroit's city council in 2013. In Detroit's District 6 she serves a population that's 39 percent black, 39 percent Latino, and 18 percent white. She frequently struggles with constituents' perceptions that she either overly favors Latino communities or doesn't cater to other communities enough. So she's endeavored to focus on programs that positively affect underserved Detroiters of all racial backgrounds. For example, Castaneda-Lopez spearheaded an effort last year to implement a
"Whether you're black, white, Latino, man, woman, it doesn't matter: we all want to live in a clean, safe city," Castaneda-Lopez says. "So coming from that as a starting point, how do we build bridges and mobilize?"
Lois Richardson: "The pressure is on"
Although Lois Richardson has served consecutive terms on Ypsilanti's city council since 2000, she's spent almost as long trying to build bridges between area communities of color through an organization called the
Despite its name, the organization welcomes elected officials of any race (and also offers memberships to non-elected officials who support the caucus). Richardson says the strength of the caucus, which last year counted over 100 members, is in numbers.
"If we can go walk into a senator's office or walk into the governor's office and say we're representing 300 members, that means a whole lot more than if we walk in and say we're representing 25 members," she says.
The caucus has undertaken a variety of initiatives since its inception, but Richardson says the organization's main focal points have always been education and networking. Most recently, the caucus has concentrated its efforts on an annual forum for its members. This year's forum will focus on issues of police-community relationships. Although Richardson notes that Ypsilanti hasn't seen any of the major problems that other communities have experienced with animosity between police and their communities, she says it's still important for her and all local officials to have a dialogue on the topic.
"We set the pace and we need to know all that we can know," she says. "We need to be there so that we can go back to our communities and help our people understand ... and work with our own police departments to make things better."
Since the inauguration of President Trump, Richardson also sees herself on the front lines of another new struggle. She has strong words for Trump's racially charged rhetoric particularly his assertion that African-Americans are "living in hell," which she describes as "coded language ... straight out of the '30s, '40s, and '50s."
"I really think the pressure is on myself and every other black elected official and every black community leader in a way that we haven't experienced in a long time," she says. "If we're going to lead the people, we're the first ones to catch the brunt of it and we've got to be able to stand strong and put forth a united front."
Doris Taylor Burks: "I'm a fighter"
Pontiac city council member Doris Taylor Burks says she's experienced little racism herself as an African-American holding public office. But with the inauguration of President Trump, she's preparing to take a stand for other minority groups in her community.
Burks says she has experienced prejudice in her political career, which included a lengthy stint on the Pontiac Public Library board before she won her city council seat in 2013. But she says that prejudice has usually been directed towards her gender, rather than her race. Burks cites her first two unsuccessful runs for council, against black male candidates Lee Jones and Charlie Harrison III, and notes other cases in which well-qualified women have been defeated by men.
"It's going to take more hard work, because women especially have to prove that we are capable of being elected officials," she says.
Burks says her biggest point of pride since taking office has been the slow but steady development of downtown Pontiac. Although she doesn't take sole credit, she cites the arrival of
But, like Richardson, Burks is battening down the hatches for some kind of fight against the newly minted Trump administration. Having seen the residents in her own neighborhood shift from primarily black when she moved in 31 years ago to primarily Latino today, she says she's particularly concerned about her Latino constituents. She says Trump's "unjust" rhetoric regarding Mexican immigrants is "scary because you never know what's going to come out of his mouth" but she's also ready to resist in whatever way she can.
"I'm a fighter," she laughs. "I'm a retired UAW member, so I know how to fight."
Next week in the third and final installment of this series, we'll check in with a variety of local elected officials of color, ranging from county commissioners to a district court judge.
On August 26, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent an "official warning" to Contender Farms of Fort Worth, Texas. It informed the owners that She's a Shady Sister, a show horse that participated in the 76th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, "was found sore and in violation of the scar rule during a post-show inspection." The document was posted on the USDA website, per what was then the longstanding practice of making this and other inspection-related documents available to the public.
"Sore" refers to soring, a practice that inflicts pain on the limbs of a horse for the purpose of accentuating its gait. Chemicals are often used, or weights are placed under the horse's front hooves. These and other soring methods can cause lesions, inflammation, loss of hair and other visible signs described in the Horse Protection Act's Scar Rule.
Attorneys Lee and Mike McGartland, the owners of She's a Shady Sister, have had several of their horses disqualified from competition due to allegations of soring. The McGartlands sued the USDA, however, in part because they argued that the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which posted the inspection report and related information online, had violated the federal Privacy Act that governs the dissemination of information about individuals by federal agencies.
APHIS then conducted an internal review of its policies concerning posting violations tied to the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport and by dealers.
As a result of the review, the USDA-APHIS earlier this month abruptly removed animal welfare inspection reports from its website. In a flash, the inspection report for She's a Shady Sister and other documents that animal rights organizations rely on to monitor violations were gone. (Some documents, including ones linked to from this article, have been preserved through an organization called The Memory Hole, which has started posting deleted animal welfare documents from USDA-APHIS online.)
Tanya Espinosa, a legislative and public affairs specialist at USDA-APHIS, told Seeker, "Based on our commitment to being transparent, remaining responsive to our stakeholders' informational needs, and maintaining the privacy rights of individuals, APHIS is implementing actions to remove documents it posts on APHIS' website involving the HPA and the AWA that contain personal information covered by the Privacy and Freedom of Information Acts or guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding them."
She continued, "These documents include inspection reports, research facility annual reports, regulatory correspondence (such as official warnings), lists of regulated entities, and enforcement records that have not received final adjudication."
RELATED: Call for Euthanizing Wild Horses Stirs Controversy
In addition, Espinosa said that APHIS is reviewing and redacting their lists of licensees and registrants under the AWA, as well as similar lists for USDA-certified horse industry organizations.
Animal Rights Groups File Lawsuits
In response, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has taken two legal actions against USDA-APHIS so far. The first alleges that USDA-APHIS, in removing the materials from its website, violated a 2009 "agreement to post certain data on its website concerning research on animals." The second alleges intervention in the legal case concerning horse soring.
On February 13, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the Physicals Committee for Responsible Medicine, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and others filed a complaint against USDA-APHIS, with the goal "to compel the USDA to publicly disclose thousands of records that the agency for years posted on the website of its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service."
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which represents 232 accredited zoos and aquariums worldwide, is not currently involved in any litigation against USDA-APHIS concerning the website scrubbing. But Dan Ashe, president and CEO of AZA, strongly disapproves of the decision to remove online access to USDA inspection reports.
"Public disclosure of relevant animal care and welfare information represents our license to operate and is essential for ensuring the public's trust and confidence in our profession, enabling the public to distinguish the best animal care facilities from poorly run breeding farms and roadside zoos and menageries," Ashe said. "AZA urges USDA to reconsider this decision, and believes all legitimate accrediting organizations should join us in this request."
Not everyone is unhappy with the USDA-APHIS decision to wipe its website clean of certain animal welfare data. The Cavalry Group, whose stated mission is "protecting and defending animal enterprise," applauds the change in USDA policy.
"For the last eight years, USDA has been releasing confidential and un-adjudicated information to animal rights extremists and activist organizations, such as the HSUS and PETA, knowing that the information would be used wrongfully against USDA licensees with the intent to run them out of business," said Cavalry Group President Mindy Patterson. "Empirical data exists evidencing that animal rights groups have used licensees' information to make fraudulent claims and anonymous tips to authorities, and terrorize law abiding American families whose livelihood happens to involve exhibiting, breeding, transporting, or selling animals."
Loss for the Public
The HSUS argues that the information scrubbed from the USDA-APHIS site provided guidance to consumers about dog breeders they may purchase from, zoos they may visit and horse trainers they may associate with. The research facility annual reports alone revealed trends in animal care and highlighted practices like soring that can cause pain and distress to animals.
The HSUS further says that the erased information informed what research areas should be a funding priority in order to remove abused animals from certain facilities or to at least improve their care.
Public safety could be at stake too. For example, one of the scrubbed inspection reports essentially mentioned that a feed-the-lions attraction in Nevada put visitors at risk of having a finger bit off by one of the big cats. That operation is still in business, so the problem must have been resolved. Nevertheless, compliance can take time, and having accessible inspection report information may help to educate consumers.
RELATED: Trump's Wall Would Block Animals More Than People
Many animal rights group members are blaming the Trump administration for the USDA-APHIS website data scrub. Espinosa denied that the Trump team is behind the removals, saying, "In 2016, well before the change of administration, APHIS decided to make adjustments to the posting of regulatory records." It is true that the horse soring litigation was well underway before Trump took office.
The HSUS, however, told Seeker that the Obama administration chose not to delete the animal inspection information, and that the Trump administration's transition team leader at the USDA, Brian Klippenstein, has been fighting HSUS for years. Klippenstein is the director of Protect the Harvest, an organization whose stated mission is "to protect your right to hunt, fish, farm, eat meat and own pets." According to HSUS, Protect the Harvest has defended puppy mills, roadside zoos, individuals accused of horse soring and others.
It remains to be seen how the legal actions taken by the HSUS, PETA and others will play out. Espinosa did say that the decisions of her agency "are not final."
"Adjustments may be made regarding information appropriate for release and posting," she added.
Currently, those seeking information about the reports can submit Freedom of Information Act requests, which may or may not be approved. If they are approved, the process can take weeks.
In the meantime, PETA has been linking to the deleted animal welfare documents from USDA-APHIS posted by the Memory Hole. The selection currently only represents a fraction of the former documents, but the goal is to repost them all.
Top Photo: The horse "Walk Time Charlie" at the 2012 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, Aug 2012. Credit: Randall R. Saxton, Flickr
Many see Norway as one of the most utopian modern countries, citing its citizens' happiness, its booming economy, and incredibly low crime rates. Experts have said these low crime rates are a result of the country's progressive take on the justice system, which focuses on rehabilitating its criminals instead of punishing them.
Criminals convicted in Norway have a maximum sentence of 21 years, even for acts like treason and mass murder. Norwegian prisons are considered to be the nicest in the world, offering comfortable amenities and relatively low security. They also have effective rehabilitation programs in place that provide former criminals with healthcare, education and even pensions.
Do these progressive policies really result in lower crime rates? And if so, what can the U.S. learn from them?
Learn More:
BBC: Crime and punishment, Norwegian style
Washington Post: Norway gave its cops guns. After 1 year, it's taking them away. What did it learn?
NY Times: Norway Mass Killer Gets the Maximum: 21 Years
War correspondent, statesman, astronomer. Stargazing may not be what Winston Churchill is best remembered for, but a treatise he wrote on extraterrestrial life has revealed his scientific acumen six decades later.
Between ruling Britain and helping the Allies win World War II, the British Bulldog was among the first to theorize about other regions of the Universe in which conditions may be conducive to harboring life, it has been revealed.
Excerpts from his essay "Are We Alone in the Universe?" were brought to light Wednesday in the science journal Nature.
"I am not sufficiently conceited to think that my sun is the only one with a family of planets," Churchill wrote in the document which astrophysicist Mario Livio laid hands upon last year at the US National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Mo.
There must be many other planets, he concluded, of "the right size to keep ... water and possibly an atmosphere," and "at the proper distance from their parent sun to maintain a suitable temperature."
This later became known as a star's "habitable zone".
To qualify, a planet has to orbit its star at a distance far enough so that water does not evaporate in the solar heat, and near enough that it does not freeze beyond the rays' reach.
Water is considered an essential requirement for life, however primitive.
Churchill first drafted the paper in 1939, when Europe was on the brink of war, and revised it in the late 1950s while visiting his publisher in a village in the south of France, said Livio.
As far as could be determined, the work has never been published or subjected to scientific or academic scrutiny.
"What is extraordinary is his train of thought, he thinks about the problem like a scientist," Livio told AFP of the find.
RELATED: Seeking the Aliens Who Are Looking Right At Us
The concept of habitable zones originated in the 1950s, the same decade in which Churchill finished his essay.
A war correspondent and soldier turned politician, Churchill was also known for his love of science.
He wrote essays and articles in the 1920s and 1930s on topics including evolution, cell biology and fusion power.
Later as a politician, he regularly consulted scientists and was the first British prime minister to employ a science adviser, according to Livio.
The government under Churchill funded laboratories, telescopes and technology development that spawned many discoveries.
Until now, astrophysics was not known to have been one of his fields of scientific interest.
"At a time when a number of today's politicians shun science, I find it moving to recall a leader who engaged with it so profoundly," Livio wrote in Nature.
The hunt for potentially habitable planets elsewhere in the universe began decades after Churchill's musings on the topic.
In 2015, researchers calculated that our Milky Way galaxy alone may be home to billions of planets orbiting in their host stars' so-called "Goldilocks" zone.
The Paris-based Extrasolar Planets Encylopaedia has so far compiled a database of over 3,500 planets around other stars, a few dozen in the habitable sweet spot.
WATCH VIDEO: 60 Billion Planets Could Harbor Life
SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA'S STATEMENT ON REPORTED MOVE BY SOLGEN TO ACQUIT NAPOLES IN LUY CASE
It looks like this administration is bent on taking the side of every high profile crook and scoundrel the past administration was able to jail. I cannot imagine what justification the OSG has come up with this time in order to sabotage the criminal conviction the DOJ has successfully secured in the past administration.
The professional career lawyers of the OSG must be cringing at this latest stunt of their Solicitor General.
From the "tribune of the people" to the "tribune of convicted criminals", this is probably the lowest point ever that the OSG has reached in its years of existence.
Release Napoles, the number one enabler of plunderers in government, and we might as well dissolve our justice system and declare this government a government of criminals, where the innocent are imprisoned and the criminals liberated. Maybe next they will be setting free the convicted drug lords who testified against me.
Under these circumstances, it is indeed an honor to be imprisoned under this regime of criminal coddlers.
Press Release
February 15, 2017 Gatchalian: Tap foot traffic value in LRT, MRT common station project With the LRT-MRT common station project finally set to push through, Senator Win Gatchalian is calling on the government to explore options to generate additional income from the project by maximizing the value of the projected foot traffic through the station. Based on the DOTr estimate of around 500,000 commuters using the station daily, Gatchalian said that the government could make at least PHP 182.5 million per year (Assuming PHP 1 of potential income per pedestrian x 500,000 x 365 days) if it bids out the value of foot traffic to be generated from the government undertaking. "The foot traffic within the station will be an asset of the government because government created it. The income from foot traffic can be used to subsidize the station's expenses, and therefore cut down train fares. This way, we can add even more value to this project for the general public," he said, adding that the foot traffic value can still be included in the contract, which is still under review by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). Gatchalian also urged the government to be more circumspect and forward-thinking in future negotiations for contracts with private investors, especially infrastructure projects that provide basic services to the people. "Government should negotiate better and always look at the maximum benefits that it will get from these partnerships with private businesses. Government should always watch out for what would be most advantageous to the public," said Gatchalian as he grilled officials of the Department of Transportation during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services concerning the LRT-MRT common station. He bewailed that the government had already lost potential income from the undertaking because of the eight-year setback suffered due to the legal blockade put up by the SM Prime Holdings Incorporated (SMPHI), which was able to obtain in 2014 a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court against the relocation of the common station to the Trinoma mall area. The SMPHI, under a September 2009 memorandum of agreement with the Light Rail Transit Authority, had paid government P200 million for the naming rights to the proposed station and to ensure that the station is located beside SM North EDSA. "Commuters have been suffering for the past 8 years. We have been held hostage by the P200 million that the defunct DOTC accepted from the mall developer. And because of the squabbles between big businesses on where to build the common station, passengers continued to suffer," Gatchalian said.
Press Release
February 15, 2017 Gatchalian: Send Child Rapists and Drug Lords to Hell "Bringing back the death penalty is the best way to send child rapists and drug lords on the one-way express to Hell," Senator Win Gatchalian said on Wednesday. Gatchalian, however, clarified that his support for the revival of the death penalty extends to only two specific classes of heinous crimes: offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children, and offenses involving large quantities of illegal drugs. "The common link between these two kinds of capital offenses is the irreparable damage that they do to our country. Criminals who wage war against the fundamental values of our society by polluting it with drugs and sexual violence against children cannot be rehabilitated, and they should not be forgiven. Child rapists and drug lords are beyond saving. They must be put to death," said Gatchalian. Despite his strong support for executing child rapists, pornographers, exploiters, and other sexual offenders, Gatchalian said he is open to Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto's compromise proposal to limit the reimposition of the death penalty to large scale drug offenses. "Limiting the scope of the new death penalty law to cover only offenses involving large quantities of illegal drugs might be the only realistic way to get the bill through the Senate. I will support the compromise if that's the case," said Gatchalian. Gatchalian urged his fellow lawmakers to take notice of the public clamor to revive the death penalty, pointing out that credible private surveys have shown that 4 out of 5 Filipinos support the move to bring back capital punishment. "The Constitution expressly bestows upon Congress the power to impose the death penalty for compelling reasons to punish heinous crimes. The devastating social impact of illegal drugs on our country is certainly compelling enough. As representatives of the People, we must give them the justice they demand," Gatchalian said.
Press Release
February 15, 2017 HONTIVEROS TO AGUIRRE: EXPLAIN NOW, GET CONFIRMED LATER "He has a lot of explaining to do." This was the statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros to Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre during the latter's scheduled confirmation of his appointment on Wednesday. Hontiveros said that her colleagues in the Commission on Appointments should suspend indefinitely Aguirre's confirmation pending a thorough and satisfactory explanation from the justice secretary regarding several controversies he is allegedly involved with. The senator was referring to the alleged special treatment given by Aguirre to convicted drug lords. Hontiveros also raised the issue of Wally Sombero, the alleged representative of online gaming tycoon and alleged human trafficker, Jack Lam, who left the country under the DoJ chief's watch unmonitored despite a lookout bulletin. She also pointed to Aguirre's controversial meeting with Lam, and the involvement of his men in a P 50 million extortion attempt. Why is the justice secretary giving special privileges to convicted drug traffickers? Did he allowed Wally Sombero to leave the country? Why did the justice secretary put himself in a situation that allowed the likes of Jack Lam to try to bribe him? What is the extent of his knowledge regarding his commissioners' extortion activities? Assuming without conceding that he doesn't know, isn't this outright negligence on his part? These are some of the questions that Aguirre has failed to answer adequately," Hontiveros said. Hontiveros said that the issues lodged against Aguirre are very serious as they undermine the integrity and credibility of the Department of Justice. "They merit no less than the justice secretary's full disclosure and clarification. Until then, I think it is fair for the Committee on Appointments to defer Secretary Aguirre's appointment to highlight the gravity of concern regarding the issues that continue to hound him and pending a thorough explanation from his end," Hontiveros concluded.
Press Release
February 15, 2017 Sponsorship Speech of Senator Loren Legarda
Confirmation of the Ad Interim Appointment of
Hon. Vitaliano Napenas Aguirre II
as Secretary of the Department of Justice Mr. President, Our appointee today, who was born and raised in Mulanay, Quezon by his parents, Alfaro G. Aguirre and Maria Napenas, has a reputation of being a reserved yet very highly intelligent man, with a sense of probity and integrity--qualities that are important in the performance of his duty in ensuring the effective, efficient and equitable administration of justice. Prior to his years of experience as a successful lawyer, gaining national fame as counsel for the likes of Hubert Jeffrey Webb, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and then Court of Appeals Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes, he was a consistent honor student and graduated as a full scholar at the San Beda College during his high school, college and law school years. Given his humble roots, it comes as no surprise then that defending the poor and the marginalized has always been close to his heart. As a budding litigation lawyer, he began his law practice by defending farmers and fisher folks. A staunch activist since his college days, he was forced to go into hiding after a military tribunal filed a case against him on the alleged crime of Inciting to Sedition after the declaration of Martial Law in 1972. He was a recipient of awards such as Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan, Outstanding Litigator of Lex Talionis Fraternitas in 2015, Distinguished Bedan Award in the field of Law, and Bedan Recognition Award for Private Practice of Law. It is, thus, with honor and privilege that your Chairman endorses and moves for the confirmation of the ad interim appointment of the honorable Vitaliano Napenas Aguirre II as Secretary of the Department of Justice. Thank you.
Press Release
February 15, 2017 Villanueva pushes for free tech-voc education The Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, chaired by Senator Joel Villanueva, tackled on Wednesday a proposed measure providing free access to programs and training of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Villanueva's Senate Bill No. 1318 or the "Tulong Trabaho Act of 2017" is said to democratize the access to technical and vocational training and strengthen the existing TESDA programs to ensure gainful employment. Villanueva, who is a former TESDA director-general, explained this can be guaranteed through establishing a Tulong Trabaho Fund that will ensure financial assistance for the qualified applicants. This fund will be included in the budget of TESDA. "We want to help people find decent jobs, especially those who are financially incapable to enroll in tertiary education, to acquire skills and easily find work. Through this proposal, the needed skills in the market are determined and addressed through skills training. This, in turn, will help reduce jobs-skills mismatch," Villanueva said adding that the measure seeks to rationalize the government's process in giving educational assistance. However, the senator clarified that the financial assistance in the Tulong Trabaho program is geared not solely towards education or finishing a degree, but "gaining training and technical knowledge with a view to a definitive job market or livelihood requirement need." "This bill seeks to ensure that not only high school graduates or those eligible for SUCs will be provided financial assistance, but all Filipinos with potential for gainful and sustainable employment and livelihood," Villanueva shared. The program is open to unemployed Filipinos, high-school graduates, and workers who seek to enhance their respective skills. The senator explained that the Tulong Trabaho bill is consistent and expands the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education or the UniFAST Act of 2015 which is already existing for the purposes of secondary education. "This bill actually opens up the financial assistance to persons other than high school graduates, and can also include persons employed in the informal economy or informal job market. This then opens up the opportunity for them to expand their skill set and improve their present employment situation, as well," Villanueva stressed. Qualified applicants will be accepted based on criteria determined by the Tulong Trabaho Board headed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. These would include income, level of education, as well as other standards for these training programs. The determination of the programs that will be offered will be based on the Labor Market Intelligence Reports, quantitative data of the NEDA and DOLE, as well as definitive job data to be able to truly meet the demands of the job market. "We want to ensure that through the implementation and institutionalization of this program, our people would have just and fair access to opportunities that will alleviate them from poverty. Through free access to training, more underprivileged people would be empowered to enhance their skills and use these to achieve gainful employment," Villanueva concluded.
Fresh from winning voter approval of a $3.5 billion bond measure, BART is looking at asking for another $1.5 billion as part of a bridge-toll increase that could go on Bay Area ballots as early as next year.
The idea being pushed by BART and other transit agencies is to raise tolls on the Bay Areas seven state-owned toll bridges thats every one of them except the Golden Gate by $1 to $3. Officials are still haggling over the exact amount, but the upper range would boost the top cost of crossing the bay in a car to $9.
The full list of transit projects that would get the money isnt finalized. But BART is already planning to push its way to the front of the line and ask for as much as a third of the toll dollars that the measure would generate.
It was just three months ago that BART won a high-stakes campaign to persuade voters in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties to approve Measure RR, a bond issue that will pay for a host of nuts-and-bolts improvements to the nearly five-decade-old system. This next ballot bid would be called Regional Measure 3 and would go before voters in all nine Bay Area counties, probably in 2018.
Paul Chinn/The Chronicle
Rebuilding our transportation system is similar to maintaining a house its really never done, said Randy Rentschler of the Bay Area Toll Authority, which would have a major say over how the money raised by the new measure would be divvied up.
BART says what it needs most is 306 additional railcars. Theres no money in Measure RR to pay for them, and theyll cost a lot of cash $1.6 billion, to be exact.
BART hopes $1 billion of that will come from the envisioned toll-increase measure, which would still leave it $600 million short of what it needs for all the cars. That money would have come from sales-tax hikes on the November ballot in San Francisco and Contra Costa counties, but voters there fouled up BARTs plans by rejecting the increases.
The 306 new railcars BART hopes to purchase are on top of the 775 already on order as part of the replacement of its aging fleet.
Other BART priorities for the toll money include $250 million to modernize train control and traction power systems and $90 million to design a seismic retrofit of the 3.6-mile Berkeley hills tunnel.
Also on the list is $120 million to pay for capacity enhancements at the heavily used Embarcadero and Montgomery Street stations in San Francisco. BART would use half the money to install automated sliding glass doors on the platform that would keep riders safely separated from the tracks, and the other half to add elevators, escalators and stairs.
None of this can happen until the Legislature gives the OK for Bay Area voters to decide on a bridge-toll increase. State Sen. Jim Beall, D-Santa Clara, is expected to introduce legislation that would do that, according to those following the process. Bealls office declined to comment Tuesday.
Bay Area voters last approved a $1 increase on local toll bridges in 2004, to pay for congestion-relief measures. Transit officials have since imposed two $1 toll hikes on their own, for bridge seismic retrofits.
Measure RR in November was no easy sell, because BART had to persuade two-thirds of voters to give the thumbs-up to pass it. A toll hike wouldnt be as big a challenge it would require only a cumulative simple majority in the nine Bay Area counties.
BART wouldnt be the only transit agency benefiting from the toll hikes. Money probably would also be spent on ferries, express buses, high-occupancy-vehicle lanes and even the new Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco, which has already received $300 million in toll revenue.
As for justifying BARTs grab of toll dollars, transportation officials argue that the rail system carries an average of 28,000 people each weekday rush hour nearly twice the number that move in cars over the bay.
This is very real congestion relief, which is capacity improvement, said Nick Josefowitz, a BART Board of Directors member from San Francisco who helped lead the campaign for Measure RR.
According to BART spokesman Jim Allison, the bond measure that voters approved in November covers a bit less than half the cost of a new, $915 million train control system that will allow 30 trains an hour to travel under the bay, six more than now.
But a bit less than half isnt enough which is why BART is extending its hand to voters, again.
San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
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Inspectors visited Oroville Dam 14 times since 2008 but never considered the integrity of the hillside that eroded below the emergency spillway, leading to a near catastrophe that forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream, state records show.
The inspections by the states Division of Safety of Dams repeatedly mentioned the concrete apron, or weir, at the top of the emergency spillway, and often included photographs of it.
The structure was stable appearing, and the concrete remains sound, inspectors wrote after their latest visit to the state-run dam in August 2016.
But over and over, there is no mention of the expanse of bare earth below, even though environmentalists had raised deep concerns about the emergency spillway not having a paved lining to carry water behind the nations tallest dam to the Feather River.
The lack of hillside studies could have been disastrous, given that the spillway was rated to handle water flows of hundreds of thousands of cubic feet per second, but began washing away over the weekend and threatening to undermine the rim of the dam when a comparative trickle washed over it for a matter of hours.
The emergency spillway at Oroville was pressed into duty after the main spillway was damaged last week amid rainstorms. It was the first time the emergency spillway was used since the dam 75 miles north of Sacramento was completed in 1968.
John Cassidy, an ex-officio member of the U.S. Society on Dams and a retired engineer at Bechtel Corp. who lives in Walnut Creek, said emergency spillways are not where dam designers typically invest limited resources.
They usually dont operate, he said. Thats the whole thing: They come into play only when you have a really large flood. The money is spent on the main spillway.
Still, he said, alternative spill channels like the one that failed at Lake Oroville should work regardless of how infrequently theyre used.
Certainly the area downstream of the crest of the emergency spillway (at Oroville) should be investigated thoroughly, Cassidy said, with operators using the information to decide whether the hillside can sustain storm damage and whether all or part of it it should be paved.
Nicholas Sitar, a UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering, said it appears officials misunderstood what a heavy flow of water would do to the natural slope beneath the emergency spillway.
Unfortunately, it wasnt surprising to me that erosion happened at much lower capacities, which has happened in other rock channels, Sitar said. The problem of rock erosion in spillway channels is a known phenomenon.
The California Department of Water Resources, which runs the dam, said it had not anticipated that erosion below the emergency spillway would quickly threaten the spillway itself.
The slow-moving water found a spot close to the wall, and thats where the erosion started, said Chris Orrock, a spokesman for the agency. It caused erosion that we didnt expect. We werent planning on this. Since (the emergency spillway) had never been used, we didnt know how the water was going to affect the hillside.
More than 180,000 people were evacuated Sunday in downstream communities amid fear that scars on the hillside created by erosion would burrow through the hill and under the concrete weir, causing a wall of water to descend upon several communities.
The evacuated residents were allowed back into their homes Tuesday after the Department of Water Resources drew down the reservoir to a level well below the lip of the emergency spillway which the agency hopes not to use again this season. At the same time, workers sought to shore up the hillside erosion with rocks brought in by trucks and helicopters.
Bill Croyle, the acting director of the agency, said 100,000 cubic feet per second of water was being sent down the damaged main spillway, which was holding together. He said he expected to bring the lake down to 850 feet above sea level by this weekend, or 50 feet below the emergency spillway.
While the emergency spillway sends water over bare ground, the hillside was supposed be able to handle a significant flow during a flood, according to the state up to 500,000 cubic feet per second.
But over the weekend, only 12,600 cubic feet per second of water poured over the weir at the peak. Within a day, the hillside was in danger.
The magnitude and swiftness of the failure at Oroville has prompted engineers and environmental groups to question why the state didnt do more to prevent the problem.
The inspection records dating back to 2008 indicate only cursory looks at the concrete spillway lip. Many of the inspection reports say the emergency spillway weir is in good condition or remains in satisfactory condition or remains unchanged from recent inspections.
There were concerns about seepage from the reservoir itself, but nothing that went to the point that there was a need to assess surfacing of the auxiliary spillway, said Robert Bea, a professor emeritus and engineering expert at UC Berkeley, who reviewed the latest 14 dam inspection reports.
And its not as if the state hadnt been alerted. In 2005, three environmental groups Friends of the River, the Sierra Club and the South Yuba River Citizens League warned state and federal water regulators about the emergency spillway in a 31-page motion filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during a relicensing review.
The groups were concerned that use of the unpaved auxiliary spillway would cause erosion that could lead to a loss of crest control, or failure of the rim of the dam. Thats exactly what almost happened, said Ronald Stork, senior policy director for Friends of the River.
No spillway of any kind in the United States should suffer a loss of crest control, said Stork. What was just astonishing to me was how that rock was just eroding away as if it was clay.
Sitar said, When they relicensed the structure, they probably looked at the past performance of the (main) spillway and said its doing well. The chances well ever use the auxiliary spillway are low, and theres no need to worry about it.
Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.
In the end, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dismissed concerns about the emergency spillway.
The emergency spillway meets FERCs engineering guidelines for an emergency spillway, said John Onderdonk, then a senior civil engineer, in a 2006 memorandum. The guidelines specify that during a rare flood event, it is acceptable for the emergency spillway to sustain significant damage.
Strengthening the hillside may have been seen as too expensive. Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, said there may be more cost-effective ways to increase the reservoirs discharge capacity.
Auxiliary spillways like the one at Lake Oroville, discharging water into an unpaved hillside, are not the norm. But others exist.
The federally run New Melones Dam on the Stanislaus River, which encloses another of Californias biggest reservoirs, has a similar spillway, where water is designed to pour down a bedrock slope once the lake level reaches a certain point. The emergency channel has never been used.
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite has many spillways, one of which is unlined and sits on granite. The gated chute is used regularly and has never had a problem, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Dan Wade, the agencys director of capital improvements, said there are many factors to consider when designing an unpaved spillway, including the soils potential for erosion, how often it will be used and how much water will run over it.
Unlined spillways are not uncommon, Wade said. Judgment calls have to be made by the design engineering team.
San Francisco Chronicle
staff writer Joaquin Palomino
contributed to this report.
Peter Fimrite and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite @kurtisalexander
A customer who posted a Yelp review of a massage parlor in San Franciscos Financial District in December 2012 hinted that the code word is boom boom for a kinky massage that the business didnt advertise over the phone.
More than four years later, City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the alleged covert brothel, otherwise known as Queens Health Center in the 300 block of Kearny Street, for violating an egregious number of local laws and a state law against prostitution.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Herrera contended that the business has been operating as a brothel since at least April 2010, despite a slew of police investigations and city penalties designed to make its owner stop the illicit operations.
The suit marked the first time in recent history that the city filed a civil action under a violation of a state antiprostitution law to stop the practice, Herrera said in a statement.
This lawsuit sends a clear message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated, Herrera said. It will also deter other would-be brothel owners from exploiting women.
The suit, which also names a trustee who owned the property, claims Queens Health Service has since 2010 blatantly advertised its illegal sex services on sites such as backpage.com and Craigslist, depicting scantily clad women in provocative clothing and playing up the ethnicities of the women customers could choose from.
In a May 2013 inspection, the city Department of Public Health found 10 masseuses wearing lingerie, and during separate undercover operations, workers offered police officers sex on at least three different occasions, the city attorney said.
Queens Health Center also installed security cameras outside the building and a buzzer system for controlled entry to keep investigators away, as well as doorstops inside the massage room to delay inspectors entry, the city attorney said.
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.
The owner, Jie Qin Zhou, did not immediately return a call for comment.
Herrera in his lawsuit is asking the court to close the business for a year, sell its property at auction and bring penalties against the property and business owner.
In the summer of 2016, the Department of Public Health suspended the facilitys massage license for 60 days, but the business reopened and went right back to exploiting women, according to the city attorney.
Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley
Lawyers for a former Oracle America saleswoman accused the Silicon Valley technology giant Tuesday of cheating employees out of millions of dollars by retroactively cutting their sales commission rates, and then deducting the difference from their paychecks, in order to boost company profits.
Oracle has systematically stiffed its salesforce of earned commission wages for many years, attorneys said in a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court. The suit seeks over $150 million in damages for more than 1,000 past and present employees over a four-year period.
The lead plaintiff, Marcella Johnson, said she started working at Oracles Redwood City headquarters in March 2013, selling software for managing human resources and personnel, and was paid her first commissions in November and December 2013. The company told her she could expect $50,000 to $60,000 in commissions per year, in addition to her base salary of $65,000, her lawyers said.
But in early 2014, Johnson said, she was given a new contract with lower commission rates, retroactive to June 2013, and was told she owed Oracle about $20,000 for the higher commissions she had already received. She said the company told her that if she quit, she would face a lawsuit to collect the money.
Johnson said she kept working until she had made $20,000 in commissions, then left her job in July 2014. Her suit said Oracles actions violate the employees contracts, California labor laws against wage-payback schemes, and the states ban on unfair business practices.
A company spokeswoman, Deborah Hellinger, said, Oracle categorically denies the allegations, and we will vigorously defend against them.
The lawsuit acknowledged that Oracles employment contracts authorize the company to reduce commission payments retroactively, and that employees are asked to sign the revised midyear agreements, or re-plans, that lower their past and future commission rates.
But the company coerces employees to comply by threatening to cut off their commissions if they refuse to sign the revised contracts within 24 hours, and then makes the reductions even for those who refuse to sign, Johnsons lawyers said. And despite a state law requiring commission contracts to spell out the methods for computing and paying commissions, they said, Oracle refuses to disclose the reasons for the lower rates.
You cannot sign your rights away to earned wages, said Xinying Valerian, one of the lawyers who filed the suit.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
American oil and mining companies wont need to report payments to foreign governments, after President Trump on Tuesday signed legislation wiping out a regulation staunchly opposed by the petroleum industry.
The legislation, House Joint Resolution 41, eliminated a regulation issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last June that would have forced extractive industries to report payments they make to governments abroad for access to natural resources.
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When she started her first vegan food company in 1997, Miyoko Schinner couldnt get anyone to invest in the business, despite its $1 million in annual sales. She closed that company, Now and Zen, in 2003.
People werent putting money into food certainly not vegan food, said Schinner. Vegan food was something you had to explain to people.
Oh, how things have changed. Just over two years after Schinner founded Miyokos Kitchen, a producer of plant-based cheese, the Fairfax company has received $6 million in funding. The investment will help pay for a much larger Petaluma facility and more efficient equipment that will help it keep up with demand. Its products, like cashew-based Cultured VeganButter and Fresh VeganMozz, are sold across the country in at least 2,000 stores, including Trader Joes, Raleys and Whole Foods.
After starting out making 800 rounds of cheese per week, the company now produces 100,000 a month. Schinner expects to hit $10 million in sales this year, and 10 times that in five years.
The explosive growth was not part of the original plan. We were going to be a local, artisanal producer like Cowgirl (Creamery), have a retail shop and sell our products in Northern California, said Schinner, also a cookbook author and co-host of the cooking show Vegan Mashup. It didnt work out that way.
The new investment also will allow Schinner to add a line of more basic cheeses with the same nutritional value as, for example, a milk-based cheddar cheese. They will cost $5 to $6, as compared to the current price of $10 to $13 for packages of her artisanal vegan cheeses. Shes also about to introduce a smoked mozzarella version.
The funding comes from JMK Consumer Growth Partners, joining previous investors like Obvious Ventures, the venture capital firm of Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, which also backs the plant-based companies Urban Remedy and Beyond Meat.
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Schinner said that their interest shows how much the market has changed in the 20 years since she started her first food business, a change she attributes largely to Millennials.
People are eating foods that align to their mission in life, she said. Its more about conscious eating and the relationship between the food on your plate and the impact it has, not just on your own health.
Schinner believes her investors are not just responding to current trends but what they think the future will bring: (Investors are) aware of the greater impacts of food and they realize this is the time to get in on it.
Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan
Following an executive order from President Trump to minimize the economic burden of the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Service said it is backtracking on its plan to reject 2016 tax returns that do not indicate whether the taxpayer complied with the acts individual mandate.
Supporters of the act, which is known as Obamacare, fear this behind-the-scenes change could undermine enrollment in health insurance.
The mandate requires Americans to have a minimum level of health insurance, qualify for one of myriad exemptions or pay a penalty known as the individual shared responsibility payment when they file their return. Taxpayers must indicate on their tax returns whether each person included on the return had insurance for the full year, qualified for an exemption or owed the penalty. Returns that dont provide this information are known as silent.
In a Feb. 3 meeting with tax-preparation software companies, the IRS said it would not reject silent returns this filing season, according to Andrew Townsend, tax analyst for software maker TaxAct. The decision, which took effect Feb. 6, was not announced publicly and Townsend said he has not seen it in writing.
J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
In an email, the IRS said: In recent years, tax returns silent in that regard were still processed. This year, the IRS put in place system changes that would reject tax returns during processing in instances where the taxpayer didnt provide that information.
The recent executive order directed federal agencies to exercise authority and discretion available to them to reduce potential burden. Consistent with that, the IRS has decided to make changes that would continue to allow electronic and paper returns to be accepted for processing in instances where a taxpayer doesnt indicate their coverage status. However, legislative provisions of the ACA law are still in force until changed by the Congress, and taxpayers remain required to follow the law and pay what they may owe.
It clarified that processing silent returns means that taxpayer returns are not systemically rejected, but when the IRS has questions about a return, taxpayers may receive follow-up questions and correspondence at a future date.
Trumps Jan. 20 executive order told federal agencies to exercise all authority and discretion ... to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the (Affordable Care Act) that would impose a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families and others.
Although the IRS move does not eliminate the penalty that would take Congressional action some supporters remain concerned.
Its pretty disturbing. It leaves individuals at risk for paying the penalty while at the same time, causing people not to enroll or stay enrolled because they think they are not subject to it, said Edwin Park, vice president of health policy with the Council on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Park said this is one of a number of things the administration is doing that we consider to undermine enrollment. For example, the White House ordered federal health officials to stop doing advertising and outreach during the critical last week of open enrollment in health care plans through state and federal marketplaces. That seemed to cause a sudden drop-off in enrollment, he said.
National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said that rejecting silent returns at the time of filing is the least burdensome approach, because the taxpayer would correct the omission immediately.
Although the IRS statement said it did not reject silent returns in years past, some software would not allow users to file them. Tax-software companies now must decide what to do about the IRS decision.
Townsend said that in years past, if TaxAct users tried to file a silent return, they generally would be prompted to complete the necessary information. TaxAct does not plan to change that as a result of the new IRS guidance, he said.
In an email, Intuit spokeswoman Julie Miller said that starting March 2, TurboTax customers can e-file their return without indicating if they had health care coverage last year.
On Thursday, Drake Software, which sells to tax professionals, announced an update that will enable taxpayers to elect to file a return with no response to line 61 of Form 1040. This is the line where taxpayers can check a box if everyone in their household had coverage for the full year or enter their shared responsibility payment. If they want to claim an exemption, they leave this line blank and file Form 8965.
Drake added that taxpayers who choose this option could receive communication from the IRS, experience delayed refunds, and face subsequent collection activity to recoup the individual shared responsibility payment, if the payment applies to the taxpayers filing scenario. Drake did not return requests for comment.
Taxpayers who owe a penalty have it deducted from their refund or add it to their amount due for the year. However, failing to pay it is not a crime. Unlike delinquent taxes, the IRS cannot use liens or levies to try to collect it, although it can add interest to the penalty and deduct it from future-year refunds.
Most taxpayers who had health insurance received Form 1095 from their employer, insurance provider or government marketplace that shows which month each family member had coverage. This form is also sent to the IRS.
In its report to Congress this year, the IRS Taxpayer Advocate reported that 6.1 million 2015 tax returns reported a penalty averaging $452. An additional 12.2 million tax returns filed Form 8965 with exemptions. People who are not required to file a tax return are not subject to the penalty.
The penalty went up each year from 2014 and 2016. It is either a flat amount or a percentage of income, whichever is greater. For 2016, the annual flat rate is $695 for each uninsured adult and $347.50 per child up to $2,085 for a family. The percentage penalty is 2.5 percent of adjusted gross income that exceeds the amount of income that a taxpayer must have before he or she is required to file a tax return. For partial-year coverage, the fee is 1/12th the annual fee for each full month a family member lacked coverage or an exemption.
Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender
Fremont Police Department / Fremont Police Department
A 30-year-old parolee from Fremont shot and killed another man inside a Milpitas parking garage, then fled in a stolen car before he was arrested, police said Tuesday.
Stuart Ison Baronngaue, who was wanted at the time for a parole violation from the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office, was arrested Friday night on suspicion of murder, robbery and felony evasion, police said.
James Steidl/ST
A San Mateo man who orchestrated a Bay Area prostitution ring that trafficked women from overseas to work in makeshift brothels was sentenced to nearly four years in prison Tuesday, federal prosecutors said.
Allen Fong, 60, admitted that from August 2006 to July 2014, he ran the day-to-day operations of a series of brothels in San Bruno, San Mateo and Santa Clara, among other places, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of California.
Sarah Ravani / Sarah Ravani /
As two men drove through a residential section of San Franciscos Bayview neighborhood, an occupant of another car opened fire on them, leaving both fighting for their lives, police said Tuesday.
The victims one 20, the other 24 were passing through the intersection of Donahue Street and Jerrold Avenue just before 9 p.m. Monday when the double-shooting happened, San Francisco Police Department officials said.
Mrs. A, you have to market this, said the high school kids in Leah Aguayos third-period ceramics class. It was 2004, and they were wolfing down her homemade salsa and tortilla chips. Aguayo ignored them and continued rushing about the classroom. Shed been bringing food to class as a reward for good behavior for years. The teenagers persisted: You have to get it into stores so that we can buy it. Before the bell rang, they had named it Mrs. As Famous Salsa Buena. Three weeks later, student Daniel Yang presented a label design of a smiling yellow sun, and three months after that, Mrs. As salsa was on the shelves of her local grocery store outside Santa Cruz.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be doing this, and its all because of my students, says Aguayo, now in her 36th year teaching high school ceramics in the South Bay. Husband Rafael also taught ceramics for over 30 years, retiring last year to focus on the salsa business full-time with the couples son, Gabriel. Up until then, the Aguayos spent their days teaching and their evenings and weekends making salsa.
Its been crazy, Aguayo says.
These days, five people make every batch of Mrs. As Famous Salsa Buena: the three Aguayos and two employees. This salsa is so hand-made, I cant even tell you, Aguayo says.
They use a robot coup, a high-powered food processor, to pulse the tomatoes, garlic and pickled jalapenos (which give this salsa its signature tang). They taste as they go, adjusting the heat, as necessary. A daily load of 200 bunches of cilantro is sorted by hand, plucked for yellow and brown leaves, and triple-washed. The cilantro goes in at the very end for a final, light blending so that the delicate leaves dont become pulverized. Open a container, and youll see loads of finely chopped cilantro whirling about. And because Mrs. A doesnt like raw onions, her salsas dont contain any. As far she knows, shes the only salsa maker to omit them.
In 2015, the couple moved from a shared commercial kitchen into their very own 3,400-square-foot facility. We built out the most beautiful commercial kitchen in Santa Cruz, gushes Aguayo, who finalized the terms of the lease on her 60th birthday. We unplugged the refrigerators from the shared kitchen across the street and rolled them down the street. We never stopped production, she says with pride.
Until recently, Mrs. As Famous Salsa Buena came in just two flavors: Traditional hot and medium. The problem was that customers werent noticing them behind the scores of flavors produced by bigger brands. Unable to pay for a more prominent place in the display case, she decided to create three new flavors: salsa verde, pineapple mango and rojo loco, which Aguayo describes as not crazy hot, just crazy good.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
None of this has been easy. Aguayo thought about quitting when a co-packers mishandling spoiled several batches of her salsa. (A co-packer is a company that packages a product, like salsa, on behalf of a client that cant afford its own commercial kitchen.) The fiasco cost her several grocery-store accounts.
This is a mans world, she says. Ive had to be the strongest woman to fight through all the market world, the grocery world, the distribution world. She earned a spot in many stores by either sending samples or showing up in person, with a container of salsa and bag of chips and encouraging the buyer or owner to taste it.
With no knowledge of how to start a business, she called Cabrillo College, which connected her with business consultant Keith Holtaway. Under his guidance, she researched everything from shelf life to bar codes.
Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.
These days, Aguayo is still figuring out how to stay afloat. She just completed a cookbook that she sells via email or Facebook. She also has begun working with a broker to help her get into more stores, and pays for advertisements on her local radio station These are my little tries to build business, she says. Yet those little tries cost a lot of money. Plus, theres the new kitchen to pay off. She doesnt plan to retire from teaching anytime soon though its not just for the income.
I cant leave the kids yet, she explains. I always say: I have a passion for food and a love for teaching.
Alissa Merksamer is a freelance writer. Email food@sfchronicle.com
Find Mrs. As Famous Salsa Buena at grocery stores throughout the Bay Area, including Safeway, Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl and Andronicos. Visit her website (www.mrsafamous.com) for a complete list of store locations.
David Duchovny is a bit of a Hollywood Renaissance man. An actor, director and writer, hes now charting his own path as a musician, currently playing the role of rock n roll frontman at his stop at San Franciscos Social Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 15, during a tour in support of his 2015 debut album Hell or Highwater.
Duchovny is very candid about his beginnings as a musician, aware of his limitations. The way he explains it, he started in music to just have fun playing songs he likes, emulating the works of Tom Petty, Neil Young and similar classic rock artists. He never even meant to pursue music professionally until a chance encounter with a musician friends manager encouraged him to consider music seriously.
Hed begun in Hollywood as an actor, rising to prominence in the early 90s as FBI agent Fox Mulder in the hit television show The X-Files, a character he returned to for two films and a limited series revival in 2016, and starred in the TV series Californication and Aquarius.
Hes also known for being pretty public about his politics. During last years presidential race and after the election of Donald Trump, Duchovny made headlines as an outspoken critic of the president, most recently suggesting that Trumpian politics might inspire a future incarnation of The X-Files.
Simon Cornils
But when it comes to his music, Duchovny likes to sing about timeless themes like love, addiction and loss. Unlike his television projects, he doesnt find it prudent or productive in the long run to try to tailor his music to current events.
Despite all the things I dislike about Trumps persona and presidency, I also hate the fact that all media, all television, all music its all this political discussion all the time, he said.
For this reason, Duchovny maintains that his music is separate from his politics. (He also added as an aside: Its hard to rhyme Trump. Its a hard rhyming word.)
Duchovnys second album is in the works for 2017, thematically in line with the universal concepts in his first, but with a tougher, more rock n roll edge. Reflecting on how he discovered his musical affinity on set between takes, he opens up about songwriting, performing live and his aspirations as a musician.
Q: When did you decide you wanted to be a musician?
A: The whole time Ive been an actor, Ive been perplexed by how much downtime you have in your trailer, and by the kind of feeling of helplessness or uselessness that goes on during your workday. So I decided about six years ago that I would try and learn a skill while I was waiting while I was acting. I love music, so I just picked up a guitar and I told myself I was going to start to play it.
I did this very tricky thing where I asked producers of whatever I was shooting to make my character a guitar player so that I would have to take lessons and they would have to pay for them. At the end of Californication, I did that Hank Moody started playing guitar. And then my character on Aquarius, Sam Hodiak, was a guitar player, so I got some free lessons out of that the whole time.
Q: How did you first start writing music? What did that creative process look like?
A: The first batch of songs I wrote never thinking I was going to share them with anybody ... I had no sense that they were going to be heard by a stranger, or that anyone would know what I was talking about. Even though these songs are written in a way that I think are universal, they are at the same time very personal. They were just kind of for me. So theres a real purity to them, I think.
I read somewhere that Neil Young, when he first started writing songs, would learn a new chord and write a new song in it. And thats kind of how I started, too. A song like Stars, which is off the album (Hell or Highwater), is something I wrote after I learned B7. Now I just sit and strum some chords, and if I start to hear a melody floating over those chords then Ill start to play with that. Ive got a notebook with little fragments of poems and phrases and ideas, and Ill see what fits. ... There are mystical ways of writing songs, and then there are nuts and bolts ways of writing songs, but I learned that they both get you to the same place.
Q: What is it like, getting onstage to perform your music?
A: When I go out and perform in front of people as a musician, its not me its a character based on me. Its a performative thing. You have to go out there and bring a certain amount of energy because people want to have a good time.
Q: How has performing as a musician changed the way you approach your other projects?
A: To sing in public would have been my greatest fear in life, and Im not exaggerating. And the fact that Im doing it and ... Im not afraid to just go out there now it was kind of like a near-death experience. Thats kind of liberating. It can throw away the nerves in many other aspects of ones life. Maybe it makes me less tense, less fearing of failure as an actor. Maybe it makes me more willing to take risks. Im not sure. I guess Im just waiting to see if that happens.
Alejandra Salazar is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: asalazar@sfchronicle.com
David Duchovny: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15. $26. Social Hall S.F. 1270 Sutter St., S.F. (414) 777-1715. www.socialhallsf.com
To watch the lyric video of Hell Or Highwater: https://youtu.be/-W2izQyHiTc
President Trumps pick for Labor secretary withdrew his nomination Wednesday, one day before his confirmation hearing was scheduled to begin, after a number of GOP senators expressed doubts about supporting him.
Andrew Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants the parent company to Carls Jr., La Salsa, Hardees and other popular fast food chains came under fire after admitting to hiring an undocumented housekeeper and allegations that he physically abused his former wife.
The domestic violence allegations resurfaced after senators watched an 1990 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show that featured Puzders ex-wife discussing the accusations, POLITICO reported.
Puzder released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying he was honored to have been considered by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Labor and put America's workers and businesses back on a path to sustainable prosperity.
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
He added, while I wont be serving in the administration, I fully support the President and his highly qualified team.
Puzder has also been under scrutiny for his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage and the overtime threshold, as well as taking softer stance than the Trump administration on immigration.
At least six GOP senators expressed hesitation toward voting to confirm Puzder for Labor secretary prior to his withdrawal.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told Buzzfeed, You know what my reservations are. Theyre all over the news.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, expressed concerns early on in the nomination process, but said he would make a final decision in the hearing a hearing that wont be happening.
The Chronicle has published several stories on Puzders nomination. Here are some links:
Low-wage workers in peril
Trumps choice for labor secretary outsourced jobs
GOP, allies launch defense of Puzder, Trumps Labor pick
Trump's pick for labor secretary may have saved a fast-food chain but workers question if he's right for the job
Trumps labor secretary pick sued a fast-food rival for implying his burger meat came from a disturbing source
Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Here are some central questions and answers about the damage to the Oroville Dam and the fight to prevent a catastrophe:
What is the Oroville Dam?
Construction on the Oroville Dam the tallest dam in the country at 770 feet started in 1957 and was completed in 1968, creating what is now the second-biggest reservoir in the state, sitting on the Feather River about 75 miles north of Sacramento in Butte County.
The reservoir operated by the state Department of Water Resources can hold 3.5 million acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is the amount needed to cover an acre with a foot of water enough to supply one or two households for a year.
What is the reservoir used for?
Lake Oroville is the centerpiece of the California State Water Project, which supplies 29 urban and agricultural water agencies. The lake provides flood control and hydroelectric power while releasing water down the Feather River for recreation, wildlife protection and the controlling of salinity levels.
How is water released?
There are three main points at the Oroville Dam where water can be released downstream. Roughly 14,000 cubic feet of water per second can push through the hydroelectric plant at the base of the dam when operational.
The main spillway a concrete chute that is now severely damaged can typically release up to 200,000 cubic feet per second, though the Feather River can handle only about 150,000 cubic feet per second without flooding.
The emergency (or auxiliary) spillway was built to accommodate overflow when the lake approaches its brim. But it sends water down a bare hillside, and it was used Saturday for the first time.
How did this become a crisis?
Two months ago, the reservoir was at about 40 percent of capacity and coming off five years of drought. The wet winter pushed levels up, and last week a series of warm storms barreled through, melting snow and driving lake levels up faster than state officials could send water downstream.
On Feb. 7, dam operators noticed that erosion had opened up a crater in the main spillway. Officials pared back releases but had to continue them, causing the crater to grow even as storm runoff pushed the reservoir toward capacity.
On Saturday, water started to flow over the emergency spillway for the first time. While there is a concrete apron or weir at the top of the spillway, there is only a hillside below, and the water quickly chewed it up, creating gashes that threatened to extend back to the reservoir.
Officials feared the erosion could cause the emergency spillway to fail, sending a catastrophic amount of water downstream, so they evacuated several communities.
How were the evacuations handled?
More than 180,000 people were urged to flee after the Butte County Sheriffs Office initiated evacuation orders at about 4:45 p.m. Sunday. Authorities initially said the emergency spillway could fail within an hour, but it held.
By Monday, with the main spillway dumping out 100,000 cubic feet of water per second, the water level dropped and the flow over the emergency spillway stopped. On Tuesday afternoon, the sheriffs office changed the evacuation order to an evacuation warning, allowing residents to return and businesses to reopen.
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.
What happens now?
With more winter storms headed toward California starting Wednesday, state officials were hoping to release as much water as possible out of the reservoir down the main spillway, maintaining an outflow of 100,000 cubic feet per second. That would bring the lake level down about 8 feet a day.
The goal was to get the lake down to 850 feet above sea level 50 feet below the lip of the emergency spillway by Saturday or Sunday. The new storms were expected to be smaller than last weeks storms, producing a reservoir inflow of less than 100,000 cubic feet per second.
At the same time, officials were shoring up the erosion below the emergency spillway with boulders and concrete brought in by trucks and helicopters, though they hoped to altogether avoid using the emergency spillway again.
If dam operators can get through the immediate crisis, they still have big challenges ahead keeping the lake level down. There are two months left in the wet season, and the lake must cope with an unusually heavy snowmelt this year. In the long term, the damage to the spillways will be costly, with initial estimates for repairs to the main spillway alone coming in at $100 million to $200 million.
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
As downtown Oakland speeds toward an economic transformation, theres a group that wants to ensure that demographic changes in the city arent as rapid.
The Greenlining Institute, a social justice organization that fights discriminatory redlining practices and advocates for equal opportunity, recently relocated to downtown Oakland from Berkeley, renovating a former bank building on 14th Street.
Its really worrisome when you cant keep people in what are considered centers of opportunity, said Orson Aguilar, the institutes president.
Greenlining works to drive economic investments into communities of color to improve job, housing and education opportunities.
Its an effort to keep people of color from leaving Oakland, where displacement is eroding the citys proud cultural vigor. Black people were the largest racial group at about 28 percent of the citys population, according to 2010 census data, which showed that nearly a quarter of the black population left the city between 2000 and 2010.
Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle
One of Greenlinings solutions is to push companies to broaden their supplier networks and seek out businesses run by people of color and women. This is an updated approach to erasing redlining, the illegal practice of withholding and refusing services to communities of color.
Decades ago, redlining was clearly visible on geographic maps, as banks wouldnt give loans to people who lived in certain neighborhoods. Because of this institutionalized segregation, people of color were excluded from the countrys economic system. The redlining mentality still exists, but since it isnt as deliberate and calculated as it once was, some businesses have to be nudged to consciously expand their networks.
And the impending arrival of a tech giant has Greenlining seeing red.
We want to make sure that theres opportunity that people of color are part of that narrative and its not the same story that weve seen in San Francisco or throughout the Peninsula where the growth of tech means the decline of people of color and working-class people, Aguilar said.
In 2015, Uber, the ride-hailing company, purchased the former Sears building for $123.5 million to be its East Bay headquarters. When the office opens in 2018, Uber is expected to bring some 2,000 to 3,000 workers, and many will inevitably be looking for places to rent or buy, adding a crushing weight to an already strained housing market.
How many more businesses, renters and prospective home buyers will be priced out of Oakland? Is it too late to put the brakes on displacement?
While Uber has held outreach meetings, saying it will seek to hire people and businesses for maintenance, food services and security work, theres been no explicit commitment to hiring locals for the high-paying tech jobs jobs with the salaries that will allow people to afford to live in Oakland. Company spokespeople could not be reached for comment.
Greenlining has been vocal about how Uber can negatively impact Oakland. Soon the companies will be neighbors.
We know that those jobs are not going to go to people from Oakland, Aguilar said. Uber wont even disclose its diversity data. A lot of Silicon Valley companies are at least doing that.
Thats not the kind of company that should be welcomed in Oakland. The opportunity is there for them to change. Up until now, we havent seen that willingness.
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.
Greenlining purchased its building before Uber did. And once Uber made its announcement, Aguilar told me Greenlining was contacted by several brokers who wanted to buy the building at an increased valuation. He said no.
More than half of the contractors used to renovate the Greenlining building were local and minority-owned. Two floors have been leased to nonprofits committed to diversity and working with underserved communities. The Post News Group, which publishes the Oakland Post, a black newspaper, has office space in the basement near the bank vault that is now used as a conference room.
The project took three years to complete, and cost a total of $10 million to purchase and renovate the building.
Usually when you see revitalization, it means people of color being pushed out, Aguilar said. Here, were adding a little bit to Oaklands revitalization by making sure people of color stay here, especially the nonprofits that are serving low-income people and people of color.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
Neil Jacobs / Neil Jacobs / CBS
Dont worry if youve lost track of how many vehicles have been designed in hopes that Katherine Heigl can recapture the magic of her five years as Dr. Izzie Stevens on Greys Anatomy. Youre not alone.
The latest effort is a watchable but unremarkable legal thriller in which she plays aggressive defense attorney Sadie Ellis, who is trying to prove that an otherwise noble surgeon Billy Brennan (Stephen Pasquale) is innocent of a 16-year-old murder charge.
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A shooting near San Franciscos Tenderloin on Wednesday morning sent a 34-year-old driver barreling into two parked cars before slumping over dead with a bullet wound to the head, officials said.
The killing happened around 2:15 a.m., when someone opened fire on the driver of a silver sport utility vehicle on Eddy Street near Van Ness Avenue, police said.
The driver lost control and slammed into a parked Nissan Versa, which partially toppled a nearby tree, and another vehicle.
Police and paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene. The city medical examiner was working to identify the victim.
Laura Espino, 32, owns the Nissan and was asleep in her apartment just above the scene with her 6-year-old daughter when the killing happened.
She said she frequently hears fights and other disturbances outside her home. She and her daughter, however, slept through the early morning commotion.
Something like this is sad, but Im not shocked, she said before salvaging important items from her car including a child car seat before it was towed from the scene. What happened is horrible, but Im not fazed anymore.
Nick Shahi was working at the nearby Rodeway Inn when the violence erupted. He walked outside shortly after the attack and saw paramedics working on the victim.
When I came outside, there was a guy lying in the road bleeding, he said.
No suspect has been identified or arrested in the killing.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the San Francisco Police Department at (415) 575-4444.
Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
OROVILLE, Butte County With the threat of catastrophic flooding from Oroville Dam successfully crimped off for the immediate future, the sheriff here lifted his mandatory evacuation order in the early afternoon Tuesday and within minutes, thousands of those who had to flee over the weekend were eagerly streaming back to their homes.
Major roads immediately clogged with cars. Cities that had looked like ghost towns began to hum with activity again. Here and there people broke out in happy shouts as they rejoiced in not only having dodged disaster, but also the prospect of life returning to normal.
Thank goodness! Excited! So excited, exulted Lori Lange, a 58-year-old Live Oak resident, who was at the Sutter High School shelter in Sutter (Sutter County). I just cant wait to go home. Weve got to go find out what bus we have to take. Lets go!
The mandatory evacuation order for the estimated 188,000 affected people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties was pulled back to an evacuation warning, clearing residents to return to their homes and businesses at around 1:30 p.m., Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.
He said state engineers and work crews had managed to fortify the dams damaged emergency spillway enough with boulders and concrete so that it should withstand the series of storms expected to arrive Wednesday evening. When he ordered the areas residents to evacuate Sunday, there were fears that the failing auxiliary spillway for the rain-swollen reservoir could crumble, sending a potentially deadly wall of water cascading into Oroville, Yuba City and several other towns downstream.
But as of Tuesday, those fears were largely allayed, he said.
The risks that we faced when we initiated those evacuations have significantly been reduced, Honea said. He cautioned, however, that the evacuation warning in place still means that officials will be closely monitoring the dam situation, and if it becomes dangerous again, people could be ordered to flee once more to safer ground.
Residents need to be prepared, to maintain situational awareness, he said. This reduction to an evacuation warning properly balances the need for people to resume their daily lives while at the same time being prepared to deal with future increased threat.
Bill Croyle, acting director of the state Department of Water Resources, said the main spillway of the dam also damaged, but not as badly as its emergency counterpart was holding up well as it released a mighty roar of water at 100,000 cubic feet per second. As of noon Tuesday, the inflow into the reservoir was just 19,000 cubic feet per second.
Croyle said he believed the combination of the good outflow with the weaker strength of the incoming storms should keep the emergency spillway out of danger in the near future. In the meantime, he said, We are aggressively attacking the erosion concerns that had been identified.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday approved Gov. Jerry Browns requests for federal aid to help with recovery from the spillway damage and evacuations and from destructive January storms.
Meanwhile, within minutes of the Butte County sheriffs announcement that they could return home, surging crowds of residents all over the area were rushing for their cars. Many had been fretting over lost income, possibilities of looting while they were gone, and the inconvenience of having to spend a third night on a shelter cot.
As the sun sank below the horizon on Tuesday, residents first trickled, then poured, back into Oroville. A man swept rotten lemons off his curb, and the smell of grilled meat permeated the air. Cars whirred into quiet residential streets. The stoplights once again had purpose.
Michelle Lee, 46, unloaded suitcases of clothing from her hatchback. On the deck of her green house, a tabby sunned himself, yawning and unimpressed with Lees return. She had evacuated to Roseville to stay with her daughter, and when the order was lifted, she was one of the first back.
It feels really good, she said. I was worried about the conditions and the rain. We took clothes and documents and got out of here. Im surprised we got back here so quickly. I missed it.
The first order of business for most folks after checking their homes was heading to the Raleys supermarket, which quickly turned into a beehive of gridlocked cars in the parking lot and had checkout counters beeping merrily back to life. Family after family left with cases of soda and bottled water, fresh fruit, bread, flowers and balloons.
Rich Hurte, 47, sneaked away while his girlfriend was unpacking and drove to the grocery. He left with a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a dozen red and pink roses and more practical a stick of deodorant. It wasnt what they normally did on Valentines Day, he said. But it would work.
Its scary any time an evacuation happens, but we are home now, said Hurte, whod spent two days up at Kelly Ridge, above Oroville. Shes going to be so surprised. She has no idea Im doing this.
By late afternoon, most of the areas shelters were closing down, with the notable exception of the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico. There, nearly half of the 1,600 people whod taken refuge decided to stick around another day along with a rabbit named Silver and about 250 dogs, cats, pigs, horses and other evacuated critters.
They were wary of hitting the same kind of monumental traffic theyd hit while fleeing Sunday, and some just werent convinced it was entirely safe to go back yet.
Its going to rain tomorrow. We might be evacuated again. You never know, said Tia Metcalf, 29, of Oroville. She said even though staying at the shelter has been like a big slumber party with friends, every day sleeping in Chico also means another missed shift at the candy shop where she works which means she doesnt get paid.
Its been stressful ... really frustrating, she said. Im worried about all my belongings. I dont have any money. Im broke.
Chronicle staff writers Evan Sernoffsky and Jill Tucker contributed to this report.
Lizzie Johnson, Sarah Ravani and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com and kfagan@sfchronicle.com
Twitter: @lizziejohnsonnn, @SarRavani and @KevinChron
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BANGOR, Butte County They had arrived as strangers on Sunday and left like family on Tuesday.
They had come from Oroville, Palermo and Honcut, small-town residents seeking refuge in an even smaller town on higher ground.
And in Bangor, a town so tiny and remote that the Red Cross and Salvation Army never came, the 600 residents welcomed the 200 evacuees with open arms.
Without the cots and cups of coffee provided by official shelter organizers, the community pulled together, setting up tents in the 10-acre community park and pulling blue mats from the school across the street.
Mennonites from a nearby church had brought blankets, and ranchers had slaughtered their cattle to bring fresh steak. Other neighbors carried over citrus from the trees in their backyards and extra shoes and sweatshirts from their closets.
But on Tuesday afternoon, it was clear the red velvet cupcakes volunteers had baked for the childrens Valentines Day party would see no frosting, and the leftover homemade tortillas and beans would have to be packed in to-go containers.
And the Lady and Tramp movie night, with popcorn, was canceled.
While those at other shelters across the region were jumping for joy, those in Bangor gathered around volunteer Theresa Brown in the town park.
I want you to be happy going home, she said, not scared.
Fear, however, was still present among the evacuees. They had fled their homes, literally running for their lives. They were still shaken.
Its part of living by a dam and in the woods, Brown said later. You get fires, and you get floods. Though I never thought something like this would happen.
Yet sometimes, she said, such crises just bring people together.
Verna Chadwick, 24, rocked her 10-month-old son to sleep in the community centers cafeteria while her boyfriend loaded up the car.
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I miss my bed, Chadwick said, rubbing her four-month pregnant belly. My whole left side is bruised from sleeping on the floor. I honestly just want to go home.
But she was heading north to another evacuation center in Chico. While the mandatory evacuation was lifted, there was still a warning in effect, and it had Chadwicks father spooked. He wasnt letting family return to Oroville just yet.
This place has been nice, she said. Our neighbors were nice, and the food was good. But if I have to leave, I want to go home not to Chico.
Others were also apprehensive. Jody Garcia, 50, packed up a silver tent while her familys nine chihuahuas scrambled around her feet.
Days before, the evacuation had seemed unreal and scary. There was the rush to reach her hearing-impaired son, and to pack the sport utility vehicle. They had returned to their house in Oroville briefly Tuesday to gather more blankets for the cold night. Now they were going home.
Its a relief, but theres still a warning, and we arent out of the red, Garcia said, smoothing a strand of unwashed hair. This place has been like a second home to me. Its a safe haven. We are returning to the unknown.
Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @lizziejohnsonnn
At 770 feet, the Oroville Dam is the nations highest. At 48 years old, its certainly not the nations newest dam.
Its important to keep that fact in mind as crews work around the clock in an attempt to reinforce the dams damaged emergency spillway before the next round of rains begin later this week in Northern California.
The Oroville Dam, like many of the dams, levees, seawalls, and other human efforts to contain nature, is a crucial piece of infrastructure that must be maintained and monitored.
If only state and national leaders had absorbed that lesson before the current crisis struck.
Instead, were stuck with a potentially catastrophic situation. If the head of the spillway crumbles, a 30-foot wall of water could slam down the hillside, into the Feather River, and head straight toward Oroville (Butte County), Marysville (Yuba County) and Yuba City (Sutter County).
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is on 24-hour operations at its Oakland regional office, President Trump has approved Gov. Jerry Browns emergency assistance request, and nearly 200,000 local residents were evacuated from their homes. The order was lifted Tuesday, but an evacuation warning still stands.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Trumps administration has been monitoring the situation and working with state officials.
Spicer also said and this is surely true that its an example of why Congress needs to pursue a major infrastructure bill.
Congress should have pursued that major infrastructure bill decades ago the fact that it did not is one of the reasons why the countrys aging infrastructure is causing so many everyday difficulties as well as outright disasters like Oroville.
There must also be a full investigation into how and why Orovilles spillways were compromised.
But for now, it seems that theres quite a bit of blame to go around.
For more than a decade, environmental groups have sounded alarms about the possibility of erosion on the hillside, asking for a federal commission to order state officials to reinforce or reconstruct the ungated spillway.
State officials have denied reports that they didnt reinforce the spillway because of cost concerns, but one thing is certain the spillway wasnt reinforced.
Congress needs to pass a substantial, bipartisan infrastructure bill based on the countrys real needs, not politicians ideologies or pork barrel desires.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other dams, bridges, roads and highways in California that are in need of attention.
In response to revelations that environmentalists warned about the troubled spillway more than a decade ago, Brown has said he welcomes more scrutiny. The state needs to prove that its willing to respond to the concerns of interested parties, not just hear them.
Maintenance of these public services may be expensive, but our dependence on them is greater than we know. Sometimes we only recognize it in the wake of an unprecedented disaster.
It was 1863, Abraham Lincoln was president, and our nation was enduring the most divisive time in history. In that same year, what we now call Caltrain Commuter Rail Service began continuous Peninsula corridor service between San Jose and San Francisco. Our nation is once again enduring a divisive chapter, and much to our surprise, Caltrains strong and stable service is suddenly at stake.
On Jan. 26, all 14 members of Californias Republican congressional delegation signed a letter to President Trumps secretary of transportation to act against the recommendation of the Federal Transit Administration. The federal government should, they wrote, deny a federal match of $647 million to electrify our Caltrain system.
For nearly two decades, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Bay Area Council, SPUR and other regional business organizations have championed the modernization of Caltrain, which has served our region for 154 years, running 79 miles between Gilroy and San Francisco. With nearly 60 months of consecutive ridership increases, Caltrain is running at 125 percent of ridership capacity. Ridership has grown from 25,000 weekday passenger trips a decade ago to nearly 65,000 daily trips today. In short, it is standing room only in both the morning and evening commutes.
Modernizing Caltrain includes safety improvements such as grade separations, longer station platforms to accommodate more train cars and elevated platforms for quicker boardings. A key component is doing away with diesel engines and turning the switch to electric. All together, this $1.98 billion upgrade allows us to almost double Caltrain ridership to 110,000 daily trips. Because 3 of every 5 Caltrain passengers are choice riders, i.e., they own cars but choose rail instead the benefits are enjoyed broadly:
Each day, electrification would eliminate 619,000 car miles traveled.
Each year, the reduction in polluting greenhouse gases would be the equivalent of removing 40,000 cars from our roads.
The economic importance of electrifying Caltrain cannot be overstated. Innovation economy employers calling the Peninsula corridor home contribute 14 percent of our entire states gross domestic product, 52 percent of all patents filed in California and 43 percent of all venture capital investment.
Caltrain electrification puts Americans to work, building a system that helps Bay Area residents get to work. Electrifying and modernizing Caltrain creates 9,600 jobs: from power converters and transformers built in Richmond, Va.; the assembly of electric trains in Salt Lake City; the transportation of electric train shells in Humble, Texas; or engineering services in San Mateo. American workers win.
So why the last-minute attempt to derail two decades of work? A belief by 14 well-meaning Republican members of Congress that defunding Caltrain will kill high-speed rail, which they view as a boondoggle. As determined in court, and codified by the Legislature, the electrification of Caltrain is a separate and distinct project from high-speed rail.
Our plea to Californias Republican congressional delegation is clear dont allow your concerns about high-speed rail to overshadow your support for Californias innovation economy. Its in your power to keep Caltrain, and Silicon Valley, on track.
When reporters and television crews arrived at the state Office of Emergency Services outside Sacramento on Monday morning, they found Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom coming out of a briefing on the Oroville Dam emergency.
Naturally, they did a short interview with Newsom on his thoughts about the dangers, as well as reports that earlier warnings about the Oroville spillways had been ignored.
Lets not wait until something happens to address it, Newsom said. Lets make sure that if there was a report in 2005 or repair in 2013, as was the case here that we make sure those patches are secure and those warnings were heeded.
With that, Newsom headed off to an evacuation center in Yolo County.
After speaking with Newsom, Mike Luery from Sacramentos KCRA-TV called the governors office to say hed just spoken to Newsom and asked about Gov. Jerry Browns availability.
Luery was told that Brown was focused on the emergency and couldnt be distracted. Luery went live at 4 p.m. from the emergency services office, showed tape of Newsoms comments and said Brown was unavailable.
Minutes later, Emergency Services officials said Brown was on his way over. After being briefed by agency staffers, the governor gave a news conference saying engineers not politicians should be the ones making assessments.
Brown said the reports that Newsom had alluded to were news to him but that stuff happens.
And the governor said it all just in time for the 6 oclock news.
San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
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At the recent San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Directors Circle Dinner, everyone coveted the bulb centerpieces lining long tables in Schwab Hall. These beauties fantastical, illuminated biometric sculptures were specially created for the fete by featured artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. But guests were warned: Mitts off!
Whereas at luncheons, attendees might win the vase via a number taped under their teacup, at some black-tie soirees, including this one, its considered gauche to whisk away the well-crafted centerpiece.
The bulbs are lit by the pulse of 350 heartbeats that this electronic artist recorded in cities around the world, including Donetsk, Ukraine; Lima, Peru; and Basel, Switzerland.
We record the heartbeat of people participating in my biometric pieces and reuse their pulse in our installations, explained Lozano-Hemmer. My work is typically large-scale, featured in museums or shows. This is (the) first time Pulse has been created for such an intimate scale.
Lozano-Hemmer, whose Pulse Room debuted at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2006 to rave reviews, was hailed like an old friend as a number of guests had met him last year in Mexico City on a Directors Circle art tour one that, many enthused, was the museums best so far.
Led by Directors Circle President Patricia Fitzpatrick and dinner chairwoman Kim Morton, the glowing evening featured a McCalls dinner that paid culinary homage (chicken with cheese gorditas in pipian verde sauce; Mexican chocolate mousse; post-dinner churros with tres leches sauce) to Lozano-Hemmers native Mexico City.
I know his work and was determined to have something fresh but nonfloral for this dinner. This is an art museum, after all, said Morton, of table decor. Rafael is so energetic, very creative and he puts the fun back in art-making.
This annual dinner, more akin to a family gathering, also allows SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra to honor the museums stalwart, deep-pocketed Directors Circle donors.
Raising her glass, Morton toasted: There are three facts you need to know about Rafael: He has a degree in physical chemistry. There are five miles of cables underneath each table. And Rafaels parents were nightclub owners, so he knows good art is a party. But dont be fooled his art is also hard-hitting and evocative.
Lozano-Hemmer then tooled through what he described as just 5 percent of his work to ensure hed be invited back to SFMOMA.
Media art is something thats inevitable: Our war, our economy, our love, our communication its all conducted through globalized networks, he outlined. Its only natural, its only normal, that contemporary artists should use this very same media to reflect poetically or critically on our times.
His rapid-fire delivery was also peppered with zingers, such as forgetting to warn guests about his origins: Oh, I shouldve mentioned, Im a Mexican. Im one of the bad hombres. But I live in Canada now. Mexicans there, we call ourselves Chic-Anadians. So Im probably doubly evil in Trumps eyes.
He also explained that in addition to the usual suspects (You know, Frida Kahlo, and thats awesome), experimental media art is a long-practiced Latin American tradition.
Unknown to many, we have backdrops of experimentation that I assign to myself and my studio, he said. The Bautista poets of the 20s were the first to use broadcast radio for their manifestos. Or that the theory of cybernetics was postulated at the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico City. Or that the first color TV was patented by Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena.
At the talks conclusion, five guests were invited onstage for some real-time technological theater. Placing their hands on a recording device, their hear rates lit up the pulsing tabletop centerpieces and will be included in Lozano-Hemmers future work.
Bidding dazzled guests goodnight, Benezra noted that museums are fantastic venues to ask questions, keep conversations going and find the good in each other, no matter your viewpoint.
But I think tonight, he enthused, is the most fun Ive ever seen people have at a Directors Circle Dinner!
Mod redux: Dapper gallerist Martin Muller recently debuted the 3.0 version of his storied Modernism Inc. gallery with a Gottfried Helnwein exhibition, Red Harvest, at his new 724 Ellis St. location.
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We wont attempt to thumbnail Helnweins always provocative work. But lets just say it was picture perfect for the dark, stormy night of Mullers Tenderloin launch.
Muller, a devout Swiss perfectionist, worried he shouldve waited another week, or month, to open as, earlier that day, he was still deep in moving boxes. But the new space, cozy with a dash of edge, is spit-spot and features works by such Muller-repped old pals as Jaques Villegle, Charles Arnoldi and the late Mark Stock.
Blue box: Tiffany & Co. unveiled its glamorous new boutique updo with great fanfare, celebrating its 25th anniversary on Union Square and 50th year in San Francisco.
Tom Carroll, the companys Northwest vice president, welcomed guests, many draped in the distinct hue of the storied jewelers robin egg blue as the McCalls crew served a cocktail-klatch sourced from nonstaining, white-based edibles and sparkly pale Dom Perignon.
Yet most beelined to vitrines shimmering with an array of classic Tiffany designs adorned with sapphires and diamonds and the new Lady Gaga HardWear Collection.
Fans of the San Francisco Ballet were out in force, led by Ballet principal dancer Yuan Yuan Tan, whose autograph graces a ballet slipper, currently on display, that will be placed in a new Tiffany time capsule. (Tiffany recently sponsored the Ballet season-opening gala.)
Guests delighted in a Blue Box photo booth for prom-style photos, and at nights end were wowed with a special performance by 16-year-old Spencer Barnett, a local teen sensation who, on Feb. 17, was set to debut his Spotify single, Cherry Lips.
Catherine Bigelow is The San Francisco Chronicles society correspondent. Email: missbigelow@sfgate.com Instagram: @missbigelow
WASHINGTON Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former U.S. officials.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time that they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said. The intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election.
The officials interviewed in recent weeks said that, so far, they had seen no evidence of such cooperation.
But the intercepts alarmed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in part because of the amount of contact that was occurring while Trump was speaking glowingly about the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. At one point last summer, Trump said at a campaign event that he hoped Russian intelligence services had stolen Hillary Clintons emails and would make them public.
The officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other associates of Trump. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the Russian government outside of the intelligence services, the officials said. All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified.
The officials said that one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Trumps campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Russia and Ukraine. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls.
The call logs and intercepted communications are part of a larger trove of information that the FBI is sifting through as it investigates the links between Trumps associates and the Russian government, as well as the DNC hack, according to federal law enforcement officials. As part of its inquiry, the FBI has obtained banking and travel records and conducted interviews, the officials said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment.
Michael S. Schmidt, Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo are New York Times writers.
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They say Robert Frank changed history with the 83 images that appeared in his stark breakthrough The Americans. But there were a lot more pictures that never made the book, 27,000 of them.
Selections from these outtakes will go on display in a unique and free two-week pop-up show that opens Friday, Feb. 17, at UC Berkeley. Its a first in the long history of Frank exhibitions in the Bay Area and intends to showcase the entire breadth of the Swiss masters 70-year career.
Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947-2016, is so comprehensive that it requires two galleries in separate buildings on campus. The Reva and David Logan Gallery for Documentary Photography, at North Gate Hall, will show The Americans, along with the original contact sheet for every image in the book.
The Worth Ryder Art Gallery at Kroeber Hall will simultaneously show Franks work from Peru in 1948 and on up through America after The Americans.
His work is revolutionary in showing an America that was not seen, but also creating a way of seeing in photography that was new, powerful and charged, says Ken Light, professor of photojournalism at Cals Graduate School of Journalism. I dont know any photographer who hasnt been impacted by The Americans.
In the Berkeley show, that impact will be enhanced by a unique hanging procedure for the art. In January, Franks collaborator, Gerhard Steidl, flew in from Frankfurt to measure and design the show for each space. A day later, he flew back to Frankfurt to make prints to fit that design.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, Steidl returned, carrying the prints for the exhibition. This was made easier by the fact that all of the images are on rolls of newsprint, in a variety of sizes, and will not be installed with frames, but instead stapled to the walls. Steidl describes these as paper banners of his photographs.
Steidl plans to stay longer than one day this time, to attend Fridays opening and give a lecture at the already sold-out event, Gerhard Steidl: Print is not dead The Beauty of Analogue Media in a Digital World. Among the topics will be the end result of The Americans on newsprint.
After the exhibition ends March 3, the work will be removed by students and either destroyed or transformed into collages and hats by the students.
All that will remain is a $5 catalog printed on broadsheet, like a 60-page edition of the New York Herald Tribune.
Roberts prints have become so valuable now that this is a more democratic way of showing it, which is what he wants, says Light.
And at 92, what Robert Frank wants, he gets.
Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art
Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947-2017: Friday, Feb. 17, through March 3. Free. North Gate Hall and Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley. https://journalism.berkeley.edu/events
San Franciscos state senator is taking another run at extending last call in California by two hours.
The bill, which Democrat Scott Wiener plans to introduce Wednesday, would allow bars and restaurants to serve alcohol between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., pending appropriate permits and approval from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Wieners bill is similar to one proposed in 2013 by his predecessor, Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which failed to get enough votes.
Based on the current law, some establishments can stay open until the wee hours of the morning but, no matter what, they must stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m. Wieners bill would give local jurisdictions control over whether their bars and restaurants can extend their last call.
This bill is long overdue, Wiener said. Right now in California, we have a one-size-fits-all statewide mandate, regardless if you are a small-town suburb of San Francisco or in downtown L.A.
Although Lenos bill did not conjure up enough support a few years ago, Wiener said there has been an increased demand from bars and restaurants looking to rake in a little extra revenue and from younger patrons who want to stay out a little later.
Several U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York City and Miami Beach, allow late-night service. But, in California, all bars have had to stop serving alcohol by 2 a.m. since 1935, according to John Carr, public information officer for the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Those who support Wieners bill say it will stimulate the states economy and make cities like San Francisco more attractive tourist destinations. It will also help communities decide what is best for them, because what works in the Mission or Union Square areas with a high concentration of bars and restaurants may not work for more residential areas like the Sunset or Richmond districts, said Juliana Bunim, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
At the end of the day, it is about neighborhoods deciding what is best for them, Bunim said. It is not a blanket approach its about bringing back local control.
Jamie Zawinski, owner of DNA Lounge, a club that has experienced major financial hardship over the past few months, said being able to extend its hours would significantly help the business.
We make almost all of our money selling alcohol, and we sell almost all alcohol between 11:30 and 1:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, he said in an email. Thats only four hours a week! DNA Lounge normally closes by 5 a.m.
Based on how a similar proposal was received in the past, Zawinski said he is not optimistic Wieners bill will pass.
And those who opposed Lenos bill in 2013 are still not convinced.
Michael Scippa, director of public affairs for Alcohol Justice, a San Rafael nonprofit advocacy, research and policy organization, said it is a foolish plan that prioritizes alcohol revenue over public safety.
Scippa said that Alcohol Justice takes a lot of credit for killing Lenos bill in 2013 and that the organization will come out with guns blazing for Wieners bill.
We just dont need additional hours of business for this substance, he said. Its not like selling coffee and doughnuts. This is a substance which is a class one carcinogenic it takes thousands in California every year and is responsible for horrendous costs in various areas.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association, which could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, registered strong opposition to Lenos proposal in 2013: It would just be more drunks at 4 than there were at 2, Gary Delagnes, president of the association, told The Chronicle in 2013.
But Tom Temprano, co-owner of Virgils Sea Room, a Mission District bar, said the legislation would be a boon for the city: We are a world-class city here in S.F., but we really are behind the ball with New York City and Chicago when it comes to really fostering that full nightlife experience.
Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
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It reads like a Bizarro World game of Clue: Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, and Nickelback in a Twitter feud over the gerrymandering of electoral districts. It started when the ex-governor tweeted a link to a Facebook video, along with this: When Congress is less popular than herpes & Nickelback, how do 97% of them get re-elected? Gerrymandering. Which led the music group to tweet back: Big fans. Approval rate this: Batman & Robin. Please leave us out of your future wisdom drops. Danke Shon Herr Governator. Nobody popped up to tweet on behalf of herpes.
Hear here
We want to make clear in this vote that we dont want to build walls, we want to build bridges.
Manfred Weber, a prominent German member of the European Parliament, after the group ratified a trade agreement with Canada. The agreements proponents said the move would help balance the protectionist policies being urged by President Trump.
These shoes are made for backtracking
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank took out a full-page ad in the Baltimore Sun , the companys hometown newspaper, to figuratively pull his shoe out of political doo-doo. Plank last week had praised President Trump for his pro-business attitude, calling him a real asset to this country, which drew heavy criticism from three of Under Armours top endorsers: the Warriors Steph Curry , ballerina Misty Copeland and actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson , right. The three are among those alarmed about other Trump policies, such as his travel ban.
Compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle
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The percentage of Californians without health insurance fell to a record low 7.1 percent in 2016, according to estimates released by the Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday.
The figure represents just a 1 percentage point drop from 2015, but is down significantly from the 17 percent uninsured rate in 2013, before the Affordable Care Act was implemented.
Similarly, the percentage of Americans without health insurance dropped slightly from 9.1 percent in 2015 to 8.8 percent in 2016.
The estimates, from the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics, are based on data for the first nine months of 2016 that was collected from about 73,000 people in 38 states.
California was the only state among the 38 in the report that showed a significant decrease in its uninsured rate for adults between 18 and 64 dropping from 11 percent to 9 percent.
California officials welcomed the news as a sign that structures created by the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law that expanded health care coverage to roughly 20 million Americans, are working.
Covered California is proud to be part of the effort that is helping millions of people get the coverage and care they need, Executive Director Peter Lee said in a statement.
California is considered one of the most successful states in expanding health care coverage for its residents under the health care law, which is also known as Obamacare. The state has dramatically expanded its Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, adding nearly 4 million newly eligible low-income people since 2014.
Covered California, the insurance exchange through which low-income residents and other individuals can buy insurance using federal subsidies, is growing and expects to hit 1.5 million people in 2017, up from 1.3 million in 2016.
The laws expansion of Medicaid and its other provisions such as prohibiting insurers from denying patients coverage because of pre-existing conditions are driving down the uninsured rate, said Cynthia Cox, an associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation who researches the health laws effect on private insurers and enrollees.
Theres no question the (Affordable Care Act) is driving down the uninsured rate, she said. Weve seen the uninsured rate fall every year since the law went into effect. The progress has slowed a bit, in the first couple years there was significant progress and now its more or less plateaued. But its still continuing to fall.
President Trump and congressional Republicans are vowing to repeal the law, but they have yet to coalesce around a plan to replace it. On Tuesday, Trump renewed his promise to repeal and replace, saying in a tweet, Obamacare continues to fail.
Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: Cat__Ho
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When she started her first vegan food company in 1997, Miyoko Schinner couldnt get anyone to invest in the business, despite its $1 million in annual sales. She closed that company, Now and Zen, in 2003.
People werent putting money into food certainly not vegan food, said Schinner. Vegan food was something you had to explain to people.
Oh, how things have changed. Just over two years after Schinner founded Miyokos Kitchen, a producer of plant-based cheese, the Fairfax company has received $6 million in funding. The investment will help pay for a much larger Petaluma facility and more efficient equipment that will help it keep up with demand. Its products, like cashew-based Cultured VeganButter and Fresh VeganMozz, are sold across the country in at least 2,000 stores, including Trader Joes, Raleys and Whole Foods.
After starting out making 800 rounds of cheese per week, the company now produces 100,000 a month. Schinner expects to hit $10 million in sales this year, and 10 times that in five years.
The explosive growth was not part of the original plan. We were going to be a local, artisanal producer like Cowgirl (Creamery), have a retail shop and sell our products in Northern California, said Schinner, also a cookbook author and co-host of the cooking show Vegan Mashup. It didnt work out that way.
The new investment also will allow Schinner to add a line of more basic cheeses with the same nutritional value as, for example, a milk-based cheddar cheese. They will cost $5 to $6, as compared to the current price of $10 to $13 for packages of her artisanal vegan cheeses. Shes also about to introduce a smoked mozzarella version.
The funding comes from JMK Consumer Growth Partners, joining previous investors like Obvious Ventures, the venture capital firm of Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, which also backs the plant-based companies Urban Remedy and Beyond Meat.
Schinner said that their interest shows how much the market has changed in the 20 years since she started her first food business, a change she attributes largely to Millennials.
People are eating foods that align to their mission in life, she said. Its more about conscious eating and the relationship between the food on your plate and the impact it has, not just on your own health.
Schinner believes her investors are not just responding to current trends but what they think the future will bring: (Investors are) aware of the greater impacts of food and they realize this is the time to get in on it.
Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Courtesy / San Mateo County Sheriffs Office / Courtesy / San Mateo County Sheriffs Office Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy / San Mateo County Sheriffs Office / Courtesy / San Mateo County Sheriffs Office Show More Show Less 3 of 3
With a black handgun and a garbage bag to match, a man robbed a Chase Bank in the quiet Peninsula town of Woodside, police said Wednesday.
The bandit, wearing a white beanie cap and sunglasses, swept into the Chase Bank in the 2900 block of Woodside Road just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office, the agency investigating the incident. The bank is located off of Interstate 280.
California Highway Patrol / California Highway Patrol /
A drunk 59-year-old man started yelling and attacking the driver of a bus traveling from Sonoma County to San Francisco International Airport, as he insisted the driver was going the wrong way, police said Tuesday.
The tirade culminated when the man, John Wilson of Monte Rio, started punching the driver in the back of his head as he headed southbound on Highway 101, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A state appeals court has taken the rare step of reducing the mandatory life prison sentence of a Richmond woman who shot and gravely wounded a man who had just taken part in the beating of her father.
Deyanira Cuiriz was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for attempted voluntary manslaughter, mayhem and shooting at an occupied vehicle. On Tuesday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said her sentence mandated by a 1996 California law was unconstitutionally excessive and shocks the conscience, and lowered it to 12 years.
The court noted that Cuirizs sentence was longer than the 25-to-life term for first-degree murder under state law, and said her guilt was at the bottom end of the spectrum for her crimes. The victim had provoked the attack, the shooting was unplanned, and Cuiriz, 19 at the time, had no criminal record, the court said.
This is one of those rare instances in which the prescribed penalty does exceed constitutional limits on cruel and unusual punishment, said Justice Stuart Pollak in the 3-0 ruling. He said an appropriate sentence was the 12-year term that the trial judge, Trevor White of Contra Costa County Superior Court, said he would have imposed for attempted manslaughter had it not been for the 1996 law.
Cuiriz and her family were celebrating her 19th birthday in August 2012 when two men drove up to her home and confronted her father. She told police she saw her father on the ground with his face bleeding and, when she tried to intervene, the two men pushed her away. She said they told her they were gang members and threatened to return. She got a gun from her boyfriend and fired a shot into their truck, hitting Oscar Barcenas in the spine. The bullet paralyzed him from the neck down.
In upholding Cuirizs convictions, the court said she had voluntarily confessed to police without a lawyer present and admitted she had acted partly out of anger. The court said her crimes were serious and dangerous but did not justify a potential life sentence.
The crime resulted from a moment of impaired judgment in response to the victims provocation, Pollak said.
With the reduced sentence, Cuiriz could be released in 2023 with time off for good behavior in prison.
Pollak said most of the jurors had been stunned that their verdict required a sentence of up to life in prison. At Cuirizs January 2015 sentencing hearing, one juror told White, the judge, that they felt betrayed, and another called the mandatory-sentencing law obscene.
Robert Derham, a lawyer for Cuiriz, said four jurors attended last weeks appeals court hearing to show their support for his client.
The (original) sentence imposed was senseless, it was cruel, and it served no purpose, he said.
Attorney General Xavier Becerras office said it was reviewing the ruling and declined further comment. The office could ask the state Supreme Court to review the ruling.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Read the ruling
www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A144351.PDF
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A 30-year-old woman suspected of vandalizing the Islamic Center of Davis in January was arrested and charged with a hate crime Tuesday after officials said she smashed windows at the mosque, wrapped bacon on the door handles, and slashed bike tires outside.
Lauren Kirk-Coehlo of Davis was taken into custody about 11:20 a.m., when Davis police detectives and FBI agents served her with an arrest warrant on charges stemming from the vandalism.
Kirk-Coehlo was charged with felony vandalism with a hate-crime enhancement and vandalism to a building occupied by a religious institution with the purpose of intimidating or deterring persons from freely expressing religious beliefs, prosecutors said.
Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel denounced the crime during a news conference Tuesday. He said officials suspected Kirk-Coehlo following a review of surveillance video near the center and several tips to law enforcement. The investigation led officials to serve a search warrant Feb. 1 on the 2500 block of Corona Drive in Davis, where officials seized evidence linking Kirk-Coehlo to the crime, he said.
People have fear. When people engage in hate crimes, what theyre using is fear to terrorize other people, and its important to stand up and denounce that at every opportunity, Pytel said.
The video showed the suspect, believed to be Kirk-Coehlo, arriving at the center on the 500 block of Russell Boulevard about 3:45 a.m. on Jan. 22.
She placed raw bacon on the door handles a sign of disrespect because pork is forbidden in Islam smashed six windowpanes and cut through the tires of three bicycles in the mosque parking lot. Repair costs exceeded $7,000, officials said.
The defacement came about two months after the Islamic Center of Davis received a threatening letter claiming that then-President-elect Donald Trump was going to cleanse America and make it shine again and will do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews. The letter was also sent to other Islamic centers around the country.
There was no evidence released connecting Kirk-Coehlo to the letter.
Yolo County Superior Court Judge Samuel McAdam set Kirk-Coehlos bail at $1 million, said District Attorney Jeff Reisig, adding that his office had not prosecuted a case like this in the last 10 years. Kirk-Coehlo faces up to six years in prison if convicted.
Monica Miller, a special agent in charge of the FBIs Sacramento field office, said the agency has seen a recent rise in hate crimes. The U.S. Attorneys Office will review the case as it considers filing federal hate-crime charges against Kirk-Coehlo.
Our Constitution offers many freedoms, but none gives anyone the right to commit criminal acts in the name of their political, their religious or their ideological beliefs, Miller said. That is not freedom.
Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Burger Boogaloo, a music festival that takes place annually at Oakland's Mosswood Park, has announced the lineup for the 2017 event to again be hosted by film director and artist John Waters.
This year's all-ages party, which spans July 1 and 2, features headliners Iggy Pop and Buzzcocks. Other acts include quirky punk act Nobunny, lo-fi Oakland act Shannon & the Clams, and '70s and '80s Los Angeles punk band X.
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A Seattle resident who first came to the U.S. as a child may have been the first person arrested under President Donald Trump of an immigrant protected by an Obama-era order.
Reuters reported Tuesday afternoon that 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina was arrested last week in his father's Seattle home by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. He had no criminal record, according to the report.
Ramirez Medina had a work permit and protection from deportation under former President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, established in 2012, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court.
The officers gave no reason to Ramirez Medina upon his arrest, other than saying he wasn't born in this country, said Ethan Dettmer, a partner with law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and one of the attorneys representing Ramirez Medina.
"We're sincerely hoping that this is a mistake and it's going to be rectified," Dettmer said.
Ramirez Medina had been approved twice under DACA, according to the documents.
Those protected under the program, often called Dreamers, can have at least temporary rights to work in the U.S. and their status in the program can be useful to help them eventually seek legal status. About 750,000 people in the U.S. are protected under DACA.
In a statement issued Tuesday evening, ICE spokesperson Rose Richeson said Ramirez Medina was arrested for his "self-admitted" affiliation with a gang.
"ICE officers took Mr. Ramirez into custody based on his admitted gang affiliation and risk to public safety," Richeson said in an emailed statement.
Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney for Ramirez Medina, followed soon after with a statement saying otherwise.
"Mr. Ramirez unequivocally denies being in a gang," Rosenbaum wrote. "While in custody, he was repeatedly pressured by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to falsely admit affiliation. The statement issued tonight by Ms. Richeson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is inaccurate."
Ramirez Medina was being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma as of Tuesday afternoon.
The officers had arrived at the home to arrest Ramirez Medina's father, who was a previously deported felon, according to the ICE statement.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., issued a statement Tuesday evening calling for Ramirez Medina's "immediate" release.
"President Trump's deportation force has struck our community and taken one of our own," Jayapal said in the statement. "It's unconscionable that Daniel, who trusted the government and registered under DACA, was picked up and sent to a detention center. Seattle stands with Daniel and we will not back down until he is free."
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and City Councilwoman Lorena Gonzalez also issued a statement Tuesday evening, seeking clarification from ICE on its deportation policy.
"Information about the arrest of a DACA recipient last Friday remains scarce and questions remain unanswered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)," the statement read. "More details should be released about what led to this arrest, including whether the detention of a DACA recipient is a shift in immigration policy related to DACA recipients. We have sought these answers from ICE's Seattle Field Office."
Ramirez Medina on Monday filed a challenge to his detention -- a writ of habeas corpus -- arguing the arrest was a violation of his constitutional rights.
"The agents who arrested and questioned Mr. Ramirez were aware that he was a DACA recipient, yet they informed him that he would be arrested, detained, and deported anyway, because he was not 'born in this country,'" attorneys wrote in the petition, filed in U.S. District Court.
A hearing is set for Friday at U.S. District Court in Seattle.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., tweeted about the case Tuesday afternoon: "It's unacceptable #DREAMERS who were brought to U.S. as kids & have grown up, gone to school here are being detained," she wrote.
Trump has promised an end to the DACA program, created by executive order, but has only vaguely indicated that he might allow Dreamers to remain in the U.S. after the program is gone.
Those who have obtained a work permit through the program have filed personal information with the federal government, including addresses and other information that could be used to find them. Obama had promised to use the information only for issuing work permits and Social Security cards.
"But now, maybe Trump could use that information to track us down," said Dulce Siguenza, who works with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and is also protected by DACA, in a recent interview.
A regional spokesperson for ICE did not immediately return requests for comment.
Earlier Tuesday, the city of Seattle joined a broad coalition of 20 cities in opposition to detention of immigrants without due process. The 20 cities filed an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that the court uphold constitutional protections for those held in prolonged mandatory immigration detention.
The brief was filed in a case asking the court to reaffirm an allowance for a bond hearing every six months for immigrants who are held long-term during deportation proceedings.
Seattlepi.com reporter Lynsi Burton contributed to this report.
Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.
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A lawsuit that has succeeded in blocking President Trumps ban on travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries will proceed in federal courts in Seattle and San Francisco after a judge on Tuesday rejected the Trump administrations request to put part of the case on hold.
Trumps Jan. 27 executive order was suspended Feb. 3 by U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle in a lawsuit by the states of Washington and Minnesota. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday left Robarts ruling in place, saying Trumps order may violate the constitutional rights of immigrants and refugees, and rejecting the Justice Departments argument that courts should not second-guess the president on national security issues.
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The Trump administration is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but its lawyers asked Robart on Monday to delay further proceedings while appeals court judges vote on a request by an unidentified colleague to rehear the case before an 11-judge panel.
The judge said Tuesday, however, that there was no basis for a postponement. He cleared the way for further proceedings, which will allow the state to seek information on the motivation for the travel ban.
Washington states attorney general, Bob Ferguson, said he was pleased by Robarts decision.
Despite President Trumps tweet that he was going to see us in court, the federal government does not seem to be in a hurry to litigate this case, Ferguson said, referring to Trumps initial response to last weeks ruling.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The opposing sides are due to present written arguments to the appeals court Thursday on the request for a rehearing, which would require votes by a majority of the courts 25 active judges.
The court also wants further briefing by March 29 on disputed issues in the case, in preparation for a hearing and a more-detailed ruling on whether Trumps order should be reinstated while the case proceeds.
Trump has also indicated he plans to revise his executive order, possibly to clarify that it was not meant to apply to legal U.S. residents who come from the seven nations: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Ferguson said he would welcome a substantial rewrite.
They should have started with a new (different) executive order, the attorney general said. The original one was unconstitutional.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
1 Trumps taxes: House Republicans have blocked an attempt by Democrats to use an obscure law to obtain President Trumps tax returns from the IRS. Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee tried to frame the issue as a matter of national security. They questioned whether Trump has any investments in Russia, though they offered no proof. The committee has legal authority to obtain confidential tax records. The committee could then vote to make them public. Shunning decades of tradition, Trump has steadfastly refused to release them.
2 LGBT law compromise: North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is proposing what he calls a compromise to repeal an LGBT law that has led to lost business expansions and sporting events. Cooper said Tuesday the proposal does away with House Bill 2, which limits LGBT rights and directs transgender people to use public restrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates. Cooper says the bill would increase penalties for crimes in public bathrooms and tell local governments seeking ordinances covering sexual orientation and gender identity to give legislators 30 days notice before doing so. House Bill 2 critics say action is needed or the state will miss out on NCAA sporting events for years.
WASHINGTON President Trump was told in late January that his top national security aide had misled his vice president, three weeks before Trump ousted adviser Michael Flynn amid a swirling public controversy over Flynns contacts with a Russian official, a White House spokesman said Tuesday.
Press secretary Sean Spicer said Flynns firing on Monday was prompted by a gradual erosion of that trust and not any concern about the legality of the retired generals calls with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Spicer said the president withheld judgment on Flynn until after the White House counsels office conducted a review of the legal issues raised by the calls.
Flynns ouster appeared to be driven more by the idea that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials than by the content of his discussions with the Russian.
This was an act of trust whether or not he misled the vice president was the issue and that was ultimately what led to the president asking for and accepting the resignation of Gen. Flynn, Spicer said.
Flynns resignation came after reports that the Justice Department had alerted the White House weeks ago that there were contradictions between Trump officials public accounting of the Russia contacts and what intelligence officials knew to be true based on routine recordings of communications with foreign officials who are in the U.S.
Spicer said White House counsels office reviewed the situation after it was flagged by the Department of Justice, and along with the president, the counsel determined that it did not pose a legal problem.
The revelations were another destabilizing blow to an administration that has already suffered a major legal defeat on immigration, botched the implementation of a signature policy and stumbled through a string of embarrassing public relations missteps.
White House officials havent said when Trump was told of the Justice Department warning or why Flynn had been allowed to stay on the job with access to a full range of intelligence materials.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a longtime Russia critic, said Congress needs to know what Flynn discussed with the ambassador and why.
The idea that he did this on his own without any direction is a good question to ask, Graham added.
Pence and others, apparently relying on information from Flynn, had said the national security adviser did not discuss U.S. economic sanctions against Russia with the Russian envoy during the American presidential transition. Flynn later told officials the sanctions may have been discussed, the latest change in his account of his pre-inauguration discussions with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Julie Pace, Eric Tucker and Jill Colvin are Associated Press writers.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have lowered the prevalence of divorce in the U.S., according to a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
When the burden of medical bills became too much to bear, some couples divorced in order to separate their joint assets, a phenomenon New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote about in a 2009 column.
Following an election that relied on a rhetoric of otherness, walls, and immigration bans, a new Pew Research Center Study finds that Americans express increasingly warm feelings toward other religious groups.
Pew asked 4,248 American adults to rate a variety of religious groups on a feeling thermometer, and those surveyed gave nearly every group warmer ratings compared to the same survey conducted in June 2014.
Jews and Catholics continue to receive the warmest ratings on a scale of 0 to 100, with scores of 67 and 66 respectively.
Muslims received the lowest rating at 48 degrees, but showed an increase from 2014s rating of 40. According to Pews temperature scale, Americans feelings toward Muslims are now neutral, rather than cool.
Atheists had a rating of 50, and also showed an increase from 2014s rating of 41.
Even in a politically divided nation, the warming trend was displayed across major religious groups, political parties, genders and ages.
Nonetheless, ratings given to certain religious groups varied immensely based on who was being asked. The greatest disparity appeared between young adults and older adults.
Young adults, aged 18 to 29, expressed the warmest feelings toward Muslims (58), Mormons (54), and atheists (59). While Americans aged 65 and above rated these groups much lower, with rankings of 44, 59, and 44 respectively.
Young people also gave Buddhists the highest warmth rating of any other group (66), while those 65 and above rated Protestants and Jews the warmest (75 and 74).
Notably, Jews and Christians tended to rate one another warmly, while atheists and evangelical Christians rated each other coldly on both sides.
Although both Democrats and Republicans displayed a warming trend, each political group rated religious groups differently. Democrats rate Jews, Catholics, and Buddhists the highest, with Mormons and evangelical Christians at the bottom of the scale.
Contrastingly, Republicans rated evangelicals, Catholics, and Jews the warmest, with Muslims and atheists far below the rankings of Democrats, at 39 for Muslims (compared to 56) and 43 for atheists (compared to 57).
Additionally, those with higher levels of education typically rated religious groups warmer.
In a moment of further optimism, individuals who knew a person from another religious group typically expressed more positive feelings toward that group
For example, those who know a Muslim personally gave the group an average rating of 56; those with no personal ties to a Muslim rated the group at 42.
Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
Scott Reskey, 61, is charged with one count of possessing an image of child pornography involving a minor under the age of 12. A search of Reskeys laptop computer revealed more than 45,000 images and more than 200 videos of apparent child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
CHICAGO A Chicago man was ordered detained in federal custody today for allegedly possessing thousands of photographs and videos of child pornography, the Northern District of Illinois' FBI office is reporting.
Reskey was arrested last week at his home on the Northwest Side of Chicago. He appeared in federal court Wednesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim and was ordered detained in federal custody.
The charge against Reskey arose from a federal investigation of an online community that sent and received child pornography via an anonymous website, according to the complaint. The investigation remains ongoing.
The complaint was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The proposal that has been worked on by state Sens. John Cullerton and Christine Radogno would raise taxes without any meaningful pension reform, property tax relief, or promise to put Illinois on a better economic path going forward. It is unfair to all Illinois residents, but unfortunately the states most vulnerable will be hit the hardest.
"Springfield doesn't deserve another penny from Illinois families," Tillman said. Gov. Rauner is right that Illinois needs structural reforms to become attractive to job creators and residents. The so-called grand bargain that has been talked about does not do this.
Illinois Policy Institute's CEO John Tillman responded to the governor's third budget address saying the proposed budget doesn't touch the state's foundational budget weaknesses. Tax hikes don't work without major policy adjustments.
SPRINGFIELD - Governor Rauner's comments Wednesday indicating his willingness to compromise on a "grand bargain" to achieve the state's first budget in 18 months is causing one of the governor's long-standing, most loyal supporters to pause.
We know what happens when the state raises taxes without making structural reforms. In 2011, former Gov. Pat Quinn raised taxes without reforming spending. Every household paid thousands of dollars in higher taxes, and the state collected $31 billion in additional revenue. Where did that $31 billion go? It didnt go toward repairing our economy or erasing the backlog of unpaid bills. It did nothing to fund programs for the poor. Most of that money went to highly paid government workers."
And what happened to the state during and after that tax increase? Tillman asked.
Bloomington, Carbondale, Peoria and the Quad Cities are already in recession, and four more Illinois metro areas are on the brink of economic collapse, according to Moodys Investors Service.
Illinois lost a net 300,000 people to other states from 2011 to 2014 due to out-migration, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. During the four years of the full income-tax hike Illinois lost $14 billion in annual adjusted gross income, or AGI, to other states, on net. The out-migration of income cost Illinois $2.7 billion in 2011, $3.9 billion in 2012, $4.2 billion in 2013 and $3.4 billion in 2014. That compares with an average annual loss of $2.2 billion of AGI per year over the 16 years prior to the tax hike.
Nearly 20 percent of Illinois homes are deeply underwater on their mortgages, the second-worst in the U.S., according to realtytrac.com
Illinois cant weather another tax increase. And the state legislatures insistence on doing nothing and standing in the way of reform make it clearer than ever before that Springfield doesnt deserve another penny from Illinois families.
Illinois does not have a tax problem; it has a spending problem.
Tillman pointed to a budget the Illinois Policy Institute proposed recently, which, Tillman said, has outlined precisely how the General Assembly can balance the state budget without tax increases, and how the state can enact pension reform that complies with the Illinois Constitution as it is written.
"In our 52-page proposal, Budget Solutions 2018, we show what real reform looks like. And our proposal is based on measures that all have been backed legislatively," he said.
Weve shown that not only is it possible, but it is also economically necessary. Illinois has reached a point of no return. A balanced budget with spending reform is the bare minimum that our legislators must do if there is to be any hope of turning around our state. Its also the moral thing to do. Its not right to ask Illinois families to send thousands of dollars to Springfield while politicians continue the same antics.
Many Springfield insiders have called our budget plan impossible thats because they are used to only doing what is politically possible. Any so-called solution crafted for the 177 politicians in Springfield is not good enough. Illinois must pass a budget that was made for the 12 million Illinoisans.
SEATTLE A Seattle-area man who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation under a policy by former President Barack Obama is suing the federal government over his arrest and detention last week.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina on Friday at his fathers home. Agents were there to arrest his father and took Ramirez into custody even though he has a work permit under Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, court documents said.
ICE spokeswoman Rose Richeson said in a statement that Ramirez told agents he was a gang member, and based on those statements and being a risk to public safety, he was taken into custody.
Mark Rosenbaum, one of Ramirezs lawyers, responded that Ramirez unequivocally denies being in a gang and that the statement from Richeson is inaccurate.
While in custody, he was repeatedly pressured by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to falsely admit affiliation, Rosenbaum said.
Daniel Ramirez Medina/Associated Press
Northwest Immigrants Rights Project Legal Director Matt Adams said Ramirez who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 7 has a job, a young son and no criminal record. Ramirez is being held in Tacoma, Wash.
Adams said Ramirez is the first person he knows of with DACA status who has been detained.
This appears to be a complete one-off, Adams said. We certainly havent seen this with our other hundreds of clients who have DACA status as well.
Attorneys for Ramirez argue that the arrest violates his constitutional rights to live and work in this country without the fear of arrest and deportation so long as he satisfies DACA requirements.
Trust in our government depends upon the Executive Branch keeping its word, Rosenbaum, director of Public Counsels Opportunity Under Law Project, said in a statement. Bait and switch sullies the integrity of our nations core values.
Recent sweeps by U.S. immigration agents across multiple states have netted some immigrants with no criminal records, a departure from enforcement actions in the last decade. Under the Obama administration, agents focused more narrowly on individuals who posed a security or public safety threat.
Lisa Baumann is an Associated Press writer.
"Taxpayers are on the hook too easily for inmate legal bills," Governor Rauner said. "In a time when financial resources are tight across state government, there are better uses for the more than $200,000 the state is paying to defend Drew Peterson. This common-sense proposal protects taxpayers."
Tuesday, Governor Bruce Rauner announced his support for a bill that would help ease the burden of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and taxpayers by taking into account an inmates ability to pay for a private attorney.
SPRINGFIELD - Almost as frustrating as the thought of lawmakers demanding more of our hard-earned money is the realization of what those funds are spent upon. Like paying for convicted murderer Drew Peterson's defense attorney and investigator fees.
A new bill, sponsored by State Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport), would require IDOC to pay for legal fees only if its determined the person cannot afford a private attorney and is eligible for the public defender. If the court appointed a private attorney to represent the defendant because the public defender if not able to take on the case, IDOC will only pay if the inmate is financially unable to do so.
"We need to balance an inmates right to an adequate defense with the rights of taxpayers," Rep. Stewart (R-Freeport) said. "While using a public defender is always the department's first option, some communities do not have the capacity to handle a large case like the Drew Peterson murder-for-hire trial. Now taxpayers are on the hook for these legal fees. This bill will make the judge take into account the inmates ability to pay if they choose to assign an outside defense attorney."
"Illinois taxpayers are paying for Drew Peterson's plan to have the Will County States Attorney killed," said IDOC Assistant Director Gladyse Taylor. "Illinois law requires the Department pay the nearly $265,000 in legal fees that Peterson raked up in the case. That is in addition to the thousands of dollars in defense fees the Department pays for other offenders who commit crimes while incarcerated. This money could be better spent on programs and services that reduce recidivism and ensure offenders are more prepared to return to society when they leave our custody."
The bill is HB 3555.
SACRAMENTO President Trump issued major disaster declarations to enable federal funding for California on two fronts to aid with the Oroville Dam spillway damage and mass evacuations and to help the state deal with the widespread effects of Januarys storms.
Gov. Jerry Brown had requested the declaration from the president and aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and his requests were being closely watched since he has been openly critical toward Trump, and Trump has criticized the Democrat-controlled state as being out of control.
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On Tuesday, the world was shocked by a strange news story developing in Malaysia.
According to reports, two women armed with either "chemical spray" or "poison needles" had ambushed Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. The 46-year-old was at a shopping area at the airport when he was attacked and died en route to the hospital. Malaysian authorities are investigating the circumstances of his death.
Like many members of of the Kim family, there's a shroud of secrecy surrounding Kim Jong Nam. Once thought to be the heir apparent, he'd spent the last 15 or so years out of the country after an embarrassing international incident involving a trip to Tokyo Disneyland.
MORE: Malaysia official: N.Korea leader's brother slain at airport
Unlike most of the Kim family, however, he has given interviews to foreign media, speaking with Japanese outlets and the Associated Press over the years. Most of interviews affirmed his lack of interest in politics and confirmed his rift with the father over Kim Jong Nam's perceived interest in capitalist societies.
For more facts about the secretive son of Kim Jong Il, read up in the gallery above.
1 Congo clash: The U.N. human rights office said Tuesday it is deeply concerned about reports that more than 100 people have been killed in clashes between Congolese soldiers and militia fighters, mainly armed with machetes and spears. Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said there must be an investigation into what happened in the Dibaya area of Kasai-Central province. The militia fighters are accused of destroying buildings and carrying out other acts of violence since their leader, Kamwina Nsapu, was killed in a police operation in August.
2 Syria war: Clashes between two extremist factions in northwestern Syria left dozens of fighters dead on both sides and raised fears of more deadly violence between groups battling President Bashar Assads troops ahead of U.N.-brokered peace talks, activists and insurgents said Tuesday. The fighting between the al Qaeda-led coalition known as the Levant Liberation Committee and the extremist Jund al-Aqsa group left nearly 70 fighters dead in some of the deadliest clashes between insurgents in years. The fighting centered in areas where the central province of Hama and the northwestern province of Idlib meet.
BRUSSELS President Trump sent Defense Secretary James Mattis to Brussels to press European allies on Wednesday to do something they have long been reluctant to do: open up their wallets on defense in an era of austerity and budget cuts.
The hammer-hard message a warning from Mattis that allies must significantly increase their defense spending if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to this alliance was a harsh threat to countries that have been struggling with anemic growth and high unemployment.
WASHINGTON President Trump said Wednesday that the United States would no longer insist on a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, backing away from a policy that has underpinned the U.S. role in Middle East peacemaking since the Clinton administration.
Im looking at two states and one state, Trump said, appearing in a joint news conference at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.
Trumps comments were a striking departure from decades of diplomatic orthodoxy, and they raised a host of thorny questions about the viability of his position. The Palestinians are highly unlikely to accept anything short of a sovereign state, and a single Israeli state encompassing the Palestinians would either become undemocratic or no longer Jewish, given the faster growth rate of the Arab population.
Trump did not address these dynamics, preferring to focus on his confidence that he could produce a breakthrough agreement.
I think were going to make a deal, Trump said. It might be a better deal than people in this room understand.
Netanyahu embraced Trumps words, saying he preferred to deal with substance rather than labels in negotiating with the Palestinians.
He noted that the concept of the two-state solution meant different things to different people in the region. And he said the Palestinians had refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state.
Trump did tell Netanyahu to hold back on settlement construction in the West Bank.
As with any successful negotiation, both sides will have to make compromises, he said, turning to Netanyahu. You know that, right?
Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, have been exploring an approach called the outside-in strategy, enlisting Arab states in the region that already have found common cause with Israel against their mutual enemy Iran to help broker a settlement with the Palestinians. But it is not at all clear that Palestinians would ever accept an arrangement that did not leave them with a state of their own.
Until now, Trumps team has largely avoided conversations with Palestinian leaders. But Mike Pompeo, CIA director, met with Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president, in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Bill Clinton was the first president to endorse a two-state solution, saying in a speech in 2001 that the conflict would never be settled without a sovereign, viable Palestinian state.
Peter Baker and Mark Landler are New York Times writers.
HASSAN SHAM CAMP, Iraq The United Nations said Wednesday it was temporarily pausing aid operations to neighborhoods in the eastern half of the Iraqi city of Mosul as attacks by the Islamic State continue to inflict heavy civilian casualties there.
Lise Grande, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, said U.N. agencies made the decision that until security improves, it will be difficult for us to provide assistance. She spoke during a visit to a camp for Iraqis displaced from Mosul on Wednesday.
Iraq declared Mosuls eastern half fully liberated last month, and a semblance of normalcy returned to many areas, with schools, shops and restaurants reopening. But some neighborhoods continue to be hit by insurgent attacks.
The Islamic State is still firmly in control of western Mosul, across from the Tigris River, which runs through the heart of Iraqs second largest city. Iraqi forces are moving into position ahead of an anticipated assault on Mosuls western half.
We have every confidence that the authorities will provide security. As soon as it improves, the United Nations agencies will be there to deliver assistance, Grande said.
An Islamic State suicide bomber struck a recently reopened restaurant in eastern Mosul on Friday, killing four people. A clinic in Mosuls Zahra neighborhood said it continues to receive dozens of wounded civilians every day from mortar and Islamic State drone attacks.
Thousands of people living in eastern Mosul lack access to drinking water and fuel for cooking and heating.
Elsewhere in Iraq on Wednesday, a car bomb killed at least 17 people and wounded 45 others in the capital, Baghdad, according to a police officer and a medical official.
Islamic State captured Mosul in the summer of 2014 when it swept across much of northern and central Iraq. The militants have suffered several battlefield defeats since then, but have continued to carry out large attacks in Baghdad and other areas far from the front lines.
Bram Janssen is an Associated Press writer.
The Santa Fe Police Department generally prefers to make its own law enforcement decisions. On paper, that means leaving federal immigration authorities in the dark on cases involving people who may be in the country illegally, even as President Donald Trump threatens cities' funding if they don't cooperate in fulfilling his campaign promise to cleanse the nation of "criminal illegal aliens."
But during the past two-plus years, SFPD has tipped off Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at least three times about suspected undocumented immigrants. Details about the cases highlight difficulties in balancing public safety against remaining true to "sanctuary" policies that, in Santa Fe, were born of cooperation and core values but are now bound to experience some turbulence.
For Ronald Ayala-Santos, according to police, a heads-up for the feds took some doing on his part.
Since mid-2015, the 20-year-old has admitted to making a false report about "heavily armed men" swarming a Santa Fe neighborhood and phoning in bogus bomb threats that led to the chaotic clearing of the Violet Crown Cinema and the Plaza, police say.
Ayala-Santos was indicted on several misdemeanors and a fourth-degree felony charge after police linked him to the Violet Crown incident, court records show. And after the alleged threat on the Plaza in September, he was arrested.
But it wasn't until he posted bond, was released from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center and created yet another bomb scarethis time at the Plaza Cafe Southsidethat city police say they decided to tell ICE that Ayala-Santos may be in the country illegally.
"At some point, enough is enough," SFPD Sgt. Craig Ernst says in an interview, emphasizing what he calls Ayala-Santos' ongoing, escalating pattern of behavior and the mayhem his threats have caused. "The agency does have a responsibility to safeguard the community."
Ernst did not know whether ICE has pursued him, and the agency did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
SFPD told ICE about Ronald Anaya-Santos after he called in several bomb threats.
On Jan. 31, prosecutors dropped the case stemming from the incident on the Plaza although the charges could be refiled later.
Ernst says detectives followed SFPD policy by running the decision to notify ICE about Ayala-Santos up the chain of command to a high-ranking officer. Still, the case represents a rare but not unheard of practice for a police department that reports to a mayor who has become a prominent figure in the national "sanctuary city" movement.
Mayor Javier Gonzales has yet to endorse either of two proposals that would tweak the citys sanctuary policies.
"The mayor would be in support of what passed last night, but he is also interested in seeing what Councilor Harris' amendments might be before making a final call," said city spokesman Matt Ross.
The citys finance committee on Monday passed a proposal, sponsored by councilors Joseph Maestas and Renee Villarreal, that prohibits city employees from disclosing identifying information of anyone who comes into contact with local authorities. Other provisions would improve language access services and develop policies for police to process special visas for crime victims.
Turnout was unusually high for a finance committee hearing, with nearly 200 locals packing council chambers to support the Maestas/Villarreal measure.
Business leaders, legal advocates and local officials, including former mayor David Coss, all spoke in support of the proposal. I just ask that you work with us and collaborate to ensure all our children and family feel safe in our schools, said Veronica Garcia, superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools.
Santa Feans came out in droves, despite recent changes to the resolution intended to put the city on better legal footing should President Trump make good on his threats to yank federal funding from sanctuary jurisdictions. Sponsors recently stripped the term "sanctuary" from earlier drafts.
Still, even popular ideas dont pass without controversy. City Councilor Michael Harris on Friday introduced an alternate sanctuary resolution that is significantly shorter than the proposal offered by Villarreal and Maestas. Harris text does not include as many actionable provisions, but does list statistics showing that sanctuary communities have lower crime rates. Another line makes clear Santa Fes commitment to the established rule of law."
Meanwhile, Santa Fe County has never embraced the "sanctuary" label, though its policies and practices hew closely to jurisdictions that do, such as the city of Santa Fe. For example, the county jail does not honor so-called "ICE detainer requests," in which the federal agency asks city and county jailers to hold suspected undocumented immigrants beyond when they could otherwise have been released.
"The way I look at it, for liability and litigation purposes, I can only hold someone until a release order comes from a [state] judge," says Derek Williams, the jail's new warden. "It's a potential civil rights violation otherwise."
In 2012, the county drew a rebuke from ICE for its refusal to cooperate. ICE has backed off since then, according to data gathered by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York. In the federal fiscal year 2012, ICE requested 155 immigration detainers from the Santa Fe County jail. In fiscal 2015, that number had plummeted to just 12. Williams, who began his tenure a month ago, did not know how many of the requests had been granted.
Marcela Diaz of the immigrant rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido says the communities she represents are not hung up on the "sanctuary" label. Strong policies that protect people regardless of immigration status matter more, she says, and both the city and county have those.
"And what matters more than that is openness and transparency: knowing that when officers or the jail make a mistakeand everyone doespeople can trust that complaints are taken seriously and they have a safe place for the redress of grievances," Diaz tells SFR. "That's what 'sanctuary' really means."
For years, Somos Un Pueblo Unido and other immigrant groups have worked well with city and county officials, she says. But with a relatively new chief at SFPD (Patrick Gallagher took over the post permanently a year ago), a new warden at the jail and the Trump administration promising federal dollars for cooperation in enforcement, there is work to do to maintain the delicate balance in Santa Fe.
"We've had good experiences in the past, and I want to believe that these individuals want what our community wants: a sense of belonging and safety," Diaz says. "But when I read a quote from the new police chief saying, 'We're not going to turn anyone over to ICE unless they're a criminal,' well, he just said what Donald Trump said. And we all know that's bullshit."
Of course, entering the US without documentation is technically a crime in itselfone Diaz says city and county officials in Santa Fe have largely shielded immigrants from, regardless of status.
Learning about Ayala-Santos' case from SFR raised some concerns for Diaz, though she declined to comment in detail without reviewing the entire case file. So did the two other cases in which SFPD has, according to Deputy Chief Mario Salbidrez, cooperated with ICE during the past two-plus years: once after burglary suspect Carlos Navarrete-May told officers in December he was connected to a Mexican drug cartel, and another time when an SFPD officer saw Jorge Serrano-Nevarez at the burning of Zozobra in September 2015. Serrano-Nevarez had been deported after serving federal prison time for property crimes, and the officer called ICE to obtain a warrant for illegal re-entry. The agency issued the warrant, and the officer later arrested him.
Carlos Navarrete-May told officers in December he was connected to a Mexican drug cartel.
The department's policies prohibit officers from making arrests solely based on a person's immigration statusor from notifying ICE that a criminal suspect is in the country illegally, except in cases involving certain felonies, most of them violent crimes.
That doesn't mean ICE won't come looking on its own. In Santa Fe, the federal agency has taken away immigrant residents who lack legal documentation to live here. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement in cities across the country, and an executive order signed during the new president's first week in office seeks deputize local police and sheriffs to assist that effort while withholding federal funds from cities and counties that don't.
Diaz says Trump's carrot-and-stick approach may create difficult decisions for officials who have resisted aiding ICE, particularly in cash-strapped times like those New Mexico cities are facing.
Santa Fe County Commissioner Robert Anaya said he has never favored embracing the "sanctuary" label because it is a designation without a distinction. Further, he points out that the county's federal funding has come through rigorous request for proposals and grant writing processes.
"It would be ludicrous for the president or anyone else to come in and say you won't get this funding anymore when we complied with the terms of those processes," he said. "I would expect there would be all kinds of litigation if they tried to take those dollars back. There would be due process and other issues, but now that you mention it, I guess some of that may be out the window now."
SFR staff writer Steven Hsieh contributed to this story.
Santa Fe Reporter
Joseph Cervantes went to school to become an architect.
"You see a building, as an architect, before it's built," he says of his draw to the discipline. "You see people in the building and you see it in use. And it's just in your mind. It's a dream that you then begin to make happen."
At age 56three decades on from his life as a professional architecthe looks for all the world like he's still designing, still sketching out a dream that would be the capstone for a political career. It's a long way from then to now; from an architecture student to a presumptive Democratic candidate for governor.
In 1983, Cervantes took his bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and headed west. A few years later, he had a license and a job working for modernist architect Dale Naegle in his studio north of San Diego. Then, though Cervantes admits it was hard to trade in the mild rays of the La Jolla coastline for the baking sun and unrelenting glare of the Chihuahuan Desert, he went home to build elementary schools in the town of Gadsden, south of Las Cruces.
The plan was always to come back to New Mexico, he says. Six years of study and a handful of years as a practicing architect left their mark on Cervantes: "I don't do anything without a plan."
He was soon headed to law schoola plan born from an attraction to the legal side of getting a building constructedand building a successful 25-year career as an attorney. He served a few years on the Dona Ana County Commission and won stints as a Democratic legislator in both the New Mexico House of Representatives and the state Senate.
Now, Cervantes sounds an awful lot like a guy who plans to run for governor.
"The most important qualification of a governor is a vision," he tells SFR in an interview between a Senate floor session and late afternoon meetings at the Roundhouse. "An ability to create a vision for our state. And then the second step of being governor is developing a plan to execute that vision."
Primary elections for governor are 16 months away, in June 2018. With Gov. Susana Martinez termed out, the field of contenders for the next executive is already starting to unfold. Cervantes is in a good position. He has done well for himself as an attorney. A jury recently granted one of his clients a $165.5-million wrongful death award, a state-record payout of which he'll get a big piece. While the money won't roll in before campaign seasonthe defendant, FedEx, is appealing the decisionalong with other legal victories and real estate investments, it gives Cervantes the kind of freedom needed to wage a lengthy, expensive primary campaign against a significant slate of challengers.
Cervantes thinks New Mexico's next governor should focus on what works: natural advantages like the state's border location and its wealth of renewable energy resources. "Those things are never going to change," he says.
If it's worth betting on those resources, it's also worth acknowledging when the bet doesn't come in as hoped. For example, Cervantes eventually supported the construction of Spaceport America, but says a $225-million investment in renewable energy programs at New Mexico State University and UNM would have been a smarter play for the state's money. "There's no doubt in my mind that we would have programs at the forefront of those industries without wondering if it was going to pay off."
The Maybes
The field is by no means set, but these names are often mentioned by the political class as likely candidates for governor in 2018.
REPUBLICANS
The Maybes The field is by no means set, but these names are often mentioned by the political class as likely candidates for governor in 2018. REPUBLICANS RJ Berry The current Albuquerque mayor has a legislative resume and strong business backing, but will have to work hard to distance himself from Albuquerques beleaguered police department. Theres also the question of whether his vaunted bus rapid transit system will flop or fly. Steve Pearce Representing the 2nd Congressional District, Pearce has proven his statewide appeal to Republican voters by besting Heather Wilson in the 2008 US Senate primary. But he was trounced by Tom Udall in the general election. Pearces office says hell make a decision on a run in the next few months. John Sanchez The current lieutenant governor says hes weighing his options. Sanchez lost to Bill Richardson in 2002, so the party faithful may decide hes had his chance at governor. But Sanchez might be the man Republicans favor to retake the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Michelle Lujan Grisham. Democrats Jeff Apodaca If the surname is familiar, it should be. The son of former Gov. Jerry Apodaca is a longtime media executive who says hes strongly considering a run. He currently operates a venture capital consulting firm. It would be his first elected office, though calling him a political outsider would be a stretch. Hector Balderas New Mexicos attorney general has been targeting higher office since winning a state House seat in 2004, then two terms as state auditor and finally AG in 2014. He lost a 2012 bid for the Democratic US Senate nomination to Martin Heinrich. A spokeswoman says Balderas believes a robust primary benefits the Democratic Party. Michelle Lujan Grisham The 1st Congressional District representative is the first one at the party. She used a slick internet video to announce her candidacy for governor in December. The former New Mexico Health Department Secretary and Bernalillo County Commissioner may have winnowed the field by planting her flag early. Javier Gonzales Santa Fes mayor has confirmed hes been talking to people about a potential run. Hes outspoken, progressive and to say Gonzales warms to the spotlight is like saying summer warms to the sun. Alan Webber The co-founder of Fast Company magazine ran an unsuccessful race for the Democratic nomination in 2014. Since then, hes turned his policy attention toward 1NM, a nonprofit focused on innovation and business. He tells SFR hes gauging potential support statewide before deciding on a run.
RJ Berry
The current Albuquerque mayor has a legislative resume and strong business backing, but will have to work hard to distance himself from Albuquerques beleaguered police department. Theres also the question of whether his vaunted bus rapid transit system will flop or fly.
Steve Pearce
Representing the 2nd Congressional District, Pearce has proven his statewide appeal to Republican voters by besting Heather Wilson in the 2008 US Senate primary. But he was trounced by Tom Udall in the general election. Pearces office says hell make a decision on a run in the next few months.
John Sanchez
The current lieutenant governor says hes weighing his options. Sanchez lost to Bill Richardson in 2002, so the party faithful may decide hes had his chance at governor. But Sanchez might be the man Republicans favor to retake the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Democrats
Jeff Apodaca
If the surname is familiar, it should be. The son of former Gov. Jerry Apodaca is a longtime media executive who says hes strongly considering a run. He currently operates a venture capital consulting firm. It would be his first elected office, though calling him a political outsider would be a stretch.
Hector Balderas
New Mexicos attorney general has been targeting higher office since winning a state House seat in 2004, then two terms as state auditor and finally AG in 2014. He lost a 2012 bid for the Democratic US Senate nomination to Martin Heinrich. A spokeswoman says Balderas believes a robust primary benefits the Democratic Party.
Michelle Lujan Grisham
The 1st Congressional District representative is the first one at the party. She used a slick internet video to announce her candidacy for governor in December. The former New Mexico Health Department Secretary and Bernalillo County Commissioner may have winnowed the field by planting her flag early.
Javier Gonzales
Santa Fes mayor has confirmed hes been talking to people about a potential run. Hes outspoken, progressive and to say Gonzales warms to the spotlight is like saying summer warms to the sun.
Alan Webber
The co-founder of
Fast Company
magazine ran an unsuccessful race for the Democratic nomination in 2014. Since then, hes turned his policy attention toward 1NM, a nonprofit focused on innovation and business. He tells SFR hes gauging potential support statewide before deciding on a run.
Cervantes' politics are at times progressive, but he's not reflexively liberal. His view of recreational marijuana legalization, for example, seems to be evolving. He was concerned that early adoption would turn the state into a destination for those looking to get high. "I think as we see other states this last year enacting that choice for adults, any reservations I had in the past are being resolved."
Still, he says just passing a law legalizing pot could catch New Mexico off guard, leaving employees who test positive for marijuana in workplace drug tests wondering if they'll lose jobs or leaving police uncertain how to properly cite someone who they suspect of being too high to drive.
Former colleagues say Cervantes is known for that kind of careful consideration. Dan Foley, a former Republican state representative who frequently sparred with Democrats during his time as House Minority Whip, says, "He's a very cerebral human being and not emotional about issues. He's highly approachable."
While Foley says the pair disagreed on plenty of issues, an often pragmatic approach to dealmaking served Cervantes well.
"In a body of 112 elected officials where the most dangerous place to be was between a legislator and a camera, Joseph was happy to be in the background working on deals," Foley says.
Perhaps because of that legislative experience, Cervantes is slow to criticize governors who have worked hard to convince lawmakersand the publicthat their agenda is worth pursuing.
But not having that leadership, Cervantes warns, can lead to a state that's treading water. That's how he sees the last eight yearsslyly including the post-presidential run years of former Gov. Bill Richardson in the figure he cites.
Decades as a lawyer and legislator have given Cervantes a deft touch for criticism. An understated delivery lets harsh words wash over you almost before you realize what's been said.
Of Gov. Susana Martinez' tenure, he wonders: "Is the most that can be said for the vision of the last six years that we have a state where we don't issue driver's licenses to undocumented citizens?"
When asked if US Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham's December entry into the race gave him second thoughts about running, he says, "I thought it was important, since we were just elected this last November, that we show the public a willingness to do the job that we were elected to do for a period of time before starting a run for the next race. I really do believe that the people who elected me to the Senate deserve better than that."
It's lining up to be a crowded field for Democrats, with names such as Attorney General Hector Balderas and Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales in the conversation, but there is no one, Cervantes says, whose mere entry into the race could force him out. That is, of course, assuming he decides to get in at all. So much of politics is timing. Talking to Cervantes, you get the feeling that he thinks his time is now. He has a vision, and he's working on that plan.
Santa Fe Reporter
Step into the room, and youre caught in a centrifuge of whirring fence posts. Dark barriers slide across every wall, changing speed from one surface to the next like an ersatz carnival ride thats about to burst at its bolts. The growl of tires on rocky soil, the hum of the passing barricade and a cacophony of industrial screeches, hisses and roars echo around the room. Between the fence slats, desert landscapes and sun-drenched suburban streets spin past. Its a dizzying vision of the US-Mexico border, as seen from the American side.
This is A Very Long Line, an art installation featuring four wall-to-wall video projections and a soundtrack that debuted at Center for Contemporary Arts last April. Its creators are Raven Chacon (Navajo), Cristobal Martinez (mestizo) and Kade L Twist (Cherokee), Southwestern artists who comprise the American Indian arts collective Postcommodity. Starting on March 17, the installation is scheduled to appear at the Whitney Biennial in New York City, one of the world's most influential exhibitions of contemporary art. A documentary film (Through the Repellent Fence) about Postcommodity's work on the border premieres at the Museum of Modern Art's Doc Fortnight film festival this weekend.
Peering skyward at Repellent Fence, Postcommoditys 2015 land artwork that traversed the border.
The group's recent achievements mark the tail end of a journey that spans a decade. The project that inspired A Very Long Line, a monumental work of land art titled Repellent Fence, culminated in an international effort to subvert the border fence for a brief but remarkable moment. In the process, two cities on either side of the divide forged a powerful new connection.
The projects have caused a ripple effect that will soon reach a global stage, at a moment when isolationist sentiment has gripped a large portion of the American electorateand the upper echelons of the federal government. Policies shaped by a new nationalism will likely affect the borderlands more than any other region in the United States. A wall stands between much of the US and Mexico, but the cultural and economic fates of cities on both sides of the line are inextricably tied.
The Road
Postcommodity's members have spent more hours than they can count roaming a road called International Avenue, an unpaved passage running along the American side of the border. "It's only called that when it's near a city, when it has public access," says Chacon. "Outside of that it doesn't have a name, because it intersects with private land." The trio sees the route's geographically dependent title as an intentional misnomer. "That's a strategic rhetorical move, to project a discourse of diplomacy," says Martinez. "A border is really a barrier, a filter. It's meant to allow certain things to pass while keeping others from passing."
This is what Postcommodity does best: cracking into sociopolitical structures to illuminate their intricacies. They explore the gargantuan but often invisible forces of globalization that have defined the 21st centuryand their violent, colonizing effect on Indigenous people and nations. The most trafficked and policed border in the world was an obvious target.
Repellent Fence soars above the US-Mexico border fence. The barrier is a patchwork of different styles. There are vertical pylons (shown here), interlinked Xs, and lines of upright and inverted crosses.
The collective's expeditions along a stretch of Arizona's border fence started in 2013, in the midst of the Repellent Fence project. Their mission was to install a line of 26 giant helium balloons that spanned the border, forming a visual breach that would spark conversations between communities from both nations. The idea for the project had been evolving since the collective's founding in 2007.
Throughout its 10-year history, Postcommodity has staged visual and sonic interventions in art institutions and public spaces across the world. Twist, who now lives in Santa Fe, was working on his MFA at Arizona State University in Tempe when he conceived of Postcommodity with Oklahoma artist Nathan Young (Pawnee/Delaware/Kiowa) and Phoenix artist Steven Yazzie (Navajo/Laguna).
One evening, Twist and Yazzie were having a beer in Twist's backyard when they noticed a peculiar ornament in a nearby fig tree. Twist's wife, Andrea R Hanley, had purchased a "scare-eye" balloon to frighten birds away from the tree's fruit. The little yellow globe was emblazoned with several red, black and blue icons that matched the Indigenous iconography of the "open eye." The balloon did little to repel its intended targets, but Yazzie and Twist imagined that this technically useless object with coincidental cultural significance could serve a different purpose.
The cyclonic A Very Long Line, at the Center for Contemporary Arts Spector Ripps Project Space in 2016. The installation is set to appear in the Whitney Biennial next month.
Yazzie, Young and Twist flew a 10-foot-wide vinyl replica of the balloon at a European artist residency in 2007, and again above the Phoenix skyline in 2008. The eye in the sky became a marker of Indigenous presence, an ephemeral watchtower above the neocolonial landscape more ominously monitored by swarms of drones and invisible digital surveillance networks. It was made to be seen, but also to symbolically viewand confrontthe world around it.
Yazzie and Young have both since retired from Postcommodity. Chacon joined the group in 2009, and Martinez became a member a year later. Chacon, an internationally renowned experimental musician from Albuquerque, was drawn to the group because of its emphasis on mediums that weren't typically used by Indigenous artists he saw in art galleries, such as sound and performance art. Martinez, who grew up in Santa Fe and resides in Phoenix, first encountered Postcommodity's work as a PhD student at ASU. "They took these conventions, tore them apart and wove them back together again in a way that was brown, that was Indigenous. That was exciting," says Martinez.
The Port
From their first conversation about the balloon, Twist and Yazzie dreamed of using it for a border installation. Early on, the collective envisioned a row of balloons running parallel to the fence, but they came to realize that crossing the border was essential to their goal of advancing a conversation. "There was no organizational infrastructure that existed to facilitate a proper dialogue across the border among Indigenous people, mestizos, and non-Indigenous stakeholders and collaborators," says Twist.
"We traversed almost the entire span of the Arizona-Sonora border looking for where we could do this," Chacon says. After years of searching, they chose the cities of Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, as the sites for Repellent Fence. The communities touch on the border line, and they have an official port of entry between them that connects their downtowns. "There was a memorandum of understanding between the two cities to support bi-national collaboration around social policy objectives," says Twist. "That's what got us there."
Many border cities maintain agreements with communities across the fence, though most of them center on the people and goods that pass through the customs gate. Douglas and Agua Prieta's exceedingly rare social policy accord was a lucky break for a project that initially seemed impossibleat least if the group was going to complete it with government approval.
The City of Douglas donated the local airport as a base of operations for the installation of Repellent Fence.
In 2012, Postcommodity began to secure grant money for Repellent Fence. Every two weeks, at least one member of the group traveled to Douglas and Agua Prieta to work on the project. The collective began holding community meetings in both towns, in search of ways to leverage municipal power that might push the project over federal hurdles. They connected with Jenea Sanchez and Martina Rendon, Douglas residents who have family on both sides of the border.
The Fence
Sanchez remembers a time when there was no fenceat least not in her neighborhood. When she was a child living in Agua Prieta, she could see her aunt's house across the border from her yard. "My dad would stand outside and say, 'Okay, go!'" she says. "We would run, and cross illegally to visit my aunt's house. That's how interconnected these communities are."
Twist knew Sanchez from Arizona State, where they were both in the MFA program for intermedia. She spent most of her childhood living between Agua Prieta and Douglas. When Postcommodity chose her native cities for Repellent Fence in early 2012, Twist made a trip to Douglas and pitched the project in person. "Honestly, I was concerned about the idea of it crossing the border," Sanchez says. "I just thought in my mind, 'Border Patrol is going to come up with something that is not going to allow this project to go through.'"
These days, if Sanchez sent her own children on an impromptu dash to see their family in Agua Prieta, they wouldn't get very far. Between cities, there's an 18-foot steel fence that runs for six miles. Completed in 2012 at a cost of $14.2 million, it replaced a weaker fence that had stood more than 20 years. "I've seen three iterations of the fence in my lifetime," Sanchez tells SFR. "Many of us have grown up with this revamping or reimagining of the border."
Outside of town, where Postcommodity conducted its first scouting trips, the border fence is much more porous. Rural sections of the barrier are intended to prevent vehicles from crossing, but people can (and do) easily slip through. The border stretches roughly 2,000 miles, from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande forms a natural divide between Texas and Mexico, but from California to Arizona there's a patchwork of fencing that covers 700 miles of the line. Some of the newest sections were erected by the George W Bush administration, which funded a $4 billion border wall project that ran from 2006 to 2010 and completed 640 miles of fence. Today, US Customs and Border Protection employs over 20,000 agents, and a vast majority work along the US-Mexico border.
On their long drives, Postcommodity encountered coyotes (men hired to escort illegal immigrants across the border) with ghillie suits and guns. The Border Patrol often informed them that drug cartels were discussing their presence over the radio waves. In some places, flash floods had completely washed away sections of the barricade. "The kind of totalitarian control that an ideal border seeks is thwarted very easily by Mother Nature," notes Martinez.
In order to pull off Repellent Fence, Postcommodity needed to gain some measure of approval from leaders throughout the intricate power structures of the borderlands. Sanchez and her husband Robert Uribe got to work, in Douglas, turning the downtown cafe they own into a base of operations for the project. "We were getting grants, our idea was becoming more focused, and Jenea was helping us set up meetings with major stakeholders," says Twist. "It was all becoming real."
The Filter
Some things don't pass as easily across the border as others. Crossing can alter the value of money in your pocket, and change your legal status from citizen to alien. A port of entry might open wide for a bus full of people or a carload of artor it might slam shut. The day Rendon met Postcommodity and Sanchez, she'd spent part of her morning at the customs gate. "They have an art walk in Douglas, and she brought her paintings across the border to show them here," says Twist. "She had to deal with the people at the border taking her paintings out and searching them for contraband in front of her kids."
Rendon takes painting classes at Agua Prieta's community center, Casa de la Cultura. She lives in Douglas, but many of her family members reside in Agua Prieta, where she spends most of her weekends. When she and Sanchez struck up a conversation at the art walk in spring 2014, they sensed value in uniting their respective networks. Almost immediately, they started planning an art walk that would span both sides of the border, to coincide with the launch of Repellent Fence.
The artists at a recent performance at the Center For Contemporary Arts.
"I always felt it was going to be possible," Rendon writes in an email. "They already had everything very well planned out, including collaboration by Douglas city officials and the local Mexican consulate. The only thing left was making contact with Agua Prieta officials." Rendon arranged high-level meetings for Postcommodity with the local government in Agua Prieta. Officials in both cities were finally on board with the project, but a barrier still loomed between these small centers of power. Douglas and Agua Prieta are socially and economically intertwined, but legally divided.
"A big thing we learned about the wall is that it's economically chauvinistic," Twist notes. "It's a chauvinism towards the way dollars flip in a community." Sanchez chronicles these disparities in her video art. One of her projects demonstrated how residents of Agua Prieta carefully recycle water. Houses in the outskirts of the city don't have plumbing or electricity, a reality that seems foreign to Douglas residents, just a few miles away. Another video captured the painstaking process of crossing from Mexico to the United States for visa holders who bus over ever day.
"That's what I knew from her work: the desocialization part, the dehumanization part," says Twist. "There's a bubbling frustration there." Postcommodity crossed the border multiple times a day using their American passports, but a Mexican citizen would need a visa to perform the same feat. Twist says, "Depending on the length of your stay and what your objectives are, a visa could cost $500. So there's a class of society that has visas, and the rest don't."
Douglas and Agua Prieta were once tied by a copper mining operation in the region, but that industry dried up in the 1980s. A railroad connecting the cities is long gone. Now there are two primary economic drivers in the region. In Agua Prieta, manufacturing plantsmaquiladorasoffer residents low-paying jobs with long hours. On the American side, the Border Patrol provides career jobs in another otherwise depressed market. "Border security has become its own market system that people are dependent on," says Martinez.
It's a push-and-pull dynamic, considering that Douglas deeply relies on Agua Prieta economically. "They contribute 75 percent of sales tax in our city," says Sanchez. "If we disrupt the relationship any further, our city will die. Literally, we will not survive."
As political tensions mount between the governments of the United States and Mexico, the value of the peso is declining and fewer residents of Agua Prieta are able to afford shopping trips across the border. Sanchez says about four businesses have closed in downtown Douglas during the past three months. Like many borderland towns, Douglas and Agua Prieta's isolation from larger centers of commerce means that even small fluctuations in either of their economies can force a dramatic impact for both.
The Cage
Repellent Fence flew from Oct. 9 to 12, 2015, in the midst of the United States presidential primary campaign. On Oct. 10, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Norcross, Georgia. "Every time I say we're going to build a wall, everybody loves me," Trump said to the roaring crowd. "This is going to be a Trump wall, this is going to be a wall that people aren't going over."
Repellent Fence was comprised of 26 balloons, each 10 feet in diameter, which flew 50 feet above the earth. The line stretched for two miles, from Douglas, Arizona, to Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico.
"The fence came to represent a lot of complexity, which is funny because a lot of public discourse is centered around oversimplified cultural models of what it actually is," says Martinez. "There's an economy that's happening at a local level, and then the border becomes a mediator of the global economy."
The collective's local alliances were vital to the completion of Repellent Fence. About three months before the project launched, the drug lord El Chapo escaped from a Mexican prison and Border Patrol went on high alert. They closed off the intended site for Repellent Fence, leaving Postcommodity scrambling to find another location. "It turns out the project was only possible in one place," Twist explains. "It had to be on city land, where the Border Patrol didn't have jurisdiction, so they couldn't tell us no."
Postcommodity completed the project almost entirely through verbal agreements with local government officials on both sides, though Douglas required that they purchase a $20 million insurance policy. In the last few months before launch, even the Border Patrol had warmed to the idea. The border-spanning art walk and a series of public presentations coincided with Repellent Fence. Sanchez and Rendon arranged for a shuttle to travel between the two cities, with expedited security checks at the port of entry. "For me, it rendered the fence invisible," says Sanchez. "The balloons were a visual reminder of how futile the fence really is. It's a physical barrier that is man-made, and government officials can decide whether to build it higher or tear it down."
Repellent Fence has had a lasting impact on Douglas and Agua Prieta. Sanchez and Rendon, the local artists, continue to collaborate on events that engage both communities. Sanchez's husband Uribe, who is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is now mayor. Inspired by Postcommodity, he ran on a platform of collaboration with communities in Mexico.
Despite the successes of Repellent Fence, the piece only conquered the wall for a momentand that fence might get much taller in the coming years. Chacon, Martinez and Twist don't consider themselves activists: They're using art to shine light on complex socioeconomic dynamics, but they aren't presenting solutions.
In a two-day shoot on International Avenue in 2016, Postcommodity captured footage of the passing fence from a car. Using images and sounds from the drive, they built the spinning birdcage of A Very Long Line and added a chaotic soundtrack. Stepping into the installation is intended to be a tumultuous sensory experience, mirroring the impact of the border wall itself.
"We're prisoners of our own ideas and concepts; we're imprisoned by our own discourse," Martinez says. "That violence is disorienting, and it has a dizzying and unsettling effect. That's precisely the effect the fence has on people along the border, and it radiates outward from there."
Santa Fe Reporter
ASX-listed conglomerate Wesfarmers today reported strong earnings growth in the first half, bolstered by results in Bunnings Australia and New Zealand, Kmart and Officeworks.
The company reported a net profit of A$1.58 billion in the six months to Dec. 31, up 13 percent on the year. Operating revenue was A$34.9 billion, up 4.3 percent on the year. It announced an interim dividend of A$1.03 per share, also a 13 percent increase on the year.
Total retail earnings were in line with the prior corresponding period, with very strong results reported for Bunnings Australia and New Zealand (BANZ), Kmart and Officeworks, managing director Richard Goyder said. The continued momentum in these businesses was particularly pleasing and reflects the strong market positions they have each established."
BANZ reported earnings growth of 9.8 percent to A$770 million with revenue growth of 8.3 percent. It did not break down specific figures for New Zealand.
Goyder said the strong result included store-on-store sales growth of 6.5 percent and a 317 basis point improvement in return on capital to 39 percent. Bunnings, the dominant player in Australia, now has 53 stores and trade centres in New Zealand compared to 301 in Australia. Nine new stores opened between June and December and two were closed. A further 11 are under construction.
New Zealand's construction sector is experiencing a boom as demand for building supplies was underpinned by the Canterbury rebuild for several years and is now being supported by the multi-billion dollar pipeline of work needed to address the housing shortage in Auckland.
Wesfarmers' Kmart business also fared well, with earnings up 16 percent to A$371 million on revenue growth of 8.9 percent. New Zealand has 19 of the company's 214 Kmart stores.
The company said it has commenced a strategic review of its Officeworks division which could include an initial public offering.
"Officeworks is well positioned for future growth with a strong competitive position and ongoing initiatives to grow its addressable market," said Goyder. He noted, however, the business will be retained if divestment options do not meet Wesfarmers valuation hurdles.
The earnings report comes on the heels of news that Goyder will step down in late 2017. He will be succeeded by Rob Scott, who currently heads the company's industrials division and is now deputy chief executive.
Wesfarmers' ASX-listed shares last traded at A$42.13, down 1.6 percent over the past 12 months.
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Jim Watson, whose personal battle with prostate cancer led him to co-found Caldera Health, has succumbed to the disease but investors are showing confidence in the company's gene testing technology by converting options into shares.
Watson, who had been a scientific and management adviser up until the end of 2016, died on Feb. 13, Caldera's chief executive Rob Mitchell has confirmed. Watson co-founded the company with Richard Forster, who had also been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and died in January 2014.
The pair said they had been victims to flaws in the industry standard PSA test for the cancer, which throws up both false positives and negatives, and doesn't distinguish between aggressive cancers and benign strains. In 2012, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against mass PSA screening because of those uncertainties and the resultant over-diagnosis and unnecessary prostatectomies.
Watson, a pioneer of biotechnology in New Zealand, and Forster performed the initial RNA biomarker selection and designed the process that led to Caledra's diagnostic gene signature. The company's clinical study 2B, completed in December, showed that of 252 tissue samples tested using the technology, the overall sensitivity was 97 percent and the specificity was also 97 percent for the diagnosis of prostate cancer, Mitchell said. That compares with sensitivity of 44 percent and specificity of 92 percent for the PSA test.
Mitchell said the focus for the next six-to-12 months is to transition the technology from a tissue-based diagnostic test to a non-invasive urine-based test, a simple "pee in a pot" test. To that end, Caldera is developing a prostate cell capture device that enables the cells to be captured from urine. RNA will then be isolated from the captured cells and used for analysis with the patent pending gene signature, Mitchell said.
Investors in Caldera include the NZ Venture Investment Fund, the Mercy Ascot Health group, and Stephen Tindalls K1W1 investment company. This week Caldera reported to the Companies Office that 603,125 new shares had been issued, lifting the total on issue by about 5 percent to about 1.3 million.
Mitchell said the shares were issued for existing investors who wanted to convert their options and that was a sign of their confidence in the business.
(BusinessDesk receives assistance from Callaghan Innovation to cover the commercialisation of innovation.)
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For Daan Roosegaarde, it was the frustration of being stuck in traffic on a major dual carriageway in the Netherlands that first sparked curiosity about the role roads could play in harnessing energy.
"I was sitting in my car and it hit me," he says recalling that moment. "Why do we talk about energy-efficient cars and invest billions into their research and development? Yet roads themselves are rarely ever considered."
The Dutch artist was already known for imaginative projects fusing technology and energy.
In 2008, he created a dance floor harnessing energy generated from the impact of dancing clubbers to produce electricity. As he sat in a traffic jam, he wondered whether roads could play a similar role.
The result was his Glowing Lines project: three light-emitting lines painted along a highway in Oss, southern Netherlands. The 500-metre long lines absorbed light by day and glowed at night for up to eight hours - guiding drivers who may otherwise have relied upon overhead lighting.
"Energy is everywhere," says Roosegaarde. "We just need to know how to harvest it."
His call is to be heeded. Transport currently accounts for nearly 30% of the world's total energy use and around a quarter of global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Bringing that down will require a range of approaches, including the faster adoption of hydrogen, electricity and natural gas as lower-carbon transport fuels.
It also provides new opportunities for innovation. Today, for example, there are three million electric cars on the world's roads. That number is expected to rise to 125 million by 2030, according to industry predictions.
NEW DELHI: India and Norway have decided to target innovation projects in companies in the field of renewable energy.
"A joint call between the Research Council of Norway and Department of Science and Technology of India was launched during a week-long matchmaking workshop on renewable energy at the Norwegian Embassy.
"The call is for $ 1 million, targeting innovation projects in companies collaborating with research institutions in the field of renewable energy," an official statement said.
Close to 80 participants from Norway and India had a comprehensive and prosperous discussion on the sector.
The representatives also discussed a wide range of topics including energy storage, grid integration, wind power, solar power, smart infrastructure based on artificial intelligence, hydro energy and off-grid solutions.
Innovation Norway, the Norwegian Embassy, The Research Council of Norway, Institute of Technology Delhi and Department of Science of Technology co-hosted the workshop.
"Our technologies do not exclude each other. I am impressed by the work that has been done India. I think that our products compliment the existing ones and create a basis for creating even better solutions.
"The goal must be to use existing resources in the best possible manner and minimize the need for investments going forward," said Jorgen Kildahl, representing Smart Energy Systems.
India has set ambitious goals in the field of renewable energy, especially within solar where the plan is to reach 100 GW capacity by 2020.
Participants in the workshop emphasised that both countries are positive to future collaboration.
The week also witnessed signing of memorandum of collaboration between NCE Smart energy Market Halden and Power Grid, B2B Roundtable with Power Grid and leading Indian Utilities, seminar on Incubation collaboration, site visits to Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited Smart grid Labs, and Indo-Norwegian Workshop on Smart Grid Technologies among others.
A Memorandum of Co-operation between Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (Powergrid) and Norwegian Centre of Expertise (NCE) Smart Energy Markets covering cooperation for 15 countries was signed.
On the last day of the week, a workshop on Smart Grid Technologies was hosted by India-Smart grid forum which welcomed NCE Smart Energy Markets in Halden to present their solutions to national and state representatives from utility and electricity bodies from Haryana, Kolkata, Delhiand Rajasthan.
Joint secretary of the Ministry of Power, A K Verma addressed the audience and in discussion with several business participants from Norway, invited them to further meetings and collaboration, the statement said.
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ice.jpeg
This Feb. 7, 2017 photo released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows foreign nationals being arrested during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed at immigration fugitives, re-entrants and at-large criminal aliens. (Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the wake of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in New York City, the attorney general's office is warning immigrant communities about several fraudulent scams, including one where fake ICE agents are demanding money in order to avoid deportation.
"It is unconscionable for scam artists to prey on heightened fear in our immigrant communities by pretending to be ICE officers and demanding that families pay up in order to avoid deportation," said Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. "I urge communities to protect themselves by learning about these potential scams - and contacting my office if they suspect fraud. We will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal and bring to justice those who commit fraud against our immigrant communities."
Schneiderman said his office has received a number of reports of unsolicited calls or in-person inquiries from fake immigration officials. One immigrant living in Queens was approached by four men dressed as ICE agents and told he was going to be detained unless he gave them all of his money, the attorney general said.
Here are some other scams to be aware of:
Being approached by fake ICE agents. Official Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will never ask you for money or threaten detainment or deportation if you do not pay them. ICE agents also do not have the authority to enter your household without a warrant signed by a judge.
Unsolicited calls from fake officials: One of the most common immigration services scams are unsolicited calls or text messages from someone claiming to be a government official or law enforcement officer that make threats such as deportation. Often times the number on caller ID may look like a legitimate government number. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will never request payment over the phone, so immigrants should be wary of scammers that ask for any sensitive or personal information, demand payment and threaten deportation if you do not comply.
Notario fraud: In many Latin American countries a "notario" refers to someone who has the authority to render legal services. Unscrupulous "notaries" who are not attorneys often rely on this misunderstanding to exploit immigrants. They charge immigrants excessive application fees without ever submitting applications to the immigration authorities or may induce deportation by submitting applications for relief for which the immigrant is not eligible for or did not request.
Misrepresenting legal credentials: Individuals may falsely claim to be attorneys or wrongly suggest that they are able to appear before the immigration agencies or court. They take advantage of immigrants who will unknowingly pay exorbitant fees for their services. By misrepresenting their qualifications, these individuals can have a detrimental impact on the immigrants with whom they work. For example, immigrants who take advice from and work with these individuals may waive their right to obtain legal residency, be unnecessarily deported, or become subject to civil and/or criminal liability for the filing of false claims.
Fraudulent promises to expedite process: This type of fraud concerns individuals who contend that they know employees at immigration offices who can expedite the processing of their clients applications. Accordingly, they request high fees for this special service, but fail to provide it.
Misinformation fraud: Under this type of fraud, a provider will typically provide inaccurate or false information to the immigrant concerning his or her eligibility for an adjustment of status under a particular law. In these cases, the immigrant is usually not aware that they have been a victim of fraud until they receive a letter of ineligibility from immigration authorities. The provider knows the immigrant is not entitled to relief, or ineligible, but will file the application with immigration authorities regardless.
Immigration affinity fraud: Some providers target immigrants belonging to their same ethnic or racial group. Accordingly, they seek to gain advantage over other providers by claiming to identify with the ethnic, racial, national origin or community-based affiliations of the immigrant group.
Unauthorized practice of the law: Individuals may not be licensed to practice law but present themselves as attorneys or immigration law experts capable of providing legal advice and services.
To report potential fraud or other issues regarding immigration services, contact the Attorney General's Immigration Services Fraud Unit Hotline at 866-390-2992 or email Civil.Rights@ag.ny.gov. The attorney general's office will never ask for your immigration status or share immigration information with federal authorities if you contact the Immigration Services Fraud Unit Hotline.
Last week, ICE arrested two Staten Island men convicted of violent crimes, but Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group, isn't backing down from its claim that five were arrested and that ICE's goal in the arrests is to "tear families apart."
One of the first groups to spread information about ICE arrests, Make the Road made the claim over the weekend that five people were arrested here.
The New Americans hotline is a toll-free, multi-lingual hotline that provides live assistance in receiving immigration and naturalization information and referrals, regardless of citizenship or documented status, the attorney general said.
All calls to the hotline are confidential and anonymous. Call 1-800-566-7636 (toll-free) anytime between 9:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Friday.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A New Dorp man was found with drugs and a knife in his car after cops pulled him over in West Brighton Saturday night, police allege.
Christopher Orlando, 23, allegedly had heroin and a gravity knife after cops stopped him for driving through a steady red light on Castleton Avenue at around 8:35 p.m., the criminal complaint said.
The two glassine envelopes of heroin were marked "Poison," police said.
Orlando's three-year-old son was also in the backseat, police said.
The defendant, of Richmond Road, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance, the complaint said.
Prosecutors allege Francesco (Frank) Baldassarre, seen in this 2010 photo, was slain by his wife, Antoinetta Baldassarre.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Ten years in prison? Fifteen years? Or something in between?
Prosecutors have offered a 15-year prison sentence to Antoinetta Baldassarre, the Tompkinsville senior citizen accused of slaying her husband more than two years ago in their home, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Baldassarre, 69, didn't formally refuse the offer during a conference in state Supreme Court, St. George, nor did she accept it.
Baldassarre has previously told the court she wants to resolve the case by plea, and considers a 10-year prison sentence "sufficient."
The case was adjourned to March 16 for further discussions between prosecutors and the defense. If the defendant doesn't plead guilty then, the case will proceed to pretrial hearings. A trial date has not been set.
Baldassarre is charged with murder and arson stemming from the Oct. 7, 2014, death of her husband, Francesco (Frank) Baldassarre, 80.
Prosecutors accuse the defendant of fatally clubbing her spouse with a crowbar in their home and then trying to burn herself to death the next morning inside a car in her garage.
During Wednesday's proceeding, prosecutors and the defense confirmed a recent psychiatric evaluation which found Baldassarre mentally fit to stand trial.
Trial fitness means a defendant understand the charges against them and can aid in their defense.
A prior exam had deemed Baldassarre not capable of standing trial.
She was placed in a secure psychiatric facility for treatment and further evaluation.
Sources say it is not uncommon for suspects treated at such centers to ultimately be declared fit for trial.
"As I had suspected, Ms. Baldassarre is fit to proceed," Gallucci said outside court. "We're now moving forward with the case."
In a bizarre soliloquy last year, Baldassarre had told the court she wanted to arrange a plea deal, but it had to be done "in a very delicate way."
"I am not going to trial because if I go to trial I will say things I don't want to say, and if I do, I will have a very short life left, and you will have to put me somewhere where they won't find me," Baldassarre, an Italian immigrant, said then in heavily accented English.
Garbed in tan prison scrubs, the pony-tailed defendant did not address the court Wednesday.
Assistant District Attorney Tuesday Muller-Mondi is prosecuting the case.
NWS C-CAP
Staten Island chef Abdallah Farraj with C-CAP Alumna Carlesha Alston.
(Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP))
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One Staten Island resident just cooked up the opportunity of a lifetime.
Abdallah Farraj, 22, a Port Richmond native and Chef de Partie at Dovetail in Manhattan, took home second place in the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) Culinary Competition, hosted by world-renowned chef Daniel Boulud.
As his award, Farraj received a one-week stage at Boulud's famous New York City restaurants Cafe Boulud and Daniel.
In cooking, a stage is an unpaid internship where a chef works briefly in another chef's kitchen to be exposed to new techniques.
In this case, Farraj will have the opportunity to learn from some of the world's finest in French cuisine.
Farraj was also one of seven C-CAP alumni to receive the C-CAP/Olesay Scholarship, which awarded him a three-month internship at Restaurante Coque in Madrid.
"C-CAP placed me into the industry at a fairly young age, and without them, my career would have taken an entirely different course," said Farraj. "C-CAP's National Career Adviser Christine Lee became my mentor, and her guidance is what made many opportunities -- past and future -- possible."
C-CAP is a national non-profit organization that promotes and provides career opportunities in the food service industry for underprivileged youth through culinary arts education and employment.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- PS 29 was briefly evacuated on Wednesday morning due to elevated carbon monoxide levels at the school in Castleton Corners, according to the FDNY.
School remained in session Wednesday afternoon.
"This morning, our school building was evacuated for approximately one hour due to an odor from the HVAC system in the building," Principal Linda Manfredi said in a letter posted on the school website.
The city Department of Education said that the school was "temporarily evacuated due to concerns with the boiler. The FDNY immediately responded and cleared the building for re-entry.
"We are working diligently to make any necessary repairs and are providing the school with additional supports to ensure students have a safe learning environment."
FDNY was called to the school at the corner of Victory Boulevard and Slosson Avenue at 8:41 a.m., said a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.
The cause of the raised CO levels is under investigation, but the boilers were shut down as a precautionary measure and the building was vented, said a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.
The school, which has about 680 students, was evacuated while CO levels were brought down to safe levels, according to the FDNY. Students were spotted going back into the school at about 9:30 a.m.
"As we began to relocate our students to an alternate location, FDNY confirmed that it was safe for us to re-enter the building," the principal's letter said. "One bus departed PS 29 for the alternate location. However, the bus was immediately re-routed back to PS 29."
Manfredi was in touch with Anna Simione, the principal of St. Teresa School across the street, and the Roman Catholic school principal offered and was prepared to receive the students both during regular hours and for aftercare, said Diana Gatto, a spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic elementary schools.
Gatto said that "both principals were in constant contact with each other the entire morning. In fact, the principal of PS 29 called to thank the principal of St. Teresa for her assistance."
Con Edison was called in to do an inspection of the boilers, a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.
A patient with a minor injury that was unrelated to the CO was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, the FDNY spokesman said.
The FDNY spokesman was unable to provide information about the CO readings.
The intersection of Victory Boulevard and Slosson Avenue was blocked off by police during the evacuation.
At least four fire trucks were on the scene.
The way of the empty hands The Simi Valley Shotokan Karate Dojo recently hosted a two-day seminar at Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District headquarters featuring a trio of karate experts. The Oct. 22 seminar was...
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It's been a rough stretch for the presidential counselor. She said on MSNBC Monday that Trump had "full confidence" in Flynn, hours before he lost his job. A government ethics panel urged the White House to discipline her for urging Fox News Channel viewers to buy Ivanka Trump's products. CNN said last week that it had turned down a chance to book her on Jake Tapper's Feb. 5 program because she had credibility issues. The White House has banned its officials from appearing on the network.
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Courts and tribunals will have more accurate details about criminals who reoffend while on bail when a new information management system is brought in early next year, the ACT's attorney-general says.
The Barr government shot down the ACT opposition's bid for a review into the territory's bail laws in the assembly on Wednesday.
ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay.
Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said the ACT's bail laws were being constantly finessed and the government would "not fall into the trap of politicising tragedy".
"The ACT legislation is fundamentally different from Victoria's. While tragic, the recent events in Melbourne do not automatically call for a review in the ACT," Mr Ramsay said.
Open data can be used to track public transport in real time. Credit:Michael Gorey
Open data is publicly available information that can be freely used and redistributed by anyone.
Barriers to using open data will be examined in coming months by the Canberra Business Chamber.
"Open data can create new markers for products and services, enable benchmarking across a range of data sets and economic indicators; provide opportunities to better segment markets; enable decision making to be automated or improved; and can improve transparency," the paper says.
"Areas commonly enabled by access to open data include geographic applications followed by meteorological, environmental, economic and business, social and traffic information.
"These are all sectors where business and broader society can benefit."
Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry said access to open data was a competitive advantage for Canberra businesses.
"What we're trying to find out through the discussion process is what more can we do to grow the Canberra economy," she said.
Detectives investigating institutional child sexual abuse in a NSW Catholic school have charged a former Canberra headmaster with making false statements to police and perverting the cause of justice.
On Tuesday, Strike Force Georgiana detectives charged former Marist College Canberra principal Brother Christopher Wade, also known as William Henry Wade, with four offences related to statements he made to police in 2014, the Newcastle Herald reported.
The Marist Brothers Catholic Order was found to be one of the most notorious for allegations of child sexual abuse.
The strike force was formed to investigate child sexual assault offences at the Hamilton Marist Brothers School in Newcastle in the 1960s and 1970s.
Do you know more? Email katie.burgess@fairfaxmedia.com.au
When the going gets tough, Yassmin Abdel-Magied thinks of the US civil rights movement. She thinks of uprisings in Egypt and her birth country Sudan. People like her parents who fought and still fight for a better life.
Ms Abdel-Magied's battle is relentless, often exhausting and deeply personal. Her areas of expertise are gender, race and engineering, but lately, whether she likes it or not, the conversation has turned to her faith: Islam.
So when Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie sat alongside her on Monday's Q&A panel and argued Australian Muslims practicing Sharia law should be deported, the 25-year-old youth leader, in her own words, lost her cool.
"Since I was 10 years old, we've had discussions about Muslims being different and Muslims being equated to terrorists and so on and so on, and particularly since the election of Donald Trump that kind of stepped up 10 notches, so I'm constantly surrounded - every single place I look, whether it's on telly or in the papers or on my social media feeds - with rhetoric that is super divisive," Ms Abdel-Magied said on Wednesday.
New Hawthorn captain Jarryd Roughead is set to play his first AFL game since being declared cancer-free.
Roughead, whose melanoma battle forced him to miss the entire 2016 season, has been named in the Hawks' 29-man squad to face Geelong in a pre-season clash in Tasmania on Friday night.
Gun recruit Jaeger O'Meara has also been included and could play his first game since late-2014 after a string of injuries.
Four-time premiership winner Roughead had a melanoma removed from his lip in 2015 then suffered a recurrence in 2016, a setback that had serious implications for his life, let alone playing career.
So who is setting the iron ore price, could it be day traders in China, or is it taxi drivers in Dalian, as some analysts suspect?
Take your pick on the role of such speculators but either way the sustained surge in the iron ore price has caught many investors by surprise while giving a second wind to a group of second-tier producers that have been struggling with busted balance sheets and bloated costs to stay afloat for the past few years.
Helping to nudge the iron ore price higher was a new round of speculation China will close more of its heavily polluting steel, and other, plants at least in winter, as it struggles to improve air quality. Credit:QILAI SHEN
In late trading on Tuesday, BC Iron's share price was ahead 6 per cent at 27.5, as was Tasmanian producer Grange Resources at 25.5 as Mount Gibson rallied 10 per cent to 46.2. Atlas Iron was unable to maintain earlier gains and was steady near the close at 4.7.
Among the sector's leaders, Fortescue firmed 1 per cent to $6.93.5, which was still enough to push it to post-GFC highs, as Rio rose 1 per cent to $68.97. BHP eased 11 to $26.34, hampered by the lower oil price.
DEXUS Property group chief executive Darren Steinberg has attributed a fall in distributions to investors at the diversified property group on lower revaluations and lumpy trading profits from the property sales.
The revaluations were positive, but were up against very strong revaluations that were made in the previous corresponding period.
DEXUS Property Group, which is behind the Gateway retail space at Circular Quay, said it was delivering growth in its underlying business.
The group reported half year profit of $716 million compared to $797.5 million the previous year.
It will distribute 21.71 per security for the six months to December 2016, a 5.8 per cent decrease compared to the previous corresponding period.
Sydney Airport has said it "will be endeavouring to meet " the government's timetable and decide by May whether to take up its right to develop a $5 billion airport in western Sydney after posting a 10.3 per cent rise in full-year operating earnings.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to $1.11 billion in 2016, compared with $1 billion the previous year, in line with the $1.12 billion estimate of 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company, which runs Australia's biggest airport, flagged it expects to pay distributions of 33.5 per stapled security in 2017, up from 31 for 2016, which was in line with analyst forecasts of 33.7.
International traffic, the main earnings driver for Sydney Airport, rose by 8.9 percent - the highest rate in 12 years - in 2016 as airlines added capacity. Overall, the airport was used by 41.9 million passengers in the year, up 5.6 per cent from 2015.
Fierce competition in the mobile phone market is sending customers into the arms of Telstra's competitors, carving a nasty hole in the telco giant's profits.
The slowing growth in customers is aggravating the pressure on the nation's biggest telecom provider, which has seen its traditional mainstay business crunched as Australians are abandoning the fixed-line phone, and is now forced to pay the government-owned NBN Network to access its customers.
Telstra's shares dived 4.5 per cent on Thursday after management admitted it was struggling to attract new customers.
"There is no doubt the competitive intensity in the market has increased," chief executive Andrew Penn said as he delivered a surprise 12 per cent fall in first-half profit on Thursday.
Sitting in the hotel bar the night before the flight to Pyongyang, the painfully sober tour organiser asked whether we had any gifts for the Dear Leader. Well, no what do you get the dead guy who has everything? It was February 2012, and the isolated North Korean state was reeling from the death of its dictator.
No matter, our guide said, and proceeded to tell an incredible tale of how in the 1990s a South Korean academic had been friendly to the northern regime for close to two decades before trying to foist an ashtray on Kim Jong-il. It was to be for his use only, the academic stressed, and he wanted to deliver it personally knowing how much the Dear Leader loved to smoke. How honoured he would be to know the ashtray he had taken painstaking care to design would sit on the Dear Leader's desk.
The North Koreans were touched but suspicious, the story went, and had it tested. The ashtray was radioactive, at barely detectable levels, and was designed to assassinate him slowly.
Real or fantastic, this spy thriller intrigue is the standard level of paranoia for the North Korean regime. They have no doubt been on the receiving end of such attempts, although their own atrocities from a bombing in Yangon to using spies to down a commercial jet and a notorious abduction program are more egregious.
While the numbers are not yet in on Australia's latest heatwave summer one of the worst in our history between 1100 and 1500 people will have died from heat stress. That's been the average of recent years.
When Treasurer Scott Morrison jovially informed the House of Representatives "Mr Speaker, this is coal. Don't be afraid! Don't be scared! It won't hurt you," he was, according to all reputable scientific and medical studies worldwide, misleading the Parliament.
By mid-century, the effects of worldwide burning of coal and oil in heating the climate to new extremes will claim more than 50,000 Australian lives per decade, a toll nearly double that of World War II.
And that doesn't include the 12.6 million human lives lost globally every year (a quarter of all deaths), according to the World Health Organisation, from "air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation", all of which are a consequence of human use of fossil fuels. The main sources of those toxins are, indisputably, the coal and petrochemical industries.
Can anyone tell me why so many advertisements for upmarket loungers feature dogs reclining, jumping or snoozing on them, asks Paul Vincent of Bayview. "The dogs can be aristocratic, aloof or playful. Presumably however the lounges are intended for people but the advertisers obviously prefer to pitch their products at man's best friend. One wonders whether this carries through when the purchaser gets the product home."
Gabrielle Bluett (C8 dog at a Spit restaurant) shouldn't venture to the UK suggests Kathleen Molloy of Thornleigh. "Dogs are treated as welcome guests in pubs and restaurants. It is commonplace for these pets to be fed and watered from the dining table and to my horror, patted and cuddled by the wait staff, who then go on to serve your food and pour your drinks."
"Gabrielle, if a dog wouldn't finish the remains of the chicken entree perhaps you should consider eating elsewhere," suggests Robert Sharpe of Bronte.
"I knew about dysgraphia Tim Ingall (MB BS, PhD (University of Sydney) department of neurology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA), (C8) because it was googleable." Thanks Jeff Marsh of Dulwich Hill.
If the moon looks smaller than usual on February 19, it's because it's at its apogee i.e. the furthest away from Earth, advises Dave Horsfall of North Gosford. "I'll bet not even Column 8's mighty powers can prevent that." [C8: Showers/cloud forecast.]
I have something of a love-hate relationship with Melbourne. It is by and large a decent place, with a stronger collective sense of society and public amenity than some other big metropolises such as Sydney.
Melbourne has, to use the phrase coined by urban theorist and economist Richard Florida, a vibrant "creative class", something which has partly underpinned its recent success.
Even so, I think as a city Melbourne has become badly complacent, coasting on a tired major events schedule, an ageing, overburdened public transport network, and misleading labels such as "the world's most liveable city".
It's time to accept that Melbourne has, over the past decade, lost much of its coveted liveability and no longer deserve the title. Here are five reasons.
Alice Springs town councillor Jacinta Nampijinpa Price drew attention to this obvious fact in a searing Facebook post in January, lambasting "Aboriginal middle-class activists" who want to change the date of Australia Day. She said they "come from privilege themselves" compared to the country's most marginalised people, and accused them of making "an even bigger deal out of this than actually saving the lives of Aboriginal people who are living among us now".
It is easier to group "Indigenous Australians" under one catch-all category than to make mental accommodation for a population with big differences between individuals and groups, much as exist among non-Indigenous Australians.
It is an affront to Indigenous Australians that their lives are almost always portrayed in mainstream media through a prism of what the Prime Minister called "despondency and deficit" when releasing the 2017 Closing the Gap report . Descriptions of poverty, domestic violence, drunkenness and homelessness may be well-intentioned attempts to draw attention to ongoing problems, but they do not convey the full picture of Aboriginal lives.
The focus should be on the future, not the past, Price wrote, "so that the most marginalised Aboriginal people of this country whose first language is usually not English, who do not have access to media, whose lives are affected at alarming rates by family violence can have the same opportunities as those who claim to feel pain because a country celebrates how lucky we are on a date that marks the arrival of the first fleet".
The idea of a national day of mourning is anathema to Price. "What do we have to benefit from being in a constant state of mourning? Mourning does not give us freedom, it imprisons us and I have had enough. I bury my family far too regularly and that is all the mourning I can handle."
The Closing the Gap strategy is the action plan to overcome Indigenous disadvantage that went with then prime minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations nine years ago. Its latest report card is cause for yet another round of national hand-wringing. Anguish may be genuinely felt, but it's action that counts.
Despite some long-term progress, such as improved reading and numeracy, reduced smoking rates and lower mortality rates, the state and federal governments are on track to miss six of the seven targets set. The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on Year 12 attainment looks like being halved by 2020. But the gap is widening in some crucial areas, like deaths caused by cancer, infant mortality and employment.
The Prime Minister said "we are not seeing sufficient national progress" on the targets, singling out high rates of suicide and disproportionately high rates of incarceration among Indigenous Australians for attention.
Criris point for young doctors. Credit:Peter Braig It is apparent that this is being done to facilitate the imposition of high-density policies unwanted by the broader community (but wanted by developers). Contrary to "addressing the city's housing affordability crisis" the imposition will exacerbate it. As high-density policies were implemented over two decades so did previously stable house prices increase. This also happened in other parts of the world. There is no credible evidence that financial benefits will result from merging the councils currently fighting the proposals in the courts. The KPMG report (partially withheld) advocating amalgamations did not reveal the full extent of assumptions and did not take into account the highly variable conditions applicable to individual councils. The new Premier's announcement does not auger well for the post-Baird era.
Tony Recsei Warrawee What have local government amalgamations got to do with addressing the "housing affordability" crisis in Sydney? Seeking to blame local government for decades of failure by state and federal government to make sure there is enough public and private housing available to meet the needs of a growing population is simply dishonest. While the decision to forcibly amalgamate local government in Sydney may not be about Premier Berejiklian "personally", it is most certainly about the property developers who still run government in NSW, and their desire to roll over the top of local residents who should have a big say in the suburbs in which they live, and certainly that their communities have the schools, parks, public transport, health facilities and jobs that ensure a decent quality of life. Colin Hesse Marrickville
Gladys Berejiklian has proved that "democracy" is really just another form of corruption. Moreover, her claims that amalgamated councils have claimed to be happy is mischievous as they are all run by Liberal Party administrators. The NSW Liberal Party has just shown how transparent their total disdain for honest public discussion is. Gladys is in for a huge fight! Suzie Gold Castlecrag Before suggesting that council amalgamations are not going ahead in the bush whilst proceeding in the city, I suggest your correspondents (Letters, February 15) take a drive to Gundagai or Tumbarumba and have a quiet chat with the "country folk" there. Actually, it won't be quiet.
Bob Guy Cootamundra What a delight to have a strong, intelligent woman as Premier who is prepared to risk her position by standing up for her council amalgamation plan to assist infrastructure and affordable housing for the future. Am I the only resident in Hunters Hill that is prepared to agree with amalgamation? Christine Flannery Hunters Hill Our Premier has said that council mergers in the Sydney area are necessary to address the city's housing affordability crisis and improve development approval times. This is nothing but political spin. Approvals are running at close to double actual dwelling construction levels, so the merging of councils will have little or no effect on housing supply.
Housing demand, on the other hand, is being increased by national and international investors who, in many cases, deliberately leave their new apartments empty the apartments are simply a place for investors to park their money and watch their investment appreciate. If our Premier is serious about the housing affordability crisis she should support affordable housing. Marie Clifton-Bassett Castlecrag Stressed-out young doctors need help to keep them safe The tragedy arising from the death of a young doctor to suicide cannot be overstated ("Medicines dark secret cant go on", February 10). There is also no denying the work of a doctor in training occurs in a stressful, complex and ever-changing environment with long hours and understandably high expectations. Surveys of mental health and wellbeing in doctors show levels of psychological distress are nearly double those reported for the general population. How can we address these issues effectively?
While medical schools and health services are committed to improving the mental health of students and doctors, respectively, there is often a lack of dedicated, skilled staff to support young medicos. A collaborative and open approach, promoting the importance of physical and mental health in the medical workplace is needed. To succeed, such an approach needs to address not only the scale and nature of the workload but also to provide active support, especially during the challenging transition from medical school to the much higher expectations placed on working doctors. The systematic response we are proposing needs to be incorporated within a whole of career approach starting in medical school and transferring seamlessly into workplace-based support. Medical students and young doctors all need to feel safe when asking for help and to be confident that appropriate assistance will be provided. As professional leaders, we owe it to the current and future generations of doctors to do what is needed to prevent unnecessary psychological distress and premature deaths to suicide. Professor Jane Bleasel and Professor Inam Haq (Co-Directors of the Sydney Medical Program, University of Sydney) Professor Ian Hickie (Professor of Psychiatry, University of Sydney) Stop Carmichael close Westpac accounts Remember the Franklin Dam? Supported by quite a few locals because it would bring jobs, and Tasmania's government under the influence of its powerful Hydro Commission. But powerful protests by people all over Australia led the federal government to step in and the dam was stopped to preserve the wilderness.
The Carmichael mine may be this decade's Franklin moment ("Inside the fight to build our biggest coal mine", February 15). This time the stakes the greenhouse gas emissions that coal from Australia's biggest mine could produce are life-threatening to all humanity. This time, both federal and Queensland governments are on the same side, backing the corrupt and fraudulent company Adani. But the money is not 12 international banks have refused to fund this project. Currently, of Australia's Big 4, Westpac, a previous lender to Adani, is the weak link. As in the Franklin campaign, people can be powerful, but those who care must be determined, clever and resilient. "Futile grandstanding," says the Minerals Council. "We will win," says the Australian Conservation Foundation. If you are a Westpac customer, your account could tip the balance. Angela Michaelis Balmain
No weather worries In the context of action to mitigate climate change, it is global temperatures and global CO that matter ("What a relief: climate change is just a hoax", February 15). Sydney had a heatwave in January; in other parts of the world it was colder than normal. Average global temperature was 0.2 degrees lower than in January 2016. CO concentrations are virtually the same around the world; CO driven warming averages the same around the world. Australia produces 1.5 per cent of global CO emissions; we have actions to reduce them. But any action we take to reduce them has negligible effect on global concentrations.
Occasionally we have heatwaves and bushfires. The answers never change: adapt and be alert, and improve fire alleviation and fire-fighting capabilities. Waving the "global warming worry" flag doesn't help. Businesses are not going to stop their activities, and new ones not come here, because of our weather. But some will, Ross, if corporate tax is too high. Geoff Dunsford Lindfield Dementia challenge
I cared for my mother in my home in her final years as she suffered from dementia ("Diagnosis shattered a perfect retirement", February 15). To prepare for the future, much better training will need to be put in place starting with nursing staff in hospitals. Whenever mum was admitted to hospital, many staff were clearly not equipped to deal with a dementia sufferer nor did they have the time to care for them. I am sure other carers out there would have had similar experiences. The training of healthcare workers to deal with dementia needs to be given a priority so sufferers are treated respectfully. Perhaps the best people to train them needs to be people who have had experience caring for them, of which there are many in our community doing just that now. The sufferers certainly need someone to advocate for them, as do most elderly patients. Jennifer Creighton Modanville East
Closing the gap Malcolm Turnbull is not very good at gaps ("Report finds little progress on closing the gap", February 15). There is that gap between blacks and whites and between rich and poor but I cannot see much light between big business/banks and the LNP. That is one gap he's got covered. The Indigenous gap is all about education and alcohol. Noel Pearson has the right idea linking welfare to school attendance and Chris Sarra certainly has the right idea once they get to school. Andrea Mason (and Dr Sarra) are excellent appointments to the Indigenous Advisory Council. Those communities that are alcohol free or alcohol restricted are in a vastly healthier state than those that are not, and, naturally, their family life and education improves tremendously. All power to Noel Pearson, Andrea Mason and Dr Sarra. Steve Johnson Elizabeth Beach
Bespoke Herald defeats the purpose I am no purist for newspaper delivery having long ago decided the printed version was environmentally unsound (and despite having letterpress as a hobby) ("Play an active part in the future of your newspaper", February 15). I read by subscription on tablet. I want my news with immediacy, but more importantly I want it accurate, well-researched with comments and opinions from trusted writers. I can search the net for other sources, and articles and blogs which interest me, but "trust" is the operative word and in sources, such as Facebook, news is counter intelligence on many levels. A bespoke paper may hold some allure to validate opinions for some, but I expect more from a valued news source. It is why I continue to turn to the SMH each morning. Janice Creenaune Austinmer
What joy to read Stokes' column and see we would have the printed version of the Herald for "some years yet", hopefully our lifespan. The rest of the column I found completely incomprehensible. Custom-built Herald. Give us break. At our age it's often hard to choose food for breakfast how on earth could we choose the content of our newspaper. I can't be running to my five-year-old grandson for every bit of technology advice it's already humiliating! Elizabeth Kroon Randwick
Hate mail just keeps stacking up Postal stories seem to go on and on, as per Vivienne Pearson's cri de coeur in today's paper ("I no longer rely on Australia Post and I'm not alone," February 15). Here's one to make you weep. Some years ago we were in Germany, north of Hamburg, when, pre-email, I sent an aerogram to Tumbi Umbi on the Central Coast on a Monday. I received a reply on Thursday. Last time I inquired at my local PO about an expected delivery I was told six to nine days were acceptable. Given his immense salary, our Mr Fahour could have delivered it personally ... by bike. Nola Tucker Kiama
End of a brief Flynn The resignation of Michael Flynn as President Trump's national security adviser ("Trump adviser quits over Russia talks," February 15) after only a few days in the job creates a companion to the well known phrase "in like Flynn": Out like Flynn. Alan Slade Dover Heights A swarm of Bs With Merona Martin of Meroo Meadow and Peter Pitt of Potts Point lighting the way, I'm hopeful that my son Ben, who nearly qualifies for the full alliterative authorship, will one day grace this page.
Senior LNP campaign strategist: "At best, they'll (One Nation) get two seats. I can't see them getting any more. They are not going to preference Labor over us. Our biggest problem is still (the popularity of Annastacia) Palaszczuk." (Although that could be a declining problem given 34 percent of voters in the recent Galaxy poll were "uncommitted" on the issue of preferred premier. Senior LNP Opposition spokesman: "I don't have a clue. It's too complicated and depends on a whole lot of variables." Second Senior LNP Opposition spokesman: "They will have a significant number of seats. It's (ON) drawing its votes from everyone who is fed up with the major political parties.' Federal LNP MP: "Ask the State Party. But good luck. All we know is that they (One Nation) are polling very, very well. That doesn't mean they'll win seats. I'd caution you against jumping to that conclusion." I considered myself cautioned - but at the very least that means experienced heads in the LNP, now running the Opposition and about to embark on a bid to get back into Government, have absolutely no idea of the impact of One Nation at the polls.
In fact, if you take the views of those on both sides, One Nation could win anything from two seats to up to 20 seats. So can we believe the polls - which haven't drilled down to the vital preference issue - and what can we say, for sure, about One Nation in Queensland? Firstly, it will be a herculean task for Labor to get back in on a primary vote of 31 per cent, as revealed by Galaxy. Secondly, the ALP's "clever" strategy to change the law to compulsory preferential voting might be the best own-goal ever - and be the reason it loses power at the next poll.
Thirdly, the ALP's plan to put One Nation last might also cost it the poll. Fourthly, the LNP will have to fight an internal struggle between those who want to go to the polls hand-in-hand with One Nation, and those who think they should repel them. It should take into account that in 1998, One Nation forced a four percent drop in support for Labor - and an almost 18 percent drop in Coalition support. Having said that, One Nation stole several seats off each party, and optional preferential voting existed. Fifth, the LNP needs to consider that it could very well be in a Coalition government after the next poll, where the share the spoils with One Nation. What's the plan for policy making then? Sixth, almost all strategists in both parties believe that One Nation's preferences will be the key factor in determining who wins Government. But no-one knows whether One Nation will preference against sitting MPs, or hand out How to Vote cards, or even direct their voters where to lodge their preferences. Seventh, the impact of One Nation is not the same across the board - and outside the State's south-east, its support is a growing factor for both parties. It was in rural Queensland that One Nation taught the Nationals a lesson in 1998.
Usually, parties do their own polling, drilling down into individual electorates to work out where they are vulnerable. But so far they've been hampered in doing that because of the looming redistribution, which will change several boundaries. So at best, right now, how One Nation will fare is a big guess. But both parties should know this. Pauline Hanson, who is not even running in Queensland, is the politician saying what Queensland voters are thinking. Loading And life has changed since 1998, when One Nation moved into State Parliament. Now, there is a broad acceptance that it is a credible option. It is no longer a far-right wing party espousing far right wing views.
The proverb is too often used, but the mythical frog that sits blissfully unaware in slow-boiling water offers the perfect warning to the world about the growing danger from North Korea's nuclear obsession. The problem has simmered for so long punctuated by occasional outbursts of activity that soon calm again people naturally enough assume the threat is being carefully managed and is of little enduring consequence.
Such complacency is mistaken. Better to recognise only a little extra heat could quickly transform an irritant into a violent crisis. The challenge is serious for security in a region where Australia has substantial interest, particularly with key trading partners South Korea, Japan and China. It is past time to devote sustained diplomatic resources to finding a solution.
A man in Seoul watches a TV news program on North Korea's missile launches. Credit:AP
There is undoubtedly a comic aspect to the behaviour of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who with a dynasty of dictators has encouraged a kind of insouciance about the "hermit kingdom". The bizarre reverence for the supreme leader, extravagant displays of synchronised marching and blatant propaganda have made North Korea a global punchline, the vaudeville, yet clumsy, villain.
It is healthy to puncture absurdity with satire, yet this should not obscure the regime's deadly intent or the painful burden carried by the North Korean people. The international danger was on startling display last week when North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan. This follows five nuclear explosive tests in the past decade, including two last year. There are also fears North Korea is amassing a stockpile of plutonium and highly enriched uranium.
In 2001 John Howard was telling Liberal voters to put One Nation last on their ballots. In 2017 the Liberals are making preference deals with them in WA and ridiculously insisting that they're "more sophisticated" now.
Labor senator Penny Wong called shenanigans on this ludicrous claim, arguing that it was the Liberal Party which had changed, but you know what? It's not just the Liberal Party: over the past 25 years Australia as a whole has gotten meaner, dumber and more racist.
This was made crystal clear yesterday when the Closing The Gap report on indigenous health, welfare and education was presented to Parliament, announcing to those MPs which could be bothered showing up that the government was currently on track to fail at just about everything, including six of the seven stated targets to improve life expectancy for indigenous folks.
The current gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is 10.6 years for men and 9.5 years for women. Child mortality hasn't improved. Unemployment is still almost 50 per cent. Literacy and numeracy is similarly poor.
What were they thinking? On Monday three members of cabinet called a press conference to pressure the Senate to cut the dole. That's right, to cut the dole. At just $13,750 per year plus an $8.80 per fortnight energy allowance, it's already so low the Business Council believes it "presents a barrier to employment and risks entrenching poverty." The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the research arm of the world's richest economies, says Australia's unemployment benefit has reached the point where it may no longer be effective in "enabling someone to look for a suitable job".
Even a Coalition-dominated inquiry found a "compelling case" for boosting it.
But the three ministers wanted to deny the energy supplement to new entrants on the spurious ground that this would merely remove "carbon tax compensation for a carbon tax that no longer exists". It wouldn't. The Newstart cost of living increase was cut 0.7 per cent when the energy supplement came in to avoid double counting. If the energy supplement went but the cut remained, new entrants to Newstart would be worse off than if the whole thing had never happened.
And they wanted to withhold Newstart from newly-unemployed Australians aged 22 to 25, paying them instead the lower $11,375 Youth Allowance. The under 25s would have to wait longer too five weeks instead of the present one.
Oceanographer Dr Sunke Schmidtko. Credit:GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research "It's the same reason we keep our sparkling drinks pretty cold," Schmidtko said. But another factor is the growing stratification of ocean waters. Oxygen enters the ocean at its surface, from the atmosphere and from the photosynthetic activity of marine microorganisms. But as that upper layer warms up, the oxygen-rich waters are less likely to mix down into cooler layers of the ocean because the warm waters are less dense and do not sink as readily. "When the upper ocean warms, less water gets down deep, and so the oxygen supply to the deep ocean is shut down or significantly reduced," Schmidtko said. The new study represents a synthesis of literally "millions" of separate ocean measurements over time. The authors then used interpolation techniques for areas of the ocean where they lacked measurements.
The resulting study attributes less than 15 per cent of the total oxygen loss to sheer warmer temperatures, which create less solubility. The rest was attributed to other factors, such as a lack of mixing. Matthew Long, an oceanographer from the National Centre for Atmospheric Research who has published on ocean oxygen loss, said he considers the new results "robust" and a "major advance in synthesising observations to examine oxygen trends on a global scale". Long was not involved in the current work, but his research had previously demonstrated that ocean oxygen loss was expected to occur and that it should soon be possible to demonstrate that in the real world through measurements, despite the complexities involved in studying the global ocean and deducing trends about it. That's just what the new study has done. "Natural variations have obscured our ability to definitively detect this signal in observations," Long said in an email.
"In this study, however, Schmidtko et al. synthesise all available observations to show a global-scale decline in oxygen that conforms to the patterns we expect from human-driven climate warming. They do not make a definitive attribution statement, but the data are consistent with and strongly suggestive of human-driven warming as a root cause of the oxygen decline. "It is alarming to see this signal begin to emerge clearly in the observational data," he added. "Schmidtko and colleagues' findings should ring yet more alarm bells about the consequences of global warming," added Denis Gilbert, a researcher with the Maurice Lamontagne Institute at Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Quebec, in an accompanying commentary on the study also published in Nature. Because oxygen in the global ocean is not evenly distributed, the 2 per cent overall decline means there is a much larger decline in some areas of the ocean than others. Moreover, the ocean already contains so-called oxygen minimum zones, generally found in the middle depths. The great fear is that their expansion upward, into habitats where fish and other organism thrive, will reduce the available habitat for marine organisms.
In shallower waters, meanwhile, the development of ocean "hypoxic" areas, or so-called "dead zones", may also be influenced in part by declining oxygen content overall. On top of all of that, declining ocean oxygen can also worsen global warming in a feedback loop. In or near low oxygen areas of the oceans, micro-organisms tend to produce nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, Gilbert writes. Thus the new study "implies that production rates and efflux to the atmosphere of nitrous oxide ... will probably have increased". The new study underscores once again that some of the most profound consequences of climate change are occurring in the oceans, rather than on land. In recent years, incursions of warm ocean water have caused large die-offs of coral reefs, and in some cases, kelp forests as well. Meanwhile, warmer oceans have also begun to destabilise glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica, and as they melt, these glaciers freshen the ocean waters and potentially change the nature of their circulation. When it comes to ocean deoxygenation, as climate change continues, this trend should also increase - studies suggest a loss of up to 7 per cent of the ocean's oxygen by 2100. At the end of the current paper, the researchers are blunt about the consequences of a continuing loss of oceanic oxygen. "Far-reaching implications for marine ecosystems and fisheries can be expected," they write.
A One Nation candidate receiving Liberal preferences in the West Australian election once advocated killing Indonesian journalists, and attacked "poofters", Muslims and black people on his now-deactivated Twitter account.
Richard Eldridge, a real estate agent contesting an upper house seat in the South Metropolitan region of Perth, called Muslims "little sheet heads", derided gay relationships as "poo games" and advocated taking up arms against "extreme Muslims".
Richard Eldridge is running for the West Australian upper house in the southern metropolitan area of Perth. Credit:Facebook
In one extraordinary rant about Indonesians in November 2013, Mr Eldridge said we should "Balibo" Indonesian journalists, an apparent reference to the 1975 murder of the Balibo Five group of Australian journalists in Timor.
"The only real thing Muslims are good at is multiplying but that is all they need to do history will show," he tweeted. "Let's hunt down some indo reporters and balibo them. What's Suharto up to these days.
A fresh parliamentary push on same-sex marriage has become more likely after a cross-party Senate committee reached a broad consensus on refining the government's same-sex marriage legislation.
The "unprecedented show of collaboration" paves the way for a marriage equality bill as soon as next month, to be co-sponsored by Labor, the Greens, gay Liberal senator Dean Smith, the NXT and possibly Derryn Hinch.
In the report published Wednesday, senators took aim at aspects of the Marriage Act changes proposed by Attorney-General George Brandis ahead of the failed same-sex marriage plebiscite.
The exposure draft - the first time an Australian government had outlined its vision for marriage equality - proposed sweeping exemptions to discrimination law for ministers of religion, civil celebrants and religious businesses who did not want to participate in same-sex unions.
Labels matter. Note the return of logo mania. It seems like everywhere you look there are Gucci T-shirts and visible Calvin Klein elastic. This bloke tattooed his entire arm with the Louis Vuitton monogram.
More meaningfully, shoppers are increasingly interested in reading garment information labels and swing tags. They want specifics.
Anna Robertson, right, and a model at her Yevu pop-up shop in Redfern. Credit:James Brickwood
In Selfridges London recently, I checked out a collection by British knitwear designer Katie Jones her labels tell you the name of the person who crocheted each piece, and how many were made.
Of course, "made in" and "made of" are still the big ones. Are there natural fibres or recycled ones in your new top? Was it made in China, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia or Vietnam? Or Africa? "Made in Ghana" is creating a buzz at the moment.
But I didn't stop drinking. It was, without doubt, the hardest thing to stop. Drinking was a huge part of my life. I felt like I couldn't relate to people without it and I felt like I couldn't write without it. And that meant that I couldn't earn money without it. But I promised my wife I'd cut back, and become a responsible drinker. That's why, after our incredibly drunken wedding there's no way on earth someone from a Scottish background like me could marry someone who's half Irish, half Polish without the guests drowning in alcohol I tried my best to knuckle down and get sober. It lasted about four weeks before our honeymoon came off the rails in Versailles, France, because I'd had too much to drink. Again. The cruel irony of that is that we spent another month in Europe reasonably happy, despite that horrible, drunken argument.
The even crueller irony is that the night before that fight, in a luxury hotel room overlooking the Versailles Palace, was mathematically the night our first born was made. When she told me she was pregnant, I celebrated by getting drunk. Let's skip ahead Lots of stuff happened between Blake arriving in the world, and my wife announcing she was pregnant with our second little boy. I was still drinking but by then, it was in secret. I'd started hiding booze around the house, and finding excuses to go out to the garage to 'find something I need to get the TV working properly'.
For most people, that should be sounding alarm bells. For me, it was just a way to cope. I was working my arse off, trying to help make ends meet and steadfastly refusing to acknowledge I had a drinking problem. Things got steadily worse and worse until one night I got so hammered my wife found me blacked out on the couch at 6 am the next morning. It was (among a few other things that won't be shared here) the final straw. The trust had been broken too many times. I was done and I needed to move out. Five tedious and difficult months later, after I'd tried every conceivable way of putting it off, I did and that's when, despite me feeling like this was the worst time of my entire life, things got even worse. Not dawn yet
Without someone beside me to tell me that I was heading out of control, I veered off course faster than a toddler playing Mario Kart. Within a month, I was drinking a bottle of whisky a day. Within three months, I was drinking two bottles of whisky, every day from the moment I woke up to the moment I blacked out. I was working from home, and still able to write but I was spending more on booze than I was on rent. Something had to give and it did. "I need to go to rehab and I don't have enough money to pay for a taxi."
One morning, I woke up in the hallway of my house. The only thing I was wearing was vomit. It was 11:00 am and I was three hours late picking my kids up to drop them at daycare and school. I rang my wife to apologise and she made it very clear that I was about to lose any chance of having the kids stay at my house, ever again. I stewed on that for a few hours and steadfastly refused to drink my problems away. By mid-afternoon, I was in very bad shape physically so I rang my best mate Chris, and the conversation went something like this "Hey I need a favour can you come pick me up and drive me to hospital?"
" of course! Are you okay? What's wrong?" "I need to go to rehab and I don't have enough money to pay for a taxi." " shit. I'll be there in 10." Rehab is for quitters I rocked up to the emergency department, explained why I was there and that I hadn't had a drink for six hours.
I was shaking all over. I was crying. I was in pain. They took me inside, checked me over and left me on a bed. Chris hung around until I sent him home. I didn't want him to see what happened next. It was awful but they kept me under observation for a few hours until they could find me a bed in the rehab unit. I got wheeled down there in a wheelchair, because I literally couldn't walk. I was hallucinating wildly and my limbs simply wouldn't behave themselves at all. I was in desperate trouble. About 10 minutes after I arrived in the rehab unit, I got doped up with more Valium than I thought a human could consume, to stop me from dying.
Sudden alcohol withdrawal is potentially deadly and I'd gone from 2.5-litres of whisky a day to nothing. Another stupid move on my part. The next couple of days were a blur. Valium in the morning, then breakfast, followed by Valium and some lunch, more Valium and a movie on the TV before dinner with a Valium chaser. Three days into that cycle, I called my wife and told her I needed to see the kids. "How come you're locked in here, Daddy?" The rehab unit I was in held about 18 to 20 people, some in single rooms, but most of us in shared rooms.
I was in there with ice addicts, heroin addicts and other alcoholics most of whom were there because they were facing a choice between this, and jail time. The front doors to the ward were locked 24 hours a day. Once you'd been in the unit for three days, you could ask for a 30-minute walk outside. Other than that, you're locked down good and proper. On my second day in the unit, I learned that it's possible to get to the local pub, down three drinks without raising suspicion from the bar staff, and get back to the hospital within that 30 minute timeframe. I made the sensible choice not to see if that was actually true. During the stint in rehab, my wife was very supportive and when I asked her to, she brought the kids, and a 'picnic lunch', when she came to visit.
They arrived at the agreed-upon time and I was out of my mind on Valium. A shambling idiot in front of my kids. My children and my wife had been given a once-over by the nurses to make sure they weren't carrying any contraband. They were ushered into a room with a few chairs and a table with a direct line-of-sight to the nursing station where we could have our little picnic. I looked at my kids. I looked at my wife. And I realised how badly I'd f----- up. My boys were extremely nervous completely understandable considering they were visiting dad in a hospital ward, where every other patient was withdrawing from alcohol, or ice, or heroin Blake even asked me why the doors were locked and had I done something bad?
But the heartache in my wife's eyes was the worst. The kids were afraid she was just desperately, horribly sad. I cried myself to sleep that night, and the next, and the one after that. I'd built myself a prison. It was time to escape. My path to (relative) sobriety I'd love to be able to say that was the end of this story but it's not.
I fell off the wagon again around Christmas time and shortly after that, spent a very fun evening being driven to hospital to be told my pancreas had shit itself and I had come very close to dying. That brought a lot of things home. I spent five days in a hospital bed, thinking about my kids. I thought about all the times I got drunk while I was supposed to be minding them. I thought about all the times I'd woken up feeling like shit and been an angry, horrible dad to them.
I thought about all the times when things could have gone so horribly wrong, because I was too busy drinking to be a father. I hit absolute rock bottom and I'm lucky my boys still love me at all. What I can say is this: I wouldn't have survived if I didn't have my children, my now ex-wife, my family and her family, and my friends to support me. If I could change anything in my past to have made things turn out different, it would be to have been honest with myself, and sought help well before it got to the point where I was going to die. I made you a promise at the start of this that I wasn't going to preach so I won't.
Instead, I'll just ask you to ask yourself a very simple question. "Are you being the best dad you can be, or do you need some help?" Help is very, very close at hand. You can call the AA helpline at 1300 222 222 or visit their website to find a meeting near you. You can also call Mensline Australia at 1300 78 99 78 to speak to professional counsellors who specialise in men's issues. These guys also offer anonymous support via live chat.
Dr. James Weinstein, a back pain specialist and chief executive of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System, has some advice for most people with lower back pain: Take two aspirin and don't call me in the morning.
On Monday, the American College of Physicians published updated guidelines that say much the same. In making the new recommendations for the treatment of most people with lower back pain, the group is bucking what many doctors do and changing its previous guidelines, which called for medication as first-line therapy.
Sore back? Put down the pill and get up and move a little. Credit:iStock
Dr Nitin Damle, president of the group's board of regents and a practicing internist, said pills, even over-the-counter pain relievers and anti-inflammatories, should not be the first choice. "We need to look at therapies that are nonpharmacological first," he said. "That is a change."
The recommendations come as the United States is struggling with an epidemic of opioid addiction that often begins with a simple prescription for ailments like back pain. In recent years, a number of states have enacted measures aimed at curbing prescription painkillers. The problem has also led many doctors around the country to reassess prescribing practices.
Forget Carl (Williams) and Tony (Mokbel). The most criminal name in Australia is ... Leon.
Law firm Go To Court looked at names from more than 25,000 crimes listed in the website CrimeNet, which collates a database from publicly accessible records, and cross-referenced them with the most popular names in Australia in the past 90 years to produce a list of the top 500 criminal names.
Leon was the most criminal name for men, with 3193 Leons out of 100,000 committing a crime, mostly assault. Robin topped the list for women, but not for "Robin Banks" (sorry, that was irresistible), and was the name most associated with fraud offences.
Here's the list:
Michaela (left) with her daughter Ciara, 7, Rory, 9, and her husband Aran at their Balmain home. Credit:Wolter Peeters "It was incredibly traumatic watching your child pinned down, having feeding tubes put in them. She'd just scream," said Mrs Flanagan, who co-founded the fundraising organisation Neuroblastoma Australia. "Even to have a scan she'd have to be anaesthetised and she'd push away the little mask. It was heartbreaking." CEO and Chief Cancer Officer at the Cancer Institute NSW Professor David Currow. Credit:Gary Compton "Some children go through this when they're toddlers and can talk. They'll say 'Why are you doing this, mummy?' I don't know how you cope with that," she said.
The NSW government announced on Wednesday $11.6 million in funding for cancer research through the Cancer Institute NSW, including $1.3 million in grants to investigate new treatments for neuroblastoma, which accounts for one in six of all childhood cancer deaths. Ciara underwent 12 months of treatment for neuroblastoma, including eight bouts of chemotherapy. Credit:Neuroblastoma Australia Overall survival rates have crept up over the last two decades through dedicated research, but death rates among children with high-risk prognoses remain high. Patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, about one in four of all cases, have a mortality rate between 50 and 60 per cent. "While NSW has some of the best cancer outcomes in the world, there is still much to be done to improve cancer survival rates," health minister Brad Hazzard said. "These grants are a vital investment to help researchers discover treatment options for these cancers," he said.
Ciara was very lucky, her mother said. The seven-year-old has been in remission since 2011, but uncertainties still abound. "There's a guarded optimism. Most relapses happen in the first two years [after remissions] so I could rest a little easier after that. But you never stop worrying, 'Is it going to come back?'." she said. Ciara's future is more of a mystery than most, potentially harbouring the long-term effects of cancer treatments. Until recently, most children with the more aggressive forms of childhood cancer never made it to adulthood. Few aged out of the paediatric system. Children who survive today are the pioneers who will discover the lingering effects of their treatment. "One doctor told us that when she's older, don't let her put off having children, even if she's very young," Mrs Flanagan said.
"No one really knows the long-term effects, but the only outcome we cared about was if we got to keep her. Everything else? We'll take whatever we can get." Cancer Institute NSW Chief Cancer Officer and CEO Professor David Currow said NSW cancer research was in the midst of a revolution of personalised treatment that would better target therapies for individual patients and improve their long-term outcomes. "What we were seeing down the microscope was only part of the picture. Now we're identifying the genetic fingerprint of cancer that will allow us to understand who should be treated with what," Professor Currow said. It's the type of work undertaken by Professor Roger Reddel at the ACRF International Centre, who was also awarded a translational grant of $3.75 million for the Proteome of Human Cancer, which is part of the former US Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative. "The hope for every new treatment for cancer is that it will be more effective and less toxic than its predecessor. We've seen cancer treatment change dramatically in recent years as we improve outcomes and reduce toxicity," Professor Currow said.
The funding awarded to researchers at the Children's Cancer Institute at UNSW for neuroblastoma research includes grants to Dr Daniel Carter and Dr Pei Yan Liu who will test drugs targeting certain genes present in high-risk neuroblastomas that make them resistant to treatment. A separate grant to Dr Orazio Vittorio will work on combining catachin, an antioxidant found in green tea with a sugar based compound, dextran, to target high levels of copper, which plays a key role in the progression and aggressiveness of neuroblastoma. Another $1.3 million will go towards research into treatments for leukemia, including acute myeloid leukemia, which has a five-year survival rate of 24 per cent. Loading The funding - part of the state government's election commitment to allocate $125 million to cancer research between 2015 and 2019 - also includes $4.3 million to explore new treatments for cancers with poor survival rates including pancreatic, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancers.
A former bikie gang member who survived an alleged attempt on his life after he left the gang has suddenly disappeared, his friends and family say.
Ricky Ciano, 35, who was president of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang's Sydney chapter before he left the club in 2015, hasn't been heard from since he spoke to his wife on Saturday night.
Former Rebels bikie gang member Ricky Ciano was last seen alive in Penrith in Sydney's west on February 11. Credit:Facebook
Mr Ciano left the bikie fraternity behind to move to the Gold Coast, where most of his family live, for a lifestyle change, friends say.
He travelled to Sydney on the weekend to visit his daughter but hasn't been seen since.
A man has been electrocuted while working under his house in Sydney's north-west on Wednesday night, police say.
Emergency services were called to the house on Campbell Street in Eastwood about 6.30pm to reports that a 46-year-old man was unconscious and lying in the cavity under the single-storey house.
The man was still in contact with live wires, and firefighters had to isolate the power to the house before paramedics could safely remove him. He had already died.
It was not clear how long the man, who lived at the address, had been under the house before he was discovered.
Police from the Ryde Local Area Command set up a crime scene at the house, but believe the man's death was an accident.
A gastro outbreak has struck the same major cruise ship for the second time in a fortnight.
The Sun Princess was docking in Brisbane on Thursday after dozens of passengers were struck down with norovirus on a two-week cruise to New Zealand.
More than 140 passengers on the Sun Princess cruise ship were diagnosed with norovirus.
It's understood more than 140 passengers fell ill.
ABC digital producer Kathryn Perrott said she and her brother flew home early from Auckland on Sunday after the captain announced an outbreak on the loudspeaker.
Even so, QRIC commissioner Ross Barnett refused to rule out the possibility live baiting was continuing, admitting stamping it out would be harder than ever. "I think it would be naive to give categorical assurances that live baiting could not be going on still," he said. "But what I am sure is that the exposure that Four Corners gave to the program has meant that anybody who may be inclined to engage in that sort of activity is going to be more covert and more careful than was the case pre-Four Corners, which makes them more difficult to detect." Animal rights activists, some of whom helped expose live baiting in the first place, said that wasn't good enough and called again for the industry to be shut down. Here is the good, bad and indifferent of what has changed in the past two years.
Racing dog deaths Despite dramatic changes in many parts of the industry, racing itself can still a dangerous sport for the animals. In 2016, 67 greyhounds had to be put down trackside as a result of racing injuries a significant increase on the years before the commission. "I think you've always got to think about those numbers in terms of the number of animals who race every week across the year so we get a rate of Injuries and deaths per thousand runners to give it some context," Mr Barnett said.
"I think we're racing greyhounds about four days a week so you think of the number of racers, the number of runners, you've just got to put that in context." In his report, Mr MacSporran noted a practisce of declaring a dog suspended for three months rather than euthanised but a QRIC spokeswoman said the organisation could now completely track the animals. In total, QRIC said 285 dogs died or were put down in the seven months since it was established, stressing owners had the right to have any dog humanely put down. That works out to about 40 a month.
Adoption Of all the changes made since the MacSporran Report was handed down, this is one of the most dramatic. When the industry was first put under the microscope, the Greyhound Adoption Program was found to be wholly inadequate. It could rehome about 100 dogs a year, just a small fraction of the retired dogs in an industry breeding more than 2000 pups in Queensland alone. According to the QRIC, about 172 dogs were adopted in the six months after the commission was established in July last year, compared to 230 in the whole previous year.
"So we're on track to have a significantly better outcome in our first year of operation than was previously the case," Commissioner Ross Barnett said. "So all our efforts to get dogs rehomed, get more of them rehomed, is paying off." GAP coordinator Gail Lane said the facilities in Brisbane and Townsville, which had enjoyed a roughly $50,000 funding injection, were up to the demand. But she admitted trainers faced a four-to-six month wait in Brisbane and three months in Townsville. But Animal Welfare League Queensland president Sue Spencer, whose program had adopted 42 greyhounds in the past six months, said the industry measures weren't enough.
"I don't think anything's really changed. The trainers are being prosecuted but they're let off fairly lightly," she said. Breeding and animal tracking The MacSporran report condemned rampant over breeding within the industry and raised serious concerns about Racing Queensland's ability to track the dogs born. Dogs were meant to be tracked as they retired but only 1500 forms had been lodged in 2013 and 2014 and the report found the true number would have been closer to 8500.
One of the key recommendations was the updating and publicising of a database tracking animals from birth to death to give a proper indication of how many dogs were being killed. Mr Barnett said public availability of the data and individual logbooks wouldn't be ready until at least mid-year but QRIC assured Fairfax Media birth-to-death tracking was finally possible, just not yet public. In the years previous, 2000 greyhounds a year were being born into the industry and the 30 per cent of pups never named or registered to race were termed "wastage". A QRIC spokeswoman said just 350 greyhounds were whelped in the 7 months after it was established, extrapolating out to about 600 a year.
Oversight
Queensland Greyhound Racing Industry Commission of Inquiry head Alan MacSporran was particularly critical of the level of the "woefully inadequate" oversight trainers faced before the revelations. Noble's illicit private track for instance, had been operating since 2007, according to court documents. He said the handful of kennel inspections, as low as 31 in 2014 for 750 trainers across the state, must have been a "green light" to live bait with impunity. On that front, the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission has made some progress, roughly doubling the average number of inspections completed in its first six months of operation to between 80 and 90. A dozen trainers were reprimanded for serious welfare breaches, including heatstroke, no access to water, barking muzzles and lack of shelter but few of these resulted in punishments of more than a $200 fine.
No extra live baiting charges have been laid. "An outbreak or a repeat of live baiting on any sort of a scale will surely threaten the viability of the code going forward," Mr Barnett said. "I'm sure the people inside that who love it don't want it to occur. "So we hope that if it's going on, people will come forward with that information." Tom Noble walks out of the Ipswich District Court after his sentencing hearing for 15 counts of serious animal cruelty stemming from the greyhound live baiting scandal was adjourned. Credit:Jorge Branco
Punishment After months of investigation and hours of interviews with Racing Queensland and police, 37 trainers were charged with 141 offences relating to the scandal. Tom Noble was given a three-year suspended sentence for his role, which is being appealed by the DPP. Of the remaining trainers, at least four have had their charges dismissed while a few others Fairfax Media can reveal he was trialing dogs at his unapproved private track as far back as 2007, according to court documents.
Of the 22 trainers banned for life, 13 had their bans rapidly cut to 10 years or less. A few, such as Tracey Kunde, who claimed he and his friends had been made scapegoats, were completely overturned and cleared to race again. Questions remained over the admissibility of the hidden camera footage recorded by Animal Liberation Queensland activists on Noble's property. One judge ruled it in while another ruled it out. Two Queensland tribunal members knocked back attempts to have it declared inadmissible but one declared the critical audio recordings couldn't be relied upon. ALQ president Chay Neal said reforms weren't moving quickly enough.
HMD Global, the Finnish company with exclusive rights to make phones with the name Nokia attached to them, may be planning to release an homage to the legendary early-2000s brick phone, the 3310.
A recent report from VentureBeat cites sources indicating that, as well as unveiling a pair of new budget Android 7 smartphones, HMD will show off the retro feature phone at Mobile World Congress later this month.
The Nokia 3310 has become an internet legend, and it could be coming back.
Though it never sold as well as its phenomenally popular forbear, the 3210, the Nokia 3310 has gained an almost mythical reputation over the past 15 years or so thanks to its incredible battery life and stout hardiness compared to the mobile phones of today.
While the 3210 laid groundwork by coming pre-installed with games and by being one of the first phones to ditch the gaudy external antenna, the 3310 was a worthy upgrade for many dedicated mobile fans. Adding features we take for granted today such as vibration, screensavers and the ability to compose text messages that go beyond the SMS character limit the 3310 was also significantly lighter and came with four brand new games pre-installed, including the wildly popular Snake II.
Career firefighters at the CFA will reap a 19 per cent increase in allowances as part of a package of perks approved by the workplace umpire.
Firefighters will receive a $3000 delayed pay increase allowance, relocation costs and an annual $125 sport allowance following a decision by the Fair Work Commission on Friday.
The CFA says the pay deal ensures operational staff will not be disadvantaged. Credit:Jessica Shapiro
The perks have been included in the union's current 2010 agreement while a long-running dispute over a new agreement continues.
The federal government has intervened in the dispute by introducing new legislation which aims to protect the role of volunteers.
A van has slammed into a flowerbed outside Crown after its driver appeared to suffer a seizure, onlookers say.
Dan, who asked his last name not be printed, said he saw Crown security "going a bit ballistic" after the collision.
"The van is up on the flowerbeds and [Crown security] put their van behind it to block it in. Then they started bashing on the windows, and smoke started coming out the bottom of it."
Dan said he did not see the start of the incident, and was moved on by police before the man was pulled out of the van.
Paramedics at Crown say they are assessing a man, but there are no reports of serious injuries.
VicRoads says there are currently westbound delays in the area on Whiteman Street.
The dog that gained international fame by guarding a penguin colony on an island off Victoria's south-west coast has died, and there are plans afoot to erect a statue in her honour.
Oddball the fluffy, snow-white Maremma dog died last week at the age of 15 or 105 in dog years.
"Old Oddball has gone to the big chook run in the sky and will rest in peace," the Middle Island Maremma Project posted to Facebook on Wednesday.
About 150 metres offshore from Warrnambool and connected at low tide, Middle Island is home to band of little penguins. Unfortunately marauding foxes had cut the island's population to fewer than 10 birds in 2005.
Kathy Bell didn't want to see a sick person in the mirror. Nor did she want others to view her as a cancer patient in need of sympathy.
Having been stopped in her tracks by a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, the Melbourne executive decided to do everything she could to maintain some sense of her normal self.
Kathy Bell kept most of her hair during 16 rounds of chemotherapy. Credit:Jason South
She ate well, exercised, worked when she had energy, and in a bid to prevent hair loss from chemotherapy, she tried scalp cooling.
The technology involved putting her head in a refrigerated cap for up to four hours each time she had chemo.
Melburnians flocking to the city for White Night could be forced to confront the city's homelessness crisis, with a "camp out" planned outside the State Library of Victoria.
More than 300 people are expected to disrupt the event when they rally against the City of Melbourne's plan for a ban on public camping.
Simon Zlatkin will protest the camping ban at the State Library on Saturday. Credit:Wayne Taylor
The changes to local law were endorsed by councillors last week, including a communications campaign to discourage people from giving items directly to the homeless.
The White Night protest is part of a trend towards political activism by some homeless people in Melbourne, and those connected to the rough-sleeping community.
Blogger and author Constance Hall is acutely aware of the irony in loathing the exact medium that created her: the internet.
But the paradox doesn't end there, because without the internet the 33-year-old wouldn't have become Australia's highest selling author last year, selling a staggering 150,000 of her book Like a Queen. What is more even remarkable, she doesn't have a book distributor and every single copy was sold online.
The mother-of-four only had a couple of thousand Facebook followers in late 2015, when she wrote a hilarious and uncomfortable post about parental sex on her blog The Not So Secret Life of Us.
Since then the heavily tattooed 'rock mum' has been thrust kicking and screaming into the international spotlight and now has more than one million fans, which she dubs "Queens".
More than $6 million of hydroponic cannabis has been seized and a Vietnamese crime syndicate busted wide open following a string of police raids across Perth's south east.
Police believe the hydroponic cannabis set up had the potential to produce $15 million worth of cannabis a year and will allege millions of dollars of electricity was illegally bypassed to power the operation.
More than $6 million of hydroponic cannabis has been seized following a string of police raids across Perth. Credit:Rohan Thomson
Eleven people in total, most of whom are Vietnamese nationals, have been arrested and charged with a string of drug related offences as part of the police operation.
Some of those arrested were based in New South Wales but it will be alleged they were helping run the drug syndicate in Perth.
Major advancements in DNA technology have helped convict a man over the sexual assault of a six-year-old Perth girl more than a decade ago.
Roland George Stayt, 49, committed the offence in January 2006 at a park in Medina, south of Perth.
Advancements in DNA technology has led to Paul Nicholas Sayer being convicted.
But it was not until 2014 that Stayt was charged when a review of the case file led to a breakthrough.
Using advanced technology systems, police were able to extract a new DNA profile from the victim's clothing which was linked to Stayt.
It seems common sense has prevailed after parents at a Perth southern suburbs primary school lashed out at their local council for banning school assemblies at its church hall following a noise complaint from a local resident.
St Jerome's Primary School in Munster is a catholic school, with students using the church adjoining its grounds for assemblies and other school activities.
But due to persistent complaints from one resident on an adjoining street, Hamelin Drive, the City of Cockburn has banned the use of microphones and amplifiers at the hall.
The school's principal, Helen O'Toole, was forced to send a letter to parents explaining the ban, telling them assemblies would be relocated to an undercover area, Radio 6PR reported on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Credit:Bloomberg Mr Manafort added, "It's not like these people wear badges that say, 'I'm a Russian intelligence officer.'" Several of Mr Trump's associates, like Mr Manafort, have done business in Russia, and it is not unusual for American businessmen to come in contact with foreign intelligence officials, sometimes unwittingly, in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where the spy services are deeply embedded in society. Law enforcement officials did not say to what extent the contacts may have been about business. Paul Manafort has denied any links to Putin. Credit:Bloomberg Officials would not disclose many details, including what was discussed on the calls, which Russian intelligence officials were on the calls, and how many of Mr Trump's advisers were talking to the Russians. It is also unclear whether the conversations had anything to do with Mr Trump himself.
A published report from American intelligence agencies that was made public in January concluded that the Russian government had intervened in the election in part to help Mr Trump, but did not address whether any members of the Trump campaign had participated in the effort. The intercepted calls are different from the wiretapped conversations last year between Michael T. Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. During those calls, which led to Mr Flynn's resignation on Monday night, the two men discussed sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia in December. But the cases are part of the routine electronic surveillance of communications of foreign officials by American intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment. Two days after the election in November, Sergei A. Ryabkov, the deputy Russian foreign minister, said that "there were contacts" during the campaign between Russian officials and Mr Trump's team.
"Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage," Mr Ryabkov said in an interview with the Russian Interfax news agency. The Trump transition team denied Mr Ryabkov's statement. "This is not accurate," Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Mr Trump, said at the time. The National Security Agency, which monitors the communications of foreign intelligence services, initially captured the communications between Mr Trump's associates and Russians as part of routine foreign surveillance. After that, the FBI asked the NSA to collect as much information as possible about the Russian operatives on the phone calls, and to search through troves of previous intercepted communications that had not been analyzed. The FBI has closely examined at least four other people close to Mr Trump, although it is unclear if their calls were intercepted. They are Carter Page, a businessman and former foreign policy adviser to the campaign; Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative; and Mr Flynn. All of the men have strongly denied they had any improper contacts with Russian officials.
As part of the inquiry, the FBI is also trying to assess the credibility of information contained in a dossier that was given to the bureau last year by a former British intelligence operative. The dossier contained a raft of salacious allegations about connections between Mr Trump, his associates and the Russian government. It also included unsubstantiated claims that the Russians had embarrassing videos that could be used to blackmail Mr Trump. The FBI has spent several months investigating the leads in the dossier, but has yet to confirm any of its most explosive allegations. Senior FBI officials believe that the former British intelligence officer who compiled the dossier, Christopher Steele, has a credible track record, and he briefed FBI investigators last year about how he obtained the information. One American law enforcement official said that FBI agents had made contact with some of Mr Steele's sources. The FBI's investigation into Mr Manafort began last spring as an outgrowth of a criminal investigation into his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine and for the country's former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych. The investigation has focused on why he was in such close contact with Russian and Ukrainian intelligence officials. The bureau did not have enough evidence to obtain a warrant for a wiretap of Mr Manafort's communications, but it had the NSA closely scrutinise the communications of Ukrainian officials he had met.
Jakarta: Jakartans are expected to return to the polls on April 19 to vote in a showdown between the polarising incumbent, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, and former education minister Anies Baswedan after neither candidate won a majority in Wednesday's vote between three gubernatorial candidates.
The official result will not be known until early March but according to quick count results, which have proven accurate in the past, Ahok was narrowly leading Anies with 43 per cent of the vote after a peaceful polling day.
Jakarta's governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama casts his ballot on Wednesday. Credit:AP
The embattled Ahok, who is fighting blasphemy charges that could see him jailed for up to five years, told his supporters the fight was not over yet.
"Three to four months ago there was a pollster who said that we could not make 20 per cent - one even said we would only get 10 per cent of the vote - but from the temporary count we are leading at number one," Ahok said.
Washington: Southern Africa has been struck by a pestilence so severe farmers have invoked plagues of biblical proportions.
Hungry caterpillars called fall armyworms are on the move across the continent from Zambia southward. In early February, South Africa's agricultural department issued a report, noting that for the first time that this unfamiliar pest had been spotted in the country's Limpopo province.
A fall armyworm on the damaged corn leaf on a farm north of Pretoria, South Africa. Credit:Bloomberg
"Little is known on how this particular pest entered Southern Africa," according to the report. "Since this pest is very new in Africa, very little is known on its long term effects. " It was positively identified as the fall armyworm a few days later.
"It has come in like one of the 10 plagues of the Bible," said Ben Freeth, who operates a commercial farm in Zimbabwe, to South Africa's Sunday Times. "It's widespread and seems to be spreading rapidly. It can lay up to 2000 eggs and its life cycle is very quick."
Washington: President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb settlement activity but avoided any explicit endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a longstanding bedrock of US Middle East policy.
The two leaders met face-to-face for the first time since Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election even as Palestinians urged the White House not to abandon their goal of an independent state.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Trump vowed to work toward a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians but said it would require compromise on both sides and it would be up to the parties themselves ultimately to reach an agreement.
"I'd like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit," Trump told Netanyahu. The right-wing Israeli leader later insisted that Jewish settlements were "not the core of the conflict" and made no commitment to reduce settlement building.
Washington: President Donald Trump has indicated that he wants to make a splash in space. During his transition, he spoke with historian Douglas Brinkley about John F. Kennedy's famous 1961 vow to go to the moon before the decade was out. Now Trump and his aides may do something very similar: Demand that NASA send astronauts to orbit the moon before the end of Trump's first term - a move that one Trump adviser said would be a clear signal to the Chinese that the US intends to retain dominance in space.
NASA already has a plan to launch its new, jumbo Space Launch System rocket with an Orion capsule on top in late 2018, a mission known as EM-1. No one would be aboard. The capsule would orbit the moon and return to Earth, splashing down in the ocean.
This is intended as the first test flight of SLS and part of the integration of the new rocket and new capsule. Significantly, the SLS and Orion are both still under construction.
According to current plans, a crewed mission, EM-2, would not be launched until several years later under the NASA timeline - certainly not during Trump's current term. That crewed mission would also orbit the moon.
A widely-reported, inflammatory news story about a "rioting sex mob" of immigrants assaulting women on New Year's Eve in Frankfurt, Germany, has been exposed as "baseless" after investigation by police.
In a humiliating backdown, the German newspaper Bild, which originally reported the claims, has apologised for what it said was a "false report", which was based on the now disputed claims of a pub owner and some of their staff.
How the story was reported by Breitbart.
On February 6, Bild reported claims that women were attacked by a 50-strong group of "Arabic and North African looking men", at the city's Fressgass nightspot. The group were also said to have stolen drinks and clothing, and thrown bottles and fireworks.
The newspaper headlined its story "37 days after New Year's Eve, victims break their silence sex mob in the Fressgass". Another report put the size of the fictional mob of "mostly drunk refugees" at 900.
Minutes later, he added, "Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community [NSA and FBI?]. Just like Russia" The New York Times and The Washington Post both reported on the contacts between a Russian diplomat and General Flynn, who resigned as national security adviser on Monday night after acknowledging he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about the discussions. The Times on Wednesday disclosed broader contacts between Russian intelligence officials and people with ties to the Trump campaign and Mr Trump's business empire during and after the campaign. The White House has tried, with little success, to shift the narrative from the nature of those contacts to accusations about the leaking of sensitive information by the intelligence agencies, as well as by the FBI. Mr Trump used a similar strategy during the transition, following disclosures that the intelligence agencies presented him with a dossier containing potentially compromising - but unsubstantiated - information that Russian officials had collected on him during his travels to Russia.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump said on Twitter, "The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!" The president also praised a column by Eli Lake of the Bloomberg View, which criticised the selective leaking of intercepted communications between General Flynn and Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak. Lake went on to suggest, however, that General Flynn had been sacrificed to protect other officials, potentially including the President himself. Mr Trump, as he has before, rejected allegations that his policy toward Russia was being compromised. "Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?" he posted on Twitter.
Officials told the Times on Wednesday that one of the Trump campaign advisers they detected speaking to Russians was the President's former campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Manafort told NBC on Wednesday that he didn't think it was possible he had spoken to Russian intelligence officials. "I had no contact knowingly with Russian intelligence officials," he said. "I don't think it's possible I could have even inadvertently had discussions with Russian officials. It's not like they wear badges. The story is not true." Kremlin casts doubt on Times story Russia dismissed the new reports, with the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, saying that the Times article and one published by CNN were "not based on facts and do not indicate any specific facts, either".
The statement from Mr Peskov was foggier than the usual flat denial from the Kremlin, but it followed on the heels of an embarrassing episode. On Friday, Mr Peskov denied outright that Michael Flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington. But by Monday, of course, retired General Flynn admitted that he had. Unlike the Trump administration, Russian officials never disputed that there were ties between Trump's circle and Russian officials. Two days after the November 8 election, Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said "there were contacts" during the campaign between Russian officials and Trump's team. Trump transition officials denied that assertion. Mr Peskov did not directly dispute the Times article - or a CNN article that found that "high-level advisers close to then-presidential nominee Donald Trump were in constant communication during the campaign with Russians known to US intelligence" - but he suggested that the truth was hard to discern. "Let's not trust newspaper articles, because it is very difficult to differentiate between what is true and what is fake," Mr Peskov was quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax as saying. "There are references to five sources, but not a single is named." In fact, The Times quoted four current or former intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information is classified.
Los Angeles: A California man accused of buying the assault-style rifles used by a married couple to massacre 14 people at a government office in San Bernardino in 2015 has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, prosecutors said.
Enrique Marquez Jr, 25, will plead guilty to conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook in 2011 and 2012 to attack a community college and commuters on a Southern California freeway, prosecutors said.
In this courtroom sketch, Enrique Marquez appears in federal court in Riverside, California in 2015. Credit:AP
Marquez, a friend and former neighbour of Farook, has also agreed to plead guilty to making false statements about his purchase of two assault rifles used in the 2015 shooting rampage at the San Bernardino Inland Regional Centre.
Marquez was scheduled to enter his pleas, part of an agreement with federal prosecutors, at a hearing on Thursday in US District Court in Los Angeles. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Tuesday, February 14th two men was arrested by police in connection with the ongoing home invasion investigation which took place on the evening of December 7th, 2016 at a home in the area of Pelican Keys. During this home invasion, four masked and armed men forced their way into the home of the victim and assaulted him. The suspects then went on to rob the victim of his bank/ credits card. One of the suspects was later caught on the video camera at different automated bank machines using the stolen cards from the victim.
This video recording was put on the Police Facebook page requesting the public to help identify the suspect on the video. Due to the help from the community, this suspect was identified, which also led to his arrest and the arrest of a second suspect. Both suspects remain in custody for further investigation.
The Police Department encourages the entire community to continue to work alongside and in partnership with them to combat crime on the island.
KPSM Press Release
PHILIPSBURG: --- The Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman announced on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press briefing that the prison director Edward Rohan was asked to go on a leave of absence which will take effect on Monday. The Minister said Rohan agreed to the request and that two persons that are already working within the justice ministry will be the ones to regulate the issues at the prison and to bring the prison back to normal. He further stated that one of the two persons will be dealing with human resources since there are a number of prison workers out on sick leave, while the other person will deal with the technical aspects of the management of the prison. When asked to give reasons why Rohan was asked to go on a leave of absence, the Minister said it was based on all the incidents that have occurred at the prison over the past months and mostly because Rohan went to the media and made certain statements.
The Minister also announced that while St. Maarten is looking into building a new prison one of the primary focus right now is to repair the prison as much as possible with limited funds. He said there are doors, locks and other minor things that are not in working conditions and these things can be done by VROMI workers and will not cost a lot of monies. The Minister also assured that his Ministry is doing everything they could to ensure that the situation at the prison is normalized.
Justice Minister looking to hire police officers and recruits --- crime rate unacceptable.
The Minister of Justice also addressed the crime situation on St. Maarten which he said is very much unacceptable. The Minister further explained that KPSM is undermanned and they are busy trying to hire new recruit persons to enter into the police training while the intention is to also hire some professional police officers from overseas. Minister Boasman said that KPSM is doing everything possible to ensure that the safety and security of the country are in order especially during the Heineken Regatta and carnival season. He said he knows that the people of St. Maarten are very worried about their safety and security. He said that KPSM has spoken to all stakeholders in order to find an immediate solution, however, the main issue is the lack of manpower. The Minister further explained that even the new recruits are assisting the police but there are times those officers have to be in the classroom in order to complete their training. The Minister said that he already discussed the matter of hire professional police officers with the unions and he assured the unions that the hiring of those officers will not hamper the local officers especially when it comes to developing their career.
Minister Boasman also stated that the camera project will soon go online as he already held meetings with TELEM, it is expected the camera surveillance will deter the criminals.
He also said that KPSM met with their French counterparts and they have agreed to work closer in order to combat the heinous crimes that are taking place on the island.
SGS at 2017 ICPHSO: How to Ensure Compliance with Product Safety Regulations
ORLANDO, FL (Marketwired) 02/14/17 , the worlds leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, will this week exhibit at the at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel in Orlando, FL. The SGS team will include experts in testing household appliances, toys and other consumer products. They will be able to advise attendees on implementing best practices for complying with regulations, governing product safety, and risk management through supply chain monitoring.
The International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization, (ICPHSO), holds its annual meeting and training symposium to provide its global membership of health and safety professionals the opportunity to exchange ideas, share information, and address health and safety concerns affecting all consumers. SGS is a Platinum Sponsor of this years Symposium, where the theme will be: Evaluating and Managing Risk.
SGS experts will be available throughout the show in various areas such as in the exhibit space at , during the conference key meetings, during breakout sessions, and as sponsors at the evening reception on Wednesday, February 22nd at 6:15pm.
In late April, SGS will also be attending AHAM annual Home Appliance Industry trade association meeting. AHAM is celebrating 50 years as the voice of the home appliance manufacturing industry, with a goal to educate key manufacturers on the importance of testing and government compliance, with a large array of service solutions to support in household appliances.
SGS is the worlds leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company; constantly looking beyond customers and societys expectations in order to deliver market leading services wherever they are needed SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 90,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,000 offices and laboratories around the world. As the leader in providing specialized business solutions that improve quality, safety and productivity and reduce risk, SGS helps customers navigate an increasingly regulated world.
Shaw Announces C$300 Million Senior Note Offering
CALGARY, ALBERTA (Marketwired) 02/14/17 Shaw Communications Inc. (Shaw or the Corporation) (TSX: SJR.B)(TSX: SJR.PR.A)(TSX: SJR.PR.B)(NYSE: SJR)(TSX VENTURE: SJR.A) announced today the terms of an offering of C$300 million principal amount of 3.80% senior notes due March 1, 2027. The net proceeds of this offering, together with cash on hand, will be used to repay the C$400 million principal amount of senior notes of the Corporation due March 2, 2017. Closing is scheduled to occur on February 28, 2017. Based on the closing purchase price, the effective yield of the notes, if held to maturity, is 3.812%.
The senior notes will be made available in Canada, under Shaws previously filed shelf prospectus, pursuant to an agency agreement with TD Securities Inc. acting as sole bookrunner. While the agents have agreed to use their best efforts to sell the notes, they will not be obligated to purchase any of the notes which are not sold. Accordingly, the final amount of the offering may potentially be reduced at closing.
A copy of the prospectus supplement may be obtained from TD Securities Inc., Attention: Debt Syndication, 222 Bay St., 7th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5K 1A2 or from the Canadian Securities Administrators at .
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
About Shaw Communications Inc.
Shaw is an enhanced connectivity provider. Our Consumer division serves consumers with broadband Internet, Shaw Go WiFi, video and digital phone. Our Wireless division provides wireless voice and data services through an expanding and improving mobile wireless network infrastructure. The Business Network Services division provides business customers with Internet, data, WiFi, telephony, video and fleet tracking services. The Business Infrastructure Services division, through ViaWest, provides hybrid IT solutions including colocation, cloud computing and security and compliance for North American enterprises.
Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX SJR.B, SJR.PR.A, SJR.PR.B, NYSE SJR, and TSXV SJR.A). For more information, please visit .
Contacts:
Shaw Communications Inc.
Investor Relations
2nd Watch Earns Spot on CRN 2017 MSP500 List
Posted by Publisher Hardware
SEATTLE, WA (Marketwired) 02/15/17 , the managed public cloud company, announces that , a brand of , has named 2nd Watch to the 2017 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Pioneer 250 category. The distinction is the third CRN recognition for 2nd Watch, an original AWS Premier Consulting Partner, in the past year, including the and the .
The MSP500 is CRNs annual list recognizing the top managed service providers in North America. The list is comprised of three groups: the Elite 150, enterprise-focused resellers with a significant managed service offering; the Pioneer 250, for providers with a business model heavily weighted toward managed services; and the Managed Security 100, recognizing providers and resellers offering a significant managed security practice.
2nd Watch is an expert in AWS cloud computing, having earned AWS Competencies in Financial Services, Migration, DevOps, Big Data, Marketing and Commerce, Life Sciences and SharePoint. The firm is also recognized as an AWS Managed Service Partner, with customers including Crate & Barrel, Conde Nast, Coca-Cola and Yamaha. In 2016, 2nd Watch was ranked 92nd on Deloittes Technology Fast 500.
Increasingly, enterprise customers are looking for MSPs with deep cloud expertise, given the opportunities for economies of scale and rapid innovation, says Jeff Aden, EVP of Marketing & Strategic Business Development & Co-Founder at 2nd Watch. We are honored to be among this list of top MSPs, and well continue to focus on helping large companies move to the cloud and optimize their results and reduce risks once there.
Managed service providers play an increasingly important role in the day-to-day operations of businesses across North America, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. MSPs help organizations streamline their spending, effectively allocate limited resources, and benefit from advanced expertise in the latest technologies. We congratulate the service providers on CRNs 2017 MSP500 list, who have continually succeeded in meeting their customers changing needs and help them get the most out of their IT investments.
The MSP500 list will be featured in the February 2017 issue of CRN and online at .
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.
Kevin Wolf
TGPR for 2nd Watch
(650) 327-1641
Melanie Turpin
The Channel Company
508.416.1195
Nyotron Honored as Hot Company Winner in the 5th Annual 2017 Cyber Defense Magazine InfoSec Awards in Endpoint Security Solutions
SANTA CLARA, CA (Marketwired) 02/15/17 , the creator of threat-agnostic security, announced today that Cyber Defense Magazine, the industrys leading electronic information security magazine and media partner of the RSA Conference 2017, has named its flagship PARANOID platform the winner in Hot Company in Endpoint Security Solutions.
After many months of review and judging by leading independent information security experts, Cyber Defense Magazine is pleased to have selected Nyotron as a winner for its Paranoid platform.
Were thrilled to recognize next-generation innovation in the information security marketplace, and thats why Nyotron has earned this award from Cyber Defense Magazine. Some of the best INFOSEC defenses come from these kinds of forward-thinking players who think outside of the box, said Pierluigi Paganini, editor in chief, Cyber Defense Magazine.
Taking that next-generation innovation a step farther, the PARANOID platform is able to protect enterprises from advanced and zero-day threats by understanding what normal computer behavior looks like and what to do when suspicious behavior tries to damage data on an endpoint. The solution incorporates a threat-agnostic defense approach, enabling PARANOID to stop any attack, regardless of the type of threat or the methodology used to infiltrate a network. By leveraging this approach, only PARANOID can address unknown threats that other technologies are unable to stop.
The line includes which provides high-profile enterprises real-time visibility into the threat landscape with a unique 3D representation of the security status of their endpoints. It also includes which deliver monitoring, alerting, management, intelligence, research and incident-response services to organizations across all market segments.
CDMs recognition of PARANOID validates our company as an innovator, said Nir Gaist, CEO of Nyotron. The PARANOID platforms approach to protection strongly challenges traditional antivirus and other endpoint vendors that determine attackers methods and technology after an attack has been executed. Nyotrons threat-agnostic approach assumes threats will get into the network and instead focuses on the damage stage of an attack, identifying threats before attackers are able to gain access to or abscond with an organizations critical assets. This industry honor is a ringing endorsement of the fact that PARANOID is ahead of the curve when it comes to the best-of-the-best products that can provide the highest security in the endpoint security market.
Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of IT Security information. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting edge knowledge, real world stories and awards on the best ideas, products and services in the information technology industry. We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free and limited print editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences and our paid subscribers. Learn more about us at
Nyotron is a privately held cyber-security company that has developed a disruptive threat-agnostic defense technology to cope with the biggest challenge of todays digital era the unknown threat. PARANOID is designed to prevent targeted and advanced national-level cyber-attacks on high-profile enterprises, and it does so without any previous knowledge about the threat or its methodologies. Based on a unique last-line-of-defense approach, the companys technology is designed to protect enterprise data and critical assets by mitigating threats that were able to outsmart all security layers. Nyotrons customer base includes all major industries, such as transportation, government, banking, healthcare and the public sector. The companys headquarters are in Santa Clara, California, and R&D is in Israel. To learn more, visit .
Rick Popko
10Fold
415-800-5381
Donna St. John
Vice President of Marketing
Nyotron
408-780-0752
Jessica Quinn
Director of Marketing & Public Relations
StartWire Promotes Andrew Katz to President
LEBANON, NH (Marketwired) 02/15/17 , Americas number one job search organizer, today announced the promotion of Andrew Katz to the role of company President. Katz has been with StartWire since September 2015 as its Executive Vice President and General Manager.
Powered by a team of recruiting experts committed to radically improving job search, StartWire is a free service currently used by more than nine million job seekers. It enables job seekers to organize their applications and receive automatic status updates from thousands of employers via text and email messages, averting the dreaded black hole syndrome typically experienced by job applicants. This first-of-its-kind technology is now used to track applications at more than 15,000 companies, supporting the recruitment marketing efforts of hiring companies as well as employment brands.
Prior to joining StartWire, Katz was the Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and Channel Partnerships at Findly, a recruiting technology company now known as Symphony Talent. Earlier in his career, he was the Senior Vice President, Digital Operations at Bernard Hodes Group. He holds a bachelors degree from Rutgers University in Advertising, Marketing and Psychology.
Chris Forman, Founder of StartWire, commented, StartWire is a win-win for job seekers and employers. Thanks to Andys contributions, StartWire has doubled in users and revenue in the last 12 months. Hes the right leader to accelerate our growth moving forward.
Katz added, Its exhilarating to be part of an organization that continues to shape the business-critical role of recruiting the right talent. Im looking forward to working with our team and our clients in my new capacity to deliver high-impact results.
StartWire is Americas number one job search organizer with more than 9 million members. Job seekers across the U.S. turn to StartWire to close the resume black hole by receiving automatic status updates from thousands of employers. Since its inception, StartWire has received rave reviews and coverage in US News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, TechCrunch, Mashable, ERE, and Human Resource Executive. StartWire is headquartered near Dartmouth College in Lebanon, NH. For more information, visit .
Zinwave eliminates mobile phone not-spots at Skys new HQ
Cambridge-based Systems Integrator Herbert has deployed Zinwaves UNItivity distributed antenna system (DAS) to eliminate mobile phone coverage issues at Skys headquarters
LONDON 15/02/17 Zinwave and its UK partner Herbert today announced that it has deployed Zinwaves UNItivity DAS to eliminate wireless coverage and capacity issues at Skys new headquarters in London. The Sky campus, located in Osterley, West London, has recently undergone an extensive redevelopment, consolidating the companys operations. With multiple floors and the use of dense materials, mobile signal was heavily affected, which led Sky to turn to experienced Systems Integrator Herbert. Herbert recommended the globally-proven Zinwave UNItivity solution, which ensures that wireless communications (mobile signal, public safety and IP access services) are always available.
New building structures can make it extremely difficult to provide ubiquitous in-building wireless services, with 4G signal often unable to penetrate building walls as well as 2G or 3G services. For Sky, the biggest area of concern involved the second phase of the development, Sky Central, a modern mixed-use scheme with a combined total area of approximately 46,000sqm. Set over three floors, encompassing office space, a studio and also production facilities, together with research and development zones, it was paramount that Sky was able to provide a consistent, strong signal source. Employees need to be able to use their mobile devices, connect to the internet and communicate wirelessly wherever they are on campus.
Martin Eddleston, Planning & Delivery Manager Network Implementation at Sky said; Sky is very forward thinking and technically capable, and had the foresight to install single operator DAS in our existing buildings on campus, but when it came to our new Sky Central building, we wanted multi-operator coverage to cope with user volumes and multiple Mobile Network Operators throughout this much larger building. With the number of colleagues occupying our new building and the importance of mobile communications, it was imperative that a scalable, high performing and future proof solution was selected. Zinwave UNItivity met the desired criteria, with Herbert pulling-out all the stops with the project scoping, implementation and in-building integration in the timescales required.
Zinwave UNItivity was selected as the preferred coverage solution because of its ability to support multiple mobile operators (EE, O2 & Vodafone) and services (2G, 3G & 4G) and frequencies, making it the most cost-effective and technically-capable solution for Sky. It is flexible and scalable, enabling the rollout of additional services, such as 5G, to be quickly implemented without needing any hardware replacements or cabling refits, offering future-proofing advantages and delivering rapid return on investment (ROI). In addition, Zinwave UNItivity is the only solution that can provide consistent mobile phone coverage inside metal lifts.
The solution was scoped, installed and commissioned by Herbert In-Building Wireless, an established supplier of class leading productivity solutions to major organisations in the UK, and Zinwaves preferred UK channel partner.
Scott Willis, CEO of Zinwave said; We are extremely pleased that Sky has been able to eliminate all mobile not-spots with our in-building wireless solution. Dense building materials are a common barrier for mobile signals, which can cause a number of problems in a world that increasingly relies on ubiquitous coverage. Our solution is built to overcome these issues, directing all mobile signals to exactly where theyre needed, ensuring seamless communications at all times.
Mark Channen, Marketing Director at Herbert said; Sky is an innovator in all that they do, and it is the implementation of innovative turn-key solutions such as the Zinwave UNItivity product that we scoped for them, that ultimately keeps their business at the forefront. Professional and guaranteed communication drives business workflow and productivity at all times with UNItivity.
Meeting public safety requirements was also key for Sky. Todays building owners are also often obliged to optimise wireless coverage in their facilities to ensure the safety of emergency service personnel in their day-to-day activities as well as in emergency situations. Zinwave UNItivity provides mobile and public safety access services, delivering an end-to-end all fibre solution on a single converged system within the building.
Further information on Skys new building, and the Zinwave solution offered through Herbert, can be found by following this link:
www.in-building-wireless.solutions
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When photography was invented in France in the 1820s, some artists predicted even feared that it would in time take the place of painting. That didnt happen, but photographers around the world consistently have recorded images that reveal...
Noie: That's what it all should look like in Notre Dame Stadium
First-year head coach Marcus Freeman kept insisting it was going to happen if Notre Dame kept working. On Saturday, it finally happened for the Irish
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Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce held its February Business After Hours event at Georgetown Kraft Credit Union. The Business After Hours event was GKCU's new branch at 1379 N. Fraser St. Chamber members enjoyed catered food, beverages and a chance to win a $1,500 travel gift certificate. The winner of the $1,500 travel gift certificate was David Kaiser of JDog Junk Removal & Hauling. GKCU Vice President of Marketing Nikki Ewing welcomed everyone, saying, People helping people is the philosophy at our credit union. GKCU Board Chairman Dennis Loadholt, Georgetown Branch Manager Sharon Brown and several GKCU credit union managers and associates attended the Business After Hours, along many Chamber members.
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There are so many interesting solar system facts, here are some of our favorites.
With so many interesting solar system facts, we've narrowed them down to 25 of our favorites.
Our solar system consists of the sun and everything that orbits that sun, like the eight (once nine) planets we all know from elementary school. But the main planets, as diverse and fascinating as they are, are just the beginning. Earth's neighbors in space include comets, asteroids, dwarf planets, mysterious moons and a host of strange phenomena that are so out-of-this-world they elude explanation.
Scientists have discovered ice-spewing volcanoes on Pluto, while Mars is home to a truly "grand" canyon the size of the United States. There may even be a giant, undiscovered planet lurking somewhere beyond Neptune. Read on for some of the strangest facts about the solar system.
1. The solar system is really, really big
The solar system is incredibly big. (Image credit: ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI via Getty Images)
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NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched in 1977. More than three decades later, in 2012, it became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space by crossing the heliopause, or the edge of the heliosphere. That's the boundary beyond which most of the sun's ejected particles and magnetic fields dissipate.
But, according to NASA (opens in new tab), "if we define our solar system as the Sun and everything that primarily orbits the Sun, Voyager 1 will remain within the confines of the solar system until it emerges from the Oort cloud in another 14,000 to 28,000 years."
Related: Voyager 2's trip to interstellar space deepens some mysteries beyond our solar system
2. Even just our neighborhood is really, really big
Did you know that all of the planets in the solar system could fit between Earth and our moon? (Image credit: Jeremy Horner via Getty images)
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Depending on how carefully you do the calculations and how you arrange them, all of the planets in the solar system could fit in between Earth and its moon. The distance between the Earth and the moon varies, as does the diameter of each of the planets they're wider at their equators, so Saturn or Jupiter or both would have to be tilted sideways for this to work, according to news site Slate. But imagine lining them all up, pole to pole. They'd just barely squeeze in between us and our closest companion in space, blocking out the sky with their rings and gas giant bulk as they did so. (Of course, in all practicality we'd have other problems to worry about, too. Our little moon creates vast tides on Earth already the gravitational perturbation from our new proximity to Jupiter alone would keep any of us from admiring the view.)
The moon is the farthest from Earth that we've ever sent humans, and it's both mind-bogglingly distant and incredibly close depending on how you think about it. Eight enormous planets could fit between here and there, and yet according to NOAA (opens in new tab), the distance from Earth to the sun is more than 390 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
Scientists use an approximation of the Earth-to-sun distance, also known as one astronomical unit or AU, to compare distances within the solar system. Jupiter is about 5.2 AU from the sun, and Neptune is 30.07 AU from the sun or approximately 30 times as far from the star as Earth
3. Uranus spins sideways
Uranus appears to roll around the sun like a ball, rotating on its side. This composite image of the two hemispheres of Uranus was obtained with Keck Telescope adaptive optics and the north pole is at 4 o'clock. (Image credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/W.W. Keck Observatory)
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Uranus usually appears in classroom solar system models as a featureless blue ball, but this gas giant of the outer solar system is pretty weird on closer inspection. First, the planet rotates on its side, appearing to roll around the sun like a ball, according to NASA's Uranus guide (opens in new tab). The most likely explanation for the planet's unusual orientation (about 90 degrees sideways compared to the other planets) is that it underwent some sort of titanic collision in the ancient past.
Uranus' tilt causes what NASA considers to be the most extreme seasons in the solar system. For about a quarter of each Uranus year (or 21 Earth years, as each Uranus year is 84 years long), the sun shines directly over the north or south pole of the planet. That means for more than two decades on Earth, half of Uranus never sees the sun at all.
Scientists monitor these extreme seasons on Uranus and expected that the 2007 equinox on the planet might cause unusual weather. But it was seven years later that the atmosphere erupted into wild unpredicted storms, making Uranus more of a puzzle than ever.
4. Jupiter's moon Io has towering volcanic eruptions
Io has hundreds of active volcanoes. Here, an impressive eruption was captured by NASAs Galileo spacecraft during a flyby. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/DLR)
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Compared to Earth's peaceful moon, Jupiter's moon Io may come as a surprise. The Jovian moon has hundreds of volcanoes and is considered the most active moon in the solar system, sending plumes of sulfur up to 190 miles (300 kilometers) into its atmosphere. According to a statement from NASA (opens in new tab), Io's volcanos emit one ton (more than 900 kilograms) of gases and particles into the space near Jupiter each second.
Io's eruptive nature is caused by the immense forces the moon is exposed to, nestled in Jupiter's gravitational well and its magnetic field. The moon's insides tense up and relax as it orbits closer to, and farther from, the planet, generating enough energy for volcanic activity.
Scientists are still trying to figure out how heat spreads through Io's interior, though, making it difficult to predict where the volcanoes exist using scientific models alone.
5. Mars boasts a volcano bigger than the entire state of Hawaii
Olympus mons is the biggest volcano ever discovered in the solar system. This artists illustration depicts what the shield volcano looks like on Mars. (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
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While Mars seems quiet now, gigantic volcanoes once dominated the surface of the planet. This includes Olympus Mons, the biggest volcano ever discovered in the solar system. At 374 miles (602 km) across, the volcano is comparable to the size of Arizona. It's 16 miles (25 kilometers) high, or triple the height of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth. By volume, according to NASA, Olympus Mons is 100 times larger (opens in new tab) than Earth's largest volcano, Hawaii's Mauna Loa.
Scientists speculate that volcanoes on Mars can grow to such immense size because gravity there is much weaker than it is on Earth.
In addition, while Earth's crust constantly moves, the Martian crust likely does not (although the debate among researchers continues). The Hawaiian islands were formed as a hot spot in the mantle created a chain of volcanoes in the crust cruising by above it, so if the surface of Mars isn't moving, a volcano could build-up for longer in one spot.
6. Mars' largest valley could eat the Grand Canyon for breakfast
Valles Marineris on Mars is more than 10 times as long as Earths Grand Canyon. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS)
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At 2,500 miles (4,000 km) long, the immense system of Martian canyons known as Valles Marineris is more than 10 times as long as the Grand Canyon on Earth. Valles Marineris escaped the notice of early Mars spacecraft (which flew over other parts of the planet) and was finally spotted by the global mapping mission Mariner 9 in 1971. And what a sight it was to miss Valles Marineris could stretch from coast to coast of the entire United States!
The lack of active plate tectonics on Mars makes it tough to figure out how the canyon formed. Some scientists think that a chain of volcanoes on the other side of the planet, known as the Tharsis Ridge (which includes Olympus Mons), somehow bent the crust from the opposite side of Mars. That cataclysmic force activated cracks in the crust, vast amounts of sub-surface water that emerged to carve away rock, and glaciers that crunched new pathways into the canyon system.
7. Venus is swept by super-powerful winds that some hope could harbor life
Venus is a hot hellish planet. This computer illustration shows the rocky surface of Venus and the clouds of sulphuric acid. (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
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Venus is a hellish planet with a high-temperature, high-pressure environment on its surface. Bone-dry and hot enough to melt lead, it's not exactly a welcoming environment (and has probably always been inhospitable to life). When heavily shielded Venera spacecraft from the Soviet Union landed there in the 1970s, according to NASA each lasted a few minutes (opens in new tab) or, at most, a few hours before melting or being crushed beyond their ability to function.
But even above its surface, the planet has a bizarre environment. Scientists have found that its upper winds flow 50 times faster than the planet's rotation. The European Venus Express spacecraft (which orbited the planet between 2006 and 2014) tracked the winds over long periods and detected periodic variations. It also found that the hurricane-force winds appeared to be getting stronger over time.
A 2020 study that thrilled some astrobiologists detected phosphine, a possible sign of decaying biological matter, high in the Venusian clouds. Could they be a sign of life? Not without sufficient water, claim follow-up studies that firmly reject the possibility of life in Venus' dry windy atmosphere.
8. There is water everywhere
Water ice exists all over the solar system. This artists illustration shows what Mars would look like with lakes of water. (Image credit: gremlin via Getty Images)
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Water was once considered a rare substance in space. In fact, water ice exists all over the solar system: It's a common component of comets and asteroids, for starters.
Water can be found as ice in permanently shadowed craters on Mercury and the moon, although we don't know if there's enough to support prospective human colonies in those places. Mars also has ice at its poles, in frost and likely below the surface dust. Even smaller bodies in the solar system have ice: Saturn's moon Enceladus, and the dwarf planet Ceres, among others.
NASA scientists (opens in new tab) suspect Jupiter's moon Europa may be the most likely known candidate for extraterrestrial life because, against all expectations, there is likely liquid water below its cracked and frozen surface. Europa, much smaller than Earth, may host a deep ocean that researchers suggest could contain twice as much water as all of Earth's oceans combined.
But we know that not all ice is the same. A close-up examination of Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, for example, revealed a different kind of water ice than the kind found on Earth.
9. Spacecraft have visited every planet
A montage of images captured by NASAs Voyager 2 spacecraft. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)
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We've been exploring space for more than 60 years, and have been lucky enough to get close-up pictures of dozens of celestial objects. Most notably, we've sent spacecraft to all of the planets in our solar system Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as well as two dwarf planets, Pluto and Ceres.
The bulk of the flybys came from NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which left Earth more than four decades ago and are still transmitting data from interstellar space. Between them, the Voyagers clocked visits to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, thanks to an opportune alignment of the outer planets.
10. Spacecraft could bring contaminants to inhabitable (or inhabited) locations in the solar system
We havent found evidence of life elsewhere in the solar system. But as we learn more about life that exists in extreme environments on Earth such as hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, more possibilities open up for where they could be found on other planets. (Image credit: Ralph White via Getty Images)
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So far, scientists have found no evidence that life exists elsewhere in the solar system. But as we learn more about how "extreme" microbes live in underwater volcanic vents or frozen environments, more possibilities open up for where they could live on other planets.
Microbial life is now considered likely enough on Mars that scientists take special precautions to sterilize spacecraft headed to the planet. NASA chose to crash its Galileo spacecraft into Jupiter rather than risk it contaminating the potentially habitable oceans of Europa.
11. Mercury is still shrinking
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It has short years, long days and extreme temperatures. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)
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Mercury is already the smallest planet in the solar system (excluding the dwarf planet Pluto, of course), and the second-densest after Earth. And it's only getting smaller and denser.
For many years, scientists believed that Earth was the only tectonically active planet in the solar system. That changed after the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft did the first orbital mission at Mercury, mapping the entire planet in high definition and getting a look at the features on its surface.
In 2016, data from MESSENGER revealed cliff-like landforms known as fault scarps. Because the fault scarps are relatively small, scientists are sure that they weren't created that long ago and that the planet is still contracting 4.5 billion years after the solar system was formed.
12. There are mountains on Pluto
In July 2015 NASAs New Horizons spacecraft sent back impressive images of Pluto and its moons. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Lunar and Planetary Institute)
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Pluto is a tiny world at the edge of the solar system, so scientists assumed the dwarf planet would have a fairly uniform, crater-pocked environment. That changed when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by in 2015, sending back pictures that altered our view of Pluto forever.
Related: Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons mission in pictures
Among the astounding discoveries were icy mountains that are 11,000 feet (3,300 meters) high, indicating that Pluto must have been geologically active as little as 100 million years ago. But geological activity requires energy, and the source of that energy inside Pluto is a mystery. The sun is too far away from Pluto to generate enough heat for geological activity, and there are no large planets nearby that could have caused such disruption with gravity.
13. Pluto has a bizarre atmosphere
NASAs New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of Pluto when it was 120,000 miles (200,000 kilometers) away from the dwarf planet. Plutos atmosphere can be seen as a blue haze. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)
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Pluto's observed atmosphere broke all the predictions. Scientists saw the unexpected haze extending as high as 1,000 miles (1,600 km), rising higher above the surface than the atmosphere on Earth. As data from NASA's New Horizons mission flowed in, scientists analyzed the haze and discovered some surprises there, too.
Scientists found about 20 layers in Pluto's atmosphere that are both cooler and more compact than expected. This affects calculations for how quickly Pluto loses its nitrogen-rich atmosphere to space. NASA's New Horizons team found that tons of nitrogen gas escape the dwarf planet by the hour, but somehow Pluto can constantly resupply that lost nitrogen. The dwarf planet is likely creating more of it through geological activity.
14. Rings are much more common than we thought
Saturn isnt the only body in the solar system with rings. (Image credit: SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
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We've known about Saturn's rings since telescopes were invented in the 1600s, but it took spacecraft and more powerful telescopes built in the last 50 years to reveal more. We now know that every planet in the outer solar system Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune has a ring system. But the rings differ from planet to planet: Saturn's spectacular halo, made in part of sparkly, reflective water ice, is not repeated anywhere else. Instead, the rings of the other giants are likely made of rocky particles and dust.
Rings aren't limited to planets, either. In 2014, for example, astronomers discovered rings were around the asteroid Chariklo.
15. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is shrinking
Jupiters Great Red Spot is the largest storm in the solar system but it wont hold the title forever as the anticyclonic storm is shrinking. NASAs Juno spacecraft captured this image of the infamous storm during a flyby in 2019. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS.)
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Along with being the solar system's largest planet, Jupiter also hosts the solar system's largest storm. Known as the Great Red Spot, it's been observed in telescopes since the 1600s and studied from modern instruments like NASA's Juno, which recently provided evidence that the storm is hundreds of miles tall (and likely fed by winds from thousands of miles below, too). The storm has been a raging conundrum for centuries, but in recent decades another mystery emerged: the spot is getting smaller.
In 2014, the storm was only 10,250 miles (16,500 km) across, about half of its historic size. The shrinkage is being monitored in professional telescopes and also by amateurs. Amateurs are often able to make more consistent measurements of Jupiter because viewing time on larger, professional telescopes is limited and often split between different objects.
Related: Best telescopes 2022: Top picks for viewing planets, galaxies, stars and more
16. Most comets are spotted with a sun-gazing telescope
Comet ISON appears from the bottom right of the image and sweets up towards the upper right. The striking image was captured by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory with an image of the sun at the center from NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory. (Image credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO/SDO/GSFC)
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Comets used to be the province of amateur astronomers, who spent night after night scouring the skies with telescopes. While some professional observatories also made discoveries while viewing comets, that began to change with the launch of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) in 1995.
Since then, the spacecraft has found more than 2,400 comets, which is a pretty productive side-mission for a telescope meant to observe just the sun. These comets are nicknamed "sungrazers." Many amateurs still participate in the search for comets by picking them out from raw SOHO images. One of SOHO's most famous observations came when it watched the breakup of the bright Comet ISON in 2013.
17. There may be a huge planet at the edge of the solar system
Planet Nine is a theoretical planet that could explain the movements of some objects in the Kuiper Belt. (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
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In January 2015, California Institute of Technology astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown announced based on mathematical calculations and simulations that there could be a giant planet lurking far beyond Neptune. Several teams are now on the search for this theoretical "Planet Nine," and research suggests it could be located within the decade.
This large object, if it exists, could help explain the movements of some objects in the Kuiper Belt, an icy collection of objects beyond Neptune's orbit. Brown has already discovered several large objects in that area that in some cases rivaled or exceeded the size of Pluto. (His discoveries were one of the catalysts for changing Pluto's status from planet to dwarf planet in 2006.)
But scientists are pursuing another theory, too: that "Planet Nine" could in fact be a grapefruit-sized black hole, warping space similarly to the way a gigantic planet would. And yet another team suggests that the weird movements of the far-flung Kuiper Belt occupants could be the collective influence of several small objects, not an undiscovered planet or black hole at all.
18. Neptune is too hot
Neptune is approximately 30 times as far from the sun as Earth. (Image credit: NASA JPL)
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Neptune is roughly 30 times as far from the sun as Earth, and it gets correspondingly less heat and light. But it radiates far more heat than it's taking in and has far more activity in its atmosphere than planetary scientists would suspect, especially compared to nearby Uranus. Uranus is closer to the sun and yet radiates about the same amount of heat as Neptune, and scientists aren't sure why.
Winds on Neptune can blow up to 1,500 miles per hour (2,400 km/h). Is all that energy coming from the sun, from the planet's core, or gravitational contraction? Researchers are working to find out.
19. Earth's Van Allen belts are more bizarre than expected
The Van Allen belts were discovered in 1958. The large bands of radiation surround Earth and expand and contract according to solar activity. (Image credit: NASA/Van Allen Probes/Goddard Space Flight Center)
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Earth has several bands of magnetically trapped, highly energetic charged particles surrounding our planet, known as the Van Allen belts (named after the discoverer of the phenomenon.) While we've known about the belts since the dawn of the space age, the Van Allen Probes (launched in 2012) have provided our best-ever view of them. They've uncovered quite a few surprises along the way.
We now know that the belts expand and contract according to solar activity. Sometimes the belts are very distinct from one another, and sometimes they swell into one massive unit. An extra radiation belt (beyond the known two) was spotted in 2013. Understanding these belts helps scientists make better predictions about space weather or solar storms.
20. What happened to Miranda?
Uranus moon Miranda has one of the most diverse landscapes among extraterrestrial bodies. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/USGS)
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One of the most bizarre moons in the outer solar system is Miranda, a shadowy moon of Uranus observed only once when Voyager 2 got a glimpse in 1986. Miranda hosts sharp ridges, craters and other major disruptions on its surface that would usually be the result of volcanic action. Tectonic activity could cause that kind of surface, but Miranda is much too small to generate that kind of heat on its own.
Researchers think that gravitational pull from Uranus could have generated the push-pull action needed to heat, churn and contort Miranda's surface. But to know for sure, we'll need to send another spacecraft to check out the moon's unobserved northern hemisphere.
21. Saturn's yin-yang moon
Saturns moon Iapetus exhibits extreme differences in brightness across the surface depending on which side faces the sun. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
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Saturn's moon Iapetus has a very dark hemisphere that always faces away from the planet and a very light hemisphere that always faces toward Saturn. Most asteroids, moons and planets are relatively uniform across their surfaces, but Iapetus sometimes shines brightly enough to be spotted by Giovanni Cassini's telescope in the 1600s, and then dims down by several magnitudes when oriented in the other direction.
Current research suggests that Iapetus, also known as Saturn VIII, is made mostly of water ice. As the moon's darker side faces the sun, scientists hypothesize, water ice sublimated away from that area, leaving darker rock behind. That could have created a positive feedback loop, as dark material heats up more than bright, reflective ice: as the darker, warmer side of the moon lost its ice, it became easier to heat up each time it faced the sun, hastening the loss of more ice.
22. Titan has a liquid cycle, but it's definitely not water
Titans lakes are filled with methane and ethane and possibly a layer of water. (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
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Another weird moon in Saturn's system is Titan, which hosts a liquid "cycle" that moves material between the atmosphere and the surface. That sounds a lot like Earth's water cycle, but Titan's immense lakes are filled with methane and ethane, possibly over a layer of water.
Researchers hope to use data from the international Cassini mission to tease out some of Titan's secrets before designing a submarine that might one day plumb the depths of the mysterious moon.
23. Organics molecules are everywhere
Organic molecules have been found in many other places in the solar system including Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenk. Here, the jagged landscape of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenk was captured in an image taken by ESAs Rosetta spacecraft. (Image credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)
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Organics are complex carbon-based molecules found in living things, but which can be created by non-biological processes too. While organic molecules are common on Earth, they can unexpectedly be found in many other places in the solar system too. Scientists have found organics on the surface of Comet 67P, for example. The discovery bolstered the case that organic molecules to jump-start life on Earth could have been brought to the surface from space.
Organics have also been found on the surface of Mercury, on Saturn's moon Titan (which gives Titan its orange color) and on Mars
24. Saturn has a hexagonal-shaped storm
Saturns northern hemisphere is home to a strange hexagonal-shaped storm that has been raging for decades. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton)
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Saturn's northern hemisphere has a raging six-sided storm nicknamed "the hexagon." This hexagon, a towering multilayered storm, has been there for decades, if not hundreds of years.
The strange storm was discovered in the 1980s but was barely visible until the Cassini mission flew by between 2004 and 2017. Images and data from Cassini reveal the storm to be 180 miles (300 km) tall, 20,000 miles (32,000 km) wide and composed of air moving at about 200 mph (320 km/h).
25. The solar atmosphere is much hotter than the sun's surface
The temperature of the sun varies between each layer of the atmosphere. (Image credit: NASA/SDO)
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While the sun's visible surface the photosphere is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius), its upper atmosphere has temperatures in the millions of degrees. It's a large temperature differential with little explanation.
Related: How hot is the sun?
NASA has several sun-gazing spacecraft on the case, however, and they have some ideas for how the heat is generated. One is "heat bombs," which happen when magnetic fields cross and realign in the corona. Another is when plasma waves move from the sun's surface into the corona.
With new data from the Parker Solar Probe (which recently became the first human-made object to touch the sun) coming in all the time, we're closer than ever to unlocking the mysteries at the heart of our solar system.
A key element of Chinas human spaceflight program is being prepared for launch this April.
The country's first cargo-carrying spacecraft, known as Tianzhou-1, arrived at a launch site in Wenchang City in southern Hainan Province on Monday (Feb. 13), according to Chinese media reports.
The robotic Tianzhou-1 can carry about 5 tons of supplies into Earth orbit. The cargo vessel is integral to the operation of the space station that China aims to build by 2020, Chinese officials have said.
Once lofted by a Long March-7 booster from the Wenchang spaceport, the cargo ship will dock with the now-orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab and refuel that facility.
Payload ratio
In an interview on CCTV-Plus, Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of Tianzhou-1 at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., put the freighter's hauling ability into perspective.
"The carrying capacity of Tianzhou-1 is designed based on the scale of the space station, in the principle of achieving the highest carrying capacity with the lowest structural weight. There is an index for the spacecraft's carrying capacity, which is called payload ratio," Bai said. "The payload ratio of Tianzhou-1 can reach 0.48, which is a relatively high figure in the world."
As noted by CCTV-Plus, payload ratio is the amount of potential cargo weight compared to the weight of the spacecraft. Tianzhou-1's payload ratio is higher than that of Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle, which resupplies the International Space Station, Chinese officials said.
China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft arrived at the Wenchang launch site on Feb. 13, 2017 ahead of a planned April liftoff. (Image credit: Ji Qiming/CMSE)
Verifying technology
Tianzhou-1 will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab, which launched in September 2016 and hosted two astronauts for 30 days a month later in China's longest-ever human spaceflight mission.
The supply vessel will refuel Tiangong-2, verifying the technology needed for on-orbit transfer of liquid propellant one of the key technologies required to assemble and maintain China's future space station.
Bai said that docking will come just two days after Tianzhou-1's launch, but the refueling process will be lengthy.
"The whole process takes about two months. After the completion of the two-month docking, we will check the status of the equipment and refill the propellant," Bai said.
For a look at Tianzhou-1 preparations, check out these CCTV-Plus video clips:
http://l3-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2017/0213/8043031_Preview_1486991619869.mp4
http://l3-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2017/0213/8043022_Preview_1486992765374.mp4
Leonard David is author of "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet," published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Athena, or Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics, is a European Space Agency (ESA) large-class mission expected to launch in 2028.
The spacecraft is an X-ray observatory expected to answer questions about the hot and energetic universe. The two main questions include "How does ordinary matter assemble into the large-scale structures that we see today" (such as galaxy groups and clusters) and "How do black holes grow and influence the environment around them." A black hole's environment is best seen in X-rays, and hot gases, which are visible in X-rays, can give clues about galactic structure formation and evolution.
Science objectives of Athena include investigating:
how galaxy groups and clusters form and evolve;
how hot "baryons," or subatomic particles, evolve;
missing baryons in the intergalactic medium, or plasma between galaxies;
how black holes and supermassive black holes grow over time;
how black holes influence "active" galaxies (those galaxies that produce an extraordinary amount of energy);
the effects of active galactic nuclei on galactic clusters and star formation.
The launch vehicle hasn't been determined yet, but it's possible that Athena will launch on an Ariane 5. After launch, the spacecraft will then be placed in a stable gravitational area in space known as a Lagrange point. In this case, Athena will use L2, which is on the "dark" side of the Earth (meaning that it is exactly opposite of the sun.) L2 has also been used for missions such as WMAP (the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) and Planck, and will be the location of the future NASA James Webb Space Telescope after launch in 2018.
Athena will perform about 300 pointed observations of celestial objects each year, ESA stated. Each observation will last an average of 105 seconds. While there will be a planned observation campaign, there will be flexibility to move Athena to a target if a transient event in the sky is noticed, such as a gamma-ray burst. Planning allows this to happen twice per month, ESA said.
Athena is expected to last five years, although consumables (such as fuel) have been rated for 10 years in the case of a mission extension.
Athena history
Athena is named after an Ancient Greek goddess who favored Odysseus, the hero of the Odyssey. The telescope project was born out of the reformulation of several older missions. At first, ESA and NASA were each pursuing different telescope projects, called XEUS and Constellation-X respectively. This changed in 2008 after officials from NASA, ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) agreed on an International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) to merge the Constellation-X and XEUS projects.
The United States periodically conducts studies among space scientists to determine the priorities for the coming decade, which is called the decadal survey. ESA has its own priority list that draws from the recommendations of the Cosmic Vision Programme 2015-2025. The 2010 U.S. decadal survey ranked IXO fourth among large-scale missions. In 2011, ESA issued a statement saying the agency would go alone for large-scale missions. It cited the lack of support in the decadal survey for three joint European missions, and added that it had concerns that NASA funding would not let the missions launch in a timely fashion.
ESA subsequently moved forward with a modified version of IXO under Cosmic Vision, known as Athena. Athena was among the candidates proposed for the first large-class mission launch competition in 2012, but officials ultimately chose JUICE (the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer). Athena was instead chosen in 2014 for the second large-class mission opportunity, for a launch in 2028.
"The mission has now entered the study phase; once the mission design and costing have been completed, it will eventually be proposed for 'adoption' around 2019, before the start of the construction phase," ESA wrote in a summary page about the mission.
While Athena's design is still being determined, the telescope will likely have an X-ray telescope with a focal length (distance between the center of its lens, and the focus of the telescope) of about 12 meters, or 39 feet. It will also include two instruments: an X-ray Integral Field Unit for high-spectral resolution imaging, and a Wide Field Imager that will get more moderate resolution spectroscopy over a wide field of view.
"The telescope will use silicon pore optics (SPO), which will provide a unique combination of a large collecting area and good angular resolution across a large field of view while meeting a stringent mass budget," ESA stated on another page. Arrays of these pores will be placed into modules using commercially available silicon wafers, the agency added. These wafers will be cut, arranged and stacked in a radial pattern to focus the light.
Supporting the X-ray optics will be a mirror assembly module that will include a sun protector, a straylight baffle and a thermal baffle so that the telescope can perform its sensitive observations with a minimum of interference.
Other X-ray telescopes in space
With dozens of X-ray telescopes launched into space, it is difficult to summarize all of the missions quickly. The first of these launched in the 1970s, and observations from X-ray telescopes continue today. Some of the larger and more recent missions are summarized below.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched on the STS-93 shuttle mission in July 1999, and is still operating. Chandra is considered one of NASA's "Great Observatories," referring to a program in the 1980s and 1990s that birthed the large-class observatories of the Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope. Chandra has made numerous discoveries, including imaging a halo of hot gas around the Milky Way, showing that nearly all stars on the main sequence of evolution emit X-rays, and observing X-ray emission from Sagittarius A* (the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center).
XMM-Newton (X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission) is an ESA mission launched in December 1999 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. XMM-Newton is a part of ESA's Horizon 2000 program, a previous long-term plan the agency followed for choosing missions. Its mission has been extended several times, and the observatory remains in good health. Its discoveries include measuring the spin rate of a supermassive black hole (along with another observatory called NuSTAR) and making observations of massive galaxy clusters, which help confirmed the presence of dark energy.
The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission has instruments on board that can observe these transient phenomena using gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. It flew into orbit in 2004 aboard a Delta II rocket, and remains in operation. It has seen black holes, supernovas (star explosions), active galactic nuclei, comets and many other things. Among its discoveries was finding a new kind of gamma-ray burst that is not associated with a supernova, which was a surprise to astronomers.
ESA's INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), which launched in 2002 and is still operational, has a similar mission to Swift. In conjunction with NASA and the Russian Space Agency, INTEGRAL examines gamma-ray bursts. Besides gamma-ray bursts, it has performed observations of X-ray binaries as well as X-ray sources outside of the galaxy. This includes the cosmic X-ray background, the remnant of radiation left over from when the Milky Way was born.
Additional resources
Winston Churchill wrote an essay on alien life in 1939 when Europe was on the brink of war, shortly before he became prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Winston Churchill was known for his leadership during World War II, but a newfound essay on alien life reveals another side of him, one that was deeply curious about the universe.
"I, for one, am not so immensely impressed by the success we are making of our civilization here that I am prepared to think we are the only spot in this immense universe which contains living, thinking creatures," he wrote in the newly uncovered essay, "or that we are the highest type of mental and physical development which has ever appeared in the vast compass of space and time."
Besides being prime minister of the United Kingdom during the tumultuous years of World War II, the British statesman was also a prolific writer and proponent of science. In fact, he was the first prime minister to have a science advisor. Those traits converged in the newfound 11-page essay about the search for alien life, discovered at the Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri. It was first written in 1939 and was slightly revised in the late 1950s. [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life]
"I was amazed to see the title of this article, first of all," Livio, head of the Institute Science Division at the Space Telescope Science Institute, told Space.com. "And then I read it and was even more astonished, because I saw that this great politician is musing about a real scientific topic, an intriguing scientific topic, [and] he is reasoning about this in the same way that a scientist today would go about it."
Churchill was not a scientist, and when the politician composed the essay, Europe was on the brink of war, Livio said.
"And yet, at that time, he finds the time to contemplate such issues and think about things so clearly," Livio added.
Evaluating the likelihood of life
In the essay, Churchill first set out to define life, characterizing the most important quality as the ability to reproduce. He chose to consider "comparatively highly organized life," which Livio said is probably multicellular life. Churchill likely did this to avoid ambiguity for things like viruses, which are able to replicate but exhibit other characteristics that aren't terribly lifelike, Livio said.
Then, Churchill discussed where to look for life: in places with liquid water (or where liquid water can persist, which is what scientists now call the "habitable zone" around stars).
"Then, he says, OK, once we've defined life, what are the necessary ingredients for life to exist? And he identifies liquid water as one such ingredient," Livio said. "And that's exactly what we do today. Our searches for life in the universe today are primarily guided by liquid water."
In his essay, Churchill considered the solar system, deciding that only Mars and Venus could have fulfilled those conditions. The outer planets are too cold, Mercury is too hot on one side and too cold on the other, and the moon and asteroids have gravity too weak to trap the atmosphere, Livio wrote, summarizing Churchill's argument.
Then, Churchill discussed the possibility of planets outside the solar system exoplanets which had not yet been discovered. The model he considered, described by astrophysicist James Jean in 1917, predicted that planetary formation is very unlikely to occur. (The theory, which proved incorrect, described planets forming by the gas torn from a star when another star passes by it.)
"But the beautiful thing is, then he says, But wait! Maybe this theory is wrong! Why should we think that this theory is correct?" Livio said. Churchill added that the abundance of double stars suggests that planetary systems could form commonly.
In the article, Livio quoted Churchill's essay: "I am not sufficiently conceited to think that my sun is the only one with a family of planets." Churchill went on to posit that a large fraction of those planets would be the right size to keep water on their surface and maybe an atmosphere, and that some would be at the right distance from their stars to maintain a life-friendly temperature.
"This chain of logic is astounding, in my opinion, for a politician," Livio said. [The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Explained (Infographic)]
Churchill and science
Livio said Churchill saw value in science, but the statesman took a nuanced approach. He understood that science was necessary to win the war effort, but also established an atmosphere in which science was important in its own right, and he wanted it to be used to improve the world.
"As a result of that, in the 1950s, came all these great discoveries," Livio said, citing milestones like finding the structure of DNA and developing radio astronomy, which stemmed from work on radar. "Once you generate the framework and the infrastructure for science to thrive, then a variety of discoveries come."
But Churchill also emphasized that science should work to advance humanity, Livio said.
"Later in life, he also understood that one cannot do the science in what he would call a moral vacuum," Livio said. "You need to embed all the scientific research and discoveries also in the context of human values, and an understanding of the human condition."
Livio emphasized that today, science has serious problems to address, particularly regarding food resources, climate change and disease. Churchill's approach to science is necessary, Livio said.
"All of those [concerns] require serious scientific input, so there must be the mechanisms in place to get that scientific input, and the correct scientific input which means science advisors at high levels, and involvement of scientists in a variety of decisions concerning some of those challenges," Livio said. "It certainly doesn't help to shun sciences; some of these problems can turn into disasters if nothing is done."
As for the likelihood of life on other planets, over the past 20 years, scientists have discovered thousands of planets orbiting other stars and have made large strides in determining these worlds' characteristics remotely. But researchers have yet to discover definitive signs of life elsewhere in the universe, or to visit other planets in person to hunt for life. However, Churchill didn't want to put bounds on what advancing science or technology might bring, Livio said.
"When he discussed the possibility of traveling to other planets and things like that, he says, well maybe this isn't possible today but, he says, 'It is rash to set limits to the progress of science,'" Livio said. "Things that are not possible today, you shouldn't think that they would not be possible in the future."
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Experts from around the world gathered on Tuesday (Feb. 14) to discuss how humans can mitigate the threat of asteroid impacts, as well as to go over plans for future space probes and even for the mining of space rocks all ahead of the third annual Asteroid Day, which arrives June 30.
The Asteroid Day press conference (which you can watch on YouTube) was broadcast from Luxembourg, with some participants joining from Bucharest, Romania; London; and Silicon Valley. It included Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider and Britain's Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees.
"I think were all aware that we on spaceship Earth are vulnerable to impact from the outside," Rees said. "And for the first time, were in a position to remove this risk. International organizations should realize it's an environmental issue." [Potentially Dangerous Asteroids in Pictures]
Part of the effort to develop technologies to mitigate the risk of an impact will come from missions to the smaller bodies of the solar system, said Patrick Michel, principal investigator of the Asteroid Impact Deflection and Assessment mission (AIDA).
AIDA will be the first mission to a binary asteroid, and it will for the first time show how a small probe can maneuver around a small body. The mission consists of the European Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) and a NASA payload called Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The NASA payload is an impactor fired at the asteroid to see how much that action affects the space rock's trajectory, testing one method of moving asteroids away from paths headed toward Earth.
Beyond the importance of the hazards posed by asteroids, though, there is the science that can be done at these objects, Michel said.
"They are the best tracers of our solar system's history. They allow us to understand how planets form and how life emerged on Earth" he said. "They also correspond to the extreme conditions in terms of surface attraction, because they are so small, and we need to understand that to understand their evolution."
Knowing their histories will aid in using asteroids for purposes such as mining, Michel added.
Mining in space may become reality, said Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg's deputy prime minister and minister of the economy. Asteroid Day shows how Luxembourg can take a leading role, he added.
The country is home to SES, one of the largest satellite operators in the world, with more than 60 communications satellites. Schneider noted that the country has a lot o expertise in the space industry as a result.
"Asteroids are often seen as a threat but they are also an opportunity," Schneider said. "The use of space resources holds a large potential for future technological innovation. To ensure this vision becomes reality, [we] must increase understanding of asteroids and near-Earth objects."
He added that he was disappointed that the European Space Agency (ESA) did not approve an additional asteroid mission when the agency's member nations met to decide on future directions for exploration late last year.
Franco Ongaro, director of technology, engineering and quality at ESA, also expressed disappointment that the AIDA mission was not fully funded. Originally, it was budgeted at about 250 million euros ($264 million).
"We are working with industry to meet deadline and reduce cost to make it more affordable," he said.
The AIDA mission is funded from a different pool of funds than the science missions, Michel told Space.com. It is still scheduled for launch in 2020, but will need to cost less than 200 million euros ($211 million). "It will still fly," he said.
Former NASA astronaut Ed Lu, CEO of the B612 Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting Earth from asteroid strikes, said the outreach for Asteroid Day and missions like AIM are also about showing what people can do if they work together.
"I find it amazing that we are now at the point where we talk about changing the solar system, changing the actual structure and evolution of system for human good," he said. "I think this is what this is all really about."
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Published on Space.com.
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The British anticipate that slashing the country's corporate tax rate to an extremely low level will attract foreign companies, especially from European Union member states, to relocate there. That, London hopes, will bring both jobs for the country's workers and money for the state coffers -- perhaps even enough to compensate for the harm caused by the UK's departure from the EU.
It is a strategy that can work well for countries that aren't home to major industries and which don't produce many goods or offer any services themselves. They don't have much tax revenue to lose. But for most industrialized economies, which tend to be dependent on stable tax revenues, it is riskier. Britain is still home to a huge service and finance sector in addition to large industrial corporations. When the government slashes taxes to attract foreign companies, it will see tax revenues generated from domestic companies plunge. The bet, of course, is that the additional revenues from companies moving to the country will be greater than the taxes lost through the lower rates.
Foreign Policy Tool
But when measured against the plans being made in Washington, the UK's strategy is relatively harmless. Trump's ideas represent nothing less than systemic change, with his government transforming tax policy into a tool of foreign policy. In the crude worldview of the Trump camp, the American trade deficit is proof that countries with trade surpluses, like Japan and Germany, are systematically sucking prosperity from the U.S. And they intend to put a stop to this alleged plundering with the help of tax policy.
Republican economists have developed a model called "border adjustment," a plan whereby exports would be exempt from taxes but companies would not be able to deduct money they spend on imports. General Motors, for example, would no longer be able to deduct the money it spends on car parts from German manufacturer Bosch from its revenues. That means the U.S. carmaker would have to buy the parts from its taxed profits, making the German products more expensive and less attractive.
It doesn't take much imagination to see that such a systemic change would result in considerable turmoil in the global economy. And countries that rely heavily on exports, Germany first and foremost, would be hardest hit.
But consumers and companies in the U.S. would also suffer considerably, particularly those enterprises that are reliant on imports. Were they able to absorb the higher costs of importing the products they need, they would pass along those increases to consumers. That reduces consumer purchasing power, leaving them less money left over to buy other goods and services. The result would ultimately be a loss of prosperity.
If companies decided not to raise their prices, the higher cost of imports would reduce their profits, making them less likely to make investments. Other companies would likely be driven out of business entirely. Either way, it will be the workers who bear the brunt -- exactly those people who Trump is allegedly interested in helping.
'We Aren't Defenseless'
But if the U.S. does implement the "border adjustment" plan, the country would also risk undermining its tax revenues. The new model would present some American companies with extensive opportunities to reduce their own tax burdens. What, for example, would prevent Boeing from founding a subsidiary overseas to which it could then sell its airplanes? Legally, such planes would count as exports, which would be tax free under the plan. The savings would also apply to those planes that were reimported into the U.S. The company would be able to book the profits without paying taxes on them. And the chronically underfinanced U.S. government would suffer even greater shortfalls.
As such, Schauble and his team are hopeful that logic will prevail and the Americans will elect not to move ahead with the systemic shift. They remain, however, concerned about the possibility that an international race to reduce tax rates might ensue. And they have begun making preparations.
"We aren't defenseless," says one Finance Ministry official. "We also have alternatives." One of those is making adjustments to the foreign transaction tax law. The law currently considers income from abroad to be "passive income" and is not taxed, the assumption being that it has already been taxed in its country of origin, the UK for example. If Germany were to declare the UK to be a "low-tax country," however, that foreign income would then be added to a company's domestic earnings and taxed accordingly.
The Ministry, though, says that new instruments could also be introduced. The tax office could, for example, limit tax deductions on deliveries to Germany from British companies, a move which would limit the damages to Germany's coffers. Another possibility would be requiring banks to withhold a certain percentage of every payment made by a German company for imports from a British company and send it along to the tax office, a procedure known as "deduction of tax at source."
The advantages are clear: Such measures would limit the losses to German tax revenues. But the disadvantages are significant. They would represent a significant hindrance to the free trade of goods and services.
Alicante (Spain), 02/14/2017 (SPS) - The XI Congress of the Spanish Inter trade Union Confederation, held on 10, 11 and 12 February in the city of Alicante, has unanimously adopted a resolution in Solidarity with the Saharawi People And for the freedom of political prisoners.
With the participation of a delegation from the General Union of Workers of Saguia Hamas and Rio de Oro, (UGTSARIO), headed by Labedda Kasia, Head of International Relations and Cooperation, the XI Congress rejected the harsh sentences imposed on 25 Sahrawi by a Moroccan military court in 2012, in a farce trial and without procedural guarantees, sentenced nine of them to life imprisonment, four to 30 years' imprisonment, seven to 25 years, Three to 20 years and two to two years in prison.
The resolution recalled that the prisoners were accused of having participated in the organization of the Gdeim Izik Camp held at the end of 2010 outside the occupied city of El Aaiun, the capital of Western Sahara, and in which more than 20,000 Sahrawi protested In this way and peacefully against the violations by Morocco of human rights, the inequalities to which they are subjected, the mass dismissal of Saharawi workers, arbitrary and unwarranted trials, the looting of their natural resources (phosphates, fishing, sand ), etc.
After the pressures and mobilizations demanding the annulment of that trial and the freedom of the political prisoners, the military trial has been annulled, but they are still imprisoned and will again be tried, this time by a civil court, and without the minimum procedural guarantees.
The XI Congress of the Inter-Union Confederation reiterated solidarity with Saharawi political prisoners and rejected this new trial.
The resolution also recalled that the Moroccan administration has no legitimacy or competence to act against them, since the Kingdom of Morocco - as all international and United Nations resolutions dictate - has no jurisdiction or sovereignty over the Territory of Western Sahara.
In that regard, and in response to the international appeal launched by the UGTSARIO, the lawyers of the Inter trade Union Confederation have expressed their support to the group of more than 40 lawyers and jurists from different countries who are defending the Saharawi political prisoners, subject to a second trial In which innocent people are targeted.
"We are facing another episode of the conflict generated by the Moroccan invasion that has lasted for more than 41 years and has condemned hundreds of thousands of Sahrawis refugees in the Tindouf camps, while many others are being persecuted in their own territory, The Western Sahara. Only the cessation of occupation, respect for human rights, the release of Saharawi political prisoners and the exercise of the right to self-determination may open the way to a solution to this conflict, "said the resolution.
The XI Congress of the Inter- Trade Union Confederation demanded the cessation of the Moroccan occupation, called to set the date for the referendum of self-determination to which the Saharawi people are entitled and which the numerous resolutions of the United Nations and its Security Council recognize, and the Freedom of all political prisoners
Ladeda Kasisa, Head of International Relations at UGTSARIO, in addition to thanking the Inter- trade union Confederation for its solidarity and support for the workers and the Saharawi people in general, informed the congressmen about the latest developments related to violations of Human Rights In the Occupied Territories by the Moroccan occupying forces, the dramatic situation experienced by Saharawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons, the looting of natural resources.
Mr. Laabedda also held talks with trade union delegations participating in the XI Congress of the Inter- trade Union Confederation, France, Portugal and several communities in Spain, where he took the opportunity to inform his interlocutors about the latest developments in the Saharawi cause and Further strengthen relations between these organizations and UGTSARIO. SPS
125/090/TRA
Kampala (Uganda), February 15, 2017 (SPS) - Uganda has renewed its support for the struggle of the Saharawi people and their just cause for the self-determination and independence.
This came on the sidelines of the Secretary-General of the Ugandan Foreign Ministry, Mr. Patrick Mukwiya during a meeting with the Ambassador of the Saharawi Republic to Uganda Mr. Habib Mahfud Boukharas, where the discussion focused on the latest developments of the situation in the Western Sahara in the light of the crisis in Guergarat area , the Moroccan violations of the ceasefire agreement signed in 1991 between the parties to the conflict as well as the results of the 28th summit of heads of State and government of the African Union.
The meeting, which was attended by officials and high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uganda, through which the Saharawi ambassador thanked the Ugandan government in its ongoing support for the just cause of the Saharawi people. SPS
125/090/TRA
Chahid El Hafed, February 15, 2017 (SPS) -Minister of Foreign Affairs and member of the National Secretariat, Mohamed Salem Uld Salek, said Wednesday that Morocco to rejoin the African Union was forced to accept Which had previously rejected and thus recognize the reality of the African organization where SADR is member 39 in the African Union.
Mohamed Salem Uld Salek, in an interview with the Sahara Libre newspaper, stated that all Moroccan attempts had failed to exclude the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic from the African Union thanks to the firmness of the African Union which defends the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence.
Uld Salek added that the struggle of the Saharawi people and their just cause forced Morocco to recognize the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and freedom.
Mohamed Salem Uld Salek stressed that Morocco, with the signing of the African Union Constitutive Act, has officially recognized its internationally recognized borders, and if it tries to escape from its obligations, it will find itself in difficult situations and in isolation in Africa and in the world "Because the principles of the African organization are based on the liberation of the continent and its decolonization and are opposed to aggression and occupation of a territory by force," says the Foreign Minister. SPS
125/090/TRA
She will take up post later this year in succession to Professor David Hume.
Professor Riley is currently Professor of Infectious Disease Immunology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
With a background in veterinary medicine, human infectious diseases and global health, she has more than 30 years experience of research in the UK and Africa.
Professor Eleanor Riley said:
I am honoured and delighted to have been given the opportunity to lead The Roslin Institute. Roslin is one of the worlds most respected veterinary research organisations with a longstanding, global reputation for excellence in improving animal health, welfare and production. I look forward to guiding the Institute to continued success and to strengthening research collaborations at home and abroad.
The Roslin Institute is a UK National Institute of Bioscience. It carries out pioneering research in animal sciences with a particular focus on genetics and genomics, developmental biology, neurobiology and infection and immunity.
The Institute is embedded within the University of Edinburghs College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, which has a strategic focus on integrating research on human and animal health.
Professor Sir John Savill, Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said:
Professor Riley is an outstanding, internationally-respected scientist. She brings an impressive track record in leading major multi-partner projects in the UK and abroad. We are confident that her visionary leadership will cement The Roslin Institute as a global research leader in human and animal health.
T he big debate currently in the US business community is whether to collaborate or to confront.
Will business interests be best served by getting close to President Trump and his team so that business leaders on the inside will have the chance to tone down the administrations more damaging ideas before they get put into practice?
Or do we think instead that Trump does not do subtle in which case, if business wants to exert influence, it has to be prepared to confront and challenge him.
There ought to be scope for a similar debate in Britain as we begin the process of leaving the European Union.
Will the country be best served by collaborating with Theresa May? Or will it require confrontation so that Brexiteers are forced to listen?
But there is no such debate in the UK.
The City of London has been moved neither to collaborate nor to confront but merely to capitulate.
Read the speeches of six months ago, when every City figure of note was saying it was vital to retain passporting so that financial firms could maintain their current levels of free and open access to Europe.
They are not saying that now. They have capitulated before negotiations have even begun, and instead the City firms are clustering around the banner of equivalence, hoping to take advantage of barely used rules that were never designed for a country as big and powerful as the UK.
However, even this is a vain hope, so another red line will be abandoned before a shot has been fired.
Mark Hoban, one of the more intelligent politicians working on the Brexit plan (if that is not an oxymoron), has said on several occasions, including yesterday, that the equivalence regime is not fit for the UKs purpose.
He and a committee that looked into it found it incomplete, inconsistent and uncertain by which he means that the rules are not fully formed, admission is on a pragmatic case-by-case basis and the whole thing is entirely at the discretion of the EU.
That body can also withdraw the permission at any time. It just would not work for us.
Therefore, he has concluded that the way ahead is for Britain to have a bespoke deal its own special model arrangement for financial services.
The EU has maintained throughout that it is not going to grant any special favours because it does not want every other member state to follow suit with demands of their own, but this inconvenient fact is ignored.
The Governments working assumption is that the EU would agree because it is in no ones interests neither ours nor mainland Europes to have to endure the disruption that could happen to financial markets if we simply crashed out.
So the leading figures in the City are now wondering whether they should regroup around the idea of a bespoke deal.
It is, of course, another pipe dream for reasons explained in a moment, but they have been told in no uncertain terms by No.10 to curb their doubts.
Indeed, one of the parts of this story that no one talks about is how aggressive the Prime Ministers advisers none of whom has any real experience of the world outside the Home Office are in seeking to suppress dissent.
Criticism of the destructive tendencies of the Brexit ideologues driving the process is completely off limits.
No one is too big to be intimidated even the people running the major banks and insurance companies have been reduced to fuming in private.
Which brings us to the problem that is glossed over in the talk of a bespoke deal.
The difficulty is that to thrash out an agreement which delivers special terms to the UK even if it was confined to the narrow area of finance would legally amount to a new trade agreement between the EU and a third country.
As such, it is not within the gift of the Commission in Brussels to deliver.
Instead, the existing policy of the EU is that such an agreement requires the unanimous consent of all 27 member states, which between them have 39 national parliamentary chambers, and the rules dictate that it will not come into effect until the last one has signed.
Even if all these countries and legislatures wanted to give the UK such a deal and that is surely a big if it is hard to imagine how it can possibly be made to clear all the legislative hurdles in time to be of any use or comfort to the City.
So one has to ask if it is wise for so many financial firms to put their faith in this agreement.
Instead, the financial world and the business world in general would be better preparing for no deal at all.
The ideologically charged Brexiteers dont really care about the consequences of crashing out as long as Britain leaves and they by and large will not be the ones to suffer the consequences.
The sooner the country wises up to that reality, the sooner there might begin to be some effective opposition.
F or most of the past eight years, Britains High Street banks have been a disaster zone.
A national embarrassment. A hindrance to economic growth. A black hole of red ink, taxpayer bailouts real or implied rampant mis-selling and endless job cuts.
Next week, starting with HSBC on Tuesday and followed by Lloyds on Wednesday, Barclays on Thursday and Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday, we should see firm evidence that the banking crisis that began in 2008 is, finally, over.
Annual profit figures are likely to be strong, perhaps even better than the City is forecasting, with dividends either up or on the way up.
Banks being profitable usually sparks the publics ire.
Since they charge so much more to borrow than they pay us to save, they ought to always make a profit, goes the argument, even allowing for vainglorious expansion plans that bank chief executives tend not to be able to resist.
Still, thats less irritating than them going bust at our expense and needing a bailout. A profitable bank pays quite a lot of tax, too.
Perhaps it will be a sign of economic recovery when newspapers start complaining about excess bank profits again, something theyve missed doing for a long while.
RBS can be expected to spoil this happy picture, but even for it, there is some reason to think that the worst is in the past. There will be further thumping losses and thousands more job cuts, a dour end to the week.
Perhaps the main function of RBS at this point is as a hideous example to other banks: dont get big ideas. Or this is what happens to you.
The City mood on banks turned somewhat negative post-Brexit.
The market assumed there would be a spike in impairments; that volumes would fall and margins compress.
Instead, consumer confidence remained buoyant, borrowing costs fell and unemployment stayed low.
Ian Gordon, the banking supremo at Investec Securities, is one who feels upbeat. I think the big theme of next week will be a reversal of the knee-jerk downgrades post-Brexit, he says.
Heres our guide to the form:
HSBC
Profit forecast: $13.4 billion The shares have had a superb run and the bank seems for now to have stopped its tedious threats to move its business overseas. However, questions persist about whether it has enough surplus capital to maintain its dividend and to keep buying back its own shares. Strong point: global franchise Bad point: too big to manage Dont mention: how come there is no one on the board seemingly able to step up to replace chairman Douglas Flint (retiring soon)?
Barclays
Profit forecast: 3.9 billion A year ago, Barclays boss Jes Staley set out his plan to transform the bank. He would get out of Africa, exit other non-core countries and cut the divi to pay for the shake-up. Barclays would be a simpler affair: strong in investment banking in the City and New York. A pillar of the UK high street. On Thursday week, analysts will measure how he has done. Theres good reason for hope that a bank seemingly plagued by legacy issues is finally through them. PPI claims are nearly over. And the bank has settled most of its other issues, save the mortgage bonds mis-selling claim that it has won plaudits for standing up to the US Department of Justice over. Strong point: simpler strategy Bad point: revenues on the slide Dont mention: Donald Trump (Staley is not a fan)
Lloyds Banking Group
Profit forecast: 4.5 billion Theres pressure on Lloyds to pay a special divi to show it is fully back to form. Expect it to surprise on the upside here. The concern about Lloyds is it has bought credit-card giant MBNA just as the credit cycle is about to turn sour. Still, even if credit cards is a bubble that must burst, it isnt going to burst just yet. This year could be a transformational one for Lloyds. Once the PPI issue disappears, profits should suddenly boom. The question for the bank is whether it can again become what it was before it merged with HBOS a boring bank, an income stock. Strong point: rising dividends Bad point: too big in most areas to grow without competition inquiry Dont mention: The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Singapore.
Royal Bank of Scotland
Profit forecast: a loss of 5 billion. Losses since 2008 now top 50 billion Where to start? Perhaps the main problem remains the unknowns. Even after nine years of losses, we still dont know if weve hit the bottom of the well. The bank has set aside 3 billion to deal with US mortgage-bond litigation, but we dont know if thats a good guess or not. Expect news on more job cuts 15,000 have been reported but RBS says thats not a figure it recognises. Sadly, these will distract from the underlying numbers, which may not be too bad. Chief executive Ross McEwan has perhaps the worst job in banking. Hes been doing it since October 2013, so might soon decide hes had enough. Strong point: it cant get any worse Bad point: everything Dont mention: taxpayers getting money back
Challenger banks
T he suspected murder of Kim Jong-nam, elder brother of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, by alleged assassins at Kuala Lumpur airport this weekend has been likened to a scene from Macbeth.
But this is no costume drama from another era, for behind it lies the threat of a 21st-century nuclear conflict.
It now looks likely to be part of the most deadly nuclear poker game since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.
Kim Jong-un has form in the matter of dynastic murder. He had his uncle, and former consigliere of his fathers regime, unceremoniously dragged from a party meeting to meet a firing squad in 2013.
But why would the young dictator deem his somewhat dissolute elder half-brother as a threat?
Kim Jong-nam, 46, had been residing in the gambling haven of Macau. He had initially been the heir presumptive to their father Kim Jong-il.
However, he brought disgrace on North Korea after being arrested on a false passport in Japan. After his exile he became more interested in gambling, though he did make disparaging remarks about the current regime in Pyongyang.
Kim Jong-un is consolidating his regime again and he doesnt care who knows it
Kim Jong-un is consolidating his regime again and he doesnt care who knows it. More than 300 top officials have been excised from the governing hierarchy in the past few months. The murder of his half-brother fits the pattern.
He also wants to test the inexperienced US President Donald Trump.
A sure sign of this was the test firing of a section of an intercontinental ballistic missile at the very moment Trump was sitting down to sup with Japans prime minister Shinzo Abe at his Palm Beach retreat.
The missile plopped into the Sea of Japan after travelling slightly under 200 miles.
However, Australias defence ministry has concluded that it was only part of an entirely new missile which could soon hit Australian targets nearly 2,000 miles away.
The fear that now grips Beijing as much as Washington is that this is no game of bluff. Kim Jong-un is quite prepared to launch a first nuclear strike as he has said himself.
Defectors have revealed advanced plans for a lightning strike to take over the seat of government in Seoul.
North Korea now commands the fourth largest army in the world, with more than a million troops and reservists mobilised. It is now believed to be in possession of between 10 and 16 nuclear warheads.
Behind this military strength there remains a country that is falling to bits.
The prospect of a large proportion of North Koreas 24 million population seeking food and refuge in China remains a major preoccupation in Beijing.
How Trump handles North Korea and Russia may be the defining features of his presidencys foreign relations
For Trump, how he handles North Korea and Russia may be the defining features of his presidencys relations with the outside world.
So far he seems to be asking others, South Korea and Japan especially, to patrol the front line against Kim Jong-un even to countenancing them having their own tactical nuclear arsenals.
Its a sort of manoeuvre of strategic vigilance in depth based on tactical disengagement at the front.
This may be the clue to his manoeuvres over Russia, which has got the White House hierarchy into such a pickle.
By a tactical step-back with Russia a new detente even Trump can avoid getting involved in the mess called Europe, which he doesnt care for or care to know much about.
But given whats in store on the Korean peninsula and the marches of Eastern Europe this is no time to appear retreatist.
That would suit Kim Jong-uns script to a tee.
Q inetiq shares hit a record high on Wednesday after signalling that US military spending is on the up, reversing a long run of decline post-Iraq and Afghanistan.
The groups quarterly international revenues were slightly ahead of last year thanks to higher US orders, although the company said it still needs to ship the products.
The shares today rose 3.6%, 11p, to 289p before falling back to 278p.
The US has shown signs of resurgent spending over the past 12 months as part of its so-called third offset strategy, a doctrine launched by former secretary of defence Chuck Hagel to outflank rival militaries by developing better technology.
Demand for QinetiQs remote-controlled military robots, as seen in Hollywood Oscar winner the Hurt Locker and used to search for the Boston bombers, has been a main beneficiary as the US Department of Defence tries to keep soldiers out of harms way.
The launch of the US Navys next-generation aircraft carriers, named after former Presidents like Gerald Ford, has also driven demand for its aircraft launch systems.
QinetiQs US division is considered a prime candidate to benefit from any military tech developments as it is based in Massachusetts, near the intellectual hubs of MIT and Harvard.
T he London School of Economics is exhibiting photographs, placards and letters from campaigns to lower the age of consent for gay men, repeal Section 28, civil partnership and legal recognition for transgender people.
Celebrating 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the exhibition presents highlights in the struggle for legislation to bring about LGBTQ equality in the UK.
Glad to be Gay: the struggle for legal equality brings together highlights from LSEs Hall-Carpenter Archives and the Womens Library Collection, including items from when the first ever Gay Liberation Front meeting was held at LSE in October 1970.
Curator Gillian Murphy told the Standard the biggest challenge was telling lesbian history: One of my key pieces really is the Vera Jack Holme archive she was a cross-dressing actress and suggragette. I wanted to show that lesbianism did exist she had a partner.
In the collection: Vera Jack Holme / LSE
But obviously, the material for lesbian history is often hidden and we have to piece it together from what survives.
So what we have on display is her poem to her partner, is Evelina Haverfield, and we also have two photographs of them.
Watch the video above to see a sneak preview of the exhibition.
The free exhibition, launched to coincide with LGBT History Month, runs until April 7 at the LSE Library on 10 Portugal Street, Holborn.
1 . Is restaurant reviewing journalism, I ask myself at The Frontline Club restaurant? Well, I do sometimes go places where hardly anyone has been Here chef John Edwards supplies a frisky game Scotch Egg with soldiers.
2. One of The Guest Series at Lyles stars Daniela Soto-Innes, 25-year old Mexican head chef at Cosme NYC. Her cobia (black kingfish) collar, pastor adobo, pineapple is a highlight.
3. Meeting Tom Parker Bowles at The Wolseley, I eat fine kedgeree and just relish being there.
4. A soft opening at Lokhandwala Indian restaurant in Charlotte Street is more accurately a tepid one. Im sure Chicken Chettinad will soon hot up.
5. When I joined this newspaper in 1972, Simon Jenkins was features editor. At Clarkes in Kensington Church Street we start catching up over Scottish cod fillet with aioli, Umbrian lentils and baked fennel.
The dish
Lasooni scallop with Goan sausage, poha and seaweed at Indian restaurant Krickets Soho branch (4, 12 Denman Street, W1, kricket.co.uk). Lasooni means garlic seared scallops are coated in a coriander, green chilli and garlic butter then served with poha (flattened rice) and meat.
Chef Will Bowlby says: The scallops come in so fresh that we barely cook them theyre seared on the outside yet still soft in the middle. Puffed poha adds texture, while seaweed enhances the salty flavour.
The USP
Goan sausage. Its exclusive to the Soho (the original Brixton branch serves scallops without a topping). Bowlby says: The addition of home-made Goan sausage is there to bring out the meatiness of the scallop itself.
The restaurant
Kricket was founded by Bowlby and fellow Englishman Rik Campbell, who met at Newcastle University. Bowlby trained under Rowley Leigh at Le Cafe Anglais and went on to work in Mumbai then in an Indian restaurant in London. Campbell worked at Deloitte but left to team up with Bowlby and set up the original Kricket in a Brixton shipping container last year.
Since then theyve moved fast, building up a reputation for well executed, original takes on the classics. Lasooni scallop is a perfect example of the way they use seasonal British ingredients to create Indian dishes.
The drink
Potent cocktails from Krickets menu try a fragrant Himalayan Pine or take the edge off a spicy meal with a Chaitini (vodka, espresso, araku and cashew milk). Afterwards, head to Barrafina, which is one of Bowlbys favourite restaurants, for Spanish wine (26-27 Dean Street, W1, barrafina.co.uk).
The dessert
At Kricket they make things simple. You only have two dessert options: jaggery treacle tart, with ice cream to soothe you post-curry and Himalayan sea salt to add bite, or misti doi, a fermented yoghurt topped with pomegranate, rose and pistachio. If you want a post-curry stroll, there are two branches of Gelupo both five minutes away which does an excellent range of ice cream (1 Cambridge Circus and 7 Archer Street, W1, gelupo.com).
B rixton's food scene is incredibly multicultural, with plenty of treats from around the world on offer from the Caribbean and India, to the Middle East and beyond.
It can't be denied that gentrification has changed the face of Brixton over recent years, but it's also brought a uniqueness to the area, mixing the old with the new.
Despite rising rent prices, the area is home to a number of independent restaurants and, being such a sought-after place, many existing restaurants have opened sister branches in SW2.
Whether you're looking for a cheap eat or want to try something unusual, here's a round up of our favourite spots to dine at.
Boqueria
Exceptional tapas outside of Spain can be hard to find. The name of this place will be familiar to anyone who has travelled to Barcelona as its the same as the citys bustling food market one of the largest in Europe. Located on Acre Lane, youll find Spanish staples on the menu here. Great small plates include the gooey croquetas stuffed with Iberian ham and chicken and the cider-soaked chorizo. Noteworthy mains include a suckling pig with a crispy top and tender meaty layer underneath, as well as the grilled king prawns doused in garlic parsley for an authentic touch. Both food and wine is excellent value, with plates coming in below 9.
192 Acre Lane, SW2 5UL, boqueriatapas.com
Salon
This spot is a tale of two halves; downstairs lies a casual bar with snacks and sharing plates while upstairs is home to a more formal dining room without any pretentious fussiness. Seasonal European plates are on offer with either four or seven courses to choose from. Dont miss the signature dish which is the nduja croquettes bite-sized little bundles that combine substance, crispness, heat and sweetness.
18 Market Row, SW9 8LD, salonbrixton.co.uk
Elephant
Back in 2011 chef Imran Bashir set up this Pakistani cafe in Brixton Village Market. Seven years on and the food is everything you want Pakistani street cuisine to be. The compact menu oozes home-style touches from the thick, rich and perfectly spiced dhal to the creamy raita.
Brixton Village Market, SW9 8PS,
Naughty Piglets
The best food is made with love and theres plenty of that at this joint. The owners of Naughty Piglets, wine enthusiast Margaux Aubry and head chef Joe Sharratt, met when they worked together at Trinity in Clapham. The pair married and used their complimentary interests to set up this restaurant. The unassuming Brixton hotspot offers small sharing plates that celebrate the best of British but also nod to other worldly cuisines, like the Korean spiced BBQ pork and the Middle Eastern inspired grilled pear with Jerusalem artichokes. On the drinks list youll find natural and organic wines.
28 Brixton Water Ln, SW2 1PE, naughtypiglets.co.uk
Kricket
(Hugh Johnson ) / Hugh Johnson
Rik Campbell and Will Bowlbys Kricket started in Brixton but not at this Atlanta Road location. The site was originally located in a shipping container at Pop Brixton. Now, three years on, the restaurant family is made up of three siblings, with branches in Soho and White City. You cant mention Kricket without samphire pakoras springing to mind they feature on the menu here alongside old favourites like the Keralan fried chicken. The Indian-inspired roasts are also worth making the trip for, they change every week but always include beautifully spiced meat with a whole host of inventive sides a twist on traditional roasties and gravy.
41-43 Atlantic Rd, SW9 8JL, kricket.co.uk
Okan Okonomiyaki
Cheap eats in an area undergoing gentrification can be hard to come by, but this no-thrills Japanese joint specialises in Osaka street food at affordable prices. The menu is stripped back, offering just three mains yaki soba, udon noodles and okonomiyaki (a traditional Savoury Pancake) but there are roughly 10 different flavours to choose from for each. The must-try dish here is the pork Okonomiyaki which is filled with tender pork belly and comes with a punchy Japanese mayonnaise and seaweed flakes.
Brixton Village, SW9 8PS, okanbrixtonvillage.com
The best dishes in Brixton for under 10 - In pictures 1 /10 The best dishes in Brixton for under 10 - In pictures Keralan Fried Chicken at Kricket - 7 Hugh Johnson Jerk bowl at Rum Kitchen - 9.50 Jerk chicken wrap at Mamas Jerk - ? Gambas at Seven at Brixton - 7.75 Truffle pizza at Made of Dough - 9 Okan Special Okonomiyaki at Okan - 10 Spaniard crepe at Senzala - 9.80 The Dip & Flip Burger at Dip & Flip - 9.95
Nanban
This Kyushu-style ramen bar is the brainchild of former MasterChef winner Tim Anderson and specialises in Japanese comfort food. The term deep-fried pops up time and time again on the menu, offering an alternative to the miso soup and raw fish that many associate with Japanese cooking. The menu certainly doesnt hold back, boasting hearty, belt-loosening dishes like the fiery crispy chicken wings with a scotch bonnet honey ponzu butter and the nose-to-tail pork broth ramen.
426 Coldharbour Ln, SW9 8LF, nanban.co.uk
Fish, Wings & Tings
Brixton is a hotbed of authentic Caribbean food and this restaurant located in the Granville Arcade is a great spot to lay your hands on some lesser-known treats. Trinidadian chef Brian Danclair brings his 'Nouvelle Caribbean cuisine' to the menu, merging techniques to offer regional dishes and street food. Traditional favourites like the meaty curried goat and the fiery reggae chicken wings will leave you full-bellied but also wanting to order more.
Brixton Village, SW9 8JL, fishwingsandtings.com
Agile Rabbit
Nothing quite warms the heart like pizza a winning combination of gooey melted mozzarella, tangy tomato base and the airy dough hits the spot every time. This independent pizzaria housed within Brixton Village Market is a favourite amongst locals. Guests have two options either pizza, which comes large, thin and crispy, or an airy calzone.
Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8PR, theagilerabbit.london
Joan Smalls is one of the most sought-after models in the fashion industry. But at 13, an agent told her she could succeed only if she straightened her teeth because she already faced difficulty by being black.
In an interview with the fashion edition of ES Magazine, to mark the start of London Fashion Week on Friday, Smalls described how she has had to work harder than most to succeed because of the colour of her skin.
Last year the model, 28, a campaign star for Bottega Veneta and Michael Kors, was one of only three non-white women on Forbess list of the 20 highest-earning models, with an estimated salary of 3.5 million.
Smalls, from Hatillo in Puerto Rico, flew to New York at the age of 13 to speak to an agent she had met at a school modelling competition.
She said: When I arrived, the first thing he told me was that I needed to straighten my teeth. I said, But Ive seen other models with crooked teeth, why do I have to? He said: Well, Joan, because youre black, and that is already going to be a difficulty in this industry.
But instead of putting her off, the comment spurred her to succeed You know, he was just being so straightforward, she said. I respected that he was being honest with me thats my type of personality. I took [what he said] as constructive criticism. Im like, You know what, thats true.
So she returned home, began wearing braces and raced through a psychology degree at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, completing the course a year early. She joked: My dad would always say to me, Youve got to get your education because those looks will fade.
(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images ) / Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
After graduating, she returned to New York where, in 2009, she was signed by Elite Model Management. She found success as a commercial model but said she decided she needed to aim higher. So she switched to her current agency, IMG, and secured a breakthrough shoot for Givenchy Haute Couture working 12 hours straight from 3am.
She said: I remember telling myself, Make the best out of it, go hard. I kept telling myself, This is what you wanted, Joan and I never complained. I did it with a smile and gratitude because when you want something so badly, when youre so hungry, you think, Im going to take it. And that changed e-ver-ything. After that everyone saw me in a different light.
She has been in working ever since, for labels including Chanel, Versace and Dior. In 2011, she became the first Latina model to represent Estee Lauder. Of working so hard, she said: I was always driven in knowing that its a career. Im not doing it because its fun and want to go to the parties.
D iamonds are a girls best friend and yet theyre tacky for anyone under 40; the advice is conflicting. Thankfully the biscuits of the same name dont come burdened with the same rhetoric so you can enjoy them at ease over a cup of Scandi-strength coffee.
My love affair with cardamom started when I journeyed solo across Sweden a few years ago. After an 18 hour train journey from the depths of the Arctic, I arrived in Stockholm, found myself a little cafe on Sodermalm and had my first ever cardamom bun. Maybe it was the peculiar exhaustion one gets from travelling but I can boldly claim I have never been so sated from a knot of dough.
It was during this same trip that I first met my French friend who would unwittingly spur me to move to France to learn the art of patisserie. These dainty biscuits are a nod to her influence: a bitesize fusion of French and Scandinavian baking.
Getting their name from the glimmer of sugar around the edge, Diamonds can be infused to suit the receivers palate if cardamom isnt your bag. Vanilla is undisputable, citrus zest too. Rosewater in the mixture with a singular pistachio on top would really not go amiss. Mix it up: it is your blank biscuity canvas.
Ingredients (makes around 40 small biscuits)
225g butter
320g flour
100g icing sugar
Around 7 cardamom pods
Pinch of salt
Sugar, for coating
1-2 egg yolks for egg wash
Method
1. With a pestle and mortar, grind the cardamom seeds until fairly fine. Add this to your dry ingredients along with cubed butter and rub with your fingertips until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. On a clean work surface, tip your mixture directly in front of you on the work surface. Using the bottom of your palm spread the mixture away from you, bit by bit, to smear in the butter, a technique known as fraisage. This is a technique you must try when making shortcrust pastry too - the end result is a much better, flakier pastry, and who doesnt want that? You might have to fraisage the mix a couple of times but, as soon as it starts to come together, stop, so as not to overwork it, and form into a ball - use a dough scraper to clear your surface and bring together any AWOL crumbs.
3. Divide your dough into 4 parts and roll each one into a long cylinder - you will be cutting your biscuits from these so roll to your desired diameter - mine were about 3cm across. Pop these into the fridge.
4. Whilst these are chilling, heat your oven up to 160C / Fan 140C / Gas mark 3. Prepare a plate or tray with sugar - I used granulated but caster will give a finer, more refined finish. Also prepare your egg yolks and a pastry brush. Line your baking sheets too if they are of the non-stick variety.
5. After about 15 mins in the fridge, remove a cylinder at a time and brush with egg yolk and then roll in sugar to coat. With a small, sharp knife, cut decisively into 1cm thick discs and place on your prepared baking sheets, evenly spaced allowing for a little spreading. With your thumb, press in the middle so that there is a little crater in each.
6. Continue with the remaining cylinders. If you find you are taking a little longer, or have to attend to other matters in the interim, return your dough or baking sheets to the fridge in order to keep them chilled; this will prevent your biscuits baking into a shortbread leviathan. Dont worry, its happened to us all.
7. Bake for around 18 minutes, or until they are a pale golden colour. Leave to cool on a wire rack and, if at all possible, enjoy a few of them whilst still warm. In fact, I insist.
If you are providing as a gift, put in an airtight container where they will keep for several days but best to present them as fresh as you can.
Fiona MacConnacher is a Patisserie Graduate from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Follow her on Instagram @thecapedpatissiere or on Twitter @fifimacc
J ust over a decade ago, a notoriously-boozy City PR man was called into his bosss office. The liquid lunches had become too obvious there had been complaints about him staggering back to his desk five hours after he was last at it. The interns didnt like all the shouting. His expense account, with its extra zero compared with his colleagues, was starting to rankle.
Things had to change, his boss ruled sympathetically for this was a man who was, before lunchtime anyway, at the top of his game.
He could squash a bad news story in a phone call. Clients liked him, FTSE 100 firms signed because of him. So why lose him over something so trivial as drink? His punishment was the imposition of a new rule: if you have not finished lunch by 3pm, dont come back to the office.
It might not have happened anywhere else but the City, and HR didnt want to know about it, but the deal suited both parties.
That was back in the day when the most high-rolling merger or acquisition was done via a magnum-fuelled handshake in a dark bar on a sunny afternoon; when a trader-client meet-up wasnt complete until they staggered out of a strip joint in the early hours; when, as one in red braces reminisces: I was taken out for lunch to celebrate my engagement by a well-known City bon viveur, and we consumed five bottles of chablis between us.
He staggered back to his flat in Ladbroke Grove and fell into a cold bath to sober up before meeting my in-laws for dinner. I fell asleep and was woken by the phone hours later, virtually suffering from hypothermia. What did the boss say about his absence from his desk that afternoon and the next day? No one noticed.
Boozy banker: The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio. / Mary Cybulski
No longer. The financial crisis of 2008 saw strait-laced Americans with their humourless, all-conquering, human resources departments sweep in. So long Wolf of Wall Street style excess.The strip club visits and departmental coke sessions might not have been as frequent as everyone thought in the City, but they certainly ended with the financial crisis, muses one ex-trader. And most City investment banks have been dry ever since. Or so theyll claim.
This week, insurance behemoth Lloyds of London made it official, ordering its employees not to drink alcohol during the day, with a nine-to-five booze ban which could see supping staff sacked for gross misconduct. Analysis of employee disciplinary cases over the past two years found roughly half were related to alcohol misuse, apparently.
Its the latest act of the now mighty HR and compliance departments, those once laughed-at dusty parts of the office which now practically run the Square Miles biggest institutions. Theyve basically stopped anything fun, says the ex-trader, who admittedly has a vendetta after having the ex added to his job title without much of a pay-off by one such department.
Still, dont expect the pubs and bars in Leadenhall Market at the foot of the Lloyds building to empty quite yet. The City is laughing that the ban covers Lloyds employees about 800 of them but not the underwriters and brokers who make the insurance market and tot up its lengthiest bar bills.
As Roger Foord, a Lloyds of London veteran and technology consultant, puts it: There would be uproar if the ban was extended to the brokers and underwriters because the bars and restaurants are part of the ethos of the market. Weve often joked that one day theyll introduce breathalysers at the door when people come back from their 3pm lunches.
/ Shutterstock / Creative Lab
How will it be policed? Lloyds wont say. But undoubtedly even its rule will be broken for people who are good at making money. If a broker lands a 50 million insurance contract but admits it was secured over a boozy lunch, the firm wont be ripping up the deal.
The nine-to-five part of the ban is also notable says another insurance market-maker, trying to reassure himself of future expenses booze bills being passed, given that most of our boozing starts at 5.01.
But its still a big move from Lloyds, since the 300-year-old insurance market has remained resolutely old-style City while the suits commuting to its skyscraper neighbours investment banks and bean-counters, mainly have largely swallowed their employers dull corporate reinventions.
Shutterstock / Monkey Business Images
At Lloyds, deals are still being done over a few bottles of very nice red as a matter of course, and putting in set hours of face-time in the office doesnt usually matter as long as youre writing enough business, says one. Youd be signing a contract that involved working out the odds on a big plane crash over vodka shots. It became normal to us and while everyone thought insurance was boring, we knew it really, really wasnt. So not boring, in fact, that one (now former) Lloyds insurance worker, Victoria Neville, used her high-profile office as the backdrop for her novel, Thursday Night, Monday Mornings, about Tony Ton Up Greenwood (the ton referring to the number of women in the office that hes snared), who followed afternoon working booze sessions with sex in the lifts.
Amazons reviews seem largely to be written by Nevilles former colleagues and they complain about her language but not the setting or its veracity. In fact, one Lloyds marine insurance broker writes: If you work in the Lloyds market you will recognise the antics and events unless youve religiously gone home at five every evening and never gone out in Leadenhall Market on a Thursday night and next been fully conscious on Monday morning.
But there is no doubt things have changed: the Citys receding boozing culture is real. A decade ago a teetotal first-year investment banker I knew (on 60,000 basic) moaned to me: Im not sure I can do this. Working till four in the morning and being back at my desk by eight ... the hours, I can cope with; the misogyny I can deal with that, I was at Cambridge. But sipping another lime and soda and hoping they all think its a G&T isnt working any more. I think Im going to get kicked out Ive already been taken aside by a superior for not embracing the way things are done around here.
No longer, she confirms. Drinking just isnt a regular thing any more. Sure, theres the occasional epic six-figure bar bill celebration, and if youre invited to Wimbledon or the rugby its not going to be a quiet one. But on a normal Tuesday lunchtime even the wide-boy traders are guzzling green juice or at the gym together ahead of their weekend triathlon. The work-hard, play-hard thing has become a lot more serious.
One reason for that is because Giles on the derivatives desk no longer has his bonus handed over on a gilded plate he has to do some work for it. And he really, really needs it, what with the rising Eton fees and the ridiculous service charge on his gated-community Cotswold weekend pad, while that Yank at the next desk along, Riley with his MBA from Columbia, is worryingly starting to be talked about more than he is.
Best pubs, bars and party spots on the Night Tube 1 /48 Best pubs, bars and party spots on the Night Tube The Drapers Arms 44 Barnsbury Street, N1, thedrapersarms.com Named after the cloth-cutters who once inhabited the area, The Drapers Arms is probably the best pub in London right now. This is mainly thanks to Nick Gibson, the wonderful manager/owner, and a stellar wine list, amazing pies, and Sunday roasts that are better than your mums. There are also frequent events to support Action Against Hunger such as the recent Too Many Chefs, where 10 of the capitals most brilliant cooks, including Neil Rankin and Will Bowlby, cooked an unforgettable 10-course meal and dangerously good bin-end event Drink the List, where you have access to every bottle in the place. Hic. Victoria Line North: Highbury and Islington Black Axe Mangal 156 Canonbury Road, N1, blackaxemangal.com Barely a minutes walk from Highbury & Islington lies former St John chef Lee Tiernans tiny, graffitied haute kebab restaurant. Granted, you wont be able to hear anything for a week after an evening of hardcore heavy metal but its worth it for the mind-blowing grub on offer. Or rather, on offal: think foie gras or smoked cods roe, Mission Chinese-spiced mutton and a lamb offal flatbread thats like a smoky flavour-packed punch in the mouth. It doesnt take reservations but Tiernans kebabs are worth queuing in rain, hailstones or a hurricane for. Victoria Line North: Highbury and Islington Adrian Lourie Almeida Theatre Almeida Street, N1, almeida.co.uk In the past 35 years, the Almeida has become one of Londons most well-known theatres outside of the West End, thanks to its penchant for new talent alongside marvellous reinterpretations of the classics. Recent productions have included Ben Whishaw in Bakkhai and Ralph Fiennes in Richard III. The next big thing is Anne-Marie Duff in eco drama Oil, before Andrew Scott takes to the stage as Hamlet alongside Juliet Stevenson. Priority tickets for that go on sale on August 30. Victoria Line North: Highbury and Islington Wikimedia Commons Rowans 10 Stroud Green Road, N4, rowans.co.uk Anyone who grew up in north London will have spent multiple birthday parties screaming and slurping slushies while haphazardly flinging bowling balls in this retro tenpin alley. Now its time to return as an adult, to, well, scream and slurp slushies while haphazardly flinging bowling balls. Except this time you can drink alcohol and keep tossing balls until 2am to the lively tunes of one of the venues DJs. Victoria Line North: Finsbury Park Yard Sale Pizza 54 Blackstock Road, N4, yardsalepizza.com Pizza aficionados will already be well versed in the joys of a Yard Sale pizza dough master Nick Buckland and his teams original site in Hackney was a pilgrimage site for melted mozzarella lovers. Now theyve brought their massive 18-inch sourdough pizzas to the Victoria line. Sausage fans should head straight for the Holy Pepperoni: Cobble Lane pepperoni, Napoli picante and crumbled nduja sausage. Wash it down with a Five Points Ale or four. Victoria Line North: Finsbury Park Park Theatre Clifton Terrace, N4, parktheatre.co.uk This gem of a theatre which only opened in 2013 is a prime spot for seeing a future Ian McKellen, or the work of the next Trevor Nunn, for a fraction of the price. Book tickets now for The Burnt Part Boys, a musical about the miners. Or just come for the cafe, which has great cakes and is dog-friendly to boot. Victoria Line North: Finsbury Park Eat 17 28 Orford Road, E17, eat17.co.uk What started as a community-minded grocery has expanded into a pilgrimage spot for food lovers, partly thanks to the superlative bacon jam made there. Yep, bacon jam: a sticky, sweet, smoky, piggy spread that makes pretty much any sandwich in the world into a Michelin-starred experience. Theres also a cracking on-site restaurant that bakes its own bread, uses impeccably sourced ingredients, and serves such spectacular snacks as chorizo jam and mascarpone crostini, and jalapeno poppers. Victoria Line North: Walthamstow Wildcard Brewery Ravenswood Industrial Estate, E17, wildcardbrewery.co.uk Granted, the bleak patch of wasteland that is the Ravenswood Industrial Estate doesnt look like the kind of place you want to hang around after dark. But you will if youre into really good craft beer and late-night DJ sets from people youve actually heard of (Tame Impalas Jay Watson recently played). Start with a Brew Your Own session (bacon sarnies included) then neck a pint or three of Wild Cards marvellous caramelly Ace of Spades porter on the rickety outside picnic tables before the music starts. By the time you leave, youll wish you lived on an east London industrial estate. Victoria Line North: Walthamstow Ben Rowe The Bell 617 Forest Road, E17, belle17.com A classic real ale pub thats made for parents, the Bell also happened to win Camras east London pub of 2015. Thats got to have something to do with its glorious Sunday roasts, complete with a nut roast thats not only edible but so tasty, it might be worth skipping the roast chicken for. It can also lay claims to having Walthamstows best pub quiz. Victoria Line North: Walthamstow Google Maps Brunswick House 30 Wandsworth Road, SW8, brunswickhouse.co This stunning wreck of a Georgian mansion, originally built for the Duke of Brunswick in 1758, was rescued by salvager Lassco. Now its home to one of south Londons best modern British restaurants. Its run by Jackson Boxer and Andrew Clarke, who turn out phenomenal daily changing dishes such as roast Swaledale veal and chocolate cumin pudding. All the antiques on display are for sale too, so dont be surprised if you find yourself clutching a fringed Twenties lamp after one too many Hemingway Daiquiris. Victoria Line South: Vauxhall Matt Writtle Pharmacy 2 Newport Street, SE11, pharmacyrestaurant.com Dont worry if you werent there for the original debauchery of Damien Hirst and Mark Hixs first restaurant, Pharmacy. Now theres Pharmacy 2, attached to Hirsts Newport Street gallery, which has just started hosting late-night sessions until 2am every Saturday. Contemplate the floating basket balls in the Jeff Koons Now exhibition until 10pm, then hit restaurant next door for Black Cow vodka cocktails, Hixs posh curry sauce n chips and surprise DJ sets. Victoria Line South: Vauxhall Royal Vauxhall Tavern 372 Kennington Lane, SE11, vauxhalltavern.com The RVT truly is a South London institution. The Grade II-listed Victorian music hall has been threatened with closure multiple times, but outrage and fabulous protests from its die-hard LGBT community has always saved it. A wonderfully welcoming atmosphere with spectacular cabaret and drag acts, live music, bingo and a hell of a lot of Britney and Madonna that has, as they put it, been Serving confirmed bachelors and friends since long before Kylie was born. Victoria Line South: Vauxhall Google Maps Crown and Anchor 246 Brixton Road, SW9, crownandanchorbrixton.co.uk Perfect for craft beer snobs whose mates refuse to visit another chilly, uncomfortable microbrewery in a car park or railway arch. This cosy pub has armchairs rather than barrels masquerading as seats, as well as a huge range of small-batch London brews from Gipsy Hill to Northern Monk and a weekly pub quiz. Victoria Line South: Stockwell Google Maps The Cavendish Arms 128 Hartington Road, SW8, thecavendisharmsstockwell.co.uk Locals know this place as the Cav and rock up to giggle/grimace at the weekly comedy open mic nights while tucking into giant gourmet hot dogs and its famous three-cheese disco fries. At the weekends, its open until 1.30am, when theres also free live music from up to five acts in the ballroom because whats a pub without a ballroom? Victoria Line South: Stockwell LOST Theatre 208 Wandsworth Road, SW8, losttheatre.co.uk This tiny theatre might only seat 180, but from small things come massive actors: in its previous Fulham incarnation, it counted Ralph Fiennes and Mackenzie Crook as alumni. Frequent art exhibitions from emerging talent are held in its event space, but the main draw is the bargainous ticket price for offbeat plays from up-and-coming thesps. Grab the last few tickets to drag-centric comedy Do You Have a Secret Crush, or hold out for meta-comedy A Night at 64 Emptiness Lane, which starts its run on September 1. Victoria Line South: Stockwell James Thacker POP Brixton 49 Brixton Station Road, SW9 , popbrixton.org All day, late-night market built from shipping containers. Small businesses selling fashion and homewares are invited to pop up during the day, but in the evening its all about the brilliant street food traders, like Indian small plate restaurant Kricket and pizza maestros Made of Dough. Wash down your dinner with some surprising New World wines courtesy of NZ Wine Cellar. POP has just opened its outdoor space, POP Fields as well, where its running silent discos and movie screenings: Rocky and 500 Days of Summer are coming up in September. Victoria Line South: Brixton Dogstar 389 Coldharbour Lane, SW9, dogstarbrixton.com Mostly held up by scaffolding and with smeary, curtain-swathed windows, Dogstar might look like the kind of place youd normally cross the road to avoid. But this so-grotty-its-great stalwart of Atlantic Road has stood the test of time for many reasons: set over three floors, its huge, and plays hosts to all manner of themed nights. Drinks are super cheap, the on-site pizzas are surprisingly great and there are big TV screens so good luck getting in if theres any kind of sporting event occurring. Open till 4am on Friday and Saturday nights, so you practically dont need the Night Tube anyway. Victoria Line South: Brixton Ritzy Brixton Oval, SW2, picturehouses.com Sure, the Ritzy shows films, but it has so many other cool events on as well, such as weekly yoga, blues nights, and quizzes in its event space Upstairs at the Ritzy. There are also lots of Q&A sessions with actors and film directors, plus a cafe cum restaurant serving a healthy selection of booze. Just try not to fall asleep during a late movie. Victoria Line South: Brixton Tim Kerr/Photocall Productions Satan's Whiskers 343 Cambridge Heath Road, E2, twitter.com Regularly nabbing one of the top spots in the Worlds Best Bars list, Satans Whiskers is the kind of cocktail bar you want up your sleeve for when your coolest out-of-town friends come to stay. Theres taxidermy, neon, excellent old-skool hip hop and some seriously good drinks although dont expect to walk out unaided after more than two Tuxedo #2s: gin, vermouth, maraschino, bitters and absinthe. Ooft. Central Line East: Bethnal Green The Horn of Plenty 36 Globe Road, E1, thehornofplentypub.co.uk Are you feeling lucky, punk? During the Horns happy hour, drinkers must play rock paper scissors with the bartender you only get your half-price booze if you beat them. Theres a long, long list of Bloody Marys on offer and board games for when youve drunk six pints and have a hankering to relive your childhood days as a Boggle champion. Central Line East: Bethnal Green The George Tavern 73 Commercial Road, E1, thegeorgetavern.co.uk Possibly the hippest pub in London, with regular performances by post-punk minimalist two-pieces and more funk and soul than you can shake a pint glass at. But its also got history the George is on the site of a 700-year-old tavern mentioned in the writings of Charles Dickens, Samuel Pepys and Geoffrey Chaucer. Besides, youd have to be made of stone to not enjoy the regular East End Variety Bunker nights, which promise singalong tunes, party games, and general camp old nonsense. Open until 3am at weekends. Central Line East: Bethnal Green The George Tavern Here East Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20, hereeast.com Theres nothing like an Olympic venue to make you want to stuff your face with chips and craft beer. Lucky, then, that the Here East development has just opened in the old Olympic Press and Broadcast Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Theres lots of rentable offices and working spaces, but more importantly, theres excellent grub on offer in this charming canalside spot. Randys Wings serve up some of Londons best chicken wings good luck not becoming addicted to its Korean-inspired Gangnam wings, sticky and deeply umami-ish while Mason and Company combines the excellent Five Points Brewery with Italian-American comfort food. Capiche? Central Line East: Stratford Tap East 7 International Square, Westfield Stratford City, E20, tapeast.co.uk Westfield isnt just clothes shopping and cinema you know its also home to an excellent microbrewery. In the Great Eastern Market area of the shopping centre is Tap East, with a huge selection of beer: 100 bottles from around the world, plus 16 on tap from its on-site brewery, such as East End Mild and Johnny Park Bitter. Drink them by the third so you can sample as many as possible. If youre a vinyl junkie, tweet the bar the albums youre dying to hear, then rock up to the weekly vinyl night to find out if your Seventies mod-revival choice has made the cut. Central Line East: Stratford Tap East Blog Flamingo Pier CRATE Brewery, 7, The White Building, Queens Yard, E9, flamingopier.net What makes a pop-up, booze-soaked party even better? Palm trees and flamingos, obviously. DJ Luke Walker teams up with the excellent CRATE brewery home to craft beer, pizza, and a lot of vibes each month to throw mega parties, with a ridiculous amount of booze and choons. Theyve recently moved homes to Micks Garage, which means you can refuel after dancing your socks off with Middle Eastern mezze from Berber and Qs Shuk Shuk alongside all the CRATE beer. Central Line East: Stratford Ravi Chand Leyton Technical 265 High Road, E10, leytontechnical.com No, you havent accidentally wandered into a stately home, despite the soaring ceilings, mosaic floors and chandeliers. Because which National Trust joint have you ever known with seven Cask Marque ales on tap, live DJs playing every weekend until 1am and a weekly comedy night called Are You Having a Giraffe? Its vegetarian Wellington on Sundays is an oozy, crispy slab of cheesy goodness. Dogs are allowed. Central Line East: Leyton Luna Lounge 7 Church Lane, E11, lunalounge.info Live music buffs will have already made it out to this haven of all things jazz, acid, funk and well, any other variety of music you care to name. Like an actual monthly Western night stetsons at the ready. Not only is it open until 1am, its also within spitting distance of the Tube for when you tear yourself away from the choons. Central Line East: Leyton Andy Field The Leyton Star 116 High Road, E15, leytonstar.co.uk The Star opened its doors just a month ago, but it has already become a staple in the craft beer drinkers diet. Make the most of the dying days of summer in the beer garden (theres a massive golden palm tree!). Plus the quite excellent We Serve Humans are doing the food: that means mental burgers like Mac the Ripper (deepfried mac n cheese) and jockey whips: chips fried in beef dripping, topped with truffle. Drool. Central Line East: Leyton The Leyton Star Bush Theatre 7 Uxbridge Road, W12, bushtheatre.co.uk A real incubator for new and emerging talent, this titchy theatre by Shepherds Bush market has a reputation for being the first to show plays which go on to open in the West End and on Broadway. The Old Library, its home since 2011, is being refurbished to turn it into a modern space with more rehearsal rooms for amateur thesps and a technical workshop for budding production staff. Fingers crossed itll still serve the same amazing coffee and cakes. Central Line West: Shepherds Bush Bush Theatre Shikumen Dorsett Hotel, 58 Shepherds Bush Green, W12, shikumen.co.uk When made well, xiao long bao, the Chinese soup-filled dumplings, are some of the most delicious morsels on earth. And the examples at this unpromising-looking restaurant just off Shepherds Bush Green are superb. Theyve won over critics from Fay Maschler to Giles Coren thanks to their super-delicate skins and umami-ish broth. The restaurant has just launched a rainbow collection of multi-coloured dumplings, including beetroot-coloured Szechuan spicy pork and incredibly decadent black charcoal-dyed lobster truffle. Central Line West: Shepherds Bush Hugh Flouch/Red Wheelbarrow Brewdog 15 Goldhawk Road, W12, brewdog.com Londons not short of brilliant craft beer but it was BrewDog which really kicked off our obsession with punchy, hoppy IPAs. Although the pub chain has its detractors, the beer is still excellent, and the Goldhawk Road bar gives you the opportunity to try a dangerous amount. There are 40 different types on tap, from the bars classic Punk IPA through to the innocent-sounding but deadly Hello, My Name Is Ingrid, which clocks in 8.2%. Theres a healthy selection of guest beers and some stonking nachos to soak up all that hoppy goodness. Central Line West: Shepherds Bush Pergola on the Roof Multi-Storey Car Park, Television Centre, Wood Lane, W12, pergolaontheroof.co.uk London loves a good rooftop party. In W12, everyones getting high at the old BBC Television Centre, which has been taken over by a huge array of benches, boules pitches and leaves. Theres also some cracking food from burger legends Patty & Bun and tapas from Salt Yard, plus bathtubs of rose and beer. But get your skates on youve only got until August 29 to get up there and eat yourself silly. Central Line West: White City Albertine 1 Wood Lane, W12, albertinewinebar.co.uk Wine, wine and more wine at this 40-year-old drinking hole. Opened specifically to serve the needs of thirsty BBC employees, particularly those on Newsnight, the quaint bars extremely reasonably priced wine selection has kept the place busy despite the Beebs exodus from the area. The farinata and sticky aromatic pork belly are delicious but really, youre here for the plonk. Most are available to take away, although youll never recreate this convivial atmosphere at home. Central Line West: White City Bush Hall 310 Uxbridge Road, W12, bushhallmusic.co.uk ince 1904, this huge Edwardian space has been a dance hall, Second World War soup kitchen, bingo hall and rehearsal space for such as The Who, Cliff Richard and Adam Faith. Now its primarily a music venue (Ellie Goulding, Adele and Kings of Leon have all played here), although it also serves as a rather lovely event space. And you know that bloke you met in Brixton earlier in this feature? Reader, you can marry him here. Central Line West: White City Vindinista 74 Churchfield Road, W3, vindinista.com Sister to East Actons best wine shop, Park + Bridge, this tiny bar serves really interesting wines, including English white and skin-contact. Locals throng in for the regularly changing stock, sniffing and swilling small production grape juice as if they know exactly what theyre talking about. Even if your wine knowledge ends at light and fruity, you can focus on the short, high-quality food menu: empanadas sit alongside charcuterie boards and the rather fabulous Vindinista cheese and truffle toastie. Central Line West: East Acton The Aeronaut 264 Acton High Street, W3, aeronaut.pub f you like trapeze with your Trappist beer and somersaults with your cider and frankly, who doesnt? you need to try the Aeronaut. Established in honour of Acton-born aviation pioneer George Lee Temple, the first man to fly a plane upside down, the sort of acrobatics on show are less plane-based and more plain impressive: expect contortionists bending themselves into knots and fire breathers who said you couldnt smoke inside pubs any more? Central Line West: East Acton Dragonfly Brewery 183 Acton High Street, W3, twitter.com Watch your beer being brewed right in front of your thirsty eyes at the George the stills that make its Dragonfly range are beside the giant mermaid figurehead on a plinth that casually sits on the bar. 2 OClock Ordinary is exactly the light bitter you need to kick off a session; follow it with one of the mammoth burgers and an unfiltered Early Doors pale ale. The best news? All the in-house brewed beer is 3.50, which makes it among the cheapest in London. Central Line West: East Acton
Working in the City, confirms financial commentator David Buik, has become professionally competitive. Brexit means about 30,000 jobs are likely to be shed in the City of London by banks and brokers. Your bank requires double the capital to do the same business that it did eight years ago and new regulatory requirements are resulting in the number of employees being severely cut back its much more dog eat dog. A clear head at lunchtime these days is a prerequisite.
Indeed, the drunken City culture and its rewards of Vegas breaks, weekend ski chalets, hookers and even drugs from brokers was blamed for creating the conditions that meant Libor rate-fixing was possible. Every embarrassing financial scandal has ripped another row of bar seats away from bankers boozy intentions.
But some will still cheerlead for the wine glasss role in lubricating good relations and good deals. City champion Justin Urquhart Stewart of Seven Investment Management laments the fact that the demand for clarity seems to have changed over the past few decades. In the Eighties it was for decent claret, [either] from El Vino in Fleet Street or the City Club in Old Broad Street. Now sadly it is the demand for clarity of thinking and therefore alcohol-free thinking.
Shutterstock / kai keisuke
Urquhart Stewart acknowledges the need for precision in the use of our exacting electronic equipment computers mean that shaking fingers are an obvious danger for businesses. But he warns firms that many successful and profitable deals and transactions are still based on personal contact and relationships. Firms may find themselves losing out on some key opportunities. Socialising is still a vital element of business and claret (other wines are also acceptable) can be to a successful trade relationship as important a lubricant as Castrol is to your throaty Aston Martin To ban is blind discipline, to manage it is far more creative.
And, given that the slickers of the Square Mile have never been known for being the most honest suits in the capital, its not surprising that some eulogising the liquid lunch reckon its demise could actually be to the detriment of the markets.
Nick Batsford, a trader for three decades who goes by the nickname Moose (no one can remember why) and who now runs financial trading broadcaster TipTv, points out gossip almost inevitably booze-fuelled has always been the way the best information is passed on. Some old City folk could wink down telephone lines, some could drink a gallon at lunchtime. My clients preferred the latter, he says.
So might the sober office be making people, and therefore the markets, stupider? Batsford thinks it might: We have lost the camaraderie, the unwind before going home and the opportunity to discuss markets and get a feel for other peoples views.
Lets not go too far, though. The long boozy lunch might be a lesser-spotted phenomenon but a stroll around Fenchurch Streets boozers on a Friday shows its still happening. The higher you go in the business, the more drunken it is, even in the daytime, says one corporate lobbyist. Its a surprise if one of the partners at my firm doesnt return very well lubricated, very late in the afternoon, say 5pm, on a Friday after meeting clients or prospects.
Deals still need greasing you cant, much of the City still maintains, woo a reluctant client over an email or, as Lloyds employees are grumbling, a smoothie and sandwich.
Its increasingly a generational divide the young guns of Gen X and Y are more likely to be teetotal than their beer-bellied older deskmates. So with or without Lloyds-style edicts, expect the Citys boozing culture to continue to fade out as pubs are passed over for paninis.
Meanwhile, that corporate PR man is still going strong. He is widely regarded as a source of smart advice before lunch, jocular company until three, and best avoided after that.
Whatever HR says, the message from the boss is pretty much the same as it has always been: If you make me money, I dont care how much you had to guzzle to do so.
The new rules of the City
Its not just the demise of lunchtime boozing that is changing the culture of the City of London no capital-dwelling Gordon Gekko could have predicted bankers queuing at cold-pressed juiceries or taking turns in a nap pod at the office. So whats in and whats out?
OUT: claret at lunch. IN: green juice and coconut water after a lunchtime anti-gravity yoga session in Broadgate.
OUT: the executive car service. IN: the Tube. At the start of the financial crash a Goldman Sachs memo warned it would only pay for taxis home after 10pm, while Deutsche Bank warned its bankers: Tubes should be the norm for travelling across London, taxis taken during a transport strike will only be repaid if permission is granted from a bankers line manager, employees must travel second class on trains unless journeys take more than two hours. Ubers get through but mostly the old ways havent returned.
OUT: excess. Those mile-long receipts as when Barclays Capital dealers spent 44,000 on wine during a meal at Gordon Ramsays Petrus (the restaurant threw in the food for free) at the start of the Noughties are over. As is that fun hobby of spraying bars with vintage champagne a la Lewis Hamilton. IN: a Pret at your desk. But hey, the pay is still decent enough to make up for it.
OUT: unquestioned expense claims, creatively filed by your secretary. IN: app-controlled expense software, itemised and signed-off by someone humourless in HR who knows that strange-sounding restaurant doesnt serve food.
OUT: unlimited luxury travel. Business class upgrades are now only for very long or overnight trips. IN: outfit changes in the terminal loo City slickers who used to slap down a company credit card for a pricey early-morning hotel check-in are now told to shower and shave at the airport and get straight to work.
Follow Lucy Tobin on Twitter: @lucytobin; Follow Simon English on Twitter: @SimonEngStand
P olicing costs of up to 7 million for President Trumps state visit to the UK this summer should be clawed back from central government, London Labour said today.
Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has revealed the visit could cost Scotland Yard millions of pounds because of the potential scale of public protests.
The force, which is responsible for diplomatic protection and crowd control at major events, is already facing swingeing cuts to its budget under Government funding plans.
Labour Assembly members called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to lobby ministers so that any extra policing costs as a result of the state visit are refunded.
The partys London policing spokesman Unmesh Desai said: The Prime Minister invited the President, the Government should pay for his visit.
Thousands of protesters march to Downing Street in Trump rally 1 /48 Thousands of protesters march to Downing Street in Trump rally Caricatures: Unflattering pictures of the UK and US leaders. AFP/Getty Images 'No to racism': Protesters outside Downing Street. AFP/Getty Images Demo: Crowds packed out Whitehall to Parliament Square. PA Thousands: Westminster police tweeted this photo. MPS Westminster 'One nationality': Many signs carried pro immigration messages. REUTERS Dogs against Trump: One protester takes a break at the Westminster rally. REUTERS Speaker: Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti speaking to the crowd. Getty Images 'Full of garbage': A sign in Downing Street. Getty Images Prime Minister: Many banners carried messages targeting Theresa May, Getty Images 'Dump Trump': The signs carried personal attacks on the US President. Getty Images No Trump: Protesters chant and march. Getty Images Never again: Some posters looked back to the past. AFP/Getty Images Packed: Many protesters remarked at the amount of people. AFP/Getty Images Standstill: Buses had to divert because of the crowds. PA Anger: People demonstrate during a protest at Downing Street in central London. PA Crowds: Hordes of people took to the streets. Getty Images Anti-Trump: Thousands of people have slammed the President's policy. Getty Images Messages for May: Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside Downing Street. Getty Images 'Never again': Demonstrators march along Downing Street. Getty Images 'Muslim ban': Londoners marched with placards with messages for the PM. Getty Images NO: The anti-Trump rally spilled onto the road. Getty Images Humour: A sign drawing on a Mary Poppins pun. Caroline Lee Chants: The crowds were heard chanting 'shame on May'. Getty Images Welcome refugees: Protesters on Monday evening. PA Landmark: The iconic London eye seen in the background. PA 'Dangerous': One of the anti-Trump protesters. Lydia Ruffles Anti-Trump: Signs carried harsh words for the US leader. Emma Gibson Blocked: Protesters said Whitehall was brought to a standstill. Garry Knight 'Resist': A sign in Whitehall. Spectrum SINO Radio 'Bridges not walls': Many of the banners carried pro-globalization messages. Jessica Voorsanger Rally: The first crowds forming at the protest, which began at 6pm. Garry Knight United: Stop the War Coalition joined the protest. PA Gathered: People listened to speakers who fired up the crowd. Getty Images We stand together: Among the figures who were expected to attend were Lily Allen and Ed Miliband. Getty Images March: Some of the protesters holding placards. Getty Images Together: People of all ages joined in the rally. Getty Images
It comes after the Prime Minister formally rejected a petition of more than 1.8 million signatures calling for Mr Trumps state visit to be abandoned because it would embarrass the Queen.
Sir Bernard revealed last week that the force had some concerns already about the extent of the demonstrations that might be staged against the US president.
He said that police would be mounting quite a big operation and that he would not dispute a suggestion the cost could match the 7.5 million cost of policing the G20 summit in 2009.
Scotland Yard currently receives 174 million in additional funding from the Home Office to reflect the extra responsibilities of policing a capital city, including visits of foreign leaders.
However, it is estimated that the Met actually needs 281 million for these additional duties.
Mr Desai added: People have a right to demonstrate their opposition to Donald Trumps divisive policies, and of course those demonstrations should take place safely and peacefully on our capitals streets.
But the Mets resources are already overstretched. Expecting Londoners to cover the policing costs for what is undoubtedly a national event will only put even greater strain on the Mets budget.
A celebrity bishop who presided at Jade Goodys wedding and led the prayers at her wake has been found guilty of breaching a restraining order by sending malicious online messages.
Jonathan Blake, 60, Archbishop of The Open Episcopal Church, bombarded two victims with malicious messages over more than two years, a court heard.
He posted abusive and humiliating messages online, ignored repeated requests to stop contacting them and broke a restraining order imposed in December 2015.
Blake was found guilty of four counts of breaching his restraining order at Woolwich crown court and was sentenced to 100 hours community service.
Jonathan Blake: He was invited to Downing Street in recognition for his campaign for equal marriage
He was also ordered to pay 1,000 in costs and issued with a new restraining order.
He made headlines when he carried out Britains first gay wedding blessing live on Richard and Judys This Morning TV programme in 2001, and was invited to Downing Street in 2012 in recognition of his campaigning for equal marriage.
He led the wedding blessing for Jade Goody and Jack Tweed in February 2009, shortly after the Big Brother stars diagnosis with terminal cancer, and then took prayers at the family wake following her death a month later.
Celebrity wedding: The late Jade Goody with her husband Jack Tweed / PA
Detective Constable Anna Brown, from Greenwich CID, said: Blake has caused his victims years of embarrassment by sending them malicious messages.
He also caused them great distress by posting abusive and humiliating posts online.
He has shown no remorse and continues to deny any wrongdoing. I am pleased with the jurys decision.
"I hope Blake will reflect upon his actions and think about the harm he has caused his two victims.
Id like to praise them for their courage in coming forward and greatly assisting police with our investigation.
I hope the verdict and restraining order gives them the security and peace of mind they need for the future.
Blake, from Welling, had denied the charges but was found guilty following a three-day trial.
He said today that he would be appealing against the conviction. He had previously been convicted of harassment in 2015, when the first restraining order was imposed.
The harassment conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal in December 2016.
T he family of an aspiring architect who was stabbed to death in full view of children playing in a park have criticised the killers unbelievable jail term.
Bradley Quaresma, 20, was knifed during a mass fight in Stratford Park on a sunny afternoon last July.
His killer, Mario Albino Te, 21, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 11 and a half years.
The victims father Nelson Quaresma travelled from the familys home in Portugal to attend the three-week Old Bailey trial with Bradleys siblings.
He told the Standard: Mario Te killed my son Bradley with his knife and until this moment he has shown no remorse.
Killer: Mario Te
Our family has waited all this time for justice but this was not the case. It is a disappointment for our family, our friends and all of British society.
He said that after police assurances Mondays sentence would be a deterrent against knife crime, the court should have imposed a longer term.
Here was a 20-year-old man who had his whole life ahead of him and this court decided to give just 11 years and six months jail to his killer, he said.
What happened took place in a public place with families and children enjoying the sunshine.
This is unbelievable and sad. Is this truly going to reduce criminality?
His son, a design student at Waltham Forest College, moved to London as a teenager and lived with his sister Juce as he worked to become an architect.
Mario Albino Te running from Olympic Park
On July 21 he and Te, whom the court heard were known to each other, were among a large group of males gathered at the park when the fight broke out.
He was stabbed in the neck and chest and died at the scene. Te, of no fixed address, boarded a Eurostar to Paris the next day. He was detained by French police and returned to the UK, where he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
In a statement, Mr Quaresmas family said: Anyone that crossed Bradleys path fell in love with his radiant smile and kind heart. His life is now past, his present non-existent and his future stolen, erased with a knife.
He planned on getting into university and studying architecture. Now he will never have the opportunity to graduate, will never have the opportunity to succeed, will never have children of his own or grandchildren.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes said: This was a very sad case and my heartfelt sympathies go out to Bradleys family, who have shown great dignity throughout the trial.
When jailing Te, the judge spoke of the shock and horror that members of the public at the park, including young families and children, experienced as they saw Bradley and his injuries.
He also said there was very strong public interest in passing a sentence that would act as a deterrent to knife crime and extreme violence.
A man was rushed to hospital after being stabbed outside a McDonald's restaurant near Kings Cross station in the early hours of the morning.
Police were called to reports of a stabbing at the junction between York Way and Pentonville Road in Islington at 1.15am on Wednesday.
The victim, a 28-year-old male, was treated by paramedics and taken to a north London hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.
The scene remained cordoned off throughout Wednesday morning as confused rush hour crowds filed past police tape on their way to work.
Blood could be seen spattered across the pavement and in the entrance of McDonald's, where the victim was taken in the immediate aftermath of the attack just a few yards away.
The 24-hour fast food restaurant was shut this morning while a forensics team assessed the scene.
Forensics officers at the scene in King's Cross
Blood-soaked tissues used to stem the flowof blood from the wound were strewn across the restaurant floor.
Staff at an off licence across the road described seeing a "huge police presence" outside the McDonald's when they arrived to open up early this morning.
Detectives believe the victim was attacked by another man who had a distinctive afro haircut and wispy moustache.
An image from the scene showed a police cordon erected on the pavement outside a McDonalds restaurant, which is open 24 hours a day.
The suspect is described as a white or light-skinned black male. Police said he was wearing a royal blue coloured jacket, with a black top underneath, light blue denim jeans and white and grey trainers. He also had thick-rimmed spectacles on.
Detectives believe there were a number of witnesses in the area at the time of the incident and have urged them to come forward. There have not been any arrests.
Anyone with information is asked to call Islington CID on 0208 345 0296, the police non-emergency line on 101, anonymously on Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or by tweeting @MetCC
P olice have launched a hunt for a man after a teenage girl was sexually assaulted at a bus stop in Croydon.
The 17-year-old was waiting at a bus stop near Galpins Road in Thornton Heath when a man approached her from behind and sexually assaulted her.
She pushed the man away and he walked off towards Thornton Heath, Scotland Yard said.
The suspect is described as a male of Asian appearance, aged in his 20s, around 5ft 10ins tall with dark hair.
He was wearing a checked shirt, white jeans, black trainers, a black cap and was carrying a rucksack.
The incident happened at about 8.25am on Sunday, August 28 last year.
Officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command are investigating.
Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Natalie Baynes on 07770 315690; alternatively call police via 101. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
P olice are hunting a man after a 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted while travelling on the tram through Mitcham.
The woman was attacked by a man who got on the service at Mitcham Junction at around 3pm, police say.
He then sat down beside the passenger and started touching her inappropriately.
She fled the service when it reached Wandle Park but the man leaned out of the doorway, staring at her she walked away.
British Transport Police (BTP) have now released a CCTV image of a man they want to trace over the incident, which took place on January 26.
PC Mark Luker from BTPs Sexual Offences Unit, said: As you can imagine, this was a very upsetting experience for this young woman.
I am keen to hear from anyone who might recognise the man in the CCTV image, I believe he has vital information that could help us investigate.
Unwanted sexual behaviour will never be tolerated. Id like to praise the victim for reporting this to police.
Anyone with information can text 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 315 of 15/02/2017. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
A murder investigation has been launched after a man was stabbed to death in the street in south London.
The 51-year-old man was knifed repeatedly in Streatham on Tuesday evening.
Emergency services were called to reports of a stabbing in Hillside Road at about 8.45pm.
Paramedics fought to save the injured man but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Scotland Yard said a 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into custody at a south London police station.
On social media, witnesses said that the road had been sealed off by police.
Chair of Lambeth Safer Neighbourhood Board Nick Mason tweeted: Tragically a homicide on Lambeth tonight. More details as they emerge.
Thoughts with those directly affected.
In a reply to his post, Chris Davies asked: Is that whats closed Hillside Road?
Mr Davies, who lives nearby, told the Standard: "Hillside Road has been closed off at the junction with Palace Road since last night.
"The police were still waiting for forensics to arrive at 10.30 this morning.
"There are at least four officers there at the moment stopping people going through."
Conservative councillor for Clapham Common Bernard Gentry posted on Twitter: @LambethMPS Reports of a serious incident in Hillside Road Streatham overnight, possible murder. Any info.
A Met Police spokesman said: Next of kin have been informed but formal identification awaits.
A post-mortem examination will be held in due course
The Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command investigate under Acting Detective Chief Inspector Tom Dahri.
Enquiries into the circumstances of the incident are ongoing."
An LAS spokeswoman said: "We sent an ambulance crew, a team leader and an incident response officer to the scene.
"We also the dispatched Londons Air Ambulance. The first of our medics arrived at the scene in under six minutes.
Sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, a patient died at the scene.
Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8721 4961, contact police via 101 or @MetCC or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
H eartless thieves snatched a gold watch from the wrist of a 93-year-old World War Two veteran after stopping him in the street to ask for directions.
Footage shows the pensioner chatting to a woman in the back of a silver car, which appears to be a Saab, to ask him the way to the hospital.
Grandson Scott Smith, who obtained the footage, said the woman offered to give his grandfather a present in return for his kindness.
But as he reached in, the woman grabbed the pensioner's arm and pulled the watch from his wrist.
The victim managed to yank his arm free before the thieves, already starting to pull away, could force the wedding ring from his finger, Mr Smith said.
Hearltess: The thieves start to pull away / @scottsmith68836
The video shows the car drive off as the shocked elderly gentleman slowly walks back to the pavement after the incident in Dagenham, east London.
After obtaining the footage from a neighbouring property, Mr Smith posted it on Twitter. It has since been shared more than 1,400 times as well-wishers try to help catch the culprits.
He said the watch, engraved with his grandfathers name, had been a retirement gift from Ford, where the WW2 veteran worked for 35 years after serving as a commando in the Black Watch.
Mr Smith, a 43-year-old taxi driver, told the Standard: Hes OK, despite this. Hes just pleased they never got his wedding ring.
Hes a bit shocked by it all. Hes very fit so my biggest worry is its going to knock his confidence.
Mr Smith said his grandfather had not even wanted to call the police about it.
He said: Hes one of those who dont really talk about these things. He doesnt like all the fuss. Hes old school like that.
A spokesman for the Met Police confirmed they had been called to the incident, which occurred Ballards Road shortly after 11.30am on February 13.
Anyone with information can call police on 101.
T wo people have been accused of spitting at police officers in two alleged incidents on the same day at London stations.
Hawo Yaasiin, 21, of Mount Pleasant, Farringdon, allegedly spat at a British Transport Police officer at Kings Cross station on Monday.
She has been charged with assault alongside being drunk and disorderly in a public place.
Yaasiin was due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on March 15.
In a separate incident on the same day, a PCSO was allegedly spat at in West Ham station.
Samir Benmouna, 32, of Drayton Park, Islington, has been charged with assaulting an accredited officer, criminal damage and a public order offence.
He was bailed to appear Highbury Magistrates' Court on March 20.
The alleged incidents come at a time when the Met Police are trialling controversial "spit hoods".
B ritain was issued with a final warning by the European Commission today for failing to tackle the toxic air scandal blighting the capital.
The Government was put on notice that it could be taken to the European Court of Justice within months and hit with multi-million-pound fines unless it can show it is dealing with nitrogen dioxide pollution in 16 areas including London.
The charge sheet could include the fact that London broke annual EU limits on filthy air just 120 hours into the new year. A monitor in Brixton Road recorded more than 20 hourly readings when NO2 exceeded 200 micrograms per cubic metre in just five days.
Under EU rules, people should not be exposed to such high levels of NO2 blamed mainly on diesel engines more than 18 times in a year.
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The Government has been accused of dragging its feet in improving air quality, and has had to redraw its plans after twice being taken to court because they were flawed.
Other cities cited in the final warning include Southampton, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow.
The Commission also warned France, Italy, Germany and Spain over breaches in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Rome, Milan, Turin, Madrid and Barcelona. It said: More than 400,000 citizens die prematurely in the EU each year as a result of poor air quality.
Some Londoners are considering leaving the capital due to air pollution levels
An estimated 9,400 a year die from NO2 and particulate pollution in London. A Government spokesman said: Weve committed over 2 billion since 2011 to increase uptake of ultra-low-emission vehicles, support green transport and set out [planned] Clean Air Zones. We will update our air quality plans later this year.
C ity workers at one of Londons most historic financial institutions have shared outrageous tales of boozy days in the office after being told not to drink alcohol during the day.
Lloyds of London has introduced a 9am-to-5pm booze ban which could see employees sacked for gross misconduct if caught breaking the new rule.
An internal memo to employees, leaked to the Standard, revealed the ban was introduced after an analysis of grievance and disciplinary cases over the last two years found roughly half were related to alcohol misuse.
Now, disgruntled staff have shared outlandish stories of boozing during office hours online.
One former Lloyds employee wrote: Do some work for another department? Book half the afternoon off, you're going to the pub, all expenses paid.
Lloyds drinking ban explainer
Someone's leaving? Book the whole afternoon off, you're going to the pub.
Someone senior is leaving? Decamp from the office at 11 and write off the evening.
It's December? Well, nobody with any sense is going to put work in your calendar for that month...
I was relatively reserved, but even I had a few afternoons of coming back from a heavy session and hiding in the software test area because I was in no fit state to talk to anyone. Legend had it that some people had slept in there.
Another City worker added: We used to have an employee who would go to the pub after getting 90 per cent of his stuff done. And then he'd remember the last 10 per cent at about 3.30pm in the afternoon, at which point he was sending client emails while s***faced and was a pretty nasty drunk.
Speaking about a former colleague, one finance professional said: One broker would come in at 9am, go over the road to the pub at 10am. Stay there drinking until about 3pm. Wander back into work, sort out a multi-million pound oil rig deal or something then pack up and head for the train home.
Many workers claimed the Citys drinking culture strengthened professional relationships.
Writing online, one man said he worked for a beers, beers, beers type of company in the late 90s.
He wrote online: Generally you'd have two to three pints at lunch, with bosses. You'd be expected to finish those beers within an hour-and-a-half, though, which was usually fine.
Friday would involve a two-hour lunch and if the boss was feeling it, perhaps 2.5 hours, a quick few hours in the office before carrying on for the Friday evening.
It was great for bonding.
Others agreed that as long as they completed their work, bosses turned a blind-eye to the companys drinking culture.
One worker said: The understanding I have with my manager - which I'm sure is the same elsewhere - is that he doesn't give a f*** what I do or how long I'm at the pub as long as my work is to a high standard and done on time.
Another added: The entire thing ran on, "as long as the work gets done, we don't care where you are or how many drinks you've had.
If your manager is out for a drink with you, you return from the pub when they feel like returning from the pub. If a director buys you a drink, that's acknowledged as a tacit, "don't worry about going back to the office today."
The ban is among changes made to the Employee Guide, part of an overall HR policy review conducted throughout last year.
It means Lloyds of London employees are prohibited from drinking between the hours of 9am and 5pm from Monday to Friday.
Employees should decline alcoholic drinks even if offered one while with associates who are drinking.
A Lloyds spokesperson said: Our employee guidance was recently updated and provided clarification on the Corporations position on drinking alcohol during the working day, which is prohibited.
T he number of hate crimes in London soared by 20 per cent since Britain voted to leave the EU, new police figures show.
Record numbers of incidents were reported everywhere across the capital, except in the City, new analysis revealed.
The number of hate crimes reported to the Metropolitan Police increased by 20 per cent between April and June last year, according to official figures.
Some 3,356 crimes were reported to Scotland Yard following the June 23 vote, the highest since figures began in April 2012.
British Transport Police received 620 reports of hate-related incidents an increase of 34 per cent since before the EU referendum.
However City of London Police reported a seven per cent drop in hate crime, with just 25 incidents reported in the same time period.
Top 10 areas for spike in hate crime Dorset 104 (up 100%) Nottinghamshire 189(up 75%) North Yorkshire 64 (up 68%) West Mercia 247 (up 64%) Devon and Cornwall 220 (up 63%) Leicestershire 213 (up 60%) Kent 277 (up 60%) Lincolnshire 78 (up 59%) Humberside 140 (up 57%) Dyfed-Powys 35 (up 52%)
In some areas the number of incidents jumped by more than 50 per cent.
A human rights organisation has said the country should prepare for the possibility of further spikes in offences once the Brexit process has begun.
The figures provided the first complete picture of hate crime recorded by police in England and Wales following the referendum on June 23.
They show that in the three months ending September 2016 some 33 out of 44 forces recorded the highest quarterly number of hate crimes since comparable records began in April 2012
Three forces, including the Met, each recorded more than 1,000 hate crimes.
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Greater Manchester Police recorded 1,033 and West Yorkshire Police were alerted to 1,013 crimes.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the findings suggested a small number of people used the Brexit vote "to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice", while the charity Victim Support said that more needed to be done to encourage victims to come forward.
Provisional figures on hate crimes published by the Home Office in October 2016 suggested that offences in July 2016 were 41 per cent higher than in July 2015.
The new analysis shows that a rise in incidents was seen in almost every force in England and Wales, both year-on-year and when comparing the three months either side of the referendum.
In 36 police force areas, a majority of voters backed Leave in the referendum - and the quarterly hate crime figure rose in all of them except two.
The area with the biggest Leave vote, Lincolnshire, saw hate crimes jump by 59 per cent.
David Isaac, chair of the EHRC, said it "must be sensible to prepare for any possible spikes" in hate crime once Brexit negotiations got under way.
"The vast majority of people who voted to leave the European Union did so because they believed it was best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others," he said.
"It is clear, however, that a small minority of people used the Brexit vote to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice. We cannot allow such intolerable acts of hate to be condoned or repeated.
"The triggering of Article 50 is the next major milestone and we must do all we can to discourage hate attacks and to support people who feel at risk."
S adiq Khan came under pressure today to ban a Tube poster featuring Khloe Kardashian in a leotard just months after tightening Transport for Londons rules on advertising.
Critics called on the Mayor to remove Protein Worlds image starring the reality TV star - and sister of Kim - amid concerns it could cause confidence issues among young women.
The same company came under fire for its Are you beach body ready? poster which provoked a huge backlash when it appeared two years ago.
Mr Khan, a father of two teenage daughters, announced last summer that adverts which put Londoners under pressure to conform to an unhealthy or unrealistic body image were to be banned from the transport network.
Are You Beach Body Ready? - Protein World TV advert
He set up an advertising steering group to help decide if adverts were appropriate for display but the Standard has learned that it is only meeting for the first time later this week - eight months on.
And TfL said the advert featuring reality TV star Ms Kardashian would not be covered by the ban, which does not include all images of people in their underwear or swimming gear.
The six-month Protein World campaign, which features the model striking a variety of poses while dressed in a revealing gym leotard, centres around the companys 30-day weight-loss challenge which claims to be for women who want to feel more confident and comfortable in their own skin or show their ex what hes missing.
But Green Assembly member Caroline Russell, who received complaints from constituents about the advert, said: People taking the Tube should not have to be bombarded with adverts that imply their bodies arent good enough.
Young people receive this negative message from enough social media channels and its appalling that this is being reinforced on Tube platforms, against the Mayors own policy, when people are taking trips to school, to work, or going out to socialise.
I am urging the Mayor to look again at these adverts that challenge young people to keep up with reality stars known for idealised and unrealistic body shapes. He needs to enforce his own guidelines and live up to his manifesto promise to Londoners.
Every body is a good body and TfL should be promoting inclusion and making their stations welcoming spaces. Allowing these adverts risks making people lose confidence in themselves.
However, a spokesman for the Mayor said: This advert was closely reviewed and deemed to comply with the new TfL advertising policy that bans adverts that could pressurise people to conform to unhealthy or unrealistic body images.
Mr Khans changes meant that controversial campaigns like Protein Worlds Are you beach body ready? poster would no longer be allowed.
The weight-loss ad, which featured a bikini-clad model, sparked a protest in Hyde Park while an online petition gathered more than 70,000 signatures, and posters were defaced on the Tube.
However, it was not banned by the Advertising Standards Authority and the brand later claimed that publicity from the controversy generated an additional 2 million in sales.
The Mayors steering group, comprising of TfL executives and advertising partners Exterion Media and JCDecaux, provides guidance on advertising policy rather than approving individual ads.
However, TfL said it would carefully consider any recommendations made by the group about the Kardashian Protein World poster.
T he London Dungeon has sparked a backlash after sharing a series of Valentines Day messages joking about murdered prostitutes and serial killers.
The tourist attraction was accused of "demeaning women" and belittling those who work in the sex industry after a succession of posts were shared online.
Its managers have now been forced to apologise, saying the messages would be deleted after the outcry.
One of the messages which caused outcry read: Whats the difference between your job and a dead prostitute? Your job still sucks.
A similar post joking about the famous serial killer said: Jack the Ripper just messaged. He wants to Netflix and kill.
The venue tweeted alongside the message: Oh that Jack the Ripper Whats he like!
Backlash: One of the social media posts made fun of Jack the Ripper / Twitter
Another read: I love a girl thats a good eater. Female translation: Youre fat.
Soho Theatre worker Jules Hanworth was among those who reacted angrily to the messages after seeing them on social media.
She told the Standard: "Theyre particularly demeaning towards women and sex workers.
"Offensive": The venue was accused of misogyny / Twitter
To be seeing stuff thats so overtly sexualised and offensive when its supposed to be aimed at families is very disturbing.
Its really irresponsible I think.
She went on: Im a Londoner, Ive been on a Jack the Ripper tour, Ive been to the London Dungeon a number of times and Im unhappy my money has gone to something thats anti-women and is giving the wrong message out.
The tourist attraction has been slammed on social media, with a tidal wave of anger on its own Facebook page.
Beneath the post joking about Netfix and kill, one user wrote: I see you deleted your 'joke' about dead prostitutes. Who decided such disgusting posts were suitable marketing???
Especially for a family attraction. Has certainly put me off returning.
Another wrote: Your social media campaign is utter misogyny.
"It's a shameful apology of the violence against women. Shame on you.
One of the dungeons other posts read: Wow, you should really wear makeup more often.
The message was branded wholly inappropriate, offensive and appalling by members of the public.
Alice White wrote sarcastically: How wonderful to use such blatant sexism to encourage people to come on a nice family day out to your attraction.
A spokesman for the London Dungeon said: We apologise that our social posts caused offence.
Our Dark Valentine campaign was a range of posts aimed to highlight the darker side of history and create debate and conversation.
As a brand we strive to entertain our guests so they can enjoy the London Dungeon experience both in our attraction and on social media.
However on this occasion we recognise that some of the topics many felt were inappropriate and therefore we apologise for any offence cause.
A rogue landlord has been banned from managing property in two London boroughs for 10 years under a landmark court order handed out because of the dangerous condition of the homes that she rents out.
Katia Goremsandu was given the Criminal Behaviour Order typically used to control gang members or prolific drug offenders after being convicted at Westminster magistrates court for breaching the Housing Act at a rental flat in Bayswater.
The flat, in Gloucester Terrace, was found by Westminster council inspectors to have flaws including no mains-connected fire alarm, a lack of fire-proofing in the lobby, an outdated fuse box and no fixed heating.
Ms Goremsandu, who had previously been dubbed Britains worst landlord, also had multiple convictions for housing offences in Haringey. Her crimes there included placing a black sticker to hide a warning light on a faulty fire alarm, leaving tenants without heating for long periods in winter and renting out a damp house for more than a year.
Now, however, under the new Criminal Behaviour Order she is prohibited from managing any property in either borough for a decade. She is also banned for the same period from being a director or owner of any company involved in letting and must instead appoint an agent to run the rental homes that she owns.
She must also declare her ownership of any other property of which Westminster and Haringey are unaware and ensure that the agent she appoints is given enough money so that all the properties under their control meet the standards set out in the Housing Act. A breach of any of the conditions would be a criminal offence carrying a potential prison sentence of up to five years.
The restrictions imposed on Ms Goremsandu are the first time a Criminal Behaviour Order has been issued against a housing offender in London, and only the second such case in Britain, since legislation allowing their use was passed in 2014.
Antonia Cox, Westminsters cabinet member for public protection and licensing, said the action against Ms Goremsandu, who was also fined 3,500 and told to pay 7,645 costs after her conviction, would send a message to all rogue landlords. She added: The order means that the likelihood of her being able to reoffend is now significantly reduced.
This sends a clear message to all landlords that they have a responsibility to their tenants and that bad practice will not be tolerated in Westminster.
Ms Goremsandu is understood to own four flats in Westminster and two properties, divided into 12 flats, in Haringey. Haringey council has previously estimated her income, including housing benefit payments, from the properties in the borough to be around 188,000 a year.
In an interview, she has claimed to have been victimised and harassed by council officials and caught up in a war between the landlords and the tenants who begrudge the fact that we have property.
A motorcyclist was rushed to hospital after a crash with a car on a busy high street in south London.
Met Police officers and paramedics rushed to Tooting High Street at about 11am on Wednesday.
Dramatic pictures posted on social media showed a large part of road cordoned off as police carried out an investigation.
The driver of the motorbike was taken to a west London hospital with "potentially life-changing injuries, Scotland Yard said.
A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We were called at 11.01am today to reports of a road traffic collision at Tooting High Street.
"We sent an ambulance crew to the scene. We treated a patient at the scene and took them as a priority to a major trauma centre."
The road reopened at about 2.30pm.
A spokeswoman for the Met Police said no arrests have been made.
A woman died from a brain haemorrhage after two London hospitals refused to admit her for surgery because they had no intensive care beds.
A coroner ruled that 57-year-old Mary Muldowney would probably have survived if she had been given immediate life-saving surgery to stem the bleeding.
Ms Muldowney, who had two children and grandchildren, was initally admitted to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill on July 20 last year where doctors suspected a bleed on the brain.
A CT scan carried out just over an hour later showed heavy bleeds and doctors requested an immediate transfer to a specialist neurosurgical unit for surgery.
However three units St George's Hospital in Tooting and King's College Hospital, as well as the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton refused the request due to having no beds.
Other hospitals also said they did not have an intensive care bed for Ms Muldowney, from Crawley, West Sussex.
Ms Muldowney was turned away by St George's Hospital in Tooting and King's College Hospital / Facebook
In a letter to bosses at NHS England, inner north London coroner Mary Hassell said: "In desperation, knowing of the neurosurgical expertise of a former colleague, one of the East Surrey Hospital doctors went out of area and rang a consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal London Hospital (RLH).
"Invoking the universal acceptance policy, he accepted transfer immediately, though in fact the RLH had no intensive care bed available at that time.
"Meanwhile, at about 1pm, Ms Muldowney woke up very briefly while intubated and interacted with her daughter.
"Ms Muldowney was transferred to the RLH and taken straight to theatre at 4.40pm.
"Unfortunately, her pupils had become fixed and dilated in the ambulance during transfer to the RLH and surgery did not save her.
"If she had been transferred promptly, it probably would have."
Mary Muldowney would probably have survived if she had been given immediate life-saving surgery, the coroner said / Facebook
The coroner, who recorded a narrative verdict, said evidence showed that Ms Muldowney "could have been transferred, undergone surgery, spent time in recovery, and then an intensive care bed procured".
She added: "With prompt transfer and surgery, Ms Muldowney would probably have survived.
"In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths."
NHS England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh said he was "very sorry" to read of the circumstances around Ms Muldowney's death and that a serious patient safety issue had been raised.
He said Professor Simon Mackenzie, from St George's Hospital, had suggested Ms Muldowney "was not deemed by the neurosurgical services to which she was being referred to require immediate life-saving surgery" and fell outside the scope of the universal acceptance policy.
Prof Mackenzie said he believed St George's provided acceptable care because Ms Muldowney suffered a re-bleed during the ambulance transfer to the RLH.
However, Sir Bruce added that there was a clear "difference in perspective" between doctors at East Surrey Hospital and St George's.
A spokesman for St George's Hospital told the Daily Mail: "St George's neurosurgical department operates a 'universal acceptance policy' to accept patients that require emergency specialist support.
"Unfortunately, at the time of referral, Ms Muldowney was not deemed to require life-saving surgery which led to her transfer to Royal London Hospital."
A spokesman for King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "Patient transfers are only accepted when medical specialists have been consulted and it is clinically safe to do so.
"We continue to see high levels of demand for our services and are currently in the process of building a new critical care centre. This will add significant bed capacity to our existing four critical care wards.
A spokesman for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust told the newspaper: "Unfortunately, at the time of referral, Ms Muldowney was not deemed to require life-saving surgery and therefore there was no indication that emergency transfer was appropriate."
Additional reporting by Press Association
A t what point does a model take a strong stance instead of a mere pose? The Londoner has been reading rumours of a boycott of Trump Models, the New York agency owned by President Donald. Big Apple stylists and creative directors, The Guardian says, have been avoiding hiring the agencys clothes horses. One of those on its books is Yasmin Le Bon, one of Londons most striking faces.
Le Bons father, Iradj Parvaneh, was born in Iran. The Londoner tried to contact Le Bon recently to talk about Trump on a separate issue how she and other public figures felt about Trumps proposed travel ban for citizens of seven countries including Iran. She did not respond. A case of not biting the hand that feeds? At the end of the last year Le Bon gave an interview to DScene magazine and was asked if she backed the then President- elect. At least well all have an impression we can do, she said.
He is the easiest person to impersonate. I think the thing to take away is, Well, if Donald can do it, anyone can do it! Who knew they were on first-name terms?
Trumps agency primarily focuses on younger models its website says it is seeking girls only, from the age of 14 but it also represents well-established faces such as veteran actress Ali MacGraw, 77, model Carol Alt, 56, and Le Bon, 52. Could a boycott be the straw that breaks the models back?
The Londoner called Models 1, Le Bons UK agency, to ask if she was still working under the Trump brand name, and received a short yes.
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Batmanghelidjh is back
Getty Images
Former Kids Company boss Camila Batmanghelidjh s long-awaited book Kids is set to hit the shelves. Last year, publisher Biteback told The Londoner the project might have stalled but the signs are now good for a summer publication. It is going ahead, a spokesperson said yesterday. She is still working on it.
Batmanghelidjh spent nearly 20 years helping disadvantaged children at the helm of Kids Company, before the charity closed in 2015 following claims of financial mismanagement.
Biteback has a new cover picture and blurb, promising a work of hope and optimism. While the outline of the book has not changed, it is now more of a manifesto, the Biteback spokesperson added.
Lettice pray it's a brilliant career, Boris
Boris Johnsons eldest daughter, Lara Lettice Johnson-Wheeler, has dipped her toe into the world of journalism. Last week Lara, who has inherited the Johnson blonde mop, published an extended interview with legendary fashion photographer Nick Knight for Googles Arts & Culture platform.
Knight also happens to be the 23-year-olds boss: Lara is an editorial assistant at his fashion website SHOWstudio, so if the interview is a bit tame dont blame the employee.
Stylistically a bit of a change from Boriss knockabout journalistic columns but give it time...
Naughty but nice: Sotheby's art of erotica
Sothebys shook off its fusty image for a saucy evening with guests including Amorist editor Rowan Pelling and burlesque queen Immodesty Blaize, for Erotic: Passion & Desire Exhibition. What a crowd Coco de Mer premiered its new film featuring brand ambassador Pamela Anderson and a sex toy. Also at the party were showgirls Missy Fatale and Miss Polly Rae, with Sunday Times writer Cosmo Landesman. He inquired whether Pammy was in a relationship with Julian Assange. Im seeing somebody, is all she would say.
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Last night journalist Deborah Orr joined many across the city by going out for a slap-up meal on February 14. She chose the Canton Arms, a Stockwell gastropub which, The Londoner recalls, serves a mean negroni. Im dining out, alone, on Valentines Day, she tweeted. Single for the first Feb 14 in 20 years. God, it feels good. Orr was married to dry-witted writer Will Self but we wish her well: it is far more important to love yourself than your Self.
Loving a bad romance
Forget bra burning, writer Emily Hill has instigated a new feminist craze: burning your wedding dress. In Battersea last night, Hill launched the Unbound literary crowdfunder for a volume of short stories called Bad Romance. Its a book about how s*** it is to be a single woman in London. The publicity for the book is unorthodox: I dont think Im ever going to get married so I thought Id buy a hideous Eighties dress on the net and have an impromptu bonfire.
The craze is catching on. Writer and comedian Ariane Sherine also bought a dress and created a video where she romps with a Jeremy Corbyn lookalike. Hes had three wives already, should he want a fourth one Ill be waiting in the wings, she told us. Also there was Cosmo Landesman who arrived from the Sothebys party. He told us his dating column in The Sunday Times Style mag is now axed. Im here to drown my sorrows. Hes already applying to romance and sex mag The Amorist. Ive pitched to be their agony uncle, said the chap whos known a few agonies.
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Tweet of the day: Paul Nuttall says he remembers when the names on everyones lips were: John, Paul Nuttall, George and Ringo.
Poet Michael Rosen, pictured, imagines an alternative Beatles fact from Ukips Paul Nuttall, who had to admit he hadnt lost friends at Hillsborough.
Move like Jagger down on the Tube
Georgia May Jaggers modelling career was helped by Jagger genes and a distinctive tooth gap. So finally some credit for her finest feature: last night she posted this image of her on the Tube, the warning Caution, Gap at her feet. Get the London look ...
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Literary lingo of the day: Philip Pullman calls his new follow-up to His Dark Materials neither a sequel, a prequel but an equel. It doesnt stand before or after, but beside.
Follow The Londoner on Twitter and Facebook here.
M y job requires me to see things I would rather not. The videos with which Daesh [Islamic State] lured the impressionable to its caliphate were repellent enough.
Worse are the current crop which tell Western viewers how to mix an explosive charge or kill with a kitchen knife.
Muslims with a grievance or a crisis of identity are recruited to the false certainties of violent Islamism. Increasingly, Right-wing extremists such as Thomas Mair, the killer of Jo Cox, feed off the tension to plan violence of their own.
These activities are criminal. But law enforcement can address only the symptoms.
Tackling radicalisation means working with jails and social media companies, identifying young people at risk of being drawn into terrorism, and providing mentors for them under the Channel programme operating in all local authority areas.
This is what the Prevent strategy is about. The Government credits Prevent with helping to spread counter-narrative messages viewed 36 million times over the past three years, and with disrupting more than 150 journeys to Syria-Iraq in 2015 alone.
A quarter of Channel cases are now far-Right-related. The scale of the problem and pressing need for solutions are undeniable.
Yet Prevent is controversial, to the point where reputable community organisations refuse to engage with it. Suspicion has tainted it and will only be deepened by US actions seen to be targeted at Muslims.
Significant reform is required. The first step is better engagement: Government needs to listen and speak to more British Muslims, in more places and on topics other than just terrorism.
Moves towards greater openness should be stepped up. Intervention criteria and training materials need to be published and debated, if standards are to be improved and rumours about discrimination dispelled.
Clarity and restraint are needed over the application of Prevent to non-violent extremism. That vague concept encourages referrals, alarms universities and strengthens those who see Prevent as an attack on civil liberties or on the Muslim faith. Prevent should be subject to independent oversight.
Finally, this Home Office strategy needs cross-departmental management. Radicalisation has elements in common with other hazards afflicting the young, from gang recruitment to mental illness. The emphasis has to be on safeguarding. Prevent can increase resilience to all forms of terrorism - but only if it is trusted.
R etail giants Debenhams and Peacocks are among 360 businesses named and shamed by the Government for underpaying thousands of workers a total of almost 1 million.
Excuses for underpaying workers included using tips to top up pay, docking wages to pay for Christmas parties, and making staff pay for their own uniforms.
Debenhams was accused of failing to pay almost 135,000 to just under 12,000 workers.
The company said it made a technical error in its payroll calculations, which resulted in an average underpayment of around 10 per person to affected workers in 2015.
A spokesman told the Mirror: As a responsible employer Debenhams is committed to the national minimum wage, and as soon as the error was identified by a routine HMRC audit last year, we reimbursed all those affected.
We have apologised to all our colleagues affected and have taken steps to ensure it cannot happen again.
High street chain Peacocks failed to pay 2,256.58 to 42 workers, figures showed.
While, London eatery Osteria San Lorenzo, in Knightsbridge, failed to pay 53,496.57 to 29 workers.
The Business Department said more than 1,500 cases are being worked on by HM Revenue and Customs, with more firms set to be named.
Called out: Debenhams have been named in a list of employers who failed to pay minimum wage / Ki Price/Reuters
The new announcement means that more than 1,000 employers have been identified since the policy started in 2013.
The new list includes 84 employers in the hospitality industry, 51 in retail, 39 hairdressers and 24 in social care.
Business minister Margot James said: "Every worker in the UK is entitled to at least the national minimum or living wage and this government will ensure they get it.
"That is why we have named and shamed more than 350 employers who failed to pay the legal minimum, sending the clear message to employers that minimum wage abuses will not go unpunished."
Unions welcomed the announcement, but called for more prosecutions.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "This should be a wake-up call for employers who value their reputation. If you cheat your staff out of the minimum wage you will be named and shamed.
"But we also need to see prosecutions and higher fines for the most serious offenders, especially those who deliberately flout the law."
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "This list fails to shame the larger care firms who are equally guilty of denying staff a fair wage. Those in the spotlight today are just the tip of the iceberg.
"HM Revenue & Customs needs to get much tougher with more inspections to identify scrooge employers."
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: "The Government needs to crack down further on employers who failed to pay the national minimum wage to some of the most low-paid and vulnerable workers in the country.
Peacocks and Osteria San Lorenzo have been contacted for a comment.
P olice are hunting for a heavily pregnant woman after she went missing with her five-year-old daughter.
Alicja Dworakowska, 29, and her child, from the Beeston area of Leeds, were last heard from on Monday, according to West Yorkshire Police.
The force urged Ms Dworakowska, or anyone who knows where she is, to contact them urgently.
She is described as white, heavily pregnant, with blonde-ginger, shoulder-length hair and freckles.
Police hunt: Ms Dworakowska is heavily pregnant / PA
Ms Dworakowska, was last seen wearing a black, water-proof coat.
Her daughter is white with blonde hair and was wearing a pink hat, with earflaps down the side, a beige coat and a pink dress.
A police spokesman said: "Alcija is urged to contact the police at the earliest opportunity.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts should call police on 101 and quote log 1018.
S uspected Right-wing extremists now make up a quarter of people referred to the Governments flagship counter-radicalisation programme, the terror watchdog has revealed.
David Anderson, QC, said the large numbers being identified as far-Right sympathisers illustrated the scale of the sectors growing danger to Britain and the potentially lethal consequences should not be underestimated.
He added that Right-wing extremists were also increasingly seeking to feed off the tension caused by Islamist terror to plan violence of their own.
His warning came as he disclosed that the proportion of children and adults referred for suspected far-Right extremism to the Governments Channel Programme which seeks to reform those identified as vulnerable to radicalisation has hit 25 per cent.
That compares with a figure of 15 per cent published by the Government last summer in its most recent report to Parliament on its counter-terrorism strategy.
Murdered: MP Jo Cox on her wedding day / Jo Cox Foundation/PA
The sharp increase in far-Right cases follows rising concern about a recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks in London including a brick covered in swastikas thrown through the window of a Jewish familys home and similarly unpleasant Islamophobic incidents.
There was also a rise in hate crime following the Brexit vote. Home Secretary Amber Rudd responded in December by outlawing the neo-Nazi group National Action, making it the first far-Right group to be banned by the Government.
She described the group which celebrated the murder of MP Jo Cox as a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation which glorified violence and promoted a vile ideology.
Mr Andersons warning today comes in an article for the Standard in which he reveals that more than 150 Britons have been stopped from travelling to fight in Syria or Iraq in just one year.
He also calls for an overhaul of the Governments counter-radicalisation Prevent strategy, including through the greater involvement of Muslims in the work and the appointment of an independent watchdog to promote greater public confidence.
Using information from the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism about the Channel programme, he said: A quarter of Channel cases are now far-Right-related.
He added: Increasingly, Right-wing extremists such as Thomas Mair, the killer of Jo Cox MP, feed off the tension [caused by Islamist extremism] to plan violence of their own.
The threat from extreme Right-wing terrorism in the UK is currently fragmented but the massacre perpetrated by Anders Breivik in Norway is a warning against underestimating the threat.
Both the Government and the courts treat the threat with the seriousness it deserves. Extreme Right-wing ideology can be just as mur- derous as its Islamist equivalent. A sophisticated network is not a prerequisite for mass slaughter.
Ministers are currently preparing to publish an updated counter- terrorism policy which will include its latest Prevent strategy for stopping radicalisation.
The strategy has been attacked by some Muslims as discriminatory and amounting to spying. Mr Anderson said such criticisms were partly the result of exaggerated tales promo- ted by Islamist advocacy groups but insisted that significant reform to Prevent was still needed.
One improvement would be the Government agreeing to listen and speak to more British Muslims in more places and on topics other than just terrorism, while there should also be greater openness to help counter-claims of discrimination.
Mr Anderson said the Home Office should also share responsibility for Prevent with other departments, such as Education, adding that it should be viewed as a safeguarding policy in the same way as those against drugs, gangs and sex abuse.
He also called for an independent watchdog to monitor Prevent and said application of the strategy on non-violent extremism should be limited to avoid unnecessary intervention and reduce the likelihood of it being seen as an attack on civil liberties.
The Channel programme was set up as a pilot scheme in 2007 and gradually expanded nationwide.
At first numbers referred each year were in the hundreds. The total has recently jumped significantly, however, to more than 4,000 a year.
Suspected Islamist extremism, which accounts for about 70 per cent of cases, remains the most likely reason for a referral. More than half of those referred are under 18.
A 66-year-old woman who has been married to her husband for nearly 40 years has appealed against a courts decision to refuse her a divorce.
Tini Owens wants to divorce her husband, 78-year-old Hugh Owens, because she is desperately unhappy.
But Mr Owens has disagreed, arguing that the couple still had a "few years" to enjoy.
She lost her case at family court last year after Judge Robin Tolson refused to grant her divorce petition - concluding her allegations were "of the kind to be expected in marriage".
Judge Tolson had described Mr Owens as "old school" and had said Mrs Owens was "more sensitive than most wives".
Now Mrs Owens, who lives in Broadway, Worcester, has asked Court of Appeal judges to overturn that decision.
Three appeal judges analysed the case at a hearing on Tuesday and are expected to publish a ruling soon.
Hugh Owens: Her husband does not want a divorce / PA
A barrister representing Mrs Owens told the appeal court that the "vast majority" of divorces were undefended in 21st century England.
Philip Marshall QC added: "It is extraordinarily unusual in modern times for a court to dismiss a petition for divorce."
Mr Marshall said Mrs Owens's case was that her husband had behaved unreasonably and that the marriage had irretrievably broken down.
She had made 27 allegations about the way Mr Owens treated her which he, a retired businessman, denied.
She said he was "insensitive" in his "manner and tone" and said she was "constantly mistrusted" and felt unloved.
"The simple fact is that I have been desperately unhappy in our marriage for many years," she said in a witness statement.
Mr Marshall said Judge Tolson had failed to make "proper findings of fact" and argued that his ruling should be overturned.
"It was my client's complaint that her husband treated her in a childlike way," Mr Marshall told judges. "And in a way which was effectively that she should agree with his will."
Mr Owens argued he was a tease and said had a loud voice but that the marriage should not be ended.
"I am somebody who teases my wife," he had said during the litigation. "I do it all the time. I know she doesn't always appreciate it."
Judges were told that at one stage Mrs Owens had an affair which lasted less than a year and Mr and Mrs Owens, who have grown-up children, had slept in different rooms for many years.
H undreds of protesters clashed with police as riots spread into Paris on Wednesday night.
Tear-gas was used by police as rioting that originated in the suburbs spilled into the French capital around the Barbes Metro station, close to Gare du Nord.
It follows the alleged rape of a young black man, named only as Theo, by French police.
Protesters started fires and smashed windows, while there were reports of riot police being attacked and shops looted.
The riots have been triggered by the alleged rape of a young black man by police / EPA
Fire crews raced to the scene to extinguish the blazes as police desperately tried to disperse the crowds.
There has been heightened tension in council estates in Paris since February 2 when a 22-year-old youth worker named Theo was allegedly beaten up, raped and racially abused by police.
Rioting that originated in the suburbs have spread into the French capital / REUTERS
One unidentified officer has been charged with rape, and three more with assault since Theo was sent to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
Since the alleged attack there have been reports of police stations and squad cars being targeted, as well as patrols operating around France.
There has been heightened tension in Paris since February 2 / EPA
President Francois Hollande, who has visited Theo, has appealed for calm.
Wednesday night's protest at Barbes was illegal as police refused to give permission for it.
A woman has been arrested after images circulated of a woman wearing a "LOL" top wanted in connection with the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother.
Malaysian police said the woman was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. She was reportedly carrying Vietnamese travel documents.
South Korean officials confirmed on Tuesday that Kim Jong Nam died after an apparent poison attack at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
South Korea said Pyongyang had been trying to kill Kim Jong Nam for years citing evidence of another assassination attempt in 2012.
The woman was captured on CCTV wearing a 'LOL' top
The 46-year-old was targeted on Monday in a shopping concourse at the airport.
Kim Jong Nam, who died on the way to a hospital, told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray, according to Malaysian authorities.
The woman is thought to be one of two suspected of killing Kim Jong Nam
South Korean media reports said he was killed at the airport by two women believed to be North Korean agents.
According to footage they fled in a taxi and are being sought by Malaysian police.
The woman captured on CCTV before leaving the airport in a taxi
South Korean television published CCTV footage appearing to show a woman wearing a white top with the letters LOL printed on it and a mult-coloured skirt.
It appears to show her standing outside the airport waiting for a taxi. The woman was reportedly earlier seen with Kim Jong Nam.
Sibling rivalry: Kim Jong Nam
The motive of the apparent killing is still unclear but South Korean media cited Kim Jong Un's "paranoia" about his estranged half-brother.
Kim is the eldest son of late former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and had been tipped by some outsiders as a possible successor to his dictator father.
But others thought that was unlikely because he lived outside the country, including recently in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.
Malaysian officials said it took authorities a day to identify Kim Jong Nam because he was travelling under a false passport.
His travel documents identified him as Kim Chol born in Pyongyang on June 10, 1970.
It is not the first time he has travelled under a different identity. In 2001, he was caught at an airport in Japan traveling on a fake passport, saying he had wanted visit Tokyo Disneyland.
A toddler has been shot dead in a suspected gangland hit broadcast on Facebook Live in the latest wave of gun violence in Chicago.
Lavontay White Jr was shot in the head yesterday afternoon while riding in a car with his 26-year-old uncle and his uncles 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend.
The two-year-old boy became the latest child gun victim in the troubled city after Takiya Holmes, 11, died in hospital yesterday.
She had been hit by a stray bullet on Saturday.
Another girl, 12-year-old Kanari Bowers, was fighting for life after being shot in a separate incident the same day.
A still from the video taken in Chicago
Police said Lavontays uncle, whose name has not been released, was a known gang member and is believed to have been the target of the shooting. He was also shot in the head and died at the scene in the citys West Side Lawndale neighbourhood.
The pregnant woman, who was shot in the abdomen, had been on Facebook Live when a gunman jumped out of another car and opened fire.
Harrowing footage shows the boy looking out of the window and the woman smiling while listening to music before a rapid burst of gunfire is heard with at least 16 shots in the space of about five seconds.
The woman jumps from the car and starts running while holding her mobile phone. She is heard screaming and calling Momma before asking for help saying: I got a bullet in my stomach! Please! Please! I cant breathe!
The woman was today in a stable condition in hospital. Family members said she was four months pregnant and the baby was expected to survive. Lavontay was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital.
Crime scene: Police attend after the shooting in Chicago / AFP/Getty Images
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson criticised legislative partners for inaction on gun violence.
He said: This has got to stop somewhere. Our children should not have to pay the price for our inability to hold repeat gun offenders responsible for their actions.
Mr Johnson added: We have very promising leads. We have video. Theres no doubt in my mind that well find him.
Chicago has been plagued by violence with more than 762 killings last year - nearly 300 more than occurred in 2015 - and more than 3,500 shooting incidents.
That violence has continued this year, with January ending with 51 murders or manslaughters, the highest total since January 1999 when there were 55.
President Donald Trump tweeted last night that he would Send in the Feds if Chicago does not fix the horrible carnage.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement: Our consciences are shaken and our hearts are broken. These shootings must be a turning point for our city.
P assengers on a flight from London to Shanghai faced panic on Wednesday when the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Russia.
Flight MU552 took off from Heathrow Airport at 9pm on Tuesday carrying 186 passengers.
But the China Eastern Airlines plane developed a mechanical breakdown, a spokesman for the airline told the Standard.
It was diverted to Yemelyanovo International Airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai and made an emergency landing there at 11am local time.
A spokesman for the airline said a replacement plane was being sent to the airport to pick up the stranded passengers.
However, he said the aircraft may not actually be able to depart Russia until 2am on Thursday.
He said: We have sent a new flight to take the passengers from Russia to Shanghai.
The arrival time may change.
D onald Trumps administration has been rocked by a bombshell report claiming that senior members of his campaign team had repeated contacts with Russian spies in the year before the US election.
The New York Times claimed the Kremlin's connection with the Trump campaign was revealed in phone records and calls intercepted by US law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Sources told the newspaper that the communications were discovered in the autumn at about the time intelligence agents learned about Russias hacking of Democratic National Committees emails - a key factor many believe helped doom Hillary Clintons White House dreams.
The report said that, so far, there was no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow on the email hacks or any other attempts to influence the results of Novembers election.
The intercepts were said to be particularly alarming to US intelligence because Mr Trump spoke so effusively about Russian President Vladimir Putin during the campaign.
Michael Flynn resigns as national security adviser over Russia row
At one point, he said he hoped Mrs Clintons emails had been stolen by the Russians and would be made public.
The four current and former American officials quoted by the Times said other associates of Mr Trump were in contact with the Russians as well as senior members of his campaign.
CNN said high level advisors close to Mr Trump were in constant contact with Russians known to US intelligence during the campaign.
The cable network also reported that Mr Trump and then President Obama were both briefed on the communications.
The FBI is said to be sifting through the call logs and intercepted communications. According to law enforcement sources, FBI agents have conducted interviews and obtained banking and travel records as part of the probe.
The only Trump adviser named as being on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Trump's campaign chairman for several months last year and previously worked as a political consultant in Russia and Ukraine.
The claims emerged hours after Trump's security adviser Michael Flynn was forced to quit over ties with Moscow / REUTERS
He dismissed the claims in an interview with the newspaper, insisting: "This is absurd. I have no idea what this is referring to.
"I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers, and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today.
"Its not like these people wear badges that say, Im a Russian intelligence officer." he added.
Mr Manafort hasnt been charged with any crimes or accused of any illegal activity.
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The Times said the insiders wouldnt disclose what was discussed on the calls or whether they had anything to do with Mr Trump.
The scandal erupted just 24 hours after the presidents national security adviser Michael Flynn quit over his controversial ties with Moscow.
The bugged calls between Mr Flynn and Russias ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak included discussions over the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration as punishment for the Russians alleged cyber hack.
In 90 seconds: Trump and Trudeau differ over border control
These intercepted calls were different to the wiretaps allegedly exposing regular contact involving Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials.
There was no comment early today from either the White House or the Russian authorities.
But just two days after the election, Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said "there were contacts" between Mr Trumps team and Russian officials.
"Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage," he told the Russian Interfax news agency.
Mr Trumps transition spokeswoman Hope Hicks said at the time that the claim was "not accurate."
The initial contacts were revealed during routine foreign surveillance of Russians known to American intelligence but the FBI asked for expanded research into the phone calls and intercepts after becoming suspicious over the regularity of the communications, according to reports.
As part of the investigation, the FBI is assessing a sensational dossier handed over last year by a former British intelligence official that included lurid allegations that Mr Trump consorted with prostitutes on a trip to Moscow and the Russians had videos that could be used to blackmail the billionaire.
Last night, it emerged that Mr Trump demanded Mr Flynns resignation as a result of an eroding level of trust as a result of the former national security advisers admission that he misled Vice President Mike Pence over his contact with Russia.
H arrison Ford was reportedly involved in a near-miss while trying to land his plane in California.
Ford, 74, was piloting a private, single-engine Aviat Husky when he mistook a taxiway for a runway at John Wayne airport, NBC News reported.
The Star Wars actor was cleared to land on a runway, but instead flew over the top of an American Airlines plane awaiting take-off to land on a taxiway.
Some 110 passengers and six crew members were on board the airliner, which was travelling to Dallas, Texas.
Flying enthusiast: Harrison Ford in his Ryan PT-22 plane in September 2013 / Splash News
The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation which could result in a warning letter or Ford losing his licence as landing on a taxiway is a safety violation.
Ford is quoted as asking air traffic controllers: Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens European Premiere 1 /38 Star Wars: The Force Awakens European Premiere Star of the show Daisy Ridley at 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' eurpoean film premiere, London David Fisher/Rex John Boyega attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Justin Tallis/AFP/gETTY iMAGES Director's Cut J.J. Abrams attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Solo has landed Harrison Ford attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Make way for the original Princess Carrie Fisher at 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' film european premiere David Fisher/Rex The real 3P0 Anthony Daniels attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Lupita Nyong'o at 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' film premiere David Fisher/Rex Beckham United Jnr Romeo Beckham (L) and Brooklyn Beckham attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Skywalker sqaud Mark Hamill with daugher Chelsea Hamill and wife Marilou York attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Glittering star Daisy Ridley at 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' eurpoean film premiere, London David Fisher/ Rex Gwendoline Christie attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Meet the new bad guy Adam Driver (R) and Joanne Tucker attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Rolling with it Droid character BB-8 at the European Premiere of Star Wars, The Force Awakens in Leicester Square, London Paul Hackett/Reuters Aliens on the red carpets Jawa's and Sand People attending the Star Wars: The Force Awakens European Premiere Ian West/PA Darth Vader and company Darth Vader and Chewbacca pose with stormtroopers at the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Double droids C-3PO and R2-D2 attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Dave Benett Oscar Isaac attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Hello Wicket Warwick Davis attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett The real Chewbacca Peter Mayhew attending the Star Wars: The Force Awakens European Premiere Ian West/PA Sophie Hunter and Benedict Cumberbatch attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett George Lucas (L) and Mellody Hobson attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens Dave Benett Big fan Simon Pegg attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Diego Luna attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett Chewie and friends ans dressed up as Star Wars character pose ahead of the European Premiere of "Star Wars The Force Awakens" Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Lightsabers at the ready ans receive light sabres before the start of the European Premiere of "Star Wars The Force Awakens" Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images This way to the Dagobar system Fans wait ahead of the European Premiere of "Star Wars The Force Awakens" Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images The force is strong Fans gather in Leicester Square for hte Star Wars:The Force Awakens European Premiere Jeremy Selwyn Myleene Klass attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square Dave Benett
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor could not confirm that Ford was piloting the Aviat Husky but told the Los Angeles Times: The pilot correctly read back the clearance.
The pilot then landed on a taxiway that runs parallel to the runway, overflying a Boeing 737 that was holding short of the runway.
He did not indicate how high the plane was when it flew over the airliner.
The FAA is investigating, Mr Gregor said.
Ford's publicist, Ina Treciokas, declined to comment.
Injured: Harrison Ford was 'battered' but OK after the crash (Picture: AP)
It comes two years after Fords vintage plane crash-landed on a Santa Monica golf course. The crash was blamed on engine failure.
In 1999, he crash-landed his helicopter during a training flight in Los Angeles. Both he and the instructor were unhurt.
By Press Trust of India: Kathmandu, Feb 15 (PTI) Seven persons were killed and five others injured today when a jeep they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell some 200 metres down the slope in Dadeldhura district of far-western Nepal.
Five passengers were killed on the spot and two others succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at Dadeldhura Sub-regional Hospital, police said.
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Five others sustained serious injuries in the mishap.
The incident occurred after the ill-fated jeep skidded off the road and fell some 200 metres down the hilly road at Thulokhola of Bagargoth in the district this afternoon.
The jeep was heading towards district headquarters from Bhageshwor.S
Police said the accident occurreddue to the drivers negligence. PTI SBP KJ ZH KJ
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By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma
Beijing, Feb 15 (PTI) Three knife-wielding suspected Uyghur militants killed five persons before being shot dead by police in Chinas western Xinjiang province, the latest "terror attack" in the restive Muslim-majority region.
The attackers killed five persons and wounded five others in a residential compound in Pishan county last evening, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said today.
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The attackers were shot dead by police, it said, quoting residents in the area.
The county has issued the highest level of security alert after the authorities described it as a "terror attack".
The government did not identify the suspects and victims, but some residents said the attackers were Uygurs, the main Muslim ethnic group in Xinjiang, the Post said.
Armed police in bullet proof vests were on patrol every 10 to 20 metres on the streets of the county.
Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan, has been on the boil for several years over Uyghur protests against the large-scale settlements of Han Chinese from different parts of the country.
China blames Uyghur separatists from the East Turkistan Islamic Movement for the attacks in the region, which has over 10 million Uyghur population of Turkik-origin Muslims.
In December, four knife-wielding men attacked a Communist Party office in Xinjiangs Hotan region and set off an explosive device, killing one person. Four assailants were also shot dead.
A hotel manager said she was still in shock after the recent violence. "It is the worst attack in Pishan in recent years. We hope the victims find rest in heaven," she said.
The attack took place at the entrance to a residential compound, which is in the west of the city, not far from the county government headquarters.
A restaurant owner told the Post that most businesses and shops were open despite the huge security presence.
"My business has not been affected. I don?t smell fear in the air," the Uygur restaurant owner said.
Pishan county has been dubbed by officials as a "hotbed for terrorism", said an article in the state-run Global Times published following a suicide bomb attack three years ago.
Four people from Pishan took part in the attack at a market in Xinjiangs regional capital Urumqi in May 2014.
Forty three people including four of the attackers were killed in the assault. Nearly 100 were injured.
The ETIM militants have been blamed for several terrorist attacks in China including a suicide attack at Forbidden city in Beijing in 2013.
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The Post said local officials have denied allegations by rights groups and exiled Uygurs that tensions have been inflamed by curbs on religion and ethnic minority culture and language in the region. PTI KJV NSA ZH AKJ ZH
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With one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other an oversized certificate declaring him the winner of $1 million from Publishers Clearing House, Bruce Saunders stood on the front porch of his western Davie County Monday and rattled off a list of things he plans spend his spend money on medical bills, fixing his lawnmower and helping family members.
the government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is India's biggest plane-maker, here are the key takeaways from the press interaction held by the HAL on the sidelines of the Aero India 2017.
By Jugal R Purohit: They are involved at the cutting edge of India's military and to an extent, civil aviation. From frontline fighters to basic trainers to designing doors for civil liners, the government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is India's biggest plane-maker.
Key takeaways from the press interaction held by the HAL on the sidelines of the Aero India 2017.
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BUILDING SUKHOI 30 MKI IN INDIA: We've produced 183 against order of 222 planes. By 2020 we will complete it. Our current capacity is to build 12 aircraft per year
LCA TEJAS: Three aircraft given to IAF and the squadron has been operationalised. Plan is to complete 40 Mk 1 LCA by 2019-20.
LCA TEJAS MARK 1A: IAF has approved 83 aircraft in this configuration with enhanced outsourcing for private sector. From eight aircraft a year, we will build 16 by investing in a second line which is being built at a cost of Rs 1000 cr (50 per cent from HAL, 25 per cent from IAF & 25 per cent from Indian Navy). LCA Mark 1A development with maintenance ease, refueling, AESA and SPJ will make it Mark 1A and we have released request for quotations for AESA. Trials to be done by 2018 and LCA MARK 1A from 2018 and will build 83 in numbers at least for now. LCA MARK 1A is GE 404 and we are looking at KAVERI and exploring possibility of reviving it. GTRE is putting the efforts. By March 2017 we will know the progress.
ADVANCED LIGHT HELICOPTER: Of the 159 wanted, 136 delivered and all will be done by 2017-18. Additional order for 73 concluded. The contract will be signed within a few days for our armed services
LIGHT COMBAT HELICOPTER: LCH has done 850 flights and basic configuration has been frozen. Limited Series Production cleared (10 to IAF and 5 to Army). It is the only combat chopper which can operate at 20,000 ft.
HELICOPTER PRODUCTION: We have produced 360 Cheetah and 28 Chetal till date.
JAGUAR UPGRADE: DARIN III upgrade designed by us and all requirement of Initial Operational Clearance completed and we will be upgrading 61 JAGUAR to DARIN III standard
MIRAGE UPGRADE - IOC upgrade at France and Final Operational Clearance (FOC) done by us and 51 MIRAGE aircraft to be done by HAL.
HAWK I - Is the 100th produced aircraft by us, HAL. Owned and upgraded by HAL.
SUKHOI 30 MKI UPGRADE: HAL the lead agency for Sukhoi 30 MKI upgrade. Will have back to back contracts with Sukhoi Design Bureau. Two phase upgrade. First phase to start within 90 days.
HTT40: Our basic trainer had its first flight in June 2016. An order of 106 planes from the IAF is expected. We are entering the stall and spin trial and once done, we will take a managerial decision to produce. It has been funded by us.
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INTERMEDIATE JET TRAINER: It will come out of the grey and much-delayed stall and spin will be accomplished too. This year you will see it.
FIFTH GENERATION FIGHTER AIRCRAFT PROGRAMME WITH RUSSIA: The committee has submitted its commercial and contractual report to the contract government committee. We hope our government will move on a positive note in the next few months. FGFA our discussion is complete. From our side, confident that this opportunity will not be missed in participating in FGFA.
INDIA's LIGHT UTILITY HELICOPTER: Successfully carried out its maiden flight in September 2016 and intend to complete certification by 2018 and start delivering by 2019-20
INDIAN MULTI ROLE HELICOPTER: A full scale mock up of Indian Multi Role Helicopter at our stall and we want it to have a service ceiling of 20,000 ft with carrying capacity of 24 people. Can do all roles including VIP duties.
UAV DEVELOPMENT: Mini UAV of 80 kg ready for production. It can do day and night surveillance. Development of 10kg rotary UAV taken up. December 16, 2015 the first flight was done. Upto 500kg class rotary UAVs we want to build.
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INDO RUSSIA MTA IS DEAD: Multi-role Transport Aircraft is not progressing well. It is currently on a stop mode. No work is going on over the MTA. It was a JV formed with Russia and both governments have put in their money. It will be a collective decision.
SERVICEABILITY: Every HAL supplied platform has 65 per cent serviceability and Sukhoi 30 MKI maximum serviceability of 68 per cent. We have given a proposal to MoD to become Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for Sukhoi in India.
COMMONALITIES OF PARTS FOR HELICOPTERS: Commonality of parts achieved in helicopters is a lot. Except the Light Combat Helicopter, all helicopters have a lot of commonalities.
R & D AT HAL: 6.5 per cent of our budget committed to R&D. Over Rs 1000 cr is the R&D budget. We are the largest among defence PSUs investing in R&D.KAMOV 226T - The shareholding brief has been signed before President Putin and PM Modi during BRICS. We are now awaiting the Russian Presidential clearance and then MoD will lay down the process of making Kamov 226T.
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WRITER IS A SENIOR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT WITH INDIA TODAY TV & TWEETS @JRPUR
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By MARK EVANS STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, reported to the county commission last Thursday that temperatures are getting too cold at night for much more asphalt work to be done. He said potholes had all been patched. His crews were working on Bodine Road and made call-ins to locate
Acting Justice Minister Ana Birchall on Wednesday announced having had talks these days with leaders of magistrates and institutions of the judiciary on matters related to the smooth running of justice.
"To me, securing the current activities of the ministry, the smooth running of the administration of the ministry is highly important. Having had a conversation with all these who in this period of time and also generally have an important word to say in the smooth operation of justice was absolutely normal. And I have spoken with everybody, including the National Union of Romania's Judges, leaders of the magistrates. (...) Conducting a normal dialogue with everybody and all organisations involved is natural, so that I may ask them about their current affairs," Birchall said as she left for a debate on energy security to attend as minister-delegate for European affairs.
Journalists asked her whether or not she managed to have talks with officials of the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) and the Directorate for Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).
"I find it normal for me to be able to discuss these laws related to the current activities of the ministry with the DIICOT chief prosecutor," said Birchall, adding that on Wednesday the Chamber of Deputies had a first reading of DIICOT legislation.
Asked whether or not her conversations were followed by decisions being made, Birchall said, ''This is business as usual, and during my interim tenure I will discuss with everybody who have a word to say in justice and the smooth running of the administrative activities of the Justice Ministry."
She also reiterated her position on the criminal codes.
"I do not find it either normal or fair for someone to decide what ruling of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) is mandatory and what is not. From this perspective, a debate inside the Romanian society on these matters is absolutely necessary. The rulings of the Constitutional Court are mandatory, instead of optional. And I voiced my regret then, which I express now again, that maybe last year all the decisions ruled unconstitutional by CCR could have been harmonised and translated into the Romanian legislation as laws, because it is incumbent on the Government and Parliament particularly to consider the CCR rulings and turn them into pieces of legislation so that no practice remains out of synch, as we can see happening these days," added Birchall.
agerpres.
The Minister of National Education, Pavel Nastase declared on Wednesday, in a press conference, that by the end of this year, according to the governing programme, a new law of national education will be designed.
"According to the Governing Programme, by the end of 2017, we must have a new national education law. Within this context, the Rectors' National Council and other university consortiums will be invited to discuss on this topic and also, the education parliamentary committees in Romania's Parliament that are empowered to come up with this law. Therefore, together with Parliament and these councils and consortiums, we will start off this process of creating a new law of National Education, whose deadline must be, as I was saying, the end of the year," the minister said. He stated that by the end of the year a draft law will be forwarded in Parliament.
Agerpres
Natural gas prices might increase by up to 10 percent starting with 1 April, after liberalising the domestic market's gas prices, Chairman of the National Energy Regulation Authority (ANRE) Niculae Havrilet said on Wednesday.
"We'll have a price modification in the natural gas sector from 1 April. We'll also have finalised market regularisation for natural gas and a possibility exists that we have an upward adjustment in the gas prices, but not of 10 percent. We believe it will be an increase of a few percentages, up to 10 percent," said Havrilet.
Just two days ago, Managing Director of E.ON Romania Frank Hajdinjak told agerpres. that the household gas prices might grow by over 10 percent from 1 April.
According to Havrilet, an increase will occur because the price for domestic gas, which is now 60 lei / MWh, will get adjusted to the market prices, estimated to be 68-72 lei this summer. The ANRE head added that the population will not feel the growth that much since gas consumption in summer is pretty low.
"(...) Consumption will be very low until November. Practically, there will be a 6-7 month period to see what the smallest gas price is going to be in the end in the consumer's basket. Households have a consumer basket, including domestic gas production, natural gas in storage and imported gas. Structuring the basket so that we have the smallest price will benefit the household consumers," Havrilet said.
Practically, Havrilet concluded, the households will consume the lowest-priced natural gas, no matter its origins.
By India Today Web Desk: Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra might have remained tight-lipped about their relationship status, but the rumoured lovebirds couldn't stay away from each other on Valentine's Day. Sidharth, who is busy with post production of his upcoming film Reload, took out time from his busy schedule to spend some quality time with rumoured girlfriend Alia on V-Day.
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ALSO READ: Varun drops major hint about Alia-Sidharth's relationship
ALSO READ: Too serious to be discussed in public, Sidharth on relationship with Alia
The 32-year-old was seen outside Alia's house in Mumbai last evening. While Alia was seen in a no make-up look, Sid was in his casual best.
Interestingly, Sidharth in a recent interview to PTI had said that he only plans to work this Valentine's Day. He had said, "My plans for tomorrow is only working, nothing else. Valentine's day is tomorrow, yes, thanks for reminding me."
But it wasn't only work for the Ek Villain actor as he took out time for his special someone on Valentine's Day.
(Photos: Milind Shelte)
ALSO WATCH: My father always asked me to fail, says Alia Bhatt
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The European Commission decided on Wednesday to send reasoned opinions to Romania and other seven Member States of the European Union concerning the failure of the obligation to completely transpose into their national legislation the Directive on the right of the EU citizens to work in another Member State, reveals a press release of the EU executive. The other Member countries targeted by the European Commission action are: Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Portugal.
The Directive's objective is to allow people who work or are looking for a job in another EU country to exercise easier their right to free movement guaranteed by the Community legislation. It provides measures to support and protect the mobile citizens of the EU, to ensure better access to information on the rights to free movement, to combat discrimination on grounds of nationality as regards access to employment, remuneration and other work conditions, as well as to overcome unjustified obstacles to the free movement.
Member States had the obligation to implement this directive and to communicate the national transposition measures to the Commission by 21 May 2016. Following the letters of formal notice sent by the EC in September 2016, the EU executive has decided to send reasoned opinions to these Member States. If the authorities of these Member States will not take measures within two months, the case can be submitted to the EU Court of Justice (CJEU). Still on Wednesday, the European Commission decided to send reasoned opinions to Romania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Spain, Croatia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden regarding the failure of the obligation to notify the full transposition into their national laws of Directive 67/2014 laying the control measures and mechanisms needed for a better implementation, enforcement and a better and more even execution of workers' transfer.
The laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States required to comply with the Directive implementing the directive on the posting of workers had to be enforced by 18 June 2016 and the European Commission should have been informed immediately upon it. Since the authorities of those Member States have not yet notified the EU executive on the adoption of the necessary measures, the Commission decided to send reasoned opinions to these countries. If the national authorities do not take measures within two months, the case can be submitted to the CJEU.
Agerpres
Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Wednesday welcomed Jordan's ambassador in Bucharest Saker Malkawi, according to a press statement by the Foreign Ministry (MAE). Melescanu mentioned that the bilateral political and diplomatic ties between Romania and Jordan have witnessed rising dynamics at all levels, voicing interest in the rising trends in economic cooperation and commercial exchanges continuing.
Melescanu and Malkawi also exchanged opinions on the current world affairs, with emphasis on the challenges facing the Middle East, including the ongoing crisis in Syria and the prospects for the peace process, says MAE. The Romanian chief diplomat praised Jordan for its stabilising presence in the region, voicing Romania's determination to take part, as a European Union member state, in the efforts to resume normalcy in the Middle East.
Agerpres
A Romanian citizen is among the dead persons following the road accident that took place on Wednesday in Hungary, close to the Nadlac border crossing point, and another six wounded Romanians were taken to the Szeged and Mako hospitals, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) specifies in a press release sent to agerpres.
"According to the preliminary information communicated by the Hungarian authorities at the scene, among the dead persons following the accident is a Romanian citizen. Six wounded Romanian citizens were taken to the hospitals in Szeged and Mako", MAE specifies.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hungarian authorities continue the searches to establish the circumstances causing the accident and confirmed the identity of all the persons involved in the accident.
Likewise, the General Consul of Romania in Szeged went to the place of the accident and is in permanent contact with the representatives of Hungarian Police and Arad Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, which participate in the intervention.
The representative of the Romanian Consular Office will later go to the mentioned hospitals, to obtain additional information concerning the state of the wounded persons and to offer the necessary consular assistance, the MAE underscores.
Minister delegate for the Relation with Parliament Gratiela Gavrilescu arrived on Wednesday at the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) headquarters, where she is to be heard by the prosecutors.
She refused to give any statements to the press upon entering the DNA.
According to some judicial sources, Gabriela Gavrilescu is to be heard as a witness in a case of corruption.
agerpres.
By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, Feb 15 (PTI) Reacting to the arrest of Nabha jailbreak mastermind from the alleged house of an AAP worker, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today sought a probe into what he called Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals "nexus" with militants and gangsters in the state.
The Congress chief ministerial candidate flagged concern over the arrest of Gurpreet Singh Sekhon from the house of an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activist, just two weeks after Kejriwal had courted controversy by staying at a KLF militants home in Punjab.
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There is apparently a "strong nexus between AAP and the militants as well as dreaded gangsters, posing a major threat to Punjabs security and safety", alleged Amarinder, demanding an independent investigation, preferably by a central agency, into the partys "dangerous" links.
With the Maur bomb blast also being traced to KLF and occurring just a few days after Kejriwals stay at KLF terrorist Gurwinder Singhs house during his Punjab visit ahead of the assembly polls, the situation warranted a detailed inquiry into what appeared to be "nefarious links" between AAP and anti-social elements, he said.
Amarinder said while Kejriwal-led AAP had increasingly been exposing its "extremist ideology" in the run-up to the polls, things had now come to a head in the wake of the latest reports of Sekhons arrest from the home of party activist Goldy Gill, an NRI who had been actively engaged in campaigning for his party.
"It was no longer possible," he said, "to brush away controversial Kejriwals stay as a mere coincidence, as the AAP leadership had been trying to project." PTI VJ DKD KIS
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Speaking exclusively to India Today, Shah indicated that all of what was being said was because of election fever and that things would settle down after the polls got over.
By Rahul Kanwal: In a bid to underplay the rift with its ally Shiv Sena, BJP president Amit Shah today blamed the "election fever" for the heightened political temperature between the two parties.
Speaking exclusively to India Today, Shah indicated that all of what was being said was because of election fever and that things would settle down after the polls got over.
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Reacting to Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi runs the government like a dictator, Shah said, "Udhav is still with us, isn't he?"
Shah is confident that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party in the upcoming BMC elections in Mumbai.
The BJP believes that the entire battle is about showing who is the big brother in the state.
Although Shah did not comment on tying up with the NCP, he seemed confident that there was no threat to the BJP government in Maharashtra.
Other senior leaders also feel that Uddhav Thackeray's aggression against Modi and the BJP is just a public posturing in view of the forthcoming municipal elections in Maharashtra. BJP national general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Saroj Pandey and co-in charge Rakesh Singh have already said that the party is not taking Uddhav's rants seriously.
They said that Sena has not attacked the BJP for the first time. The same atmosphere prevailed in the state during the 2014 Assembly election when the two parties had fought it separately.
Though Shiv Sena and BJP are allies at the Centre and in Maharashtra, they are separately contesting the municipal elections.
The BJP is aiming at breaking the monopoly of the Shiv Sena which has ruled BMC for 19 years. Angered at this, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has been hitting hard at BJP and the Prime Minister. From calling Modi "arrogant" to allying with BJP's bete noire Hardik Patel, the Shiv Sena is indulging in all means to provoke and undermine its senior alliance partner.
The sense in the BJP seems to be that Udhav Thackeray is highly arrogant. "While he doesn't have any of the positives of Balasaheb Thackeray, he seems to have inherited all the negatives," remarked a senior BJP leader who didn't wish to be named.
ALSO READ:Maharashtra civic polls: Why Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's anti-Modi rant doesn't worry BJP
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Gander Mountain has hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey as an advisor in a business review, the outdoor equipment chain said Wednesday.
The announcement from the St. Paul, Minn.-based chain that has three locations in the St. Louis area follows a recent Reuters report that Gander Mountain was considering filing for bankruptcy.
Gander Mountain, which has 162 stores, said "recent speculative news articles have caused concern among some of our customers, employees, and trade partners," and prompted a response from the privately held company.
"Like most retailers, we are subject to normal economic cycles, changes in our industry and shifts in consumer demand that require us to adapt our business accordingly," Gander Mountain said in a statement. "Its been that way since 1960, when we started out as a catalog company in small-town Wisconsin, and it remains the case today."
Gander Mountain's chairman and CEO is David Pratt, a former chairman and CEO of pesticide maker United Industries and a minority stakeholder in the St. Louis Cardinals.
Gander Mountain and its ownership group have undertaken a best-practices approach to review our strategic options specific to positioning the company for long-term success," the company said in the statement Wednesday. "When we engage in such a review we often seek information and advice from external advisors to inform our decisions."
The company retained Los Angeles-based Houlihan Lokey as independent advisors to assist in the process and said "we are confident that the outcome of the review will identify the right go-forward strategy."
ST. LOUIS Mayor Francis Slay plans to join the law office of Spencer Fane after he concludes his fourth term as mayor in April.
The Kansas City-based law firms local office is in Clayton, but Slay will be based in a new office in downtown St. Louis.
Slays announcement marks the end of the constant drumbeat of rumors and speculation about his professional life after leaving City Hall.
Slay said he has been debunking rumors for months, but acknowledged that he never shut the door to running for office statewide.
I kept that option open as a possibility, he said. There was nothing specific, but I didnt rule it out.
Slay, who has been taking continuing legal education courses for the past several months, said he will be practicing as a general business attorney and likely handling cases related to international commerce, public finance and regulatory work.
He added that serving as mayor also helped him keep up with changes in the law.
The variety of legal issues that you deal with as mayor day-to-day are endless, he said. When you look at personnel issues and business finances and business disputes, the city has very similar issues.
In spite of the similarities that may exist, Slay said both he and Spencer Fane will be diligent to avoid any issues or cases that could present a conflict of interest.
Frank Neuner, a managing partner at Spencer Fanes St. Louis office, also said he doesnt anticipate any conflicts, but the firm will wall off the mayor should any issues arise.
While acknowledging that hiring a former mayor will bring visibility to Spencer Fane, Neuner said the decision was based on a number of factors, including Slays personal relationships with other attorneys at the firm.
Before becoming mayor, Slay practiced law at Guilfoil Petzall & Shoemake. A number of lawyers from that firm now work at Spencer Fane.
Several of our attorneys have long-standing relationships with (Slay), Neuner said. We are thrilled to have him. He will be a valuable resource for us and our clients, both public and private.
Slay said he is looking forward to joining a firm that is looking to grow in St. Louis.
I want to help them do that, he said.
Spencer Fane currently has about 40 attorneys working in its Clayton office. Neuner said several of them will move to the St. Louis office once the firm settles on a location.
The downtown office is expected to open this summer, if not sooner, Neuner said.
Slay received his law degree from St. Louis University School of Law, and he has a bachelors degree in political science from Quincy College. He was a private practice attorney for 20 years before he was elected as mayor. He was president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen from 1995 until he was elected mayor in 2001.
The developers who hope to turn St. Louis old Municipal Courts Building into a hotel arent the only ones looking to add new rooms to the downtown market.
At least four proposals are in motion that could add about 600 rooms to the downtown area, and the latest proposal for the vacant city-owned courts building could add 150 more.
Behind the latest downtown hotel proposal is a joint venture between Nelson Construction and Development of Des Moines, Iowa, and St. Louis-based Vertical Realty Advisors. They hope to start construction this summer after finalizing a $2.4 million deal to buy the city-owned property, which began emptying out in 2002 when the buildings court-related functions moved to the old federal courthouse on the other side of Tucker Boulevard. The hotel could open in spring 2019.
Financing the $60 million project hinges on winning a number of state and local incentives, including about $8 million in tax increment financing assistance from St. Louis.
During a presentation Wednesday to the citys TIF Commission, commission member Christina Bennett questioned whether the market could handle more hotel rooms. Nine hotels are already operating, the developers said.
Youre saying that nine hotels plus the extra four is not going to oversaturate a city? Bennett asked.
The developers argued that their project would be uniquely positioned next to Scottrade Center and near the renovated Gateway Arch grounds, Soldiers Memorial and a planned aquarium in Union Station.
There is a lot of momentum as far as tourist traffic in St. Louis, Hasan Adelani of Vertical Realty said after the hearing.
Otis Williams, head of the citys economic development office, told commissioners that his staff has examined the hotel market. He noted that 780 hotel rooms were taken off the market when the Millennium closed four years ago.
The number that is being added back is seen as a replacement, Williams said.
TIF commissioners will delve into the project details and take comments during a public hearing scheduled for April 12.
Preliminary figures indicate about 42 percent of the projects financing would come from a $20.5 million private loan and $4.9 million in investor equity. The rest would come from sources such as TIF, which captures increases in sales and property taxes. Also part of the package are Missouri brownfield tax credits, historic tax credits and the establishment of two special taxing districts that each can levy up to a 1 percent sales tax.
TIF commissioner Bennett asked whether the equity committed to the project was low compared to others, and she said she was concerned that the city has been subsidizing companies that do not need it.
The developers attorney, though, said the building needs extensive updates to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and maintain a historic structure with an odd floor plan that includes six courtyards and eight courtrooms with 35-foot high ceilings. It has been more than four years since Vertical first proposed buying the building and turning it into restaurants and offices.
It is a complicated, risky and expensive project, attorney Robert Preston of Spencer Fane said. The Municipal Courts building was built in 1911 in the Beaux Arts style.
As voice recognition gadgets such as Amazon Echo and Google Home become more popular, Anheuser-Busch is adding the technology on some of its brand websites.
A-B InBev, which has its U.S. headquarters in St. Louis, has added voice recognition on Budweiser.com and Budlight.com. The technology allows visitors to the website the ability to press a microphone button and say their birthday instead of typing it in.
A-B says it's the first consumer packaged goods company to add voice recognition AI technology for age verification and the first alcohol company to do so. The technology will also ultimately be added on the brewer's apps, contests, and sweepstakes.
"Reimagining how a consumer enters their date of birth during the age verification process is one of the key steps that Anheuser-Busch found to increase a customers positive experience and simplify the online path to enter, engage and purchase on their websites something competitors havent even attempted to change for years," a spokesman said in an email.
It's not the first time Karlie Kloss of Webster Groves has landed in trouble for being part of something considered racially insensitive, but the latest controversy seems particularly ill-conceived.
The March "diversity" issue of Vogue features a spread shot in Japan with a white, Midwestern Kloss dressed as a Japanese geisha including a photo with a sumo wrestler. It's pretty much the definition of cultural appropriation, and Kloss was quick to acknowledge this in a Twitter apology.
The spread was photographed by Mikael Jansson and styled by Phyllis Posnick. In one photo, Kloss has a long crown of black hair, and another shows her walking down the stairs of a tea house, all while her attire alludes to traditional geisha ensembles.
A New York Times blog said the dubious spread was likely an homage to Richard Avedons shoot of German model Veruschka von Lehndorff that appeared in Vogue in 1966.
In the past, Kloss has apologized for appearing in a Native American headdress in 2012 on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway in New York. The lingerie company apologized and did not include the outfit in the show's television broadcast.
And this isn't the first time Vogue has dressed her up to look Asian. In a 2011 Vogue spread that includes a sort of visual diary of her trip to China shot by Mario Testino, Kloss is in a short, blond wig with dark roots in a style that mimics a edgy Asian female aesthetic.
There wasn't much controversy to that Vogue spread, although it raised a few eyebrows.
Normally, Kloss is the epitome of the good girl, girl-next-door supermodel who bakes cookies and brings them to photo shoots. She's only 24 and has been a top model for years and seems pretty much universally admired and beloved.
Vogue and its international Vogue affiliates have a longer history of cultural insensitivity, including a persistent lack of cover diversity, spreads with models in blackface, controversial images of African-American athletes and a white model wearing accessories labeled as "slave earrings", among other incidents.
The cover itself has received a modest amount of criticism for it's the allegedly diverse body types and skin tones on display. One of the models on the cover is a plus-size model. Don't peek and tell us how long did it take you to spot her?
From left to right: Liu Wen, Ashley Graham (plus-sized), Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Imaan Hammam, Adwoa Aboah, and Vittoria Ceretti.
Daniel Neman Daniel Neman is a retail business writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Daniel Neman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
The turkey in that sandwich you picked up at a grab n go case at your local convenience store might well have been cooked and packaged in St. Clair County.
So might the pulled pork in the sandwich you ordered at a national fast-casual sandwich place. Or the chunks of rotisserie-style chicken you bought at a major big-box store.
But thats not the cool part. The cool part is the science.
It is never a good idea to watch how sausage is made, but that is the most fascinating part of Deli Star Corp. Not actual sausages, but something close: meat logs.
If you have been to a deli case in a grocery store or a restaurant that specializes in sandwiches, you have probably noticed that some of the meat comes in long, wrapped cylinders, a shape that is not generally associated with actual animals. But they are easy to cut, and they are a consistent size, which makes them highly desirable for the owner of the store or restaurant.
And they taste good, so customers like them, too.
A large part of the art of making and flavoring meat logs comes from Deli Stars 60,000-square-foot facility in Fayetteville, population 366. This year, the company celebrates its 30th anniversary of making cooked meat and what it hopes will be an increasing amount of raw meat.
Dan Siegel founded Deli Star almost as a hobby while working for what is now Bemis, a major packaging company based in Wisconsin. A scientist, he turned an interest in making roast beef into an interest in packaging it. He then developed a number of patented innovations in the way meat is cooked and delivered for the sandwich industry.
Siegel is now listed as the companys founder, chairman and chief scientist. The role of president is held by his son, Justin Siegel.
The meat at Deli Star is never frozen, and much of it is made without artificial preservatives. And yet and here is the coolest, most sciencey part of all some of its products can stay fresh for up to six months. The meat made without preservatives can stay fresh for three or four months.
Heck, even the raw meat stays fresh for 30 days.
The secret is in the packaging and the method of cooking the meat. The meat is vacuum-packed, sometimes even while it cooks, so that it is essentially unexposed to oxygen. Relatively acidic ingredients are used to help kill bacteria, and the products are often post-pasteurized with steam. In other words, they are heated enough to kill any pathogens that may otherwise prove troublesome.
Much of the companys research and development is now taking place across the Mississippi River. Last year, it opened its St. Louis Innovation Center in Lacledes Landing with a suite of offices, a professional-style kitchen and unbeatable view of the river.
At SLIC (which is inevitably pronounced slick), the companys executive chef, Jared Case, looks for ways to keep meat fresh and tasting good while keeping costs under control.
On a recent visit, the Culinary Institute of America-trained chef had pieces of pork loin cooking sous vide a way of cooking at a constant temperature in water. He was looking for the magical combination of temperature and time that will result in a moist and tasty loin while still allowing the company to produce it in large quantities.
Or there is this bit of scientific culinary voodoo: Deli Star makes a meat log out of rotisserie chicken. The chicken isnt actually cooked on a rotisserie, but it has a similar flavor. Best of all to the restaurant that is using it, when it is placed in a mixer it breaks up into chunks that look and feel like diced rotisserie chicken.
ST. LOUIS Four current or former Drug Enforcement Administration staffers have asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination or tried to in a series of rare federal court hearings here over a sex scandal that led to a congressional inquiry.
At issue is whether key evidence should be thrown out against four defendants in a St. Louis drug trafficking case involving two murders.
Their defense lawyers say that a confidential source who started the investigation was having sex with a DEA supervisor, and being paid for it. Prosecutors say that the misconduct allegations are confined to Atlanta and should have no effect on the criminal case here.
During nine days of testimony since mid-October, some agents and former task force officers from Atlanta dodged questions on whether they falsified documents to justify $212,000 in DEA payments to the source.
On Tuesday, a former task force officer, Anthony Tony Smith, testified that he was unaware of a relationship but did raise concerns about the payments.
Keith Cromer, a group supervisor in Atlantas DEA office and a key figure in the controversy, briefly took the Fifth in October before being told he had to testify. He denied any misconduct.
Now suspended, Cromer remains the sole target of a criminal investigation of DEA conduct, according to recently unsealed court testimony.
That testimony sheds new light on internal and criminal investigations, and provides an unusual look at a highly secretive world.
The Post-Dispatch reported the allegations against Cromer in October, triggering an inquiry by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
St. Louis agents, who acted on the sources information, have not been accused of improprieties. They have testified that the information was buttressed by subsequent investigation, and that they were unaware of any misconduct in Atlanta.
Murderous drug conspiracy
The St. Louis investigation involves Dionne L. Gatling, accused by prosecutors of dealing cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine here.
In 2012, St. Louis agents applied for wiretaps that led to the 2014 indictment of Gatling, Andre Alphonso Rush, Timothy Lamont Rush and Lorenzo Gibbs on various drug-related charges.
A superseding indictment in 2015 accuses Gatling, then 47, and Rush, then 50, of involvement in the murder of two men they believed had cooperated with police, or would.
Gatlings prosecution was upended in March 2015, when the confidential source, called CS#1, outed the Cromer investigation in a call to a former defense lawyer.
That was the tip of the iceberg for us, said Bob Herman, the lawyer for Andre Rush, in a conference last fall in the St. Louis chambers of U.S. Magistrate Judge Shirley Padmore Mensah.
Defense lawyers claim CS#1 did not have the knowledge that the DEA claimed in using her to support their wiretap applications. The lawyers declined to comment to a reporter.
CS#1 testifies
According to a redacted transcript of CS#1s testimony in a sealed courtroom, she started helping the DEA in 2009 and was later offered a reward in a case unrelated to Gatling. After her controlling agent retired, Cromer asked her to keeping working.
She said she did, and that she introduced Fidel Suarez, a California man seeking a drug connection, to Gatling.
CS#1 and Cromer became close friends, in part because both suffered the loss of a loved one. They first met alone after he wanted to talk to someone about his sons death from cancer.
Over months, their relationship progressed to sex. Then, she said, Cromer turned from affectionate to controlling, telling her how to dress and making her physically afraid.
CS#1 said she wasnt sure what the payments were for, and didnt think she was on the DEAs payroll despite receiving monthly payments of $2,000 to $2,500.
And she said Cromer told her to lie to others in the DEA to hide their relationship.
She eventually approached her former controlling agent, Jack Harvey, telling him, I just think theres a lot of illegal stuff going on.
Harvey, testified in October that she was paid tens of thousands of dollars for work done for him, but he also said he believed her claims about the relationship.
Now, he said, She wishes she never heard of DEA.
Cromer responds
Cromer was portrayed in court as a high achieving major case maker brought low by his decision to turn to CS#1 for solace after his son died.
In testimony last month and in October, he denied having sex with CS#1 or falsifying reports to justify her payments.
Critics of her work didnt know its extent, Cromer said, and other sources had similar payment arrangements with supervisors knowledge.
In court, Herman confronted Cromer with a cellphone picture CS#1 took of him sleeping in a hotel room in March 2012. It came up on her phone whenever Cromer called.
He said he didnt know how she got into the room.
Right there, that was a prohibited relationship, Herman said.
It is, Cromer acknowledged.
DEA agents are forbidden from even being alone with sources, or having a relationship closer than arms-length.
Cromer admitted failing to disclose a relationship but denied telling her to lie to his colleagues.
He said the DEA began phasing her out in 2012. In 2015, his security clearance was revoked, because investigators took it on faith that he committed misconduct.
Smith, the former officer, testified Tuesday that he raised concerns about payments to CS#1, some for work done by another source, saying he feared they could be fraudulent.
He said Cromer told him to just write something up to justify the payments, which Smith interpreted to mean she should be paid in any event. Smith denied falsifying information.
Cromer responded to his concerns, Smith claimed, by assigning someone else as CS#1s controlling agent.
Lawyers weigh in
W.H. Bill Thomas, Cromers Atlanta attorney, said in an interview last month, If we had something to hide, Agent Cromer wouldnt have testified.
I cant say it enough, that there is no one within DEA with knowledge of this situation that will tell you that those payments were made inappropriately, he added.
He and federal prosecutors in St. Louis agree that the drug defendants are just trying to use the scandal allegations to eliminate incriminating evidence.
Richard Callahan, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, said information used to obtain the wiretap was so strongly corroborated that the investigation of Cromer doesnt matter. He said the Cromer probe was revealed to the defense out of an abundance of caution.
DEA agents here testified that they were unaware of allegations about Cromer but were already aware of Gatling. They said CS#1s information about Gatlings California connection was borne out by the investigation.
At one point, Mensah, the judge, said the issue is what the agent who signed the wiretap affidavit knew. She said, I dont care whether CS#1 had sex with Cromer 25 times. If the affiant didnt know about it, its not really relevant here.
Lawyers in the drug case now have more than two months to file written briefs.
ST. CHARLES A man from Normandy has been given a 10-year prison term for robbing the Walmart store at 2897 Veterans Memorial Parkway in 2015.
Maliq Ale Shabazz, 23, of the 1900 block of Bermuda Drive, was sentenced last week by St. Charles County Circuit Judge Jon Cunningham after pleading guilty to felony robbery.
Court records said Shabazz and Michael A. Daniels, 29, were accused of taking $4,777 in bank bags from a shopping cart at the store.
Authorities said the bags had been placed in the cart by an employee transferring the money from cash registers as part of her duties.
A trial for Daniels, of the 10000 block of Jepson Drive in Bellefontaine Neighbors, is scheduled for May 30.
By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Feb 15 (PTI) The Army today paid homage to four soldiers, including an officer, who laid down their lives during two counter-insurgency operations in Bandipora and Kupwara districts of Kashmir.
Joined by officials of other security forces operating in the Valley, Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen J S Sandhu paid rich tributes to Major Satish Dahiya, Rifleman Ravi Kumar, Paratrooper Dharmender Kumar and Gunner Astosh Kumar in a solemn ceremony at Badamaibagh Cantonment here.
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"Survived by his wife and a two-year-old daughter, 31-year-old Maj Dahiya had led the operation launched by Army in Handwara yesterday which eventually resulted in the elimination of three terrorists, thus delivering a major blow to the terror network in North Kashmir," defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said.
He said the officer, hailing from Mahendergarh in Haryana, had been a part of several counter-terrorist operations and had also been awarded for gallantry earlier.
33-year-old Rifleman Ravi Kumar hailed from Samba in Jammu and Kashmir and was part of another operation in Hajin, Bandipora yesterday in which one terrorist was killed.
He is survived by his wife and a three-year-old daughter, the spokesman said.
Also forming part of the same operation was Paratrooper Dharmender Kumar of Nainital, Uttarakhand.
"The young paratrooper, who defied his 26 years of age and had established himself amongst his comrades as a spirited and daring soldier, is survived by his parents," he said.
Gunner Astosh Kumar hailed from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh and is survived by his mother Shila Devi. His father Havildar Lal Sahib had laid down his life during the Kargil War.
"The mortal remains of the martyrs will be taken to their native places for last rites with full military honours. The Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and remains committed to their dignity and well being," the spokesman said. PTI MIJ SMN
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ST. LOUIS COUNTY A Spanish Lake man has been charged with beating his girlfriend's two children.
Michael Green, 31, was charged Tuesday with two counts of abuse or neglect of a child. His bail is set at $50,000, cash only.
St. Louis County police say the victims are ages 3 and 4. They had welts, bruises and scars when their grandfather reported the abuse to police Jan. 28.
Both children indicated that "Mikey," who police say is Green, "whooped" them and "made (them) bleed," court records allege.
Police say the scars indicate the children were beaten with a belt or some kind of cord. The scars were on the children's torso, back, legs and genitals.
Green had been dating the children's mother for about six months, police say.
CLAYTON A St. Louis County judge with pending DWI and failure-to-comply charges retired Friday, as he was about to hit the states mandatory retirement age for judges.
Associate Circuit Judge Lawrence J. Larry Permuter turned 70 the mandatory retirement age for judges on Feb. 14, Court Administrator Paul Fox said in an email Wednesday. That is the mandatory retirement age for judges
Permuter was arrested by Richmond Heights police on Dec. 31, 2015, and later charged in municipal court with DWI and failure to comply with the reasonable direction of an officer.
A witness had called police at 12:39 p.m. to report that Permuters car crossed one lane of traffic on westbound Highway 40 and crashed into a concrete wall. Permuter then tried to get back on the highway before crashing again, she told police.
Permuter told police that he had hit the wall but could not tell me why, the officers report says. The report says that alcohol contributed to the accident, which damaged the front, rear and passenger side of Permuters 2003 Ford Escort. Permuter suffered minor cuts and bruises but declined medical attention.
After the charges became public, his then-lawyer, Joel Eisenstein, said Permuters blood-alcohol level, at 0.06 percent, did not meet the legal definition of intoxication of 0.08 percent.
At the time, neither police nor Eisenstein would say what led to the failure-to-comply charge, but Eisenstein did say his client later apologized to officers.
Its not clear whether Permuter faced a disciplinary investigation over the incident, as complaints or investigations are confidential unless Missouris Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline formally recommends discipline to the Supreme Court.
Permuters current lawyer could not be reached for comment.
Permuter, of Richmond Heights, was appointed to an associate judgeship in 2008 by then-Gov. Matt Blunt. Associate judges earn $136,000 per year. Permuter graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and got his law degree from Washington University.
EAST ST. LOUIS Federal prosecutors on Wednesday said that a Swansea man involved in a crash that killed a mother and her 12-year-old daughter has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The Jan. 20 crash claimed the lives of C'Mia Yvette Thomas, 12, and her mother, Tamika Thornton, 33, of East St. Louis.
In charging documents, David Wargo with the Illinois State Police wrote that Eric L. Eiskant was the driver of the Chevrolet Impala that hit the Chevrolet Suburban being driven by Thomas.
After the crash, a witness came up to Eiskant's car and heard him say "I've got to get out of here, I'm going to get in trouble," Wargo wrote. Eiskant then handed the witness a gun and a small silver container, Wargo wrote. The witness kicked them under the car, later pointing them out to police. The gun once belonged to Eiskant's grandfather. Wargo did not detail the contents of the container.
Eiskant was charged by complaint in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis on Feb. 10, but the complaint was sealed until his arrest.
Eiskant was convicted of residential burglary in 2008 in St. Clair County, Wargo wrote. He now works for an auto repair business in Swansea and has a 5-year-old daughter.
Police at the time of the crash said that Thomas was eastbound on St. Clair Avenue about 2:15 p.m. and turned left at 79th Street into the path of the 2011 Impala. C'Mia was thrown from the vehicle. Eiskant was taken to a hospital in Belleville, where he was listed in serious condition.
JEFFERSON CITY On a day when racial turmoil was simmering in the Capitol, members of the Missouri House gave a thumb's up to legislation called pro-black by its sponsor.
Rep. Shamed Dogan, the lone African-American lawmaker on the Republican side of the aisle, said his plan to lift state regulations on African-style hair braiders could trigger the creation of jobs in minority communities if those businesses take the opportunity to expand.
Under current state law, a person needs to go through a cosmetology school and complete 1,500 hours of training in order to obtain a license to legally braid hair.
Dogans measure would not require hair braiders to obtain a license. Instead, they would need to register with a board and receive a brochure including information about infections and disease control.
Dogan, a Ballwin resident, said hair braiding within the black community is a practice passed down through generations and isnt something that necessarily can be taught at a cosmetology school.
People dont need instructors to teach them how to do that, Dogan said. Its definitely a bill thats pro-black.
Dogan outlined his proposal to the full House on Tuesday and made sure to note that February is Black History Month.
At the same time the House debate was underway, the NAACP was holding a rally two floors away in the Capitol in the aftermath of a Monday dust-up between their state president, Rod Chapel, and Rep. Bill Lant, R-Pineville.
At issue was testimony by Chapel on a bill limiting discrimination lawsuits.
Lant, who also is chairman of the panel hearing the proposal, cut Chapel off as he was alleging the measure was racist.
After an outcry by Democrats and other groups, Lant acknowledged his actions had prevented open dialogue. He pledged to hold another hearing on the matter.
For now, the hair-braiding legislation stands as a way to bridge the gap. The proposal still needs a final vote in the House before it heads to the Senate for further debate.
But, it could face success because of support from Gov. Eric Greitens, who criticized the regulations during his State of the State speech in mid-January.
The legislation is House Bill 230.
JEFFERSON CITY Just a month after it opened under mysterious circumstances, Missouris newest state park has been closed.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources confirmed Wednesday that Jay Nixon State Park in Reynolds County was shuttered on Feb. 8 due to potential public safety concerns.
The closure is the latest twist in a controversy that caught fire in the waning days of Nixons final days as governor.
Nixon, a Democrat, championed the state park system during his two terms in office, arguing that an expansion will help draw tourism spending to the state. In the weeks before he left office, Nixon oversaw the opening of four parks and said visitors to the state topped 20 million in 2016.
As a parting gift before he re-entered the private sector as an attorney at a Clayton law firm, the DNR quietly announced that a mostly undeveloped 1,200-acre tract of land near Ironton would carry Nixons name.
That move, however, has angered local lawmakers, sparked legislation to strip Nixons name off the park and was cited as a potential factor in the ouster of the states park director.
And, now, the remote facility is closed.
The status of Jay Nixon State Park was re-evaluated due to limited access and lack of facilities, DNR spokesman Tom Bastian wrote in an email to the Post-Dispatch Wednesday.
On Wednesday, a House committee heard debate on a plan to rename the park as Proffitt Mountain State Park in honor of pioneers who settled the area, which abuts Taum Sauk State Park and Johnsons Shut-Ins State Park.
Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, suggested the change, saying it fits the region better than a park named after Nixon.
I dont have anything against naming something after the governor, Fitzwater said.
I appreciate his many years of service as governor and attorney general.
But, This parcel of land, and the history behind this parcel of land, is why were trying to do this, he added.
The son of a man who was murdered in connection also said he supported the renaming of the park. Troy Jones, 48, told the committee that a former owner of the property had killed his father over a disagreement over an easement on the property.
Jones family had originally sought to have the park named after their late patriarch.
Rep. Sonya Anderson, R-Springfield, told the committee that she also had heard the park was currently inaccessible.
Its not in any condition to hike, Anderson said.
Contacted at his new job Wednesday, Nixon declined to comment.
Updated at 4 p.m. with comments from Reps. Luetkemeyer, Bost.
WASHINGTON Missouris senators, who serve on key national security committees, differ in how former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns and President Donald Trump administrations contacts with Russia should be investigated.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee that has been for months probing Russian influence on the election, recommends that it continue as the point investigative committee. He says it would take a special prosecutor or a select committee of Congress a half year to catch up to where he and the bipartisan committee colleagues are.
I think Congress is the best place to do this and partly because we could do it right now, Blunt told the Post-Dispatch. Part of standing up a committee, even a special committee in the Congress, and even moreso outside the Congress, means you would be six months down the road before you would get to where the Senate Intelligence Committee is today.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is calling for a bipartisan select committee."
Its critical that we fully understand the extent of the Russian governments attempts to influence our elections and government," she said.
Other members of the St. Louis-area delegation in Congress are splitting along party lines, as well.
Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, said that she wants the investigation to remain within the House and Senate Intelligence committees, and to include leaks of information that lead to Flynns downfall.
Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, called for an independent, bipartisan investigation.
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, said he also wants the two congressional intelligence committees to do the investigation, and he stressed that he wants it to look into national security leaks that led to Flynn's resignation. Shimkus also expressed worries that the Flynn controversy is delaying Trump from filling other vital national security positions in his 26-day-old administration.
Shimkus believes that, rather than debating incomplete news reports based on anonymous sources, the immediate focus of the administration and the Senate should be on filling vital national security posts in a timely manner, spokesman Jordan Haverly said.
Some Democrats say their Republican colleagues werent as interested in investigating leaks during the campaign, when Wikileaks published online volumes of Clintons hacked emails.
Clay said it was wrong for Trump to have known about potential problems with Flynn since Jan. 26, but to have waited until news reports exposed them.
Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said that he was glad President Trump asked for General Flynns resignation."
He said he had "complete confidence that their investigation will be thorough and unbiased, Davis said.
We need to let the intelligence committees do their jobs," Davis said. "Until they do, everything else is just a distraction from the important issues this administration and Congress are focused on.
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, said it was appropriate" for Trump to ask Flynn to resign, and added: I am confident that the appropriate agencies and committees of jurisdiction will examine and review all relevant information.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, believes these allegations warrant further review, a review which is currently ongoing in the intelligence community and may continue alongside congressional committees of jurisdiction, his spokesman, George OConnor said.
Flynn resigned Monday night after less than a month on the job. The move came after news reports raised questions about what was discussed in a conversation between him and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on the day that President Obama's administration imposed sanctions on Russia for its election-season hacking of U.S. entities, including the Democratic National Committee.
Obamas White House issued a report in early January saying that U.S. intelligence had concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at denigrating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and boosting Trump during the 2016 election.
The Flynn resignation and the leaks that predicated it have pushed the broader question of Russian influence on Trump and some of his advisers back into the spotlight.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Flynn was asked to resign after it became apparent he was not truthful with Vice President Mike Pence about whether the sanctions were discussed in the call with Kislyak. Spicer said eroding trust in Flynn, not whether he had broken laws, had led to Trump asking for Flynn to step down.
Press reports have also raised questions about whether Pence is in the knowledge loop at the White House, and whether Trump and senior staff kept their concerns about Flynn from the vice president. Pence had gone on television shows defending Flynn and saying the sanctions were not discussed in the call with Kislyak.
Some Democrats have called for open hearings. Blunt, who is privy to some of the nations deepest secrets as a member of the Intelligence Committee, told reporters that he was unsure what level of public testimony should be allowed.
Some necessary answers may involve sources and methods of intelligence gathering, for instance, he said.
Depends on the circumstances, Blunt said. Some of the testimony really should come from information-gathering sources and how and why they decided to gather the information they gathered and why and how they decided not to minimize the information they gathered. And there may be very good answers to that, but they probably wouldnt be very good public answers.
Blunt said a final report of an Intelligence Committee investigation should be public. But Blunt balked at some GOP assertions that it should be completed in 90 days in order to get beyond the crisis and to other, pressing issues.
"Sooner is better than later," Blunt said. "I think we can be a long way down the road in 90 days. It could be a mistake right now to suggest a time frame that doesnt allow us to look at everything that needs to be looked at in a way that Democrats and Republicans walk away from this saying, 'We saw everything, and here is the conclusion that the committee has reached.'"
JEFFERSON CITY A group of Missouri lawmakers are asking the state attorney general to join their fight against the implementation of federal ID regulations.
Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, plans to deliver a letter to Attorney General Josh Hawley Wednesday asking him to "take action and help prevent the encroachment of the federal governments REAL ID Act of 2005."
So far nine other Republican senators, including Bill Eigel, R-St.Charles, have joined Kraus in signing it.
Kraus has long voiced objection to implementing the George W. Bush-era federal law intended to better secure the process of obtaining driver's licenses after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He believes the law infringes on citizens' privacy and he's not alone.
State lawmakers across the country have chafed at provisions requiring states to keep and share databases of personal documents, worrying citizens' personal information could be hacked or misused.
Missouri passed a law in 2009 prohibiting the Department of Revenue from complying with the new regulations, joining more than a dozen other states enacting similar bans.
But now contractors and truckers are having trouble getting into federal facilities like Ft. Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base that require the IDs. Other states have begun bending to the requirements or filing for extensions. And the Department of Homeland Security dropped an ultimatum last year: if Missouri and four other noncompliant states don't get in line, their driver's licenses won't be enough to board planes on Jan. 22, 2018.
Kansas City Republican Sen. Ryan Silvey hopes to avoid that scenario with a bill allowing each Missourian to choose whether or not they want a REAL-compliant license, a system states like Vermont, Connecticut and New York use.
Kraus sees that as cowing to pressure from Washington.
"(Silvey's bill) is a false choice," he said. "And if they get that through, it won't be long before they make the IDs mandatory for everyone."
Instead, he wants Hawley to defend against in any retaliation for noncompliance and try to explain Missouri's position to federal officials.
Kraus acknowledged the mandates would be difficult to fight in court, but said he hoped he could stall passage of Silvey's bill until the Trump administration can address his concerns.
Silvey saw the letter as further evidence of Kraus' extreme position.
"Not only is the opposition in the minority of the Senate, they're the minority in the state," Silvey said. "And I would say that by refusing to let me decide whether I want one of these IDs, they're violating my rights."
Republican Reps. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville and Paul Curtman of Pacific gathered signatures for a similar letter in the House.
Curtman said about 50 House members almost exclusively Republicans signed on.
"It's not that we're against security," Curtman said. "We just think the federal government needs to rein in the Department of Homeland Security. The fear here is that if we let DHS say you need this ID for airplanes, that soon you'll need it for work or to buy guns or open a bank account."
Kansas City Republican Rep. Kevin Corlew is sponsoring the compromise legislation in the House and sees a critical flaw in that argument.
"The opposition's remedy for not wanting to be in a federal program is to have our citizens get federal passports, which are completely controlled by the federal government," Corlew said.
Loree Ann Paradise, Hawley's deputy chief of staff, said the attorney general's office had received the letters, but declined to comment further.
On the campaign trail, Hawley said he would fight "federal overreach" as attorney general. He's already joined Missouri to lawsuits challenging federal overtime and wildlife regulations.
The legislation is Senate Bill 37.
ST. LOUIS Several Democratic mayoral candidates may have to return more than $71,000 in campaign contributions made to them since mid-December donations that used to be legal in Missouri but are no longer allowed under the states newly instituted contribution limits.
A Post-Dispatch review of records found that candidate Lyda Krewson alone may have to return almost $50,000 in donations that appear to violate the new prohibitions on accepting direct contributions from corporate entities or from other candidates campaign committees.
Fellow Democratic mayoral candidates Lewis Reed, Jeffrey Boyd and Tishaura Jones may have to return smaller levels of donations made to them from those sources in the past two months.
In all, the newspaper found, St. Louis mayoral candidates have received more than $71,000 in apparently prohibited donations, as defined under a campaign-contribution limits ban approved by the voters in November. Those bans apply to donations made since Dec. 8.
The new rules have produced confusion around the state, in part because of the various exceptions to them. Most of the states new limits dont apply to candidates for mayor and other local offices, but the prohibitions on corporate and campaign committee donations do, election officials say.
The Missouri Ethics Commission last week issued a series of opinions specifying how the new rules should be interpreted. State election officials have said they will give candidates time to return prohibited donations without penalty as the campaigns adjust to the new rules.
Since Dec. 8, records show, Krewsons campaign has taken in about $48,000 from donors that are listed as corporate entities by the state, and another $200 from another campaign committee.
Krewson spokesman Ed Rhode said in a written statement that the campaign already has begun returning checks to corporate donors and exchanging corporate checks for personal checks from the people at those corporations to adhere to the new rules.
Now that the new campaign finance laws are in place there are a lot of questions, so the Krewson campaign reached out to the Missouri Ethics Commission seeking advice to understand the new campaign finance laws as passed in November, Rhode wrote. We have also hired outside counsel looking for guidance.
Boyds campaign has accepted about $10,000 from apparently prohibited corporate sources, records show. Reed and Jones have accepted about $6,000 each in prohibited donations, with about $1,600 of those donations to Jones coming in the form of money from other candidates campaign committees.
Any government rule that takes two months and a panel of lawyers to explain should probably have been written in simpler language, Jones spokesman Richard Callow said in a written statement. That said, the campaign has begun refunding all of the questioned contributions.
Most if not all the money donated to the mayoral candidates directly from corporations would be allowed under the new rules if those corporations were to move that money first into political action committees even PACs created by the corporations. Donations from PACs to candidates arent prohibited under the new rules.
Those rules were created by passage of a referendum Nov. 8 amending the Missouri Constitution, which previously contained no limits on campaign contributions.
Among the changes is a cap on contributions at $2,600 per candidate, per election cycle from each donor though that limit applies only to state-level posts, not local mayoral races. Challenges to the new law are pending.
Walker Moskop of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
CLAYTON An impasse over improvements to a South County park appears close to resolution following concessions to concerns raised by residents at community meetings earlier this year.
The main stumbling block to turning a portion of Cliff Cave Park into a two-mile paved bicycle path is the addition of a pedestrian bridge to provide cyclists safe transit over Telegraph Road.
South County Councilman Ernie Trakas said Tuesday he was cautiously optimistic that his office and county officials could reach an understanding that would culminate in a nonvehicular bridge spanning the heavily traveled Oakville area thoroughfare.
I dont think the cost would be exorbitant, Trakas said after a Tuesday council meeting at which several residents voiced support for the Cliff Cave Park project. And it certainly would alleviate traffic concerns.
A Republican who took office in January, Trakas responded to resident concerns about crime, vandalism and safety by balking at $5 million in enhancements to the Mississippi River front recreation area.
The proposed upgrades include an observation tower overlooking the river in addition to the paved bike trail that supporters say will duplicate Grants Trail along the river bluff.
Great Rivers Greenway secured the grants to fund the improvements.
County Executive Steve Stenger said the support represents efforts by his administration to expand the Great Rivers Greenway footprint in the county.
Area bicycling activist Michelle Funkenbusch told the council the proposal also enjoys the support of outdoor enthusiasts.
What we dont want is for (the county) to step away from $5 million in improvements because (the plan) is not perfect, Funkenbusch told council members.
Trakas in an interview with the Post-Dispatch says he has no intention of blocking the project.
A series of open, honest and meaningful conversations with county parks officials, the councilman said, have resulted in a reduction in the size of the parking area and other issues raised by his constituents.
The next objective, Trakas said, is to identify creative ways to finance the pedestrian and bicycle bridge that will erase the most pressing apprehension getting parkgoers safely from one side of Telegraph Road to the other.
JEFFERSON CITY Tuesday was the ninth annual NAACP Day at the Missouri Capitol, billed as an opportunity for lawmakers to meet with representatives from the nations largest civil rights organization. Rarely a controversial affair, it is similar to events sponsored by numerous groups who hope to influence legislators.
Things were different this time.
Angered by a GOP committee chairman who shut off the microphone of state NAACP President Nimrod Chapel during Chapels testimony Monday night, Democratic lawmakers and advocates unleashed condemnations of the Republican committee chairman, Bill Lant of Pineville, with at least one comparing his actions to those in the Jim Crow South.
The fracas prompted the House speaker to apologize although Lant himself said he has nothing to apologize for.
The incident sparking the outrage occurred after four hours of back-and-forth testimony Monday on a proposal to narrow the law protecting Missourians from workplace discrimination.
Chapel came to the witness stand and criticized the measure, which would require plaintiffs to meet a higher standard of proof in discrimination suits. He asserted that its supporters, such as the University of Missouri System, Washington University in St. Louis and private businesses, were united in expanding discrimination.
Lant grew frustrated with the insults and asked Chapel to keep his commentary germane to the bill.
Then Chapel called the legislation nothing but Jim Crow, and Lant cut him off.
The incident prompted House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty to send a heated letter to Speaker Todd Richardson on Tuesday morning.
It seems the trigger that set Rep. Lant off was that Mr. Chapel simply said things Rep. Lant didnt want to hear, Beatty said. Put another way, a white man abused his power to stop a black man from expressing a contrary view.
At a news conference with other progressive groups on Tuesday, Chapel didnt directly accuse Lant of racism, but he came pretty close.
I was there complaining that this bill would allow discrimination against working families, and he literally said shut up, he said.
Im the only one that he did that to; I dont know any other way to take it.
Both Chapel and Beatty called for Lant to be stripped of his chairmanship. Chapel also requested meetings with Gov. Eric Greitens and House Speaker Todd Richardson to discuss the incident.
Both men tried to make amends in speeches before the NAACP on Tuesday.
I want to start by addressing something that happened last night where the House of Representatives was not at our best, Richardson said. This is a place where we ought to always welcome the free exchange of ideas.
Mr. Chapel, I want to personally tell you that you are always welcome to present your views and your thoughts and the views of (the NAACP) to our members, he said.
He added in an interview afterward that hed asked Lant to hold a second hearing before the bill gets a vote and to allow Chapel to speak.
Greitens delivered a plea for unity to the chapter, encouraging them to ignore media coverage that he said obsessed over conflict to sell newspapers.
He declined to take questions from reporters after speaking.
We cant let their bad business derail our good work, Greitens said during his speech.
He also emphasized his desire to lower high unemployment rates in black communities and the need to better prepare black students for college classrooms.
We will sit down and find ways to work together, he added.
But even as Greitens called for bipartisanship, two floors above him, legislators were considering expanded police protections, a tense debate in which black Democrats questioned the Legislatures tepid response to police reform bills after the Ferguson unrest.
Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City, called it interesting and heartbreaking that lawmakers would rush to protect police, but decline to work on any type of accountability legislation.
(Were sending) a message that we want to be pro-law enforcement, but anti-civilian, Ellington said.
As for the legislation debated on Monday night, a myriad of concerns remain. But Richardson there are no plans to remove Lant as committee chairman.
Sponsoring Rep. Kevin Austin said requiring people to prove their race, religion, sex or other protected status was the "motivating factor" driving a boss to mistreat or fire them rather than just a contributing factor to win cases like wrongful termination suits would just bring Missouri in line with federal standards.
But Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, said the proposal effectively legalized discrimination.
He said proving a boss or co-worker mistreated someone solely because of their race or gender was next to impossible without a confession, something a defendant would likely be loath to provide.
This bill needs to be killed, he said. This will make Missouri the most difficult place in the country to sue for discrimination.
Tom Mickes, an attorney who said hed represented several businesses and more than 100 school districts, had played down similar rhetoric Monday evening, saying the bill was about rebalancing the legal playing field between businesses and workers.
But Sheree Brewer, a postal worker from Florissant who is suing a colleague for displaying racist posters at her desk, found that assertion laughable.
If you let employers off on their responsibility of preventing discrimination in the workplace or punishing the person who did it, that is empowering a bully, she said. And that destroys lives.
Chapel took special exception to Republicans giving the bill a hearing during Black History Month, and wasnt convinced it was a coincidence.
It seems like its hard to miss, Chapel said. To bring back a bill that really hearkens back to the 50s and 60s, when African-Americans in particular were legally discriminated against, I dont think was an accident.
A date has not yet been set for another hearing on the bill.
The municipal corporation polls for ten cities, including the crucial BMC polls, will be taking place on 21st and the campaigning shall end on 19th evening.
By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Taking the poll fight to another level, BJP today demanded a ban on publishing of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana during polling day in Maharashtra.
The BJP spokesperson has written to the state election commission making this demand.
HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED: In her letter Shweta Shalini says that the party mouthpiece's Aurangabad edition has printed advertisements even after the campaigning for the Zilla Parishad elections was over. Voting for 15 Zilla Parishads in the state will take place on Feb 16, the campaigning for which ended on 14th evening. Shalini has alleged that this is a clear violation of the model code of conduct and hence the commission should ban publishing of the newspaper. Shalini has also demanded that the newspaper should also not allowed to be published on 16th, 20th and 21st of February to ensure free and fair elections. The municipal corporation polls for ten cities, including the crucial BMC polls, will be taking place on 21st and the campaigning shall end on 19th evening. BJP has also demanded immediate action against Saamana, its editor and Shiv Sena for violation of the model code of conduct and an inquiry into the editorial usage of the newspaper for campaigning or else consider it as paid news. Shiv Sena president has reacted sharply to the BJP's demand. Addressing a public rally in Pune, Uddhav Thackeray compared this demand with Emergency. "What moral right do they have to talk about emergency when they are making a demand to ban Saamana? If they want to ban Saamana, they should also shut the mouth of the chief minister and prime minister," Uddhav said.
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Also read: Shiv Sena slams Narendra Modi, tells PM to stop bathroom politics
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Vice President Mike Pence was spotted doing some Valentine's Day shopping at a Whole Foods in Washington Tuesday morning. Soon after a photo of Pence holding a bouquet of red roses and a vase filled with pink-and-white buds surfaced on Twitter.
The photo was shared by CSPAN host Greta Brawner, who said her husband captured the moment while shopping.
"While grocery shopping for our family, hubby sees @VP shopping for his Valentine @WholeFoods. Hope my husband follows the Veep's lead," Brawner tweeted.
Pence responded: "Don't ruin the surprise. Ready to share our 34th Valentine's Day with my valentine, Karen."
Last year, Pence shared a tribute to his wife on his Facebook account, along with a throwback photo of the couple.
The Pences have been married since 1985.
Former President Barack Obama posted a tribute to his wife, Michelle Obama, on Twitter Tuesday morning.
"Happy Valentine's Day, @MichelleObama! Almost 28 years with you, but it always feels new," he tweeted, along with a picture of the couple in the White House.
The former first lady also paid tribute to her husband, posting a picture of the former first couple's feet nestled in the sand.
"Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life and favorite island mate, @BarackObama. #valentines" she tweeted, possibly referring to the Obama's recent trip to the British Virgin Islands.
The Obamas have been married since 1992.
CNN's Jim Acosta, Pamela Brown, Kevin Liptak, Jeremy Diamond, Dan Merica, Tom LoBianco and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
Its not about the leaks.
No matter how President Donald Trump and some congressional Republicans tried to spin it on Wednesday, the scandal behind Michael T. Flynns resignation as national security adviser is this: According to The New York Times, key advisers to Trump, including Flynn, were in regular contact with Russian intelligence officers during the 2016 presidential campaign. Contacts continued until at least three weeks before Trumps inauguration Jan. 20.
Flynn is not the victim here, nor is Trump, much as he embraces that role. On Monday, he determined (after knowing about it for weeks) that Flynn had misled him. On Wednesday, he defended Flynn as a wonderful man who had been mistreated by the fake media.
No, they are real media and this is a real problem and its not about leaks. U.S. intelligence officials, rightfully concerned at Russias meddling in the election and Trumps cavalier attitude about it, took their concerns to the Times and The Washington Post. On Wednesday, at a joint appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump donned his familiar air of grievance.
From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked, Trump said. Its a criminal action, criminal act, and its been going on for a long time before me, but now its really going on. And people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton.
Nonsense. This is about the secret relationships between a foreign power and the man who is now president of the United States. This is about Russian attempts to sway an election. This is information the American public deserves to know.
The Times interviewed four current and former U.S. intelligence officers who said that in addition to Flynn, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former campaign aides Carter Page and Roger Stone had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.
No evidence has surfaced that Trumps people colluded with Russian intelligence on the cyberattacks on Democratic National Committee computers. They said the FBI continues probing the findings of a controversial dossier compiled by a well-regarded former British intelligence agent who reported Moscow holds personally compromising information about Trump.
House and Senate intelligence committees have begun looking into the cyberattacks. Some Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the intelligence committee, have said it is likely that Flynn will be called to testify. It is legislators job to pursue this story fearlessly, wherever it leads and without partisan favoritism.
This is not about leaks, nor about Trumps fragile ego. Its about Americas security. Republicans would do well to remember the motto of Sen. John McCains 2008 GOP presidential campaign: Country first.
Why does blight matter so much to the overall health of a city? We dont necessarily have to be talking about St. Louis blight is the visible evidence of any citys decay. Think of it in dental terms: It doesnt matter how straight and shiny those front teeth appear if all the teeth behind them need fillings, root canals and dentures.
I make no claim of special insights into the history of the blight that plagues St. Louis, but anyone who has studied urban blight can spot the results regardless of the location. A downtrodden neighborhood in Detroit, Dallas, Baltimore or Knoxville contains pretty much the same profile of uneven development and neglect.
In 2014, as part of a White House-commissioned task force, Dan Gilbert, the founder and CEO of Quicken Loans, looked into the biggest problems blocking Detroits revitalization. The top challenge he cited was overcoming blight. In Baltimore, experts cite blight as a chief obstacle to recovery because empty buildings serve as magnets for drug users, criminals and vagrants.
Business decision-makers look closely at these issues before making a relocation decision, according to Entrepreneur magazine. If city leaders want job creation, they must address blight.
I know the effects of blight because I spent nine years studying and mapping it in southern Dallas, a poor, minority-dominated, blighted area the size of Atlanta. I worked closely with Timothy Bray, a University of Missouri-St. Louis scholar who now heads the Institute for Urban Policy Research at the University of Texas at Dallas. Together, we dug down deep into the ingredients of blight affecting five large districts of southern Dallas.
Bray sent a group of researchers street by street with handheld computers. They recorded everything they could see: abandoned houses, stray dogs, cracked or nonexistent sidewalks, nonfunctioning street lights, broken windows, sagging roofs, overgrown lawns, junk cars in the yard. We mapped every item and created a first-of-its kind online, interactive map and database open for public access.
We dug deep into U.S. Census data to create a profile of the residents and businesses in each area. We tracked unemployment, poverty, crime, educational attainment, incomes and commute times from home to work.
All of these figures told us something important. For example, if an area is dominated by single-parent households where the head of household commutes 45 minutes each way to work, thats evidence of a home where children are spending a big chunk of the day without parental supervision an invitation for trouble.
Supermarkets shun blighted areas. Thats how food deserts develop. If a single parent commutes long distances, then has to spend another hour getting to and from a supermarket to buy dinner, thats even more evidence of a household where kids must spend an inordinate amount of time fending for themselves.
I mapped out the performance levels of the schools in southern Dallas, which were uniformly abysmal compared with counterparts in the citys wealthy, white-dominated northern half. Did conditions of blight, crime, unemployment and parents low educational attainment contribute to those low performance scores? Of course they did.
I tracked the relationship between slumlords and blight. I documented the decrepit condition of the worst rental properties in southern Dallas, then mapped and photographed the mansions of the owners. All this work was part of the package that won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing. The Federal Reserve of Baltimore invited Bray and me to be the keynote speakers at a gathering of urban planning and blight-mapping specialists from around the country to explain how we did what we did.
I worked with Dallas Police Chief David Brown to map out crime hotspots. I produced a separate interactive map overlaying the placement of public housing inside high-crime areas. The map I created found its way into arguments presented to the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark 2015 decision about discriminatory public housing policies.
Perhaps most important was the impact this project had on Dallas city council and mayoral elections. Because of the pressure this project created, politicians seeking local public office began presenting plans to address the economic and social imbalances dividing Dallas.
Mike Rawlings presented the most comprehensive plan of attack and won The Dallas Morning News editorial endorsement for mayor in 2011. He won, and true to his word, he asked me to publish a report card every six months on his efforts to fix the many problems pulling southern Dallas down. We worked on this for three years, then I moved to St. Louis.
Rawlings attention to the blight problem was unprecedented in the citys history. And its because of this experience that, today, Im pressing candidates for St. Louis mayor to bury their egos and embrace the same challenge.
If any mayoral candidate is sidestepping this issue, thats a candidate who doesnt deserve your vote.
These two seriously need to STOP setting such unrealistic standards of love.
By India Today Web Desk: Barack and Michelle Obama are bona fide romantics when it comes to each other. The former First Couple of the United States restored our faith in love while in the White House and continue to do so even outside it.
Also Read: 6 non-political things we're absolutely going to miss about Barack Obama
On a vacation since Trump's Inauguration Day in January, the couple took to their respective social media accounts and posted beautiful Valentine's Day wishes for each other.
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Also Read: When Michelle Obama's Gucci dress made a hidden political statement
Also Read: Obama Out-5 life lessons America's calm dad's farewell letter taught us
Former POTUS tweeted out an old picture with Michelle and captioned it, "Happy Valentine's Day, @michelleobama! Almost 28 years with you, but it always feels new."
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@BarackObama Picture courtesy: Twitter/@BarackObama
While Barack went the conventional, romantic way, Michelle replied with a picture of their feet in the sand and wrote, "Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life and favorite island mate, @BarackObama. #valentines"
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@MichelleObama
If the Obamas don't restore your faith in love, we don't know who will.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz ahead of the upcoming Syria peace talks.
On Tuesday, King Salman hosted the visiting Turkish president in al-Yammamh Palace. He arrived in Riyadh late on Monday.
During the meeting, they discussed developing further relations between the two countries and regional security issues.
Erdogan also met with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
His trip comes ahead of two separate Syria peace talks scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan this Wednesday and Thursday and a round of UN-backed talks in Geneva on February 23.
The Geneva talks were originally planned to take place on February 8, but UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he had rescheduled them to take further advantage of the fruits of Astana discussions.
On January 23-24, Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, hosted talks on Syria organized by Iran, Russia and Turkey, with the presence of representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups.
For nearly six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. De Mistura estimated in August last year that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.
The UN stopped its official casualty count in the war-torn country, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 15 (PTI) A day after a Congress leader in Bhiwandi civic body was shot dead, police today booked at least eight persons, including the cousin of the deceased, in connection with the case.
According to police, political rivalry was the motive behind the murder.
Manoj Mhatre, a corporator and leader of the party in Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) was fatally attacked last night around 9.30 pm at Oswalwadi in Bhiwandi by eight unidentified assailants as he returned home after attending a meeting, police said.
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"Manojs cousin Prashant Mhatre allegedly planned the murder as he wanted to get a party ticket from the deceaseds ward for the upcoming municipal elections," Ashutosh Dumbre, Joint Commissioner of Police, Thane told PTI.
"Narpoli police have booked eight persons, including Prashant, Manojs driver, two attackers and others in this connection. No arrest has been made so far and four teams have been formed to nab the accused," he added.
According to Dumbre, Prashant wanted to contest the upcoming Bhiwandi civic body elections as a Congress candidate from the ward where Manoj was a sitting corporator.
In the past, Prashants father was a coroporator from that ward and had strong rapport with local people, he said adding, "In the 2007 municipal corporation polls, Prashants father had insisted Manoj to fight the civic polls as a Congress candidate as he did not want to be in the fray due to old age. Manoj had won that election and was becoming popular in the area."
"Before the 2012 Bhiwandi civic elections, Prashant had asked Manoj to stay away saying it was his claim to fight the polls. However, Manoj had succeeded in getting the party ticket from the same ward again," Dumbre added.
In 2014, Manoj was attacked by unidentified people, but survived the attempt on his life, he said.
Last night, the incident took place when Mhatres driver was parking the car after Manoj got down from the vehicle and was heading to his place. One of the attackers came from behind and fired three bullets at point blank range and others attacked with swords. His hand was also chopped off. After making sure that he was dead, attackers fled away on four motorcycles.
Mhatre was rushed to a private hospital in Thane, where he was declared brought dead.
Police went through the footages of CCTV cameras, which captured the whole incident. Offence had been registered against unidentified attackers at Narpoli police station.
The crime branch of Thane Police has also started a parallel investigation into the case, police said. PTI DC NP BAS
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According to the new provision, all government employees, including those from the judicial services, will be barred from consuming liquor as per the amendment in service rules in Bihar Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1976 and Bihar Judicial Officers Conduct Rules, 2017.
By Rohit Kumar Singh: The Bihar cabinet on Wednesday passed a proposal brought before it to amend service rules forbidding government employees from consuming liquor anywhere in the state in the wake of prohibition which was imposed in the state in April, 2016.
According to the new provision, all government employees, including those from the judicial services, will be barred from consuming liquor as per the amendment in service rules. The amendment has been made in the Bihar Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1976 and Bihar Judicial Officers Conduct Rules, 2017.
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Also read | Bihar attempts world record as Nitish leads longest human chain in support of prohibition
Briefing journalists about the proposal passed amending service rules, Cabinet Secretary Brajesh Malhotra said that 1976 service rules for government servants forbade them from consuming liquor or any other kind of drugs or intoxicants at workplace only, but now after the amendment, they have been barred from consuming any of these items anywhere in the state.
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The blackbuck case, involving actors Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam came up for hearing in Jodhpur's Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on Wednesday. No proof was produced by the accused in support of their statements.
By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: The blackbuck case, involving actors Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam came up for hearing in Jodhpur's Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on Wednesday. The accused were asked to produce evidence in support of their statements. But no proof was presented to support the statements made by the accused. During the last hearing held on January 27, all the accused had pleaded innocent. The statements of the prosecution's witnesses had been taken earlier.
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As per the court, final arguments in the case will begin on March 1.
SALMAN'S HISTORY IN BLACKBUCK, ARMS ACT CASES During the shooting of the movie Hum Saath Saath Hain, Salman Khan allegedly went for a hunt along with Saif, Neelam, Sonali and Tabu and killed two blackbucks in Kankani area. Following a lot of hue and cry by the local Bishnoi community, a case was filed against Salman Khan and other actors, alongwith one local person Dushyant Singh in the matter. Salman had last month got a huge reprieve after his acquittal by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh in the Arms Act case. In two other cases, Salman Khan allegedly went out for hunting, killing two chinkaras in Bhawad area and another one in Ghoda Farms. But he was acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in July 2016 in the Chinkara poaching cases. However, the Rajasthan government went ahead and filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the acquittal by the High Court.
Also read | Salman Khan acquitted by Jodhpur court in Arms Act case for lack of evidence
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From Karan Johar to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Indian film industry has always compromised with political parties and fringe groups who threaten to stall their films. But now Bollywood is paying the price of caving in.
By Piya Hingorani: In December last year, Shah Rukh Khan bowed down to MNS by paying a visit to Raj Thackeray to assure him that his leading lady in Raees, Mahira Khan, will not come to India from Pakistan to promote the film. From Karan Johar to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Indian film industry has always compromised with political parties and fringe groups who threaten to stall their films. But now Bollywood is paying the price of caving in.
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Back in 2012, Karan Johar contracted the rights to author Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy. Director Karan Malhora of Agneepath and Brothers fame along with his wife Ekta were working on the script.
ALSO READ: Sanjay Leela Bhansali thrashed on Padmavati sets for allegedly distorting history
ALSO READ: Rs 10000 for slapping Bhansali with shoe, BJP leader announces
However, now the 44-year-old producer has dropped the idea fearing a backlash from right-wing fringe elements. This after Johar was victimised by political parties for having Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in his directorial Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, post the URI attacks. While fingers were being pointed at Karan for being anti-national, he recorded a two-minute video proving his patriotism to the nation, and promised never to cast a Pakistani actor in his films. Looking back Karan does regret having shot the video, but going ahead he seems to have dropped the idea for a film adaptation of the Shiva Trilogy as a religious themed movie could spell controversy.
Siddharth Roy Kapur, President of the Film and Television Producers Guild claims, "Once a producer or a director has made a film and that film is on the verge of release, if there are going to be threats of vandalisation, what will filmmakers do. I think it is important that the authorities take it upon themselves to say that they will not accept this. Both the government as well as the police come forward and say that they are going to be responsible for the security of the filmmaker as well as the audience who go to the theatre to watch the film. Till that doesn't happen filmmakers, unfortunately, are not in a position to not cave in."
Last month, protesters from the fringe group, Karni Sena, barged onto the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati in Jaipur claiming that Bhansali had twisted historical facts in his film which portray Rajput Queen Padmini in a bad light. Members of the Karni Sena vandalised the camera equipment on set and even roughed up the filmmaker.
Bhansali was forced to make peace with the group by issuing a written clarification on the matter. However, despite agreeing to all their demands, at a press conference held in Delhi on Tuesday (Feb 14) morning, Karni Sena wants film scripts based on historical events to be vetted by a group of experts, which will include journalists and historians.
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In an interview to India Today, Siddharth Roy Kapur said, "It was very unfortunate that the state government did not come up with any strong response, and that led to Mr Bhansali having to move his unit out of Rajasthan. That will not be good for tourism in the state. After that incident, a lot of producers are wary of going to Rajasthan to shoot."
When the act of violence took place in January, the Indian film industry rallied behind Sanjay Leela Bhansali, with fellow filmmakers, producers and actors tweeting their support.
Farhan Akhtar tweeted that the industry needs to unite against bullies.
My fellow film folk, if we do not unite now against these recurring incidents of bullying, it's going to get much worse. #IstandbySLB Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) January 27, 2017
In a series of tweets, Karan Johar agreed with Farhan, saying that unity is the need of the hour.
No member of our industry should be silent on this matter!!! It's calls for unity and NOT selective indifference!!! https://t.co/Adz6eWjggb Karan Johar (@karanjohar) January 27, 2017
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Indeed the industry seemed to be vocal on social media, but will they unite to take a stand against this brazen attack on filmmakers? We think not!
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By Press Trust of India: Guwahati, Feb 15 (PTI) Bulgarian Ambassador to India Petko Doykov today called on Assam Industries and Commerce minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and discussed several issues on investment in Assam.
Doykov said Bulgarian firms were keen to invest in the state, specially in the pharmaceutical sector and the country was interested in exploring other areas of investment here, an official release said.
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Patowary assured the Bulgarian Ambassador of full cooperation and support to facilitate their investment in Assam.
The minister said the current business environment in the state is investment-friendly and conducive with a healthy industrial ecosystem all around.
Doykov, while stating that Bulgaria has the highest GDP among the EU nations generating the highest income from the services sector, expressed his keenness in fostering economic bilateral relationships between the two nations in which North-East figures prominently.
Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce) Ravi Capoor and Commissioner and Secretary of the Department Ashutosh Agnihotri were also present during the discussion, the release added. PTI DG DKB
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Grammy award-winning reggae band Steel Pulse took advantage of the brand new music studios at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology to get in a bit of rehearsal time.
Steel Pulse who travelled over from the UK earlier this month christened the brand new performance studio in Toi Ohomais innovative teaching and learning space, due to open to the public this later week.
Other artists, including Spawnbreeze and Josh Wawa White, both from the USA, also spent some time rehearsing in the new space.
Local musician, promoter and Toi Ohomai music graduate Tim Cooper organised the rehearsals and says the new space is perfect for international artists.
They were all stoked with it. The sound-treated room and air-conditioning was ideal for music sessions. Theres very few spaces of that size in the region.
Toi Ohomai music programme coordinator Dave Bishop is looking forward to having more international and national artists on campus.
Weve also had Brad Kora and Toi Ohomai graduate Joel Shadbolt of L.A.B. recording in the studios and all the feedback has been really positive, so Im looking forward to the students getting started.
The new building is due to be officially opened on Thursday, and will feature multi-purpose, technologically enhanced learning spaces that offer greater informality and flexibility for learning.
The new learning space will also host the creative arts students.
Tauranga artist Debbie Tipuna has been selected out of hundreds of artists nationwide as the inaugural recipient of the Tautoko Maori Foundation Basilicata,three-month art residency in Italy.
The aim of the residency is to provide a New Zealand artist with comfortable, free accommodation with the use of a studio in a fortified hilltop town in southern Italy.
Debbie says its quite humbling to be chosen.
I know some of the other artists who were shortlisted, and theyre amazing.
She recently quit her job as a childrens librarian at the Te Puke Library to pursue her art practice fulltime whilst also relocating to Tauranga with husband Eric after purchasing their family homestead.
The art residency came out of the blue when Debbie saw it advertised on The Big Idea website, which acts as a platform for creative industries, and she applied only a week before it closed.
She notes its all fallen into place with husband Eric, who has family ties to Italy, putting his job on hold for three months to accompany Debbie to Italy.
After completing her studies at Waiariki Polytech in the 1980s, Debbie has continued to develop her practice while raising a family. Now, as an established artist, she has a number of awards to her credit including being a finalist in the 2015 Rotorua Museum Art awards and having her artwork featured on the front cover of the local Bay of Plenty household phone directory.
Working across a range of mediums as a mixed media artist, Debbie is working on a collaborative picture book for children and hopes to take the finished product to Italy.
She hopes to use this opportunity to upskill and to experiment with lots of different media.
Im looking forward to what another culture does to your head.
She would also love to visit local schools and connect with the kids there due to her background as a childrens librarian and illustrator.
Debbies artist profile can be found here.
Civil Defence and Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has requested the New Zealand Defence Force to provide support to local authorities in Christchurch as they deal with the Port Hills fires.
The Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group has offered its assistance to both Selwyn District Council and Christchurch City Council but at this time the councils have not declared a state of local emergency, Mr Brownlee says.
At the moment the response to the blazes is being coordinated by Rural Fire, not CDEM, out of the Selwyn District Council.
The New Zealand Defence Force this afternoon deployed a Liaison Officer to work alongside the Selwyn Rural Fire Authority and to provide timely advice to Defence on what further support they can provide.
NZDF will send forward logistics personnel and equipment from Burnham Military Camp.
Engineering equipment, water tankers and manpower options that will support cordons, firebreaks, and firefighters will also be deployed.
Since yesterday, six NZDF firefighters and two appliances have been assisting in Early Valley Rd, near Kennedys Bush southwest of the city, Mr Brownlee says.
SOURCE: Office of Gerry Brownlee
With exporting a hot topic, its time for those in the industry to share their success stories with the rest of New Zealand.
Entries are now open to the Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards 2017, with judges are wanting to hear how exporters have triumphed over adversity to build a successful business.
ExportNZ regional manager Catherine Lye says New Zealand is a trading nation and our exporters are vital to the countrys economy, which has come under the spotlight with recent global events that indicate a move to more protectionist policies.
"These awards are crucial as we need to recognise the role of exporters in our country, celebrate their stories and journey so far, and learn how theyve overcome highs and lows to succeed in the world of exporting.
"The very nature of exporting means these operators often have a more significant presence offshore than onshore, and the awards are an excellent way we can share their success stories, along with the challenges they need to overcome."
For the year ended June 2016 exports of goods and services accounted for 28 per cent (NZ$70.9 billion) of New Zealands GDP. The goal is to build this to 40 per cent by 2025.
ExportNZ Auckland has been running the awards since 2009, as part of its mission to champion the value of exporting for New Zealand and New Zealanders.
Since 2016 the awards have also included exporters from the Waikato region too.
Entries for the awards are now open and close on March 17.
Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards 2017 categories:
Westpac Exporter of the Year (export revenue over $25million)
Ports of Auckland Exporter of the Year (export revenue $10million - $25million)
BDO Exporter of the Year (export revenue $5million - $10million)
DHL Exporter of the Year (export revenue $1million - $5million)
Endace Services Exporter of the Year (export revenue $1million - $10million)
Baldwins Intellectual Property Best Use of Commercialisation for Export
Supreme Winner (selected from the winners of award categories 2-5)
Fairfax Media Exporters Champion (for exemplary services to export)
ExportNZ Auckland and Waikato are divisions of the Employers and Manufacturers Association.
The 2017 awards will be presented at a black-tie gala dinner on Thursday, June 29 at Sky City Convention Centre.
The seizure unearthed the secret workings of Jagdish Cold Storage which functioned as an illegal slaughter house for cattle and camels. India Today reporters entered the storage house to find carcasses -- allegedly of cows and cow-calves -- which had been freshly butchered, skinned and readied for packaging.
"These are surely a cow-calves as you can see in the carcass, that the legs are white, the face is smaller and the skin which is still attached to the animal in bits is also white" said a villager, who owns cows and buffaloes in the village of Rampura.
The alleged cow and camel meat were packaged under three brands -- Al-Wahid, Star 1 and Sara along with other boxes which had no branding.
The discovery of illegal calf carcasses hanging by hooks inside the cold storage, caused an uproar among residents from the neighboring village of Rampura. They entered the slaughter house, brought out the carcasses and displayed them at the centre of Lawrence road blocking traffic from both sides.
"We are fed-up with this cold-storage as everyday at night, truck loads filled with cows and camels are offloaded here, butchered and then packaged in the wee hours of the night. Ammonia gases are released by the storage house every night between 2:30 am and 5 am to contain the horrid stench which is caused by the rotting carcasses," said a neighbouring shop owner who did not wish to be named. "Everyone knows the illegal crimes which have been happening here, we have made umpteen calls to the cops but no action was taken, instead the cops threaten us and hush us away. This is the sad reality of Keshav Puram," said another villager from Rampura.
The villagers demanded that police seal all three slaughter houses running in the garb of cold-storage houses. While their protest continued for more than 20 hours, the owners of the cold storages were nowhere to be found. They could not be contacted either.
"From the size of the meat pieces and long neck pieces found in the truck seized outside Jagdish Cold Storage, it was amply clear that this was not goat or chicken, it is camel meat," Said Kirti Sachdeva, a volunteer with the Dhyan Foundation. FSSAI officials have taken samples from the seized meat, and have sent them for testing.
The kings presence at the 6th Transfiere conference in Malaga this week served to highlight the citys position as a benchmark inSpain for technological innovation.
Felipe VI arrived in Malaga onWednesday morning and inaugurated the conference attended by leading firms in the fields of technology and innovation as well as numerous authorities.
In his speech the king described Malaga as a dynamic city, whose initiatives, along with more in other Andalusian cities, link this much-loved region clearly and solidly with technological development and innovation.
In a packed theatre in the citys congress centre, the kings inaugural speech was attended by authorities including the Spanish minister for Education and Culture, Inigo Mendez de Vigo; the president of the Junta de Andalucia, Susana Diaz, the secretary of state for Research, Development and Innovation, Carmen Vela; the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and the president of Malagas provincial government, Elias Bendodo.
With this captive audience the king seized the opportunity to urge the public administrations to create precise regulations so that the great advances made in scientific development and research are not squandered or lost due to a lack of necessary and sustained support.
The Transfiere conference took place in the city's congress centre. / A.C.
The head of state pointed out that Wednesdays was the fourth event he had taken part in recently related to innovation, science and technology, which, in his opinion, proves that these fields are elements that permeate our lives and condition our future.
He praised the progress already achieved but warned that this is not the time to rest on laurels as there are more challenges ahead.
The king stressed the key role of the education system and universities in acting as catalysts for young scientific talent.
After the opening ceremony, the king toured the stands at the conference. He paid special attention to the display put on by the Malaga-based aeronautical multinational Aertec, including its Tarsis 75 unmanned aircraft model, which is already being used in some countries for defence applications.
The king asked about the technical features, above all, and showed that he is very knowledgeable about everything to do with aviation, said the companys managing director, Antonio Gomez-Guillamon.
Maria de los Angeles Martin Prats, an expert in aeronautical engineering at the University of Seville, spoke on behalf of the research community at the inauguration of the event. She called for the authorities to develop programmes to prevent brain drain out of Spain, and invited the financial sector to invest in research and development to support new discoveries.
The time is now, she said.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) Expressing concern over the increasing number of undertrial prisoners in jails across the country, the government has urged the high courts to take suo motu action for their release after they complete half of their likely term.
Section 436A of the CrPC provides that if an undertrial has completed half of the likely term he is likely to get for the crime he has allegedly committed, then he or she can be granted bail with or without surety. It is not applicable on offence for which the punishment of death has been specified as one of the punishments under the law.
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In a recent letter to chief justices of the 24 high courts, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that they should advise the district judiciary to review all such cases and take suo motu action for their release.
"I shall also be grateful if the high court ensures that the undertrial review committee mechanism, for periodic monitoring of undertrial releases, continues to effectively deliver its mandate, so that the basic human rights of the undertrials are not undermined," he wrote.
In September 2014, the Supreme Court had said that states should release all such undertrials who come under the ambit of Section 436A of the CrPC.
According to National Crime Records Bureau estimates, 67 per cent of the people in jails are undertrials -- those not yet convicted of any crime.
At 82.4 per cent, Bihar had the highest proportion of undertrials, followed by Jammu and Kashmir at 81.5, Odisha at 78.8, Jharkhand at 77.1 and Delhi at 76.7.
Successive Union Law Ministers and Union Home Ministers have been regularly writing to high courts and state governments to review the status of undertrials. PTI NAB BSA
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American Girl boy doll
Logan Everett is American Girl's first boy doll.
(American Girl)
American Girl's newest doll is a... boy!
The Mattel-owned company will release its first-ever male doll on Thursday. The character is named Logan Everett, and he's a plaid-shirt-wearing musician who comes with a toy drum kit.
Logan is bandmates with Tenney Grant, a blond-haired, brown-eyed doll who is "a rising star in the Nashville music scene," American Girl said. Vulture describes Tenney as a banjo-playing Taylor Swift lookalike.
New book available for American Girls newest character, Tenney Grant. Stay tuned for more Tenney updates and more exciting news on 2/14! pic.twitter.com/iJ9VHr8sDL American Girl (@American_Girl) February 3, 2017
According to CBS, the dollmaker is pushing for more diversity to appeal to bigger audiences.
"We do an enormous amount of research with girls and their parents, and the one thing we've heard loud and clear is a desire for more--specifically more characters and stories from today," spokeswoman Julie Parks said in a statement.
Other new dolls coming Thursday include a Korean-American girl named Z Yang and a Hawaiian character named Nanea. Logan's arrival is also ideal as Hugh Jackman's final "Wolverine" movie, an R-rated release called "Logan," hits theaters next month.
Each doll sells for a standard American Girl price of $115 and includes a book with the character's story.
American Girl recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and has expanded over the years into films, magazines and stores with boutiques. Earlier dolls portrayed girls from different time periods, such as Felicity Merriman in 1774 and Kit Kittredge in 1934.
AUBURN, N.Y. -- One person died Wednesday morning after four vehicles collided on Route 20 in Cayuga County , troopers said.
The fatal crash on the two-lane road - also known as East Genesee Street - in Sennett was reported at 7:48 a.m. The accident happened less than a mile east of Auburn.
Four vehicles collided, said Sgt. David Dominick, of the New York State Police.
One person was killed, and three others were injured, Dominick said. One other person involved in the crash was injured, he said.
The three people were rushed to local hospitals, Dominick said. He was not sure if any of the patients' injuries were serious.
Route 20 is closed between Walker Road and Town Hall Road. The nearly mile-long stretch of the snowy road has been closed for over three hours.
Troopers are working to reconstruct the crash. Although poor weather conditions may have been a factor, Dominick said the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Shortly after the crash, Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould issued a travel advisory for the county. Snow squalls had hit the Auburn area, creating dangerous travel conditions for drivers.
According to 511NY, roads in the Auburn area are wet and may be slippery.
SENNETT, N.Y. -- At least one person was seriously injured Wednesday morning after multiple cars crashed in Cayuga County.
An accident was reported at 7:48 a.m. on Route 20 (East Genesee Street) in Sennett, a Cayuga County 911 dispatcher said. Between three to four vehicles may have been involved, he said.
At least one person suffered "serious" injuries, said Auburn Fire Chief Joseph Morabito.
Route 20 is closed east of Auburn between Walker and Town Hall roads. Roads in the area are wet and slick with snow.
The accident caused Centro to detour its Auburn route.
DETOUR - AUBURN: Route 20 is closed due to an accident. Centros Aub 236 & 138 buses will operate the following detour until further notice. pic.twitter.com/EiOZuDoDjs Centro (@GoCentroBus) February 15, 2017
The dispatcher said he did not know if anyone was injured. The New York State Police were not immediately available for comment.
Shortly after the accident, Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould issued a travel advisory for the county. Snow squalls have created dangerous driving conditions in the Auburn area, deputies said.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A federal judge has thrown out a state trooper's civil rights lawsuit claiming she was the victim of sex discrimination and retaliation from her bosses.
U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy ruled the trooper's supervisors had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for disciplinary actions and other work decisions they made regarding the trooper.
The trooper claimed in her lawsuit she was the victim of sex discrimination and sexual harassment dating back to her days at the police academy in 2000, when she says a male supervisor intimidated her into having sex.
McAvoy last year dismissed the allegations from the police academy on the grounds that a statute of limitations had expired.
Syracuse.com is not publishing the trooper's name because she's the alleged victim of sexual abuse.
McAvoy dismissed the rest of the trooper's claims last week.
"The uncontradicted record demonstrates that the employer's scrutiny and evaluations of plaintiff was justified by her history and, in some instances, professionally improper performance," McAvoy wrote in a 44-page decision.
The trooper, who still works for the state police in Central New York, told Syracuse.com she plans to appeal McAvoy's decision.
She claimed in her lawsuit she was the victim of a gender-based hostile work environment and retaliation at state police barracks in Auburn and Waterloo. She claimed state police discriminated against her by not allowing her to drive an unmarked state police Tahoe on patrol, and by not allowing her, as the senior member of her platoon, to create schedules and posts.
By not driving the unmarked Tahoe, the trooper said she was unable to issue as many traffic tickets as other troopers. But her supervisors presented evidence of her historically low traffic ticket rate, McAvoy wrote. They reserved the unmarked Tahoe for troopers who wrote more tickets, the judge said.
The trooper presented no evidence of her supervisors or co-workers making anti-female statements, McAvoy wrote.
The judge cited the uncontradicted record showing the trooper "consistently underperformed compared to her peers, and required regular correction and oversight."
A spokesman for the state police refused to comment.
The state presented evidence of the trooper's record of poor job performance, and instances when her supervisors disciplined her. In one case, she was found guilty of professional misconduct and disciplined over improprieties in her investigation into a damaged mailbox.
In another case, she was censured after a civilian took a picture of her patrol car parked in a handicapped parking space while the trooper was shopping, court papers said.
The trooper claimed both of those disciplines were part of her supervisors' retaliation against her for having filed an improper practices charge against them.
Contact John O'Brien anytime by email, Twitter, or at 315-470-2187.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma
Beijing/New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) China has lodged a protest with India for hosting a Taiwanese parliamentary team and asked it to deal "prudently" with Taiwan-related matters, even as New Delhi today dismissed the issue saying no "political meanings" should be read into such trips.
Briefing the reporters in Beijing today, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "China lodged representations with India" over the Taiwan parliamentary delegations visit to New Delhi.
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"We hope that India would understand and respect Chinas core concerns and stick to the One-China principle and prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations," Geng said.
The remarks evoked a prompt reaction from New Delhi, where External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India. Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes.
"I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them."
A three-member womens parliamentary delegation from Taiwan visited India earlier this week amidst signals of increasing engagement between the two sides.
Taiwan currently has Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre located in New Delhi. Indias office in Taiwan is called India-Taipei Association.
China which considers Taiwan as part of its mainland opposes any diplomatic relations as well as political contacts with Taipei by countries which have diplomatic relations with it.
China has been objecting to such visits to India, maintaining that countries that have diplomatic relations with it should fulfil their commitment to the One China policy.
Elaborating further on Chinas stand on Taiwanese Parliamentary delegation to India, Geng said, "those who are visiting India are so-called legislators from Taiwan" and Beijing is opposed to any official contacts between Taiwan and other countries with whom China has diplomatic relations.
"The reason why China lodged the representation is because that we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the One China principle," he said.
"So by making our representation we are urging the Indian side to stick to the One China principle and take concrete actions for steady development of China-India relations," he said.
He also declined to answer a question about when the protest was lodged with India, saying that "not all the information about diplomatic activities are open to the public".
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"All I can tell is China has lodged diplomatic representation with India," he said. PTI KJV/PYK NSA ASK AKJ ASK
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Authorities said a man was drunk Tuesday evening when he hit a 15-year-old boy with his vehicle near Destiny USA and then drove off.
Syracuse police said officers were called to the 300 block of West Bear Street at 6:19 p.m. and found the injured boy, who had been walking at the time of the crash.
Sgt. David Sackett, a police spokesman, said officers do not yet know what the boy was doing on West Bear Street when the crash occurred.
The boy suffered leg fractures as well as injuries to his head and face. He was rushed by American Medical Response ambulance to Upstate University Hospital and is in stable condition, police said. The boy's family was located and went to the hospital.
Police blocked off West Bear Street. Officers talked to a witness and were able to locate the suspect vehicle and driver, police said.
They identified the driver as James Draveck, 55, of Camillus. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a serious personal injury crash and first-degree vehicular assault.
Draveck was held at the county jail awaiting arraignment Wednesday morning. Police are continuing to investigate.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man was stabbed in the chest Tuesday during a confrontation with three other men on the city's South Side.
At 4:37 p.m. Syracuse police officers went to Upstate University Hospital for a call of a stabbing victim who had arrived via a private vehicle.
Police said a 49-year-old man had been stabbed in the chest. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The man told officers he was stabbed in the 200 block of West Calthrop Avenue about 4 p.m., but he did not immediately report it.
According to police, the man said three men got out of a gray Buick sedan and confronted him. During the confrontation he was stabbed.
The suspects were described as three men between 18 and 25 years old. They wore dark or gray hooded sweatshirts and blue jeans. The left the scene going east on West Calthrop Avenue.
Sgt. Richard Helterline, a police spokesman, said in an email that it did not appear the 49-year-old man was robbed. Detectives do not know why the man was confronted by the three suspects, he said.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Consultants hired to review New York's options for replacing Interstate 81 in Syracuse are not expected to complete their report for at least six months, state Department of Transportation Commissioner Matt Driscoll told legislators Wednesday.
DOT spokeswoman Tiffany Portzer told syracuse.com last week that a report on the project by WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff, an international engineering firm, would likely be done by late summer.
The DOT can't speculate on the results of the $2 million study that will look at all options for replacing the highway, she said.
Driscoll, who is the former mayor of Syracuse, made his remarks during a DOT budget hearing in Albany, The Citizen reported.
The DOT had been moving along with the bureaucratic process of deciding how to replace a deteriorating 1.4-mile raised section of I-81 that cuts through Syracuse.
It appeared after four years of study, 58 public meetings and 268 meetings with interested parties, such as elected officials and employers, the DOT had narrowed the replacement options to two. A final decision was expected later this year.
The DOT was looking at either demolishing the raised portion and creating a community grid that would reroute I-81 "through" traffic around the city and allow city streets to handle local traffic. The state is also considering building a taller, wider version of the current raised structure.
Then in December, State Sen. John DeFrancisco, a leading critic of the community grid, urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reconsider tunnel options the DOT had previously rejected.
In January, the governor ordered the DOT to hire a consultant to review all of the replacement options including the tunnels.
Contact Charley Hannagan anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2161.
Benjamin Netanyahu
In this Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. As Netanyahu visits the White House, the Trump administration has suggested that peace between the Israelis and Palestinians may not come in the form of a two-state solution -- a position that could represent a dramatic shift from 20 years of U.S. policy. Speaking to reporters ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting Wednesday with Netanyahu, a senior White House official said Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, that Trump is eager to begin facilitating a peace deal between the two sides and hoping to bring them together soon.
(Gali Tibbon / Pool via AP )
To the Editor,
Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Trump White House. Netanyahu applauded Trump's election, expecting to find unqualified support for his repressive policies. We fear that the alliance between these two leaders, both known for their recklessness and disregard for international consensus, will increase hostility and violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. President Donald Trump's appointment of David Friedman as Ambassador to Israel is an alarming example. Netanyahu has reportedly said that he is "pleased" with the choice. Yet Friedman holds extremist views that would provoke greater conflict, endangering American interests, the already limited options for peace, and Israeli and Palestinian lives.
Friedman supports relocating the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, a sacred place for Jews, Muslims and Christians, which would exacerbate tensions. He denies the existence of Palestinian refugees, recognized under international law. He is a leading supporter and funder of illegal, Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank. He opposes a path to Palestinian statehood, putting him in conflict with the longstanding US government position. He endorsed discriminatory screening of Muslim immigrants to the United States. These views do not reflect the opinions of the great majority of American Jewish voters. Further, he has shown he has neither the temperament nor the judgment to hold a highly sensitive ambassadorship, regularly defaming Jews and elected leaders who support a just peace with hateful accusations.
What President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu and David Friedman have in common is that they do not speak for us as Jews or reflect our values.
Carole Resnick
Jesse Nissim
Mara Sapon-Shevin
On behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace - Syracuse
Kirsten Gillibrand
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., says Congress should form an independent, select committee to investigate the Trump administration and its ties to Russia. Gillibrand, shown in a Jan. 12, 2017, file photo at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
(J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Wednesday that Congress should launch an independent, non-partisan probe to determine the extent of President Trump's ties to Russia.
Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the resignation of Michael Flynn as Trump's national security adviser only raises more questions that need to be answered about the extent of discussions between the new administration and Russia about easing U.S. sanctions.
Flynn had assured Vice President Mike Pence that he never had any discussions about the sanctions with Russia's ambassador, but the Justice Department found evidence to the contrary and informed Trump on Jan. 26.
Pence only found out about the Justice Department findings by reading a report in the Washington Post.
"It is deeply disturbing that President Trump's administration apparently knew for a month that his national security adviser had misled the vice president and did nothing about it until the information became public" this week, Gillibrand said.
"This raises additional questions that need to be answered by an independent select committee that is free of partisan politics to get all of the facts regarding the Trump administration and Russia," Gillibrand said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has resisted the idea of forming a select committee to investigate Flynn and any Russian attempts to influence the new administration.
McConnell said Flynn would likely be asked to speak with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is already investigating Russia's attempts to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate Democratic leader, has also called for an investigation, but he has not specified what form it should take or who should lead the probe.
Schumer said the investigation should be conducted by an outside entity that would have the ability to pursue criminal charges. He said Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation because he served alongside Flynn on Trump's national security advisory committee.
Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
Feb. 15--Ellen and Steven Gedra, owners of The Black Sheep in Buffalo, are 2017 James Beard Award semi-finalists.
The Gedras are among 20 solo chefs or duos named in the Best Chef: Northeast category of the 2017 nominations list. The category covers New York State outside New York City, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont.
The duo took over Bistro Europa on Elmwood Avenue in 2010, then opened their restaurant at 367 Connecticut St. in 2014. Steven Gedra's eclectic, frequently changing menu draws on locally raised meat and vegetables, international flavors and original ideas.
Ellen Gedra's baking and dessert skills, on display nightly, at Sunday brunch and in her much acclaimed sticky toffee pudding, have become their own draw.
Last year, the Gedras led their kitchen team to present dinner at the James Beard House, the Greenwich Village culinary showcase.
The next step in the James Beard Awards, the preeminent annual honors of the U.S. restaurant world, will be the announcement of finalists in each category on March 15.
___
By Andrew Z. Galarneau
The Buffalo News, N.Y.
(c)2017 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Organ donor
A woman has blood drawn after receiving a kidney transplant from a donor.
(Jessica Kourkounis | The Associated Press)
TROY -- Jenny Picarillo and Ava Sweeney were waiting for the day they could designate themselves organ donors.
For the high school seniors, that day came Tuesday, when a new law went into effect allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to add their names to the list of New Yorkers willing to give their organs away at death.
Both teens had personal reasons for wanting others to receive their organs in the event of their untimely deaths. Picarillo's life was changed five years ago, when her mother received a kidney from a deceased donor. Sweeney's grandmother lived four years after receiving a lung transplant before the 17-year-old was born.
"She was able to meet me because of it," Sweeney said, causing her mother and Picarillo's to tear up in the Catholic Central High School cafeteria, where the teens had organized an organ, eye and tissue registry drive.
The two students were responsible for organizing one of 20 organ donation drives at high schools around the state Tuesday, which was both the day the new law went into effect and National Donor Day, held each year on Valentine's Day. At Catholic Central, 18 students signed up during the 40-minute sign-up period.
Advocates for organ and tissue donation hope the new law is one of several initiatives that will improve the rate of donating in New York, which ranks 51st out of 52 U.S. states and territories, according to Aisha Tator, executive director of the New York Alliance for Donation. (Puerto Rico is 52nd.) Just 28 percent of eligible New Yorkers register to donate organs, compared to a national average of 54 percent, Tator said.
But New York's need for organs ranks as the third highest in the nation, she said. There are 9,500-10,000 state residents waiting for an organ on any given day. About 1,800 of them have been waiting five years or more.
The disconnect between supply and demand had advocates scratching their heads for years.
"There's not something different about New Yorkers -- we're not less kind, we're not less generous," Tator said. "There is a process problem."
Like other states, New York allows residents to register as organ donors when they get or renew their driver's licenses. But until Tuesday, it was one of only four other states that required drivers to be 18 to register.
Here's what would typically happen, Tator said: A 16-year-old would get a driver's license, but be too young to register as an organ donor. A new license would automatically be issued at age 18, lifting some restrictions, Tator said. Then an adult license would automatically be issued at 21. It would be eight more years, age 29 for most people, before they must renew their licenses and have the option of registering as a donor organ.
Another issue keeping donor registry rates low, Tator said, is relatively low rates of driving in New York City, home to more than 8 million of the state's residents. So the New York Alliance for Donation is seeking other ways for people to sign up.
Tator said. Online registration will be available later this year. Tator would also like to see a place to designate organ donation on state income tax forms.
While 16- and 17-year-olds may now register for organ donation, their parents must approve of the gift in the event of their deaths, Tator said.
-- By Claire Hughes, Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
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A new grant would make Syracuse University's College of Law the least-expensive private law school in New York States for in-state residents.
(Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)
SYRACUSE, NY -- Syracuse University's College of Law will offer new tuition grants to New York state residents starting with the upcoming school year.
The Empire State Scholars Grant will offer $20,000 of tuition assistance to all admitted state residents. Qualified students in good standing will receive the grant for all three years of their program.
The College of Law's tuition cost is $46,460 this year, and the grant will make tuition comparable to law schools in the SUNY system for residents. Currently, tuition at the law school at SUNY Buffalo is $26,997 for in-state residents.
The grant will also make Syracuse the least-expensive private law school in New York States for in-state residents.
In an announcement from the university, Dean Craig Boise cited the College of Law's long history of quality education and a strong passing rate on the New York State Bar Exam. SU has an 89.5 percent passing rate for first-time test takers, which is over six percent higher than the average for other state ABA accredited law schools.
Boise also said that the grant is intended to give residents who want to stay in the state the chance to attend law school without the high costs.
"With over 5,000 New York state residents applying to law schools each year, this innovative program has the potential to positively impact a great number of students interested in attending Syracuse Law," Boise said in the statement.
DELPHI, Ind. - Authorities suspect foul play after two bodies were found along a northern Indiana creek amid a search for two missing 13-year-old girls, police said Tuesday.
The bodies were found along Deer Creek about 1 mile east of Delphi, Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley told a news conference.
"We are investigating this as a crime scene," Riley said. "We suspect foul play."
Riley said authorities haven't yet positively identified the bodies. He declined to comment on any injuries they might have suffered or to discuss the ages of the victims, but he said the search for the two missing girls had been scaled back significantly.
Riley says the bodies were found Tuesday on the edge of the creek about three-quarters of a mile from an abandoned railroad bridge where the two girls, Liberty German and Abigail Williams, had been dropped off to go hiking Monday. They were reported missing hours later after they did not appear at a predetermined meeting place.
Search parties scoured the base of the bridge, known locally as the Monon High Bridge, and surrounding trails Monday night, but darkness made it nearly impossible, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby said.
Riley declined to disclose who found the bodies.
Delphi Police Chief Steve Mullins said the discovery of the bodies and search for the girls has shocked the community about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
"I know it's had a terrible effect on our people and we are grieved this sort of thing would happen here in our community," Mullins told the news conference.
AUBURN, N.Y. -- As "heavy" bands of snow hit the Auburn area, the Cayuga County sheriff is urging residents to drive with care.
Sheriff David Gould issued a travel advisory Wednesday morning for Cayuga County after snow squalls created dangerous driving conditions in the Auburn area.
"Use caution when traveling," deputies said.
The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook is for Central New York. A lake effect snow watch has also been issued for much of the region.
Roads across CNY are wet. Snow is starting to fall as temperatures drop.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma
Beijing/New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) China has lodged a protest with India for hosting a Taiwanese parliamentary delegation and asked it to deal "prudently" with Taiwan-related matters but New Delhi today dismissed the issue saying no "political meanings" should be read into such trips.
Briefing the reporters in Beijing today, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "China lodged representations with India" over the Taiwan parliamentary delegations visit to New Delhi.
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"We hope that India would understand and respect Chinas core concerns and stick to the One-China principle and prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations," Geng said.
The remarks evoked a prompt reaction from New Delhi, where External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India. Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes.
"I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them."
A three-member womens parliamentary delegation from Taiwan visited India earlier this week amidst signals of increasing engagement between the two sides.
Taiwan currently has Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre located in New Delhi. Indias office in Taiwan is called India-Taipei Association.
China which considers Taiwan as part of its mainland opposes any diplomatic relations as well as political contacts with Taipei by countries which have diplomatic relations with it.
China has been objecting to such visits to India, maintaining that countries that have diplomatic relations with it should fulfil their commitment to the One China policy.
Elaborating further on Chinas stand on Taiwanese Parliamentary delegation to India, Geng said, "those who are visiting India are so-called legislators from Taiwan" and Beijing is opposed to any official contacts between Taiwan and other countries with whom China has diplomatic relations.
"The reason why China lodged the representation is because that we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the One China principle," he said.
"So by making our representation we are urging the Indian side to stick to the One China principle and take concrete actions for steady development of China-India relations," he said.
He also declined to answer a question about when the protest was lodged with India, saying that "not all the information about diplomatic activities are open to the public".
advertisement
"All I can tell is China has lodged diplomatic representation with India," he said.
Geng said that "the Indian side has made commitment on the Taiwan-related issues." PTI KJV/PYK NSA ASK AKJ ASK
--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Ahmedabad, Feb 15 (PTI) Congress workers today staged a demonstration outside the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modis nonagenarian mother Hiraba, seeking her intervention in the Naliya gangrape case in which four BJP leaders were allegedly involved.
Around 35 Congress workers assembled unannounced in front of the house of Pankaj Modi, younger brother of the Prime Minister, where 97-year-old Hiraba lives in Raisan village on the outskirts of Gandhinagar city.
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Policemen rushed to the spot and detained the Congress workers, mostly women.
These protesters were demanding Hirabas intervention in the gangrape case, claiming that Modi would surely listen to his mothers call for punishment to the culprits.
"We have briefly detained around 35 Congress workers, mostly women, as they sat on a dharna and shouted slogans outside Hirabas home in Raisan village near Gandhinagar. No untoward incident took place during the demonstration," said Info City police inspector K M Priyadarshi.
These Congress workers alleged that police were trying to shield the real culprits involved in the gangrape in Naliya town of Kutch district.
"The entire nation and media took notice of your gesture of standing in a bank queue during demonetisation. Now, we urge you to stand with the victim, which will force the government and police to take action.
"We also urge you to talk to your son on the issue so that many other victims can be saved," said a letter addressed to Hiraba which could not be handed over due to the detention.
Till now, police have arrested eight persons who had allegedly gangraped a married women in Naliya town on several occasions. Those who were arrested included four local BJP leaders, who have been suspended from the party.
In her FIR, the 24-year-old woman alleged that she was raped by at least nine persons on different occasions a year ago.
The victim has alleged in her FIR that the accused have been running sex racket in Kutch district and forcing victims to have sex with numerous persons after blackmailing them by making video of the act. PTI PJT PD RMT SMN
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Congress corporator Manoj Mhatre from Bhiwandi was attacked and shot dead by two unidentified men yesterday night.
By Press Trust of India: A Congress leader in the Bhiwandi civic body was shot dead by a couple of unidentified persons late yesterday night around 9.30 PM.
Manoj Mhatre, leader of the Congress party in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation, was attacked with sharp weapons and then shot from point blank range, said police.
DCP Bhiwandi Zone-II Manoj Patil said, "Mhatre was the resident of Kalwa of Bhiwandi taluka. Due to personal enmity, he shifted to Oswal Wadi in the town."
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The assailants fled the spot in a four-wheeler without number plate after the attack, said the police.
He was rushed to Jupiter Hospital at Thane where doctors declared him brought dead.
The motive behind the killing is still not known, said the and also said that there was an attempt to murder him earlier as well.
Senior police officers rushed to the spot and a manhunt has been launched to nab the killers, police said.
--- ENDS ---
Estonia is full of natural Baltic beauty and bustling city life, but have you ever thought about what are the best places to visit in Estonia before you die? Estonia is not a big country, but it has to offer a lot of beautiful places to visit.
If you think about what country you should visit before you die, the big percent of you you are not going to say Estonia at first! Maybe you will say France or India or Japan, but did you know how many beautiful places Estonia has? The main reason most people first come to Estonia is to see the best protected and intact medieval city in Europe Tallinn. Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia. Tallinn was the European Capital of Culture in 2011 and its not hard to see why. Did you hear about Lahemaa National Park? This park is the largest in Estonia and one of the largest in Europe, and promotes conservation of and research into the Estonian wildlife, ecosystems, landscapes, and biodiversity.The forest has historically fed and offered shelter to Estonians, whose roots are deeply embedded in the natures soil. While many Estonians today lead a busy suburban lifestyle, they continue to seek the forest as a place to rest. Estonian society has undergone considerable changes over the last twenty years, one of the most notable being the increasing level of stratification. Interesting facts about Estonia are that modern Estonia is a multinational country in which 109 languages are spoken, Estonia was the first country in the world to use online political voting and it is also the birthplace of Skype, Hotmail! It has the highest number of meteorite craters per land area in the world. The nature is essentially untouched and offers quite a different beach experience with their remoter rustic feel. Inland waters and some shallow bays waters are warmer than 20 degrees.
If you want to see what are the best places to visit in Estonia before you die check Insider Monkeys list of 7 Best Places to Visit in Estonia Before You Die and find out about beautiful places to visit in Estonia. After reading you will want to pack your bags and go!
Did you know that Iceland has a rich history, historically being the land of the Vikings, but have you ever thought about what are the best places to visit in Iceland before you die?
For a small country, Iceland is full of natural wonders. Youll find a unique mix of volcanoes, glaciers, waterfalls, lava fields, black sand beaches, geysers, and dramatic mountains. It became a republic in 1944. and it has also been ruled by Norway and Denmark. One of the places that you have to visit in Iceland before you die is definitely Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the country. Blanda is also one of the special and interesting place that you have to visit in Iceland. Blanda is one of the longest rivers in Iceland, almost 125 kilometers in length! It flows from its source in a glacier across the country. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. In the ensuing centuries, Iceland became one of the poorest countries in Europe. Infertile soil, volcanic eruptions, deforestation and an unforgiving climate made for harsh life in a society where subsistence depended almost entirely on agriculture. Iceland is at the juncture of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Iceland has many geysers, including Geysir, from which the English word is derived, and the famous Strokkur, which erupts every 810 minutes. Around 1,300 species of insects are known in Iceland, which is low compared with other countries. The animals of Iceland include the Icelandic sheep, cattle, chickens, goats, the sturdy Icelandic horse, and the Icelandic Sheepdog. Iceland is the worlds 18th largest island, and Europes second-largest island after Great Britain. The islands interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable combination of sand, mountains, and lava fields.
If you want to see what are the best places to visit in Iceland before you die, check Insider Monkeys list of 7 Best Places to Visit in Iceland Before You Die and expand your knowledge about it and you will definitely decide to visit at least one of them in the nearest future.
Poverty in South America is high in all countries and Peru is just one of them, but have you ever thought about what are the poorest countries in South America?
During the last couple of years the whole world was in economic crisis, but if we are talking about South American countries, the economic crisis in these countries is constant.
Peru is one of the countries that are on the list of the poorest countries in South America. While people claim that Peru is undergoing major development currently, this is only true for the more urbanized regions. The same example is Ecuador, and statistics show that over thirty-five percent of the population of the country are stricken by poverty. There are many different reasons why a greater proportion of a countrys population may be in poverty than in others. The major and the biggest problem in the countries of South America is corruption. Most of the nations in Latin America have extensive histories of corruption at all levels of government. Corruption is a big part in politics, schools, there is a big corruption in the employment section also. Not only is corruption an issue, violence accompanies the drug trade. The most productive people in various nations of Latin America have gone into the lucrative drug business. Countries in South America are trying to reduce poverty, with varying degrees of effort and success. However, in recent years most South American countries have experienced great economic growth. Education is also a major concern, and the governments are spending millions of dollars in funding schools, but it seems like that problems are huge still. Rural areas are often associated with higher poverty persistence. Theres been a dramatic surge in social programs in the region in the past decade, yet, they are often uncoordinated. The problems associated with poverty that these countries deal with is migration, language and that there is no standard welfare system. Water and sanitation conditions are also inefficient in rural areas.
If you what are the poorest countries in South America, check Insider Monkeys list of 5 Poorest Countries in South America and find out what countries are on the list.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has called for a campaign against fake news.
Its purveyors largely interested only in getting the most clicks are defeating the people who are trying to tell the most truth, he told the UKs Daily Telegraph in an exclusive interview last week.
Fake news is killing peoples minds in a way, Cook said.
The worldwide epidemic of fake news requires a crackdown by both government and tech, he said, but care must be taken not to step on the freedoms of speech and the press.
Cook suggested the impact of fake news could be curbed by building public awareness with a massive public service campaign.
Tech can do its part to fight the spread of fake news by creating tools to reduce its volume on the Internet, he added, while government can support the cause by bringing the fight into the classroom.
Kids will be the easiest to educate, he told the Telegraph. At least before a certain age, they are very much in listen and understand [mode], and they then push their parents to act.
Killing Discourse
The challenge to Cook or anyone else wishing to crackdown on fake news will be nailing down what exactly fake news is.
Fake news has gone in six months from a useful description to something thats absolutely meaningless, said Dan Kennedy, an associate professor at the school of journalism at Northeastern University.
Fake news originally was the product of bogus news publishers that posted wildly exaggerated or entirely made-up stories to garner clicks just for advertising revenue.
Now its meaningless, because the Trump White House calls anything it doesnt like fake news,' Kennedy told TechNewsWorld.
What referred to stories that contained misinformation or disinformation is largely a meaningless term, echoed John Carroll, a mass communications professor at Boston University.
A number of people have appropriated it to mean news that they dont like, he told TechNewsWorld.
I dont know what killing peoples minds means, he added, but I know fake news is eroding public discourse, and giving people a false impression not only of the news media but also current events.
Weaponizing Fake News
Language is always in flux, and the meaning of terms can shift, observed Mark Marino, director of the Humanities and Critical Code Studies Lab at the University of Southern California.
Right now, the presidential administration is trying to weaponize the term in an attempt to censor the press and create noise to make it difficult for people to critically assess whats going on, he told TechNewsWorld.
Even without that noise, fake news can be difficult to spot.
Its comparatively easy to produce something on the Internet with little money and little training that looks almost identical to what major, professional news organizations produce, Marino said.
That means that in addition to the usual critical thinking skills of being able to evaluate arguments and evidence, we also need media literacy skills to be able to identify when a news story is from an organization thats not following professional standards.
Media literacy skills arent the only ones needed for an informed public, suggested NUs Kennedy.
Before we can have media literacy, we need to have civic literacy, because people need to understand why this is important in the first place, he said.
Combating Fake News
What can be done to combat fake news? Both Google and Facebook are making efforts to dam the flow Google by blocking fake news sites from participating in its advertising platform; Facebook by limiting misinformation on its system.
Enlisting Hollywood in the cause may be another way to squelch fake news.
A campaign similar to those used for designated drivers and seatbelts, where references were put into scripts of programs to raise awareness of those issues, could be effective, BUs Carroll said.
Tim Cooks concern about the harm fake news can cause is a legitimate one, but the issue could have business implications for Apple, especially if its too zealous in its crackdown.
If its seen as interfering with peoples expression or access to information, thats going to hurt them, Carroll noted.
On the other hand, Apple could benefit if it should earn a reputation as being a fake-news-free zone.
Tim Cooks observation about fake news is right on target, NUs Kennedy said.
Further, Apple News is a real alternative to people who want to have an aggregated news product but want to make sure that it is vetted and verified news, he pointed out. There is a business opportunity here for Apple. It has a dog in this race, and its an increasingly impressive dog.
As Amazon's much-anticipated US drone delivery service draws ever closer, the retail giant has been looking at ways of getting parcels from the UAVs to customers without landing them. One solution: parachutes.
Amazon first applied for the patent, titled "Maneuvering a package following in-flight release from an unmanned aerial vehicle," back in June 2015, but it was only granted yesterday by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The patent describes firing the packages backward while the UAV is in the air to cancel out its forward movement. The drone could alter the amount of force used to propel the parcel, depending on where it wants it to land, and could monitor the descent and adjust it if necessary using either a parachute, bursts of compressed air, or other similar technologies.
Landing a drone when delivering a parcel isn't always going to be possible, especially in busy urban areas. And even if it is, there's the risk of the UAV accidentally hitting a person, pet, tree, etc. Releasing a package above a home and being able to control its fall could solve this issue.
We still don't know when Amazon drone deliveries will begin in the US. The company started testing the system in the UK last year in the hope that it would convince the FAA to relax some of its rules regarding commercial UAV flights.
Like all patents, there's no guarantee that this one will ever make it into the real world, and there would likely be legal issues to contend with first.
Another drone-related patent from Amazon came to light in December. This one involving giant, blimp-like "airborne fulfillment centers (AFC)," that carry fleets of drones and goods.
Amazon drone delivery patent #9567081 on Scribd
Tesla Inc. has been going through a crisis since one of its employees, Jose Moran, took to blogging platform Medium to complain about the brutal working conditions, injuries and stringent overtime policies of the company.
Now, CEO Elon Musk has refuted all such claims and finally broke his silence.
After all the accusations directed toward his company, Musk has given a befitting reply to Moran who brought to light the supposed inhumane conditions at the Tesla factory.
For the unfamiliar, Moran is only one such Tesla employee among many others working at the Freemont, California, assembly facility who demanded that the company get unionized with United Auto Workers (UAW).
Claims By Moran
According to Moran, who has been a part of Tesla for four years, the company has excessive mandatory overtime policies which are quite strenuous for the workers. However, to make ends meet, the workers have no other choice but to work overtime. The San Francisco Bay area, where Tesla's factory is located, is infamous for its high cost of living.
Moran added that Tesla workers earn between $17 and $21 per hour, which is much lower than the usual standard of $29.53, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in December 2016.
There have been numerous reports of lacking safety standards as well in the factory.
"A few months ago, six out of eight people in my work team were out on medical leave at the same time due to various work-related injuries," shared Moran on Medium. "I hear that ergonomics concerns in other departments are even more severe."
He also indicated that most workers were too afraid to speak out about these issues due to fear of repercussions.
According to Moran, many of the employees like him held talks about unionizing and had even gone to the UAW for support. He also revealed that all the workers were forced to sign a confidential agreement which threatened them with dire consequences if they spoke ill about the company.
Musk's Response To Moran's Claims
The Tesla CEO shot back by accusing Moran that he must have been paid by the UAW to say things like these to further its own agenda. He deemed the attacks against the company as morally outrageous.
"There is sometimes mandatory overtime if we are trying to make up for a production stoppage, but it is dropping almost every week," wrote Musk to a publication.
He cleared the air about wages by mentioning that Tesla offered all their employees higher wages and starting pay than the ones unionized by the UAW.
On the other hand, UAW has released a statement denying the allegations made by Musk.
"Mr. Moran is not and has not been paid by the UAW," announced the union after Musk's allegations.
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There is an Asian surge in space programs. China and India are upping the ante on by hiking the space spending even as America's NASA and Russia's Roscosmos are having flat budgets.
India increased space spending for 2017-2018 by more than 20 percent from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion.
One major milestone of China's space ventures in 2017 will be the launch of Tianzhou-1, the first cargo spacecraft which will be a litmus test of key technologies for China's upcoming space station. Carrying 13 tons, the cargo spacecraft will lift off in April.
"The carrying capacity of Tianzhou-1 is designed based on the scale of the space station, on the principle of achieving the highest carrying capacity with the lowest structural weight," said Bai Mingsheng, Tianzhou-1's chief designer with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
China's cargo spacecraft is designed with a long-term plan. The Tianzhou-1 is also meant for refueling and resupplying the space station of China. Tianzhou-1 will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab, which hosted two astronauts in 2016.
China's Space Programs
The space ambitions of China gained traction in recent years. The year 2016 was eventful for CASC with the first successful docking of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft with the Chinese space lab. China's permanent space station is expected to be ready by 2023.
For 2017, CASC has set lunar sampling as a breakthrough plan with automated moon surface sampling, unmanned docking and moon take-off.
"The development of Chang'e-5 has entered the end of its flight model phase, and relevant work is proceeding smoothly," says a statement from CASC.
The lunar probe will have four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander, said Ye Peijian, an aerospace expert.
The Shenzhou-11 brought two astronauts safely to the Tiangong-2 and back to Earth. The CASC will also land a probe on the moon's far side by late 2018 with an aim for sending a probe to Mars by 2020, as a significant milestone in China's space exploration program.
Space Budget Hiked
India's space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation, is hiking spending on space technology and space science under the belief that investing in space exploration will bring positive returns for the country.
The agency is gearing up for two space science missions one to Mars and another to Venus. According to media reports, India's "Mars Orbiter Mission II" may include a lander with a planned launch in 2021, while the Venus mission will be with an orbiter.
In the Mars program, there is competition between China and India. India's space plans had a pronounced momentum in 2014 when it took the 13kg Orbiter Mission to Mars and tapped a stream of data and images. To slash the launch costs, India also began the use of flight tests of a reusable space plane.
India's Record Launch Of Satellites
Meanwhile, ISRO set a world record on Feb. 15 by launching 104 satellites in a single mission from the space center at Sriharikota.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carried a Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation along with 103 other satellites in one shot.
The nano-satellites numbering 101 belong to five countries the United States, Israel, Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Switzerland alongside a few Indian nano-satellites.
The feat has broken the record owned by Russia which launched 37 satellites in June 2014.
B Jayakumar, mission director, said the focus was not about "creating records" but optimizing the capacity available on the PSLV which has a maximum payload capacity of 1,500 kilograms.
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There is a super-Earth existing outside the solar system near our planet. This must be good news when efforts are underway to colonize Mars.
This was revealed in the Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey by a team of international scientists. It was led by astronomers Steve Vogt, Geoffrey Marcy from the University of California, and Carnegie Institute of Science's Paul Butler at Washington.
The team discovered 60 new planets and 54 potential planets outside the solar system making a total of 114 new planets.
According to the scientists, many of these planets are Earth-like and can support life. The study will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Super-Earth Gliese 411-B
The hot "super-Earth" named Gliese 411-b is an exoplanet with a rocky surface and the fourth nearest to the solar system.
The premise of super-Earth supporting life is based on the fact that planets were found orbiting all stars near the sun. So, it is normal to expect Earth-like conditions supporting alien life might be present.
The survey results were derived from an average 60,000 observations of 1,600 stars, which the team tracked for more than 20-years, with the help of Hawaii's Keck-I telescope.
"This paper and data release is one of my crowning achievements as an astronomer and represents a good chunk of my life's work," Butler, one of the research leaders said.
The newly discovered planets would enhance the understanding of the processes in planetary formations and help in future efforts for imaging planets directly, according to the researchers.
Research Methodology
Lick-Carnegie survey has made a commendable contribution in increasing scientists' understanding of planets in the last two decades by tracking movements of nearby stars and the effect of orbiting planets.
One of the researchers, Dr. Mikko Tuomi, noted that Keck-I telescope has been a wonderful tool in proving that all stars have orbiting planets.
"These new discoveries will further help us characterize the population of planets in the immediate solar neighborhood," he added.
The methodology of the research involved measuring periodic changes in the colors of target stars that indicated the existence of planets.
Using iodine cell radial velocity technique, they monitored the signatures of planets by using iodine lines as a reference point that stays static with lines of the star responding to the planets that are orbiting.
Life Detection Technology
Meanwhile, NASA developed a new technology for detecting signs of life beyond earth and claimed it was far more effective than the ones used by spaceship Mars Curiosity rover.
In a paper published "Enhanced Resolution of Chiral Amino Acids with Capillary Electrophoresis for Biosignature Detection in Extraterrestrial Samples," a NASA researcher suggested "laser-provoked fluorescence recognition" by blazing a laser through a mixture of organic molecules to identify amino acids, which are the building blocks of all life.
Also, in detecting a distant planet's habitability, NASA has developed a new model. Based on that yardstick, the newly discovered exoplanet Proxima Centauri b is not habitable.
Proxima Centauri b was discovered in August 2016 as an Earth-sized planet with hints that water was present. However, a new research by NASA suggests Proxima Centauri b is a dead world because of the violence by its host star. Though in the Goldilocks zone, a region around a star where it is "not too hot, not too cold," stellar eruptions from the star can beam charged particles into the atmosphere and destroy water-producing ingredients.
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Just in time for Valentine's Day, OkCupid launched new features that aim to improve users' matches in the site's mobile dating app. One of its new features now allow users to glean more information from a person's profile before swiping.
OkCupid's DoubleTake Replaces App's Tinder-Like Feature
OkCupid launched DoubleTake, which will serve as a replacement for Quickmatch, a feature that was meant to be a counterpart to Tinder's "hot or not" feature. This would be welcome news for users who do not want to be judged based on one photo alone.
In the old feature, users swiped left or right by judging compatibility based on a single photo. The new feature will have a different layout that features up to four photos as well as profile highlights.
In a press release statement, Elie Siedman, CEO of OkCupid says that its app's users are "more than just a photo, and our new features are dedicated to highlighting their uniqueness and individuality." The swiping process has slowed down, resulting to an increase in mutual matches.
"Every person has a story and instead of helping users speed up, DoubleTake slows them down within the swiping interface so that they can appreciate each other's uniqueness," adds Seidman.
Seidman came on board the company on May of last year with the goal of making the app more successful in building meaningful relationships, and distinguishing itself from hookup apps such as Tinder. OkCupid's new feature has gone live today on both iOS and Android devices.
Dating App Also Updates Questions
OkCupid also added 50 more questions to its question-and-answer feature, which allows users to get to know more about the person behind the profile. The new set of questions is related to recent news events. It will ask you how you feel about climate change and "ghosting."
The app will also ask you how you feel about President Trump and the Muslim ban, which could prove to be a deal breaker. This would definitely save users from embarrassment and awkwardness over having to ask such politically-charged questions over a date.
OkCupid Will Revamp Its Design
Aside from recent updates to its app, OkCupid also announced that it will have a new design that will roll out next month. The company hired Berlin artist Jay Daniel Wright to come up with colorful illustrations that will be used on its website and mobile app to give the company a more modern and fresh look.
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Facebook's next target platform is everyone's TVs, after staking a firm foothold in both desktop and mobile spaces. Yes, the world's largest social networking site is pushing to inch its presence toward a platform it postdates, which is odd, if slightly amusing.
Facebook Arrives On Your TV
The company said on Tuesday it has built a connected video app for TVs, promising that the new app will roll out in a few weeks for a slew of devices, including the Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, and to different set-top boxes in the future.
Facebook Videos On A Bigger Screen
The app will let any Facebook user view videos on the site on their own TV, whether it's content shared by a friend, recommended and placed atop the newsfeed, or a Facebook Live video. Additionally, users may also view previously saved, shared, and uploaded videos on the site using the app, as per a report by Forbes.
The forthcoming app could serve Facebook in securing more advertising revenue out of the $70 billion television advertising market. Facebook's TV inroad will allow it to carve an additional space for showing ads, which are one of the primary revenue generators for social media companies. The service, too, could potentially feature longer, more compelling programming, the licensing for which is already being considered by Facebook as it approaches media companies.
The TV app reiterates Facebook's intention to make the company "video-first," at a time when demand for video is increasingly ballooning, given how people can easily access a wide range of content provided by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and others, at present. Facebook has taken that demand and made the format a rising priority for the company, which will be integrated for consumer features and advertisements.
"I see video as a mega trend on the same order as mobile," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, to investors early February. "That's why we're going to keep putting video first across our family of apps and making it easier for people to capture and share video in new ways."
Updates Regarding Facebook Videos
Aside from the imminent arrival of Facebook's new TV app, the company also announced a few changes related to how videos will behave on the site.
As reported by Business Insider, Facebook videos will now play with the sound automatically set on in the news feed, as long as the user's phone's sound is also on. For phones set to silent mode, videos will be muted until tapped. The move comes after Facebook reportedly tested videos with automatic sound in recent months, earning a positive response.
Vertical videos will now expand to fill the screen. Those who have filmed videos in portrait mode and uploaded them to Facebook in the past should find this change handy.
More importantly, videos will now continue playing in a thumbnail at the bottom of the screen like it does on YouTube's mobile app so users can keep scrolling through their newsfeed.
Facebook: Nope, Our TV App Isn't A Netflix Killer
While keen to occupy itself a seat in the race for video, Facebook's TV app is meant to complement watching videos on the site, not to ruffle Netflix's feathers, as it were, according to Dan Rose, Facebook's VP of partnerships.
He said that Facebook users often hoard videos for later viewing, and that the cache manages to stack up, with the user failing to find the right time to finish them all.
"Now it's easy to watch on your TV if you want to do that," said Rose, noting that Facebook wants people to access and consume content using whichever platform they pick. "But we're a mobile-first company, so the products we build will always be oriented around the experience you have on a mobile device when you're watching video."
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By Press Trust of India: Kolkata, Feb 15 (PTI) Despite its earlier announcement of boycotting the entire budget session, the Congress today returned to the West Bengal Assembly, but staged a walkout protesting against the eviction of Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan by marshals from the House last week.
Congress MLAs along with their Left Front counterparts continued their protest demonstration inside the Assembly against the eviction of Mannan from the House by marshals last week leading to his illness and subsequent hospitalisation.
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With posters and placards demanding the Speaker to spell out the reasons behind Mannans eviction, Congress members protested for about 20 minutes in the House before staging a walkout along with Left Front members.
The Congress Legislature Party had yesterday decided to boycott the entire budget session protesting against the eviction and alleged assault on their leader.
Carrying on with their demonstration outside the House, Congress also organised a March to Assembly programme protesting against Mannans eviction.
Leading the march, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the Trinamool Congress of running the state government with the help of the Police.
"They have killed poor farmers at Bhangor, which showed that the TMC is not with the people," he said.
"But, Congress cant be cowed down. We are on the streets to counter the violence and terror unleashed by TMC," the WBPCC chief said. PTI SCH SUN DKB
--- ENDS ---
Microsoft's president Brad Smith is now calling for the foundation of an international body similar to the Geneva Convention that will protect civilians from the emerging spate of cyberattacks perpetuated by nation states.
Digital Geneva Convention
According to Smith, the urgency of the situation should be highlighted by the way the global economy will lose $3 trillion by 2020 to cyberattacks.
Cybercrime is also spilling over other sectors such as national security and free expression. Military espionage, data breach in U.S. federal institutions, and the North Korean Sony hack are chilling examples that demonstrate how attacks are no longer confined to acts with goals to extract financial gains. Smith also noted how last year's U.S. presidential election has been targeted by foreign government hacking.
Citing that private cybersecurity initiatives are no longer enough, Smith is calling world governments to begin drafting a Digital Geneva Convention. As part of the immediate measures of protecting civilians, he wants the Red Cross and technology companies to share their respective responsibilities as well especially in addressing the aftermath of an attack.
Digital Switzerland
In Smith's proposal, technology companies have been likened to first responders, being the stakeholders in the position to immediately tackle cyberattacks.
"Last year MSTIC identified an attack pattern that led to a group associated with a nation-state that had registered internet domains using names that included Microsoft and other companies' trademarks," Smith touted Microsoft's experience. "We went to federal court, obtained court orders and successfully sought appointment of a Special Master to oversee and expedite additional motions in our case."
The proposed role is analogous to that of Switzerland, which is neutral in times of conflict. This is supposed to be necessary to ensure that the sector can help keep the internet safe while holding the world's trust in the process.
Terms Of Engagement
Interestingly, Smith's proposal seems to outline how nations should behave as they go about their attacks or what some would say the terms of engagement. He has outlined six frameworks where his so-called Digital Geneva Convention will be built on.
These include the exercise of restraint in the use of cyber weapons and the rule against targeting tech companies, private sector, and critical infrastructure. Smith seems bent on having this group accorded the status similar to the "protected persons" in times of war under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
While there was a call to limit offensive operation, Smith did not task the convention to outlaw cyberattacks. There was also no word if it can serve as a basis to put individuals or states on trial for crimes against humanity or specific war crimes.
There was only the proposal for the creation of a dedicated agency similar to the Atomic Energy Agency that will investigate attacks and attribute them to specific nation-state.
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Verizon and Sprint announced unlimited data plans on Feb. 12 and Feb. 10, respectively, and hopped on to the offers bandwagon joining AT&T and T-Mobile.
Unlimited data is no more considered a luxury but a necessity as most people are glued to their phones incessantly, either streaming live videos, surfing online or hooked onto social media.
With four major U.S. network operators - AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Wireless - introducing Unlimited Data plans, here's a look at what each offering entails.
T-Mobile One Plan
The T-Mobile One plan provides its customers with unlimited calling, texting facilities and access to 4G LTE data on its network. However, there are different pay plans for different needs.
For unlimited data and calling on one line, T-Mobile is charging $70. For providing the service to a family of four smartphones, the carrier is charging $40 per line, which comes to a total of $160. If one wishes to add tablets to the plan, then an additional charge of $20 dollars.
The plus for this plan is that all taxes and fees are included, there are no additional charges.
"Taxes and fees will be included starting with your February charges, so what you see is what you'll pay," asserts the carrier.
To make the competition tougher for its rivals, T-Mobile on Feb. 14 added HD video and Hotspot to its One Plan service offer. The carrier has decided to offer HD video and high speed mobile hotspot data of 10 GB per month to the One Plan.
Verizon Unlimited Data Plan
Better late than never, Verizon is abiding hard by this saying, as on Feb. 12 it announced its own unlimited data plan. Although late to join the unlimited data club, Verizon finally realized that retaining its subscribers hinges on smartphones and ceaseless internet connectivity rather than anything else.
The Verizon Unlimited data plan offers its existing and potential users limitless data, text and call for $80 per month.
The carrier charges $45 per line for a group of four smartphones or tablets, which works out to $180 per month. However, unlike T-Mobile, the prices stated above are excluding taxes and fees. Verizon has also stated that the pricing will increase after a year.
"With Verizon Unlimited, you also get HD video streaming, Mobile Hotspot, calling and texting to Mexico and Canada and up to 500 MB/day of 4G LTE roaming in Mexico and Canada - included," notes the carrier.
Sprint Unlimited Data, Talk And Text Plan
Right before Verizon launched its introductory unlimited data plan, on Feb. 10 Sprint announced that it would offer limitless data for five smartphones for $90 per month. Interested customers can avail the offer by signing up with the carrier via Auto Pay.
The offer will allow the user to get unlimited data, text and call for one line at $50 per month and subsequent addition of lines to the network will cost only $90 per month, which is $45 per line.
However, the Sprint offer is only for new subscribers and not existing customers. The offer does not include any surcharges or taxes.
AT&T Unlimited Data Plan
Users having AT&T wireless along with DIRECTV are entitled to access the carrier's unlimited stream plus surf with unlimited data offer. The plan costs $100 per month for the first smartphone and an additional $40 per month for each smartphone, tablet and connected car added to the plan.
If a user adds a fourth line to the plan, AT&T will give free service to the line after bill credit. To avail the offer on basic messaging phones, the user will be charged $25 per month and $10 per month for wearables.
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The decision has stirred yet another row, especially since it comes at a time when a government school in Howrah had to be shutdown due to communal flare-up over demands that Nabi Diwas celebrations be allowed inside the school since Saraswati Puja was also observed every year.
By Indrajit Kundu: Amid the ongoing row over Nabi Diwas celebration at a school in Howrah resulting in a communal flare-up, the West Bengal government has made it mandatory for government libraries across the state to celebrate the day.
According to a new order by the state Directorate of Library Services, more than 2000 state libraries across West Bengal have been instructed to observe "Nabi Diwas" as part of a host of events to be observed throughout the year.
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The order dated January 11, 2017 states that of the 51 events mentioned by the government, Fateha Dwaz Daham (or Eid-ud-Milad-un-Nabi ) must be observed to mark the birth of Prophet Muhammad in state-run libraries.
Also read | Bengal: School shut down after communal tension, teachers allege pressure from 'Islamic fundamentalists'
HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: Accordingly, it will be celebrated on December 2 this year. The state library department will grant an amount of Rs 1000 to every library for each of these individual events and libraries are "free to mobilise local resources" for the purpose, states the order. In January this year, a government-aided school in Howrah's Tehatta had to be shut down indefinitely following communal tension over demands to allow Nabi Diwas celebrations on the school premises. Tension began after the school authority decided to deny permission for the religious programme. In its letter to the police, the school administration had alleged that some students influenced by "Islamic fundamentalists" from outside wanted to forcibly conduct "Nabi Diwas" on its campus on December 13 despite being denied permission. Speaking to India Today, the school's principal had said those demanding permission for the event had questioned why the school administration allowed Saraswati Puja on campus every year. As per the state government's notification for public holidays in Bengal for 2017, Saraswati Puja has been declared as an official holiday but Nabi Diwas is not. The opposition BJP as well as right-wing groups have criticised the decision alleging that there was no precedent of Nabi Diwas celebration at libraries and that it was yet another step at minority appeasement. "Bengal is on its way to becoming the next Bangladesh. So Nabi Diwas and Iftar parties will happen but chances are that Durga puja and Saraswati Puja will be stopped. This is our biggest worry. It is due to such blatant appeasement politics that communal tension is on the rise in Bengal," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh claimed. However West Bengal Mass Education & Library Services minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury has rubbished the opposition charge. "What is the problem if Nabi Diwas is celebrated?" Chowdhury questioned adding that his department had also instructed that birthdays of stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore and Subhash Chandra Bose be observed among many such days that have been selected. Of the 51 events, the government order also states that there shall be "cultural programme on the occasion of Saraswati puja". Other events such as Christmas, Good Friday, Buddha Purnima, Guru Nanak's birthday, Rakhi Bandhan, Id Ul Fitre, Id-Ud-Joha along with Independence Day and Republic Day will also be observed at state libraries as per the new order.
Also read | West Bengal: Communal tension grips Tehatta schools over Saraswati puja celebrations, TMC dismissive
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Arce stressed that "this table has a vital importance to continue giving certainties and solutions, above the whims, subway agreements and political calculations". | Read More
A 22-year-old Danish student who gave up her studies to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq is now seen as a 'terrorist' by her own country. She also has a Rs 7 crore reward on her head.
By India Today Web Desk: The 22-year-old former student Joanna Palani quit studies in 2014, when she was still a teenager, to fight ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq.
She fought for the Kurds but after returning to her home in Denmark, she was taken into custody. Joanna even faced a jail sentence.
Denmark received criticism over it and the country's hypocrisy was strongly condemned.
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#FYI: || Call of duty: Female Kurdish fighters save Syrian women from ISIS and abuse ||
Joanna was born in a UN refugee camp and was still a toddler when she moved to Copenhagen, Denmark. At the age of 9, she first picked up a gun and learnt to fire.
BOUNTY
Joanna has recently claimed that there is a $1 million bounty on her head. Even before this claim, her life was a struggle since her country could not support her heroism.
After returning from fighting in September 2015, the Danish authorities banned her from travelling to the region again.
SEEN AS TERRORIST
After returning from Syria and Iraq, she is being treated as "a terrorist" in Denmark.
She wrote on Facebook that she was inspired "to fight for women's rights, for democracy - for the European values I learned as a Danish girl."
FACTS AND QUOTES
Joanna Palani, apart from slaying close to 100 ISIS militants, also helped liberating Yazidi girls who were imprisoned as sex slaves.
Photo: Joanna Palani
"When we were preparing to liberate houses of ISIS sex slaves, we had this saying - one fighter goes to rescue but many fighters will come back out," according to a media report.
Photo: Joanna Palani
Boasting her success, she previously told Vice, "ISIS fighters are very easy to kill."
"ISIS fighters are very good at sacrificing their own lives, but Assad's soldiers are very well-trained and they are specialist killing machines."
Presently, she lives in hiding and changes her location frequently from the fear of retaliation she has gotten from her own country.
#FYI: || 7-year-old Aleppo girl asks Donald Trump to help Syrian children in a moving letter. Will he? ||
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By Manogya Loiwal : Taking a joy ride on Darjeeling toy trains, one of the biggest tourist attraction in the misty hills of West Bengal, will now be heavier on the pocket because of a steep increase in fares by the Railways.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the narrow gauge trains that run between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling towns are popular with both tourists and locals. But now the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR) have raised the fares for the 16 km stretch in between Darjeeling and Ghoom. The fares of steam engine pulled trains have been elevated to Rs 1300 and that of diesel-run trains have been raised to Rs 800.
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Railway officials attribute it to the high maintenance cost of these heritage trains.
HERE IS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW: "The last time we increased the fares for the joy rides was in February 2015. The hike was necessitated because of inflation in the country," DHR director MD Bhutia said. Travel agent Kamal Bansal said the price hike will have a huge impact on the sale of tickets. "As the facts stand now the travel expense of two hours from Darjeeling to Ghoom will cost significantly more than the sleeper class ticket from Kolkata to Darjeeling," he said. The fare for the 87-km-long journey from Darjeeling to NJP on the toy train has also been raised to Rs 1285. Earlier the cost was Rs 360 in first class and Rs 120 for second class rides. However now the DHR has decided to do away with the second class journey citing that the main difference between the classes were the sitting arrangements. DHR incurs an estimated Rs 15 crores as annual maintenance cost to run the service and recently the officials claimed that they are expecting to break even this fiscal. Samrat Sanyal, Secretary, Eastern India Tour Operator Association, said: "We are criticising the move of the railway ministry and are strongly opposing it. The price rise will also affect the several packages those have been booked in advance". West Bengal Tourism Minister Goutam Deb said: "We are opposing the price rise as it is a big blow to the tourism sector. Tourists are always willing to take the joy rides however now as per the decision they have to pay a huge amount for a 2 hours ride which is impractical. We have decided to write a letter to the Railway Minister to reduce the prices at the earliest". At present the DHR is running nine rides on the toy train (six on the steam and three on diesel engines) thrice a day to Ghoom and back from Darjeeling. Long distance service is also available thrice a week from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri station on diesel engines.
(Inputs from Kayes Ansari and Angshuman Chakraborty)
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James Mattis is on his first Europe visit after becoming the US Defence Secretary. Mattis was speaking during a meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels yesterday when he sent this stern message to other members of the grouping that include 28 countries including Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Norway, Spain and UK.
By Santosh Chaubey: Though describing the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as the 'bedrock of the US's defense policy', US Defense Secretary James Mattis had some tough words for his allies in the world's most powerful military alliance.
James Mattis is on his first Europe visit after becoming the US Defence Secretary. Mattis was speaking during a meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels yesterday when he sent this stern message to other members of the grouping that include 28 countries including Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Norway, Spain and UK.
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According to Washington Post, Mattis said, "I owe it to you all to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States and to state the fair demand from my country's people in concrete terms. America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to the alliance, each of your capitals needs to show its support for our common defense."
Mattis is following what his boss has always said that the US would no longer be the big daddy if other member countries don't fulfil the financial obligations expected from them. While speaking at the US Central Command headquarters on February 6, Trump had reiterated his line from the campaign days, giving clear indications that it indeed was going to be the US policy on NATO.
He assured the continued US role in NATO affairs but added the rider that other countries must scale up their spending and share the burden first. Trump has said that the US may not rush to defend the Baltic countries in case of a Russian attack if they don't meet the financial obligations.
Mattis, a former US Marine Corps General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Transformation, who has been picked by Donald Trump to head the US defense establishment, put before the NATO leaders the US demand in unequivocal terms.
ONLY 5 MEMBER NATIONS COMPLY
And Trump's demand is not part of any rhetoric here. NATO expects its member countries to spend 2 per cent of their GDPs on defence but only five of 28 member countries meet this basic criteria, a CNN report says.
Trump feels that NATO has many problems and foremost of them is that it has become obsolete. During his London visit last month, before his inaugural on January 20, Trump had said in an interview that NATO had become obsolete because it was designed a long time ago and it was being unfair to the US as most other countries were not paying what they were supposed to pay.
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Taking a cue from Trump's demands, especially after his victory in the US presidential polls on November 8, 2016, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had made a strong pitch for increased defense expenditure by the member countries while delivering keynote address at the NATO-Industry Forum on November 9, 2016.
Since then he has been on it. A CNBC report published yesterday quotes him, "In my two phone calls with President Trump defense spending has been a main topic and he has strongly expressed his strong commitment to NATO, to the transatlantic bond but at the same time President Trump has in both the phone calls also underlined the importance of a fairer burden sharing. And I agree with him."
NATO OVER-RELIANT ON US
Bulk of the NATO spending comes from the US and NATO admits that it is over-reliant on the US, another CNN report says. There has always been a gap between the US and other countries' contribution owing to the huge US defense budget, that stood at USD 650 billion last year.
It widened significantly after the 2001 terror attacks on the US. But Donald Trump wants to end that. No more largesse. Instead, he wants every member country to shoulder the financial burden in a revamped NATO with no appendages from past. The CNN report says that the combined GDP of other 27 NATO members is more than the US GDP, still the US defense spending is more than double of them.
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So, the message is loud and clear. NATO will remain the bedrock of the US and the transatlantic community's defense strategy if it mends its ways. Otherwise, Trump has already declared it obsolete.
Also read:
US President Donald Trump to meet NATO leaders in Europe in May, says White House
Donald Trump: Brexit will be 'a great thing', NATO is 'obsolete'
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By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma
Beijing, Feb 15 (PTI) Three knife-wielding suspected Uyghur militants have killed five persons in Chinas far western Xinjiang region before being shot dead by the police, the latest outbreak of violence in the restive territory.
The attack took place last evening in Pishan county.
Ten people were injured in the attack, five of whom were declared dead in the hospital, an official news portal of the Hotan government said.
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Police shot dead three attackers, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Postquoted the news portal as saying.
Social order has been restored and an investigation is being carried out, the report said.
Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan, has been on the boil for several years over Uyghur protests against the large-scale settlements of Han Chinese from different parts of the country.
China blames Uyghur separatists from the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for the attacks in the region, which has over 10 million Uyghur population of Turkik-origin Muslims.
In December, four knife-wielding men attacked a Communist Party office in southern Xinjiangs Hotan region and set off an explosive device, killing one person. Four assailants were also shot dead. PTI KJV NSA
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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Government today approved signing of an Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Rwanda to allow the airlines of the two countries to operate services in each others territory.
Rwanda national carrier RwandAir has already announced its plans to launch its air services to India from the next fiscal with four flights per week to Mumbai.
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The Union Cabinet, which met here under by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Rwanda, an official release said.
The agreement would provide enabling environment for enhanced and seamless connectivity while providing commercial opportunities to the carriers of both the sides ensuring greater safety and security, an official release said.
The agreement has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange between India and Rwanda, bringing it in tune with developments in the civil aviation sector, it added. PTI IAS TIR
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A key part of state Superintendent of Education John White's plan to overhaul public schools was criticized Wednesday by nine education and business groups, including traditional allies of White.
The disputed points were spelled out by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and the Southern Poverty Law Center, among others.
The key criticism is White's plan to change the way public school letter grades are calculated.
Under current rules, school performance scores that shape the grades are based mostly on high-profile test results.
White wants to change that so 25 percent of the score would stem from annual academic growth, regardless of the final score.
The superintendent and others contend academic gains have long been neglected in calculating all-important letter grades for elementary and middle school students.
The Louisiana Accountability Commission, after months of talks, endorsed White's recommendation last week.
Growth over grades: Key panel agrees on changes in public school rating system After months of arguments, a key state panel Wednesday agreed on a plan to revamp the way le
But LABI and other members of the coalition said allowing 25 percent of letter grades to stem from yearly gains in the classroom is too much. "We believe the state should focus on the actual achievement of students," according to a three-page statement issued Wednesday.
"While we applaud the progress that educators and schools are able to make with students, over emphasizing student progress is misleading to parents and the public about the performance of the school," the groups said.
"Measures of test performance should be based predominantly on whether students are meeting or exceeding state standards," the statement says.
The issue represents one of the chief controversies on how the state plans to revamp letter grades.
Consider dropping public school letter grades, group named by Gov. John Bel Edwards says The state should consider scrapping the annual issuance of letter grades for public schools,
The review was prompted by a federal law called the Every Student Succeeds Act.
White hopes the changes win federal approval in time for them to take effect for the 2017-18 school year.
The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education plans to hold a special meeting next month to finalize the state's plan.
The deadline for submission to the U. S. Department of Education is April 3.
LABI is often allied with White in efforts to revamp public schools.
The same applies to other groups that criticized his plan, including the state branch of Democrats for Education Reform, Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana and Stand for Children.
Brigitte Nieland, who follows public school issues for LABI, said Wednesday boosting school performance results through a significant use of yearly progress points is a mistake.
"It will mask lower achieving performance," Nieland said.
"I do not believe that calling something what it is not benefits children," she said. "It only benefits the adults and administrators in the schools."
The state currently allows 7 percent of yearly academic gains to be calculated in school performance scores.
However, that only applies to struggling public school students.
Carrie Monica, executive director of Stand for Children, said while there is plenty to like about the state's ESSA plan, the fact that school performance scores would include significant progress points, be set on a curve and and other factors are troubling.
All those ingredients means "it is really difficult to get to a place of providing honest and transparent rules on how schools are doing," she said.
White, through a spokeswoman, declined comment on the criticism from the nine groups.
Superintendents also have problems with White's plan, Hollis Milton, president of the Louisiana Association of Superintendents, said Wednesday in an email.
"The formula creates more volatility and masks true achievement," said Milton, who is superintendent of the West Feliciana Parish School District.
The issue is on the agenda when the Superintendents' Advisory Council, which advises BESE, meets on Thursday at 9 a.m.
On a related topic, the groups said the state should immediately end the curve system used to allocate letter grades.
That means the distribution of A, B, C, D and F grades does not differ from year to year.
The system, which began for the 2013-14 school year, was supposed to last two years and prevent wholesale drops in grades during the move to tougher standards embodied by Common Core.
"A grading curve is misleading to the public and to parents about schools true performance," according to the statement.
The coalition said it spent over three months and 100 hours reviewing the ESSA.
An A-rated foreign language immersion school in Baton Rouge operating at two locations has its sights set on a place where it could be all in one building: the former Valley Park Junior High School.
The idea is for BR FLAIM to move into the old junior high at 4510 Bawell St. when it becomes vacant after its current occupant, Broadmoor Elementary, leaves in summer 2018.
Broadmoor is temporarily housed in Valley Park while its building at 9650 Goodwood Blvd. is torn down and rebuilt at an estimated cost of $21.8 million. Before August when Broadmoor moved in, Lee High spent three years at Valley Park, likewise using it as swing space while its building on Lee Drive was torn down and rebuilt.
After a review of many potential sites and the potential to retrofit one of the current campuses we occupy, it was decided that moving to Valley Park was the best and most feasible option, said Claire Pittman, president of the BR FLAIM parent-teacher organization.
Deputy Superintendent Michelle Clayton informed the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board of BR FLAIMs wishes during a Feb. 4 retreat, but offered no recommendation.
Theyd like to be together at Valley Park, Clayton told the board.
Clayton said shes considering the idea as part of a larger set of options she plans to bring to the board in a few weeks.
BR FLAIM stands for Baton Rouge Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet. Students from kindergarten to fifth grade spend at least 60 percent of their day immersed in French, Mandarin Chinese or Spanish.
The school has grown in popularity and now has about 450 students. It also has one of the highest school performance scores of any public elementary school in the Baton Rouge metro area, second only Westdale Heights Academic Magnet. The state recently nominated BR FLAIM for a National Blue Ribbon award.
On Friday, kindergartners in one room learned how to count numbers in Spanish; next door, their peers learned how to identify geometric shapes in Mandarin.
Kathy Soileau, their English teacher, can see the difference the schools bilingual education makes.
It makes them stronger readers in English, Soileau said. It is amazing how well they learn. They just soak it all up.
BR FLAIMs longtime home has been the former South Boulevard elementary school campus at 802 Mayflower St. The campus, built in 1949, was designed by famed local architect A. Hays Town. The campus, however, is small, with a capacity of only about 300 students, and its in disrepair.
Rather than fixing the facility, the school system tried to shutter South Boulevard in 2009 and relocate the foreign language program at a newly renovated and expanded Dufrocq Elementary. BR FLAIM parents successfully fought off the move, but their success consigned them to an old campus that the school system had no commitment to maintain.
Matt Diez, an active parent and former PTO president, said the push to find a permanent home for BR FLAIM took on new urgency a few years ago.
A lot of this grew out of complaints about lack of air conditioning in the gym, Diez recalled.
While the gym remains without air-conditioning, BR FLAIMs scored a victory when the School Board agreed in 2014 to renovate nearby Polk Elementary and let BR FLAIM occupy part of that campus. It currently holds classes for its upper grades there.
East Baton Rouge School Board agrees to expand foreign-language immersion program to Polk Elementary A popular foreign language immersion school in downtown Baton Rouge will expand this fall to
BR FLAIM parents arent the only people interested in Valley Park.
Board President Evelyn Ware-Jackson said shes received a request from the Valley Park Civic Association, which wants to turn the campus back into a neighborhood school of some sort.
They are just tired of being a swing space, Jackson said. They werent happy when it was an alternative school. They are just looking to the day when it goes back to the neighborhood.
Valley Park began as a neighborhood elementary school in 1950, when it was built atop an old landfill. It later became a junior high and then a middle school. Its enrollment, though, steadily declined to fewer than 400 students before it was closed in 1986 in a round of budget cuts.
In the mid-90s, Valley Park was reopened as an alternative school for kids expelled from other schools. In 2013, the alternative school was moved elsewhere to make way for Lee High students. The facility also got $2.7 million worth of renovations at the time.
There arent many school-age children now living in the Valley Park area to fill a neighborhood school. The 2010 U.S. Census showed about 300 school-age children in the Valley Park census tract, with only about 150 old enough for middle and high school. East Baton Rouge Parishs cutoff for a financially viable middle or high school is one with no fewer than 400 students.
Pittman said she and other BR FLAIM parents are eager to talk to Valley Park neighborhood representatives and find a solution.
We have suggested creating a neighborhood attendance zone in which qualified students from the neighborhood gain preferential admission to the school, Pittman said.
Foreign language immersion in Baton Rouge doesnt stop at BR FLAIM. The elementary school feeds into an immersion program at Westdale Middle School that enrolls another 200 children. And Lee High now offers instruction in six foreign languages, including a handful of immersion-based classes.
Meanwhile, a foreign language immersion advocacy group called the Baton Rouge Immersion Cooperative held its first meeting last Thursday in the gym at Westdale Middle School and attracted about 100 people.
Valley Parks official capacity is about 680 students, but Pittman said it can easily accommodate 750 students. The school also has unfinished classrooms that, once finished, could expand capacity to 900 students, she said.
BR FLAIM also is seeking improvements to the campus before it moves in, including new classroom storage and furniture, elementary playground equipment and outdoor spaces, as well as repairs to the parking lot, Pittman said.
In the future, the campus could potentially be expanded to include middle school grades, she said.
The Valley Park site has over 20 acres of land with over half currently undeveloped, she said.
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The financial controller for a Metairie shipping firm stole more than $1 million from the company before being arrested last week, according t
Wolverine star Hugh Jackman, soon to be seen in Logan, underwent his sixth skin cancer surgery on Tuesday. He was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma in 2013.
By India Today Web Desk: 48-year-old Australian actor Hugh Jackman, best known for playing the superhuman mutant Wolverine in the X-Men films, had his sixth skin cancer surgery yesterday.
Hugh Jackman shared a photo of himself on Instagram after the successful surgery. Jackman is seen with his nose bandaged. He had a basal cell carcinoma on his nose which the doctors removed on Tuesday.
Another basal cell carcinoma. Thanks to frequent body checks and amazing doctors, all is well. Looks worse with the dressing on than off. I swear! #wearsunscreen A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman) on Feb 13, 2017 at 12:42pm PST
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Cheekily, he added, "Looks worse with the dressing on than off. I swear!" With the hashtag #wearsunscreen, he also urged people to protect themselves from the sun.
Hugh Jackman, father of two, had his first skin cancer removed four years ago in 2013 when his wife actor Deborra-Lee Furness suggested that he should visit a doctor to figure out what exactly the mole on his nose was.
At that time, Hugh had wrote on social media, "Deb said to get the mark on my nose checked. Boy, was she right!"
Later he wrote, "I had a Basal Cell Carcinoma. Please don't be foolish like me. Get yourself checked. And USE sunscreen!!!" (sic)
Hugh Jackman will soon be seen on the big screen in Logan, the third and last Wolverine film. Logan is also the tenth installment in the X-Men series of films. The film also stars Patrick Stewart who will reprise his role of Professor X.
ALSO READ: 5 reasons why Hugh Jackman's last Wolverine film Logan will be a teary goodbye
WATCH: In conversation with Hugh Jackman
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ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay says the government is yet to decide whether the territory needs a full-time coroner, but is examining other ways of reducing the backlog in the court.
In the ACT Coroner's Court 2015/16 Annual Report, tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, chief coroner Lorraine Walker again asked for a dedicated coroner for the region.
ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay. Credit:Jamila Toderas
Currently coronal work is shared between ACT magistrates, which meant it played second fiddle to general magistrate duties, Ms Walker wrote.
Earlier this month, the Productivity Commission's 2017 Report on Government Services showed the ACT Coroner's Court clearance rate was 85 in the year 2015-16, the lowest of all states and territories, and below the national average of 99.3.
Efforts to reduce the gap in health and life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people need a target to lower Aboriginal imprisonment rates, an ACT Indigenous community leader says.
Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body in the ACT Ross Fowler warned a goal to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous people in prison should be added to seven others listed in the annual Closing the Gap report.
"Or we're going to have a community incarcerated," he said.
"In Canberra, the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in the Alexander Maconochie Centre is atrocious.
Residents groups have heralded the decision to reject a controversial bid to redevelop the Curtin shops as a win for planning in Canberra.
On Wednesday, the ACT's chief planner Dorte Ekelund said the application was knocked back due to the "size, character and scale" of the development.
Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur adresses protesters at Curtin Square. Credit:James Hall
"The proposed development height of six storeys is not consistent with the existing lower rise character of the Curtin shops," Ms Ekelund said in a statement.
"It would also increase overshadowing onto the central courtyard which receives good solar access and is a popular meeting place and focal point for the local community.
Canada's parole board spokesman Patrick Storey was quoted as saying, "That condition has been lifted now. Reyat is now free to go back to a normal life, and also has the option of living in a private residence."
By Agencies: Canada has set free the lone person convicted in the 1985 bombing of Air India flight 182, called Emperor Kanishka, in which around 330 people were killed.
The convict Inderjit Singh Reyat, who had served two decades in prison, had been asked to stay in a halfway house after walking out of prison one year ago.
Canada's parole board spokesman Patrick Storey was quoted as saying, "That condition has been lifted now. Reyat is now free to go back to a normal life, and also has the option of living in a private residence".
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Reyat, a Sikh immigrant from India, was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage bags and planted on 2 planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover up for his co-accused.
ABOUT THE BLASTS
One bomb ripped apart Air India Flight 182 - Kanishka - as it approached the coast of Ireland, killing everyone on board.
The second bomb went off at Japan's Narita airport, killing 2 baggage handlers as they were transferring cargo to another Air India plane.
Also read | 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing: Inderjit Singh Reyat released from Canadian prison
There was a crackdown on Sikh militants in the wake of the blasts. It is believed that the perpetrators of these blasts were allegedly keen to avenge the Golden Temple operation.
Reyat was employed as a mechanic in western Canada and bought dynamite, batteries and other equipments used to manufacture bombs.
2 OTHERS ACQUITTED DUE TO LACK OF EVIDENCE
Two others, allegedly co-conspirators, were acquitted due to lack of evidence and, if the prosecutors are to be believed, due to Reyat's perjury.
Storey said Reyat's parole officer has thoroughly done a background check on those with whom he will live "to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him."
The conditions of his release from prison also still hold, including the one that he cannot have any contact with the families of the victims or with extremists.
Reyat has also been asked to give up all political activities and seek counseling for his violent tendencies, lack of empathy and exaggeratedly dominating set of beliefs.
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"That's outrageous," thundered Seven West chairman Kerry Stokes on the group's half-year results conference call on Wednesday. "How dare you," he said as the share price plunged as much as 7 per cent after the disappointing result.
The media were only allowed 15 minutes to ask Mr Stokes and Seven boss Tim Worner questions about the sex scandal, which has engulfed the network for months now. But it was worth the wait.
The question did not even relate directly to the affair between former staffer Amber Harrison and Mr Worner.
He said Palestine had to get rid of the "tremendous hate" being taught to children in schools but also said to Bibi that he would like Israel to hold off on the illegal settlements "for a bit." [ CNN ]
Benjamin Netanyahu, from right, and Donald Trump stand with their wives Melania Trump and Sara Netanyahu. Credit:Bloomberg
Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he was fine with either a one or two state solution and would back whatever the parties preferred.
Donald Trump has casually muddied the waters on decades of US foreign policy on the Middle East and said he is fine with a one or two state solution, in just twenty or so minutes.
As for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, as he promised in the campaign, Trump said he'd like to, is looking at it "with great care" but ended with "we'll see what happens."
But the most bizarre part of the press conference was when asked about rising anti-Semitism, the bragger-in-chief cited his win in the electoral college and then said he won the election because America is so divided. This. Is. Not. Fake. News!
Asked about his sacked National Security Advisor, Trump defended Flynn against, wait for it, a plot against the intelligence agencies, Democratic party and the fake media.
He says Michael Flynn was treated very badly and the "illegal leaks" showing his National Security Advisor lied to the vice president were part of "people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton." This is despite Trump demanding Flynn's resignation over a loss of trust.
Trump deliberately called on friendly media to avoid being asked about this contradiction. [Hadas Gold/Politico]
Back in the good old days of 2014, before US President Donald Trump soaked up the majority of viral news, a tres photogenic convict caught the world's eye.
When Jeremy Meeks was arrested on weapons charges, his mug shot went viral and he became known as "hot mug shot guy" or "prison bae".
"Hot mug shot guy," Jeremy Meeks, has made his New York Fashion Week runway debut. Credit:Getty Images
Shortly after from his prison cell, he signed a modelling contract and now, almost two and a half years later, he has made his runway debut at New York Fashion Week no less - opening for Philipp Plein.
Rocking his famed pout, the 33-year-old father-of-two wore a knee-length lacquered black puffer jacket with a fur-trimmed hood; a black, zipped-up bomber jacket; moto-inspired pants; and his lone tear-drop tattoo.
Millie Bobby Brown has landed a contract at leading modelling agency IMG, at the tender age of 12.
The Stranger Things actress, who was catapulted to international stardom when the show was released on Netflix last year, has signed with the top agency. The agency also has Gigi Hadid and Miranda Kerr on its books.
It comes after Brown, who was raised in Bournemouth, England, featured in Calvin Klein's first campaign under the brand's new creative director, Raf Simons, unveiled last month.
Brown was spotted in the front row at the Calvin Klein show at New York Fashion Week on February 10.
"I told my brother that if his child is like me, it's okay to abort," said Pete, shocking me into next Tuesday.
I stared at him, the words somersaulting in my brain. Why would Pete say this? How could Pete feel this? Did his sense of self-worth really deviate so dramatically from how I valued him?
If we did more to remove barriers to quality of life for disabled people, abortion might cease to be seen as the only "sensible" option. Credit:Stocksy
"I've enjoyed my life," he qualified later. "My disability has afforded me perks. I've met a lot of my heroes but I can't contribute to the economy."
This was debatable. As Pete's manager, I was keenly aware of his value as a volunteer. He'd provided our little not-for-profit with countless hours of free video editing. He floor-managed community television shoots and delivered disability awareness training to primary school students. To my mind, Pete's unpaid contributions to the economy far outweighed anything he received from it.
A former Lorna Jane store manager who is suing the active-wear brand for $550,000 over claims she was bullied about her weight felt too scared to go to work, a court has heard.
"I just felt really overwhelmed," Amy Robinson has told the Brisbane District Court where she was giving evidence.
Ms Robinson has told the court her former area manager Megan McCarthy said she should skip lunch, questioned whether she should be eating certain foods and unfairly assigned tasks which resulted in physical injuries and caused problems with childcare arrangements.
Lorna Jane has strongly rejected Ms Robinson's claims.
A former headmaster of one of Queensland's most prestigious schools ignored a complaint of sexual abuse by a serial paedophile who went on to abuse many more boys, a royal commission has found.
In not investigating the complaint, former Brisbane Grammar School head Maxwell Howell failed to protect his students, a report released on Wednesday stated.
Brisbane Grammar School, where the abuse took place. Credit:Glenn Hunt
The child sex abuse royal commission report also made findings against former St Paul's School headmaster Gilbert Case, who accused students of lying when they complained about being abused, and former governor-general Peter Hollingworth.
The findings came 15 months after hearings in Brisbane heard details of shocking abuse committed by notorious paedophiles Keith Lynch and Gregory Robert Knight at Brisbane Grammar School and St Paul's School in the 1980s and '90s.
Wicked Campers has been "put on notice" after the Queensland parliament passed laws that punish operators that refuse to remove offensive slogans from vehicles.
Tough new legislation was passed in the parliament on Tuesday night that will mean operators that refuse to remove inappropriate words or pictures within 14 days will have their vehicles deregistered.
Wicked Campers has been the target of complaints about its slogans.
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said the legislation was targeted at van rental company Wicked Campers, whose vehicles often displayed "sexist, demeaning slogans".
"We have essentially put Wicked Campers on notice that they are to remove these offensive slogans and if they don't then their vehicles will be deregistered here in Queensland," she said.
A Queensland university that promoted a staffer after he raped a student has drafted in the woman who found "pervasive" sexual harassment among federal police, to review its culture.
An external review is underway into how James Cook University allowed Douglas Steele to be appointed academic adviser in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Centre and remain there even after pleading guilty to the 2015 rape of a female Indigenous student.
Elizabeth Broderick will lead the probe into the university's handling of the case. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick will be responsible for reforming the school's approach to sexual assault and harassment on the tail of a review into how Steele's case was handled.
Ms Broderick led a review into the Australian Federal Police that found 46 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men reported being sexually harassed or abused.
Assaults involving regular taxi drivers in the city rose by just a third in the same period, according to crime data obtained by a separate freedom of information request filed with same security officials, as a deep economic downturn lifted all robberies in the city about six percent. The crime data obtained by Reuters covers Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2016 and shows all incidents of robberies involving taxi and Uber drivers. It contains some margin for error as it potentially includes attacks on passengers. Police said the number of attacks on Uber drivers could be much higher given it is a new service and many incidents were likely registered in the system without mentioning the app by name. Drivers and police said the cash policy has provided easy targets for criminals, allowing them to open accounts under fake names, without credit cards to verify, and lure drivers into ambushes. Presented with the findings, Uber declined to give monthly details of ride growth in Sao Paulo but acknowledged it has seen an increase in "safety incidents" without saying by how much. Uber said it was not clear if rising crime was due to the cash policy or the surge in business, which was boosted by the cash option. Uber added its Sao Paulo operations grew by 15 times over the course of 2016. The company said it is now taking steps to make cash rides safer, such as verifying users with a commonly used social security number.
Getting cash payments right in Brazil is a crucial test for Uber as it pushes beyond developed markets, seeking faster growth in poorer countries, where credit cards are less common and public safety more precarious. Drivers around the country have staged protests threatening to quit if Uber does not reduce the risk of crime, while taxi drivers and elected officials have pounced on isolated incidents as evidence of a need for more restrictive legislation. So far, Uber's business in Brazil is booming. At least 30 percent of its rides in the country are now paid in cash and the rate is far higher in poor areas where credit cards are less common, according to two company sources. In Sao Paulo, cash accounts for most trips in outer boroughs, and the sources said it helped the city overtake New York and Tokyo in recent months to become Uber's biggest market by rides. But a dozen current and former managers and drivers criticised how Uber introduced cash in Brazil, saying the San Francisco-based tech giant overlooked high levels of violent crime as it rushed to grow in an unfamiliar market. Senior executives now admit publicly that the company was slow to introduce simple fixes once the dangers in Brazil were clear. Slow to respond
As recently as October, Uber denied there was a problem with cash payments in Brazil. Andrew Macdonald, general manager for the region, said that the company had studied if cash endangered drivers and found it did not. "If they're worried, it's a bit emotional," he said in an interview with Bloomberg at the time. One source involved in the cash roll out at Uber told Reuters the internal study was conducted too soon after cash was introduced, undermining its conclusions. "With the numbers that cash was bringing in, no one wanted to see that there might be a problem," the person said, asking not to be named given the sensitivity of the matter. Macdonald acknowledged on Friday his statement was "a mistake" and said Uber had been working on ways to improve safety around cash payments since fall last year. He declined to explain what had changed since the initial internal study.
He added the violence "weighs pretty heavily" on him and other senior management, and that the company was rolling out new features to protect drivers. The requirement for new cash users to register with a social security number known as a CPF went live across Brazil on Monday, six days after Reuters sent detailed questions about attacks on drivers and Uber's slow response. Macdonald said he was confident the new feature would help to reduce security issues and he wished the change had come faster. "It would have been ideal for us to have gotten the CPF verification out sooner, and so we absolutely own that," Macdonald said. Macdonald added Uber was also looking at giving drivers the chance to opt out of accepting cash, which the company is piloting in some cities in Brazil and Chile, along with an algorithm blocking new cash users if they show odd behaviour such as cancelling several rides.
"This has been a priority for us since the end of last year," Macdonald said, adding it was a concern for Uber globally as it pushes into poorer regions to fuel growth. "It's not easy, because of course you really believe that it's important to serve all neighbourhoods in a city, but not all neighbourhoods are made equal in terms of crime." Indian success Uber first started accepting cash in India in May 2015. The move was a success and the company decided last year to roll out cash across Asia and Latin America as Uber raced to make the most of a first-mover advantage. Just 20 per cent of payments in Brazil are made digitally, compared to nearly half in the US, creating huge potential for cash services. Uber presents itself to customers as cheaper and safer than traditional taxis because the app tracks a user's location in real time, regardless of whether the payment is by credit card.
Still, one source, speaking anonymously to avoid retaliation, said he was directly involved in raising concerns to headquarters about the decision to accept cash in Brazil. Before bringing cash payments to Brazil, Macdonald said Uber had already tested them in nearly 100 cities globally without seeing a spike in crime and had no reason to believe Latin America's largest country would be any different. Now, he says Brazil, whose murder rate is nearly 10 times that of India, is "somewhat of a unique challenge". Regular taxi drivers have long had to deal with Brazil's unsafe streets, but protect themselves by sticking to safer neighbourhoods and declining rides to dangerous areas. By contrast, the Uber app globally does not inform drivers of the destination of a ride before they accept it and drivers can be banned from the app if they refuse to take passengers where they want to go. That gave little choice to driver Modolo Filho in September, when he saw his teenage passengers wanted a ride to the far side of Heliopolis, a mix of housing projects and bare brick construction that is Brazil's most populous slum.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) India and Croatia have signed an agreement to boost bilateral trade and enhance economic cooperation.
The agreement was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Martina Dalic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Government of the Republic of Croatia, yesterday in Zagreb.
"India and Croatia had earlier signed an Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation in September, 1994 with an aim to promote and develop bilateral trade and economic relations.
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"The present Agreement between India and Croatia would be a step in continuity as the last one expired in November, 2009," an official statement said.
Indias bilateral trade with Croatia during 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 stood at USD 148.86 million, USD 205.04 million and USD 148.44 million respectively.
"The bilateral trade during the last three years has remained stable despite global slowdown," the statement issued by Commerce Ministry said. PTI RSN ABM
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Four months after the Disney princesses were torn down from the walls and the twin cots packed away unused, Janine and Denis Guingan are still agonising over the terrible question: could their baby daughters have been saved?
The Guingans want to know if staff at Monash Medical Centre should have detected the condition that claimed the lives of baby daughters Tiana and Amelia in scans taken weeks before their birth.
Parents Janine and Denis Guingan with their twin daughters Amelia and Tiana. Credit:Simon Schluter
They want to know if this would have meant a different outcome for their twins.
They have engaged medical negligence lawyers Slater and Gordon, who are investigating. The law firm said it expects to pursue litigation on behalf of the family.
Washington: He got the details right, down to the hair and moustache.
A man dressed as Adolf Hitler was spotted wandering around the Nazi dictator's birthplace in Austria. Most recently, he was seen browsing the World War II section of a local bookstore. Locals say he's introduced himself at bars as "Harald Hitler." At least one canny photographer caught him standing outside the house where Hitler was born.
Harald Zenz poses for a photo in Braunau, Austria, before his arrest for violations of laws against glorifying the Nazi era. Credit:AP
"I have often seen this gentlemen in Braunau and wonder if this means something," a local resident wrote on his Facebook page, alongside a picture he snapped of the man.
That set Austrian authorities are on the hunt. It's illegal to glorify Hitler or Nazis in the country. That's also true in Germany. In France, you can get arrested for waving a flag with a Nazi swastika. The Nazi salute is banned in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Some analysts say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have been behind the poison-murder of his half brother at the Kuala Lumpur airport. Credit:AP The detained woman, whose passport said she was born in Nam Dinh Vietnam, told police she was asked to spray Mr Kim as part of a "prank", urged on by four men, according to a reporter from Hong Kong's Oriental Daily newspaper, who is in Kuala Lumpur. The woman said the men instructed her to spray the liquid on Mr Kim as her woman companion covered his face with a handkerchief, as she had been instructed, the newspaper said. The newspaper quoted a police source saying the two women left the airport in a taxi together. A woman arrested by Malaysian police is seen on CCTV at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The detained woman claimed when she could not later find her companion or the four men, who told her they were going to a a hotel they named, she returned to the airport, where she was arrested on Wednesday.
Police have not confirmed this account. A CCTV image obtained by Malaysian police of one of the women arrested over Kim Jong-nam's death. Police said the security camera nearest the attack was not operating. Malaysia has received a request to send his body to North Korea immediately. Kim Jong-nam's father was former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Credit:AP
North Korean government officials in Malaysia objected to an autopsy being performed on the body, Malaysian government sources aware of the discussions say. No decision has been taken on whether the body of Kim Jong-nam will be handed over to North Korea, sources said. Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader, was killed. Credit:Getty Images But police said they have now pieced together how Mr Kim first went to a bathroom to wipe his face after the attack and then walked to a police post before being directed to a clinic. No other details were immediately available. Malaysian police were not available for further comment.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Credit:AP South Korea's intelligence agency and South Korean media outlets said that two female North Korean spies were responsible for the assassination, in broad daylight, in a shopping concourse on Monday. They blamed Kim Jong-un's "paranoia" as the reclusive leader attempts to tighten his grip in the country of 28 million mostly-impoverished people. Mr Kim, a 46-year-old jovial overweight gambler and playboy, told medical staff at an airport clinic he had been sprayed with poison before he died in an ambulance on the way to hospital. Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat told Malaysian state news agency Bernama that the deceased had been approached from behind.
"The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind," Mr Fadzil said. "He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the ... counter of KLIA [airport]." Mr Kim was known to have spent most of his time outside North Korea and had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state. Mr Fadzil said Kim Jong-nam had been planning to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Macau, where he had been living under Chinese protection and was quoted in 2012 as saying North Korea needed "Chinese-style economic reform". Police are investigating Mr Kim's movements in Malaysia after he arrived in the country on February 6 on a flight from Macau. South Korea's acting president and prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn described the apparent assassination as a "brutal and inhumane" example of the nature of Kim Jong-un's regime.
"Based on the understanding that this case is of great importance, our government is keeping close tabs on North Korea's movements," Mr Hwang said during a special session of his country's national security council on Wednesday. He reiterated a call for strengthened sanctions and pressure to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. In October 2012, South Korean prosecutors said a North Korean man detained as a spy had admitted involvement in a plot to stage a hit-run accident targeting Kim Jong-nam in China in 2010. Malaysia is one of a dwindling number of countries that has close relations with North Korea, which is under global sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile launches. Malaysians and North Koreans can visit each other's countries without visas. The North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur has made no comment. North Korea has made no public announcement on the assassination.
A high-ranking Japanese government official, quoted by Japan's Kyodo News, earlier on Wednesday said: "there are already reports that [the two suspects] may already be dead." North Korean agents have in the past taken their own lives after carrying out missions. Kyodo cited the example of Kim Hyun-hee, a North Korean spy, who was ordered to take her own life after planting a bomb on a South Korean airliner in 1987 that killed 115 passengers. She did not die and later defected from the north. In a statement, Malaysian police said the dead man held a passport under the name Kim Chol, born in Pyongyang on June 10, 1970. Kim Jong-nam is believed to have been born on May 10, 1971. But Ken Gause, an American expert on North Korea, said Kim had previously travelled under the name Kim Chol.
Mark Tokola, vice-president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington and a former diplomat in South Korea, said it would be surprising if Kim Jong-nam was not killed on the orders of his half-brother, given that North Korean agents have reportedly tried to assassinate him in the past. "It seems probable that the motivation for the murder was a continuing sense of paranoia on the part of Kim Jong-un," he said. The North Korean leader has carried out a series of purges since assuming power five years ago which the South Korean government has described as a "reign of terror". South Korea's national news agency Yonhap quoted a source saying agents of the North's spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, carried out the assassination by taking advantage of a security loophole between Kim's bodyguards and Malaysian police at the airport. South Korea's foreign ministry said it could not confirm the reports on newspaper Chosun regarding the two female spies, and the country's intelligence agency could not immediately be reached for comment.
A US government source told Reuters it believed North Korean agents were responsible but did not provide evidence for that conclusion, and also said it was possible that Kim had been poisoned. Kim Jong-nam was for many years considered the heir apparent to his father but is believed to have fallen out of favour in 2001 after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport, saying he had wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. The Joongang Daily quoted an intelligence official as saying Kim had been in a relationship with a woman in Malaysia and travelled there often. In 2013 Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-thaek, once considered the country's second most powerful man, was executed and key figures linked to him purged. Kim Jong-nam had reportedly been close to his uncle. In 2008 Kim Jong-nam reportedly suffered a stroke after which he travelled frequently to countries in south-east Asia and the Chinese territory of Macau.
In 2012 he was reportedly having financial troubles and was evicted from a Macau hotel over a $US15,000 debt. His mother is the late Kim Jong-il's second wife, Song Hye-rim, a South Korean-born actress and one of at least three women with whom the former leader had children. The death became public late on Tuesday as the United Nations Security Council condemned Kim Jong-un for his country's firing of a ballistic missile on Sunday, the first direct challenge to the international community since US President Donald Trump took office on January 20. North Korea's media rejected the criticism on Tuesday, saying launching the missile with a range of 2000 kilometres was a "self-defence measure". Loading
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Police busted the inter-state gun racket by arresting the carrier, identified as Mani Singh. He is brother of gun racket kingpin Richpal Singh. A 0.32 bore pistol with 5 live cartridges were recovered from his possession. As many as 19 sophisticated pistols were also seized.
By Anuj Mishra: A Special Cell team of Delhi Police has busted an inter-state gun racket by arresting the carrier, identified as Mani Singh. He is brother of gun racket kingpin Richpal Singh, who is known to be involved in manufacturing and supply of illegal arms to criminals in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.
A 0.32 bore pistol with 5 live cartridges were recovered from his possession. As many as 19 sophisticated pistols were also recovered from his Alto car.
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The Special Cell team also succeeded in busting several similar inter-state arms rackets and recovered 347 sophisticated pistols, 9 countrymade guns, 6,009 live cartridges and 95 spare magazines during last year.
PREVIOUS SEIZURES
In December 2016, a team of special cell had recovered a huge consignment of 46 sophisticated pistols, alongwith spare magazines and arrested of 2 people of the arms syndicate of Richpal Singh. Similarly, in September last year, this team had also recovered 13 pistols alongwith cartridges and spare magazines of this syndicate, and arrested 3 more people. The investigation indicated that Richpal Singh was one of the bulk suppliers of illegal weapons and those arrested were his carriers.
Also read | Gurgaon Police bust arms licence racket, recover 7 firearms and 55 cartridges
Technical as well as manual surveillance was mounted to collect information about arms racket kingpin Richpal Singh and his network. Teams went to Burhanpur, Sagar and Khargon in Madhya Pradesh to track the movement of carriers of this syndicate. The surveillance revealed that after the arrest of some members of his syndicate, Richpal Singh had tasked his brother Mani Singh to deliver huge consignments of weapons outside Madhya Pradesh.
HOW MANI SINGH WAS ARRESTED
According to a tip-off, Mani Singh was on his way to Delhi in his Alto Car to deliver a huge consignment of weapons to buyers from western UP and has fixed a place in Delhi's Azadpur for meeting them. His Alto car was spotted coming from Azadpur side and Mani parked it in front of the Metro Flats in Azadpur. The police team approached the vehicle and managed to arrest him after snatching his pistol. On being interrogated, Mani revealed that his brother Richpal Singh was manufacturing and supplying illegal weapons on a large scale. Mani said Richpal lured him to join his trade of supplying illegal arms only in Madhya Pradesh and that he had been doing so for the past 5 years. "Richpal, through his carriers, managed to supply large consignments of illegal weapons to his buyers in UP, Haryana and Delhi. However, after the arrest of many of his carriers, Richpal tasked me with the responsibility of delivering illegal arms outside MP. He has been supplying weapons to various criminals in Delhi, Kairana in UP, Panipat in Haryana and Sagar and Jhansi in Madhya Pradesh. We charge Rs 10,000 per pistol in bulk supply. But, in retail, the price of the one pistol varies from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000", Mani confessed.
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Also read | Madhya Pradesh ATS busts ISI-backed espionage racket, 11 arrested
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Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2017 (2090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Seniors in the Whitemouth community will soon have a new housing option as plans for a new 55 plus housing complex are underway.
The areas 55 Plus seniors housing committee plans to construct an 18-suite life lease seniors housing complex in Whitemouth.
Murray Barkman, the committees president, said the idea for the project began with discussions about the need for seniors housing in the community.
It just happened after having conversation in the local town, said Barkman. Theres a definite need for it and theres nothing like this in the area whatsoever.
There is an $85,000 buy-in for the project. Rent will cost $1,083 or $1,285 per month, depending on the suites size. Barkman said they are currently selling eight suites and another 10 will become available later on. The facility will have an attached garage for tenants, he added.
The complex, which will be located at 126 Main Street, is currently in the planning stages. Barkman said construction is expected to take eight months and will be completed this year.
He noted there is already been a lot of interest in the project.
For more information on investing in the project, contact Barkman at 1-204-348-2503.
By Vidya : Actor Sooraj Pancholi's lawyer requested the Bombay High Court on Wednesday to frame charges against Sooraj Pancholi in the Jiah Khan death case. The actor himself was present in the court while his lawyers made the request.
The division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi of Bombay High Court had vacated the stay on trial proceedings last week. However advocates representing Jiah Khan's mother Rabia khan told the court that they intended to file an appeal against the Bombay High Court order in Supreme Court and therefore, the trial in the case should not proceed.
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Rabia has been unhappy with both the Mumbai Police and CBI's (Central Bureau of Investigation) investigations which had concluded that Jiah had committed suicide in 2013. Sooraj Pancholi is accused of abetting the suicide. Rabia now wants a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to be formed for re-investigating the case. Rabia has the backing of hired investigators who have reported that Jiah had been murdered. However, Bombay High Court noted that the issues that Rabia is raising can be dealt with during the trial itself. The division bench was of the view that CBI after Mumbai Police did investigate from the view point of the case being that of homicide.
The court had also noted that ante-mortem injuries found on the chin and wanted to know whether they were struggle marks. According to experts, these injuries can be possible even in the case of suicidal death. The only issue that investigators could not retrieve were the Blackberry chats between Sooraj and Jiah before her death.
The Bombay High Court noted that this, however, did not justify the formation of SIT. The division bench order stated, "It is always for the trial court and not for the investigating agencies to form a conclusive opinion whether it is a case of suicide or homicide. Hence, our opinion now after three and a half years from the date of incident is that nothing fruitful will come out by either directing further investigation by constituting SIT when entire exercise to that effect was done at the instance of petitioner herself and on both occasions not only the police but also the CBI has probed into the angle of homicidal death and on the basis of opinions of experts, arrived at the same conclusion of it being a case of suicide. Even if it is so the trial court has ample power to look into the aspect."
The court had also said, "Needless to state that there would be no end to such exercise until the petitioner gets the result of her choice," in its order.
ALSO READ: This is what Jiah Khan's letter to Sooraj Pancholi read
ALSO READ: Sooraj Pancholi speaks about girlfriend Jiah Khan's death
ALSO READ: The CBI chargesheet on Jiah Khan's death has disturbing details
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ALSO WATCH: Not possible to extricate foetus in such gory manner, says Aditya Pancholi
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Coming soon - The Cultural Voyager Dedicated to anyone who pursues culture as a major part of their vacation experience.
A lot has happened in the Trump administration in the 24 hours since Stephen Colbert last taped The Late Show. And almost all of it surrounds the disgraced resignation of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.
Heres what happened, Colbert told viewers Tuesday night. After Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia for messing with our election, Flynn called the Russian ambassador, discussed the sanctions, and allegedly signaled the Kremlin to expect a reprieve when Trump took office.
In the day since Flynn resigned, we have learned that Vice President Mike Pence allegedly found out about the phone calls two weeks after President Trump did. Appearing on CBS Face the Nation just before Inauguration Day, Pence swore that Flynn had done nothing wrong.
Flynn only got caught, Colbert said, because, as it turns out, we listen in on every phone call with the Russian ambassador.
Who knew? he asked. Evidently not the national security advisor, you dummy! While Flynn said he couldnt be certain if the topic of sanctions came up on the calls, Colbert said, I know one way you could be certain. As the national security advisor, you could ask for the transcript.
I should really not have this job, Colbert imagined Flynn thinking to himself as he re-read what he talked about with the Russians. In response to the audiences laughter, he added, Its funny because its treason.
Dennis Basso by Tim Teeman
As she took her seat on the front row of Dennis Bassos show at the Skylight Clarkson space on Tuesday afternoon, there were no spaces around Tiffany Trump.
The night before, at the chaotic Philipp Plein show at New York Public Librarycomplete with Madonna, Kylie Jenner, and a lot of free boozeit was noted that there were spare seats around her.
Once she was seated, two editors from a top womens magazine immediately got up and left, reported The Cut. Other well-known influencers nearby requested seat changes shortly after.
Trumps best (friend, presumably), Andrew Warren, a Rich Kid of Instagram, posted a message claiming the empty seats was reserved for Pleins family.
On Tuesday, at Bassos show, Trump again sat alongside Warren and another friend. She was wearing a red/purple dress, with a jewel-encrusted front and sleeves, and talked animatedly to Warren and other friends.
Finally, after a Fashion Week notable for a wide variety of oppositional takes by designers against Trumps administration (especially at the Chromat show, with its Fuck Donald Trump rap), a Trump could take their front row seat and know they were on friendly territory.
Lurking behind Trump was a gentleman in a dark suit and ear-piece, who was possibly her Secret Service guy. (Word to the wise: if you want the best vantage point at a fashion show, join the Secret Service.)
Trump looked as if she enjoyed the show, and at the end Bassowho did a full circuit of the spacestopped to greet her.
Ivana Trump, a longtime friend, has attended Bassos show before, and he vouchsafed his own support and affection for the Trumps to me in a December interview.
Unlike other designers, Basso is happy to dress Melania. Absolutely. 100 percent. I think you have to step aside from the politics and look at it that its an honor to dress the first lady of the United States of America.
Today, backstage at his show, Basso told The Daily Beast that Ivana, Ivanka and Melania, who he has dressed before are just regular women who like beautiful clothes. Ive known the family for 35 years. Theyre lovely people. Theyre a very fun, close-knit family.
How did he feel about the current political situation, then, especially in light of the prevailing mood of Fashion Week?
I really dont discuss politics. Im all about fashion. I know them as a family: thats all I can comment on. Ive known the children since they were born. Theyre lovely people.
Basso is most famous for his fursand they were on proud display among the 67 mostly stunning, very dressy, and very expensive outfits in Tuesdays show, sometimes the central part of an outfit (as with broadtail and sable coats with a fishnet top and tan slit-skirted trouser), sometimes the accessory (sable necklaces are just as decadent as their description summons), and sometimes totally absent, as in a sequence of rippling, gracious lame gowns. Other elements of Bassos dresses had delicate embroidery, and the designer also produced a series of capelets, chiffon gowns, turtlenecks, velvet trousers and cocktail dresses, and fox boas.
Basso told the Daily Beast that the collection mixed a little bit of boho, these items are rich in fabric, they can be casual or dressed up. Its important to have that modern approach to dressing today.
His inspiration is the world traveler, a modern woman who likes to experiment with fashion, to mix high and low, a little bit of a free thinker. She likes the touch of things. Shes very tactile. This collection has that feeling.
Theres been a lot of fur on the runway this week: the self-imposed ban among designers using it seems a long way over. Everywhere is showing fur, Basso said. Ive always shown fur. I love the glamor of doing it, and now Im doing ready-to-wear.
His Madison Avenue store was robbed at Christmas, with around $1 million in stock taken. The robbery is a little crazy, Basso conceded. But Im a very positive individual. I feel very sorry for those people who did that. Its obviously problematic to resort to that sort of violence. Im moving forward, full speed ahead, and leaving it in the hands of the authorities. Every day is a new adventure: well see what happens.
As she continues her controversial travels through New York Fashion Week, Tiffany Trump may well be thinking the same thing.
Tory Burch by Lizzie Crocker
A number of designers at New York Fashion Week have dedicated their Fall 2017 collections to strong women. Jonathan Simkhai said that women need to draw attention to their invaluable place in society, now more than ever. Tracy Reese, who used her show to elevate powerful feminist voices, was inspired by activists at the Womens March like Angela Davis and Gloria Steinem. And Tory Burchs muse was Tracy Lord, the outspoken, high-society heroine played by Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story.
In 1940, Hepburns Tracy Lord was ahead of her time as a woman who refused to be a doormat when powerful men came calling. She was as clever as she was beautiful, but it was her acerbic wit that made her stand out from other leading ladies in screwball comedies.
A number of looks in Burchs collection were meant to combine Lords outdoor glamour with her confident femininity, the designer saidfitting for a brand that she once summed up as prock, a blend of preppy and jock. Fair Isle sweaters, skirts and trousers in Main Line plaid, and pussy-bow blouses all featured prominently. Models wore pendant necklaces with old-school cigarette lighters inspired by Burchs father (Hepburn also made smoking look chic in The Philadelphia Story).
Like Lord, Burch is an ambitious, blue-blooded woman who grew up in a wealthy Philadelphia suburb. Privilege is a dirty word today. Successful businesswomen who were born with silver spoons in their mouths dont get as much credit as their non-privileged counterparts. Some of them dont deserve that creditbut Burch certainly does.
A collection nodding to enlightened gender politics in a classic old film felt honest and authentic coming from Burch. Radical feminism isnt her thingand thats just fine.
Naeem Khan by Lizzie Crocker
Its very simple, Naeem Khan said when asked why he declined to dress First Lady Melania Trump for Inauguration Day. You have to believe in the message, and the message does not resonate with me.
Khan had just presented a breathtaking collection and was surrounded by adoring fans and fashion power players backstage. It was just spectacular, one of them said after embracing the designer. People were really gasping.
Indeed, there were many oohs and aahs and collective intakes of breath throughout the show, a parade of glam-sexy daywear and red carpet-ready gowns: sequined pantsuits over sheer bralettes, slinky dresses with beaded fringe accents, and floral-and-leopard print jackets over matching frocks, which the designer accessorized with pearl necklaces and pom-pom earrings.
For the finale, an African-American model in a spectacularly regal gold gown and headdress slowly walked the length of the runway, while Khan read aloud Maya Angelous Human Family from backstage (poetry has been a trend in this seasons shows). Actress Peyton List gasped. So did This Is Us star Mandy Moore, whom Khan dressed for the Golden Globes several weeks ago.
The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight, brown and pink and beige and purple, tan and blue and white, Kahn intoned through speakers, before coming out to a standing ovation. We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.
Alice & Olivia by Sarah Shears
A cornucopia of splendid and eccentric glamour erupted from the Alice & Olivia presentation. Inspired by Salman Rushdies novel The Enchantress of Florence a book that the author presented to the designer as a gift for her birthdaythe new collection burst with both the exotic and familiar. Straightforward silhouettes were elaborately bedazzled, the styling was daring and sets were stunning.
The heart of the collection was born from a mural the designer began working on after being inspired by Rushdies book. A blown-up print of that mural, which was in the style of classical Indian paintings, was the back-drop to the most signifying set piece. A live action embodiment of the enchantress took place as two women in underpants were being body painted to resemble and come to life out of the backdrop. A tiered blue, black and white printed dress blended into the floor and background of the same print.
Speaking with the Daily Beast, the designer, Stacey Bendet Eisner, pointed out a gorgeous model with an afro wearing a gold sequined 70s style womens suit with a T-shirt that said be the change you wish to see in the world. I made the whole theme of the show be the change you wish to see in the world because the enchantress, the main character in the book, theres this theme about a woman creating her own destiny in a mans world.
No other guest embodied the theme as well Huma Abedin, who wore a black lace top and embroidered knee length skirt as she spoke with the designer and gracefully made her way around the room, and Ken Downing, the fashion director at Neiman Marcus, complimented the theme of the show with a large pink planned parenthood pin on his lapel.
Jason Biggs pushed his way through the crowd and past a model who stood in front of a medieval tapestry (or facsimile of one) wearing a floor length embroidered and sequined dress with a panel down the center to create the illusion of a dress and a robe in a style that nodded to the dresses of France in the 18th century. Chinoiserie made its way into the show with two new takes on the famed cheongsam dress, and feminine velvet and lace pieces were mixed with an array of combat boots and pseudo goth styling.
The sets exuded with boho luxury with Oriental, Turkish and Moroccan rugs layered on top of another and the collection dabbled in almost every subculture and stylistic taste, but all with a super glam ostentatious twist.
Eckhaus Latta by Lizzie Crocker
Eckhaus Latta is part of the new frontier of brands that are shaking things up in Planet Fashion. The models are non-models. The clothes are de- and reconstructed and, well, not like what you see at most fashion shows. The concepts are reliably political, and the brand is frequently described as avant-garde.
It was all on display at Monday nights show in a nondescript building in Koreatown: men and women of varying sizes and ages (models with wrinkles!); a collection that featured miniskirts with button-off blankets like sleeping bags, psychedelic floral prints, and shirting with bizarre, sculptural protrusions; a concept embodied in a poem with lines about being beatenbecause you live in a police state and lady liberty in a foam crown.
You can always tell from the crowd if a brand is on Planet Fashions radar. Vogue sent Hamish Bowles, the New York Times fashion team was there, along with a lot of hip young people.
But it wasnt totally clear to me what the fuss was about. Sure, the clothes were inventive and offbeat, but a fashion interloper might also describe them as, well, ugly.
In Planet Fashion, ugly isnt always a bad thing: its inhabitants celebrate the Ugly Shoe, for example, like Celines orthopedic sandals. There was a terrific Ugly Shoe at Ekhaus Latta, a chunky rubber ankle boot that looked like something youd wear to go hiking or puddle-jumping. The knits were the most appealing and commercial pieces in the collection, including a dress emblazoned with the words Is This What You Wanted, a Leonard Cohen song.
Is a Trump presidency what you wanted? the designers seemed to be asking. And in the shows program: How do you find yourself? An accountable person? They didnt offer any answers, but both the collection and its presentation were thought-provoking and challenging and unusual. It left this reporter scratching her chin.
After a half-dozen delays in as many weeks, President Trumps Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder was finally about to face his Senate committee hearing. That is, until he suddenly withdrew his name from consideration just this afternoon. Hes very tired of the abuse, a source told CBS News Major Garrett, sans irony.
Seems that lots of people in Washington were also tired of the abuse. Of course, nobody came out and said much about it; instead, Puzders disturbing history of alleged domestic violence sat there, the 800-lb. elephant in the room. Everything orbited around it, everybody registered it, people took great pains to avoid saying anything about it. But would there come a point when something must be said about it? If so, who would be the senator to break ranks and drop the a-bomb? How dirty would Democrats play to eke out one victory in a month full of losses?
Turns out, nobody had to say anything. Domestic violence accusations are a bridge too far. Even the legislative body that confirmed Betsy DeVos, a woman who had never attended a public school, to lead public schooling found the allegations disqualifying. If theres nothing else to celebrate in 2017, women can celebrate that.
The allegations against Puzder come from depositions from 1986, when both Puzder and his then-wife Lisa stated that the police were summoned to their home more than once in response to domestic altercations. According to a Riverfront Times piece, Lisa stated that Puzder had choked her, pushed her to the floor, dragged her by the arm, threw her against a wall, and kicked her in the back. They eventually agreed to an arrangement where Puzder was not allowed to enter the second and third floors of their shared home. In the other incident, Puzder allegedly punched Lisa after dining out at a restaurant. Lisas attorney Daniel Sokol told the Riverfront Times that he had copies of medical reports that backed up Lisas claims.
Puzder denied the abuse, and later, during the couples divorce proceedings, Lisa recanted as part of a custody agreement. But the allegations resurfaced in 1989, when then-Missouri Governor John Ashcroft tapped Puzder to serve on the states anti-abortion task force. At the time, Puzder denied the allegations, telling the Riverfront Times in a way that seems pretty on-brand, If you're trying to smear me by raising the fact that my ex-wife made some charges against me, you're making a big mistake. It would not be good journalistic practice to publish this.
Now, more than 25 years later, the recanted accusations have surfaced again, thanks, in part, to Oprah Winfrey. Back in January, rumors circulated that several senators had seen tape of an episode of Winfreys talk show on which Lisa had appeared. In the 1990 episode, Winfrey spoke with high-class women who experienced domestic violence. Tape of the episode is difficult to come by now, but not for Oprah, and not for the senators whose Puzder vote Winfrey hoped to influence.
Meanwhile, an advocacy group called the Center for Accountability just won a court battle over whether or not documents regarding Puzders divorce should be available to the public. Theyd been under court seal, conveniently, since the day after Donald Trump nominated his Labor Secretary pick. These documents were finally released on Wednesday night.
Information about the Puzder allegations is everywhere, but youd be hard-pressed to find senators willing to comment on it directly. That might be because Democrats have plenty to dislike about Puzder, even without the disturbing abuse allegations: his record of opposing organized labor, his opposition to a minimum wage hike, the pride he expressed in the gratuitous sexism that characterized his restaurants ads, the fact that 65 percent of female employees at CKE restaurants reported being sexually harassed during Puzders time at the helm of the company. His preference for robot workers over human workers, the type of robot workers that will almost certainly in the next 10 years put millions of Americans out of work. These are all things that liberals can comfortably oppose without even pointing out that the police had to be summoned to Puzders home in order to deal with a domestic dispute. Twice.
Nobody was saying anything, but nothing needed to be said.
Ranking HELP committee member Patty Murray avoided bringing up the accusations in a prepared statement she delivered at a press conference today. Instead, she focused on his poor record of protecting his employees from sexual harassment, and his restaurants ads misogyny. She focused on how Puzders labor practices as a CEO disproportionately affected women. When a reporter asked Murray what she thought of the domestic violence allegations, she acknowledged that shed seen Oprahs tape, and found it disturbing. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Maggie Hassan issued a joint statement that didnt refer directly to the allegations, but did hammer Puzder on his treatment of female employees. Its nearly impossible to read about Puzders treatment of women without thinking about his alleged treatment of his ex-wife. Perhaps that was the intent. Perhaps the two are linked.
Advocacy groups one might normally expect to come out guns blazing against a man with Puzders history were also silent. No womens groups directly confronted Puzders personal history. The Daily Beast reached out to several, and none had anything on-record to say.
Of course Democrats and liberal groups were going to oppose Puzder in lockstep. From their perspective, he doesnt have many redeeming qualities. But Republican opposition to Puzder was a testament to how truly distasteful they must have found the man, or how toxic they believed supporting him could be. By early Wednesday afternoon, a CNN journalist was reporting that four Republicans were definite no votes, with a possible 12 total GOP votes opposing his nomination. If Puzder hadnt withdrawn and those numbers had born out, he would have been toastier than a flame-broiled bun, even if he made it out of committee. Whats worse, the entire ordeal would have been embarrassing to an already-embattled President. Imagine one of Trumps nominees falling victim to the Senate, which is controlled by the Presidents own party. Sad!
Theres no shortage of drama in the Trump era. Twenty-four days in, the President has already lost his National Security Advisor, paraded classified information through a Mar-a-Lago patio, and had his signature policy spanked by the most liberal circuit court in the country.
Imagine the optics of Senators Warren, Hassan, Franken, Murray, and Sanders going to town on an alleged domestic abuser with a dismal record on workplace equality. Imagine the moment the dam finally burst and one Senator broke ranks to bring up Puzders past. Puzders could have been the blood that victory-starved Democrats had been craving since November 9. If tomorrows committee hearing on Andrew Puzders nomination had gone on as planned, it would have undoubtedly given Trumps most emboldened opponents a forum on which to embarrass him even more.
In a year without many satisfying moments, this moment stands out. On one hand, an unapologetic champion of sexism is in the White House. But on the other, he wasnt able to reach down the ladder and pull one more up behind him. Andrew Puzder, unabashed champion of sexism in advertising and unapologetic proponent of working conditions that harm women, has been brought down by the 30-year-old words of a woman. Thats more delicious than the best fast food hamburger Ive ever had.
Families across America are struggling to make ends meet. Many workers cannot survive without two or even three jobs. Meanwhile, CEOs are taking home sickening amounts of money. Its happening all over, but if you want especially egregious examples, look no further than the fast-food industry.
Thats why all of us should be deeply disturbed by President Trumps choice for secretary of Labor, Andrew Puzder.
A veteran of the fast-food industry, Puzder has enriched himself on the backs of the most vulnerable workers in this country. Meanwhile, he has opposed even modest increases in the federal minimum wage and common-sense overtime protections that would not only bring relief to millions of working families, but would actually be better for his own industry.
To defend his views, Puzder trots out the tired and discredited argument that lower-skilled workers, working-class Americans, young people, minorities would lose jobs if the federal minimum wage were to go up to just $10 an hour.
Here in New York City, we know there is a better way.
In a few short years, we have expanded the right to paid sick leave to cover a half million more residents; we've expanded paid parental leave for City workers and increased the living wage that companies doing business with the City must pay. Weve signed a first-of-its-kind law that helps freelance workers get the wages theyre entitled to.
We've also raised the minimum wage for all city government employees and those who provide contracted work for the city, meaning that 50,000 workers will earn a $15 minimum wage by the end of next year.
These reforms and others havent just benefitted workers. They have been fantastic for our local businesses. As of December 2016, New York Citys unemployment rate stood at just 5.2%, significantly lower than 8.2%, where it was when I took office. The city added a record 250,000 jobs in just two years.
Even Puzders fellow fast-food CEOs disagree with his radical views. Bill Phelps of Wetzels Pretzels has observed that after two increases in Californias minimum wage, sales doubled and he didnt have to lay anyone off.
That makes sense. When working people make more money, they spend that moneyand businesses hire more working people to meet increased demand.
In New York City, we're doing even more. Our 65,000 fast food workers suffer greatly from unpredictable scheduling practices that are pervasive in their industry. They never know their schedules ahead of time and are often forced to work back-to-back shifts just to keep their jobs.
How can anyone build a stable family life, further their education, or take that needed second job when their employer treats them like a cog in a machine? They cant. They need a fair work week.
Legislation we introduced in the City Council requires fast food companies to set employee schedules two weeks in advance. Employers won't be able to force employees to work back-to-back shifts without employee consent and without offering extra compensation.
While we're doing everything we can to protect and uplift workers in New York City, weve got to fight what Puzder might do in Washington. With Republicans controlling the presidency and Congress, the Department of Labor under Puzder could roll back protections against discrimination and wage theft.
Lets not forget a basic truth: corporations cant survive without their workers. Wealthy executives would be nowhere without the people who actually get the job done. Here in New York City we keep that in mind every day. America deserves a secretary of Labor who doesnt need to have this basic reality explained to him.
John Hlinkos wife calls it the house that Trump built.
They could afford the historic Tudor-style residence in Washingtons tony Georgetown thanks to Donald Trumps candidacy and the traffic it generates to Left Action, a hub for progressive causes founded by Hlinko, a wannabe stand-up comic who is finding that left-wing activism in the Trump age can be a lucrative calling.
Its like the sleeping giant has been awakened, Hlinko said, describing the heightened interest in the progressive organizations and nonprofits that are his clients. Left Actions active list of 750,000 names in November has ballooned to 2 million. Ive never seen so many people getting active in politics, smart, creative people who were never political. Suddenly a switch is turned on.
With business up and people outraged by Trump, Hlinko and his architect wife, Leigh Stringer, wanted a place that would serve as the path of most resistance, where they could hold fundraisers and have a couple hundred people over at a time. The Georgetown house they bought last June, when Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, was originally a church, so it has cathedral ceilings and is spacious inside, perfect for parties.
The first floor was getting a fresh coat of paint when Hlinko gave me a tour, pointing out an interior balcony that used to be a choir loft, and imagining the grand events the couple can host to raise money and rally the troops.
Its a fallacy thinking a movement happens spontaneously, that its like the gang from Little Rascals getting together and turning the town dump into a playground, Hlinko said. Somebody needs to drive it.
It will take multiple drivers to resuscitate the Democratic Party after the 2016 wipeout, he said, crediting the Womens March with kicking things off, and Trumps ill-conceived travel ban on seven majority-Muslim countries with keeping outrage at a high boil. In 99 Ways to Fight Trump, Hlinko tops his list with the guide from Indivisible, the how-to manual on grassroots activism drawn up by former Hill staffers and distributed free online.
Hlinko, who is 50, has the same scruffy hipster look he had when he launched the Draft Wesley Clark movement in 2003. The former NATO commander was not a household name, but he was first in his class at West Point, had a stellar resume, and Democrats needed someone strong on defense to go up against President Bush in the midst of the Iraq War.
I started to think of him in viral termsthe more contagious an idea is, the more people are susceptible, and it can spread, Hlinko said. People of different ideologies were interested in him, which told me if there was a draft campaign, it could go viral.
The draft campaign launched Clarks candidacy. They took an inconceivable idea and made it conceivable, Clark said when he announced his run for president in September 2003. A novice to politics, he didnt last long in the competition, withdrawing after a string of third-place finishes in the primaries.
Next came DraftObama.org, more of a gentle breeze than a draft, Hlinko said. Its high point was a TV ad that ran during Christmas 2006 on all three news stations in Honolulu, where then-Sen. Barack Obama was vacationing with his family. Obama announced in February, and later told Hlinko that when Michelle saw the ad, she came running in to ask if he was running for president.
Well then, Senator Obama, we reached our target audience, Hlinko deadpanned.
None of this political activity was lucrative; in fact, it didnt pay at all. When Hlinko met the parents of his bride to be in 2003, he was unemployed and spending his own money to fund the campaign of a guy not actually running for president (Clark). They werent impressed, he said.
Time to get a real job, and in Washington that meant doing PR by day, mostly for trade associations, and creating pop-up websites by night, trying to recapture the magic of MoveOn.
Hlinko was in on the creation of MoveOn.org, an early internet sensation that channeled voter frustration over the impeachment of President Clinton. It was 1998. He was in San Francisco working on a comedy page for AOL, his first paid web gig. A mutual friend put him in touch with Wes Boyd and Joan Blades, founders of MoveOn, who enlisted him as a political strategist or a member of the board, whatever the press release needed, he said.
It was more straitlaced than what he does today, he said, but the intersection of politics and satire is where Hlinko is most at home. At Valley Stream High School on Long Island, his best friend was Fred Armisen, who played Obama on Saturday Night Live. Hlinko came in second for class clown, but give him a break, he said. He lost out to Jim Breuer, another SNL alumnus.
Hlinko is not a child of privilege, but his father earned enough selling vacuum cleaners at Sears to have a home and a middle-class life, and I think that is being lost, he said.
My left-wing followers would be shocked, he said, if they knew that as a teen he volunteered for his local Republican congressman and that he was once a registered Republican. His first job after graduating from Wesleyan College was with Lehman Brothers, the investment bank that went belly-up in the Great Recession.
I got the job by telling jokes, he said. The interviewer, seeing he had done comedy radio at Wesleyan, asked him to tell a joke. I did an imitation of Jimmy Stewart as a crack addict, and I pulled a wallet out of my ear. Somehow they thought that made me qualified.
It was a two-year program and when it ended, everyone realized it was a dreadful match. He got a job with the ACLU while the National Endowment for the Arts was under attack, then went to Guatemala for a few months to work on his Spanish before getting accepted in 1992 at Harvards Kennedy School for a Masters degree in Public Policy.
Thats when he got his first email address, and as they say, the rest is history. A self-described master procrastinator, Hlinko plays Words With Friends on his computer while he waits for news to break and inspiration to strike. With Trump in the White House, it wont be long.
A dead boy, tied up in a sack, was recovered from the Karyavattom campus of University of Kerala.
By India Today Web Desk: A dead body was recovered from a college campus in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.
A report on Asianetnews.tv said that the body was found tied up in a sack.
The body was found near the botony department of University of Kerala's Karyavattom campus in Thiruvananthapuram. The dead body that was recovered was rotten and is estimated to be at least 20-day-old.
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The victim has not been identified yet.
Police said that the investigation is ongoing. More details awaited.
--- ENDS ---
I take you back in time now to a story from last October, by The Washington Posts Dave Weigel. I remember well the pit that formed in my stomach as I read the headline: House Republicans are already preparing for years of investigations of Clinton.
Weigel nabbed an interview with Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, chair of the House Oversight Committee, who said this: Its a target-rich environment. Even before we get to Day One, weve got two years worth of material already lined up. She has four years of history at the State Department, and it aint good.
Back when he and just about everyone else thought the next president was going to be named Clinton, Chaffetz was tellingbragging to, actuallyone of the countrys top political reporters that President Clinton was going to be investigated immediately. No, not even President Clinton. President-elect Clinton! He was going to be ready to roll on Nov. 9. And no one among us can doubt that hed have kept his word, and Clinton right now would be facing at least one congressional investigation, and likely more, if she were in the White House. Over a matter on which her behavior was not good but on which shed been cleared by the FBI.
But she is not the president. Donald Trump is. And he, we have decent reason to suspect, may have directed Mike Flynn to negotiate with Russia in the midst of the presidential campaign. We dont know this of course. But we know that Trump had already encouraged Russia to hack Clintons emails and spoken fondly of Vladimir Putin many times; and we know that Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador in late December but, by the ambassadors own admission, before also, during the campaign; and we know that Flynn is a military man, which makes it reasonable to think he wouldnt have a chat with his Russian contact about a President Trump maybe doing away with Obamas sanctions without being told to or at least asking first.
This would seem to be something wed want to find out.
And what does Chaffetz say now about all this, after Flynns resignation? Its taking care of itself, he told a Politico reporter. Let the intelligence committee do it, Chaffetz said.
Well, that might be OK. In jurisdictional terms, Chaffetz actually has a point. But Devin Nunes, the California Republican who chairs intel, says, per Vox, that he wont look into anything having to do with what Trump may or may not have said to Flynn. He cites executive privilege.
Trump of course wasnt the chief executive at the time in question, late December.
So I think I have this right. Here are the new rules: If youre a Democratic president-elect, the Republican-dominated House of Representatives will start investigating you before youve even interviewed possible Treasury secretaries. But if youre a Republican president-elect, you can maybe violate the Logan Act and undermine the sitting presidentwith the countrys top global adversary, no lessand, well, you can just do that. Chaffetz, obviously feeling heat, did agree Tuesday afternoon to do something, but not about Russia. He sent Reince Priebus a mealy-mouthed letter saying gosh, golly, sir, maybe the president of the United States could try not to talk about a matter like a North Korean missile launch in public.
The Trump White House is a madhouse. That much has been obvious at least since the moment Sean Spicer insisted that Trumps inaugural crowds were the biggest ever.
But it might be more than a madhouse. It might be a criminal madhouse. Or a Constitution-mocking madhouse, at least.
I shouldnt need to say that finding this out is important. But: Finding this out is important. This isnt the Forest Service were talking about. This is national security. This is Russia. This is the possibility that the Russian government has some kind of leverage over the President of the United States because of his business dealings.
Hey, its taking care of itself; what do we need the House for?
Things are at least a little more serious in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said a probe is highly likely. Richard Burr, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee even stood next to his Democratic counterpart there, Mark Warner, to say the bodys probe would look at contacts between the Russians and Trump campaign officials. And Roy Blunt, also a member of the committee, said Flynn should talk to them very soon.
All of which only highlights what a disgrace these House Republicans are. Paul Ryan says theres no need at all for an investigation into the Russia ties. And the House Ways and Means Committee voted 23-15, straight party lines, not to make Trump show his tax returns.
When will the day come that these people will put country and national security ahead of party and power? I know. Youre saying never. And maybe it will be never. If left to their druthers it would be never.
But fortunately theyre not left to their druthers. We still have intelligence agencies, who obviously despise Trump (and why shouldnt they?) and who seem to have plenty of stuff to dribble out to hungry reporters. And we have the FBI, which is a more complicated matter, as its infested with Trump worshippers, but presumably James Comey may feel somewhere down there that he has a little something to atone for, not to mention some commitment to finding out whether the president of the United States is an instrument of Russian ambition. So the Republican Congress doesnt necessarily get the last word.
But boy are they showing us who they are.
For years, Mike Pence refused to pardon an innocent man. But one month after he left office as Indianas governor, his successor Eric Holcomb moved to clear Keith Coopers name.
Keith Cooper of Elkhart, Indiana, has maintained his innocence since he was charged with robbery and attempted murder in 1997. Tried and convicted in a single day, Cooper was sentenced to 40 years in prison for robbery resulting in serious injury. But while Cooper was behind bars, evidence of his innocence grew. The witnesses who testified against him recanted their statements. A DNA test implicated a different man. By 2014, Indianas parole board and the prosecutor who put Cooper away unanimously recommended Pence to issue a pardon. For years, Pence refused. It took Pences successor exactly one month to pardon him.
It was a dream finally come true, Cooper told The Daily Beast. When his family learned of the pardon, they were overcome with tears, he said. They were just as overwhelmed as I was. We were excited because this was my biggest dream. They stood by me all this time.
After years of fighting to clear Coopers name, news of the sudden pardon came as a surprise, even to his legal team.
I was not given any kind of warning so I'm flying back to Chicago now, Coopers lawyer Elliot Slosar told The Daily Beast from an airport on Thursday afternoon. Holcomb had announced Coopers pardon just hours before.
After careful and thoughtful consideration and review, something I've thought about every day over the last month, just earlier today I issued a pardon to Mr. Keith Cooper for his past and I believe wrongful armed robbery felony [conviction], Holcomb told press of the Thursday pardon. I am very much at peace pardoning him for the one he claims innocence on He has from the very outset and I believe he is innocent of that crime.
Cooper has claimed innocence since the morning of Jan. 2, 1997. Cooper, then 29, had been out buying eggs, bacon, and cereal for his wife and three children. But while he carried home his groceries, four police cars pulled up alongside him. They had received reports of a tall, thin black man snatching a purse in the area. Coopertall, thin, and blackwas put into a squad car at gunpoint.
Later, when Cooper was allowed to make contact with his wife, he told her not spend their money on bail. He was innocent, and expected to prove so quickly. In a sense, Cooper was right: Within a month, he was found not guilty of the purse theft. But while in jail, Cooper caught the attention of a police detective investigating a shooting from the previous year in Coopers apartment complex. Before he could be released from jail, he was charged with armed robbery and attempted murder.
With Cooper facing new, graver charges, his mother put up her house as collateral for his bond. He was tried and convicted in a single day, after witnesses claimed to recognize him as the man who broke into their home, demanded money, and shot a teenager in the hip. His jail cellmate testified against him, claiming Cooper had divulged information on the robbery, including information about a black hat that was found on the crime scene. The hat was tested for DNA evidence, and a lab report obtained by the Indianapolis Star concluded that Cooper can be eliminated as a possible contributor, but his lawyer made an agreement that effectively removed the DNA results as evidence. Cooper was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Struggling for money, Coopers family moved out of the state, sometimes living in shelters. His three young children grew up out of sight. But a shred of hope remained in his appeals effort.
In 2002, an attorney ordered a second DNA test and it made clear that Cooper could not have worn the hat found on the crime scene. A third DNA test in 2004 tied the hat to Johlanis Ervin, who looked somewhat like Cooper and who was already incarcerated for a murder.
The conviction unraveled further from there.
The witnesses who testified against Cooper began recanting their statements. His cellmate wrote multiple affidavits claiming that police had coerced him into fabricating a statement against Cooper. The family of the teenager shot during the armed robbery backtracked on their testimony, claiming police had refused to show them a live lineup of suspects, and pressured them into identifying Cooper as the robber, even when they had doubts.
In 2005, the state offered him a deal: They would reduce Coopers sentence to the time he had already served and release him without overturning his conviction. The agreement let Cooper out of prison in April 2006, but kept the felony charge on his record.
Finally free, Cooper could see his family again. But the felony record still weighed heavy on him, making it difficult for him to advance in his career and making him wary of future interactions with police.
Slowly, with the support of the witnesses who had previously testified against him, and Slosar as his new attorney, Cooper began to build a case for a new trial. Meanwhile, state officials began building a case for a pardon. In 2014, the states parole board and Michael Christofeno, the prosecutor who tried Coopers case, unanimously recommended that Pence pardon Cooper, while over 100,000 people signed a petition calling for his pardon.
But Pence refused, saying Cooper would need to exhaust all his options in the court before Pence even considered granting a pardon.
A pardon based on innocence requires a governor to substitute his judgment for that of the judicial branch, Pences general counsel Mark Ahearn wrote in a letter denying the pardon.
Coopers legal team isnt sure why Pence withheld the pardon, particularly as Coopers case drew national scrutiny when Pence joined Donald Trumps presidential ticket. Slosar can only speculate, he said.
I cant speak for Gov. Pence and the decisions he made, Slosar said. What I can tell you is that I think Gov. Pence was trying to be savvy politically. He obviously at a point was angling to be the vice president. This pardon petition was squarely on his desk. It was something that was being covered extensively in the media. I imagine Gov. Pence knew that if he had granted this pardon while the election was going on that, politically, it wasnt a palatable thing for him and the base of people he was trying to appeal to while on the ticket with Donald Trump.
When Holcomb replaced Pence on Jan. 9, Slosar was gearing up for a long legal fight. Then, exactly one month into his term, Holcomb issued the surprise pardon.
We literally had no idea. Up until today I was actually preparing for a forthcoming evidentiary hearing we were going to have in the Elkhart Circuit Court, Slosar said on Thursday from the airport. Gov. Holcomb did in four weeks what Gov. Pence did not do in four years.
The pardon will allow Cooper to continue with the life disrupted 10 years ago.
[The pardon] opens the door for me for promotions on my job, Cooper said. I dont have to worry about if the police get behind me and run my plates. Now theyll see that Im a good guy, not a criminal.
Cooper is also eligible to sue for wrongful conviction, which his co-defendant successfully did in 2014, after having his conviction overturned in 2006. The co-defendant, Christopher Parish settled with the City of Elkhart for $4.9 million. Cooper has not moved to file a wrongful conviction suit, although he would now be within his rights to do so, Elliot said.
Days after his pardon, Cooper said he was grateful for the people who had maintained his innocence, even while he was behind bars.
It shows me unity: When people come together, our voices can be heard, he said. Thats something being done right.
When it comes to cocktails New Orleans has quite a lot to boast about it. The city has been home to many famous bars, bartenders and, of course, drinkers. And thats not to mention its legendary and annual Mardi Gras celebration that is already underway.
But one of my favorite NOLA cocktails has to be the Vieux Carre, which first saw light of day in Stanley Clisby Arthurs 1938 classic Famous New Orleans Drinks & How to Mix Em. I discovered both the book and the drink way back in 1996, while I was researching my New Orleans roots. The immortal H.L. Mencken called the book a classical work, and that was good enough for me. For a number of years, I took Arthurs writing as gospel, which is ironic, as Im now known to throw rocks at it (and its author) in recent years.
Why? Well, in the legal trade wed call ol Arthur an unreliable witness. You simply cannot trust him. He appears to be the one who created the myth that my ancestor Antoine Amedee Peychaud invented the worlds first cocktail, supposedly served in an hourglass-shaped egg cup (called a coquetier in French). When that word became mispronounced into cocktail by American customers, a drink, and its name, were born. While it is a charming story, it is, of course, patently false (Peychaud was but 3 years old when the cocktail was first defined in print!), but thats the topic for another article. There are any number of other transgressions in Arthurs writings, instances where he played fast and loose with the truth.
The problem is that just about all we know about the venerable Vieux Carre comes from Arthurs book. Can we trust it? All Arthur says about it is that this is the cocktail that Walter Bergeron, head bartender of the Hotel Monteleone cocktail lounge, takes special pride in mixing. He originated it, he says, to do honor to the famed Vieux Carre, that part of old New Orleans where the antique shops and the iron lace balconies give sightseers a glimpse into the romance of another day.
For the record, Im inclined to trust Arthur in this instance. According to the research of New Orleans bartender and author Cheryl Charming and what Ive been able to find, Bergeron was born in Thibodeaux, Louisiana, in 1889, and moved to New Orleans in 1907. Census and city directory records from as early as 1918 list him as a bartender at the Monteleone for most of his adult life, interrupted, of course, by Prohibition. During those dry years, Bergeron was a manager at a cigar store. Could it have also been a speakeasy? We do know that in 1924, during a raid at the United Cigar Store at the corner of Baronne and Gravier in downtown New Orleans, Bergeron was arrested for possession of punch boards, a common gambling device of that day. After Prohibition, Bergeron returned to the Monteleone bar, and in the mid-1930s he lived in the Lower Ninth Ward on Chartres Street. He reportedly left the Monteleone in the 1940s to work at the old Sazerac Bar, at the corner of Carondelet and Gravier (the same site previously housed Henry Charles Ramoss immortal Stag Saloon, the pre-Prohibition home of the Ramos Gin Fizz). Bergeron died on 70 years ago this week and just a few days before Mardi Gras.
As for Arthur, I interpret his somewhat spare to do honor to the famed Vieux Carre as meaning that Mr. Bergeron was paying homage to the many influences that had shaped the oldest section of New Orleans. (After all, Vieux Carre literally means old square.) Indeed, in those days the Quarter was made up of French Creoles (New Orleans was originally settled by the French in 1718), Italians (a great many went to the Crescent City in the latter half of the 19th century), Americans (who moved to the area after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803), and assorted folks from the Caribbean (as New Orleans is the main port on the Gulf of Mexico, our original window to the Caribbean and South America). Among those Italians, I might note, was Antonio Monteleone, who came to New Orleans from Sicily around 1880 and later founded the hotel Bergeron worked in for decades.
Indeed, the Vieux Carre has a French brandy and liqueur, Italian vermouth, American rye whiskey, and Caribbean bitters (Angostura Bitters is from Trinidad, Peychaud was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti).
So when youre drinking a Vieux Carre, youre really drinking New Orleans history! Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Vieux Carre
Ingredients:
1 oz Cognac (the Ferrand 1840 is very nice)1 oz of Rye whiskey (such as Sazerac)1 oz Sweet vermouth (Dolin Rouge works well)1 tsp Benedictine2 dashes Angostura bitters2 dashes Peychauds bittersGarnish: Lemon peel, cherry, and pineapple slice
Directions:
Add all the ingredients to a rocks glass and fill with ice. Stir and garnish with a lemon peel and, as an option, a slice of pineapple and a cherry.
The GOPs internal squabbling over what to do with the nations more than $3 trillion health care system is revealing the deep disagreements within the GOP that threaten to undermine the party at a time when discipline is critical.
On Monday evening Vice President Mike Pence paid a visit to the Tea Partys loudest voice in Congress, the House Freedom Caucus. Pence is doing these rounds with the disparate factions of Republicans in Congress in order to shore up support for Trumps agenda, but the Tea Party doesnt seem to want to march in line, even though they now control the levers of power in Washington.
After the meeting with Pence, the 30-some-odd member group voted unanimously to force Speaker Paul Ryans hand by calling for a vote to immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, even as Trump has called for keeping the popular portions of it in tact while also attempting to expand coverage nationwide.
Not even a full two months into the new Congress, Republicans have an Obamacare-sized problem on their hands, because party leaders need the Freedom Caucus votes to pass their agenda but the group has drawn its own red line in the sand demanding a full repeal of Obamacare as their price for being team players in the future.
Many of the members of the group report they cant support any bill short of the full Obamacare repeal Republicans sent directly to President Barack Obamas veto pen in 2015. Rank and file conservatives now fear GOP leaders are slow walking the repeal effort in order to merely tweak it around the edges, instead of carrying through on their partys promise to overhaul the law they formerly labeled a socialist takeover of the health care system.
The commitment for Republicans in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, has been repeal and replace; not, repeal and renege, Rep. Mark Davidson (R-OH) told reporters at the Capitol. And a repeal means that its a repeal. There are no more Affordable Care Act plans. Theres no If you like your Obamacare you can keep your Obamacare in the Republican commitment.
On Tuesday, Speaker Ryan even paraded his top lieutenants charged with rewriting the law in front of a standing room only gathering of reporters and cameras, but neither Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady nor Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Greg Walden could offer any details on what their committees, let alone their party, has in store for the American people.
Sure, there were the usual vague promises of tax savings, offering consumers portable insurance policies and the conservative granddaddy of them all: Health Savings Accounts. But, as Democrats are quick to point out, seven years into the nations debate over Obamacare, the GOP has yet to coalesce around a single bill to improve the system.
Its gotten to the point where even Republicans are wary of Republicans soaring promises on health care.
Something Republicans need to be concerned about is if were just going to replace Obamacare with Obamacare-lite, then it begs the question, Were we just against Obamacare because it was proposed by Democrats? Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told reporters. If thats our position then were very hypocritical because then were just taking a political position, not a policy based position.
Frankly our base is going to leave the party because theyre not going to be happy with something that does exactly what Obamacare did before with a different name, he ominously warned.
But the conservative wing of the partywhich looks to have the votes to derail a replacement plan if they wantis serving a different base than many of their colleagues, like the Republicans representing states that expanded Medicaid.
While the Freedom Caucus wants to do away with the Medicaid expansion altogether, lawmakers from Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey, among others, see things differently. For them an outright repeal would bring angry voters banging on their doors from day one.
We made promises to the American people and we have to keep them, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) told The Daily Beast. MacArthur has supported some repeal efforts in the past while opposing others, like the GOP budget resolution at the start of this Congress. He says his party needs to recognize that the times have changed.
Where we are today with a Republican Congress and a Republican White House were not passing messaging bills here. We are shooting live rounds, MacArthur continued. Were doing things that have an immediate, specific impact on Americans lives, and Im not interested in looking at votes in the past. Im interested in making sure that when we repeal, we know what the replacement looks like.
Unlike the empty, political threats GOP leaders often toss around, the Freedom Caucus doesnt mess around and has actually carried through on their threats. Back in 2013, after teaming up withor being co-opted by, depending on who you askSen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) the group shut the federal government down over a far fetched plan to force Obama to repeal his namesake, Obamacare.
With the Tea Party in Congress looking for another hostage to take, Republican leaders have been put on notice, which sets the party in power in Washington up for a fierce battle on the issue in the coming weeks or months. And they report that outright repeal is their bottom line.
Its the floor. Its the floor, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) told reporters. We all approved of that in 2015 there should be no reason why we cant approve of that again, and we can start the discussion there. But thats the minimum.
TBILISI, GeorgiaThis small Black Sea country was scandalized on Monday by news that a high-ranking priesta member of the inner circle of the Georgian Orthodox Churchwas arrested for the attempted murder of another even higher high-ranking cleric. Several news organizations claimed that the intended victim was none other than Ilia II, the 84-year-old patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The Georgia State Prosecutors Office has not confirmed this officially. Yet as it releases more and more details the implication is that the patriarch was indeed the target if, indeed, the charges are true to begin with.
On Tuesday morning Georgias prime minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, issued a statement that a fatal attack against the Church had been avoided. Given the extraordinary circumstances, the prime minister said, he has sent his own personal bodyguards to Berlin where the patriarch is recovering from surgery.
What we know is that Archpriest (a priest who presides over several parishes) Giorgi Mamaladze, a powerful member of the church, was arrested by prosecutors on Feb. 10 at Tbilisi International Airport allegedly carrying cyanide in his suitcase. Mamaladze was headed for Germany where the patriarch is currently hospitalized. Mamaladze is chief of the property department of the Georgian Orthodox Church, managing the churchs vast assets and real-estate holdings.
Late Monday night, the Georgian news network Rustavi 2, released a letter allegedly written (though it remains unverified) by Mamaladze to the patriarch accusing the Georgian church of immense graft, corruption, and illegal alcohol production among other unlawful activities. In the letter, the archpriest claims that he was sacked from his former position as head of the churchs property management service (though he remained with the department), after he submitted a report on the corruption he had witnessed in his position.
In the letter, Mamaladze also refers to a debt of 5 million GEL ($1.9 million USD), accumulated [by the church] through fraudulent schemes by unscrupulous management and the alleged criminal offenses.
The priest supposedly claims in the letter, There were also threats against me, but I want to speak personally. I have a lot of material, which will reveal the crimes committed against the church. It is unclearif not bafflinghow or why the archpriest went from the loyal servant of the patriarch conveyed in the letter to a would-be international assassin collecting unregistered weapons and cyanide.
Ilia II is an extremely popular figure among the Georgian population, almost 85 percent of whom identify as Orthodox Christian. Indeed, the patriarch has the highest approval rating of any public figure in the country. Although he originally assumed the top post in the church in 1977, when Georgia was part of the now-defunct Soviet Union, he has since been known for passing sweeping reforms and reengaging the church with Georgian society.
In recent years, the patriarchs health has declined significantly, which led to his most recent hospitalization and gall bladder surgery in Berlin. Meanwhile reports continue to emerge from within the church indicating a conflict between pro-Russian and pro-Western factions of the church at the highest levels.
Because of the churchs immense influence over Georgian society, the last three Georgian governments have been forced to appease it politically on every issue it deemed important, and as Ilia II appears to be reaching the end of his life, there is intense infighting and public speculation about who will replace him. That, in turn, has led to suspicion and speculation about the version of events the prosecutors office has made public.
For years the Georgian Orthodox Church has had a close relationship with the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church, despite the fact that Moscows forces continue to occupy 20 percent of Georgias territory, which they invaded in 2008.
While the Georgian Orthodox Church is a foundation of Georgias cultural and national identity, it is also Georgias most direct connection to Russia. This may not be obvious to the average Georgian, but its a fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin certainly understands and the Kremlin, obviously, has its own interests in the patriarchal succession.
Exactly four months after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, even as Moscow continued to ignore the terms of the ceasefire, Georgian Patriarch Ilia II visited the Russian capital and met with then-President Dmitry Medvedev, Putins loyal acolyte.
For five years after the 2008 war, Russia and Georgia severed all diplomatic tiesand Ilia II and his crew were the only Georgians to meet with Russian leaders in an official capacity. As a result, for those five years the Georgian Orthodox Church held a monopoly on the Georgia-Russia relationship. Ilia II and Vladimir Putin met numerous times and they continued to do so as recently as Nov. 29 of last yearsomething that never failed to raise eyebrows Tbilisi.
Considering Putins past, some sort of involvement between Russian intelligence services and the most elite sectors of the Georgian Orthodox Church would appear to be probable. And given Putins alleged penchant for poison as a tool of statecraft, rumors are inevitable. But the Kremlins alleged toxins are usually much more exotic, and reserved for persistent critics.
According to regional analyst Ani Chkhikvadze, This all might be a game wherein the [Georgian] government is trying to play a role in the coming transition. It seems that the government is trying to take a side in the fight that is about to start over the inner transfer of power within the church.
Prosecutors first began investigating Archpriest Mamaladze on Feb. 2 after they were informed by an anonymous source that Mamaladze was attempting to purchase cyanide. It is unclear exactly whom he was attempting to poison or why. But upon his arrest at the airport, authorities discovered cyanide in his luggage. And at his home, they allegedly found, [illegal unregistered] hand-made guns and six cartridges, the prosecutors office claims.
According to Georgias prominent pro-Western news site, magazine, and television channel, Tabula, Prosecutor General Irakli Shotadze stated at the special briefing that the Prosecutors Office has audio and video evidence, however they will not release the evidence or talk about the details due to the sensitivity of the case.
Mamaladze had direct access to the Patriarch and others in his inner circle including several of the individuals in line to take his place.
Perhaps strangest of all is the choice of cyanide as the alleged murder weapon. As one Western commentator (who asked to remain anonymous) dryly pointed out, Leave it to the Georgian Orthodox Church to keep it old school when choosing a poison.
The Russian military has reportedly deployed a new, nuclear-armed cruise missile, in direct violation of a 1987 treaty with the United States that bans hard-to-defeat medium-range, land-based nukes.
The deployment of the truck-launched SSC-8 missile apparently somewhere in Eastern Europe, first reported by The New York Times, could escalate nuclear competition between the United States and Russia.
President Trump and his allies in the U.S. Congress have, in just the first few weeks of Trump's administration, already threatened to dismantle hard-won, Cold War-era arms-control measuresthe same kinds of measures Russia is now defying. Increasingly unconstrained by treaties, the United States and Russia are set to grow and improve their atomic arsenals, which could greatly raise the risk of nuclear war.
I think we are in a new arms race, Tom Collina, policy director at San Francisco-based Ploughshares, an anti-nuclear advocacy group, told The Daily Beast. "The U.S. plans to spend $1 trillion over the next 30 years on nuclear weapons, including new ones. Russia is rebuilding its forces. The rhetoric is getting heated and threatening."
U.S. intelligence detected the SSC-8s development sometime before 2014. That year, the Obama administration began vaguely referring to a new Russian weapon that, the administration claimed, violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.
The INF agreement, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned nuclear and non-nuclear ground-launched missiles with ranges between 620 and 3,420 miles. By 1991, the United States and Russia together had decommissioned around 2,700 existing missiles that the new treaty prohibited.
The 1987 deal helped to eliminate some of the most destabilizing types of nuclear weapons. Intermediate-range weapons can strike quickly, compelling rival atomic powers to keep their own forces on high alert. And unlike ICBMs, the shorter-range nukes are indistinguishable from non-nuclear short-range missiles at the time of launch, increasing the chance that a country might mistake a conventional military operation for an atomic sneak attack.
The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not fond of the INF treaty. From Moscows point of view, the treaty preserves Americas existing advantages in sea-launched cruise missiles and anti-ICBM defenses while making it more difficult for Russia to develop weapons that exploit gaps in American technology and strategy. The narrative in Moscow is that they got a bad deal, Collina said.
Experts agree that the acceleration of U.S. missile-defense tech under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, all in the context of an expanding NATO, provoked Russias development of the SSC-8. The final provocation was apparently the Pentagons installation of SM-3 ballistic-missile interceptors in Romania in 2015. The U.S. military is building a similar missile-defense site in Poland.
The Pentagon intends the SM-3 sites to help protect Americas NATO allies in Europe from Iranian rockets, but the Kremlin considers them a threat to the strategic balance of power between the United States and Russia. Large-scale deployment [of missile-defenses] could deprive Moscow of that ultimate security guarantee that nukes provide, Nikolai Sokov, a fellow at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, told The Daily Beast.
Feeling threatened, Russia has threatened back. And the timing could not be worse for peace advocates. Where the Obama administration defended existing nuclear treaties and worked to slowly reduce Americas and Russias nuclear arsenals, the Trump administration seems determined to tear up decades worth of arms-controls measures.
Trump has urged Japan and South Korea to field their own nukes and has threatened to scrap the international deal with Iran that limits that countrys nuclear-weapons program. In a phone call with Putin on Feb. 9, Trump trash-talked New START, the 2011 treaty that limits the United States and Russia to 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads apiece.
Confusingly, Trump has also said that nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially.
Meanwhile, two of Trumps close congressional alliesArkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilsonhave proposed to defund the international organization that monitors and helps to prevent nuclear-weapons tests.
New Russian nuke deployments cant go unanswered, U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who was NATOs top officer before he retired in 2016, told The New York Times. But with more and more nuclear-disarmament efforts collapsing, America must be careful not to answer Russias new nukes with new nukes of its own.
We make new deployments that threaten Russia while sincerely negotiating a return to compliance, Jeffrey Lewis, also with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, told The Daily Beast.
Id make the new deployments conventional-onlythat is, non-nuclearand, if possible, INF-compliant, Lewis said, adding that the Trump administration should also bolster U.S. forces within the context of NATO.
We need to show the Russians that NATO is capable of responding in a unified fashion. They are hoping to break NATO. Our goal is to make it clear that Russias behavior is why NATO is still necessary.
But worryingly, Trump has repeatedly attacked NATO as outdated and a drain on Americas finances. I said a long time ago that NATO had problems, Trump said in January. No. 1, it was obsolete, because it was, you know, designed many, many years ago. No. 2, the countries arent paying what theyre supposed to pay."
A stronger NATO could be the United States' best response to Russia's nuclear escalation. But a weaker NATO is the likely result of Trump's attacks on the alliance. On its own against a rearming Russia, the United States risks embracing the apocalyptic thinking of the early Cold War. "It is time for both sides to step back from the brink and rethink what they are doing," Collina said. "They are in a race in which they can only lose."
Seth Meyers, the SNL head writer turned Late Night host, has been pretty tough on Donald Trump when it comes to foreign policy. Hes called him a conspiracy theorist whose shoot-from-the-hip approach to foreign policy could prove dangerous, and took the president to task for responding to Bill OReillys query that Putin is a killer by saying, Weve got a lot of killers. What do you think, our countrys so innocent?
On Tuesday night, Meyerss latest Closer Look segment focused on the resignation of Trumps National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, a former general with a troubling penchant for conspiracy theories, Islamophobia, and a man who was forced out of the Defense Intelligence Agency by the Obama administration for gross incompetence. Flynn was forced to resign after The Washington Post published an articlesourcing nine current and former U.S. officialsthat revealed Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia on calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the month before President Trump took office. The administration, including then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence, had repeatedly denied that sanctions were discussed, so the administration line is that Flynn was let go because he misled VP Pence.
Of course, the resignation of Flynn was pretty darn ironic given that, during the Republican National Convention, he stated: I have called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race! We do not need a reckless president who believes she is above the law If I did a tentha tenthof what she did, I would be in jail today, before leading Lock her up chants.
But questions remain. Late last month, acting Attorney General Sally Yates and a senior national security official reportedly warned Trump that they believed Flynn had misled the administration about his call with the Russian ambassador, and that he was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Further, The Washington Post quoted U.S. officials as claiming that: Just six days into his presidency, Donald Trump was informed his national security adviser had misled his vice president about contacts with Russia, and that he kept [Pence] in the dark.
Meyers addressed how Flynn and the Trump administration insisted for weeks that Flynn did not discuss U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador when they spoke in December, and ran clips of Trumps senior policy adviser Stephen Miller telling Chuck Todd of Flynn on Feb. 12 that is a question you should ask the president, while Kellyanne Conway told MSNBC the following day that Flynn enjoys the full confidence of the president.And then, theres the president himselfand the question of what the president knew and when he knew it, said Meyers. The Justice Department apparently warned the White House weeks ago that Flynn had talked about sanctions and then lied about it, and today, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the White House has been reviewing the situation for weeks, and yet, just a few days ago when asked about the Flynn situation, Trump said this.He then threw to a clip of President Trump being interviewed by a gaggle of reporters aboard Air Force One on Feb. 10, and, when asked whether hed heard about the blockbuster Feb. 9 WaPo report on Flynn, or if he knew about allegations that Flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador, Trump replied: I dont know about that I havent seen it. What report is that? I havent seen it. I havent seen that. Ill look at that.
Trump sounds like a guy whos being told theres a nude scene in a movie hes definitely already watched, joked Meyers, before impersonating Trump: Oh, is there? Huh? Well, maybe Ill check that out. For the first time. President Trump, of course, had this to say about the Flynn resignationover Twitter:
Cue Meyers: First of all, youre the one who conducted highly sensitive North Korea discussions in the dining room of your private club in Florida! said Meyers. The scene was so public, people were posting Instagram photos of it!
On Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said nothing led him to believe that any pre-election contact between Donald Trumps campaign staff and the Russians was even a possibility.
Theres nothing that would conclude me that anything has changed with respect to that time period, Spicer said haltingly, after ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl asked whether Spicer could say definitively that no member of Trumps campaign had Russian contacts before the election.
Seven hours later, The New York Times reported that four former and current U.S. government officials had alleged that members of Trumps campaign and other Trump associates had made repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year leading up to the 2016 general election.
Spicers tortuous reply earlier in the day at first appeared to be a doubling-down on a position long held by the four-week-old Trump administration and its most senior officials: that despite allegations to the contraryincluding from Russias deputy foreign ministerthe Trump campaign was never in contact with Russian intelligence. But reports that the U.S. government had intercepted repeated calls between Trumps campaign staff and associates, including from former campaign chairman and one-time Kremlin-backed political consultant Paul Manafort, make Spicers disinclination to provide a definitive answer look almost like a walkback from the position taken publicly by the president himself, as well as by top White House officials.
During a press conference on Jan. 11, after initially dodging a question about contact between Trump associates or campaign employees and the Russian government, the then-president-elect responded after the events conclusion with a succinct, No contact. Four days later, now-Vice President Mike Pence said on CBSs Face the Nation that the campaign had had zero contact with the Kremlin.
Of course not, Pence told host John Dickerson. And I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy.
It was during the same interview, of course, that Pence defended Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn against allegations that the future (and now former) national security adviser had discussed Obama administration sanctions against Russia with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyakallegations that have since proved shockingly accurate.
Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway made similar refutations of allegations that Trump campaign staff had contacted Russian intelligence officers during an interview on MSNBC in December, calling such speculation dangerous.
Absolutely not, Conway said at the time. Those conversations never happened. I hear people saying it like its a fact on television. That is just not only inaccurate and false, but its dangerous, and it does undermine our democracy.
The White House has not yet responded to requests for comment on the revelations, although Manafort called the allegations absurd, telling The New York Times that he never knowingly discussed anything with Russian intelligence officials (who would, he contended, presumably be adept enough at espionage that a person might accidentally speak with them unintentionally).
Its not like these people wear badges that say, Im a Russian intelligence officer, Manafort said.
The administrations reaction to Flynns late-night resignation on Monday following news of his own contact with the Russian government, however, may indicate a response to the latest allegations along the lines of: So what?
There was nothing wrong or inappropriate about those discussions, Spicer said of the Trump administrations first Russia-related crisis of the week. It purely came down to a matter of trust.
After weeks of mocking the mainstream media as fake news and the opposition partyan attempt to delegitimize an essential participant in American democracy in order to control the version of reality being sold to the citizenryDonald Trump and the people around him are being forced to confront a basic fact:
Journalists matter.
And with the firing of White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynna step President Trump took very reluctantly Monday night in response to the damaging revelations published by The Washington Post and The New York Times about the retired generals lies concerning his conversations with the Russian ambassadorjournalism as an institution has reasserted itself.
Big time.
Donald Trump cant change the way gravity worksand the news media in our civil society, and accountability journalism, muscled up and demonstrated that he cant change gravity, said Steve Clemons, Washington editor at large for The Atlantic magazine. High-quality journalism matters enormously, and it mattered to him, even though he tried to ignore it.
Clemons added: I wouldnt say that journalism is now boss in this new world. But I would say that in this multi-match Sumo contest between journalists and the White House, in which the White House thought it was going to redefine the power dynamic, journalism has knocked Trump out of the ring. But its only the beginning of the contest, and its not the definitive case that journalism is prevailing.
Yet there has been a decided sea change in recent days. White House press secretary Sean Spicerwho trotted out the fake news attack at an infamous Jan. 11 news conference and officially launched his tenure, the day after the inauguration, with a mouth-foaming tirade about crowd sizespointedly acknowledged the primacy the old, pre-Trump protocols during Tuesdays afternoon face-off in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
In contrast to his previous briefings, Spicer called on the major wire services, newspapers, and broadcast and cable-television organizations in the front rows and fielded tough, probing questions before recognizing often-sympathetic back-benchers such as Newsmax or right-wing radio host Laura Ingrahams Lifezette website.
Happy Valentines Day! I can sense the love in the room, the press secretary joked at the start of the briefing.
Lucy Dalglish, dean of the University of Marylands Philip Merrill College of Journalism, said the Fourth Estate, the beneficiary of leaks in recent days from inside the federal bureaucracy and even apparently the White House itself, is stepping up to its informal role as a fourth branch of government.
What were witnessing is a version of checks and balances in a crazy way, Dalglish told The Daily Beast. There are people within the White House or whatever agency this is coming from who are terrified by what has been happening and theyre seeking out reporters The fact that this is going on in real timei.e., instead of the usual situation in which the leaks generally refer back to incidents from the pastis probably the biggest news here, Daglish added. And when somebody leaks, the media gets to amplify the story. It makes you wonder, whats next?
Indeed, on Wednesday, the story of Flynns pre-inauguration discussion of U.S. sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak moved on to revelations about contacts last year between Trump presidential campaign aides and Russian intelligence officials bent on meddling in the American election.
The media is getting a second wind, Dalglish said. Theyre getting a pathway for how to deal with the administration going forward.
Even presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway who has offered herself up as the medias favorite pinata and Trumps ubiquitous human shieldacknowledges the power of the journalism establishment in a way that her boss does not.
My big line about all this is that the White House and the news media are going to have joint custody of the country for eight years, Conway told The Daily Beastoptimistically predicting two Trump terms. We have to find a way to do this. Were going to share the stewardship of the country.
Conway, who has made a series of televised assertions that turned out not to be truenotably her claim Monday afternoon that Flynn had the presidents full confidence mere hours before the president fired himhas been a target of derision, particularly on MSNBCs Morning Joe, on which host Joe Scarborough has suggested shes either lying or out of the loop, and co-host Mika Brzezinski on Wednesday declared that Conway is no longer welcome on the program because shes not credible anymore.
Brzezinski revealed that Conway, the object of a complaint by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics for improperly doing a free commercial on Fox & Friends last week for Ivanka Trumps clothing line, has frequently tried to book herself by texting the show directly.
But a White House source said Conway has done so at the personal direction of the president, who phoned her shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday to ask her to make what became an ill-fated appearance on NBCs Today show.
On Today, Conway spun a bizarre narrative about Flynns defenestration. Although the president knew for weeks that Flynn had dissembled about his chat with the Russian ambassador, she argued, and the unwitting vice president, Mike Pence, was sent out to repeat the generals misstatements on television, it was only Monday night that Trump decided he couldnt trust his national security adviser anymore. Matt Lauer protested, Kellyanne, that makes no sense.
Rick Tyler, a longtime Republican communications operative, said of Conway, There is a good case to be made that she is now incoherent and incomprehensible, and Im not even sure that its her fault.
As for the president of the United States personally orchestrating Conways television bookings, Tyler said: Wow. That is crazy. That tells you that there are too many power centers in this White House.
Tyler also expressed sympathy for Spicer, who in previous incarnations enjoyed a positive relationship with reporters as a Capitol Hill press secretary and communications director and chief strategist at the Republican National Committee.
Seans problem is that his version of a good press secretary and the presidents version of a good press secretary are incompatible, Tyler said. The president thinks [fanatical policy adviser] Stephen Miller, who says things that Darth Vader would blush at, is a good press secretary.
Tyler added that the presidents and the White Houses relentless fake news attacks are likely to end in tears.
When the White House doesnt respect the news media, and the news isnt going your way, you make it twice as hard on yourself when you dont have a good relationship with the news media, Tyler said. If you have that relationship, you often get the benefit of the doubt. A reporter wont take your side, but at least they will try to be fair to you.
As for Trumps continual deployment of the insult fake news, Conway predicted to The Daily Beast that the president isnt done. If youre wondering if hes purged it from his vocabulary, she said, hes not happy about any of thatmeaning news coverage that Trump considers hostile and unfair.
Indeed, the president has not given up on his quixotic quest to reverse the laws of gravity. At 6:41 a.m. Wednesday, Trump tweeted: The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @FoxandFriends is great!
That was just the start of a Twitter rant in which the Leader of the Free World seemed to be shouting into the wind: This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign Information is being illegally given to the failing & by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia.
Grasping at straws, the president singled out a sympathetic remark from an otherwise critical commentator: Thank you to Eli Lake of The Bloomberg View The NSA & FBI...should not interfere in our politics...and is Very serious situation for USA.
And then complained: Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia? He added: The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. Very un-American!
Quite the contrary, of courseits as American as apple pie.
President Donald Trump blamed the media for the downfall of his National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, giving no hint of the loss of trust his spokesman said led to Flynn's requested resignation.
"General Flynn is a wonderful man," Trump said during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. "I think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media in many cases."
It was a stunning shift after White House spokesman Sean Spicer blamed Flynn's Monday resignation on the president's loss of trust in the retired general for misleading Vice President Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador before the inaugurationand for not remembering the content of those discussions.
"The president was very concerned that General Flynn had misled the vice president and others, Spicer told reporters Tuesday. The question wasn't if [Flynn] did anything improper or legal, but could he be trusted further.
Trump further railed against the leaks that revealed Flynn discussed Obama administration sanctions with the Russian ambassador, a possible violation of U.S. law. He said people are trying to cover up for "a terrible loss" by the Democrats.
"The president was addressing his deep concern about illegal leaks of highly sensitive information," a White House official told The Daily Beast Wednesday afternoon. He insisted it was not overturning Spicer's readout on the president's lack of trust in Flynn.
"It was not a contradiction in any way. There's an overriding concern about the leaks," the official said, speaking anonymously to discuss the sensitive matter.
Trump took no further questions on why Flynn left, nor would he respond to reports that the FBI monitored constant contacts between members of Trump's campaign and Russian intelligence officials.
The exchange took place during Netanyahu's first trip to Washington since Trump became president. Trump also said he'd like to see the U.S. Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalema de facto recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital that would anger Palestiniansbut he said he was "studying" the matter.
The rest of the press conference centered on Mideast issues, with the American and Israeli leaders jovially agreeing to disagree over expanding Israeli settlements.
"I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit," Trump said frankly from the podium, eyeing Israel's leader with a wink in his voice.
"It's the art of the deal," Netanyahu replied with a somewhat abashed smile, throwing his hands in the air and apparently caught a little off guard by the comment. The Israeli leader later said the two men would discuss the issue that afternoon, so they didn't keep "bumping into each other" on the issue.
Trump's willingness to defy previous U.S. policy was on full display when he added that he is willing to abandon a two-state solution to the Israeli and Palestinian peace process, if that's what the two sides want.
"So, I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like," Trump said. "I can live with either one."
Trump echoed Netanyahu's criticism of the Palestinian Authority's failure to recognize the Jewish state, and he criticized the Palestinian education program which he and Netanyahu both said taught the local youth to despise Israel.
"I think the Palestinians have to get rid of some of that hate that they are taught from a very young age," Trump said.
But he also added that Israel would have to change some too, to reach a deal.
"As with any successful negotiation, both sides will have to make compromises. You know that, right?" he said, looking directly at Netanyahu.
The CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 shows the image of the suspected assassin of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's half-brother Kim Jong Nam wearing a T-shirt that has 'LOL' printed on it.
By India Today Web Desk: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother Kim Jong Nam was assassinated on Monday. It is believed that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated by two female agents from North Korea. Reports say that the women used poisonous chemicals to kill Nam.
#FYI: North Korea's Kim Jong-un's half-brother assassinated in Malaysia by female operatives
A zoomed in image of the suspected woman assassin from the CCTV footage obtained from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 shows a peculiar sight.
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Of course, we understand assassins won't be dressed as shown in Hollywood or even Korean movies, but the Kim Jong Nam's assassin took things to a new level by wearing a T-shirt that had 'LOL' (acronym for laugh out loud) printed on it.
Photo courtesy: Twitter (@goldengateblond)
The woman paired her white T-shirt with what seems to be a blue short skirt and was carrying a small sling handbag, reports The Star.
A Reuters report said that South Korea's foreign ministry could not confirm the reports of Nam's assassination. An employee in the emergency ward of Putrajaya hospital said a deceased Korean there was born in 1970 and surnamed Kim, though.
What we cannot comprehend till now is the level of chill the assassin had.
She be like...
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By Press Trust of India: Ahmedabad, Feb 15 (PTI) Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) today announced to set up five Khadi Villages each in all the states to make the rural population self reliant in order to stop their migration into cities.
According to KVIC chairman V K Saxena, khadi and related industry is the best way to uplift the economic condition of poor people living in villages.
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"KVIC is working on a project of setting up five Khadi Villages in each state within one year. This will make villagers self reliant and it would also stop migration of rural population into cities," said Saxena on the sidelines of a function here today.
Under this project, interested villagers will be given charkhas (spinning wheels), looms and other equipments required to set up small scale industries, such as candles, incense sticks, honeybee cultivation, bakery, etc.
"We will identify five villages each in every state and then train the beneficiaries to carry out that business, which requires very less investment. Under this initiative, they will be able to sell their own products in the village through a sales outlet," said Saxena.
According to him, KVIC is taking several initiatives to increase the sale of khadi, which today stands under one per cent among the total textile sale in the country.
"In the last financial year (2015-16), khadi sale stood at Rs 1,510 crore. This year(2016-17), we expect to achieve a turnover between Rs 1,900 crore to Rs 2,000 crore. We have set a target of achieving Rs 5000 crore in next two years," said Saxena.
He also added that KVIC is in talks with the Gujarat government to supply khadi for police uniform.
"We are in talks with Gujarat government to supply khadi for police uniform. We have also urged many other state government to buy our khadi for that purpose. We are taking many such steps to increase the sale of khadi," he added. PTI PJT PD NRB
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Officials declared the operation as successful and identified the officer as Major S Dahiya. The militants were identified as Abu Saad, Abu Mavia and one of the top commanders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abu Darda.
By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Three militants and a major were killed in an encounter in Kralgund are of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
Officials declared the operation as successful and identified the officer as Major S Dahiya. The militants were identified as Abu Saad, Abu Mavia and one of the top commanders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abu Darda.
Darda and Saad had infiltrated into Kashmir with Bahadur Ali, who was arrested, in June last year. Saad and Darda are also said to be behind recent attacks on convoy and army camps, including the encounter in Langate on October 6, last year.
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Police said that the terrorist tried to flee but were surrounded by heavy deployment of force-- 30 Rashtriya Rifles, 92 Battalion of CRPF and Jammu Kashmir police.
"The encounter is a major success. This is a huge setback for Lashkar. We have improved our intelligence network, so we are getting information based on which operations are being conducted," DIG North Kashmir Nitish Kumar said.Also read: Encounter in J-K's Bandipora: 3 Army soldiers die, 1 militant killed
WHO IS ABU DARDA
Abu Darda had been on Jammu Kashmir police's wanted list as he helped many groups infiltrate into the country. According to sources, Darda was active during 2008-2010.
He was trained with Bahadur Ali and Saad in the Lashkar camp. They were then handpicked as a team who then illegally infiltrated into Indian territory on June 12-13, 2016.
Ali along with two other associates Abu Saad and Abu Darda, before infiltrating, were provided with the grid references (GRs) which guided them across Line of Control. The matrix sheet for grid references have been recovered from the terrorist.
Bahadur Ali after their successful infiltration was separated from Abu Darda and Abu Saad.
Ali told the National Investigation Agency that the duo had gone to neighbouring village to arrange food, did not return, and said to have gone missing. After which Bahadur Ali contacted Lashkar control station Alpha-3, and was instructed to act alone.
Also read
Handwara encounter: Army major succumbs to injuries
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In winter, the onion has its moment
Winter is not my time of year. As seasons go, I rank it last, in the kitchen and everywhere else. I'm cold, there's nothing fresh to cook, and it makes a curmudgeon out of me. But increasingly, I'm realizing that winter cooking has an upside.
With less to work with, you focus on what you do have. You think past your typical impulses, reframing the usual suspects. For the often overstimulated and overwhelmed, this can be freeing.
At mealtime, it means paying due attention to one of the most common yet underestimated ingredients of everyday cooking: onions. Not spring's precious bunching onions with their grass-green tops, or even the sweet specialty onions of summer. I mean plain, round storage onions, the ones we rarely think about - until there's a crisis because they're not in the house.
Elizabeth Robins Pennell, an American who wrote about food in 19th- and early-20th-century London, spared no drama when praising the onion's essential nature. "Banish it from the kitchen, and all pleasure of eating flies with it," she wrote in an essay called "The Incomparable Onion." "Its presence lends color and enchantment to the most modest dish; its absence reduces the rarest dainty to hopeless insipidity, and the diner to despair."
Onions are both foundation and finishing touch, so common to our cooking habits that to leave them out must be deliberate. Yet despite this reliance, how often do we summon the onion for its own sake?
Not often enough, and perhaps that's because we tend to undervalue anything we have perennial access to, anything dependable and ubiquitous. Winter, with so few fleeting distractions outselling this humble vegetable's charms, is my annual cue to yield more space to them on the plate.
Sometimes that means rummaging through my pantry and old notes to scavenge for ideas I never seem to have time for in spring, summer or fall. Other times it means letting the onion speak for itself. When I need a nudge in that direction, I turn to cooks such as the late food writer Richard Olney who remind me that simplicity and restraint can be as compelling as the glitz of novelty and complex orchestration. Olney's selection of onion dishes in his book "Simple French Food" reads like a study: onions baked into a delicate pudding; onions layered in a brothy, cheesy panade; onions bathed in cream in a gratin; onions glazed with vinegar and rolled into an omelet (which he classifies as an "attractively vulgar presentation"); onions braised in beer.
Each of those treatments is a meditation on the onion's possibilities: gently stewed until mild and sweet; caramelized to jammy, bittersweet depths; simmered long and slow until silken and creamy; sauteed and lashed with acid, still racy and willfully bright.
The recipes aim to capture this vegetable's many moods with as much attention. In one, yellow onions are cooked in an earthy white wine and porcini mushroom broth, lending the soup a creamy, buttery body. Thinly sliced raw onions take on funky, briny notes with beets in a magenta-hued, ume-vinegar-dressed salad. And hollowed-out whole onions generate both vessel and savory filling in a dish that puts another should-eat-more-often element, stuffing, in the center of the plate.
All of them call on basic storage onions from the supermarket, although local growers also occasionally have onions through early spring. As far as red, white and yellow onions: They're generally interchangeable, but their differences, although subtle, are just enough that I've called for specific types for each recipe.
Yellow onions are the driest, so they hold up the longest in the pot (and in your pantry), making them ideal for long cooking. Red onions are faintly sweeter, so I prefer them for slightly quicker caramelization and when I want their lovely boost of color. White onions are highest in water content and the mildest, so they can be a good choice for a raw garnish. I like to use a mix of all three for stuffed onions.
One maxim worth repeating is that you should always, when cutting onions (or any other vegetable, for that matter), use a sharp knife. A dull one will bruise the flesh, which leads to ragged slices that are prone to stick to a pan's surface.
Likewise, avoid nonstick cookware when cooking onions; it discourages proper (and delicious!) coloring.
These recipes also employ two cutting techniques. One applies the knife across the grain, to produce the familiar onion ring shape. Slices like these will break down more quickly, so I've called for this approach in the soup, where the onions will help thicken and sweeten at the same time.
Cutting onions with the grain, from end to end, produces crescent-shaped slices. Incidentally, onions are also less pungent when sliced this way, so I call for this slice in the beet salad, where they stand up a bit better to the higher cooking temperature.
When you begin to cook, take a moment to linger on the onion's fragrance, the way it fills up the room with warmth. As Elizabeth Robins Pennell wrote, with reference to a Stevenson poem: " 'Rose among roots,' its very name revives memories of pleasant feasting; its fragrance is rich forecast of delights to come."
When those delights are in winter, all the better.
---
Horton is a freelance writer in Seattle.
food-onion
Washington Post News Service (DC)
2/14/2017 2:30:22 PM Central Standard Time
Writers: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@ag.tamu.edu
Contacts: Dr. Roel Lopez, 210-277-0292, roel.lopez@ag.tamu.edu
Dr. Nova Silvy, 979-845-5749, n-silvy@tamu.edu
Dr. Israel Parker, 979-739-0679, Israel.parker@ag.tamu.edu
SAN ANTONIO For the past several months, a Texas A&M University System institute has been actively involved in efforts to quash a screwworm outbreak in Florida that has jeopardized an already endangered species, said the director for the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources.
While there had been no screwworm outbreaks in the U.S. for the past 30 years, one began last July on Big Pine Key, which affected the Key deer population, said Dr. Roel Lopez, institute director and co-principal investigator for the Key deer study, San Antonio.
Key deer are a diminutive subspecies of white-tailed deer found only in the Lower Florida Keys.
Over the following months, screwworms infested the population, which is spread across more than 20 islands. It has led to 135 Key deer deaths, including 83 that were euthanized to reduce the risk of further infection.
This was a significant blow to a species of which is uniquely located in that area and has an estimated population of just 875, said Lopez, who noted the mortalities were primarily among adult males.
He said the institute, which is affiliated with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&Ms College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was brought in to work with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida Fish and Wildlife Service Commission, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services of Monroe County.
With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the lead agency, we have been researching screwworm impacts and spatial distribution, as well as deer population density based on sex ratio and age, Lopez said. We have also been involved in determining management implications for protecting the deer. In particular, the Texas A&M institutes efforts have been focused on helping determine how this endangered species will fare following the infestation.
He said a complete survey of the Key deer had not been conducted since 2005.
At the invitation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida agencies, our staff and research scientists have conducted multiple surveys to obtain the current estimate of the population, focusing efforts on Big Pine and No Name keys, the core area for the population.
Lopez and co-principal investigator Dr. Nova Silvy, Regents Professor in Texas A&Ms wildlife and fisheries sciences department, College Station, both did their doctoral research on Key deer.
All but 10 of the Key deer deaths from screwworm infestation were males, Silvy said. In these males, screwworms typically infected open wounds created by their fighting during their rutting season, which is from September to December, as they competed for females.
He explained screwworm fly larvae feed on warm-blooded animal tissue, so the open wounds from the deer rut provided an environment for screwworms to infest and lay eggs.
The screwworms eat the flesh around the wound until the deer becomes incapacitated or dies, he said.
According to Dr. Israel Parker, a research scientist at the institute in College Station and another co-principal investigator for the study, the screwworm infestation could also cause problems for other warm-blooded animals in the area. For his masters degree work at Texas A&M, Parker was involved in the translocation of Key deer during the 2005 survey.
Screwworms can have devastating effects on livestock populations, so an outbreak could potentially affect many agricultural operations, depending on how widely it spreads, he said. The last major infestation of the screwworm in the 1960s was a significant concern for livestock producers in Texas, so its very important screwworms be addressed in the Florida Keys before they possibly spread and affect livestock operations on the mainland.
Silvy noted while so far interagency efforts have been highly successful in halting the outbreak, further screwworm infestations may appear in the spring as Key does start giving birth.
The flies could infest the afterbirth or the navels of the fawns, which is a common problem with calves in areas with screwworms, he said.
To help control the outbreak and assess the survivability of the Key deer, Lopez, Silvy, Parker and others from the Texas A&M institute have traveled to Florida to conduct deer population estimates and projections. They have also placed radio collars on 30 Key deer does to help find if they may be vulnerable to screwworm flies while giving birth.
Working together, our agencies have been able to stave off further screwworm infestations, Lopez said. Additionally, the institutes male-to-female population ratio estimate showed a high probability the Key deer population will continue to be viable because the adult males that died can be replaced by younger males that can mate with multiple does.
Estimates indicate there appear to be enough males to complete the breeding season. They also show a long-term population increase of about 3.5 percent annually, which should continue.
Lopez said preventive treatment and screwworm fly eradication efforts by other cooperating agencies have been highly successful. These have included setting up feeder stations rimmed with anti-parasitic medications and releasing 60 million sterile male screwworms to mate with wild female flies, stifling their reproductive capacity.
In addition, several deer enclosures are proposed to be built at the National Key Deer Refuge to trap and care for healthy specimens if herd numbers become uncomfortably low, he said.
Lopez said he hopes these strategies, in addition to continuing the monitoring protocol, conducting intensive monthly surveys, possible translocation and long-term monitoring of outer Key islands impacted by screwworm, will help ensure the survival of the Key deer.
For more information, go to http://bit.ly/2kcsaKY or http://bit.ly/2hcRtLy or contact Parker at israel.parker@ag.tamu.edu.
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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) India today welcomed the return of Morocco to the African Union (AU), saying it will strengthen Africas unity.
"India congratulates Morocco on its return to the African Union with an overwhelming majority. India and Africa have a historic relationship and this has grown into a sustainable partnership. India wholeheartedly welcomes Moroccos return to AU, which has strengthened Africas Unity," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
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Morocco had quit the predecessor of the AU, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), in 1984, in protest against the body recognising the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a full member.
SADR is a partially recognised state that controls a thin strip of area in the Western Sahara region and claims sovereignty over its entire territory. Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is a region on North Africas Atlantic coast bordering Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania.
Notably, India had invited Morocco for India-Africa Summit in 2015 even though it was not member of the AU. PTI PYK ZMN
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U.S. government must stand by its ally Azerbaijan
Feb. 26 marks the 25th anniversary of the heinous war crime against humanity perpetrated by the Armenian armed forces in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. On Feb. 25-26, 1992, Armenian armed forces, and several Armenian paramilitary detachments, with the support of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the Russian army, stormed the besieged town of Khojaly and cleansed it from its Azerbaijani population. By the morning hours of Feb. 26, 613 bodies of Azerbajiani and Ahiska Turks lay lifeless, bullet-ridden, mutilated -- among them 106 women, 83 children, 79 elderly. Many more went missing and fell into captivity, never to be heard from again.
The massacre at Khojaly was the culmination point in a series of ethnic cleansing assaults in February, perpetrated by Armenian forces. On Feb. 10-17, Armenian detachments seized the villages of Malibeyli, Gushchular and Garadaghly, burning the villages to the ground, massacring hundreds of civilians and forcing more into captivity. All these villages and Khojaly itself were part of the scorched earth policy, devised by the Armenian commanders intending to remove all hope fleeing Azerbaijani may have had for returning to their homes.
Several countries as well as more than two dozen U.S. states, including Texas, have passed legislative resolutions and issued gubernatorial proclamations commemorating the Khojaly Massacre. Many members of Congress have submitted statements for the Congressional Record in the past decade. Several Armenian human rights activists have repented.
To this day, Armenia continues to occupy Nagorno-Karabakh region despite U.N. Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884, demanding unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops and allowing Azerbaijanis to return to their homes.
The U.S. government must stand with its ally Azerbaijan and exert pressure on the Kremlin's proxy Armenia to force it to comply with international law and withdraw from occupied Azerbaijani territories.
SAMIR HUSEYNOV
College Station
But now the difficult task of keeping tabs on sleazy breeders who refuse to comply with even the meager, decrepit standards of the anachronistic Animal Welfare Act (AWA) just got a whole lot harder.
That's thanks in part to the Trump Administration's 'delete first ... so we won't have to ask questions later' approach to everything related to science, public health, safety, or anything that might crimp the money-making style of Trump's corporate supporters.
Draining the swamp? Or swamping the drain?
In the spirit of gag orders imposed on a number of science-dependent agencies, the USDA abruptly 'purged' its online database of "inspection reports and other information from its website about the treatment of animals at thousands of research laboratories, zoos, dog breeding operations and other facilities", according to a story first reported by the Washington Post.
"Going forward, APHIS will remove from its website inspection reports, regulatory correspondence, research facility annual reports, and enforcement records that have not received final adjudication. APHIS will also review and redact, as necessary, the lists of licensees and registrants under the AWA, as well as lists of designated qualified persons (DQPs) licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations", the USDA said on its website.
And it's that last bit about "USDA-certified horse industry organizations" that might be the key to unraveling a move that has outraged animal welfare activists, journalists, and even a few conservative commentators like Laura Ingraham and Tammy Bruce. Writing in the Washington Times, Ms. Bruce questioned the move as a "disturbing" and "odd" move for an "administration to be committed to transparency, draining the swamp and ending lobbyist control of policy."
Of course, it's hard to tell whether the Trump Administration wants to drain the swamp or to swamp the drain with crony capitalists in an attempt to flood the already financially fertile plains of Washington, DC with the loamy, rich monetary manure spread so profitably by key industries.
Who benefits?
So, who benefits from a widely unpopular decision that generated angry hashtags like #USDAblackout and #NoUSDAblackout ... and the filing of a new lawsuit claiming the blackout illegally obstructs the application of the Animal Welfare Act?
New reporting by the Washington Post indicates senior staffers within the UDSA advocated the purge in response to a lawsuit over the controversial practice of 'soring' the legs of walking horses with harsh chemicals that inflict enough pain to cause the animal's "high-stepping" gait to rise just a little bit higher. That, in turn, makes them more successful in competitions and raises their value as a commodity. In other words, no pain means less financial gain.
Ironically, the USDA recently banned soring ... but suddenly decided to implement the data purge despite the decision to prohibit the very practice that sparked the lawsuit that supposedly led to the purge.
Perhaps it's not coincidental that the ban came after the national Humane Society conducted its own investigations into horse soring or that their investigation would've relied in part on the exactly the type of data collected by USDA inspectors. But now, just like it will with profligate puppy millers, the purge effectively hides the identity of "horse industry organizations" with a documented history of soring and gives them new room to run roughshod on animal welfare protections.
And who decided?
So, who made this perplexing, politically unpopular decision?
Although he wasn't necessarily opposed to the purge when it was first proposed, outgoing Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told the Post that he refused to sign-off on the new, information-obscuring rule because "there was not enough time for us to properly vet the recommendation, and I was concerned about transparency."
But that was then and this is now. And now there is a new sheriff in town who has said regulations must go the way of the dying bumblebee his administration doesn't want to list as an endangered species.
To wit, the prime mover behind the purge might be one of Trump's lesser-known deputies - a guy name Brian Klippenstein of the industry-aligned Protect the Harvest. He is now the head of Trump's USDA transition team. And the 'harvest' he and his barely-known advocacy group want to protect is the unchecked right of human beings to harvest animals for profit.
Mostly, they want to do so without any meddling by the Humane Society or even the barest protections for the welfare of animals. Klippenstein - who is something of a puppy mill enthusiast - is no doubt pleased with a purge that will make it easier to profit off of mistreating animals again.
So, with a tidy little bit of doublespeak, the USDA website replaced the database with a message explaining that the records were removed "based on our commitment to being transparent, remaining responsive to our stakeholders' informational needs, and maintaining the privacy rights of individuals."
Tying the animal defenders in red tape and paperwork
It's the needs of those "stakeholders" - the breeders and businesses and big agricultural interests - that will predictably win out in this crony-laden administration. But wait ... maybe this was just part of Team Trump's war on the onerous, freedom-killing regulatory state ... right? Hardly.
According to a fact sheet from the HSUS, these anything-but-onerous USDA 'regulations' make it perfectly legal to "keep dozens or even hundreds of breeding dogs in small wire cages for their entire lives with only the basics of food, water and rudimentary shelter."
Despite that, many of the licensed breeders violate these comically inadequate standards in their never-ending quest to cruelly cut corners and squeeze a little more profit out of the cramped lives of dogs trapped in a perpetual cycle of insemination, pregnancy, and birth.
And that's to say nothing of the thousands of unlicensed puppy mills whose only oversight comes from activists, nonprofits, journalists, and the occasional whistleblower ... and whose operations only come to an end when these non-governmental do-gooders do the kind of good that one might expect from an agency tasked with the duty of ensuring a basic level of animal welfare.
As a result of the move, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), along with ASPCA, PETA, and hundreds of other smaller non-profit and volunteer animal welfare organizations around the country, will be tied up in red tape and tortuous FOIA paperwork if they want to access heretofore public information on zoos, laboratories, roadside attractions and, of course, puppy mills.
That matters because those organizations fill the gaping hole left by the sparsely funded, severely understaffed, and seemingly overmatched USDA.
The Humane Society is one of many non-government watchdogs that watch out for dogs by funding their own investigations and by even staging raids on puppy mills in concert with local law enforcement. The USDA's now-purged database was often a roadmap leading the HSUS, ASPCA, and hundreds of local watchdogs to serial violators.
Without voluntary sector engagement, enforcement would hardly exist
The simple fact is that little is done even when the USDA is on the case, which is not that surprising for an agency with a well-greased revolving door between itself and the businesses it regulates.
Even Ringling Bros - whose violation data would be purged along with puppy millers - was able to get someone placed at the USDA back in 2011. Perhaps that helps explain why, as the HSUS points out, "there are hundreds of USDA-licensed puppy mills in operation that have a history of documented animal care violations that are still licensed."
But that just one part of why access to the records accumulated by the USDA is so important. Natasha Daly of National Geographic wrote:
"These records have revealed many cases of abuse and mistreatment of animals, incidents that, if the reports had not been publicly posted, would likely have remained hidden. This action plunges journalists, animal welfare organizations, and the public at large into the dark about animal welfare at facilities across the country."
As One Green Planet reported, it's the same database that helped Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson expose a "federally-funded primate testing facility" at Harvard University that mistreated thousands of monkeys despite repeated violations and $24,000 in fines ... until it was ignominiously closed in 2015.
It was whistleblowers and journalists who used shocking footage to expose the cruelty that halted the captive breeding program at SeaWorld, ended years of torture and sickness for Ringling Brothers' elephants, and sparked a wholesale revolution in the production of eggs when Mercy for Animals revealed the deplorable conditions of egg-laying chickens.
It was surreptitiously filmed videos that eventually led to McDonald's, Walmart, and other major companies forcing their suppliers to adopt new welfare standards for the chickens they quite literally bank on to bring home the bacon.
The same has been happening with puppy mills, too
Increased awareness of the deplorable conditions - thanks in part to activists and journalists using the now deleted data - has led to a number of anti-puppy mill laws around the country.
Those efforts, along with campaigns to convince dog enthusiasts to adopt a soon-to-be-euthanized shelter dog over a costly retail puppy, have the pet industry mounting a counter-campaign of alternative facts designed to convince Americans that there is a puppy shortage in spite of the daunting facts.
Of course, the dog breeding industry is there to help re-puppy America - for a price. And their bottom line is that the less you know about the way those puppies are produced, the better it is for the conscience of consumers and their bank accounts. Frankly, that's really what this purge portends ... a wider crackdown on transparency and information in the USDA, which, along with the FDA, oversees the nation's gargantuan factory farming industry.
The fact that Trump tapped former Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue to run the Department of Agriculture is the clearest signal yet that years of hard-won, incremental progress on animal welfare and increased safety in the food supply are likely to go the way of the dodo bird under factory farm-friendly Purdue.
Remember that time then-candidate Trump floated the idea of eliminating the FDA's "food police" who make sure there isn't too much feces in the meat or too little safety in the nation's vast, complicated food system?
Now, with Brian Klippenstein planting the seeds of profitability for factory farmers, horse sorers and, alas, puppy millers, Trump vision of 'unchecked everything' is coming into focus. Thanks to the purge, it just got harder for activists, journalists and whistleblowers to do what the USDA wasn't capable of doing.
And it also became a little easier to be an animal-abusing ingrate again.
JP Sottile is a freelance journalist, published historian, radio co-host and documentary filmmaker (The Warning, 2008). His credits include a stint on the Newshour news desk, C-SPAN and as newsmagazine producer for ABC affiliate WJLA in Washington. His weekly show 'Inside the Headlines With The Newsvandal' co-hosted by James Moore airs every Friday on KRUU-FM in Fairfield, Iowa. He blogs at Newsvandal and tweets @newsvandal.
Photo: Cage in a 500-puppy puppy mill, raided by voluntary organisations on 8th July 2009. By Josh Henderson via Flickr (CC BY-SA). Many more photos from the raid here.
This article was originally published on AntiMedia (Creative Commons).
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There is money to be made in the craft and creative fields, and a local progam wants those dollars to go to Franklin County artisans.
A free program about that will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Franklin Center. It will involve discussion of Round the Mountain: Southwest Virginias Artisan Network, in partnership with the Franklin County Division of Tourism and Film and the Franklin County White Lightning Artisan Trail, which showcases local crafts, arts and culture.
The program is headed by Diana Blackburn, executive director of Round the Mountain. It is geared to people involved with local galleries, studios, painting, pottery, barn quilts, fiber art, wineries, craft breweries, distilleries, gift shops, farms, produce markets, farm-to-table dining, culinary tourism, woodworking, furniture making, music makers and other aspects of the craft and creative economy.
A recent statewide study revealed the total economic impact to Virginia from the artisan industry netted some $572.2 million, including $15.6 million in state tax revenues. Nearly 12,000 full-time jobs were supported by artisan visitor spending, which generated more than $250 million. Average spending was estimated at $260 per person.
Round the Mountain artisan members work quietly in their home studio and sell their work there or at a local venue, Blackburn stated in a press release. These individuals combined with the wineries, craft venues, agritourism businesses and creative points of interest that make up the Artisan Trails are collectively making a significant impact to the economy of the region and the state.
David Rotenizer, Franklin Countys tourism development manager, stated in the release, Franklin County is becoming a destination for many things, and we need to showcase our artisan community year-round. Franklin County now has an established open studio tour each fall, now entering its third season, as well as a barn quilt trail program that will be officially launched in 2017.
RSVP to the program by calling (540) 483-3030 or going to VisitFranklin CountyVA.org/RoundTheMountain101.
For more information, call the Franklin County Division of Tourism & Film at (540) 483-3030 or email David.Rotenizer@FranklinCountyVA.gov.
The Franklin Center is located at 50 Claiborne Ave., Rocky Mount.
A Callaway family lost their three dogs and everything they owned Monday after a fire destroyed the singlewide mobile home where they were living.
Cassandra Kirk, 24, said she and her boyfriend returned from running errands to find the home fully engulfed in flames, with fire departments there.
We lost everything from furniture and clothing to personal items and family photos, Kirk said.
The Callaway, Boones Mill and Bent Mountain Volunteer Fire Departments and Franklin County Public Safety with two EMS units all responded to the call at 2:17 p.m., according to Franklin County Fire Marshal R. Scott Fulcher, who also was on the scene.
The singlewide mobile home was completely destroyed in the blaze, Fulcher said. The fire was put out in about 45 minutes.
The fire is thought to be caused by a woodstove, Fulcher added, though the tentative conclusion will be verified at a later time by investigators examining the charred remains.
The mobile home belonged to Kirks father, Joseph Kirk of Roanoke. Cassandra Kirk and her 6-year-old daughter lived there.
The family had no insurance, she said, adding that what they need most now is financial help to find a new home.
We have nowhere to store furniture or other donated items, she said. If we could find a place to stay, the other stuff will come in time.
The family also received assistance from the American Red Cross.
It will be hard, but we will rebuild, Kirk said. We plan to get my daughter a new puppy once we can get settled.
Fulcher warned of the danger of wood stoves, and in fact, they are not allowed by building code in mobile homes.
The walls of mobile homes are not thick, he said. Because of that, plus the type of insulation used, mobile homes cant tolerate the heat of a woodstove.
A woodstove should be kept at least 30 to 36 inches away from a wall and have hearth-like material under and behind it, Fulcher said. Items should not be within 36 inches from a woodstove in any direction, and wood certainly should not be stacked beside it.
Additionally, at least once a year the chimney and flue should be cleaned and inspected by a certified inspector.
An unoccupied chicken coop in Scruggs was also completely destroyed by fire Monday. The outdoor fire was attributed to ashes which had not cooled sufficiently, according to Fulcher. The ashes, which were dumped outside, started a blaze which ended up consuming a chicken coop. There were no chickens inside.
Ashes should be discarded into a metal bucket. They should be soaked with water and allowed to set a while, to be sure nothing is smoldering, before being dumped outdoors, Fulcher said.
Fulcher also added a reminder of the fire ban, which starts today. No outdoor fires are allowed until 4 p.m. each day. The latest that items to be burned may be added to a fire is 9 p.m., and all fires must be out by midnight.
The fire ban is in effect until April 30, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry. People should burn when humidity is high and wind is calm. All fires must be attended until out.
By Press Trust of India: London, Feb 15 (PTI) Scientists have identified more than 200 new genetic regions linked with male pattern baldness, which could be used to predict a mans chances of severe hair loss.
Before this new study, led by researchers at University of Edinburgh in the UK, only a handful of genes related to baldness had been identified.
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The scientists examined genomic and health data from over 52,000 male participants of the UK Biobank, performing a genome-wide association study of baldness.
They pinpointed 287 genetic regions linked to this common but potentially embarrassing condition which could be used to predict a mans chance of severe hair loss.
The researchers created a formula to try and predict the chance that a person will go bald, based on the presence or absence of certain genetic markers.
Accurate predictions for an individual are still some way off, but the results can help to identify sub-groups of the population for which the risk of hair loss is much higher.
The study is the largest genetic analysis of male pattern baldness to date.
Many of the identified genes are related to hair structure and development. They could provide possible targets for drug development to treat baldness or related conditions.
"We identified hundreds of new genetic signals. It was interesting to find that many of the genetics signals for male pattern baldness came from the X chromosome, which men inherit from their mothers," said Saskia Hagenaars, a PhD student at Edinburgh, who jointly led the research.
"We are still a long way from making an accurate prediction for an individuals hair loss pattern. However, these results take us one step closer. The findings pave the way for an improved understanding of the genetic causes of hair loss," said studys principal investigator, Dr Riccardo Marioni, from Edinburgh.
The study was published in the journal PLOS Genetics. PTI SAR SAR
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Mountain Valley Pipelines controversial quest to bury a 42-inch diameter natural gas pipeline through the region requires the company to acquire easements across private property a process that itself rouses strong reactions.
Mountain Valley reported last week that as of Jan. 27 it had negotiated about 1,250 easement agreements with landowners along the 303-mile pipelines proposed route through six counties in Virginia and 11 in West Virginia.
Court records show numerous deed easements purchased in Giles, Montgomery and Franklin counties. Only a few have been filed in Craig County, which would host a comparatively short stretch of the pipeline. And, as of late January, only one easement had been acquired in Roanoke County where opposition has been fierce to surveying by crews seeking to define the pipeline route.
Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley, said the acquisitions represent more than 70 percent of the total acreage needed to build the pipeline, including rights-of-way and access roads. The company hopes to begin construction this year, but the project must first be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Deed easement payments recently reviewed in the region for pipeline rights-of-way ranged from an apparent high of $356,880 for an easement affecting a large parcel along Reese Mountain Road in the Fort Lewis Mountain area of Montgomery County to an apparent low of less than $1,000 in Giles County.
Easements for access roads paid less.
Cox said compensation varies based on the amount of acreage needed to build or access the pipeline.
Many of the perpetual easements acquired for the pipeline include language that lawyers with at least two Virginia-based firms experienced in such negotiations have described as company friendly.
For example, many agreements would allow Mountain Valley to install a second pipeline within the easement at a later date. Many include wording that could allow the pipeline to transport products other than natural gas, including oil or other liquids or gases.
If FERC approves the project, Mountain Valley will have access to federal eminent domain to acquire easements if negotiations with landowners fail to yield a price acceptable to all.
Chuck Lollar, a Norfolk-based lawyer who specializes in representing clients who are facing eminent domain cases, quotes the Latin phrase caveat venditor seller beware when discussing easement negotiations.
Lollar has represented property owners fighting pipeline surveying by both Mountain Valley and the separate but similar Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, which would route through central Virginia.
He said landowners should hire lawyers experienced in easement negotiations because the easement language MVP, ACP and other gas companies is using is broad, complicated and somewhat unlimited, and owners generally cannot understand the impact of these permanent easements on their property.
Generally, lawyers who represent property owners in easement negotiations take as their fee either a percentage of the additional amount paid for the easement through settlement or an award in an eminent domain trial, over the initial appraisal and offer, or an hourly rate, flat fee or combination.
Among other potential consequences of negotiating without experienced representation is the risk, Lollar said, of being grossly under-compensated.
He and other lawyers familiar with eminent domain cases have said easement payments should compensate property owners for anticipated loss of value of the larger property. Study results, anecdotes and opinions offer varying conclusions about whether a perpetual easement for a large-diameter pipeline transporting natural gas at high pressure causes a decline in property value. There have been cases reported regionally suggesting that simply the prospect of such an easement has negatively affected property values.
A few of the agreements included a provision for Mountain Valley to prepay the property owner for surface damages associated with the construction and laying of the pipeline. It also provides for the potential payment for damages to crops, trees and fences that might occur during reclamation of the right-of-way after construction.
A separate agreement negotiated in Montgomery County included a section requiring Mountain Valley to maintain liability insurance coverage during pipeline operations, with one provision requiring coverage with limits of $2 million in any one occurrence for property damage and bodily injury.
Other deed easements reviewed in the region did not include similar liability insurance provisions. The landowner involved in that transaction declined to be interviewed but acknowledged he was represented by a lawyer.
Source of resentment
The $356,880 easement payment in Montgomery County went to HS Tejas, a Florida-based company involved in developing the Fort Lewis Mountain Estates subdivision along Reese Mountain Road.
Neither HS Tejas nor Continental Pacific LLC, an apparent partner in the development, replied to inquiries about deed easement negotiations with Mountain Valley or its agents and the potential effect of the easement on marketing the 20-acre wooded tracts.
Meanwhile, Serina Garst, a co-owner with family members of property in Franklin County, has alleged in a filing with FERC that employees of Coates Field Service, an Oklahoma-based company handling easement acquisitions for Mountain Valley, have engaged in unfair and deceptive negotiation tactics.
Garst alleged that a Coates employee portrayed herself as working for landowners rather than MVP and claimed that FERC was encouraging property owners to sign easements in advance of the commissions decision about whether the pipeline project would proceed. Tamara Young-Allen, a spokeswoman for FERC, noted that the Natural Gas Act prohibits FERC involvement in landowner easement negotiations.
Cox responded in an email Wednesday. The Mountain Valley Pipeline project team takes these issues, concerns, and allegations very seriously and it is troubling to us that there is even potential for this type of allegation to occur, she said.
We expect our land agents to be transparent, upfront and honest in their discussions and negotiations with landowners, Cox added, noting that Coates Field Service land agents are MVP representatives and they are instructed to inform landowners of that fact.
A resident of Franklin County who sold an easement without a lawyer, negotiating with Coates Field Service, said he felt he was treated fairly. He said that although he is opposed to the pipeline and believes the easement likely will affect his propertys value, he felt as though the project was just about inevitable and could provide some benefit for the county, which has not had access to natural gas.
He also said the pipelines current route through his property is tolerable, being about 400 yards to 500 yards from his house, and he fears the route could be worse.
I dont want it near me, he said.
He asked that his name not be disclosed. Both he and the Montgomery County landowner said they are aware that neighbors who continue to fight the pipeline might resent that they have negotiated easements.
Tailored vs. uniform
All of the easement agreements reviewed include language barring property owners from obstructing the permanent right-of-way with buildings and trees.
Another common provision grants Mountain Valley the right to come on and off the property on the right-of-way and across adjoining lands during construction, operation and maintenance of the pipeline.
Lollar said that this secondary easement essentially allows Mountain Valley to travel from a public road across any part of the landowners property and that landowners should limit access to the easement acquired or some other specified path or road.
If not, he said, Arguably, their entire parcel is encumbered with an access easement.
Lollar said easement agreements can also specify the terms by which a company like Mountain Valley can transfer the easement to another company. Cox acknowledged that a company can sell an easement but noted that the buyer must abide by the terms of the original easement.
Lollar said deed easement negotiations can be uniquely tailored for individual landowners, guided by dozens of specific concerns he said he often raises for clients. But pipeline companies prefer much more uniform agreements, he said, and sometimes offer less money for deed easements that are more restrictive.
Meanwhile, Cox said Mountain Valley is not concerned about the dearth of easement agreements negotiated to date in Roanoke County.
We do not anticipate this will hinder the steps we are taking in the regulatory approval process and we remain confident that the Mountain Valley Pipeline project can bring economic benefits to the region in the form of increased business development, job growth and tax revenue generation, Cox said in an email.
She said Mountain Valley respects the opinions of pipeline opponents and will continue to try to alleviate their concerns.
News researcher Belinda Harris contributed to this report.
Rocky Mount took one step closer to automated trash collection Monday night, with hopes of making the change by July.
The Rocky Mount Town Council held a public hearing on the matter during the council meeting.
The plan calls for the purchase of two trucks with automated arms: one new truck, which would be the main collection vehicle, and one used truck, to be in service during such busier occasions as require additional trash collection. The town also would provide about 2,500 cans to all Rocky Mount residents and businesses.
In next years fiscal year, we have to replace this piece of equipment, Town Manager James Ervin said of the current garbage truck. We want to make sure we do it in a way that works for our citizens needs and is as safe as possible.
Each fully automated truck would pick up town-issued 95-gallon or 65-gallon trash bins with its hydraulic side arm, lifting the cans up and over the top of its collection bed.
Rocky Mount estimates the cost will likely be around $500,000 to make the switch to a fully automated truck and to provide cans to all town residents.
Ervin told council members the towns trash collection plan is a win-win situation that would solve both flexibility in can size for our citizens and give our staff a safer way to collect the trash.
The town would like to minimize the number of injuries related to trash pickup, officials said. Rocky Mount has paid more than $250,000 in medical expenses related to incidences involving the current garbage truck, well over the $78,000 it spent to buy the truck new in 2000.
Despite being 17 years old, the truck is still the newer of the two Rocky Mount owns, and Ervin speculated the older backup truck is not likely to pass state inspection this year.
Only one citizen spoke during the public hearing regarding the garbage truck. Mary Slover, 58, said she lives in a townhouse where tenants are required to keep their trash bins out of sight except for only one day a week. She was concerned about being able to fit the 95-gallon trash bin through the path to her backyard. Town officials assured that all residents would have a choice of getting a 65-gallon bin as an alternative to the 95-gallon bin.
The new trash collection system also could be offered to people who live outside town limits but are on Rocky Mounts utility system. Rates for trash pick-up would reflect current market prices. The current price for Rocky Mount trash collection is $5 a month, the rate being heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars.
In January, Roanoke County lent its automated trash truck for a day so Rocky Mount staff could try out the vehicle on some of the towns most narrow roads and challenging turns. The truck passed the field test on streets Goodview, Rose, Harvey and Windsor.
On the strength of that test, town officials moved forward with a Jan. 9 presentation to town council regarding a purchasing a garbage truck, and the council approved up to $77,000 to buy a used truck being sold at auction by the municipality of Murray, Kentucky. Unfortunately, Rocky Mount missed the bid as the garbage truck went for nearly double the value town council had approved.
Town officials didnt see that as a problem, citing the price tag of $143,000 as above what they considered to be market value for a used automated garbage truck, they said.
There are much cheaper backup options available, Assistant Town Manager Matthew Hankins told the council Monday.
Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car
I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ...
By Press Trust of India: Lucknow/Dehradun, Feb 15 (PTI) The second phase of polling in the key cow belt state of Uttar Pradesh today saw 65 per cent polling, while at 68 per cent, Uttarakhand posted a record as voting in the assembly elections to two states remained peaceful.
The Election Commission said in Delhi the "very sensitive" second phase of polling in 67 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh passed off peacefully and overall mood made it appear like a "festival of democracy".
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Over 68 per cent votes were cast in Uttarakhand, two per cent more than the last assembly polls, in 69 out of the states 70 seats. Polling for Karnaprayag constituency has been deferred following the accidental death of BSP nominee.
In UP, the seats where voting was held were spread over Bijnor, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Bareilly, Amroha, Pilibhit, Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Badaun districts.
"Polling was held peacefully amid tight security," UP Chief Electoral Officer T Venkatesh said.
Of the 67 seats at stake, the ruling Samajwadi Party had won 34 seats in the 2012 polls, followed by BSP 18, BJP 10, Congress three and others two.
In the present phase, 721 candidates, including 62 women are in the fray. The maximum candidates (22) are from Barhapur (Bijnor) and a minimum of four nominees from Dhanaura (Amroha). The prominent contestants include controversial SP minister Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam, who are contesting from Rampur and Swar seats respectively, Saif Ali Naqvi, son of former Congress MP Zafar Ali Naqvi, former central minister Jitin Prasada from Tilhar (Shahjahanpur), BJP Legislature Party leader Suresh Kumar Khanna from Shahjahanpur city and state minister Mehboob Ali from Amroha.
In Uttarakhand, Election Office sources over 68 per cent of the electorate cast their votes by 5 pm but many people were still standing in the queues outside the booths, implying that the poll percentage may go up by the time the final figures are collated. An EC spokesman said in New Delhi it could go up to 70 per cent at the final count.
For the first time, Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were used in three constituencies including BHEL Ranipur, Dharampur and Rudrapur.
In most of the seats, ruling Congress and BJP are locked in a straight contest. However, rebel candidates of both the parties are in the fray as independents in several seats and may upset the calculations of the official nominees of their respective parties.
Among those testing their political luck are 12 former Congress MLAs who are in the fray as BJP candidates this time. They include Yashpal Arya (Bajpur), Harak Singh Rawat (Kotdwar), Shailarani Rawat (Kedarnath), Shailendra Mohan Singhal (Jaspur), Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion (Khanpur), Pradeep Batra (Roorkee) and Subodh Uniyal (Narendranagar).
Haridwar (rural) and Kichcha in Udhamsingh Nagar district are two high profile seats to be watched out for as Chief Minister Harish Rawat is in fray from from both. More PTI ABN SMI ALM SBR SRY TIR SK SK
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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleague M Venkaiah Naidu on the website of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna are violative of the model code and should be removed immediately, the Election Commission has ruled.
Acting on a complaint that the pictures on the website are promoting BJP in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly polls are on, the Commission said that "depiction of photographs of Prime Minister and ministers...is in violation of model code of conduct and hence such photographs shall have to be immediately removed from the official website (pmaymis.gov.in) ... the Commission desires to know the reason as to why this was not done before, when the model code was in force (since January 4)," the Commission told Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.
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It also asked the top bureaucrat to "ensure" that websites of other ministries and departments do not contain such photographs.
It recalled its earlier directions that references of ministers and politicians be removed from central government websites to ensure that the party in power does not get advantage of any kind in the assembly elections.
While polls are over in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, they are on in Uttar Pradesh and are to be held in Manipur. PTI JTR/NAB ZMN
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Leistikow: Hawkeyes uncover much-needed star in Kaleb Johnson
After a 200-yard day, Johnson seems as surprised as anybody that he has a starring role for the Hawkeyes down the stretch.
Salian says, "I have not got the notification of my appointment as the special public prosecutor in the case. If such an order has been passed by the law and judiciary department of Maharashtra government, I should get that notification."
By Vidya : More than one-and-a-half years after the drunken driving Eastern Freeway accident in Mumbai in which advocate called Janhavi Gadkar killed 2 people, the trial against her is yet to start. After the family of victims -- taxi driver Mohammed Sayyed and passenger Salim Sabuwala -- wrote many letters to the Maharashtra chief minister's office seeking that a special public prosecutor be appointed in the case, the Maharashtra government appointed Rohini Salian to the post sometime around the beginning of this year.
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The victims' families were hoping that the process of framing of charges against Janhavi Gadkar would finally begin and trial in the case start. However, the case has again been adjourned as Salian says, "I have not got the notification of my appointment as the special public prosecutor in the case. If such an order has been passed by the law and judiciary department of Maharashtra government, I should get that notification. I have told the investigating officer about this."
Also read | Mumbai hit-and-run: Jahanvi Gadkar gets her license and car back
Irrespective of which investigating agency appoints a special public prosecutor, the procedure mandates that a notification stating the appointment be put out. However, in this case even a month after the order of law and judiciary department, the notification has not reached the lawyer.
CASE NOW ADJOURNED
Due to this delay, the case has now been adjourned to March, a development that has come as a huge setback for the families of the victims. The victims are again planning to write to the chief minister's office, hoping that such procedural delays will be curtailed and the trial against Gadkar begin soon. Victims' families believe that police has built a foolproof case against Gadkar, but this delay in appointment of a lawyer for the case will only help the accused.
According to the case papers, it was on June 9, 2015 when Gadkar drove home to Chembur from south Mumbai in a drunken state using the newly-built Eastern Freeway. Inebriated as she was, she took a wrong turn and drove back up on the south-bound carriageway. After crossing the Panjarpol tunnel, she realised that she was going the wrong way and took a dangerous U-turn right there and started driving north towards Chembur and in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic. It was at this point that she collided with the taxi, killing Sabuwala and Sayyed. Sabuwala's family was returning home after celebrating his son's good performance in exams when the collision killed the breadwinners of the two families.
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Also read | Mumbai hit-and-run case: Local court denies bail to Janhavi Gadkar
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A Russian spy ship spotted south of the U.S. Navys submarine base in Groton, Conn. earlier this week has now been spotted off Virginia.
By late Wednesday night, the ship had moved south and was spotted approximately 65 nautical miles northeast of Norfolk, Va., home to one of the nations largest naval bases. The Russian spy ship likely was returning to the Caribbean and Havana Harbor, an official told Fox News.
Reports of a Russian spy ship lurking in the Atlantic south of the sub base brought a swift response from the states congressional delegation.
On Wednesday morning, the Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov was seen about 30 miles south of U.S. Navy's primary East Coast sub base and home of the Coast Guard Academy in New London.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D. Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the presence of this spy ship has to be regarded very seriously because Russia is an increasingly aggressive adversary. It reflects a clear need to harden our defenses against electronic surveillance and cyber espionage.
The return of a Russian vessel is particularly concerning in the context of escalating Russian aggression - within days of the Russians buzzing a U.S. Navy ship in the Black Sea, as well as deploying a cruise missile in violation of our arms control treaty - which only underscores the need for an independent investigation into possible collusion between the Trump administration and Russian agents."
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he wasnt surprised a Russian spy ship would be interested in a submarine base.
I think that clearly they (the Russians) like to track submarines. We know that they do. This is not something that is brand new. Its getting a lot of coverage because I think of other Russian stories related to the Trump administration. They seek to understand how we have the best submarines in the world. And theyre made here.
The fact that we know that its there is probably a good thing and I suspect that we have some of our ships in delicate places as well. I think its getting a lot of coverage because of the presidents changed policy towards Russia, which is very different than has been sustained by other administrations. Its not that we shouldnt be talking to the Russians, but we shouldnt necessarily be embracing everything they are doing. And quite frankly, now that we understand that they have recently been active in our own elections, we should be wary of that. But that there are spy ships in the world - we shouldnt be surprised.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted Wednesday morning Russia is acting like it has a permission slip to expand influence, test limits of reach. Questions are obvious: Does it, and if so, why?
In a statement released after his tweet, Murphy said, While this is not wholly unprecedented, its part of a series of aggressive actions by Russia that threaten U.S. national security and the security of our allies. Just yesterday, news broke that Russia violated an Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Coupled with escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine and Russian jets buzzing a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea, Putin clearly thinks the Trump administration has given him a permission slip to flex his muscles. President Trump and his administration must end their silence and immediately respond to these threats to our national security.
The Russian ship is armed with surface-to-air missiles, but its main function is to intercept communications and collect data on U.S. Navy sonar capability. This was the furthest north the Viktor Leonov had ever traveled up the Eastern Seaboard.
A U.S. defense official told the Associated Press the Russian intelligence-collection ship made a port call in Cuba prior to moving north along the East Coast. The ship was seen off of Delaware on Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., whose district includes the submarine base, said the Russian spy ship patrolling 30 miles off the coast of Groton and the sub base underscores the very real threat posed by a resurgent Russia. This unacceptable, aggressive action, combined with the buzzing of U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea yesterday, is a clear indication that Russia is testing the resolve of the new administration. I have total confidence in our Navys vigilant, responsible readiness, but the White House needs to move past their infatuation with Putin and treat him like the serious threat to global peace that he has been for the last five years.
Courtney said Anyone who would loiter off the coast of Connecticut is not doing it because of the great climate and weather; its freezing out there. They are obviously doing it with aggressive intent.
Courtney assured Connecticut residents that we are are top of the situation with our Navy team down here in Washington. However, it is a reminder that the Russian government and the investment they have put into their Navy fleet is not a friendly gesture in terms of creating a system of global peace ans security. And this administration needs to wake up and recognize that and move on to bipartisan effort to respond to this threat.
U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., echoed Courtney view the ships close presence near the U.S. shore should be a wake-up call for the Trump admistration.
Russias escalating aggression is a serious national security threat. Yet again, the Kremlin is testing the resolve of the Trump administration. It is long past time for the White House to stop making excuses for Vladimir Putin and respond to his acts of thuggery with the toughness our security demands.
If youre nostalgic for a simpler, notification-free mobile phone era, have we got news for you.
At the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HMD Global Oy, the Finnish manufacturer that holds the rights to the Nokia brand, unveiled four phones -- including a revamp of the beloved Nokia 3310.
The phone looks similar to its predecessor, but its smaller, has a camera and is available in various colors including red, yellow, blue and grey. HMD claims the new 3310 has 22 hours of talk time and a one-month battery life on standby. It still features Nokias iconic removable back cover and battery though, powered by an updated version of the originals S30 software. And dont worry -- it still has our beloved game, Snake.
Related: BlackBerry's Smartphone Market Share Has Reached 0 Percent
This is what consumers have been asking us for, and so we decided that wed just do it and have some fun with it, said Florian Seiche, president of HMD. Unlike the 17-year-old original that used to cost someone approximately $150, the new phone is priced around $50 and will be released during the second quarter of 2017.
Nokia originally launched the phone in 2000 and discontinued the model in 2005. During that time, it sold 126 million units and was the top-selling phone in the world. The first iPhone would arrive on the scene two years later, forever transforming the mobile market.
When HMD teased the announcement in mid-February, many people expressed excitement about the 3310s resurrection -- at least those who dont already have one in a drawer somewhere.
The Nokia 3310 is making a comeback after 17 years! It still has 30% battery left pic.twitter.com/TwvdeDpnaB Tony Shepherd (@tonysheps) February 15, 2017
#OhSnap: Nokia is going to re-launch their famous and loved Nokia 3310!!! More details will be revealed at the Mobile World Congress ??? pic.twitter.com/Z3Ue5rvLSx Karla (@KarlaAguas) February 15, 2017
Nokia 3310 is making a come back? Doesn't everyone still have 1 in the draw in the kitchen that's full of batteries, random keys and stuff? Benny (@Beno_ldn) February 15, 2017
Apparently The Nokia 3310 being re-release! Endless hours of snake back ??? pic.twitter.com/bEPFJVIs64 Alice Warwick (@Warwick96) February 15, 2017
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NORWALK Connecticut Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowic, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, and other legislators representing southwestern Fairfield County, will attend Norwalk Community Colleges annual Legislative Breakfast.
Norwalk Community College is one of 17 institutions comprising the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system. NCC says repeated state budget cuts have reduced staff and faculty, trimmed library hours and student services, and forced the college to do more with less.
Sasikala, who will be lodged at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara jail, has requested the authorities for certain facilities at her cell. Home-made food, mineral water and a separate toilet are some of her demands.
By Rohini Swamy: VK Sasikala is on her way to Bengaluru where she will surrender before a trial court a day after the Supreme Court convicted her in a disproportionate assets case.
The AIADMK General Secretary, who was locked in a week-long bitter battle with caretaker CM O Panneerselvam for chief minister's post, asked for more time to surrender, however, the Supreme Court rejected her appeal.
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MUST READ: Sasikala's enigma: From a video shop-owner to Tamil Nadu CM-in-waiting
"You know the meaning of the word immediately?" the Supreme Court judge told Sasikala's counsel who desperately tried to convince the top court.
After the Supreme Court's tough stance, the action has now shifted to Bengaluru where Sasikala will surrender later in the day.
Meanwhile, Sasikala, who will be lodged at the Parappana Agrahara jail, has requested the authorities for certain facilities in her cell.
A request letter from her says she needs home-made food as she suffers from blood sugar. A western commode-type toilet, 24-hour running hot water, mineral water, are some of her requests.
According to jail authorities, Sasikala will be lodged in a separate cell which will have a cot and a TV. She will also be provided with a helper in the jail and provided food similar to other inmates.
WATCH: Sasikala gives Jayalalithaa a thumbs down
ALSO READ:
Sasikala brings back two relatives into AIADMK. Jayalalithaa expelled them in 2011
4 options for Governor Rao while convict Sasikala goes from Poes to prison
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Astros win second World Series title in six seasons behind dramatic moonshot
The Astros beat the Phillies in six games to win the World Series, thanks to Yordan Alvarez's 450-foot three-run home run in the clincher.
Sasikala, who is likely surrender before a Bengaluru court today after her conviction in the disproportionate assets case, revoked expulsion of TTV Dhinakaran and Venkatesh.
By India Today Web Desk: Years after they were expelled from the party by late CM J Jayalalithaa, VK Sasikala today brought back two of her relatives back in the AIADMK. Sasikala, who is likely surrender before a Bengaluru court today after her conviction in the disproportionate assets case, revoked expulsion of TTV Dhinakaran and Venkatesh.
The two leaders were expelled by Jayalalithaa in 2012. Dhinakaran has now been appointed deputy general secretary of Tamil Nadu's ruling party.
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"TTV Dhinakaran and Dr Venkatesh expressed their regret and apologised by meeting me and through letter for their for the activities and requested me to re-induct them into the party. They have been re-inducted into the party," a statement released by AIADMK General Secretary said.
Dhinakaran was seen accompanying Sasikala when she met Governor C Vidyasagar Rao last week to stake claim for Tamil Nadu CM's post.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has refused to grant any relief to VK Sasikala asking her to surrender immediately before Bengaluru court. The top court had convicted Sasikala and two of her relatives in the disproportionate assets case on Tuesday (February 14). Sasikala, 61, will have to serve the four-year jail term awarded to her by a special Bengaluru court in the 21-year-old case. She was also fined Rs 10 crore.
WATCH: From Poes to prison: With Sasikala convicted, will Governor Rao order floor test now?
ALSO READ:
4 options for Governor Rao while convict Sasikala goes from Poes to prison
Sasikala DA case: All you need to know
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While offering prayers at Jayalalithaa's memorial at Chennai's Marina Beach, Sasikala did something which was not the norm.
By India Today Web Desk: AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala stopped at former Tamil Nadu chief minister late J Jayalalithaa's memorial on her way from Chennai to Bengaluru today for surrendering before court. Sasikala will be jailed in Bengaluru after reaching the magistrate's court.
However, while offering prayers at Jayalalithaa's memorial at Chennai's Marina Beach, Sasikala did something which was not the norm. With her eyes flooded with tears and lips muttering something, she hit the memorial three times at short intervals.
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Sasikala's supporters claimed that she took an oath by "thumping" at Jayalalithaa's grave. AIADMK's tweet said her three thumps were for three vows: "I will overcome hurdle(s), treachery and (the) plotting (against me)."
Also Read: What Sasikala's life is going to be like in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail
This thumping by Sasikala was unprecedented. Her expression was a mix of several sentiments - anger, grief, fear, haplessness and frustration.
While delivering its judgment on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had ordered that Sasikala be sent to jail "forthwith". However, she spent the day with her supporters and AIADMK MLAs holed up in Golden Bay Resort near Chennai. She came out of the Resort late at night after installing E Palanisamy as leader of AIADMK's Legislature Party.
Today, she sought more time from the Supreme Court to surrender. However, her plea was rejected. She was directed to surrender in Bengaluru immediately.
However, Sasikala's detractors accused her of expressing anger against the former Tamil Nadu chief minister for landing her in trouble. Sasikala and two of her relatives have been convicted by the Supreme Court for being accomplice in the Rs 65.65 crore disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa.
Sasikala has twice spent time in jail in the case for 21 days. She will be lodged in Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Jail and will spend the remaining three years, 11 months and nine days in jail to serve the court's sentence.
Whether Sasikala's thumping at Jayalalithaa's grave was an oath-taking or an act of frustration and anger, it will certainly remain etched in the memory of her supporters and detractors alike for a long time to come.
ALSO READ:From Poes garden to Prison: How Sasikala Natarajan became late AIADMK supremo's 'asset keeper'
ALSO READ:VK Sasikala gets jail in DA case, loses Tamil Nadu CM bid: The story so far
ALSO READ:4 options for Governor Rao while convict Sasikala goes from Poes to prison
ALSO READ:Sasikala conviction: Setting up 10 firms in a day shows conspiracy to launder, says Supreme Court
WATCH VIDEO
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In June 2017, the Village of Glen Carbon will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the date of its incorporation (Quasquicentennial). This is the fourth part of a series of articles dedicated to telling the rich story of people and events that contributed to the development of the community throughout its history.
The village of Glen Carbons heritage is closely tied to the railroads that ran through it. Although these railroads have been abandoned long ago, todays citizens are reminded of this great heritage as they use the Glen Carbon Heritage Trail along the old Illinois Central right-of-way. This trail was one of the first 500 Rail-to-Trail conversions in the United States.
The fact that the Judy Creek Valley provided a natural low gradient route for railways to climb from the Mississippi Valley to the top of the bluffs and the level of the Great Illinois Prairie guaranteed the village a position as a Railway Gateway.
The first railroad across Illinois was the Toledo, Delphos and Burlington (TD&B), a narrow gauge railroad company. Narrow gauge had three feet between the rails instead of four feet eight inches, which made it less expensive to construct using lightweight cars and engines. In time, it became clear that the narrow gauge railway did not endure heavy freight traffic as well as the standard gauge. Although construction began on the narrow gauge railway in the 1870s, financial troubles led to problems and an investor with a standard gauge rail company purchased a portion of the TD&B and the name was changed to Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City (TStL&KC). After several ownership changes the name became the Nickel Plate Road (NKP), commonly known today as the Nickel Plate Trail.
Located on the north side of Main Street in Glen Carbon, the Nickel Plate Road became a first class, fast freight and passenger railroad. It served the St. Louis Press Brick Company in hauling its product to St. Louis, and passengers for many years. The last Nickel Plate passenger train came through Glen Carbon in 1959.
The second railroad to come through Glen Carbon was the Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Line, in the late 1880s. This line was formed by three segments owned by different entities: from Peoria to Jacksonville, Jacksonville to Litchfield, and Litchfield to St. Louis. Through many changes, the sections from Litchfield through Madison to St. Louis became the Litchfield and Madison (L&M) line. The L&M tracks were built through Glen Carbon a few yards north of the Nickel Plate tracks. Throughout most of its service, the main cargo of the L&M was coal. During the Depression, robbing the coal train was a frequent activity to provide heat and fuel for cook stoves. Glen Carbon old-timers often told of men jumping onto the coal cars as the train slowed going up the incline up out of the valley towards Edwardsville. Coal would be thrown off the train to a waiting accomplice. In 1958, the L&M was merged into the Chicago and Northwestern System.
The third railroad through Glen Carbon was the Illinois Central (IC), which was built out of Glen Carbon in the late 1880s. The Illinois Central was prominent in serving Madison Coal Corporation mines with coal trains as well as providing passenger service. The last IC passenger train came through Glen Carbon in May 1968.
The Illinois Central and Nickel Plate passenger trains delivered mail to Glen Carbon daily. In the morning, a mail bag was thrown off the Nickel Plate train as it came from Edwardsville, and a mail agent would collect it. In the afternoon, a bag of outgoing mail was placed in a carrier pouch and hoisted onto a mail hook along the tracks. The Illinois Central train would grab the pouch while throwing off another bag. After the passenger trains stopped, a mail carrier had to drive to Edwardsville to take the outgoing mail and bring back the incoming.
Railroads commonly used each others tracks, and Glen Carbon was no different. The three tracks in Glen Carbon began to run parallel and merge just west of present day Fire Station #1 on Main Street by the Covered Bridge. This complicated routing of trains necessitated the construction of a Tower House around 1900, which controlled the movement of trains through messages, signals and switches. The Tower had to be manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of the few female tower operators was Edith Pat (Raffaelle) Seaton, a Glen Carbon native.
There were the occasional derailments. Two such accidents resulted in the destruction of the Tower, which had to be rebuilt. One of those, the Gasoline Wreck, happened when gasoline tank cars left the tracks, and residents of the area who had automobiles were quick to take advantage of the spilled gasoline to use in their cars. The other was the Pacific Fruit Express as the cars were loaded with fresh peaches and the wreck was known thereafter by locals as the Peach Wreck. With the end of train traffic through Glen and the removal of the tracks, the Tower House was no longer in use. In the summer of 1983, it was torn down.
Glen Carbon boasted two railroad depots that served the passenger trains: one off of Old Meridian Road on the Nickel Plate tracks (sometimes called the Clover Leaf) and one off of Collinsville Avenue on the Illinois Central. At its peak, as many as twenty-two passenger trains served the depots. It was very common to travel to St. Louis and come back the same day.
In addition to the railroads, there was an electric streetcar line on the east side of Glen Carbon that traversed the road bed that is now Route 159 until October 1928. The East St. Louis and Suburban Railway was known locally as the Interurban or the Yellow Hammer due to the yellow cars and the rough ride. There were stops at Glen Crossing Road where it now intersects with Route 159 and the Cottonwood Station where Walgreens is presently.
In February of 1918, a severe blizzard hit the area stranding the last car of the evening at Cottonwood. With the electric lines down and snow covered tracks, the passengers began burning the boards from the station to keep warm. In the early morning hours, a light was spotted from the Otto Kriege farmhouse about a quarter mile away. One Passenger made his way there, and was able to get Mr. Kriege to help rescue the passengers.
The Glen Carbon Heritage Museum has railroad artifacts and detailed scale models of both the IC and NKP Depots and the Tower House.
The next article will describe the many businesses that existed along Main Street.
For seven years now, Jim and Susan Seubert have been turning their split-level home on West Lake Drive into a haunted mansion.
Their Hotel Eville features black spider webs galore, and dozens of life-sized animated figures and skeletons. And more. Each year they try to make it bigger and better.
Its crazy what they do to this house. Each room has something in it, said Trent West.
West is the president of Metro East Community Rotary Club, one of three Rotary clubs in the Edwardsville area. Jim Seubert had been a member of Goshen Rotary formally Land of Goshen Rotary until a couple of years ago. He knew some of the Metro East Community Rotary members and decided to switch his membership and join them.
The organization decided to set a goal of raising $1,000 and giving it to the Edwardsville American Legions Gifts to Yanks program.
The Seuberts, who had never charged admission to their haunted house, asked those who visited during the Halloween season if they would donate to the cause.
We told them if you didnt want to donate you didnt have to, West said. But one of us would sit out front and tell everybody that while its free to go in we accept donations and all the donations would be given to the American Legions to help support veterans. We had multiple people give 20-dollar bills.
The fundraiser fell just short of $1,000, though several members chipped in so they could meet the goal.
The money was turned over to the Edwardsville American Legion.
They go around to the nursing homes and rehab facilities and find veterans in need there and give them a list of potential Christmas presents, West said. Veterans choose one and the legion goes out and buys it. Our money went to recoup the cost.
Metro East Community Rotary Club members took time out to wrap the presents, and helped deliver them in mid December to three different facilities in the area.
The organization was chartered on Jan. 28, 2015. At the time, there were 25 charter members; today its a bit less. Compared to Land of Goshen Rotary and the Edwardsville Rotary Club, thats small.
In November they sponsored the first annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser at the Wildey Theatre, to raise money for the Glen-Ed Pantry. Empty Bowls is a grassroots movement to help end hunger. It has been adopted across this country and has now spread to several other nations. The event raised $1,500. More than 20 local restaurants came and donated their time. Theyre planning to do it again this year. Our goal is to get more restaurants and do two floors at the Wildey, West said. We learned a lot. This year we should do even better. Thats been one of our biggest fundraisers, along with Hotel Eville.
Metro East Community Rotary Club draws members from Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Maryville but also from Worden and other smaller communities in the area. They have two big projects going on now. The club recently received a $2,000 grant from the district organization to supply books to a school in Haiti. They have also received another $2,000 grant from the Dictionary Project to donate books to third graders.
Were busy, West said. Were small and mighty, I like to say.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor Dr. Randy Pembrook demonstrated his passion for developing professionals, scholars and leaders who shape a changing world, as the institutions mission states, during his January travels to Costa Rica.
Pembrook spent approximately one week in San Jose and outlying communities volunteering his time for the betterment of local citizens. It was his 12th consecutive year participating in service work in Costa Rica, with students and faculty from Baker University and Washburn University.
Im not sure I conceive it as leading by example, rather, that Im doing what I am called to do and hoping that others will want to join in a meaningful, transformative experience, Pembrook said. Basically, we go to help others. We provide health screenings, build structures, and give away clothing and food.
On a personal level, Im always reminded not to take what we have for granted, and how one individual can make a difference in the world. Professionally, I come away with improved language skills, a better knowledge of other cultures and an appreciation for the academic disciplines that participate, including nursing, construction, engineering and dentistry.
In collaboration with SIUE leaders from multiple disciplines, Pembrook is eager to increase SIUEs involvement in this type of High Impact Community Engagement Practice (HICEP) to further engage students in applying their academic knowledge and skills in a way that makes a positive impact within communities.
From Jan. 7-11, the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicines (SIU SDM) Dean Bruce Rotter, DMD, and Kenneth Rawson, DMD, interim associate dean for academic affairs, also traveled to Central America to explore partnership opportunities between the School and those serving the people of Costa Rica.
Our goal is to provide an opportunity for our students to be immersed in treating and interacting with patients of another culture, said Rotter. It is important for student dentists to become culturally aware and sensitive to the needs of others. Establishment of a partnership of this type would provide a full immersion experience for those students, while providing tangible benefits to a needy and deserving population.
Our desire is to set up and maintain a clinic where students, faculty and alumni can provide both emergency and ongoing care to a patient population who would otherwise have minimal to no access to such care, added Rawson. We hope to have logistics in place for a January 2018 program start.
In addition to the SIU SDM establishing a presence in Costa Rica, Pembrook is actively working with SIUEs Office of International Affairs and leaders of the Schools of Nursing and Engineering to expand international experiential learning opportunities for students in other disciplines.
Our goals in the School of Nursing are to enrich students learning and expand our reach in new, incredible ways, said Laura Bernaix, PhD, dean of the SIUE School of Nursing. We don't want to limit our impact on health to only this region, so to eventually participate in an experience such as this would be a great opportunity for our students. Dr. Pembrooks commitment to the people of Costa Rica is admirable, and we are anxious to become a part of this work.
The School of Engineering educational experience is amplified by the multitude of experiential learning opportunities available to our students, added Chris Gordon, PhD, associate dean of the SIUE School of Engineering. We are eager to increase our global impact as a School through international partnerships and experiential learning opportunities. We are excited to participate in this endeavor for the benefit of our students.
According to Mary Weishaar, PhD, executive director of the Office of International Affairs, the SIUE School of Pharmacy is already in the process of pursuing a partnership with the University of Costa Rica.
Along with programs facilitated through Chancellor Pembrook, a formal partnership would allow SIUE to broaden experiences to include collaboration with faculty and students from Costa Rica, Weishaar said. Currently, we have continuing programs through the School of Pharmacy in the form of faculty-led programs, specifically studying in the area of medicinal plants and animals. We also send students to Costa Rica at Veritas University to further their study of the Spanish language.
In 2016, more than 200 SIUE students participated in study abroad in 20 countries. With the strong support of Pembrook, these life-altering experiential learning experiences will be further enhanced.
Without exception, students who study and travel abroad return with a global perspective, Weishaar explained. When our students engage globally, they are likely to view and impact the lives of others in a positive manner. We are always working to increase opportunities for our students in study abroad.
Pembrook plans to coordinate a trip to Costa Rica with University leaders for further exploration of partnership opportunities during March 2018.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi Rivers rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 14,000.
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Linkedin Good Indonesian Food (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017 15:21 2089 a291276806121264c0bd211cde027a14 3 Food es-pisang-ijo,snacks,Traditional-cake,Makassar,bubur-sumsum,Warung-Bravo,food,#food,restaurant,#restaurant,dessert,South-Sulawesi Free
Established in 1986, Warung Bravo is recognized by the residents of Makassar in South Sulawesi as one of the best places to enjoy es pisang ijo (shaved ice with banana wrapped in green-colored flour dough).
Well, at least according to Pak Irwan, a local who kept me company as we visited one of the most celebrated eateries in Makassar. Warung Bravo has quite a large local following; it has also seen its fair share of tourists who are here on holiday. Although it offers various delights, most go crazy for its es pisang ijo, said Irwan.
Besides the already famous duo coto (beef soup) and konro (beef rib soup), Makassar is also renowned for its es pisang ijo. I certainly did not to want to waste my opportunity in there, so I went straight to Warung Bravo. Rather small in size, the joint is housed in a shoplot on Jl. Andalas and has a capacity of around 15 to 20 customers.
Its unassuming, run-of-the-mill restaurant-like appearance belies its cozy environment perfect for putting your feet up while indulging yourself with the local treats on offer, which include nasi campur (mixed rice), nasi goreng (fried rice), mie pangsit (wonton noodles), soto ayam (chicken soup), sate (satay) and rawon (black nut beef soup). However, es pisang ijo and es pallubutung (shaved ice with banana) remain as its specialties and I ordered them both.
Read also: Sipping luscious coffee in Manggar's legendary Warung Kopi Anui
The two desserts are quite similar in appearance. The difference lies in the banana used. Es pallubutung features plain banana, while the banana that you find in es pisang ijo is wrapped in green-colored flour dough. Both are served with bubur sumsum (rice pudding) and a splash of sweet syrup in one bowl. The use of a banana that has yet to fully ripen lends a rather solid texture to the proceedings.
Its bubur sumsum was top notch; I could feel its velvety texture and a hint of savoriness dancing on my palate. The syrup Warung Bravo utilizes local Makassar syrup brought a unique sweet flavor with a very distinct aroma to the party. You will not encounter such a sensational combination between savory and sweet anywhere else.
Open every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., one of the employees there informed me that Warung Bravo has a second branch in Makassar that was launched not too long ago.
Explore more Indonesian cuisine here. (kes)
Jl. Andalas, Makassar, South Sulawesi
Contact: 0411 361 5180
Open daily from 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Rp 40,000 (US$3) per person
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 Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, his wife Veronica Tan and their son Nicholas cast their votes on Wednesday at Polling Station 54, located around 350 meters from their home in Pantai Mutiara, Pluit, North Jakarta.
Walking over to the polling station in matching plaid shirts, Ahok and his family arrived at 9:41 a.m. After registering with polling station officials, Ahok entered the polling booth. He re-emerged after a couple of minutes and showed his ink-marked little finger to journalists.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) set the voting period from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Numerous other Pantai Mutiara residents registered to vote at the polling station did not leave the place after voting, but instead waited for the chance of a picture with Ahok.
All along the way from his home to the polling station and back, the governor, who is running in the election to remain in office, was busy having his picture taken with other people.
I hope all Jakarta citizens can go to polling stations in their respective areas today to cast their votes, because our votes will determine the future of our city. [...] If you find any fraud or cheating [you] should report it, and well process [the violations], Ahok said right after voting.
After voting, Ahok is scheduled to go to the private residence of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri in Kebagusan, South Jakarta, before visiting his campaign headquarters Rumah Lembang in Menteng, Central Jakarta, to watch quick counts of the election.
I will go to Kebagusan for lunch with Bu Megawati. Maybe Pak OSO [Hanura Party chairman Oesman Sapta Odang] will also join us, Ahok said. (ebf)
By Press Trust of India: governance
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court today referred to a Constitution Bench a batch of pleas filed by the AAP government against the high court verdict which had held that Delhi is not a state and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) is its administrative head.
A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and R K Agrawal said that important questions of law and the Constitution are involved in the matter and it should be adjudicated upon by a Constitution Bench.
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However, it did not frame questions to be deliberated upon by the Constitution Bench, to be set up by Chief Justice J S Khehar, in the matter and asked the Centre and the Delhi government to argue their case before the larger bench.
The AAP government told the court that it will mention the matter before the Chief Justice for early hearing before the larger bench as governance in Delhi is hampered due to the dispute. (More) PTI ABA SJK RKS SC
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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
The campaign team of Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan says ongoing quick counts suggest that Jakarta residents want a new leader.
Sohibul Iman, the chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which backs Anies candidacy, said Wednesday that an exit poll held by his party showed that Anies was ahead of incumbent Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.
"There is strong indication that the public is not satisfied with the current leadership. Anies and Sandiaga Uno are here to meet the challenge," Sohibul said at a media conference. Sandiaga is Anies running mate.
Wednesday's media conference was held at the headquarters of the Gerindra Party, which also backs Anies, in South Jakarta. The conference was also attended by Gerindra patron Prabowo Subianto, Anies and Sandiaga.
Sohibul said they would wait for the General Elections Commissions official announcement of the results before deciding their next steps.
"We need the official KPU results because exit polls cannot be used to determine the winner. Exit polls are only tools to make sure theres no foul play in the counting," he continued.
Various quick counts and exit polls indicate that there will be a runoff pitting Anies and Ahok against each other while Agus will crash in the first round. (evi)
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Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
The newly reelected Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali has defended his record as leader of the judicial branch despite the courts dismal record in curbing corruption, which many analysts have said got worse on his watch.
Hatta said his ability to get reelected as chief justice with more than two-thirds of the total votes cast by fellow justices, 38 out of 47 votes, proved that he had a reputation for good leadership and integrity. Hatta also insisted that no machinations took place behind the scene to secure his reelection and that he won the position in a transparent vote.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto has said Indonesia will try to strengthen bilateral cooperation with the United States to boost trade between the two countries.
For Indonesia, America is one of our strategic markets. Therefore, trade between the two countries should be increased, Airlangga said in a statement after meeting with US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan Jr. on Monday.
During the meeting, the minister said he was informed that the US government preferred to cooperate with countries through bilateral agreements.
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Dogiyai, Papua Wed, February 15, 2017
No security issues were reported in the Papuan regency of Dogiyai during voting hours on Wednesday, despite the area being considered prone to conflict.
Based on observations we made on the ground as well as reports from every district, voting is running safely and orderly, Adj. Sr. Comr. Semmy Ronny Thabaa, the chief of Nabire Police which also oversees Dogiyai, told The Jakarta Post in Monemani, Dogiyai, on Wednesday.
Residents in 11 regencies and cities in Papua as well as 90 other regions across Indonesia cast their votes in the countrys second-ever simultaneous regional elections on Wednesday.
(Read also: Police chief vows stern security approach on election day)
There were concerns about security in Dogiyai after the candidacies of two candidate pairs, namely Apedius Mote-Freddi Annu and incumbent Herman Auwe-Stefanus Wakey, had been annulled by local election organizers.
The remaining four pairs in the race are Yacubos Dumapa-Oskar Makai, Anton Yowau-Yanuaris Tigi, Fransesco Tebay-Benediktus Kotouki and Markus Wayne-Angki Goo.
Police deployed 500 personnel to secure the election, including officers seconded from areas outside Papua.
The election in Dogiyai adopts the noken system, where tribal leaders lodge one vote to represent every member of their respective community and all the ballots are placed in a noken, a traditional Papuan woven bag.
As a result of this system, the voting process was completed in just a few hours.
There are 129,907 registered eligible voters in Dogiyai, called to cast votes at 292 polling stations. (bbs)
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Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Pati Wed, February 15, 2017
Floods inundated several areas in Pati and Semarang, Central Java, on Wednesday.
Residents in Mintobasuki village, Pati, who have refused to leave their homes, have had to travel around by boat for the past two weeks, including to get to polling stations as they cast their ballots for a new regent.
The road that links Sukolilo to Gabus was also inundated causing a truck to veer off the road into nearby rice fields.
This area is prone to floods so every house has a boat, said Munawaroh, a resident of Mintobasuki.
Another resident, Kartono, said he went to the polling station by boat as the area around the polling station was also flooded.
Flooding also hit Tembalang in Semarang and Banyumeneng in Demak. No casualties have been reported in the flooding. (wit)
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih and Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017 09:53 2090 a291276806121264c0bd211cde010bea 4 Business Freeport-Indonesia,mining-permit-concept,mining,copper,energy-and-mineral-resources-ministry Free
Gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, the countrys biggest taxpayer and oldest foreign investor, is in for another rough ride as it struggles to fight the governments demand to divest controlling ownership and resolve allegations of legislative contempt.
Freeports headache intensified last week when the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry claimed the firm had agreed to convert its contract of work (CoW) to a special mining license (IUPK), and required it to divest 51 percent of its shares and construct a smelter.
(Read also: Freeport says it hasnt agreed on new contract scheme)
In exchange, the government allowed the company to resume its exports of copper concentrate to prevent massive layoffs in its operations in the backwater regency of Timika in Papua, where Freeport has been operating for more than five decades.
The government has claimed its recent policy to continue the relaxation of raw and partly processed mineral exports, which many analysts and politicians deemed as against the law, has profited Freeport because the company can continue with exports despite its questionable commitment to construct a smelter in Indonesia to process its products.
While Freeport has indicated it will fight against the share divestment while agreeing to other demands set out by the government, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan has not blinked and insists the company has to comply.
Why are they refusing the divestment rule? The shares will later be bought by the government or the governments partners. What is exactly the reason behind the companys reluctance? Jonan said on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace.
Freeport, a local unit of politically wired US mining giant Freeport McMoRan Inc. (FCX), said it would not agree to the contract conversion unless the government provided a long-term investment stability assurance, consisting of fiscal and legal certainties, in accordance to its CoW signed in 1991.
Freeport Indonesia will keep working with the government to find the best possible solution for both sides. However, no agreement has yet to be made as of today, Freeport Indonesia spokesperson Riza Pratama said.
Under the CoW, Freeport is required to sell 51 percent of its stake to Indonesian entities by 2011, or 45 percent if it has sold a minimum of 20 percent in the local stock market.
However, a string of regulations were issued along the way that eventually allowed Freeport to dodge the requirement to this date, where very few officials have made a fuss. FCX owns 90.64 percent of the company, while merely 9.36 percent is owned by the Indonesian government.
An official involved in the matter said FCX CEO Richard Adkerson was in Jakarta to negotiate a deal, allegedly to get around the 51 percent divestment requirement.
Freeport will comply with most of the requirements, but not the 51 percent share sale. They will fight hard against that, said the official.
The official is aware that Freeport may resort to taking Indonesia to international arbitration if it cannot resolve the divestment issues, and that if Indonesias upper courts reaffirm a verdict by the Papua court to demand the company pay US$469 million in water taxes and penalties in the province dating back to 2011.
Freeports headquarters feel that Indonesia has disrupted its operations and treated them unfairly. They are mulling over taking us to arbitration, said the official.
Riza, however, denied Freeport would resort to the measure. We have not thought about taking the case to arbitration, he said.
(Read also: Freeport lands first blow in smelter saga)
As the government refuses to soften its stance, Freeports plight has taken a new twist on Tuesday as House of Representatives Commission VII, which oversees energy and mining, prohibited Freeport Indonesia CEO Chappy Hakim from attending a hearing with the commission.
The decision may fuel overwhelming House support for the government to take sterner measures against Freeport and it may also shed Freeports chances in receiving help to resolve its problems.
In a press conference on Tuesday, the Commission VII demanded Chappy to publicly apologize for his alleged contempt against legislators while calling on Freeports board of commissioners to reconsider his position as the companys president director.
As an institution, we demand Freeport to dismiss Chappy. His action is not only contempt of [the House] but also an insult to the state, said Commission VII member Yulian Gunhar of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
During a hearing with the commission on Feb. 9, Chappy allegedly pointed his finger at Mukhtar Tompo, a commission member from the Hanura Party faction, and threatened him after being bombarded with questions about the companys smelter development progress.
Mukhtar filed a report on Chappy to the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), regarding four articles in the Criminal Code (KUHP) related to insulting authorities, extortion and violent intimidation.
I was just asking several questions on the new smelter project, Mukhtar said.
However, at the end of the hearing, when I approached him and attempted to shake his hand, his face suddenly went red and he yelled, Ive always been consistent! Im warning you!
Freeport has denied the allegations, saying that no actions took place that could be considered criminal.
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017 10:06 2090 a291276806121264c0bd211cde011035 4 City ahok,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,#ahok,opposition,Indonesian-politics Free
Amid escalating support at the House of Representatives for an inquiry into the disputed return to office of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, allies of the government have prepared moves to block the plan.
Led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which supported the incumbent in the Jakarta election, the parties that support President Joko Jokowi Widodo said the move to investigate the Home Ministry for allowing Ahok to keep his job, despite being on trial for blasphemy, was aimed at ousting the president.
According to Article 83 of the 2014 Regional Administration Law, a regional head or deputy regional head who is charged with a crime that carries a minimum sentence of five years, should be suspended.
Ahok is facing a maximum sentence of five years for his charges, which leads some to interpret that he has to be suspended until the trial is over.
Initiated by the Democratic Party, which has nominated Agus Harimurti, the son of party chairman and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the Jakarta gubernatorial race, the supporters of the inquiry said the governments decision not to suspend Ahoks was an example of government bias toward the governor, who is seeking reelection.
The House can summon the Home Minister who is in charge of the matter to get the explanation they want in a hearing instead of hastily exercising the inquiry right to initiate an investigation, lawmaker Jhonny Plate from the NasDem Party said on Tuesday.
The deputy secretary of the NasDem faction at the House of Representatives described the proposal for an inquiry as an overreaction that would only distract Jokowi from focussing on running the country.
Initiating an inquiry amid the tension of the Jakarta election will only divide the nation. It will also open the door to impeaching the President, Jhonny claimed.
Leading members of other parties in the government coalition have expressed similar concerns, lambasting the initiators for inappropriately bringing the discussion into the legislative institution and making it a national issue.
Such concerns have also been expressed by the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP), which unlike other pro-government parties have endorsed Agus in the Jakarta election.
According to the PPPs secretary-general Arsul Sani, questions regarding the return of Ahok should be directly addressed to Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, who made the decision, in hearings. Thus, we disagree with exercising our inquiry rights to ask for an investigation of the matter, he said.
In addition to NasDem, the PKB and PPP, opposition to an inquiry also comes from the Golkar and Hanura parties, as well as the PDI-P.
However, coalition partner the National Mandate Party (PAN) believes differently, as the party has seen a growing number of its lawmakers supporting the call for an inquiry. As of Tuesday, 18 PAN lawmakers had signed the inquiry demand along with 82 politicians from the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
PAN lawmaker Yandri Susanto, a member of House Commission II overseeing regional administrations, said he supported the investigation to help correct the government when it made a mistake.
Yandri said he shared the opinion of party colleagues, believing that PAN as a party was also on the same side. PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan, who is also speaker of the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) denied this. Zulkifli referred to the move by PAN lawmakers as a spontaneous reaction.
It is their right as lawmakers whether or not to support [the inquiry call]. But I dont share their stance because we havent discussed it internally, Zulkifli said.
House leaders are set to present the proposal for approval in a plenary meeting slated for next week. There will be a vote before the House announces its final decision.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution has admitted that the government-sponsored Peoples Business Credit (KUR) scheme has not reached farmers, who actually needed such a soft loan facility to boost agricultural productivity.
Banks were still reluctant to disburse funds to farmers, because many farmers only cultivated lands owned by other people. They (the plots of land) are not bankable, said Darmin, as reported by tempo.co on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, Darmin said, banks were the only financial institutions with the capability to distribute the funds.
Banks have weaknesses, but they are the only [institutions] we have [to distribute KUR funds], Darmin said during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission XI, which oversees financial and bank affairs, in Jakarta on Tuesday.
(Read also: Govt to allow cooperatives to join KUR program)
Many parties propose other institutions, like cooperatives or other financial institutions, to distribute KUR funds, but Darmin said banks were still the preferred option, for several reasons. First, banks have large networks across the country and second, banks were good at managing funds accountably and sustainably.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati made similar statements, but she saw another reason behind the failure of the KUR program to reach the people that actually needed such facilities, namely the limited financial resources of the state.
It is because we do not have enough resources to meet all the demand, she said, adding that the government would continue to evaluate KUR programs for better distribution. (bbn)
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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
The Communications and Information Ministry has urged Facebook to open a proper local office to enable it to adequately tackle complaints about fake news and negative content that spreads through the social media platform.
Minister Rudiantara conveyed the request during a meeting with the Asia Pacific-based delegation led by Facebooks head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, on Tuesday, saying that the existence of an official office in Indonesia would enable the firm to better respond to content complaints and improve communication with the government.
Facebook, which has up to 96 million users in Indonesia, runs a small local representative office, while its regional office is located in Singapore.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Thousand Islands regency has met with state-run oil and gas company PT Pertamina over plans to build an airplane fueling station in the southern part of the regency, an official has said.
The station will be located close to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Well offer [PT Pertamina] the opportunity to build on the Ubi islet. They will need to revitalize the islet prior to using it, Thousand Islands Regent Budi Utomo said as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Monday.
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By Press Trust of India: Mumbai/Nagpur, Feb 15 (PTI) At a time when Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is building BJPs campaign for civic polls on a transparency plank and his clean image, Shiv Sena today claimed he was indicted by a probe panel for "corruption" during his stint as Nagpur mayor in 2001.
The BJP, however, has countered the charge, saying the Bombay High Court and even the Supreme Court had not found any substance in the matter and that the allegations were part of a "tacit understanding" between Shiv Sena and Congress.
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Addressing reporters here, Sena MLC Anil Parab claimed various contracts were awarded to specific contractors only by "circumventing" the Standing Committee of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) during Fadnavis Mayoral stint in 1997-2001.
Parab said though the Chief Minister was urging voters to vote for the BJP in his name, there was a "massive corruption" during his tenure as the mayor.
"The government-appointed Nand Lal committee had submitted its report on February 27, 2001. The report contains proofs of irregularities committed by then NMC mayor and current Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis," Parab claimed.
He claimed that when Fadnavis was the mayor, some members of the standing committee "negotiated with contractors directly".
"Contracts were awarded to select contractors without inviting tenders... Corruption took place during the tenures of four former mayors namely Rajiv Gholar, Kalpana Pandey, Vasundhara Masurkar and Devendra Fadnavis," the Sena leader said.
He said criminal cases were filed against 99 corporators and the four mayors after the probe. "During the scam period, no meeting of the standing committee was held for 15 months," he said.
In September 2001, the then Congress-NCP government had dissolved the NMC, then led by the BJP-Lok Manch coalition, and disqualified all the 119 corporators after the Nand Lal committee exposed the corruption.
Senas attack came at a time when the campaigning for the civic polls, including the high-stake Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is drawing to close.
Ten municipal corporations, including BMC, are going to polls on February 21 and counting of votes is scheduled two days after. Sena and BJP, who are alliance partners in state and central governments, are contesting separately.
During canvassing, Fadnavis has been claiming Sena decided to go solo as the BJPs push for "transparent administration" was not acceptable to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. However, Senas contention is that a disagreement over allocation of seats for BMC polls led to the break-up of alliance.
Meanwhile, taking a dig at CM for his remarks that Sena has brought Mumbai at par with Patna, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the number of criminal incidents being reported in Fadnvais hometown Nagpur is more than in the Bihar capital. (MORE) PTI MM CLS NSK KIS
--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
The Haj Pilgrimage Counseling Group (KBIH) asked House of Representatives Commission VIII on Tuesday to support it with official recognition in a haj bill.
The KBIH offers haj assistance services to would-be pilgrims, providing them with training, information before departure and guidance while on haj. Currently, the KBIH offers services and charges pilgrims outside the fees set by the Religious Affairs Ministry.
House Commission VIII member from the Gerindra Party Sodik Mudjahid supports the KBIH but said the ministry had refused to list the KBIH in the haj bill because they intended to recognize and regulate the activities of the KBIH through a ministerial decree.
Public input to the commission indicates that the KBIH is very helpful in assisting pilgrims during preparation and while on haj. The ministrys reluctance to include the KBIH raises questions as to whether there is some sort of rivalry between the two, Sodik said.
(Read also: Indonesian haj victims feel abandoned by Saudi)
Qasim Shaleh, the head of the KBIH communications forum, underlined the importance of the KBIH.
KBIH data shows that 60 to 80 percent of all pilgrims use the services provided by KBIHs guides, whose trips to Mecca are not funded by the government, he added.
Qasim suggested that the government also reinstate the service quota previously allocated for KBIH guides by the ministry. Currently, there is no regulation on quotas for guides from the KBIH.
We understand the governments concern about the number of guides going to Saudi Arabia, Qasim said. (rdi/wit)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Hundreds of inmates at the Pondok Bambu Womens Penitentiary in East Jakarta cast their votes in the Jakarta gubernatorial election on Wednesday morning at a polling booth inside the prison.
The inmates appeared enthusiastic exercising their right to vote. They made a neat line before entering the booth at 7 a.m.
An inmate jailed for drug possession, who asked to remain anonymous, said she hoped the future leader would be able to solve Jakartas traffic problems.
"I hope the governor can make Jakarta free from traffic jams, although I still have to serve another 17 years in prison. I also hope the elected governor will give me more remissions," she said jokingly.
She said she was made aware of the three candidates' programs after watching election coverage on TV, which can be accessed for several hours in the morning and evening.
Of the 157 registered voters in the prison, 13 have been released.
(Read also: Patients from mental institution allowed to vote in West Jakarta)
Several well-known figures like corruption defendant Angelina Sondakh, former health minister Siti Fadilah Supari and convicted murderer Jessica Kumala Wongso are not registered to vote.
Jakarta Women's Penitentiaries head Ika Yusanti said their names were among 547 inmates registered in the temporary voters list.
"They can cast their votes from 12 p.m., or an hour before the polling booth closes, by showing their electronic identification card," Ika said. (trw)
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Linkedin Agus Dermawan T. (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Delft, the Netherlands Wed, February 15 2017
A flashback visit to the now-defunct Museum Nusantara (Archipelago Museum) in Delft, the Netherlands, is expected to inspire Indonesia to recreate the museum in its homeland.
Owing to the sluggish European economy in the past few years, Museum Nusantara in Delft, the Netherlands, was closed in January 2016, forcing the City Council of Delft to seek a solution to the handling of around 30,000 cultural artifacts and objects.
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The Communications and Information Ministry has urged Facebook to open a proper local office to enable it to adequately tackle complaints about fake news and negative content that spreads through the social media platform.
Minister Rudiantara conveyed the request during a meeting with the Asia Pacific-based delegation led by Facebooks head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, on Tuesday, saying that the existence of an official office in Indonesia would enable the firm to better respond to content complaints and improve communication with the government.
Facebook, which has up to 96 million users in Indonesia, runs a small local representative office, while its regional office is located in Singapore.
The minister [Rudiantara] asked Facebook to step up its service agreement in Indonesia and suggested that a good way to ensure better quality service was to open up an official office here, said the ministrys director general for applied informatics, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan.
This way, it will be able to familiarize itself with the Indonesian perspective and cultural context.
The Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook is taking new measures to curb the spread of fake news on its huge and influential social network, focusing on the "worst of the worst" offenders and partnering with outside fact-checkers to sort honest news reports from made-up stories that play to people's passions and preconceived notions.(AP/Matt Rourke)
(Read also: Facebook wants drones to boost Indonesia's access to internet)
Semuel added that while Facebook would be responsible for content management, the legal process in relation to the content itself would be carried out by the police and relevant institutions.
Posts promoting terrorism, for example, will require consultation and assessment by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
Both the public and the ministrys monitoring team are able to flag inappropriate content.
Fake news, including those related to the racially charged Jakarta gubernatorial election, and overall air of discrimination exhibited by members of the public online, has been plaguing the Indonesian internet recently.
In the past few months, the government has stepped up its battle against the distribution of false information. The police is committed to prosecuting any party behind the spread of the cancer of democracy.
To address the fake news and negative content issues, the ministry is set to hold a meeting with Twitter on Feb. 20.
The ministrys spokesperson, Noor Iza, noted the importance of setting up an official local office, comparing how Twitter, which also has a sizeable number of users in Indonesia, and Facebook manage problems.
Twitters responses toward the complaints and the negative content management are a lot quicker than Facebook because they have an official office here. Therefore, it has an established understanding on what impacts the country negatively, she said.
The government views that the take down response time for hoax news is ideally less than 24 hours, but the quicker, the better.
From late 2016 to the beginning of 2017, the ministry has received 1,572 complaints in relation to the negative content on social media, including hoax news on Facebook and Instagram, with 197 occurring in the first two months of this year.
The ministry said it was only able to respond to around 60 percent of all complaints in that period.
Complaints about Twitters content in the same period reached 3,252, with those related to pornography topping the list.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Hundreds of children in Jakarta are getting used to playing outdoors following the development of child-friendly integrated public spaces (RPTRAs) across the citys municipalities.
The head of the Jakarta Womens Empowerment, Family Planning and Child Protection Agency, Dien Emawati, said some 852 daily visitors enjoyed the existing 188 RPTRAs.
The city, however, needs more child-friendly spaces, she said.
Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama said on Tuesday the city planned to build 200 more RPTRAs this year through the 2017 budget and corporate funds from Corporate Social Responsibility schemes.
The administration will build 100 of them. We will encourage companies to help build the rest, Ahok said.
On Wednesday, Mahludin, 37, the head of Tebet district in South Jakarta, urged the caretakers of RPTRAs to keep the facilities clean and safe.
The playgrounds must be clean so that visitors will feel safe and comfortable."
The caretakers also have a duty to educate visitors to take care of the playgrounds, Mahludin added. (agn/dea)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Many Jakarta residents took advantage of special election-themed restaurant discounts after voting on Wednesday morning, although they said the cheaper food and beverages were not the main reason for them voting.
Caroline, a 19-year-old student, said on Wednesday that she enjoyed free ice cream offered by a shop in Kota Kasablanka mall, South Jakarta, although she did not know about the promotion at first.
"I just knew about it from my older sibling after I went to the polling station," Caroline said.
Other people, like Nicholas, a 30-year-old programmer, intentionally went to the mall with his mother to enjoy the election-day holiday after casting their votes in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta.
However, Nicholas said the promos were not the main reason they cast their votes. "It would be silly to vote just for free food and beverages," Nicholas said.
The same thought was also shared by Mustofa, 50, from Kalibata, South Jakarta who took his family for lunch.
"For us, these promotions are just complementary. We took them while they were offered. If there werent any promos, it would still be fine with us," Mustofa said.
Meanwhile, Sundi, a 21-year-old student who was enjoying a free coffee, thought the promotions were beneficial for the election itself.
"We have to show our inked fingers to get the deal. In some ways, it encourages people to cast their votes," Suni said. (kkk/evi)
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Linkedin Winda A. Charmila (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Jakartans continue to enjoy Valentines Day despite bans on celebrating it issued by several regional administrations in Greater Jakarta.
Even though she believed that it was just another day, student Lysandra, 16, felt it was nice to get a simple gift on Tuesday.
Lysandra blushed when asked about a rose she held in her hand that turned out to be from someone special. She looked shy but admitted that she was happy with the present.
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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called for national unity after he and First Lady Iriana Widodo cast their ballots in Jakartas gubernatorial election on Wednesday.
Wearing a brown, long-sleeved batik top, the president and his wife arrived at a polling station in Gambir, Central Jakarta, at 10 a.m. to join 493 Jakartans to vote at the station.
Jokowi called on supporters of all candidates running in the Jakarta election and 100 other local elections across the country to be united as brothers again after the concurrent elections on Wednesday.
"I hope that all regional elections, not only in Jakarta but in other regions, too, are full of happiness today," the President said. "Let us not allow political differences to destroy our unity; I hope that all can be united again as brothers for the sake of the country's unity after the elections."
The President refused to take questions after the press statement. He and his entourage rushed straight to the State Palace after voting.
(Read also: Elections to define democracys new course)
Jokowi kept his schedule for the election day free to spend time with his family after casting his ballot.
The government has declared Feb. 15 a national holiday to make it easier for people across the country to go to polling stations and cast their ballots.
Originally from Surakarta, Central Java, Jokowi changed his residential address and became a resident of Jakarta after winning the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election. (wit)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
President Joko Jokowi Widodo remains adamant on his plan to supply electricity to all parts of the country by the end of his term in 2019.
The instruction from the President is that we have to achieve an electrification ratio of 100 percent in 2019, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said on Wednesday, as reported by tempo.co.
One of the efforts to achieve the target was by installing solar panels in 2,500 villages across the country, said Jonan, adding that it was, however, still a great challenge for state-owned electricity company PLN.
(Read also: PLN upbeat over 35,000 MW project)
Anther instruction from the President was to keep electricity affordable, said Jonan. Affordability is important. Therefore, PLN is expected not to increase the prices. It is even expected to gradually reduce them, he added.
Therefore, Jonan said he had advised PLNs board of directors to develop power plants that use the cheapest energy resources in each region.
He cited as an example that electricity plants in North Maluku were recommended to use gas, while in Papua, power plants could use geothermal power, solar energy or mini-hydropower.
In short, in each region, the power plants have to use energy sources of the lowest price, Jonan added.
The minister said that Jokowi had also stressed the importance of adequate electricity supplies to support industrial development. If electricity prices are not competitive, the products of our industry will also not be able to compete with products from other countries. (bbn)
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Mamuju, West Sulawesi Wed, February 15, 2017
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) members are being deployed to West Sulawesi to directly monitor the provinces third ever gubernatorial election on Wednesday.
Komnas HAM commissioner Hafid Abbas said the monitoring process was important because West Sulawesi was a new province and therefore the election process would be crucial for the people in the province.
Komnas HAM believe the province will be prone to violations during Election Day, he added.
(Read also: KPU Sangihe struggles to deliver election logistics amid extreme weather)
The commission will prioritize the monitoring of voting by disabled voters as well as prisoners and hospitalized people, Hafid said in the provinces capital, Mamuju, on Tuesday.
According to the West Sulawesi General Elections Commission (KPU West Sulawesi), there are 2,844 voters with disabilities in the province, spread across six regencies. Of the entire population of 1.5 million people, 840,091 are registered as eligible voters.
Hafid said the commission would also pay attention to the potential for partiality from civil servants because some of the candidates were former regents.
Around 11,000 voters are also reportedly not on the final voters list. This should have been avoided, Hafid said.
Officials prepare polling booths at PGRI High School in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, on Tuesday. West Sulawesi is one of 101 provinces, regencies, and cities slated for simultaneous regional elections on Feb. 15.(The Jakarta Post/Andi Hajramurni)
West Sulawesi used to be a part of South Sulawesi. It was named a new province in 2004.
Anwar Adnan Saleh won the first gubernatorial election in 2006 and was then reelected in 2012. (bbs)
India has in the past hosted similar delegations from Taiwan, this is the first under the new Tsai Ing-wen government and the first since the setting up of a parliamentary friendship forum in December, which irked China.
By Ananth Krishnan: China said on Wednesday it had lodged a protest with India over the ongoing visit of parliamentarians from Taiwan, the latest issue to test in already strained ties.
"China lodged representations with India", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, adding that Beijing was "always against any form of official contacts and exchanges between countries that have diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan and we are also opposed to the establishment of any official institutions".
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He said "the Indian side has made commitment on the Taiwan-related issues" and hoped "India would understand and respect China's core concerns and stick to the One China principle and prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations."
While India has in the past hosted similar delegations from Taiwan, this is the first under the new Tsai Ing-wen government and the first since the setting up of a parliamentary friendship forum in December, which also irked China.
India, like many countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and has followed a 'One China' policy. As a result, India does not have a formal embassy in Taipei - only an 'India Taipei Association' that enables political and business exchanges.
AVENUE OF MAINTAINING CONTACT?
Indian government officials do not formally visit Taiwan, hence the exchange of MPs has been seen as one avenue of maintaining contact.
"The reason why China lodged the representation is because we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the One China principle," said Geng said. "By making our representations we are urging the Indian side to stick to the One China principle and take concrete actions for steady development of China-India relations," he added.
PLAYING WITH FIRE BY HOSTING TAIWAN MPs
Chinese state media on Wednesday also warned India over the move, saying it was "playing with fire" and "at a time when new US President Donald Trump has put the brakes on challenging China over the Taiwan question, agreeing to change course and respecting the "one China" policy, India stands out as a provocateur."
"Some Indians view the Taiwan question as an Achilles' Heel of the mainland," said a commentary in the Global Times, a hawkish tabloid published by the People's Daily, the Party mouthpiece. "India has long wanted to use the Taiwan question, the South China Sea and Dalai Lama issues as bargaining chips in dealing with China," it added.
The paper said that while "pro-independence forces in Taiwan have become more isolated in the world", those "who want to use the Taiwan question to contain the mainland will have to suffer losses".
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The article suggested, without citing its sources, that given India's misgivings with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Modi government had been advised "to play the Taiwan card, using the commitment of the 'One-China policy' as leverage in exchange for China's endorsement of 'One India'."
It, however, warned that "by challenging China over the Taiwan question, India is playing with fire. "Growing Taiwanese investment in India, including steel, telecom and information technology are important to Modi's [Make in India] campaign. Although the mainland is a major trading partner of India, political discord and the historical feud make economic cooperation between the two difficult," it mentioned.
BEIJING WARILY VIEWED TSAI ING-WEN GOVERNMENT
China sees Taiwan as one of its provinces, although the island has been administered separately following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when the defeated Kuomintang (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has warily viewed the current government of Tsai Ing-wen, which came to power defeating the KMT that had favoured closer economic ties with the mainland.
While not outright pushing for independence - which Beijing says it would prevent by any means necessary - Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has been more outspoken on carving out a greater strategic and economic space for Taiwan and diversifying its trade and political relationships, including by courting India.
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ALSO READ | India's trade with China falls but deficit widens
Demonetisation: China ready to work with India to curb 'corruption cancer'
Sharp fall in Chinese incursions at border areas
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Linkedin Ina Parlina and Rendi A. Witular (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will delve into the role of a businessman and family member of President Joko Jokowi Widodo in a bribery case implicating a tax official.
The indictment of businessman Ramapanicker Rajamohanan Nair, who was allegedly caught red-handed bribing middle-ranking tax official Handang Soekarno in November, has revealed the alleged role of Arif Budi Sulistyo as a middleman in the case.
Arif is married to Jokowis youngest sister, Titik Relawati, and is the operational director of PT Rakabu Sejahtera -- the flagship company of Jokowis extended family, including cousins and nephews.
KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said Arif was still a witness in the case as the KPK was still trying to delve deeper into his alleged role.
We will look into the roles and positions of all witnesses, including their connections, communications and meetings with the defendant, KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said on Wednesday.
Arif was questioned as a witness in mid-January by the KPK. However, the move raised criticism after the media was kept in the dark until a court hearing on Monday mentioned his name.
The bribery case centers on Nair, the director of EK Prima Exports Indonesia -- a local unit of Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group -- who allegedly bribed Handang Rp 1.9 billion to help the company abolish Rp 78 billion (US$5.8 million) in tax dues.
According to the indictment, Arif sought the help of his friend, Jakarta Special Tax Office head Muhammad Haniv, to resolve the companys tax problem.
Haniv then connected Arif with Handang and Director General of Taxation Ken Dwijugiasteadi.
According to the indictment, Ken instructed his staff to abolish the tax dues after the meeting.
Ken has been questioned as a witness in the case.
Jokowis spokesperson, Johan Budi, also a former KPK acting commissioner, did not reply to The Jakarta Posts questions in relation to the case.
After the KPK arrested Handang and Nair on Nov. 22, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a circular on Nov. 29 ordering all ministers and heads of state agencies to ignore any demands or assistance fielded by the Presidents family members.
Members of Jokowis family have been in the spotlight for the past year.
For example, the controversy surrounding the appointment of Arcandra Tahar, who had dual citizenship, to lead the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, had also implicated Jokowis younger cousin.
Criticism was also rife in 2015 when Jokowis other younger cousin, Sigit Widyawan, was appointed a member of the board of commissioners of state toll operator PT Jasa Marga despite his lack of experience in the field.
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Diversified conglomerate Lippo Group cannot wait any longer for the governments hazy promise of providing tax incentives for real estate investment funds (DIREs) the Indonesian version of the real estate investment trust (REIT), and has ultimately launched its maiden product in the country.
The group has appointed Lippo Karawacis subsidiary Bowsprit Asset Management to manage the REIT named DIRE Bowsprit Commercial and Infrastructure. The product has been offered through an initial public offering (IPO) of Rp 100 (7 US cents) per unit.
Bowsprit Asset Management president director Angi Lim said the group aimed for Rp 2.45 trillion in cash from the IPO, which would be used for further expansion. Lippo still have many land banks in Karawaci, Cikarang, and other places. With the money, the group can build more, he said during a public expose in Jakarta on Tuesday.
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Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi Wed, February 15, 2017
A measles outbreak has spread to two groups of the Orang Rimba tribe in Sarolangun regency, Jambi, who have been out of reach of the national vaccination program.
Seven from the Terap group while four Sepintun members have been admitted to hospital, as their conditions have worsened.
They are already in a very serious condition so we took them to hospital. We have also quarantined those who are already suffering the early stages [of measles] from the rest of the group, said a health facilitator from the Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI) Warsi, Yomi Rivandi, said on Wednesday.
Those who are currently at the hospital consist of adults and children, aged four to 41 years old. One patient was also found to have been suffering from pneumonia.
(Read also: Death haunting Orang Rimba tribe)
Yomi said the tribesmen are prone to measles as they have yet to be part of the nationwide compulsory vaccination program.
The Orang Rimba havent received vaccinations. Coupled with other diseases, the disease [measles] can lead to death, he said, urging health officials at the local administration to visit the people and contain the outbreak.
Death continues to haunt the nomadic tribe as many members are still facing food shortages and poor health.
In 2015, 30 members of the tribe had been admitted to hospital for suffering pneumonia. Most of them were children. (wit)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Media and business tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo denied on Wednesday allegations by former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman, and murder convict, Antasari Azhar that he, Hary, took part in a plot that led to Antasaris imprisonment in 2010.
Antasari claimed on Tuesday that Hary, founder of the MNC media group and business partner of US President Donald Trump, was sent on a mission by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to ask Antasari not to detain Aulia Pohan, father-in-law of Yudhoyono's son Agus Harimurti and then Bank Indonesia deputy governor, in 2009, a request that Antasari rejected.
"All of [Antasari's claim] is slander. I don't want to waste my time responding to it," Hary said on Wednesday.
(Read also: SBY behind murder accusations against me: Antasari)
Hary, who has expressed an interest in running in the next presidential election in 2019 election with his own United Indonesia Party (Perindo), said he would rather focus on his business than worry about such accusations.
Antasari was convicted of the murder of business executive Nasrudin Zulkarnaen and sentenced to 18 years in prison just a few months after prosecuting Aulia for graft. Antasari said he sensed irregularities in his case as he was arrested just two months after his meeting with Hary.
The former antigraft czar, who has publicly accused Yudhoyono of engineering his murder case, has reported the irregularities in his case to the National Police's criminal investigation division to be investigated. (wit)
Three of them have had to close their food stalls. One man whose occupation is doing casual odd jobs has also had to forego the chance of earning a small precious daily income. Another man has to delegate his small printing shop to a member of the family. A woman has asked her husband to come home from work early to look after their three young children.
These are the six volunteers I am working with on a committee that will administer TPS30, the polling station in Kebayoran Lama Utara subdistrict, South Jakarta, during the Feb. 15 Jakarta gubernatorial election.
We are not the only ones making some personal sacrifices in the name of democracy.
The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) has recruited nearly 120,000 volunteers to run 13,023 polling stations across the city, where 7.1 million people are registered to vote.
With 100 other local elections on Wednesday, the number of election volunteers is multiplied by at least 100.
They are ordinary people, with jobs (or not) and families, who are taking time off to help make the elections successful.
To them, success is not measured by who wins the elections but more by the orderly and peaceful electoral process. The limited number of controversies and protests would give them the satisfaction that they have done a good job. A high turnout at their polling stations would be a bonus.
Jakarta Gubernatorial candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and his wife Anisa Pohan show the ballots before casting their votes on Wednesday.(JP/Safrin La Batu)
Little has been written about them, yet, their contribution is massive though perhaps little appreciated. Most people see the volunteers as part and parcel of the electoral commission, which is in charge of organizing the elections. Not quite. Those serving on the electoral commission are professionals who are paid to do their job. The commission in turn relies on the work of tens of thousands of volunteers who are dedicating their time, energy and mind, to make sure that the polls run smoothly. They are formed into small committees of seven people and two security men, to run a polling station.
Prior to taking the job, they take the oath of integrity. Everyone has his or her favorite candidate but they have to be careful to not let this be known publicly lest they undermine their own credibility.
They are recruited from the neighborhood where the polling station is set up, so they are familiar with the voters, and most voters are also likely to know them.
The work involved is not just on D -Day. On our committee, we have had four meetings prior to voting day all held late at night after everyone returned home from work. Some of us have attended the technical meetings at the subdistrict office to make sure we understand what is expected of us, and also to get briefings about what to expect, including how to handle potential problems.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
More lawmakers have expressed their rejection of Government Regulation (PP) No. 72/2016 on the procedure for capital injection into state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the management of state capital.
They particularly reject articles that allow for the sale of state assets without approval from the House of Representatives.
I agree that the regulation should be rejected, said chair of the Houses Commission XI overseeing finance and banking affairs, Melchias Markus Mekeng, as reported by tribunnews.com on Wednesday, adding that the regulation endangered state assets.
Previously, the House's Commission VI, overseeing state-owned enterprises, had told the government to revoke PP No. 22/2016, which was a revision of PP No. 44/2005, for a similar reason.
(Read also: SOEs holding regulation not in line with laws, says economist)
We [Commission VI] agree that anything relating to state assets should be discussed in the House of Representatives, Mekeng noted.
Without a mechanism in the House, the government could easily sell state assets.
If the regulation is not revoked, dont be surprised if SOEs are sold to foreigners. Even Monas [the National Monument] could be sold without our knowledge. It is dangerous, he said, adding that the regulation also contradicted several other regulations. (bbn)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Despite the heated political tensions that erupted during the campaign period in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, the voting process at polling stations 18 and 19 in Suropati Park in Menteng, Central Jakarta, appeared relaxed and festive as some musicians entertained voters on Wednesday as they lined up to vote.
General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Arief Budiman said the musicians aimed to attract more voters.
"The show was the idea of the Polling Stations Working Committee (KPPS) to encourage nearby residents to exercise their voting rights. This event was organized by the residents, not the KPU," Arief said at Suropati Park on Wednesday.
Arief said the easily accessible polling stations in Suropati Park had succeeded in attracting more voters compared to other stations.
A voter, Edi Sediati, said she was happy watching the performances. "The election is merrier with a music show," Edi said.
One observer from the Egyptian parliament, Mahmoud Saad, who accompanied the KPU on Election Day, also offered up his singing talents during the event.
"The election here feels like a festival. Everybody is happy," Mahmoud said, adding that he had never seen an election accompanied by music in his country. (trw)
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Linkedin Ganung Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Salatiga Wed, February 15, 2017
The Salatiga General Elections Commission (KPU Salatiga) will not hold quick counts for this years Salatiga mayoral election. The commission will recapitulate the ballots on Thursday.
Tomorrow [Thursday] the local committee will conduct a vote recapitulation, but it will not be the official count. The official vote recapitulation from the Salatiga KPU will be announced on Feb. 24, said Syaemuri Albab, a Salatiga KPU member.
A number of independent institutions in Salatiga are holding their own quick counts. The Coordination Forum of Regional Leaders of Salatiga, for instance, organizes their quick count at the Salatiga mayoral residence.
We have prepared the quick count process at the official mayoral residence so that people in Salatiga can also monitor the quick count process together. We already coordinated this event with the KPU, said acting Salatiga mayor Achmad Rofai.
(Read also: Election trail: Salatiga targets 83% voter turnout)
The campaign teams of candidate pairs Agus Rudianto-Dance Iskak and Yuliyanto-M Haris also have organized their own quick counts.
Agus already exercised his right to vote in Tegalrejo regency, while Yuliyanto had cast his vote in Sidorejo regency.
Meanwhile, Salatiga Police chief Adj. Comr. Happy Perdana Yudianto said his team was ready to secure the whole election process until it was over. (trw)
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has slammed former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for directing his frustration over his son's candidacy in Jakartas election at President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Yudhoyono, the chairman of the Democratic Party, has been continuously under the spotlight over his complaints about almost everything regarding the country's political dynamics, portraying himself as a victim of Jokowis leadership.
He most recently suspected Jokowi of having a role in a plot to attack him and his son, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who is running in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, by supporting the former chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Antasari Azhar.
(Read also: Palace plays down Yudhoyono's allegations)
Jokowi has commuted a prison sentence of Antasari, thereby granting him freedom.
Antasari, who was convicted in a murder case after prosecuting Yudhoyono's in-law Aulia Pohan, accused the former president of engineering the case that had led to his imprisonment in 2010.
"We don't want to become involved in these polemics, but we do wonder why SBY always targets Jokowi," PDI-P secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto said on Wednesday, referring to Yudhoyono by his initials.
"Does SBY have a problem with Jokowi that he always attacks him?" Hasto asked, adding that the ruling party was concerned about the way Yudhoyono responded to issues, which according to Hasto, has triggered tension. (wit)
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Wed, February 15, 2017
A police officer and another suspect have been arrested over an alleged smear campaign just hours before voting for a new mayor and deputy mayor began in Cimahi, West Java, on Wednesday.
The head of the Cimahi Elections Supervisory Committees (Panwaslu) unit for violation prevention and inter-organizational relations, Yus Sutaryadi, said the committee was investigating the two suspects for circulating pamphlets containing defamatory assertions on one of the three candidate pairs contesting the election.
We received short text messages on the matter from residents, so we launched an investigation. They said the perpetrators had distributed pamphlets with provocative messages about one of the candidate pairs, Yus explained.
He added the pamphlets had been spread in several areas, such as Cibeber, Leuwigajah and Melong. We brought [the perpetrators] to the police station. We are detaining them at the Panwaslu office, as we look further into the case, said Yus.
Separately, West Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said one suspect, identified as YG, was a police officer. He was arrested along with RS, a member of a candidates campaign team.
He [YG] is the bodyguard of one of the candidates. He is being interrogated, said Yusri.
YG and the other suspect allegedly circulated pamphlets detailing corruption cases that implicated incumbent candidate Atty Suharti, who is running with Achmad Zulkarnain in the election.
Supported by the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party and the NasDem Party, the Atty-Achmad duo is competing with Asep Hadad Didjaya-Irma Indriani, who are backed by the Democratic Party and the Gerindra Party, as well as Ajay M. Priyatna-Ngatiyna, supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN). (ebf)
The most likely possibility is that Governor Rao will invite Sasikala's loyalist Palanisamy to take oath and then prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly.
By India Today Web Desk: As Tamil Nadu undergoes political turmoil following divide in the ruling AIADMK, Governor C Vidyasagar Rao is likely to invite AIADMK convicted chief VK Sasikala's nominee E Palanisamy to form government in the state.
Highly placed sources who are looking closely at the unfolding political situation in Tamil Nadu have indicated to India Today that the composite floor test option has now being pushed to the back burner by the Governor.
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The most likely possibility is that Governor Rao will invite Sasikala's loyalist Palanisamy to take oath and then prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly.
The reason for the delay seems to be that the AIADMK has so far submitted a resolution declaring that Palanisamy was being made the new leader of the legislature party. But this resolution apparently does not have the signatures of all the MLAs.
The Governor has asked for the signatures of all the MLAs who are supporting Palanisamy. He has said a resolution without the signatures of the MLAs did not suffice.
The sources indicated that if Palanisamy is able to provide signatures of more than 118 MLAs then the Governor will call Sasikala's nominee to take the oath of office, after which he will have to prove his majority on the floor of the House.
By doing so, the Governor will not be choosing the option for convening a session of the Assembly and going for a composite floor test. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had suggested to Rao in favour of the composite test within a week.
However, Rao may prefer to invite Palanisamy to form government and prove his majority within a specified time limit.
Also read | Who is EK Palanisamy, the man picked by Sasikala to be Tamil Nadu CM?
Also read | LIVE: Governor likely to call Palanisamy to take oath as Tamil Nadu CM
Also read: Sasikala hits Jayalaalithaa's grave hard three times. And we don't know what she meant
WATCH NOW:
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Singkawang, West Kalimantan Wed, February 15, 2017
Two high-ranking West Kalimantan officersWest Kalimantan Barat Police chief Insp. Gen. Musyafak and Military Commander XII/Tanjungpura Maj. Gen. Andika Perkasahave closely monitored the voting process in Singkawang city and Landak regency to make sure the elections in those regions went smoothly.
They visited Singkawang in the morning before flying to Ngabang, the capital of Landak regency.
Musyafak said the voting process in those regions went peacefully. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were no incidents reported.
"We will safeguard the areas until the vote recapitulation is completed. For the winners, dont get carried away or mock the losers, Musyafak said.
As many as 1,734 police and Indonesia Military (TNI) personnel had been deployed to safeguard Wednesdays election process in Singkawang and Landak.
Musyafak said earlier that the personnel deployed at polling stations should also help monitor the voting process.
(Read also: Personnel readied to secure regional elections in C. Java)
If something happens in regards to the voting process, well be able to provide data for a comparison, said Musyafak, who oversaw the security in both participating regions ahead of the voting day.
Separately, West Kalimantan Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu West Kalimantan) head Ruhermansyah said the tight security in Singkawang was necessary to prevent any potential conflict as Singkawang was a multiethnic city consisting of residents from various ethnic and religious groups. (trw)
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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Political tensions heightened on the eve of the Jakarta gubernatorial election on Tuesday after murder convict and former antigraft czar Antasari Azhar accused former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of engineering his murder case.
Yudhoyono has taken the accusation as a political attack against him and his son, Agus Harimurti, who is running for Jakarta governor against incumbent Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who is backed by President Joko Jokowi Widodos party.
Just hours after the former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leader dropped the bombshell, Yudhoyono sent his lawyers to the National Police headquarters to press defamation charges against Antasari.
But Yudhoyonos anger seems to be directed more at Jokowi, who granted Antasari clemency and commuted the remainder of his prison sentence last month. Antasari, who was convicted for the murder of a businessman just a few months after prosecuting Yudhoyonos relative by marriage for graft, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2010.
I dont believe what Antasari did was possible without blessing from the powers that be, Yudhoyono said in a press conference at his new residence in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Yudhoyono again accused the Jokowi government of trying to block his sons chances in the Jakarta race, considered by political parties as a springboard for the 2019 presidential election. Agus, a political neophyte, is reportedly being groomed as a possible presidential candidate.
Antasari has long insinuated that Yudhoyono was behind what he claimed to be a plot to criminalize him. But Tuesday was the first time he had publicly named Yudhoyono, accusing him of being the initiator of his murder case.
Antasari based his accusation on a conversation he claimed he had with media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo, a business partner of United States President Donald Trump, shortly before the KPK detained Agus father in-law, Aulia Pohan, then a Bank Indonesia deputy governor in 2009.
Hary, founder of the MNC group, was allegedly sent by Yudhoyono to ask Antasari not to detain Aulia, Antasari told reporters after visiting the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) to report alleged irregularities in his case.
I was arrested around two months after that. The time frame was very close between my arrest and the meeting. [Hary said] this was serious and he was on a mission from Cikeas [the name of Yudhoyonos private residence]. The mission was not to detain Aulia and I said No, I cant, Antasari said.
The stock price of PT Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN) plunged 6.18 percent to Rp 1,595 (12 US cents) per share on Tuesday after Antasari released the statement regarding Hary.
Besides the shares of Media Nusantara Citra, those of PT MNC Investama (BHIT) also dropped by 2.14 percent to Rp 137, and those of PT Bank MNC Internasional (BABP) dropped by 2.74 percent to Rp 71.
Antasaris accusations that make it seem as if I was the initiator of his case is clearly wrong. I certainty will take legal action against Antasari, Yudhoyono posted on his official twitter account @SBYudhoyono.
Antasari argued that a text message that the police used as evidence to detain him at that time was fabricated. He submitted the message as evidence for the police to start investigating to follow up his report.
Antasari filed a report with the Jakarta Police in 2010 to investigate actors behind the alleged fabrication of the text message but to no avail. Antasaris decision to report the case to Bareskrim was a renewed fight after the National Police said they would welcome Antasari should he want to file a new report following his release.
Antasari rebuffed allegations that his move on Tuesday was politically motivated ahead of the Jakarta election. I am doing it today because it is the right time to do it, Antasari said.
The National Police said they would follow up on Antasaris report. We will appoint several personnel to carry out an investigation. We will have to wait for them to work, said National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul.
Questions remain on the validity of the text message to be used as evidence to start a new investigation given the fact that the message was accepted as valid evidence that supported Antasaris conviction in 2010.
However, Trisakti University criminal law expert Abdul Fickar Hajar said validated court evidence could be used to start a new investigation as long as it was supported by additional evidence that had yet to be revealed during a trial. (dis)
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Singkawang Wed, February 15, 2017
The Singkawang General Elections Commission (KPU Singkawang) in West Kalimantan has tried to attract voters to exercise their democratic right by providing special services to hospital-ridden residents, and by livening up a polling station with decorations for this year's mayoral election.
A polling station, for instance, was erected at Alverno Leprosy Hospital to cater for the needs of its patients to vote on Wednesday.
The head of the local poll administrators (KPPS) at the hospital, Ari Asnanto, said there were 53 registered voters at the polling station in Pasiran subdistrict, West Singkawang district. Of the number, 70 percent were patients, while the remaining voters were patients' relatives.
Some patients came to the polling station on a wheelchair, while some others were escorted by hospital staff members.
A hospital staff member, Yohana Lince, said that of 34 patients, at least 20 were registered voters.
(Read also: 2 women of Chinese descent to square off in Singkawang election)
Meanwhile, another polling station tried to attract voters by decorating a station with Chinese New Year ornaments.
"At a glance, this [the polling station] looks like a worship place as it is dominated by Chinese decorations. But this is actually a house, said Martin, the stations KPPS head.
Prior to the election, KPU Singkawang used a mobile car service to go around 26 districts to encourage residents to vote. (trw)
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Linkedin Hermawan Kartajaya and Ardhi Ridwansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
As home to approximately 650 million people, ASEAN serves as quite the potential market for automotive industry players. Carmakers from Asia, Europe and the United States have long been vying to expand business in the region. But not everyone amid such stiff competition could emerge as a winner.
Wherever it sells cars, Germanys Volkswagen (VW) Group normally seeks at least 15 percent market share. But in ASEAN home to 10 countries and a fast-growing population VWs market share remains tiny, as data by the end of 2016 suggests. In 2016 itself, American car giant Ford shut down its business in Indonesia, despite the country being in the 14th position globally in terms of automobile sales, sixth in Asia and first in ASEAN.
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi Wed, February 15, 2017
Thousands of supporters of West Sulawesi gubernatorial election ticket Ali Baal Masdar-Enny Anggraeni Anwar poured onto the streets of Polewali in Polewali Mandar hours after voting ended on Wednesday.
They believed the pair had won the race even though the official result was not yet announced by the General Elections Commission (KPU) in West Sulawesi.
In Mamuju, the provinces capital, it was supporters of the Suhardi Duka-Kalma Katta ticket who took to the streets. They were convinced it was their ticket that was victorious.
(Read also: Komnas HAM monitors voting in West Sulawesi)
Ali Baal-Enny claimed victory based on a quick count conducted by pollster Politic Marketing Indonesia, which showed that they got 39 percent of the vote, while Suhardi Duka-Kalma got 34 percent, and Salim Mengga-Hasanuddin 24 percent.
But the camp of Suhardi Duka-Kalma had their own quick count, which showed the pair got 44 percent, while Ali Baal-Enny got 34 percent and Salim-Hasanuddin 20 percent.
West Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Nandang said that convoying on the streets was actually prohibited. We have warned the camps of all three candidates to prevent their supporters from convoying in the streets, he said. If we find such activities on the streets we will disperse them.
According to observations by The Jakarta Post in Polewali Mandar, hundreds of members of the polices mobile brigade were busy managing the flow of traffic. (bbs)
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Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has said that eligible voters staying in hospitals or currently incarcerated in prisons can still cast their votes in the regional elections on Wednesday.
"We will help them cast their ballots as long as they are registered as eligible voters," KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Officials at voting booths located near the hospitals will be deployed to assist patients, while the KPU will set up voting booths inside prisons.
The KPU Jakarta will set up voting booths at four hospitals in the city, namely Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in East Jakarta, Koja Hospital and Pantai Indah Kapuk Hospital in North Jakarta and Siloam Hospital in West Jakarta.
(Read also: Jakarta gubernatorial election most anticipated event on Wednesday)
In Jakarta, 1,477 registered voters are prisoners of Cipinang Detention Center in East Jakarta and 1,221 registered voters are prisoners of the Cipinang Penitentiary.
Budi Ruswanto, a registration staff member at the Salemba Penitentiary, which currently holds around 1,300 inmates, said, however, that not all of the 163 registered voters in the prison would cast their votes as some of them had been released or transferred to other penitentiaries.
Six graft suspects are also expected to cast their votes at the headquarters of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Kuningan, South Jakarta, the commissions spokesperson, Febri Diansyah, said on Tuesday.
"Officials from the polling booths in Setiabudi district will deliver election equipment to the headquarters of the KPK at 10 a.m.," Febri said. (trw)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
Nine polling stations in remote areas of Sangihe Islands regency, North Sulawesi, failed to hold voting on Wednesday as bad weather hindered the distribution of election materials to the areas.
The polling stations have not yet received voting materials because of strong waves and extreme weather. This is why voting could not be conducted today [Wednesday], General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah told journalists on Wednesday.
He said it was expected the materials would arrive at the polling stations on Wednesday afternoon. However, local election organizers decided to postpone proceedings instead as they were worried the voting process would not run smoothly if conducted in the evening.
It is better to postpone it to tomorrow or the day after. This matter will be discussed further by the election organizers there. This postponement wouldnt affect the spirit of holding simultaneous elections, Ferry said.
Initially, the KPU set to hold simultaneous elections in 101 regions across the country.
(Read also: Logistical hitches hamper voting in Sangihe Islands)
Separately, KPU Sangihe chairperson Elsye Sinadia confirmed voting in five villages in Nusa Tabukan, Sangihe Islands, would be conducted on Thursday as election materials arrived in the district on Wednesday afternoon.
Strong waves and extreme weather hampered the logistics of delivery, she said.
Elsye hoped the voting, which would be held in nine polling stations for 2,455 registered voters would run smoothly. (ebf)
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Rain is forecast to fall on areas across the archipelago when simultaneous regional elections are set to take place, prompting election authorities to take necessary measures to ensure smooth voting despite the unfavorable weather.
As voters may have to cast their votes in the rain, the General Elections Commission (KPU) has called on all people to remain committed to going to the ballot box, saying that it has taken care of everything.
KPU commissioner Ferry Kurnia said the commission had prepared logistics to respond to any emergency situations caused by the weather. In case of flooding, the KPU was ready to relocate polling stations to nearby places still reachable for voters, he said.
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Linkedin Jerry Adiguna (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15 2017
Photographers go to great lengths, often putting their own lives at risk, to report, to break the silence and to enlighten us through pictures, because they believe they might, just might, inspire change, said Stuart Franklin, the 2017 World Press Photo Jury Chairman in an opinion piece published in the Guardian.
The winners of this years World Press Photo were announced late Monday.
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Linkedin Eileen Ng (Associated Press) Kuala Lumpur Wed, February 15, 2017
Malaysian police arrested a woman Wednesday in connection with the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother.
Police released a statement saying the woman was carrying Vietnamese travel documents when she was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Kim Jong Nam died Monday after suddenly falling ill at the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, said a senior Malaysian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves sensitive diplomacy.
Kim, who died on the way to a hospital, told medical workers that he had been attacked with a chemical spray, the official said.
Malaysian officials have provided few other details. Police said an autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death.
Since taking power in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has executed or purged a slew of high-level government officials in what the South Korean government has described as a "reign of terror."
South Korea's spy service said Wednesday that North Korea had been trying for five years to kill Kim. But the National Intelligence Service did not definitively say that North Korea was behind the killing, just that it was presumed to be a North Korean operation, according to lawmakers who briefed reporters about the closed door meeting with the spy officials.
The NIS cited Kim Jong Un's alleged "paranoia" about his half brother. Still, the agency has a history of botching intelligence on North Korea and has long sought to portray the country's leaders as mentally unstable.
Multiple South Korean media reports, citing unidentified sources, said Kim Jong Nam was killed at the airport by two women believed to be North Korean agents. They fled in a taxi and were being sought by Malaysian police, the reports said.
Police were searching for clues in the closed circuit television footage from the airport, said Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat. The airport is in Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur.
According to the Malaysian government official, Kim Jong Nam was in a shopping concourse and had not yet gone through security for a planned flight to Macau when the incident occurred.
Hunted: A man believed to be Kim Jong Nam, eldest son of then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, is surrounded by the media upon arrival from Macau at Beijing airport in Beijing. Kim was assassinated at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, telling medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray a Malaysian official said Tuesday. (Kyodo News via AP, File)(AP/file)
Kim was estranged from his half brother, the North Korean leader. Although he had been originally tipped by some outsiders as a possible successor to his late dictator father, Kim Jong Il, others thought that was unlikely because he lived outside the country, including recently in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.
He reportedly fell further out of favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
A Malaysian police statement confirmed the death of a North Korean man whom it identified from his travel document as Kim Chol, born in Pyongyang on June 10, 1970.
Ken Gause, who is with the CNA think tank in Washington and has studied North Korea's leadership for 30 years, said Kim Chol was a name that Kim Jong Nam had traveled under. He is believed to have been born May 10, 1971.
While the most likely explanation for the killing was that Kim Jong Un was removing a potential challenger to North Korean leadership within his own family, he could also be sending a warning to North Korean officials to demonstrate the reach of the regime. It follows the defection last year of a senior diplomat from the North Korean Embassy in London who has spoken of his despair at Kim's purges.
Mark Tokola, vice president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington and a former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, said it would be surprising if Kim Jong Nam was not killed on the orders of his half brother, given that North Korean agents have reportedly tried to assassinate Kim Jong Nam in the past.
"It seems probable that the motivation for the murder was a continuing sense of paranoia on the part of Kim Jong Un," Tokola wrote in a commentary Tuesday. Although there was scant evidence that Kim Jong Nam was plotting against the North Korean leader, he provided an alternative for North Koreans who would want to depose his half brother.
Among Kim Jong Un's executions and purgings, the most spectacular was the 2013 execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the country's second-most powerful man, for what the North alleged was treason.
Gause said Kim Jong Nam had been forthright that he did not have political ambitions, although he was publicly critical of the North Korean regime and his half brother's legitimacy in the past.
Kim Jong Nam had been less outspoken since 2011, when North Korean assassins reportedly tried to shoot him in Macau, Gause said, though the details of the attempted killing are murky. South Korea also reportedly jailed a North Korean spy in 2012 who admitted to trying to organize a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong Nam in China in 2010.
Despite the attempts on his life, Kim Jong Nam had reportedly traveled to North Korea since then, so it was assumed he was no longer under threat. Kim Jong Nam may have become more vulnerable, as his defender in the North Korean hierarchy, Kim Kyong Hui Kim Jong Un's aunt and the wife of his executed uncle appears to have fallen from favor or died. She has not been seen in public for more than three years, Gause said.
Kim Jong Il had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third. Kim Jong Nam was the eldest, followed by Kim Jong Chul, who is a few years older than Kim Jong Un and is known as a playboy who reportedly attended Eric Clapton concerts in London in 2015. It's unclear what positon he has in the North Korean government.
A younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, was named a member of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee during a North Korean party congress last May. She has a position in a propaganda and agitation department and is known as Kim Jong Un's gatekeeper, Gause said.
Highly-placed sources have said that if Palanisamy is able to present a list of more than 118 supporters, he will be sworn in as the CM.
By India Today Web Desk: Following AIADMK chief Sasikala's conviction, Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao today asked both Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam to come up with their list of supporters in their bid to become the next chief minister.
Highly-placed sources have said that if Palaniswamy is able to present a list of more than 118 supporters, he will be sworn in as the CM. Once sworn-in, Palaniswamy will have to prove his majority on the floor of the House.
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Similarly, Panneerselvam will also be submit the list of people who are backing him. The decision of the governor will depend on who of the two can get the required number of supporters.
FLOOR TEST PUSHED
Sources who are looking closely at the unfolding political situation in Tamil Nadu have indicated to India Today that the composite floor test option has now being pushed to the back burner by the Governor.
The most likely possibility is that Governor Rao will invite Sasikala's loyalist Palaniswamy to take oath and then prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly.
The reason for the delay seems to be that the AIADMK has so far submitted a resolution declaring that Palaniswamy was being made the new leader of the legislature party. But this resolution apparently does not have the signatures of all the MLAs.
The Governor has asked for the signatures of all the MLAs who are supporting Palaniswamy. He has said a resolution without the signatures of the MLAs did not suffice.
Also read:
Tamil Nadu political crisis: Governor may invite Sasikala loyalist Palanisamy to form government
Sasikala surrenders before court, sent to Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru
Sasikala in jail but 'mafia from Mannargudi' is here to stay. Who are they?
What Sasikala's life is going to be like in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail
Sasikala hits Jayalaalithaa's grave hard three times. And we don't know what she meant
--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Jeremy Douglas and Joseph Gyte (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok Thu, February 16 2017
The year 2016 was a year of rising terrorist activity for the ASEAN region. Arrests and deaths of terrorist suspects in Indonesia more than doubled to 170, Malaysia faced a steady stream of travel attempts of foreign terrorist fighters to Syria or Iraq and witnessed its first successful Daesh (Islamic State) attack in June, and the Philippines suffered from an increase in bombings and hostage-takings conducted by Daesh affiliated groups, including Abu Sayyaf. Less covered in the international media, Thailands deep south experienced a dramatic upsurge in attacks to over 800, resulting in over 300 deaths and 600 injured.
Unfortunately, this trend is not expected to subside in 2017; rather, without effective collaboration between ASEAN countries, it is predicted that the level of terrorist violence will increase further.
Daesh has shown great interest in this region. In June last year, a propaganda video instructed their supporters to focus on Southeast Asia, telling them to join their regional branch in the Philippines if they cant make it to Syria or Iraq.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Thu, February 16 2017
About 41 million Indonesians voted on Feb. 15 in the second simultaneous regional elections in 101 regions. They showed up at polling stations, exercised their political rights and dipped their pinky fingers in ink.
The government declared Feb. 15 a national holiday to make it easier for people across the country to go to the polling stations and cast their ballots. Most major roads in Jakarta were unusually quiet on voting day, but polling stations were packed with people. Crowds could be seen in the long row of polling stations erected on Jl. Matraman in East Jakarta.
Election committees across the nation showed their enthusiasm by decorating their polling stations or wearing costumes. In a polling station in Batu city, East Java, replica costume of Star Wars characters were seen standing guard at voting booths. In Kebon Pala, East Jakarta, local poll administrators wore elementary school uniforms, inviting smiles from the voters.
The election in Pati, Central Java, lacked a thrill factor since the regency only had one candidate pair running. While amid flooding in Mintobasuki village, voters still came out to vote, even if they had to hitch a ride on a boat to get to the polling station.
The Jakarta gubernatorial election has attracted the most attention as it seen as a barometer of the countrys democracy. Analysts say the electoral process in Jakarta will not only affect the capital but also the national political map in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, February 16 2017
Indonesia and Pakistan are scheduled to review their preferential trade agreement (PTA) for a second time in Islamabad starting Thursday in an attempt to balance trade between the two countries.
The two-day review is a follow-up to the first review in August 2016. The PTA, which came into effect in 2013, allows for a significant surge in the trade balance between Indonesia and Pakistan.
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Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, February 16 2017
When you think of art, what comes to mind? It could be anything and everything under the sun but the military probably would not be the first thing you think of, right?
So I was intrigued when I received an invitation for an art exhibition held last Monday, which was opened by Defense Minister Gen. (ret.) Ryamizard Ryacudu. The exhibition was called Bela Negara (Defend the Nation) featuring 36 painters who displayed their works with various themes: human interest, religion, nature and some with nationalistic themes befitting the exhibitions title. It was attended by other military figures such as Air Force chief of staff Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, the ministrys secretary-general Vice Admiral Widodo and Defense University rector Lt. Gen. I Wayan Midhio. Luckily it was also attended by collectors and the painters themselves, otherwise it could have been mistaken for a military convention!
So why Bela Negara and why Ryacudu? Because thats the name of his pet project. Its a program created out of his and the Indonesian Militarys (TNI) concern over what they see as increasing disharmony of the nation, particularly following the rise of increased Islamic fundamentalism and also what they perceive to be the rise of leftist ideas. The Bela Negara program is thus a new initiative to instill and promote patriotism, nationalism and Pancasila (state ideology) values among the public.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, February 15, 2017
ASEAN and Canada have celebrated its 40th year of relations, pledging to preserve the partnership to maintain regional peace, stability, security, development and welfare.
Marie-Louise Hannan, Ambassador of Canada to ASEAN, said her country would continue to expand its regional engagement in areas that support ASEANs community building objectives, contributing to the fostering of peace, security and prosperity.
The fabric of Canadian society is strengthened by our enduring links with ASEAN. As we celebrate 40 years of partnership, we hope to bring energy to the relationship to the benefit of Southeast Asians and Canadians alike, Hanan said in a statement.
Hanan and Elizabeth Buensuceso, permanent representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, officially launched the 40th anniversary commemoration in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The first formal meeting between Canada and ASEAN was held on Feb. 3 and 4.
To mark the 40th anniversary, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau encouraged all Canadians to reflect on the tremendous contributions made by Southeast Asian Canadians to the country.
Canada, after all, is home to over 1 million people from Southeast Asia. Their communities enrich our national fabric every day and greatly contribute to one of our countrys most fundamental strengthsour diversity, Trudeau said in a statement.
During the 40th anniversary, Hannan also unveiled the special occasions logo, which was chosen through a competition. Ardy Kurniawan, a law student from the University of Jember, East Java, won the competition. (jun)
It turns out that Matt Restuccia of the right-wing oi band Lonewolf and a member of a white supremacist group known as 211 Crew was DJing at Clockwork Bar Saturday night. Members of 211 Crew are accused of attacking two Columbia grad students outside the bar. The owner, who earlier this week spoke out against hate groups, says he did not know about Restuccias background. The owner, Frank Scotto, said Restuccia is now banned from the bar. Meanwhile, Restuccia spoke out on social media, claiming the incident has been overblown. [Gothamist]
Governor Cuomo kills the plastic bag fee legislation enacted by the New York City Council. The bills sponsors, local Council member Margaret Chin and Brooklyn Council member Brad Lander, said, We fought plastic bags, and for now, plastic bags won. [New York Times]
A tenant with AIDS has filed a lawsuit against an arm of Starrett Development claiming that she was denied a rental subsidy. Starrett is developing one of the huge new residential towers in the Two Bridges area. A spokesperson denied the allegations and said the company does accept applications for rental subsidies. [Daily News]
Pete Wells awards the new Doyers Street restaurant, Chinese Tuxedo, two stars. Yes there are service problems and not every dish is on target, but hes generally impressed with the chefs untraditional take on Chinese cuisine. On some nights, he writes, the crowd is a mix of white people here simply because its new, and Chinese families tentatively poking at the fried eggplant and pork dumplings topped with flying fish roe. They look as if they are trying to decide whether this is really Chinese food. [New York Times]
Bangkok Center Grocery on Mosco Street, is a standby for people passionate about Thai food, including some of the citys top chefs. [New York Times]
An interview with Simon Hammerstein on the 10 year anniversary of The Box. [Cool Hunting]
Spotted in Eldridge Street club Rumpus Room: Mike -Hot-Pence, who is pro-choice, pro-environment and gay. [Page Six]
By Press Trust of India: Dubai, Feb 15 (PTI) United Arab Emirates ambassador to Afghanistan Juma Al-Kaabi, who was injured in a powerful blast in the war-torn countrys Kandahar province, died today.
"It is with great sadness and sorrow that we mourn the martyr of the nation, Juma Mohammed Abdullah Al Kaabi, who gave up his soul for the sake of humanity," the state-run WAM news agency reported, quoting a statement by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.
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Juma was wounded in the blast last month that also killed 12 people including the deputy provincial governor and five UAE diplomats. The ambassador was transferred by military plane to Abu Dhabi in the UAE for treatment.
The diplomats were meeting when explosives hidden in a sofa detonated inside the governors compound on January 10.
Provincial police chief Abdul Raziq had blamed Pakistans powerful spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Taliban-allied Haqqani network for the attack.
The Taliban had denied carrying out the blast. PTI ZH AKJ ZH
--- ENDS ---
" We used to think that we are friends but the way they snapped ties during assembly election, they kept us engaged in talks till the last minute."
By India Today Television: In an interview to India Today, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray tells us how their relationship with the BJP has changed now. He admits he has expectations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi but has several questions on promises related to demonetisation, bringing black money back from Swiss bank accounts, construction of Ram Mandir, etc.
Q - You have been asked this question many times in last few days? Who are you with? Are you in opposition or with the govt?
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Uddhav - We had alliance for last 25 years, there was common ideology of Hindutava and nationalism..We had a family relations with the BJP leaders like Atalji, Advaniji, Pramodji, Nitinji and Munde ji. We shared an emotional connect as well. To prevent division of Hindu votes Balasaheb decided that Shiv Sena will take care of Maharashtra and BJP can take care of whole country. But things have changed now.
Q - So the BJP is asking you now 'hum aapke hai kaun '?
Uddhav - We used to think that we are friends but the way they snapped ties during assembly election, they kept us engaged in talks till the last minute .That time we did not want alliance to be broken?but Eknath khadse at last himself said that BJP wanted to do it and Khadse was assigned this job. After elections I thought that even if we are not getting good portfolio, Deputy CM post but at least finally state is free of Congress rule, so let's be in the government.
Last month Subramanian Swamy came to Mumbai and he said in a programme that to break ties with Shiv Sena was BJP's well thought decision. They were of the opinion that now BalaSaheb is no more, and Uddhav has no strength. ..This is the opportunity lets finish Shiv Sena. That's why I said that whether you have a chest of 56 inches or not, it should have a heart.
Also read | BJP has a use-and-throw policy on allies: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
Q - BJP claims that they are number one party in Maharashtra, they have more than 100 MLAs. Why should Shiv Sena not accept the position of being number two?
Uddhav - But the question is how many of these MLAs are from outside and how many are your own? You have taken Pappu Kalani also to be number one. That means to be at number one, you can go to any extent. Public will not tolerate this.
Q - You speak against their Prime Minister, you say that he is taking harmful decisions for the country. How can they tolerate this?
Uddhav -Modi is country's PM not BJP's PM only. I never said that demonetisation is a wrong decision, I am not an economist but I said that the way it was implemented was not right. Now everyone is saying same thing. So many died, some committed suicide, many weddings were cancelled or postponed. You asked for 50 days, people gave you. You promised that after 50 days terror attacks will stop, but that has not. You promised black money will come out. Where is that? Nitish Kumar is asking? Fake currency is still being recovered. Few days back Pakistan-made fake currency was seized. And the corruption hasn't come down. Public was of opinion that PM made rich to stand in queues but have you ever found any rich man standing in bank lines? Only the poor suffered. You made them to deposit their hard earn money in banks and for withdrawal also there are conditions and questions are asked.
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Q -It sounds like the language of opposition - same as Congress, Mamata Banerjee.
Uddhav - No, I am speaking what common man feels.
Q - Your relationship with BJP is in such a bad shape that now you write in Saamna that Manmohan government was better?
Uddhav -Why we chose Narendra Modi because country wanted change. I am not saying whether PM's raincoat remark was right or not. Manmohan gave a speech in parliament against demonetisation..RBI Governor Urjit Patel was called in to give explanation on demonetisation that time Manmohan Singh shielded him and offered his raincoat.
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Q-But do you want to say that Manmohan govt was better, if we compare with 2 yrs of this govt?
Uddhav -No, I am not saying this, else why would I have supported Modi. I have expectations from him and it's my job to speak about that. Have you taught lesson to Pakistan? Have you brought back black money from Swiss accounts? Have you enacted common civil law? Have you constructed Ram Mandir? And for surgical strike I, myself, called PM and said we are with you. You did a commendable job.
Q - So are these the reasons that you said Maharashtra govt is on notice period?
Uddhav - Notice period was not my word. I was asked this as question and I said let's assume so because I have decided to not have alliance in future with BJP.
Q- Means either assembly or Lok Sabha - you won't go with BJP?
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Uddhav -No
Q -But is Maharashtra govt on notice period?
Uddhav - Till 21st election for ten Municipal Corporations and Zilla Parishad is there. After that I will also raise the issue of transparency as they have raised, for which I have this acknowledgement from Centre according to which BMC is no 1 in transparency. Now I want equal transparency in the functioning of state govt like BMC. In the BMC's standing committee when the decisions are made its open for LoP, opposition members, commissioner and journalists . State govt should also work like this.
Q- But Shiv Sena ministers are there in the govt, they attend cabinet meetings. Why they don't do this?
Uddhav - BJP corporators are also in standing committee.
Q - You are contesting in UP, in Goa also you fought..Your strategy seems that wherever is BJP contesting, Shiv Sena too will contest?
Uddhav -No, I don't do such dirty politics?I am fighting because for last 25 we have been preventing our cadre from contesting election in other states to prevent division of Hindu votes, so lot of them joined BJP. Now it's a new beginning for us.
Q - Will you be campaigning in UP?
Uddhav - I wish to go there. Our candidates are getting good response.
Q - You are praising Akhilesh Yadav's work also?
Uddhav - He is young, he overcame family feud . he has done good job. But our candidates are fighting with our ideology and if I get time I would really go. I hope some of them win this time "aur hamara bhagva up me bhi lehrayega".
Q - Hope after election you take a solid stand.
Uddhav - We will come our own, would not need anyone support. People's love and faith in us and Balasaheb's blessing are our strength.
--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Feb 15 (PTI) Noting that there is a direct link between security situation in Afghanistan and terror safe havens in Pakistan, a top Afghan diplomat has said unless the US takes meaningful action to "severe" that connection, both Kabul and Washington will continue to suffer.
"You cannot talk about the state of security in Afghanistan without talking about the state of terrorists havens and support provided by Pakistan. The two are intrinsically connected. One is the cause; the other is the effect," Afghan Ambassador to the US Hamdullah Mohib told a Washington audience on Monday.
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"Until the US takes meaningful action to severe that connection, our two countries prolonged in costly joint effort against terrorism in the Af-Pak region cannot succeed. This isnt a subjective opinion. This is an objective fact. Victory requires a paradigm shift in American thinking about Pakistan," Mohib said.
He lashed out at Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist safe havens inside its territory.
Mohib welcomed the recent Congressional testimony of General John Nicholson, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, in which he called for a holistic review of US relations with Pakistan.
"This is very encouraging to hear," he said, alleging that Pakistan is playing the role of a spoiler in his war-torn country.
"Every neighbour can play two roles. In this case, its an active spoiler in Afghanistan in being able to provide sanctuaries, support to - we have witnessed in the past - at least in the past two years, if were not going too far behind," he said.
Mohib alleged that that Afghan-Taliban leaders travel under Pakistani passports.
"Theyre provided with hospital and medical support. We saw where the head of the Al-Qaeda was. Those things highlight quite a few important factors. That is, this is - the shift of making it sound like its a blame game is no longer viable. This is objective facts. All of those things have happened, and they have happened in the recent past. So they cannot be forgotten so quickly," he said.
"If Pakistan wants to to save itself, what were worried about is that that affects Pakistans future itself. Those terrorists do not recognise those boundaries as the restrictions to them and would soon turn their own weapons on Pakistan," Mohib said, warning Pakistan of the consequences of supporting terrorist groups.
He alleged that Pakistan was taking action against only those terrorist groups which pose a threat to it and not against those who targets neighbouring countries.
"What is happening to us today can become the future of Pakistan. And for that reason as well, I think its in the interest of the Pakistani administration to assist us in eliminating the terrorists from that region. Sincerely assist, not just say and talk about it. We need to see some actions," he said.
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"We have always had good words from Pakistan and it continues to be the case. They speak about cooperation and they always have very good ways and words to put it in," he said. PTI LKJ MRJ
--- ENDS ---
According to sources in the VHP Rathore who till Tuesday was the convenor of the 'Gau Raksha Samiti' in Satna district was expelled after top leaders were sounded about his financial association with Balram, the mastermind of the espionage ring.
Balram who is in ATS custody is understood to have transferred more than Rs 60 lakhs to Rathore in the past one year.
ATS officers have sought details of financial transactions from the bank in Satna in which Rathore, who has since gone underground and is untraceable, holds an account.
ATS officials have so far denied that they are on the lookout for Ashish. "We are not looking for any one at the moment and also we don't announce and search for those who are wanted. If someone is required for questioning we simply pick him up," a top ATS official said on the condition of anonymity.
According to sources, Balram the mastermind of the espionage ring who was getting money from his handlers in Pakistan through hawala used to first deposit it in bank accounts of his associates to evade income tax attention. This money was later transferred to ISI operatives as directed by his handlers from Pakistan through a genuine banking process.
Both Balram and Rathore were actively involved with the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad in Satna and pictures posters put up by them on various occasions have now gone viral. The opposition Congress party has alleged that both were part of the core team of the Bajrang Dal and were using their proximity to the authorities to extract sensitive information that was being traded with the ISI of Pakistan.
The model best known as the hot felon swapped prison corridors for the catwalk as he made his debut at New York Fashion Week.
Jeremy Meeks mugshot went viral in 2014 after he was arrested for possession of firearms and criminal street gang activity.
The Californian scored a modelling contract before he was released from prison in March 2016 after fans on Facebook praised his high cheekbones, chiselled features and striking blue eyes.
Since then he has been working on his career in front of the camera and appeared on the catwalk at Philipp Pleins fashion show in Manhattan in front of celebrity admirers Madonna, Paris Hilton and Kylie Jenner.
Kylie and Madonna on the front row (Charles Sykes/AP)
His teardrop face tattoo was clearly visible as he appeared at New York Public Library in a black puffer jacket with a fur hood and shiny black trousers.
Jeremy in action (Diane Bondareff/AP)
Other stars to hit the catwalk at the show included rappers Fetty Wap, Desiigner and Young Thug, musician Pete Wentz and celebrity offspring Sofia Richie, daughter of Lionel Richie.
Sofia on the catwalk (Diane Bondareff/AP)
Meeks recently shared the mugshot that made him famous on his own Instagram page, along with a picture of him embracing Carine Roitfeld, former editor-in-chief of French Vogue.
How quickly things can change!
A yoga studio is raising money for charity by offering yoga sessions with a Harry Potter twist.
Attendees are encouraged to dress up in wizarding world costumes and will be sorted into a Hogwarts house at the beginning of the session, being held in Toronto, Canada.
The magic doesnt end there. Next, they will pick up their wand before setting down their mat in a space filled with book-inspired decor. The class will feature poses such as the Downward Dumbledore (muggles call it Downward Dog), Wizard 1 and 2 (Warrior 1 and 2) and the Womping Willow (Tree Pose).
(PopUpAsana Toronto)
Tara and Alaina from Pop Up Asana, who organised the session, told us: As Potterheads ourselves, we took a look at our own group of friends, and the success of other Harry Potter themed events in Toronto, to come up with a theme that appeals to so many Torontonians and Canadians alike.
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. #HPyogaTO Feb 25 session is SOLD OUT. Get March session spots before they're gone! pic.twitter.com/TwJFlI2YB9 PopUpAsanaTO (@PopUpAsanaTO) February 10, 2017
By weaving our passion of yoga with the passion so many people have for Harry Potter, we can create a space for people to have fun, be active, express themselves through their yoga practice and be inspired by all things Potter.
Sick Kids Foundation Tickets for the event at the Drake Hotel are pretty reasonable at $9.75 each, and whats more, all proceeds will go to thecharity.
Like anything Potter related, tickets for the first four sessions sold out in 24 hours, but if you are in Toronto, or considering hopping on a plane to join in the fun, the team is planning more.
This isnt the first time these yogis have used pop culture to encourage people into the ancient Indian practice. Last year they put together a Drake-inspired yoga session.
Students at the University of Edinburgh have voted for delegates to carry a motion to the NUS Scotland conference in March calling for universities to be more inclusive for people of colour.
Polls were open on the 8th and 9th February, during which time 468 students voted, with an overwhelming 421 in favour of the motion.
The motion wants NUS Scotland to lobby Scottish universities to be more inclusive of people of colour both in their curriculums and in their teaching bodies.
In terms of university curriculums, the motion argues that they should be more diverse and inclusive of people of colour, including more scholars of colour in reading lists.
It also states that NUS Scotland should lobby universities to provide courses based on race and/or ethnicity.
In terms of their teaching bodies, the motion wants NUS Scotland to campaign for an increase in non-white university tutors and lecturers, in particular for courses such as Black Studies, which the motion states should be organised and taught by mainly academics of colour.
Students Diva Mukherji and Sophie B Alal put the motion forward for the University of Edinburgh to submit to NUS Scotland conference in March.
When universities submit motions to NUS conferences (either NUS Scotland or NUS UK) this is presented for all NUS delegates at the conference to vote on, and mandates the NUS to take action for whatever the motion is arguing.
The motion "Making Universities More Inclusive of People of Colour" was put to a referendum as a result of its failure to pass at
a
Student Council meeting on 2nd February.
New voting rules at Edinburgh mean that actions which are supported by 33 to 66% of attendees must be put to the student body in an online ballot.
It was supported by a number of Edinburgh NUS delegates as well as Edinburgh Students Association Liberation Convenors.
Yorkshireman Ian Whittaker is to set off on the 1,700km Full Nepal Traverse of the Great Himalaya Trail this month.
This journey along 'trekking's holy grail' will take the 59-year-old up to 6,190m above sealevel, and past eight peaks of more than 8,000m.
The longest and highest alpine walking track in the world, the trek was launched in 2011 by World Expeditions and costs 21,000 all-inclusive.
Whittaker, from Leeds, has already travelled extensively in the Himalayas. He has completed the Annapurna Circuit on a mountain bike, done the Rolwaling trek, ridden from Lhasa to Kathmandu and reached the K2 basecamp in Pakistan.
"I just love being in the mountains," he says. "The physical challenges, their natural beauty and the company of like-minded folk."
Whittaker will set off on February 26th, and is due to complete the trek on July 27th.
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By Press Trust of India: issue: Nadda
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) A day after a study claimed that 1.1 million people died due to air pollution in India in 2015, the Union Health Minister today said his ministry was working in coordination with the Environment Ministry to address the issue.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda told reporters that his ministry was working on a programme and unless both the ministries worked together, the issue could not be addressed.
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He was asked about the Environment Ministrys earlier assertion that there was no conclusive data to suggest that the deaths were exclusively caused by air pollution.
"The answer is with the Environment Ministry. What we are trying to do is work in coordination with it," said Nadda.
Asked if there was a plan, Nadda said, "We are working on it. Until we have coordination and work together, we will not be able to address this."
The study claimed yesterday that India now accounted for the maximum number of premature deaths due to ozone air pollution in the world, surpassing China.
The number of lives lost in India due to PM 2.5 was "approaching" that of Chinas, it claimed, noting that both the countries together accounted for 52 per cent of the total global deaths attributable to the tiny particulate matter and recorded some 1.1 million early deaths due to it each in 2015.
Recently, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, had said there was no conclusive data to establish that the deaths were caused exclusively by air pollution.
He had said that the effects of air pollution on health were synergistic manifestation of factors which included food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity etc. of individuals.
Greenpeace India had published a report titled Airpocalypse in January in which it had claimed that 12 lakh deaths were reported annually in India due to air pollution. PTI TDS RC
--- ENDS ---
30 Pattaya hotels closed for not having licences
CHONBURI: Authorities have so far ordered the closure of 30 hotels in Pattaya City that were found to be operating without licences, and inspections are continuing.
crimeconstructiontourismcorruption
By Bangkok Post
Wednesday 15 February 2017, 05:44PM
The Bang Lamung District Chief said there were more than 1,000 hotels in Pattaya, but only 239 operated legally. Photo: Syn/Flickr
Bang Lamung district officials yesterday afternoon (Feb 14) inspected two hotels The Beach Front Resort hotel and Baboona Beach Front Living along Pattaya beach road in tambon Nong Prue.
The two hotels, one with 40 rooms and the other with 39 rooms, were found to be operating without licences. Hotel staff failed to produce the necessary documents when asked. They were ordered to close.
Bang Lamung District Chief Naris Niramaiwong said there were more than 1,000 hotels in Pattaya, but only 239 operated legally in line with the Hotel Act of 2004.
Operators of legally operated hotels had complained that their businesses were suffering from competition by illegal hotels, which offered cheaper rates.
Mr Naris said all hotels in Pattaya were being inspected. So far, 30 hotels had been ordered closed for operating without proper permission.
The operators were liable to a prison term of up to one year and a fine of B10,000 a day, the district chief said.
The 30 hotels could apply for permission to operate legally. They would have to submit supporting documents building construction and building use permits, and an environmental impact assessment report, he said.
The operators would not be allowed to reopen for business without the necessary permits, the district chief said.
Read original story here.
Army warns taxi, van drivers at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: A contingent totalling 45 officers carried out a public inspection tour of Phuket International Airport yesterday (Feb 14), and warned public transport drivers, namely Phuket taxi and van drivers, to follow the rules.
tourismtransportmilitarypolicecrime
By Eakkapop Thongtub
Wednesday 15 February 2017, 11:07AM
Gen Santi Sakuntanak warned taxi and van drivers at Phuket Airport to follow the rules. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
A total of 45 officers, including soldiers from the Royal Thai Army, carried out a public inspection of Phuket Airport yesterday (Feb 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
The task force, led by Col Santi Sakuntanark, commander of the 25th Infantry Regiment, comprised officers from Army Region 4 base in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, 41st Military Circle, the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, Phuket City Police, Phuket Tourist Police and the Phuket Land Transport Office.
Phuket International Airport is like the door for welcoming tourists from around the world. Officials will inspect public transport and security to ensure these are adequate for tourists, Col Santi said.
For drivers uniforms, they should wear plain shirts and trousers, not stripes, and must wear covered shoes. The drivers must also have valid driving licences, he added.
Public transport drivers at the Phuket International Airport must follow the rules of the airport, and they must not get customers by themselves, Gen Santi said.
Officials will strictly enforce the rules for security at the airport, he added.
Driver dead, French tourists critical after 10-wheeler slams SUV in Krabi
PHUKET: At least one French tourist has died and two other French nationals are critical condition in hospital after the SUV they were travelling in was slammed head-on by an out-of-control 10-wheeled truck south of Krabi Town today (Feb 15).
tourismtransportaccidentsdeath
By The Phuket News
Wednesday 15 February 2017, 05:36PM
The truck flipped onto its side and slid out of control head-on into the oncoming traffic. Photo: Pornthep Bunsong
The force of the impact knocked two of the French tourists, a man and a woman, clear out of the vehicle. Photo: Pornthep Bunsong
The French tourist sitting in the front passenger seat survived, but the driver sitting beside him died in the impact. Photo: Pornthep Bunsong
Lt Col Piroat Chanachai of the Nuea Khlong Police confirmed to The Phuket News that the accident happened at about 12:45pm.
There were four passengers inside the car. The passengers, all French tourists, were travelling from Koh Lanta island to Krabi International Airport, he explained.
The 10-wheeled truck slammed into the Fortuner, registered as a green plate commercial passenger vehicle, on Phetkasem Rd in Nuea Khlong District, south of Krabi Town.
The driver, a Thai man, died at the scene. Three foreigners, all French, have been rushed to Krabi Hospital, Col Piroat said.
I cant give any other details about them for now, he added.
The accident left two of the French tourists, a man and a woman, in the middle of the road, knocked clear out of the SUV by the force of the impact.
It is not clear what injuries the tourists sustained, but The Phuket News has been told they are in critical condition.
Pornthep Bunsong, a volunteer of the Miracle of Life rescue team in Krabi, told The Phuket News that he was riding his motorbike northbound along Phetkesem Rd when the Fortuner drove past him.
One second later, a 10-wheeled truck heading south on the other side of the road lost control. The truck tipped onto its side then came across traffic island and hit the car, he explained.
I saw three passengers get out of the car, and the driver of the truck got out too. That was not far from where I had stopped, he said.
I called the rescue team to help, but before they arrived but I could not get the driver and the passenger in the front out. The driver looked as if he were dead already, but the passenger was still conscious, but I couldnt get him out because of the damage to the car.
The rescue team arrived, and I helped them to get him out of there, then everyone was taken to the hospital, he said.
UPDATE: The Phuket News has been informed that the four French nationals were a family on holiday. Two of them, an 18-year-old woman and a 55-year-old woman, have both died from their injuries. An 18-year-old man with the same family name has sustained critical injuries.
Half-brother of N. Korean leader assassinated in Malaysia: media
SOUTH KOREA: North Korean female agents operating in Malaysia have reportedly assassinated the half-brother of the Norths leader, Kim Jong-Un a one-time heir apparent who became a critic of the Stalinist regime.
crimedeathmurder
By AFP
Wednesday 15 February 2017, 09:27AM
Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korean late leader Kim Jong-il. Photo: AFP
South Korean media said yesterday (Feb 14) that Kim Jong-Nam was killed with poisoned needles at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Officials in Seoul and the Malaysian capital could not confirm his death.
Malaysian police said in a statement late yesterday that a North Korean man, identified as Kim Chol, sought medical assistance at the airport and died on the way to hospital.
South Korean media said Jong-Nam had travelled using a fake passport under the name of Kim Chol.
If confirmed, it would be the highest-profile death under the Jong-Un regime since the execution of the leaders uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, in December 2013.
Jong-Un has been trying to strengthen his grip on power in the face of growing international pressure over his countrys nuclear and missile programmes. He has reportedly staged a series of executions.
The latest launch of a new intermediate-range missile on Sunday (Feb 12) brought UN Security Council condemnation and vows of a strong response from US President Donald Trump.
South Koreas national news agency Yonhap quoted a source as saying agents of the Norths spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, carried out the assassination on Monday (Feb 13) by taking advantage of a security loophole between Jong-Nams bodyguards and Malaysian police at the airport.
The 45-year-old was killed by two unidentified females wielding poisoned needles at the airport, according to South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun.
It said the women hailed a cab and fled immediately afterwards.
Jong-Nam, the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong-Il, was once seen as heir apparent but fell out of favour following an embarrassing botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland.
He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau.
His half-brother took over as leader when their father died in December 2011.
Jong-Nam, known as an advocate of reform in the North, once told a Japanese newspaper that he opposed his countrys dynastic system of power.
He was reportedly close to his uncle Song-Thaek, once the Norths unofficial number two and political mentor of the current leader.
Cheong Seong-Jang, senior researcher at Seouls Sejong Institute think-tank, said Jong-Nam had been living in near-exile so it was unlikely that Jong-Un saw him as a potential competitor for power.
But if Jong-Nam committed an act to damage Jong-Uns authority, I think its possible that the Reconnaissance General Bureau may have directly conducted the assassination under the orders of Jong-Un since it has been in charge of closely watching Jong-Nam.
Jong-Nam has been targeted in the past.
In October 2012 South Korean prosecutors said a North Korean detained as a spy had admitted involvement in a plot to stage a hit-and-run car accident in China in 2010 targeting him.
In 2014, Jong-Nam was reported to be in Indonesia sighted at an Italian restaurant in Jakarta and was said to be shuttling back and forth between Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and France.
In 2012, a Moscow newspaper reported that Jong-Nam was having financial problems after being cut off by the Stalinist state for doubting its succession policy.
The Argumenty i Fakty weekly said he was kicked out of a luxury hotel in Macau over a $15,000 (B525,450) debt .
Last year South Korea warned of possible North Korean assassination attempts in its territory.
It noted previous attempts to assassinate Hwang Jang-Yop, the Norths chief ideologue and former tutor to Kim Jong-Il, who defected to the South in 1997 and died of natural causes in 2010.
Jong-Nam was born from his fathers extra-marital relationship with Sung Hae-rim, a South Korean-born actress who died in Moscow.
Marine experts call for boats to keep clear as whale sharks feed off Phuket
PHUKET: Officials from the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) called for all boats to keep clear of whale sharks spotted feeding off Kamala Beach yesterday afternoon (Feb 14).
marineanimalsenvironmenttransport
By Eakkapop Thongtub
Wednesday 15 February 2017, 02:01PM
Marine experts called for all boats to keep clear from whale sharks off Phuket's west coast. Image: Screengrab from jet-ski operator video
The PMBC marine experts, along with officials from the Phuket office of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), were called in after jet-ski operators spotted the whale sharks 500 metres offshore at about 3pm.
Local residents voiced their concerns that the whale sharks might be ill, causing them to come close to shore, possibly with the intent of beaching themselves.
However, by the time the officials arrived, the whale sharks had gone.
We couldnt find them, and we found no indications in the water that the whale sharks were sick, one official told The Phuket News.
At this stage we believe they came close to shore to feed because there was a lot of plankton in the area, he added.
Regardless, the officials called for local boat operators, fishermen and tourists to keep clear of any whale sharks in the area.
Please do not go near them or interfere with their feeding. They are harmless and important to the local food chain and the last thing we want is for any of them to be injured by a boat propeller, the official added.
Police to grill racer Akarakit again
BANGKOK: Speed racer Akarakit Worarojchroendet will be summoned for questioning again tomorrow (Feb 16) to clarify how he obtained a B20-million Lamborghini, suspected of being the property of of a drug network run by suspected Lao drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha, police say.
crimedrugstransportpolice
By Bangkok Post
Wednesday 15 February 2017, 09:04AM
Akarakit Benz Racing Worarojchroendet, a racing enthusiast and husband of a prominent actress, was questioned and released Feb 3. Photo: Bangkok Post
Mr Akarakit, 30, alias Benz Racing, turned up at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) on Feb 3, where he told officers he borrowed B6 million in cash from Natthaphol Boy Nakkham, one of the suspects linked to Xaysana, as a down payment for the Lamborghini, according to officials.
Mr Natthaphol was arrested on Feb 1, almost two weeks after police apprehended Xaysana at Suvarnabhumi airport on Jan 19 as he arrived on a flight from Phuket.
Based on Mr Natthaphols earlier testimony, police said the Lamborghini belongs to the drug network but was left in the care of Mr Akarakit, who is also the husband of TV actress Napapa Patt Tantrakul.
NSB commissioner Sommai Kongwisaisuk said yesterday that police need to question Mr Akarakit again as his account and evidence did not match Mr Natthaphols testimony.
Mr Akarakit is required to present evidence in relation to his ownership of the vehicle to determine whether he lawfully obtained the car, he said.
Lt Gen Sommai said that based on the police investigation, Mr Akarakit was bound to have owned the car unlawfully and he is at risk of facing a charge of collusion in drug offences.
Once his questioning is complete, the investigation into his case should conclude by this week, he said.
Lt Gen Sommai said another suspect linked to Xaysanas drug network would be apprehended, but refused to give details.
Speaking about a manhunt for Usaman Salaemaeng, who was believed to be linked to Xaysanas drug network, Lt Gen Sommai said intelligence suggested he underwent plastic surgery on his face and is holed up in Laos.
Mr Usaman, wanted by Thai authorities on drug charges on a 2012 arrest warrant, was found to have supported the unrest in the three southern border provinces, where he transported drugs to Malaysia, Lt Gen Sommai said, adding the NSB is sharing information about him with Lao authorities.
Referring to a recent drug bust by the Metropolitan Police Division 3, which seized 2.6 million methamphetamine pills (ya bah), 7 kilograms of crystal meth (ya ice) along with other drugs, Lt Gen Sommai said this haul was the work of the Hmong Pha Kao hill tribes drug network, which is active in smuggling drugs across the border.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said a crackdown on Xaysanas network represents multinational cooperation in combating drug smuggling across regional borders.
He said the Lao drug kingpins syndicate is known to have been linked to the drug racket in the far South.
Officials are figuring out individuals linked to the southern drug syndicate, he said.
I have instructed Anti-Money Laundering Office to look into the matter, said Gen Prayut said.
He insisted the government is paying attention to the issue and the investigation can be carried out through a regular police probe and by tracking the money trail of the group.
Read original story here.
How many people have already voted absentee in South Dakota ahead of Election Day?
elections
TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. 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 livesIf we remember those times and placeswhere 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. And if we do act, in however small a way, we dont have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
--Howard Zinn
I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.
--Martin Luther King Jr.
True religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart does love and reverence God the Creator, and learns to exercise true justice and goodness...I found no narrowness respecting sects and opinions, but believed that sincere, upright-hearted people, in every society, who truly love God, were accepted of him.
--John Woolman
Love each other as I have loved you.. I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.
--Jesus in John 15: 12-15
...Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.
You have answered right, said Jesus, do this and life is yours...
Who is my neighbor?
Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan [heretic, outsider, enemy].
--from Luke 10:27-37
Religion has been emphatically embodied, not in speculative theories, but in practical righteousness, in active virtues, in reverence to God, in benevolence to man- the latter being the only sure test of the former.
--Thomas M'Clintock
...It is safer to approach God through the Holy Spirit than through the door of theology. We can identify the Holy Spirit whenever it makes its presence felt. Whenever we see someone who is loving, compassionate, mindful, caring, and understanding, we know that the Holy Spirit is there.
--Thich Nhat Hanh
The Haryana Cabinet on Tuesday failed to take any decision on various demands put by the representatives of Jat
community for calling off the on-going agitation.
In a bid to find a solution for the on-going agitation by the Jat community, a sudden meet of the Cabinet was held on Tuesday at Faridabad to decide issues concerning the on-going Jat agitation.
The demands put up by the representatives of the Jat community before a high-level committee set up by the Manohar Lal Khattar government include permanent jobs for the kin of those killed during the last year's violent agitation. Besdies this, they have also demanded withdrawal of cases against community members for the violence and arson during the agitation in February 2016.
As today's Cabinet meeting was called specially to consider the above demands, it was expected that important decisions could be taken in it. But the Cabinet, chaired by chief minister Khattar, failed to arrive at any unanimous decision in the matter.
Sources revealed that few of the ministers, belonging to the non-Jat communities, strongly opposed the proposal for withdrawal of cases registered against the members of Jat community during the violent protest last year in which 30 persons were killed.
Sources said a few of colleagues in the Cabinet asserted that withdrawing cases would adversely affect the image of the state government and it should not work under pressure.
Meanwhile, a senior official said that the five-member high level committee today forwarded all the demands of the agitators before the Cabinet. The issues have been forwarded to the Cabinet and the second meeting between the Committee and the Jat leaders would soon be fixed to discuss the matter further, he added.
The ongoing agitation in 20 districts of the state under the umbrella of Akhil Bharatiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS) headed by Yashpal Malik today entered 17th day peacefully.
However, Malik saidannounced that the agitation would continue until the government fulfills their demands.
The state government on February 7 constituted a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to consider demands and resolve problems of those agitating for reservation in the state.The Jat agitation in February last year left nearly 30 people dead while more than 200 injured.
During the violence erupted last year, government and private properties were damaged and set on fire.
Valentines Day is celebrated worldwide on 14 February. According to history, St Valentine was a priest from Rome during the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II had banned marriages because according to him, married men made bad soldiers. Later, it was known that St Valentine secretly married of men and as a result of which, he was arrested and finally executed.
Its said that during the tenure of his stay in the jail, he fell in love with the jailors daughter and when the day of his execution finally arrived, he wrote a letter to his lady love signing off with Your Valentine. This was the beginning of the soon-to-be-famous-day. In the Latin American countries Valentines Day is celebrated with grandeur.
In countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico- the day is known as Lovers Day or Day of love and Friendship. In Mexico, 14 February is a day of national mourning whereas in Finland this day is considered as Ystavanpaiva, meaning Friends Day.
In parts of Europe like Spain, Poland, Portugal and Germany lovers give each other St Valentines key, as a gesture of invitation to unlock the heart of the giver.
Japanese Valentines day, however, is quite different and is mainly a day worth remembering for the men. The Japanese women give chocolates to their counterparts and expect favour to be returned to them later that year.
Almost a 100 million of printed cards for the occasion is exchanged in the USA as well. Though for the intelligent lovers Valentines Day doesnt hold much value. This occasion cant be framed to be celebrated in a day, instead, its an emotion which when true, sustains lifelong and does not need the permission or verification of a particular day to celebrate it. For the true lovers, Valentines Day is the same as any other ordinary day in the year and requires no special status.
Coordinator, Class X, Gokhale Memorial Girls School
Involving local communities and keeping alive their traditions can go a long way in protecting the bio-diversity at Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) which was inscribed in UNESCOs World Heritage site list in 2014.
Renowned environment experts and officials of GHNP and Wildlife Institute of India during a two-day seminar at Sairopa in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh unanimously called for providing better employment opportunities and involving them protecting environment.
The GNHP is situated 270 kilometres from Shimla.
Stressing on the role of local communities, Sanjeeva Pandey, Additional Principal Conservator of Forest said the role of local deities, customs and traditions would not be denied in protecting the World Heritage site and its flora and fauna.
We need to focus more on providing more income generating opportunities who were earlier the beneficiaries of GHNP. The locals used to extract medicinal plants and use other resources of national park earlier and were heavily dependent on it for their livelihood, Pandey said.
He said now there should be focus on providing micro finance facilities through cooperatives so that they dont have to face any problems to earn livelihood.
For the purpose, the government authorities in coordination with GHNP officials should chalk out a plan for developing eco-tourism facilities and set up cooperatives for their help, he said.
Pandey also called for preserving native vegetation in Heritage Park as it has greater capacity to provide ecosystem services under changing environmental conditions. The rare species can substitute for common species.
Dr M Kirupashankar, Divisional Forest Officer, GHNP also called for active participation of community in nature conservation and said efforts are on spreading awareness amongst them on preserving wildlife and natural vegetation. Celebrating local customs and traditions at GHNP should also be focus of our efforts, apart from carrying out conservation programs in the park, he added.
GHNP Director SS Kataik said the authorities are focusing on creating awareness about the conservation of nature and wildlife among local communities as it is under constant threat because of the growing animal-human conflict due to depletion of forest area. After the declaration of the GHNP as world heritage site, we have witnessed an increase in number of tourists, benefiting the locals economy and it is leading to curtailing their dependence on forests, he said, adding the officials are hopeful of boosting eco-tourism activities in near future.
The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on June 23, 2014. The GHNP attracts birdwatchers from across the globe for it is home to 209 bird species including five spectacular pheasants as Western Tragopan, Monal, Koklash, White crested Kaleej and Cheer Pheasant. Out of these five species, three of them are listed as threatened species (Vulnerable 2, Critically Endangered 1) and 1 Near Threatened.
The GHNP is also home to several species of Outstanding Universal Value as Snow Leopard, Common Leopard, Musk Deer, Blue Sheep or Bharal, Himalayan Black and Brown Bear, Himalayan Tahar, Ghoral, insects, butterflies, earthworms, mollusks, amphibians, reptiles, various herbal and other plant species.
The French Revolution led newfangled leaders of France to look into balloons (unpowered aerostats) as strategic weapons to discern enemy operations.
Hence, aerostats found its use for the first time in 1794 when French Aerostatic Corps was established to conduct research work on aerial reconnaissance. Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle developed a reconnaissance aerostat LEntreprenant which was decisively used for aerial observation during the Battle of Fleurus later that year, having a demoralising effect on the enemy troops, ultimately leading to the triumph of France.
With the advent of photography, cameras were fitted in aerostats and put into practice by Gaspar Felix Tournachon, who photographed the houses of Petit-Becetre (a French village) from a tethered hot-air balloon in 1858.
With the invention of powered airplanes by Wright brothers, the task of taking cameras into the skies was made much easier, around 1909, during which time a reconnaissance monoplane named Rumpler Taube also emerged, sometimes attributed as the worlds first stealth aircraft because it became very difficult for ground-based observers to spot a flying Taube at an altitude above 400 meters. With the outbreak of the First World War, experts perceived reconnaissance as the only practical use of the airplanes due to the awful vulnerabilities of tethered balloons and kites, and also due to the trench deadlock in the Western Front.
There are instances where aerial reconnaissance changed the very course of the war like when German General Alexander von Klucks army gearing up to surround the British Expeditionary Force was thwarted by the pilots report, thereby saving the lives of 100,000 soldiers. Germany had the scientific lead as they developed the worlds first aerial camera for reconnaissance but the French led the way with aerial reconnaissance, incorporating several squadrons and developing pioneering camera that enabled flight commanders to get prints of the photographs very quickly. Britain, however, lagged far behind and didnt pick up before 1915, when the British Reconnaissance aircrafts during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle photographed German trenches. Italy and Russia also played significant roles as they deployed some of the best aircrafts for reconnaissance purposes and by 1916; heavier-than-air aircrafts were a regular practice along respective fronts.
Reconnaissance concepts matured during the First World War from a zero baseline as both sides learnt the importance of aerial photography that ultimately led to the development of reconnaissance aircrafts, playing a pivotal role in the World War II. During the inter-war years, though strategic aerial reconnaissance began to develop, battlefield observation gained a higher pedestal. In 1938, General Werner von Fritsch, commander-in-chief of the German Army, rightfully anticipated that the military organisation which has the best reconnaissance unit will win the next war.
Germanys Luftwaffe began the World War II with an efficient aerial reconnaissance and photographic interpretation system but as the war progressed, their system wasnt developed.
On other hand, Britain, who was lagging so far, brought about significant revolution in aerial intelligence that changed the very course of war. They developed electric heating system for aerial cameras that enabled reconnaissance aircrafts to click pictures from high altitudes without freezing. Soviet Union and Japan, although had no advanced aerial reconnaissance resources, they mainly relied on visual observation and reporting from the battlefield.
Seeing the advancement of Britain, USA started to develop air reconnaissance concepts, leading to a revolutionary growth during World War II, when innovative technologies emerged, making aerial reconnaissance a pivotal role in airpower. With the dawn of the Cold War, aerial reconnaissance became a high-priority integrant of national security for both blocs, leading to the development of highly modernised and strategic reconnaissance aircrafts. USA started aerial reconnaissance projects where photo-reconnaissance balloons were used to gather photographic electronic intelligence, leading to more than forty reconnaissance aircrafts being shot down by the Soviet Union.
In modern times, reconnaissance aircrafts are widely used by government agencies and military forces for airspace surveillance, intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, observation, fishery protection and border patrol.
With the proliferation of strategic aircraft technologies, fighter jets and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the task of military surveillance to snoop on foreign powers in air has become easier. Todays fighter jets can gather a plethora of information using an array of sensors installed inside them and can also take stereoscopic images. UAVs like Sky Sentinel have revolutionised the task of aerial surveillance, as their main benefit is endurance.
Thus, future generation aerial surveillance vehicles will have more stealthy attributes which will make them harder to detect and will mainly rely on jet engines rather than propellers to get out of danger zone rapidly.
Class XII, Don Bosco School, Bandel
Expressing concern over the increasing number of undertrial prisoners in jails across the country, the government has urged the high courts to take suo motu action for their release after they complete half of their likely term.
Section 436A of the CrPC provides that if an undertrial has completed half of the likely term he is likely to get for the crime he has allegedly committed, then he or she can be granted bail with or without surety. It is not applicable on offence for which the punishment of death has been specified as one of the punishments under the law.
In a recent letter to chief justices of the 24 high courts, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that they should advise the district judiciary to review all such cases and take suo motu action for their release.
"I shall also be grateful if the high court ensures that the undertrial review committee mechanism, for periodic monitoring of undertrial releases, continues to effectively deliver its mandate, so that the basic human rights of the undertrials are not undermined," he wrote.
In September 2014, the Supreme Court had said that states should release all such undertrials who come under the ambit of Section 436A of the CrPC.
According to National Crime Records Bureau estimates, 67 per cent of the people in jails are undertrials those not yet convicted of any crime.
At 82.4 per cent, Bihar had the highest proportion of undertrials, followed by Jammu and Kashmir at 81.5, Odisha at 78.8, Jharkhand at 77.1 and Delhi at 76.7.
Successive Union Law Ministers and Union Home Ministers have been regularly writing to high courts and state governments to review the status of undertrials.
After China protested against the visit of a Taiwanese delegation, including parliamentarians, to India, New Delhi on Wednesday said no political meaning should be read into this.
"We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
"Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes," he said.
"I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them."
China on Wednesday lodged a protest over the visit by the Taiwanese delegation and asked India to honour its commitment to the "One China policy".
Beijing also warned New Delhi to be cautious in dealing with Taiwan.
"China has urged India to honour its commitment to the One China policy and cautiously handle issues regarding Taiwan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shunag said.
India has a commitment on issues regarding Taiwan, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, which it has vowed to reunite some day. India is among the countries that have no diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island.
"China has always been opposed to any official contact between Taiwan and countries having diplomatic ties with China," the spokesperson said.
The three-day visit of the Taiwanese delegation, comprising three women parliamentarians, and members from the academic, business and computer sectors, concludes on Wednesday.
The three parliamentarians are all members of the Taiwanese parliament's Taiwan-India Friendship Association.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday denied a plea seeking more time for All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary VK Sasikala to surrender.
SC refuses to entertain a plea of VK Sasikala seeking time to surrender for serving jail term in disproportionate assets (DA) case, media reports stated.
We do not intend to pass any order on this, the apex court said, adding, We are not going to change anything in the judgement.
Sasikala wanted some time to surrender to manage her affairs before going to jail, Sasikalas advocate KTS Tulsi said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday has convicted Sasikala in the disproportionate assets case. The court banned her from contesting elections for 10 years and awarded a four-year jail term.
Sasikala, who was elected General Secretary of AIADMK following the death of Jayalalithaa in December 2016, was elected leader of the legislature party on February 5.
Launching a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is also Samajwadi Party (SP) president, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the SP's alliance with the Congress party in the state will shatter the dream of everyone in the state.
"SP-Congress alliance will shatter your dreams," Modi said to the people while addressing a rally at Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
"Uttar Pradesh abbreviation UP may be read as 'up', but everything is 'down' in the state," he added.
The prime minister accused the SP of betraying the poor and involving in scams in the state.
"What 'samajwad' (socialism) is this, it is nothing but betrayal of poor; even scams in orphanages in UP," Modi said.
Saying that the SP government is "anti-poor," Modi told the people at the rally that central assistance are not reaching the poor as the state government is not accepting it.
"Central assistance for foodgrains are not reaching the poor as the UP government is not interested in accepting it," Modi said, adding, "The SP government is anti-poor."
Also, hitting out at the Congress party, Modi said that the Opposition has been indulging in all kinds of political games on issues.
"The Opposition played all types of games in the last three months raking up issues like demonetisation and surgical strikes," he said.
Modi then liken the Congress-SP alliance in the state to a new film shooting.
"There is a new film shooting on the political stage in UP before interval two parties are fighting and after interval, they are embracing each other," he said.
Polling for the second phase of UP assembly polls for 67 constituencies in 11 districts, began on Wednesday morning amid tight security. Till noon, the polling recorded 25 per cent voting.
The first phase of UP polls was held on February 11 for 73 seats across 15 districts. According to the Election Commission, 64.22 per cent of voters exercised their rights in the first of the seven-phase UP polls.
The Samajwadi Party sealed its alliance with the Congress on January 22 after days of negotiation. The Congress party was allotted 105 seats out of 403 seats.
The ruling to put an immediate stop to President Donald Trumps January 27 executive order prohibiting immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya from entering the US for 90 days in the face of the Trump administration justifying the action on national security grounds against opponents, labelling it as an unconstitutional order targeting people based on religious beliefs, might well face a legal long haul. That Trump could preside over such a monstrous order barely a week into his presidency might well give the naysayers their monies worth who said that in Trump, we got the most polarising right-wing figure in the world, who had already earned copious fame for his sexist, racist, anti-Muslim rhetoric, taking relish in his job of stoking atavistic fears. As such, America did never bother about niceties such as the United Nations or international law and institutions such as the International Court of Justice. Latin America, for one, has been the subject of intervention and coercion since the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823.
While scholars trace back the Muslim immigrant experience from the Middle East to the 1890s, it is significant that the first wave came from a region called the greater Syrian area and consisted of primarily farm workers, who were pushed to migrate to America by the economic hardships caused by the opening of the Suez Canal in the mid-nineteenth century, which re-routed world traffic from Syria to Egypt. Generally identified as Syrian, Syrian-Lebanese, and Ottoman subjects, most of these young immigrants were barely educated, lacking in training, capital and English-language skills. Trump would have none of the praise that his predecessor Barack Obama heaped on generations of Muslim immigrants ~ farmers and factory workers, helping to lay the railroads and build our cities ~ and Muslim innovators who helped build some of our highest skyscrapers and who helped to unlock the secrets of our universe.
President Trump said the Justice Department would win an appeal filed against the order lifting the travel ban he had imposed, with a caveat from Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson that even the President cannot violate the Constitution as America is a nation of laws. But what is worrying is that Trumps reflexive America first twitchings remind us that the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks transformed America into a bully; too wiling to wield its iplomatic and military might with scant regard for its traditional allies or international law. George W Bush and Dick Cheney said they were going to attack fifty to sixty countries in the name of anti-terrorism.
In Trumps hands the worries are real that America can relapse once again into being the worlds leading rogue state, a colossus with attention-deficit disorder, and a zombie-minded Goliath in the shape of a jerry-built New Jerusalem. It is well documented how besides South Asian, Arab, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities experiencing unprecedented backlash after 9/11, the Arabs, during and in the aftermath of the Iran hostage crisis and the Persian Gulf War, faced insufferably high levels of suspicion, discrimination and violence in the late 1970s and early 1990s.
Irum Sheikh traces (Detained without Cause: Muslims Stories of Detention and Deportation in America after 9/11) the tradition of labelling immigrants as enemy aliens and detaining political dissenters back to the 1790s.
The French Revolution and the subsequent turmoil in Europe heightened fears about foreign political intrigue and influence. Following the enactment of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 by the Federalist President John Adams, the government had a free run to deport aliens considered dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.
The period from 1820 to the First World War saw the rise of mass migration; over this hundred-year period 55 million Europeans emigrated to North America (71%), South America (21%), and Australasia (7%).
Still, beginning with the American colonial period, racism permitted many settlers to view American Indians as savages, incapable of making good use of their land and lesser human beings, without possessing the intellectual and cultural resources necessary for citizenship.
Lest we should think that the Civil War in the course of the inter-sectional rivalry between North and South over slavery settled the issue of slavery and national citizenship, racist practices remained entrenched in the South violating the law of the land, which eventually resulted in the Jim Crow laws that would regulate black Southerners well into the next century. Racism also provided a rationale for the appropriation of more than half of Mexicos territory in 1848 (including California and Texas), and the mistreatment of the Mexican Americans who opted to remain as the Mexican border moved south.
Beyond the mainly black-white model, the early twentieth century circumscribed people of Asian descent into the overarching loop of racism by barring them from immigrating to the United States. Even after the law was adjusted to permit Asian immigrants to naturalise, native-born American citizens of Asian extraction continued to be seen as aliens in their own country. As an instance of this, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 with its preferences for skilled immigrants, envisaging a new set of professionals, including engineers, doctors and professors, and setting them apart from those South Asians who entered the United States before 1965, say, as railroad workers, lumber mill labourers and farmers, could not protect the second wave of South Asian immigrants with class and educational privilege from racism in the 1970s and 1980s.
Like Trump, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) signed an executive order in the course of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, which authorised the secretary of war to designate military areas from which any or all persons may be excluded as deemed necessary or desirable.
By August 1942, over 110,000 Japanese Americans, constituting some two-thirds of US citizens, were removed from California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona and impounded in camps located mostly in remote areas of the Midwest and the Southwest. Along with the Japanese, German and Italian nationals were also branded dangerous enemy aliens. Yes, a limited number of persons of German and Italian heritage were imprisoned, but the mass internment of Japanese Americans has few parallels in American history. Though the role of race and racism cannot be discounted from American social and political life, it is the immigrants who helped shape America.
The leading legal scholar David Cole argues that throughout American history, the government has repeatedly targeted non-citizens and manufactured them into enemy aliens during wartime emergencies. Since Trump is eager to draw upon Dwight Eisenhower, it is the latters political warfare model that accounted for the restoration of Republican plutocracy and the re-emergence of predatory capitalism, and the growth of Christian, Muslim and Zionist fundamentalism frequently resulting in massive backlashes.
The risk of fringe groups like the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, Shri Rajput Karni Sena or the most notorious Maharashtra Navnirman Sena beginning to get mainstream in India under Narendra Modi might well send shockwaves as much as Trump betraying the old fears of the nativist Know-Nothing Party of the 1850s, the white supremacist (and nativist) Ku Klux Klan that set off a national movement in the 1920s, and the anti-communist John Birch Society (JBS).
Presidents Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and George Bush took the United States to war in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. Beyond getting personal, most of the military operations launched since World War II have been launched by the United States. In fact, since the US was founded in 1776, so as to justify the expediency of wartime emergencies calling for such actions as the travel ban, it has been at war most of the time. Now that Donald Trump enjoys the authority of the bully pulpit ~ the unique capacity inherent in the office of the US President to influence policies that can change the lives of millions worldwide, there are good reasons to be very afraid. The checks and balances to stop a rampaging Trump are the only bulwark against America for the sake of its own survival. And for the worlds.
The writer is a freelance contributor
That the administration of Donald Trump has been busy issuing a host of executive orders in his first few
weeks as US president is well known. The orders issued have included the infamous one that banned nationals and green card holders from seven Muslim countries for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days (refugees from Syria indefinitely). Enforcement of that order has been stayed because of an injunction issued by a district court judge, whose ruling was recently upheld by a court of appeals.
Other orders have included one that prohibits government agencies from passing any new regulations
unless two other regulations are expunged and three orders instruct the Department of Justice to fight
drug cartels, fight violent crime and reduce attacks against the police.
President Trump is not done issuing executive orders, however, according to reports from the new White House, one of the orders under consideration for issuance in the near future would designate the
Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.
Those in favour of the designation, who include former presidential contender Senator Ted Cruz, have argued that the group, which operates primarily in Egypt and Jordan, espouses a violent Islamist Ideology with a mission of destroying the West. Cruz has also introduced a bill in the United States Senate that aims to do the same thing.
Supporters of the bill and the executive order under consideration have further argued that diaspora
American-Muslim organisations such as the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American Islamic Relations and the North American Islamic Trust are all front organisations for the Muslim Brotherhood, suggesting that restrictions may also extend to these groups within the United States.
While many Trump advisers and supporters, notably those featured on Breitbart, a website run by
now senior White House adviser Steven Bannon, have long opposed the Muslim Brotherhood, the new
move has caused concern. Opponents of such a move stress the following: first, equating the group
with actual terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda and the militant Islamic State group casts too broad
a net and deflects attention away from actual terror groups that should be the focus of anti-terror
efforts. Second, the broad transnational and loosely connected group has long participated in elections
and supported results. Its candidate Mohammed Morsi won the 2012 presidential election in Egypt before
he and his allies were swept from power in a military coup. It is because of this that the previous
two US administrations, one led by Republicans, the other by Democrats, have both refused to apply the
designation. Third, given that the Muslim Brotherhood has offshoots beyond Egypt, in countries like
Morocco, Jordan and Turkey countries in which the US has interests the designation would imperil
alliances in which America needs cooperation from allies.
Good reasons, however, are not going very far these days in Washington, D.C. Like the content of
most of the other executive orders issued in recent days, the debate on designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation has long galvanised anti-Islam politicians and thinkers, many of whom now enjoy plum posts within the administration.
Among policy experts in Washington, there is widespread disagreement. One of them recently wrote that not a single Muslim Brotherhood expert supported designating the group as a terrorist group. Author Eric Trager took the strongest position, saying that the most he could do is describe the Muslim Brotherhood as a hate group, which while repugnant and illiberal is not the same thing as a terrorist group.
The issue of the Muslim Brotherhoods designation is likely to put American Muslims, particularly those from Arab countries where the Brotherhood has a strong presence, more on edge. With the terrorist
designation, money that is sent to people or charities or any entity associated with the Muslim Brotherhood would come under greater scrutiny.
Disbursements and connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, even vague ones, could be prosecuted
under the US Material Support for Terrorism statute, which criminalises any support (even unintentional)
to terrorist groups. While there may little truth to the premise that American-Muslim organisations
are fronts for the Muslim Brotherhood, it is quite likely that the latters designation as a terrorist
organisation will affect a good number of American Muslims.
While the Muslim Brotherhood does not itself have a presence in Pakistan, several other Islamist
political parties do. If the Brotherhood is designated as a terrorist organisation, it indicates the Trump
administrations willingness to cast a very broad net and equate Islamist with terrorist. While this
may not be correct, it is worthy of note since what applies to the Muslim Brotherhood may soon be
applicable to other groups as well.
Even if this does not impact the leadership of these Islamist political parties, it will likely have an
effect on all those loosely affiliated or connected to these parties or even sympathetic to their views. Combined with the new extreme vetting of all visa applicants and even green card holders entering the
country, this would mean that anyone who sympathises with these organisations, in letter or spirit, can
expect to be barred from entering the US or be deported following visa revocations if they are already
there. An Islamist political organisation like the Muslim Brotherhood is not the same as terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda, Tehreek-iTaliban Pakistan or ISIS. At the same time, one does wonder why those having Islamist political beliefs that do not square with liberal constitutional principles are
interested in travelling to and living in the United States.
Still, the overly broad nature of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation is
unlikely to accomplish any security objectives for the US. In the near term, it is likely to enable all sorts of
wrongful prosecutions of ArabAmericans; in the long term, it will likely make the American-Muslim
community even more insular, increasing the possibility of alienation and ultimately radicalisation.
The new constitution of Nepal, which was promulgated on 20 September 2015, is the seventh in seven decades. It provides for three-tier elections to parliament, provincial assemblies and local units. A new parliament has to be elected by mid-January 2018 if the tenure of present House is not extended by amending the constitution. During this period, the provincial and local level elections should also be conducted.
Local level elections are primary, as the designated elected representatives of the local units have to elect the members of the Upper House of parliament.
To hold all these elections simultaneously is also considered difficult as local units elections are getting delayed by the Madhesi opposition to some provisions of the constitution and also to the report of the restructuring commission submitted to the government.
Every election should be free and fair, on the one hand, and less expensive and cumbersome, on the other. The Constituent Assembly adopted the new constitution without sufficient deliberation. It neither paid any serious attention to the challenges that might crop up while holding elections nor did it take lessons from Indian experiences.
Significantly, the Indian constitution, which was adopted after long deliberations by intellectuals and legal stalwarts, too, could not foresee the challenges of unscheduled elections, To avoid it, simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are being considered.
It took almost two years in India to conduct elections to parliament and state assemblies after the constitution was adopted. It was really a tremendous effort to hold simultaneous elections to the Lower house of parliament and also the state assemblies as India has the largest number of voters in the world. Four simultaneous elections (till 1967) went on almost smoothly.
However, it was needed to hold states elections at different times on account of dissolution of the state legislatures. Even the Lower House of parliament went to mid-term polls a number of times. Now it is felt that simultaneous elections should be conducted to avoid unnecessary expenditure, administrative involvement and restrictions imposed by the electoral model code of conduct, as almost every or alternate year, there is a mini general election when a number of states go to the polls. In short, irregular elections are necessitated when Houses are dissolved prematurely.
Dissolution of the House takes place in different conditions, such as, when there is no single party majority to form the government and fresh peoples mandate is required and when governor of the state recommends dissolution of the assembly after finding constitutional breakdown or on the advice of the state assembly itself. There is a history of dissolving state assemblies on the ground that they had lost peoples mandate if the parliamentary election gave a different verdict. It is held that the parliamentary system is a Prime-Ministerial system and a general election is held to choose a Prime Minster.
Thus, Prime Minister/Chief Minister, being the leader of the House, has the right to recommend dissolution of the house, when she thinks it proper. In Indian and some other constitutions, there are two different criteria, one for choosing a constructional authority and another for removing it . For example, the speaker of the Lower House is elected through a simple majority of votes but s/he can be removed only through two-thirds majority. Such provisions are supposed to make the process of removal difficult, if not impossible. If this provision is also made applicable to the dissolution of the House, it can prevent dissolution to a great extent.
In India, the BJP has its government at the Centre and in most of the states. The Congress party has less than half a dozen governments in the states.
There are several regional parties, which are ruling states on their own. Every party has its natural interest to continue in power. Thus, the following procedure is suggested. First, the constitution can be amended to restrict the dissolution of legislatures.
For amendment, there must be consensus on the national level. Secondly, there should be a coalition government at the Centre of those parties that have their governments at the state level. The major party at the Centre has to sacrifice its interest to continue in power paving the way to sharing power with other parties. Thirdly, no party at the state level should suffer while dissolving the legislatures to hold simultaneous polls. Fourthly, for a limited period, there should be either Central rule in the state or the existing governments should continue as caretaker governments.
Practically, if BJP forms its governments in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and a coalition government with the Akali Dal in Punjab, it can hold simultaneous elections in 2019 along with Lok Sabha elections. In case, BJP fails to form governments in these states, simultaneous elections can be held in 2020 April or May so that the parties, which form governments in 2017, can enjoy the benefit of continuing in power till 2020 to execute their commitments.Nepal, if it decides to hold simultaneous elections has to think over all these obstacles before taking any concrete action on this score.
The writer is former Election Commissioner of Nepal and is associated with the Nepal Transition to Peace Institute, Kathmandu.
Humans have hundreds of mental abilities and the broad term used to describe them is intelligence. Common intelligence is the power to acquire knowledge using memory and performing actions, but it lacks in ability to explain overall outcomes. There are other sorts of Intelligence to act emotionally and socially. Emotional intelligence is the richness of our qualitative life to perceive, analyse and regulate emotions they truly make us what we are. On the other hand, social intelligence relates to compatibility on social interactions.
Therefore, whether the so-called intelligent quotient defines ones intensity of intelligence is debatable. IQ is considered as the mental ability of one in comparison with the mental abilities of others in the same age group. But mere IQ cannot define a person completely in all respects. A person needs EI to realise, analyse and manage ones emotions. In fact, a combination of EI and SI account for the intelligence of a human.
To calculate the IQ of a person, a simple unitary method based on ratio is not applicable but a statistical procedure is followed with a chosen standard deviation and the mean being 100. An IQ of 100 means that 50 per cent of the population has a lower IQ while 50 per cent have a higher IQ with respect to that person.
A normal, average child has an IQ of 100 with 99.5 per cent of world population having an IQ between 60 and 140. Only one per cent people in the world can boast an IQ of more than 135 Albert Einsteins IQ is said to have been 160! That said malnutrition lowers IQ levels, especially the deficiency of iodine in children. Therefore, IQ levels in third world countries could be raised with proper nutrition and eradication of diseases. Data also shows that people with a higher IQ generally have lower adult morbidity and mortality researchers calculated that a 15 per cent lower IQ accounts for a one-fifth less chance live 76 years.
But lets turn our gaze to emotional intelligence. It has four distinct categories,
perception of emotions involving non- verbal signals like facial expressions and body language.
reasoning using emotion like to promote thinking and cognitive activity
ability to understand emotions to identify the exact root of emotions following attitude, temperament and delivery of language.
managing emotions is the key to controlling oneself to deal with conflicts and adverse or favourable situations.
Tests on EQ reveal the intensity of mental disorder and are used to diagnose autism spectrum, schizophrenia, and other mental blockages and complications. Autistic children show evidences of very high IQ levels with precise perception and keen observation but they are devoid of EI and totally incapable to exhibit normal human behaviour.
EQ can be raised by practicing meditation and SQ can be increased with more study on social interactions. But there is no way to increase ones IQ level high IQ is only responsible for academic success.
Though IQ helps a person only for four per cent time during ones life, EQ and SQ are more helpful to shine in a particular career. Yet a minimum IQ level of 100 is mandatory for success. In fact, perfect combination of IQ, EQ and SQ can make a person reach the peak of excellence.
The writer is a former lecturer in applied Mathematics, Maharajadhiraj Uday Chand Womens College, Burdwan
Around 9,000 soldiers from the Brazilian Army were deployed here ahead of a potential police strike, the Ministry of Defence announced, a media report said on Wednesday.
Minister of Defence Raul Jungmann told a press conference on Tuesday that the soldiers would patrol here and the nearby cities of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo until February 22, although their deployment could be extended until after Carnival.
On Tuesday afternoon, the army presence was seen in the tour areas of Copacabana and Ipanema, as well as along the main highways here in the second-largest Brazilian city.
The army deployment came after Rio Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao appealed to President Michel Temer to reinforce security, as military police battalions stayed in barracks in protest against the freezing of their salaries and labour conditions.
In a statement, Temer said the armed forces were "ready to re-establish public order" in case of more strikes and described the situation in Espirito Santo as an "insurgency" by military police.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington to renew the US-Israel ties after eight strained years during the Obama administration.
The Israeli leader and President Donald Trump could both use a boost when they meet on Wednesday, CNN reported.
Though both men have declared their mutual support and outlined similar views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the realities of the region and entrenched positions on all sides are likely to intrude on the relationship at some point.
"It's going to be an absolute love fest," said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, speaking of the meeting.
"They both know the likelihood is that in the long run there will be tensions and an argument," he said, given that Trump had indicated he wanted to tackle a Middle East peace agreement and has sent conflicting signals on Israel, according to the report.
"But for now, there are no major issues between them. It's going to be a honeymoon," he said.
The President was also considering helping Israel attempt to normalise its relations with Sunni Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, according to the report.
Netanyahu had a tense and at times bitter relationship with former President Barack Obama. Now, he is looking to bolster his perch as Israel's steward of the relationship with Washington, in part to defend himself against challenges from right-wing members of his party.
CNN quoted a source as saying that the White House was still figuring out what its policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be. "I think they don't know yet," the source said.
Regarding the concept of the two-state solution to the conflict, a bedrock of current US policy, a senior US official said, "Maybe, maybe not. It's something the two sides have to agree to. It's not for us to impose that vision."
The Trump-Netanyahu meeting at the White House will cover Iran, Syria, ISIS and the two countries' ties, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer.
He also said the two leaders will discuss the prospects for Middle East peace, an effort that Trump has said he wants his son-in-law Jared Kushner to lead.
The "administration will work to achieve comprehensive agreement that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security," Spicer said on Tuesday.
Russia does not return its territories, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said in response to the White House statement that US President Trump was expecting Moscow to return Crimea to Kiev.
"We do not return our territories. Crimea is Russian territory," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, reaffirming Moscow's long-standing position that the issue is permanently closed.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that Trump expected Russia to "return Crimea" to Ukraine.
"President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea," Spicer said at a daily news briefing. "At the same time, he fully expects to and wants to get along with Russia."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said his country's sovereignty over the peninsula could not be discussed as "Russia does not discuss issues related to its territory with foreign partners", reported Sputnik.
According to him, the issue of Crimea had not even been raised in the phone call between Trump and President Vladimir Putin on January 28. The spokesman said Moscow expected the issue to be discussed calmly and in a constructive way once relations with Washington were more positive.
He said Putin would patiently explain to the US the so-called coup in Ukraine, which led Crimean citizens to apply for admission into Russia.
Crimea re-joined Russia after a 2014 referendum, when almost 97 per cent of the region's population voted for the reunification. The referendum was not accepted by Kiev or by the international community.
During the election campaign, according to the report, Trump claimed he would "consider" recognising Crimea as part of Russia following the referendum in the peninsula, adding that the Crimeans wanted to live in Russia.
The US President has repeatedly advocated establishing a political dialogue with Moscow, particularly in regard to the fight against terrorism, and expressed readiness to build positive relations with Russia. Moscow has long been promoting the idea of fruitful cooperation with Washington.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)
Today
Cloudy with periods of rain, heavier early. High 68F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch..
Tonight
Rain showers in the evening with clear skies overnight. Low 53F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
It appears that commentators on both sides attempted to exploit that new context, with some Westerners viewing it as an indictment of the Iranian people while Irans state media attempted to claim that the latest chants were a direct response to Trumps threats and not a longstanding slogan of the Islamic Republic. One report, by Elite Daily, attempted to dispel both of these notions. It pointed out that even among those who attended the celebrations in order to show support for Tehrans hardline foreign policy, many people explicitly separated their views of Trumps foreign policy from their views of the American people.
It has been widely reported that the Iranian population is both highly educated and distinctly pro-Western, in contrast to the image of the nation that is put forward by the hardline Islamist regime. Some moderate citizens may have chosen to attend this years anniversary celebrations out of concerns about perceived threats from the Trump administration, but Elite Daily points out that the gatherings actually included numerous placards with positive messages, thanking the American people for defending Muslims in their own country and for protesting Trumps travel ban targeting Iran and six other Muslim-majority nations.
Elite Daily also debunked the notion of amped-up hostility toward the US in the Trump era, noting for instance that there had been a concerted effort by Iranian users of social media to encourage demonstrators to tone down the anti-American slogans and to avoid flag burning, in order to keep attention focused on US foreign policy and not on a clash of cultures between the two countries as a whole.
The Christian Science Monitor seemed to corroborate this account. In fact, it claimed that this years celebrations had been characterized by fewer anti-American taunts. This can be partly attributed to the social media campaign, but it may also expose the Iranian regimes uncertainty about how to proceed when dealing with the new American presidency. That is, the Monitor noted that Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis speech to the crowd was subdued in tone, despite some references to vigilance in the pursuit of Irans military defense goals.
The article suggests that this may have been part of a deliberate effort by the regime to avoid inciting more provocative moves against the US, at least until such time as the regime has a better sense of how to anticipate and manage the responses from the Trump administration. But on the other hand, the subdued tone of Rouhanis speech is typical of the renowned pragmatist, who was largely responsible for the success of nuclear negotiations with the US and five other world powers.
Those negotiations helped to secure Rouhanis reputation as a moderate in the eyes of some Western policymakers. But this description is belied by his inaction on domestic campaign promises regarding human rights and censorship. Furthermore, the Iranian president, who is facing a reelection bid in May, has never pushed back against the rhetoric or provocative actions of hardline military institutions, and has in fact increased funding for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Whether this failure to contradict hardliners is a result of complacency or deliberate collaboration, it was on display again in the midst of the anniversary celebrations. Whereas Rouhani arguably maintained a subdued approach to foreign policy rhetoric, the armed forces and the IRGC continued to make provocative gestures and to speak openly about the prospect of war with the United States. Irans English-language propaganda network Press TV reported on Sunday that Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of the Iranian Navy said that his forces would be increasing its activities in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the two.
The announcement was justified in terms of the improvement of maritime security amidst a threat of piracy, but the Iranians have used this terminology in the past to explain activities that clearly defied the wishes of the West, of Irans regional rival Saudi Arabia, and of much of the international community. The Gulf of Aden meets the coastline of Yemen, where the IRGC has been supporting and perhaps even commanding the Houthi rebels who have been fighting a war since 2015 against the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and a Saudi-led coalition supporting him.
Naturally, the Iranians have come under fire for this by the US and its allies. And although Tehran formally denies that it is actively supporting the Houthis, the Yemeni Civil War is widely regarded as a clear instance of the Islamic Republics growing imperialism in the region. This is something that the Trump administration has shown a definite interest in confronting, although there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the means by which it would do this.
After Iran test-fired a missile just over a week into the Trump presidency, the White House responded by declaring that Iran was on notice not just over its ballistic missile program but also over other provocative activities. But the details of this threat were left vague, apparently as a deliberate measure to encourage uncertainty and give Tehran the impression that nothing is off the table, including military action.
The vagueness of that threat is presumably the reason why some reports suggest that even relatively moderate Iranians participated in the state-organized demonstrations on Friday. It goes without saying that even among staunch opponents of the Islamic theocracy, Iranians would generally oppose the notion of invasion or bombing of their homeland by a foreign power. But even though President Trump has specifically indicated that there is a viable military option, most analysts appear to have concluded that armed conflict is an unlikely outcome of the current mutual provocations.
Al Jazeera published an article on Monday which critically analyzed the hawkish background of the Trump White House while reaffirming that the administration is essentially of one mind on the need to confront the Iranian threat to Middle Eastern stability. But even so, Al Jazeera sees war as a political risk that Trump would not be willing to undertake lightly, and also as an outcome that the Iranians would be foolish enough to court.
Other sources suggest that war is not only politically untenable, it is also unnecessary from a practical standpoint, since there are a great many other actions the Trump administration can undertake to put pressure on the Islamic Republic. Indeed, it has already started along that path, imposing new sanctions on 13 individuals and 12 companies in response to the January 29 ballistic missile test, and then beginning the process to potentially designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.
The possibility of yet another assertive measure was the subject of a report that appeared on Monday at Iran Front Page News. It indicated that the White House may be planning to expose the contents of so-called secret side deals to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement a transparency measure that several commentators on the subject have been urging since the president took office. Hardline Iranian officials have responded to this in a predictable fashion, saying that if the US violated the secrecy of agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, then Iran would cease to cooperate with that monitoring organization.
Jamali Nobandegani, a member of the Iranian Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission also took the latest Trump administration threat as an opportunity to put forward new accusations of an international conspiracy against the Islamic Republic. Most of the so-called IAEA agents who are dispatched to other countries are, in fact, undercover agents of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Mossad Israels intelligence agency, he said, before claiming that the publication of these documents is an old trick by such agencies.
Iran Front Page News also quoted Iranian Member of Parliament Valiollah Nanvakenari as saying that Trumps threat to publicly expose the content of the agreements is not intended as a transparency measure but rather as a means of negatively influencing the international communitys opinion of the Islamic Republic. Such influence is certainly in the interest of the Trump administration, since international cooperation would be needed in order to reconstruct the sanctions regime that was greatly diminished under the terms of the nuclear accord.
Irans threat to withdraw cooperation with the IAEA is effectively a threat to the life of the nuclear deal itself, and the consequences of that deals failure would depend greatly upon whether the international community sees Iran or the US as being more at fault for it. The White House is arguably at a disadvantage insofar as Trump repeatedly promised to cancel or renegotiate the agreement while he was campaigning for office. But it is also easy to disprove the claims of innocence put forward by people like Nanvakenari, who was quoted by Iran Front Page as saying, Iran has always honored the commitments it has made in talks with the [nations involved in nuclear negotiations] and the IAEA. However, the other side has always shown a lack of commitment.
In fact, over the first year of the deals life, various reports emerged to indicate that Iran had briefly violated limits set by the agreement, or had withheld arguably crucial information about its past nuclear activities. Additionally, the recent ballistic missile test was one of more than a half dozen carried out since negotiations concluded, and all of them were at odds with the United Nations Security Council resolution governing the implementation of the nuclear deal. Yet each of these violations and near-violations was effectively ignored by the Obama administration, leading some to believe that Trump could fulfill his campaign promise regarding the nuclear accord by simply enforcing it more stringently and thus convincing Iran to back out.
At least one diplomat with a close connection to the Trump administration believes that this is exactly the current intention. John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN and an avowed supporter of Donald Trump, was quoted by the Weekly Standard as saying that the agreement is possibly one heartbeat away from disappearing. He has concluded that Trumps initial, assertive gestures, including the threat of listing the IRGC as a terrorist group, are likely to cause the Iranians to throw up their arms and say, Its an outrage, were withdrawing from the agreement.
The cancelation of the deal on the Iranian side may re-create a situation in which the international community has common cause to put pressure on the Iranian regime and thus to weaken it without resorting to the threat of military force. Many Iranian opponents of the theocratic regime, such as the National Council of Resistance of Iran, believe that this weakening is virtually all that would be needed in order to enable a domestic uprising by the vast majority of Iranians who are pro-Western and who used last weeks anniversary celebration to contradict the regimes rhetoric, even if some of those same citizens protested against a perceived threat of war.
remaining of
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Turki Aldakhil, General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, writes on February 14, Yes, were passing through a new phase. There has been a major transformation following the reactive years of isolationism which show the depth of the roots that America has returned to in terms of engaging with world crises and contributing to managing its development.
The influential academic and politician Fouad Ajami hoped for, and passed away heartbroken, calling the former administration hopeless, as it neglected to manage the concept of the world order.
The legacy of its predecessor regarding Iran weighs heavily on current the US administration. Ballistic missile development went unchecked during the Obama administration. The main source of terrorism in the region is Iran, and its involvement in Syria has awakened sectarianism in the region.
It is time to discipline the political rebellion represented by Irans regime.
James Mad Dog Mattis, US Secretary of Defense, stated that Iran sponsors terrorism across the world. The White House announced that all options, including military intervention, are on the table. This new rhetoric has shaken Iran. The regime is shocked because the old strategic facilitations no longer work.
The legacy Trump inherited must be dealt with, beginning with besieging the terrorism of the Iranian regime. Aldakhil says that Iran killed the largest number of Americans in Beirut, Tehran and Saudi Arabia, and that the Iranian regime is skilled at blowing up embassies, and masters executions, murder, and assassinations.
The Revolutionary Guards cadres comments and their reaction to Trumps statements against Irans terrorism resulted in Hamid Reza, the media and cultural consultant of the Revolutionary Guards, angrily saying that the new US president has begun his presidential term with a heated media fuss, just like what America witnessed during his electoral campaign that stirred controversy in the American and global political scene due to the vagueness of his future plans and political orientations on the local and international levels. Reza added that Trumps recent statements, claiming its important to be more accurate when monitoring Tehrans activity after it conducted a successful missile experiment, confirms that all options are on the table.
Trump has been very clear about being different from his predecessor. He said that the display of kindness is over. However, Iran and its axis continue their wishful thinking.
Bush coined the famous term Axis of Evil which included Iran, during a speech on January 29, 2002, saying that it represents terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and organized work to carry out violent practices that oppose international agreements. Trumps administration focuses on Iranian terrorism as it seeks to restore the firm position associated with the Bush administration.
The Iranian regime is experiencing a phase of domestic unrest. It is faced with an economic crisis, with growing poverty and unemployment. Still, it is spending tens of billions on the leaders and commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, who receive wages that are enough to support an entire state. Iran engages in wars in Yemen, Syria, even Iraq.
The era of appeasing the Houthis, and former Secretary of State, John Kerrys plan, are over. Trump and his team believe the Houthis are a terrorist group. This is a time of transformation, and of restoring prestige to nations so each country retreats to its borders.
The Supreme Leaders threats to Trump are pointless.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis walk away after addressing a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. For U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the next few days will be a reassurance tour with a twist. He is expected to tell allies the U.S. is committed to NATO and is also hoping to secure bigger defense spending commitments. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol, second form left, stands at the entrance as he prepares to leave the forensic department at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. News of the apparent assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother rippled across Asia on Wednesday as Malaysian investigators scoured airport surveillance video for clues about two female suspects and rival South Korea offered up a single, shaky motive: paranoia. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Iran conducted a second missile test last week in a defiant response to U.S. warnings.
The Supreme Leader of the regime, Ali Khamenei, blustered in a desperate effort to save face, No enemy can paralyze the Iranian nation. [Trump] says you should be afraid of me. No!
According to state-run TV, the regimes sympathizers marched on the streets last week, on the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, to swear allegiance to the clerical establishment while chanting Death to America.
However, the days of turning a blind eye to Irans hostile and belligerent actions are over, said senior administration officials.
Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, stated that he favors rigorously enforcing the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. Still other officials continue to call for revocation or renegotiation of the deal.
Mattis called the extremist theocracy ruling Iran the worst destabilizing force in the Middle East, and a clear threat to Western interests.
Undercutting the JCPOA may still be an option that Mattis supports, if it becomes clear that the agreement limits the administrations ability to confront Iran over other issues.
A UN Security Council resolution categorically barred the regime from development or testing of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. While the JCPOA agreement was being implemented, the wording of the resolution was changed, and the resolution only called upon Iran to avoid work on weapons designed to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Of course, the meaning is the same, but Tehran believed it had been given a gift of vague wording, and this has allowed them to argue that they cannot punished by the international community for their testing of ballistic missiles that may be capable of striking Israel and various Western assets.
The malign conduct of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its extraterritorial arm, the Quds Force in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen should have been recognized the world over as proof of the persistently aggressive preoccupations of the Iranian regime. The same goes for the regimes capture of 10 American sailors in January 2016, multiple missile attacks on Iranian dissidents formerly residing in Camp Ashraf/Liberty in Iraq, and various threats and provocative maneuvers against US Navy vessels and aircraft in the Persian Gulf, writes Member of Irans Parliament in Exile, National Council of Resistance of Iran, Ali Safavi, in his article for the Huffington Post.
The IRGC carried out yet another ballistic missile test just nine days after the US President was inaugurated, and sent a nuclear-capable weapon over 600 miles from a known launch site. This was followed by Iranian statements suggesting that these actions are plainly permitted since they are not mentioned in the JCPOA.
An appropriately assertive response from the Trump as a long-term strategy is desired, instead of a continuation of the appeasement that has characterized Iran policy. It is also hoped that the new approach will embrace the idea of reaching out to the Iranian people and the organized opposition.
The JCPOA has no bearings on the imposition of new sanctions related to the ballistic missile tests and other provocations by the Iranian regime. It is entirely up to the regime whether the expanded enforcement measures by the US lead to the failure of the nuclear deal, or not.
Yet, considering the provocative gestures the Iranian regime continues to make since that deals implementation, it should be clear to the administration and to the American public that it may be better to hold the Iranian regime accountable for their terrorism, their destabilizing role in the region, and rights violations at home.
Designating the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization will deprive the regime its force in the region. It will, as well, send a signal to the people of Iran that the days of ignoring the regimes aggression abroad and repression at home are over.
Organisation: United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Position No.: 10026823
Vacancy Notice: 003/2017
Reports to: Supply Officer
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
Post Grade: GL5
About UNHCR:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was
established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly.
UNHCRs mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international
protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees
and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate
concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under
Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:
The Snr Supply Assistant (Warehouse) will
set-up internal system to ensure warehousing processes are systematically
conducted.
The incumbent will also store and control
items in stock.
Accurately record the location of stock on
appropriate shelf cards and stock cards.
Regularly update storage locations, all
systems and documentation.
Regular conduct stock checking thus include
recording goods going in and out, stock inspections and physical inventory
check.
The incumbent will ensure stock management
system established.
Regularly update stock inventory in MSRP
Evaluate Purchase Requests and
authorizations to ensure that specifications, budget data and other
requirements are in order.
Draft and despatch quotation requests and
tenders.
Evaluate offers and prepare bid
tabulations.
Prepare proposals for award of contracts
to the Contracts Committee.
Offer support in the coordination of and
reporting on the deployment of Non -Expendable Property.
Ensure safety and security of stock.
Performs other duties as required.
Key Performance Indicators:
UNHCR Uganda attains and maintains proper
internal control system in the warehouses;
UNHCR Uganda maintains accurate records on
the locations, movements and levels of the stocks;
Proper procurement procedures are adhered
to.
Safety and security of stocks is
maintained throughout the warehouse cycle.
Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:
The ideal candidate for the United Nations
UNHCR Snr Supply Assistant (Warehouse) job placement should secondary
School education with post-secondary training/certificate in Business
Administration, Logistics, Warehousing or a related field;
At least five years of previous relevant
professional job experience;
Completion of UNHCR learning programmes or
specific training relevant to functions of the position such as the Supply
Chain Learning Programme (SCLP);
Good computer skills (MS Office and People
soft)
Prior exposure and experience in customs
formalities
Previous experience in logistics or
warehousing
Fluency in English and working knowledge
of another relevant UN language or local language.
How to Apply:
All interested Ugandan nationals who wish to join the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the aforementioned capacity are
encouraged to click on the link below and follow the application instructions
after reviewing the job details.
Deadline: 21st February, 2017
Organisation: Catholic
Relief Services
Funding Source: United
States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
Reports to: DFSA Chief of
Party
About US:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in an international non-profit
organization that carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United
States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at
the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and
as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values
and our commitment to serving those in need.
About USAID FFP Project:
CRS will be submitting a proposal in response to the 2017 USAID Food
for Peace (FFP) Development Food Security Activities (DFSA) Request for
Applications (RFA). CRS Uganda will serve as the prime on the application and
will develop the proposal in consortium with other international
non-governmental organizations, local implementing partners and
international/national research institutions. The proposed program will involve
a multi-sectoral response to addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in
Karamoja sub-region in northern Uganda. The estimated timeframe for this
program is 2017-2022.
Job Summary: The Program
Manager (PM) II, DFSA MEAL Manager will design, manage, strengthen and provide
strategic direction to the Uganda DFSAs MEAL system, ensuring cross-learning
in MEAL among Uganda-based projects, as well as collaborating on learning
across CRS food security and nutrition projects in the Horn of Africa and
collaborating with MEAL counterparts on learning across DFSA initiatives within
Uganda.
Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:
Strategy and Design:
Provide strategic high level feedback,
analysis and interpretation throughout the program startup and
implementation processes.
Ensure that the DFSA MEAL systems are in
compliance with CRS global and regional policies, procedures, standards
and strategic initiatives, and USAID/FFP MEAL and Reporting Policies and
guidance.
Provide strategic direction for the
development and maintenance of MEAL systems and the roll-out of new
initiatives.
Support the project team and MEAL team in
the design and implementation of assessments, gender analysis, stakeholder
analysis, organizational capacity assessments and other pre-program data
collection and analysis.
Ensure the consistency of indicators and
tools across all partners, sectors, and programs as appropriate,
maintaining a bank of key program indicators.
Support programming staff to incorporate
participatory methods into community level MEAL systems and tools.
The incumbent will collect and analyze
lessons learned and best practices from previous and ongoing programs
capturing the impact of activities to ensure they feed into the DFSA
strategy as appropriate.
Leverage lessons learned, best practices,
program data, evaluations and other information to generate donor
communication pieces, proposal annexes, success stories, case studies and
other high-quality, results-based documentation.
MEAL Implementation:
Lead mandated evaluations, needs
assessments, annual surveys, case studies and other research efforts.
Develop DFSA MEAL operating manual using
SMILER coaching methodology to ensure complete, up-to-date, high quality
MEAL system, containing essential data collection tools, data flow maps
and analysis plans to address need to know information for program quality
and donor reporting.
Manage agency level MEAL requirements
(e.g. annual data quality assessments, beneficiary count reporting and
MEAL Policies and Procedures self-assessments).
Significantly contribute to donor reports
through high quality project data interpretation and report inputs.
Lead the project MEAL team to
strategically prepare and review MEAL calendars and work plans.
Support learning-to-action events and
reflection sessions to systematically analyze data to promote adaptive
management and to document and incorporate lessons learned into program
design and implementation.
Ensure MEAL and program teams regularly
review and adjust MEAL plans and tools as needed by the project context.
Ensure that transparent high quality
accountability mechanisms, including beneficiary feedback and response
mechanisms, are in place for the DFSA and are regularly discussed at the
appropriate level with necessary responses and feedback documented.
Ensure that beneficiary feedback is
adequately captured, addressed, analyzed and used by program team.
Capacity Strengthening:
Collaborate with the Uganda Country
Program MEAL Manager on the Uganda MEAL Community of Practice to share
learning, resources, and support across offices.
Develop and co-facilitate MEAL workshops
and modules for staff and partners to share country program, regional and
global MEAL tools, processes and best practices to cultivate a culture of
learning.
Carry out orientations for new DFSA
program staff on CRS systems and key MEAL resources.
Provide mentoring to CRS and partner DFSA
staff to increase capacity and to achieve annual performance and
development plans.
Remain updated with developments among the
CRS MEAL community and worldwide MEAL trends and resources to ensure the
DFSA MEAL team is applying CRS MEAL guidance and policies appropriately
and in a timely manner.
Carry out field monitoring visits events
frequently with project teams and implementing partners.
Send timely feedback to senior DFSA
program and MEAL staff to improve the overall MEAL system and ensure
quality implementation of MEAL activities.
ICT for MEAL:
Support the DFSA MEAL and program team to
develop strong project tracking, record keeping and filing methodologies
for all activities
Work closely with MEAL and IT staff to
maximize the value and utility of ICT4D in MEAL initiatives.
Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:
The ideal candidate for the Program Manager
(PM) II, DFSA MEAL Manager job placement must hold a Masters degree in
economics, agricultural economics, statistics, bio-statistics, nutrition
or other relevant subject with strong quantitative background.
A minimum of eight years experience
working in a development setting preferably with an international NGO,
with at least six years of experience progressively increasing MEAL
responsibility in international development projects and at least two
years of experience as a supervisor; Title II and ICT4D experience
preferred. The candidate must have experience in leading the M&E of a
large project.
Previous exposure and experience working
with large donors, USAID/FFP and/or USAID/FTF preferred.
Strong conceptual knowledge about theories
of change, logic model, food and nutrition security indicators, M&E
plan, data quality assurance, data utilization and gender integration into
M&E.
Significant experience and expertise in
developing and operationalizing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
plan; familiarity with FFP M&E and Reporting Policy and Guidance for
the components of an M&E plan.
Demonstrated expertise and experience in
developing and operationalizing routine monitoring system designed to
track both output and outcome indicators from project design to
implementation (including work with results frameworks and theories of
change) as well as building staff capacity to utilize systems; experience
with participatory MEAL system required.
Strong quantitative background and
demonstrated expertise in designing annual monitoring surveys including
probabilistic sampling strategy and estimating sample size, developing
appropriate weights and analyze quantitative data; including previous
experience with leading and managing studies and consultants.
Demonstrated expertise in designing
qualitative studies, in-depth knowledge about qualitative sampling and
experienced in using interview and interactive tools to generate
qualitative information and analysis.
Experienced in developing data quality
assurance strategies, data management and data visualization; including
proficiency in database development/management, SPSS, Stata, EPI-Info,
Access, Excel and skills in analyzing, interpreting and communicating
information to various stakeholders.
Demonstrated expertise and experience in
data utilization strategies and can creatively think about active data
sharing techniques.
Agency-Wide Competences (for all CRS
Staff): Serves with
Integrity, Models
Stewardship, Cultivates
Constructive Relationships, Promotes
Learning Serves withIntegrity, ModelsStewardship, CultivatesConstructive Relationships, PromotesLearning
Program Manager Competencies: These are rooted in the mission,
values and principles of CRS and used by each program manager to fulfill his or
her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
Sets clear goals and manages toward them
Collaborates effectively with staff and
stakeholders
Manages financial resources with integrity
Applies program quality standards to
project design and organizational learning
Key MEAL Competencies (specific for this position)
MEAL in Design:
Developing project-level Theories of Change, Results Frameworks,
Proframes, related MEAL system tools and components, and accompanying MEAL
narratives. Developing project-level Theories of Change, Results Frameworks,Proframes, related MEAL system tools and components, and accompanying MEALnarratives.
Monitoring: Implementing
monitoring activities, including timely collection of quality data, set up
and maintenance of databases, facilitation of participatory reflection on
monitoring results, and submission of timely progress reports.
Evaluation: Supporting project and program evaluations and reviews by
ensuring the quality of evaluation methods, tools, and data and
facilitating the use of evaluation results to inform decision-making and
enhance learning
Accountability :
Improving our accountability to a range of stakeholders through increased
participation, transparent communication, responsive feedback mechanisms
and adherence to internal and external quality standards and requirements.
Learning: Promoting
excellent knowledge management and collaborative learning processes at the
project, program and institutional levels, generating robust evidence for
project and programmatic learning that leads to action, decision-making
and influence.
Analysis and Critical Thinking:
Engaging with data, challenging biases and assumptions, posing thoughtful
questions, pursuing deeper understanding of evidence through reflection
and perspective-taking, and making informed programming decisions.
ICT for MEAL : Applying
knowledge on information and communication technologies (ICT), both
hardware and software, for opportune and accurate data collection,
database management.
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and interested candidates are encouraged to send
a cover letter, updated CV and three work references (names and contact
information only) to ug_recruitment@crs.org
nd
February, 2017 Deadline: 22February, 2017
Patnaik's close aides say that to understand him, one has to understand his empathy
By Pratul Sharma/Photos Sanjay Ahlawat
Putting all speculations to rest, global pop sensation and Grammy award winner Justin Bieber will bring his 'Purpose World Tour' to India in May. White Fox India, the promoters of the tour, confirmed the 22-year old Canadian will perform in Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium on May 10.
[File photo] Justin Beiber
The highly anticipated event will further strengthen India's position on the global music map.
Bieber's India jaunt is to promote his fourth album, the critically acclaimed Purpose. The album had debuted at #1 in over 100 countries and has sold more than eight million copies worldwide.
Fans will be able to preregister the tickets on bookmyshow. Tickets will go on sale from Feb 22 and will be priced at Rs 4,000 and upwards, a press statement stated.
Beiber's worldwide smash hits, including Where Are Ace Now, Boyfriend, Love Yourself, Company, As Long As You Love Me, What Do You Mean?, Baby and Purpose, among others are expected to be crooned at the concert.
"We are expecting a full house on May 10 with one of the biggest arena tours witnessed in recent times. This tour will place India on the global map and open up avenues for other artists of similar stature who may want to consider India as part of their touring roster, said Arjun Jain, director, White Fox India.
Beiber will also tour Tel Aviv in Israel and Dubai in the UAE as part of the 'Purpose World Tour'.
But there is little doubt that one major reason for Trump scaling back his former promises is because cancelling such a multi-party agreement is no simple matter. On one hand, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton characterized the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as a one-day agreement that is being constantly renewed. But on the other hand, if the US is held responsible for the deals failure, it is unlikely that the other parties will joint in re-imposing the international sanctions regime that brought Tehran to the negotiating table in the first place.
If the Trump administration wishes to force the JCPOAs cancellation, its immediate responsibility is to demonstrate why punitive measures are still the proper way to deal with the Islamic Republic. And this task is complicated by various Western entities desire to overlook Iranian misbehavior in the interest of securing potential lucrative oil and export contracts.
European businesses have become noticeably more wary of doing business with Iran ever since the threat emerged of renewed tensions with the US. But they have not ceased altogether in pursuing economic relations. On Monday, Reuters reported that the Polish oil refiner Lotos is poised to sign a supply contract with Iran in 2018. It and some other European firms are looking to Iran as a potential means of reducing their dependence on Russia, but it remains to be seen whether the US will take more aggressive measures to discourage such shifts.
Even among those firms that are waiting for clarification on this issue, many of them appear to still have one foot in Iran. The French energy giant Total was among the first to sign a preliminary gas field development deal with the Islamic Republic, but it now says that the deal cannot be finalized until the US renews waivers to the sanctions that were in place before the JCPOA was implemented. Still, according to Hellenic Shipping News, Total is continuing to pursue the planned business arrangement in the meantime, in hopes that international law will not ultimately bar it from completion.
And whereas Total is committed to obeying the law in the event that US-Iranian relations continue to move in an unfavorable direction, not every French company stands to be affected by this in the same way. Reuters reports that the French automobile manufacturer Peugeot-Citroen is moving forward with plans to invest in a local plant in the Islamic Republic. The associated deal emerged out of the new environment created by the JCPOA, but once Peugeot has established its presence in Iran there is little for it to fear from theoretical US sanctions, since the company does not have extensive manufacturing or distribution operations in the US.
This sets Peugeot apart from its major German competitors, which have reportedly shown interest in the Iranian market but have necessarily been much more wary about pursuing deals until the international conditions are more clearly defined. One might think that this wariness would be even more prevalent in national governments that anticipate having dealings both with the Islamic Republic and with the United States during the Trump era. But this is not strictly the case, as is evident from the recent visit to Tehran by representatives of the Swedish government.
According to New Kerala, the Swedes signed five memoranda of understanding with the Islamic Republic expressing the intent to collaborate in a number of different areas of supposed common interest. The visit appears to contradict the renewal of hardline policies that is clearly being advocated by the Trump administration; but on the other hand it has arguably served the administrations interest by bringing about protest from European activists and voters who are worried about the human rights implications of opening up to Irans hardline theocracy.
Reuters notes that the general subject of one of the Swedish-Iranian memoranda of understanding was women and family. This is noteworthy because the Swedish government publicly identifies itself as feminist, whereas the Iranian regime is infamous for violations of womens rights and has repeatedly arrested people for activism on this point or for supposedly advocating a feminist soft revolution against the theocratic system.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that in light of this severe misalignment of principles, female members of the Swedish delegation were criticized in their own country for wearing Islamic headscarves during the visit. Along with loose-fitting clothing, such head coverings are mandated by law in the Islamic Republic, and this law also applies to foreign nationals and non-Muslims. Yet, many Swedes appear to have regarded either compliance with this law or the underlying visit itself as a betrayal of the countrys progressive identity.
The Post quoted, an Iranian expatriate and the organizer of the My Stealthy Freedom campaign against forced veiling, as saying, By actually complying with the directives of the Islamic Republic, Western women legitimize the compulsory hijab law. This is a discriminatory law and its not an internal matter when the Islamic Republic forces all non-Iranian women to wear hijab as well.
In the long run, this sort of criticism may give European policymakers additional incentive to follow the Trump administrations leadership in returning to an assertive policy on Iran, in light of the knowledge that their constituents will react negatively to the normalization of relations with a regressive regime. And of course, womens rights are only one area of concern for human rights activists and critics of the Iranian theocracy. In fact, in making their trip to the Islamic Republic, the Swedish politicians effectively ignored another human rights story with specific significance to their country.
Eurasia Review reported on Monday that the Iranian judiciary had handed down a death sentence against Ahmadreza Jalali, a physician and academic who was arrested 10 months ago but who resided in Sweden and was only visiting his Iranian homeland to attend a conference. Jalalis wife maintains that he is a political prisoner, and as is typical in cases of political imprisonment the judiciary has failed to release details about the charges against him, despite confirming the death sentence.
Jalili was deprived access to counsel and was reportedly threatened with additional capital charges for his refusal to fully cooperate with his interrogators. His death sentence apparently stems at least in part from accusations of collaboration with enemy states, but these sorts of accusations are frequently levied against dual nationals, apparently in absence of real evidence.
It is possible that Jalilis sentencing was made more severe in light of his decision to initiate a hunger strike on December 26, and his refusal to suspend that hunger strike upon request of the judiciary. Human rights organizations have reported upon a major upswing in the number of these protest actions in recent months, aimed at bringing attention either to particular injustices or to the overall harsh condition of Iranian prisons.
On one hand, Eurasia Review indicates that the governments of Sweden, Italy, and Belgium, along with European Union officials, have been making an effort to secure the release of Jalali. But one might easily argue that the decision to sign memoranda of understanding with the Islamic Republic under these conditions shows that it does not stand to face serious consequences for the death sentence.
Of course, this argument could also be generalized to include more than just human rights cases with specific connections to particular European countries. The Iranian human rights record is notoriously out of step with the modern world, owing to political imprisonment, a world-leading rate of executions, refusal to halt the execution of juvenile offenders, the use of corporal punishments like flogging and amputations, and so on.
European policymakers and the Obama administration came under fire from human rights groups in recent years for apparently privileging the Iran nuclear deal and prospective economic deals ahead of human rights issues. But opponents of the Iranian regime, including Iranian expatriates throughout the Western world, organized a number of protests against this situation, often focused on state visits like that which was recently concluded between Sweden and Iran. It is possible that such protests may secure greater traction with the Trump administration as it looks for additional support for a global initiative to put renewed pressure on the Iranian regime.
Uttarakhand recorded a voter turnout of 68 per cent on Wednesday as the hill state voted to elect members to the 70-member state assembly in an election that is a direct fight between the incumbent Congress and the BJP.
The voting percentage is only slightly higher than the 67.22 per cent voter turnout recorded in the assembly polls in 2012, when the contest was extremely close and the Congress won just one seat more than the BJP to form the government.
Tight security arrangements were in place as voters lined up at the booths to cast their ballot, sealing the fate of 628 candidates in the EVMs. Around 30,000 security personnel were deployed and around 60,000 polling officials were put on the job. There were a total of 10,685 polling booths in the state, with close to 500 of them in the snow-clad higher reaches.
Polling in Karnaprayag constituency has been postponed due to the death of BSP candidate Kuldeep Singh Kanwasi in a road accident.
The elections were preceded by intense electioneering by both the Congress and the BJP, with Chief Minister Harish Rawat campaigning on the issue of the `Uttarakhandhi pride' that he claims has been hurt by the BJP-led Centre, whereas the saffron party has projected Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its mascot for the polls.
Both Modi and CongressVice President Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in the run-up to the elections, with the polls proving to be a high-stake battle for both the parties. While the Congress would want to win the hill state in an attempt to arrest the downslide that it is experiencing, the BJP is keen to regain prestige after Rawat managed to hold on to power, courtesy the Supreme Court's ruling in his favour following the Centre's imposition of President's rule in the state last year.
The Congress' campaign was centred around Rawat, who was projected as the CM face. Rawat undertook a Uttarakhand Swabhiman Yatra in the last leg of the campaign, projecting himself as the son of the soil who was wronged by a 'power hungry' central government.
BJP did not have a CM face in these elections. The party's campaign was focused on alleged corruption in the Rawat government, and its message to the people was that since the party is in power at the centre, it is better placed to solve the problems of the people if elected to power in the state.
The saffron party, despite having five former chief ministers in its fold, was not able to project any of them in this election. While it was felt that none of them matched the persona of Rawat, the BJP was also keen that infighting should not hamper its chances.
Both the parties have had to grapple with dissidence, and are dealing with the scenario of rebels contesting as independents.
A premiere hospital in Kolkata was vandalised by an angry mob on Wednesday after a 16-year-old girl died due to alleged medical negligence.
Representative image
Hundreds of youths, including the family members of the girl, stormed the CMRI hospital at Alipore around 9 am and assaulted the staff and management board members. The mob also damaged furniture and laboratory equipments. Several people, including the CEO of the hospital, were injuredsome of them critically. Protesters also blocked the Diamond Harbour road.
Tension began after Muskan Khatun, a resident of Ekbalpur, who was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night with stomach pain, died on Wednesday morning.
"Without treating her, doctors demanded money from us for surgery. We told them that we would pay the amount and requested them to do whatever necessary," said Shaukat Ali, uncle of the girl.
Hospital sources said Muskan was diagnosed with chronic pancreatic disease. However, it is not immediately clear why the surgery was not carried out on her.
The incident happened a couple of days after West Bengal Assembly passed a bill saying destroying of public or private properties would be dealt with penal action by the government. That means money for rebuilding properties would be taken from people who destroyed them. According to CMRI hospital, properties worth around Rs 5 crore have been damaged.
Justice John Michael DCunha, the fifth judge appointed to the Bangalore special court, delivered a historic verdict on September 27, 2014 convicting then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case and sentencing her to four years imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 100 crore. Jayalalithaa's long-term confidante V.K. Sasikala and two others were also convicted by the special court.
The verdict announced in the makeshift court near the Bangalore Central Jail in Parappana Agrahara (some 20 km from the Tamil Nadu border) sent shock waves across the country. Now, the Supreme Court has quashed a High Court order and upheld the trial court verdict.
One woman was unseated from the CM chair, and three years later, another woman's CM dreams came to an end. However, Justice D'Cunha who delivered the significant judgment in 2014, remains unfazed.
Hailing from Kaikamba, D Cunha is an alumnus of Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Law College in Mangalore. He started practicing law under leading advocate A.J. Mathais in 1985 and after a decade, he, along with three other friendsAmrith Kini, N.T. Noronha and S.K. Ullalstarted a law firm, MANU Advocates (drawing an initial each from the four partners; M stands for Michael).
D'Cunha was selected to the post of district judge in 2002 and has since held several positions across Dharward, Bellary and Bangalore including as secretary to the chief justices and as registrar (vigilance) of the High Court, before being appointed as special judge in October 2013.
It is said that he never meets people who want to discuss the case outside the court.
A testimony to these claims is his conduct of the DA case. D'Cunha heard the final arguments afresh and passed strictures against the accused and their counsel. During the final hearing too, he had rebuked the defence for what he termed attempts at "protracting the trial and suppressing the facts from the court."
It was in 2004, D Cunha, as the district and sessions judge in Hubli, presided over the 1994 Hubli riots case, in which the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti and 20 others had been booked for allegedly inciting violence after hoisting the national flag at Idgah Maidan in Hubli. While the district court allowed the state government to withdraw charges against Bharti, a criminal revision petition filed against this order (on September 6, 2004) was admitted by sessions judge DCunha on September 20. A non-bailable warrant was issued against Bharti and she stepped down as the CM and travelled to Hubli by train to appear before the court. The cases were later dropped.
You may call him the nemesis of Jayalalithaa. But the man, who made a strong case against the late former Tamil Nadu chief minister in the disproportionate assets case is simply elated with the Supreme Court upholding the trial court order, and shows little inclination to dwell on the political ramifications of the outcome.
B.V. Acharya | Image source: TV grab
Senior advocate and former Advocate General of Karnataka B.V. Acharya (82), the first and longest serving Special Public Prosecutor in the case, says "The Supreme Court order has proved how independent Indian judiciary is. Whatever be the power of the accused, justice will be done.
The man, known for his integrity and acumen, has been an advocate general a record six times, and completes sixty years as a legal practitioner in 2017.
For eight years of the 21-year-long high-profile case, Acharya has led from the front as the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP).
The case came to an end on Tuesday with the apex court upholding the trial court verdict shattering AIADMK chief V.K.Sasikala's chief minister dreams.
READ: 21-year-old DA case comes to an end
While refusing to elaborate on the case till he gets a copy of the judgment, Acharya tells reporters that the verdict was expected. He also expresses happiness over the top court lauding trial court judge Justice Michael D'Cunha's order.
I believe we effectively represented the case before the SC regarding the gross calculation mistakes committed by the High Court, which acquitted the accused, says Acharya, who had advised the Karnataka government to file an appeal against the acquittal, citing that Jayalalithaas total disproportionate assets work out to Rs 16.34 crore (76 per cent of known income) and not Rs 2.82 crore (8.12 per cent), as stated by the HC in its judgment.
Recalling his journey as the SPP, he says I have argued the case both in the trial court and the apex court, but made only written submissions before the High Court as I did not get an opportunity to present the case in person. I am not surprised by the SC judgment. The Karnataka High Court verdict was faulty because of the terrible mathematical mistakes it had committed. If HC had not committed these calculation mistakes, it would have upheld the order of the trial court which had convicted the accused and also sentenced them.
Acharya was the first SPP in the case after it was shifted to Karnataka High Court in November 2003 to ensure fair trial. The case was filed by BJP leader Subaramanian Swamy in 1996.
Appointed as SPP in February 2005, Acharya relentlessly worked on the case for seven years before he resigned in February 2012, citing inability to continue owing to pressure from the BJP over holding two posts. He had been appointed Advocate General of Karnataka for the fifth time in August 2011 by then BJP government under Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.
Acharya says despite several threats and inducements during the trial, he did not yield. I have mentioned all that in my autobiography and don't wish to recall them now.
In his autobiography, All from Memory (released in November 2014), Acharya has recalled vividly the circumstances under which he resigned as the SPP. "It appears BJP high command, on the pretext that I was holding two posts (AG and SPP), directed the state government to pursue me to quit as SPP. When consistent pressure was exerted on me in this regard, I decided to quit as Advocate General of the state," he says in his book. He also stats that even after he quit as AG, efforts continued to remove him as the SPP, and a private complaint filed before the Lokayukta special court was part of it.
On February 3, 2013, G. Bhavani Singh was appointed as SPP in the case as Acharya resigned citing mental agony over a Lokayukta order directing a probe against him. A private complaint was filed against Acharya in the High Court alleging irregularities in his tenure as the chairman of the council of trustees of BMS engineering college was quashed. The court ruled that Right to Reputation is a fundamental right granted under Article 21 of the Constitution and Acharyas reputation had been harmed by the complaint.
On September 27, 2014, special court judge Justice John Michael D'Cunha held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption and awarded four years' jail term and imposed a penalty of Rs 100 crore on Jayalalithaa and Rs 10 crore each on three others. The four accused were jailed in Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru till SC granted bail to Jayalalitha on October 17, 2014.
If the AIADMK cadres shuddered at the mention of his name, it was his integrity and no-nonsense attitude and, of course, the meticulousness that ultimately resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of one of India's most powerful leaders and a sitting chief minister. Jayalalithaa had to spend 21 days in jail.
Eventually, the Supreme Court annulled Singh's appointment as "bad in law" on April 27, 2015, and Acharya was reinstated as the SPP at a crucial stage of the case. On April 28, 2016, Acharya was again appointed as SPP in the DA case by the Karnataka government. Acharya had recalled how the offer came to him on April 27, and he was expected to make written submissions in less than half day to be submitted to the court.
His legal strategy is credited for speeding up the trial.
On May 11, 2015, Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa and others in the DA case and also set aside the trial court order regarding confiscation of their movable and immovable assets, paving way for Jayalalithaa's reinstatement as the CM of Tamil Nadu. But Acharya ensured the Karnataka government filed an appeal before the SC against the acquittal. With the SC upholding the trail court order Acharya has had the last laugh.
The accused in this case are very rich and powerful, they have engaged all top advocates to appear for them. So, they had explored all the escape routes. But luckily, SC has now closed all these escape routes and set a strong precedence to curb corrupt officers and politicians from going scot-free, said Acharya.
Think of your college and what immediately comes to mind is antiquated teaching processes and an institute that has hardly anything to do with technology. But with technology having touched every aspect of education, higher education could not have remained alienated. And while most technology initiatives in education are focused on students, here is a company that is trying to make colleges smarter.
Epaathsala, a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is helping colleges automate their manual functions not teaching and research but routine ones such as admission, placement, campus management and accreditation.
With accreditation becoming mandatory from April, Epaathsala's founder Suman Nandy feels that it becomes all the more important for colleges to use automated tools.
"The process of getting accreditation is not easy. The colleges has to meet several parameters, send several reports making it a very time consuming and labour-intensive process for the colleges. Our software eases up the whole process", says Nandy.
Say, for example one of the criteria for getting NAAC accreditation is research consultancy. A lot of researchers do not want to undertake this as documentation process is time-consuming. The software makes documentation easy and also connects them to various funding agencies for research.
Another criteria is student feedback. With a software in place, faculty has to just ask the students to give their feedback on one consolidated platform rather than giving a form to every student individually.
The company also provides language labs to colleges where students can learn English, German and French.
In a country where colleges are short-staffed and battle fund crunch, Epaathsala brings efficiency to their systems. It has been only two years and the company already has more than 750 colleges on board. Nandy believes that it is in college's interest to take accreditation seriously.
"There are a number of opportunities that flow in if a college is graded A+ or has a good grade. They can apply for autonomous status, get government grants, attract international students and can get good companies for placements," says Nandy.
As the government moves in the direction of outcome-based learning, wherein grants will be decided based on accreditation, colleges have begun to look into this seriously. And Epaathsala is poised to capitalise this emerging market space.
The Union Tourism Ministry has launched pre-loaded SIM cards for foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa.
This will help the tourists to communicate with their acquaintances immediately after their arrival in India.
Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said the initiative has been launched in association with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
This facility will be initially available in the Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi and later cover remaining 15 international airports where e-Visa facility is currently available.
Before providing pre-loaded SIM cards, BSNL will collect e-Visa copy and the first page of passport from foreign tourists. The SIM cards handed out to the tourists will have Rs. 50 talk time and 50 MB data and will be activated on immediate basis.
European governments are protesting Irans treatment of Ahmadreza Djalali, a physician who specializes in disaster medicine. An Italian newspaper quoted his wife as saying that he was arrested in April, while driving to his familys house after arriving in Iran for a conference.
Vida Mehrannia, his wife, lives in Stockholm with their two children, told the newspaper, Corriere della Sera, that her husband had been charged with the death penalty for collaboration with enemy states.
Dr. Djalali is detained at Tehrans notorious Evin Prison since his arrest on April 25 and he had been threatened with the death penalty, Amnesty International ,said in a statement last week. The statement said further, that on January 31, he was taken to a branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran without a lawyer present, and told that he was accused of espionage.
His defense lawyer told Amnesty that the Iranian authorities had not yet issued an indictment nor scheduled a trial.
According to Amnesty, Dr. Djalali has been on a hunger strike since December 26, after he refused to sign a confession. Several Iranian political prisoners are currently refusing to eat in protest of their sentences.
Amnesty said that Dr. Djalali had been invited to attend workshops about disaster medicine at universities in Tehran and Shiraz, when he was arrested without a warrant by Ministry of Intelligence officials. Additionally, at Evin Prison, he was subjected to intense interrogations and was forced under great emotional and psychological pressure to sign statements. He was not allowed visits from his lawyers.
In a statement from the Italian government, it said that it had activated its channels of communication with the Iranian authorities to highlight its extreme concern.
The Swedish Embassy in Tehran has asked for consular access to the researcher. However, when the newspaper Expressen asked Prime Minister Stefan Lofven about the matter, he said that the embassy had not received word about Dr. Djalali, and pledged to bring up the issue with the Iranian government. Mr. Lofven is beginning to face criticism saying that the Swedish government should tie Dr. Djalalis case to discussions over sanctions.
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), the organization founded by American diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, took a full-page ad in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, demanding the cessation of business contacts between Swedish companies and the Iranian government.
Belgiums foreign minister has also expressed concern over Dr. Djalalis case.
Dr. Djalali was teaching at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, a university in Belgium where, Caroline Pauwels, rector of the university said he had been doing important research. This scientist has been convicted without a public trial, and now faces the death penalty, she told the Belgian newspaper De Morgen.
Dr. Djalalis wife told his colleagues that he had been involved in a car accident and was hospitalized, so they didnt learn of his arrest until months after it happened. His wife told the Italian newspaper La Stampa that she had decided to remain silent, hoping he would be freed.
Iranian law does not recognize dual citizenship, so Dr. Djalali is not eligible for consular assistance from the Swedish Embassy in Tehran. Iranian judicial authorities have remained silent.
Iran has imprisoned dozens of foreign citizens, among them six Americans and a Briton. Most of them are accused of spying.
Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian citizen, was hanged by Irans judiciary in 2011, after being convicted of smuggling drugs.
Ironically, Dr. Djalalis arrest comes at a time when the Iranian government seeks to restore business ties with the European Union.
Guya News website also published excerpts of Zibakalams remarks on the sideline of Irans annual Fajr film festival in Tehran marking the 1979 revolution anniversary.
Iran has murdered thousands of opposition MEK members during the years after the 1979 revolution, without any judicial process or proving any crime, Zibakalam reiterated, referring to events of the summer 1988, and issues raised in the sound file of a meeting between the Islamic republics Death Committee with Hossein Ali Montazeri, the former successor of the Islamic republics founder.
Zibakalam also strongly criticized the movie produced with the support of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Majaraye Nimrooz (Midday Adventures), which was previewed at the Fajr film festival. He said that the film does not replicate the truth about what took place between the IRGC and MEK during that period.
We accuse the MEK of conducting a series of assassinations back in the 1980s. Did MEK members carry out these measures for no reason at all? this Rafsanjani confidant asked.
This film retells the events from the Iranian regimes point of view, depicting an image of the IRGC as kind individuals defending truth and humanity, and not the truth, he added. Instead, we killed thousands of MEK members in Evin Prison without due process, Zibakalam continued, and added that the country was witnessing a civil war at that period of Irans revolution, between the IRGC and the MEK, costing the lives of thousands of people.
The MEK is one of the main organizations that, beginning in 1965 played a pivotal role in the 1979 revolution, through armed resistance and popular movements against Irans monarchial regime. In fact, MEK leader Massoud Rajavi was the leading candidate in the presidential elections after the revolution, and the MEK played an important role from 1979 to 1983 inside Iran.
Then, due to the conflict between the state and revolutionary forces, Khomeini, founder of the Islamic republic, prevented many MEK members from holding any possible official jobs in governmental administration, and deprived its members from political activities.
Montazeris sound file, released by his son, Ahmad Montazeri, made significant revelations, especially since Death Committee members explained the reason for condemning and executing thousands of MEK prisoners in 1988. In response, Montazeri had said not according to sharia, morals or humanitarian principles is it permitted to kill an individual who has been condemned once in court for maintaining their position, because they have not committed a new crime and they were already in prison. The Death Committee members emphasized to Montazeri they had to be executed because they approved the MEK.
The Death Committee members are still active in high positions in the regime:
Mostafa Pour Mohammadi is one of the most important members of Irans
Death Committee and he currently is the head of the Ministry of Justice in Hassan Rouhanis cabinet.
Ibrahim Reisi is now the Supreme Leaders representative and head of the organization managing the Imam Reza shrine in the city of Mashhad, northeast Iran.
Hossien Ali Nayeri is now deputy head of Irans highest court.
Reports by the United Nations confirm the execution of at least 3,600 MEK prisoners in Tehrans prisons. Other security reports, obtained in 1998, indicate the Death Committee executed over 30,410 MEK members across Iran in the summer of 1988. This is in addition to the execution of 3,500 prisoners of leftist parties who were behind bars since the first years of the 1979 revolution.
Ahmad Khatami, a member of Irans Assembly of Experts Board of Directors and the Qom Religious School and a Friday prayer leader in Tehran, in response to the Death Committee sound file, stipulated for the first time that the execution of MEK prisoners in 1988 was carried out on charges of moharebe against God and his Messenger (enmity against God and his Prophet) and according to an order issued by Khomeini. He added that this measure was in line with implementing orders of the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence and a revolutionary measure that has served in the better interest of Islam and Iranian people.
Pour Mohammadi admitted to the accuracy of the issues raised in the sound file and added, I am proud of implementing Khomeinis orders against MEK members. He stated further, that Gods order against them has been carried out.
The Qom Islamic revolution court sentenced Ahmad Montazeri to 21 years behind bars and stripped him of his clerical authority for publishing the sound file.
###
More about the Peoples Mojahdin Organization of Iran (PMOI/ MEK)
The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (Also known as MEK, or Mujahedin-e-Khalq / Mujahedeen-e-Khalq), was founded on September 6, 1965, by Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen, and Ali-Asghar Badizadgan. All engineers, they had earlier been members of the Freedom Movement (also known as the Liberation Movement), created by Medhi Bazargan in May 1961.1
The MEKs quest culminated in a true interpretation of Islam, which is inherently tolerant and democratic, and fully compatible with the values of modern-day civilization. It took six years for the MEK to formulate its view of Islam and develop a strategy to replace Irans dictatorial monarchy with a democratic government.
MEKs interpretation of Islam
The theocratic mullah regime in Iran believe interpreting Islam is their exclusive domain. The MEK reject this view and the clerics reactionary vision of Islam. The MEKs comprehensive interpretation of Islam proved to be more persuasive and appealing to the Iranian youth.
MEKs founders and new members studied the various schools of thought, the Iranian history and those of other countries, enabling them to analyze other philosophies and ideologies with considerable knowledge and to present their own ideology, based on Islam, as the answer to Irans problems.
MEKs leaderships arrest during the 70s.
The Shahs notorious secret police, SAVAK, arrested all MEK leaders and most of its members in1971. On May 1972, the founders of the MEK, Mohammad Hanifnejad , Saeed Mohsen and Ali Asghar Badizadegan, along with two members of the MEK leadership, Mahmoud Askarizadeh and Rasoul Meshkinfam, were put before death squads and were executed after long months of imprisonment and torture. They were the true vanguards, who stood against the dictatorial regime of Shah. However, they are also recognized for their opposition to what is today known as Islamic fundamentalism.
The death sentence of Massoud Rajavi, a member of MEKs central committee, was commuted to life imprisonment as a result of an international campaign by his Geneva based brother, Dr. Kazem Rajavi (assassinated in April 1990 in Geneva by mullahs agents) and the personal intervention of the French President Georges Pompidou and Francois Mitterrand. He was the only survivor of the MEK original leadership.
Massoud Rajavis critical role in characterizing religious extremism
From 1975 to 1979, while incarcerated in different prisons, Massoud Rajavi led the MEKs struggle while constantly under torture for his leading position.
Massoud Rajavi stressed the need to continue the struggle against the shahs dictatorship. At the same time, he characterized religious fanaticism as the primary internal threat to the popular opposition, and warned against the emergence and growth of religious fanaticism and autocracy. He also played a crucial role when some splinter used the vacuum in the MEK leadership who were all executed or imprisoned at the time, to claim a change of ideology and policy. Massoud Rajavi as the MEK leader condemn these individuals misuse of MEKs name while continuing to stress the struggle against dictatorship. His efforts while still in prison forced these individuals to no longer operating under the name of MEK and adopting a different name for their group. These positions remained the MEKs manifesto until the overthrow of the shahs regime.
Release of Political Prisoners on the last days of the Shah
A month before the 1979 revolution in Iran, the Shah was forced to flee Iran, never to return. All democratic opposition leaders had by then either been executed by the Shahs SAVAK or imprisoned, and could exert little influence on the trend of events. Khomeini and his network of mullahs across the country, who had by and large been spared the wrath of SAVAK, were the only force that remained unharmed and could take advantage of the political vacuum. In France, Khomeini received maximum exposure to the world media. With the aid of his clerical followers, he hijacked a revolution that began with calls for democracy and freedom and diverted it towards his fundamentalist goals. Through an exceptional combination of historical events, Shiite clerics assumed power in Iran.
Khomeinis gradual crackdown on MEK in fear of their popular support
In internal discourses, Rajavi the remaining leader of the MEK, argued that Khomeini represented the reactionary sector of society and preached religious fascism. Later, in the early days after the 1979 revolution, the mullahs, specifically Rafsanjani, pointed to these statements in inciting the hezbollahi club-wielders to attack the MEK.
Following the revolution, the MEK became Irans largest organized political party. It had hundreds of thousands of members who operated from MEK offices all over the country. MEK publication, Mojahed was circulated in 500,000 copies.
Khomeini set up an Assembly of Experts comprised of sixty of his closest mullahs and loyalists to ratify the principle of velayat-e faqih (absolute supremacy of clerical rule) as a pillar of the Constitution. The MEK launched a nationwide campaign in opposition to this move, which enjoyed enormous popular support. Subsequently, the MEK refused to approve the new constitution based on the concept of velayat-e faqih, while stressing its observance of the law of the country to deny the mullahs any excuse for further suppression of MEK supporters who were regularly targeted by the regimes official and unofficial thugs.
Khomeini sanctioned the occupation of the United States embassy in 1979 in order to create an anti-American frenzy, which facilitated the holding of a referendum to approve his Constitution, which the MEK rejected.
MEKs endeavors to participate in the political process avoiding an unwanted conflict with government repressive forces
The MEK actively participated in the political process, fielding candidates for the parliamentary and presidential elections. The MEK also entered avidly into the national debate on the structure of the new Islamic regime, though was unsuccessful in seeking an elected constituent assembly to draft a constitution.
The MEK similarly made an attempt at political participation when [then] Massoud Rajavi ran for the presidency in January 1980. MEKs leader was forced to withdraw when Khomeini ruled that only candidates who had supported the constitution in the December referendum which the MEK had boycotted- were eligible. Rajavis withdrawal statement emphasized the MEKs efforts to conform to election regulations and reiterated the MEKs intention to advance its political aims within the new legal system. (Unclassified report on the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/ MEK) by the Department of State to the United States House of Representatives, December 1984.)
However, the MEK soon found itself in a direct struggle against the forces of the regimes Supreme leader. The MEKs differences with Khomeini dated back to the 1970s, and stem from its opposition to what is known today as Islamic extremism. Angry at the position taken by the MEK against his regime and worried about the MEKs growing popularity, Khomeini ordered a brutal crackdown against the MEK and its supporters. Between 1979 and 1981, some 70 MEK members and sympathizers were killed and several thousand more were imprisoned by the Iranian regime.
June 20, 1981- Khomeinis order to open fire on peaceful demonstration of half-a-million supporters of MEK
The turning point came on 20th June 1981, when the MEK called a demonstration to protest at the regimes crackdown, and to call for political freedom which half-a-million supporters participated at. Khomeini ordered the Revolutionary Guards to open fire on the swelling crowd, fearing that without absolute repression the democratic opposition (MEK) would force him to engage in serious reforms an anathema as far as he was concerned; he ordered the mass and summary executions of those arrested.
Since then, MEK activists have been the prime victims of human rights violations in Iran. Over 120,000 of its members and supporters have been executed by the Iranian regime, 30,000 of which, were executed in a few months in the summer of 1988, on a direct fatwa by Khomeini, which stated any prisoners who remain loyal to the MEK must be executed.
Having been denied its fundamental rights and having come under extensive attack at the time that millions of its members, supporters and sympathizers had no protection against the brutal onslaught of the Iranian regime, the MEK had no choice but to resist against the mullahs reign of terror.
Towards the end of 1981, many of the members of the MEK and supporters went into exile. Their principal refuge was in France. But in 1986, after negotiations between the French and the Iranian authorities, the French government effectively treated them as undesirable aliens, and the leadership of the MEK with several thousand followers relocated to Iraq. (Judgment of the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission, November 30, 2007.)
MEK Today
The MEK today is the oldest and largest anti-fundamentalist Muslim group in the Middle East. It has been active for more than a half century, battling two dictatorships and a wide range of issues. The MEK supports:
Universal suffrage as the sole criterion for legitimacy
Pluralistic system of governance
Respect for individual freedoms
Ban on the death penalty
Separation of religion and state
Full gender equality
Equal participation of women in political leadership. MEK is actually led by its central committee consist of 1000 women.
Modern judicial system that emphasizes the principle of innocence, a right to a defense, and due process
Free markets
Relations with all countries in the world
Commitment to a non-nuclear Iran
The MEK remains a strong and cohesive organization, with a broad reach both worldwide and deep within Iran. MEK is the leading voice for democracy in Iran, supported by its interpretation of Islam that discredits the fundamentalist mullahs regime.
The new Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, has describes Iran as the main source of instability in the Middle East.
I am a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the coalition of Iranian opposition movements, with the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the principal Iranian opposition movement at its core. (The Peoples Mojahedin Organization is also known as MEK, which stands for Mojahedin-e-Khalq.) I for one am living proof of the clerical regimes nefarious activities beyond its borders, because I was almost killed by one of them, writes Hossein Abedini, Iranian parliamentarian in exile, in an article for Forbes.
As he sat discussing the state of affairs in Iran with his driver on their way to the Istanbul airport on the afternoon of March 14, 1990, a car suddenly blocked their path. A few seconds later another car pinned them in from behind.
He writes, In a flash, two strange men from the front car jumped out with automatic weapons. I made a decision in a split second. I opened the car door and rushed at them carrying only a small briefcase. One of the men fired nine bullets; the other mans gun jammed. I was gravely wounded. The assailants fled. My four-month struggle for survival had just started.
He was rushed to the nearby Istanbuls International Hospital, and was in a coma for over 40 days, and lay unconscious for another three months.
He underwent 14 major surgeries after the attack, and received 154 pints of blood. He also lost 80 percent of his liver. In one of the operations, the doctors sought the permission for an operation from my colleagues, notifying them that odds for my survival were one to one hundred, he says.
State TV in Tehran announced a few days later, that Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, was seriously wounded in an attack in Istanbul and died. It was evident that he was the target of that attack.
According to Abedini, Tehran tried on several occasions to finish him off while he was recovering. The first time, the hospital was sealed off by the police because the Turkish president was visiting his ailing mother, and Iranian agents disguised as Turkish police officers were discovered. In another attempt, the would-be assassins pretended to be friends coming to visit me, but fled at the arrival of real visitors.
Around that same time, there were many others who were not as lucky. The renowned human rights activist Kazem Rajavi was fatally shot in Geneva in 1990, and several Kurdish activists were killed in the two years thereafter. Furthermore, Iran left its fingerprints on major terrorist attacks including the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed American servicemen, and the bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires, Abedini writes.
The victims of Tehrans ire are a diverse lot, but none have suffered more than the activists of the MEK. In 1988, some 30,000 political prisoners were put to death in a single summer as part of an fatwa issued by the Iranian leadership in an attempt to destroy the MEK. However, the MEK survives to this day in a testament to the groups dedication and broad appeal, and is in fact thriving as it gains support not just from the Iranian population but also internationally.
He says that the current Iranian government has in no way moderated its behavior, Terrorism is a pillar of the survival of the turbaned tyrants in Iran. Hassan Rouhani was the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for many years and is now its president. This organization allegedly ordered major terrorist activities of the regime, including the attempt on Abedinis life.
Rouhani also increased funding for the IRGC, which is the main force behind both the crimes against humanity in Syria, and behind the well-recognized crackdown on activists, journalists, artists, and dual nationals in Iran. Since taking office in 2013 under the Wests belief of his moderate positions, Rouhani has overseen more than 3,000 executions.
If the administration makes itself aware of the history of violence and human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic, Abedini says, it will instate an assertive foreign policy, one that sees the Iranian regime clearly and puts pressure on the IRGC. The organization should be listed as a foreign terrorist group, Abedini says, and should therefore be subject to serious, effective sanctions, which would effectively cripple the regimes terror machine for the betterment of the Iranians, the region and the world.
The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Department has racked up $1.5 million in overtime costs while assisting the Secret Service since President Donald Trump was elected in November.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says hes confident the money will be reimbursed by the federal government. The countys administrator, Verdenia Baker, says she hopes hes correct.
The Palm Beach Post reports the county has sent letters to federal officials seeking reimbursement for security costs during a five-day Trump visit to his south Florida estate called Mar-a-lago in November. The costs were originally estimated at $250,000, but Bradshaw says it will be closer to $300,000.
Bradshaw says the security costs are amounting to about $60,000 a day during Trumps visits. Trump stayed at Mar-a-lago 16 days in December. He has returned for two weekends so far in February.
(AP)
Whether or not you believe that voting fraud is a problem in the U.S., one thing is certain: Tidying up outdated voter rolls is sometimes easier said than done. Just ask election officials in the nations largest city.
After an independent review found that New York Citys voting lists contained people who were dead or in prison, elections officials began an aggressive purge in 2014 and 2015 that eliminated more than 200,000 supposedly invalid registrations.
The result? A record number of complaints during the 2016 presidential primary from legal voters who turned up to cast a ballot, but found that they were no longer registered.
Democracy itself is under attack, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, declared last week after announcing plans to join a federal lawsuit over the way the purge was handled.
New York Citys bungled purge offers a cautionary tale for elected officials, led by President Donald Trump, who warn that inaccurate voter rolls are leading to voter fraud across America.
Trump has vowed to establish a commission to examine the situation. Senior policy adviser Stephen Miller sounded the alarm again on Sunday.
You have millions of people who are registered in two states or who are dead who are registered to vote. And you have 14 percent of noncitizens, according to academic research, at a minimum, are registered to vote, which is an astonishing statistic, Miller said, using a statistic hotly contested by many academics.
He also claimed, without offering evidence, that voters from Massachusetts were illegally bused into New Hampshire during the last election an allegation denied by New Hampshire Republicans.
Its unclear exactly how many people are registered to vote in America who shouldnt be.
Federal law requires election officials to remove people after they die or move, but that doesnt always happen in a timely way.
In New York City, the lawsuit said the Board of Elections disregarded several rules governing the maintenance of voter lists.
People who hadnt voted since the 2008 presidential election were sent letters demanding that they verify their status. If they didnt respond within two weeks in some cases, their registration was canceled. City researchers took other unorthodox steps, too, like buying a subscription to the genealogy site Ancestory.com to help verify identities.
Trump and his representatives have repeatedly cited a 2012 Pew Center study that revealed 24 million voter registrations in the U.S. were not valid or significantly inaccurate. That included 1.8 million dead people listed as eligible to vote.
The studys author David Becker, however, found no evidence of actual voter fraud.
He says voter registration lists have improved since the report was released. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission reported that nearly 14.8 million names were removed from voter rolls in 2014 for reasons such as death, felony convictions, having moved or failing to respond to confirmation notices.
The lists are as good as theyve ever been, Becker told The Associated Press.
Still, he encouraged election officials to eliminate ineligible registrations. If nothing else, he said, improved voter rolls help to improve confidence in the electoral system.
New York City is hardly alone in its push to root out ineligible voters.
Republican election officials in Florida and Colorado launched aggressive efforts to eliminate noncitizens and otherwise ineligible voters from their rolls before the 2012 election. But after warning that tens of thousands of noncitizens may have been registered, 141 cases were confirmed in Colorado and 207 in Florida.
It is to everyones benefit to have our rolls clean. But its also to our benefit to make sure were doing so in a way that doesnt disenfranchise eligible voters, said Myrna Perez, deputy director of the Brennan Centers Democracy program, who authored an extensive study of voter purges in 2008.
Leaving them in a messy state can also undermine confidence. New York Republican Party chairman Ed Cox is among those who are sure it could lead to fraud.
I think theyre perfectly happy to let some of these names just be on here so they can use them with respect to people voting who shouldnt vote, he told The Associated Press. In an important election they will bring in buses of people from New Jersey and they will take them from poll place to poll place if we dont have good poll watchers and a good ballot security in place.
There is no evidence of Coxs claim.
(AP)
Assemblyman Gary Schaer has introduced legislation rebuking the White House for issuing an International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that failed to mention Jews or the anti-Semitism that led to the Nazi genocide.
Its unconscionable that the leader of the United States of America a nation that was founded on the principles of religious freedom, justice, tolerance and human rights would purposely fail to remember and condemn one of the worst atrocities in recorded history perpetuated against a people who observed a particular religious belief, said Schaer (D-Passaic/Bergen). The Holocaust was about exterminating Jewish people. Its disturbing that President Trump failed to acknowledge that basic fact, but New Jersey condemns anti-Semitism in all its forms.
The resolution (AR-213) introduced Monday would be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to Trump, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, each member of Congress elected from this state and to prominent leaders of the Jewish community in New Jersey.
We cannot look askance at anti-Semitism and coded anti-Semitic language, Schaer said. President Trumps actions here were inexcusable and inexplicable. The excuses coming from the White House dont clear things up. In fact, they heightened the concern. The Holocaust was about Nazi genocide against the Jewish people. That is an inescapable fact that must be acknowledged.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
The head of the Secret Service, a retired detail leader who was given the assignment of shoring up the agency in a period of crisis, is leaving his post, a little more than two years after arriving in one of Washingtons toughest jobs.
Joseph Clancy, whom then-President Obama summoned back from the private sector in late 2014 amid a string of security breaches and employee misconduct in the agency, said its now time to retire for good. He alerted the White House last week of his plans to step down March 20, giving President Trump the chance to select his own security chief.
Clancy, the former head of Obamas protective detail, steered the Secret Service as it strained to shoulder a heavy workload with the lowest number of employees in a decade. At one point, the Service had 500 fewer people on staff than it was authorized to hire.
On Clancys watch, the Service successfully tackled an intense and rancorous 2016 presidential election that featured pushing and taunting by opposing sides without any major incidents.
Clancy said his proudest moments came in the summer and fall of 2015 when he watched his agents and officers simultaneously shield the pope on a historic four-city visit to America and 170 foreign dignitaries at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. To accomplish this task, the understaffed Service leaned heavily on its sister agencies in the Department of Homeland Security.
We had been going through a tough time but I could see in their eyes and hear in their voices they were determined to succeed, Clancy told the Post. They wanted to prove to everyone they could complete this most difficult mission and they did. I knew they were exhausted but they were determined and knowing what they had been through over recent years it was inspirational to me.
But Clancy also leaves behind a workforce that continues to complain of burnout, low morale and a paucity of experienced managers with a vision for the agency.
Former director Ralph Basham said Clancy will be remembered as a reassuring presence and a steady leader who has done right by the Service.
Due to his calm and professional manner and approach to problem solving, hes just done a tremendous job for the dept. It was an incredibly difficult couple of years, Basham said. Not to say they dont have issues remaining, but I think hes put the organization on a good path to getting better.
A leading contender to replace Clancy is George Mulligan, the current chief operating officer, former Pentagon official and White House military office director who was brought on to bring the Service more focus on business management. Other names being discussed include former Clinton detail leader Larry Cockell; Mickey Nelson, a former assistant director; and newly promoted Deputy Director William Callahan.
Clancy first joined the Service in 1984, rising to become the leader of Obamas detail in 2009 and retiring in 2011. He returned to his native Philadelphia, taking a job as a security director for Comcast.
Clancy accepted the responsibility of running the Secret Service in October 2014 in a telephone call with the president, the same day Obama pressed for and received the resignation of Director Julia Pierson.
On Piersons watch, a string of embarrassing incidents unfolded in succession. Officers and agents were caught in drunken misbehavior while preparing for presidential visits in the Florida Keys and the Netherlands, and even across the square from the White House at a hotel bar. The final straw came Sept. 19, 2014, when a limping, mentally-ill veteran jumped the White House fence, bypassed more than a dozen Secret Service guards and hurtled deep inside the White House mansion.
Clancy was to serve as an acting director. But the president went against the advice of an expert panel that studied the Services dysfunction and recommended an outsider. He named Clancy the permanent director.
He and especially Michelle Obama wanted the comfort of the familiar Father Joe. The Obama administration hoped Clancy, the presidents former detail leader, would instill some sense of calm in a divided and demoralized agency.
In that, he largely succeeded.
Members of Congress wanted new blood a fresh face from outside the Service who could break down its insular culture. Still, with the presidents choice, they hoped that Clancy could shore up the Service by boosting morale and rapidly hiring enough agents and officers to keep up with a flood of departures and early retirements.
On that score, he struggled.
The Service morale has hit historic lows. In the 2016 employee survey, the Service ranked dead last among all agencies for employee satisfaction, 305 out of 305.
Clancy sought to speed up hiring, but it remained a largely cumbersome, slow process. In 2015, the agency saw 416 people retire or resign, but only 78 new employees come aboard, according to a federal workforce report.
Clancy said he faced a steep learning curve, having never worked in headquarters before. He described needing to gain the trust of the workforce, and also study up.
I had to acknowledge our past but try to convince our workforce that our body of work over 150 years was too great to simply ignore, he said. I had to get up to speed quickly on the work of each of the directorates. What were their goals and their needs. How could I help them. I had a lot to learn.
He has now given a collective 29 years to the Service.
The 61-year-old grandfather has always planned to be an interim director, and is looking forward to moving out of his bachelors condo in Washington. Hell move back full-time with his wife in their home in the Philadelphia suburbs, where they both grew up, met and started a family.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post Carol D. Leonnig
According to the Kazakh foreign ministry, those invited to the summit include representatives from the government and armed rebels, as well as UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, and US officials.
Due to begin Wednesday and expected to last for two days, the talks were postponed until Thursday due to what Kazakhstans foreign ministry called technical reasons on Wednesday.
On Moday, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said the Astana meeting would be a chance to monitor the commitment of different parties to refrain from using force and to promote, encourage, the political process.
However, a Syrian source close to the government stated that the discussions in Astana would be purely military.
The Geneva meeting, sponsored by the UN, is scheduled for February 23. It will focus on the key issues that divide the two sides, including the fate of President Bashar al-Assad.
The talks in Geneva have been delayed twice, partly to give time to the opposition, so that they could form a unified delegation. This marks the fifth time the parties have gone to Switzerland.
The Astana process is meant to support the Geneva talks, according to Moscow, amid speculation that it is working to develop an alternative Astana track with Ankara.
Sam Heller, a non-resident fellow at The Century Foundation think-tank says, In theory, it is a complement to a still-live ongoing Geneva process, but in practice it looks like its a venue for Turkey, Russia, and to some extent Iran, to arrive at their own understandings and to try to engineer a mutually satisfactory political solution on their terms.
The Syrian government plans to attend the Geneva talks, and its is likely that its delegation will be led by its usual negotiator, Bashar al-Jaafari, Syrias UN ambassador.
The key opposition High Negotiations Committee stated it will send a 21-member delegation to Geneva, which includes 10 rebel representatives. Their negotiator, lawyer Mohammed Sabra, will replace Mohamed Alloush of the Army of Islam rebel group, who will participate in the delegation only in an advisory capacity.
The HNC delegation calls itself unified, as it includes representatives from two rival opposition groups the Cairo and Moscow groups. However, both these groups have denied being represented, so its not clear if they will attend as separate delegations.
Even more uncertain is the attendance at the Astana talks, although Syrias Jaafari has already arrived in Kazakhstan.
At least four rebel groups claim not to have received an invitation to the Astana meeting, and several are unsure of whether they would attend, if invited.
UN envoy De Misturas office said he would send a technical team, and the US State Department is still deciding whether or not to send a representative.
Further, Jordan said it will attend the Astana talks only as an observer.
The Astana talks will focus primarily on reinforcing the ceasefire that has in place since December 30, that was brokered by Turkey and Russia. The last meeting in Astana produced no major breakthroughs, so with the uncertainty of rebel attendance, the talks seem unlikely to generate a negotiation for peace.
In the meantime, the major divisions between the two sides have yet to be resolved in Geneva, most importantly, the fate of Assad. The opposition demands that he step aside, but his government says this is not a topic for negotiations.
Turkey, who backed the rebels, has has show that they are open to more flexibility to resolve the conflict, but the opposition shows little sign that it feels the same way.
The Syrian government may also feel less open to compromise, coming to the talks after its recent victories, including the full recapture of second city Aleppo in December.
Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburgh says, I still dont believe the loyalist alliance is serious about making some serious compromise, rather than asking for the rebels surrender disguised as a political settlement. They will try to obtain such surrender, which is why the talks will take place.
The U.S. State Departments diplomatic security branch has mismanaged its $1 billion fleet of armored vehicles used to transport personnel and dignitaries so that the program continues to be at significant risk for fraud, waste and abuse, according to the departments inspector general.
One allegation of fraud surfaced last month as a State employee was accused by the Justice Department of diverting 12 vehicles to a Springfield, Virginia, car-repair shop for resale and pocketing some of the profits, the audit said. Auditors also warned of poorly maintained vehicles at embassies with systemic low-tire pressures and significant ballistic-glass delamination creating safety concerns and wasting taxpayer money.
Equally troubling, the program is not fulfilling its intended mission, which is to ensure overseas posts have a reasonable number of armored vehicles that offer enhanced levels of protection, according to the audit. Some posts do not have a reasonable number of armored vehicles.
Convoys of hulking black Chevy Suburbans carrying officials and dignitaries are an everyday sight and afterthought around U.S. embassies worldwide and in Washington. Yet State Department Inspector General Steve Linick said virtually every aspect of the program has major flaws from some tardy handling of embassy requests to excessive inventories parked in Maryland and Virginia to overseas maintenance and disposal.
States security office did not effectively administer the program, seeing itself as a service provider procuring vehicles rather than as the program manager that ensured effective purchase, distribution, field maintenance and disposal of armored vehicles worth an average of about $150,000 apiece, according to the audit. Bloomberg News obtained the audit after it was sent to the staff of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and lawmakers.
The audit outlines a potential management mess for Tillerson and the type of potential waste President Donald Trump has said he wants to eliminate. The lack of clarity in the management structure has lead to ad hoc program management and significant deficiencies, the audit said.
The State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic Security owns about 4,500 vehicles dispersed worldwide and to U.S. offices, with the largest fleet in the Near East. The department has spent about $1 billion since 1998 buying vehicles, with half the expenditures coming since 2016. The most common vehicles are BMW, Cadillac and Chevy sedans as well as Chevy Suburban SUVs and Express vans.
Then-Diplomatic Security Director Director Gregory Starr wrote Linick in a Dec.22 response that while the report spotlights several administrative shortcomings its unbalanced in that it offers no mention of the efforts underwayduring the inspection between Starrs office and State logistics officials to bolster fleet management and maintenance.
Starr, who resigned Jan. 20 with the change of administration, said he agreed with Linicks recommendation that the Diplomatic Security division develop and implement a detailed armored vehicle program plan with clear goals and objectives.
Still, Starr strongly disagreed with the audits thrust because it failed toacknowledge the abundant examples of armored vehicles deployed by Diplomatic Security being instrumental in saving the lives of our diplomats.
Uniformly, these vehicles have provided the necessary protection to safeguardour personnel, withstanding improvised explosives, small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenade strikes and mob assaults. These simple facts underscore the fundamental efficacy of this program, Starr wrote.
Even as some embassies lacked sufficient numbers, 200 vehicles deemed excess and valued at $26.4 million were transferred without reimbursement since 2015 to other U.S. agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Marshals Service, the audit said.
Another 259 vehicles as of May 2016 were parked unused for over a year in storage lots in Front Royal, Virginia, and Hagerstown, Maryland. State incurred$25 million in costs associated with idle vehicles, the audit said.
The inspector general said the $51.4 million represented wasted expenditures as at least 26 overseas post reported not having a sufficient number of armored vehicles.
The audit said there is a possibility that the unused or transferred armored vehicles could have been utilized by the posts.
The U.S. embassy in Amman, Jordan, had one vehicle for every 29 people while the Cairo embassy had one for every 10 people, according to data gathered by the inspector general. Both are considered high-threat, high-risk posts, the audit said. The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv had one vehicle per 21 employees.
In contrast, the U.S. embassies in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, had approximately one armored vehicle for every two people though the locations are not designated as high-threat posts, the audit said.
Linicks inspectors also uncovered examples of inordinate delays when embassies formally requested vehicles. The process States diplomatic security office has in place for tracking overseas requests was unreliable, inefficient and ineffective, the audit said.
Auditors during a physical inventory of vehicles at States Front Royal, Virginia, storage facility in April 2016 found an unarmored van that was supposed to be fortified and delivered to the U.S. Embassy in Athens that officials ordered in 2012.
Similarly, State officials at the Bogota embassy ordered 10 Chevy vans for its motor pool during 2013 and 2014. The basic vehicles were delivered in 2014 in the U.S. for armoring but as of June 2016, the vehicles remained unarmored in domestic storage, the audit said.
Auditors during their inspections of vehicles parked in Hagerstown identified multiple Chevy Express vans in storage since 2010 that could have been used to fulfill the Bogota embassy request.
(c) 2017, Bloomberg Anthony Capaccio
The official reason given is upcoming elections in Germany. A government spokesman announced both countries have agreed to postpone the annual meeting of leaders and ministers until next year. This has been confirmed by official Israeli sources, explaining German cites scheduling issues as the reason.
However, despite the good relations over the years between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany was among countries expressing their disapproval of the recent Knesset-passing of the Regulation Law, which legalizes over 4,000 buildings throughout Yehuda and Shomron retroactively.
Germany was among the nations that publicly expressed condemnation following the passing of the law.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Two additional anti-Israel municipal decision in Spain were overturned by justices in the Spanish cities of Valencia and Barcelona, delivering a blow to the boycott, divestment and sanctions effort.
According to a Yisrael Hayom report, the decision were passed by local governments in Xeraco, south of Valencia, and Olesa de Montserrat, near Barcelona in the Catalon region.
In May of last year, Xeraco passed a decision not to sign any diplomatic agreement or contract in the fields of trade, agriculture, education or culture, or any agreement to cooperate with Israeli public entities, companies, or organizations in the field of security Yisrael Hayom reports.
Yisrael Hayom quotes JTA quoting the pro-Israel Spanish organization ACOM in adding ten-justice panels overturned the municipal rulings. Spains municipalities have accepted the BDS movement and passed the highest number of resolutions among EU nations. The countrys judicial system however is working hard against BDS.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
According to the Justice Minister Internal Investigations Department, there were 1,553 reviews of police personnel in 2016 of which 773 involved police questioned under caution, indicating a criminal indictment is likely. At least 230 policepersons faced either disciplinary hearings or criminal charges.
Investigations against police included shootings, use of excessive force, corruption, robberies, theft, violating privacy and domestic violence. In 110 cases, criminal charges followed and in 120 cases the matter was addressed via the disciplinary system. 200 of the cases were closed for lack of evidence and 150 closed for lack of sufficient grounds for a case.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
There are numerous womens rights organizations working in Israel to assist agunos; women are denied a get by their husbands. These organizations represent women in the nations batei din.
It is now reported the number of women refusing to accept a get from their husband exceeds the number of agunos; the women refused a get by their husbands.
According to the numbers released on Tuesday 18 Shevat by the Chief Rabbinate Batei Din, 56,000 couples were divorced in the past five years. The beis din does bring the couples to agreement in the overwhelming number of cases. In some cases, couples come with a pre-signed agreement and in many cases, the beis din arranges an agreement with them.
In the past five years, the batei din signed off on 6,950 divorces including 3,566 against the men and 3,384 against the women. In most of the cases, the get is a process completed within a month or a few but in 809 cases, one of the couple refuses to give or accept the get.
Of those 809 cases, there are 382 recalcitrant men as opposed to 427 recalcitrant women. There were 888 rulings to give a get in the past five years including 53 compelling it. 69 men were sent to prison for refusing. The women were not imprisoned or punished. In one case, a man has been imprisoned for 14 years refusing to grant a get to his wife.
Regarding granting a heter to marry another woman, this is a complicated procedure that is generally done if the wife is viewed as hopeless in trying to persuade her to accept a get or if she cannot accept one due to her medical condition. This heter requires the president of the Supreme Beis Din to sign off on the heter. The file begins in a regional beis din and after the dayanim render their ruling, it is moved to the Supreme Beis Din for a ruling.
If the Supreme Beis Din rules in favor, then it is handed back to the regional level to implement the decision. Between 2012-2017, the beis din released 72 heter decisions. It is also pointed out that the number of husbands jailed for refusing to give a get is close to the number of heterim given to husbands to marry a second wife.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Police were checking surveillance tapes Wednesday for clues about who may have assassinated the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, a senior official said.
An autopsy will also be performed on the body of Kim Jong Nam, police said. Kim, 46, was targeted Monday in the shopping concourse at the airport and had not gone through immigration yet for his flight to Macau, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves sensitive diplomacy.
He was taken to the airport clinic and then died on the way to the hospital, the official said.
Kim, who died on the way to a hospital, told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray, the official said.
Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat said police were searching for clues in the CCTV footage. The airport is in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur.
Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his younger brother, the North Korean leader. Although he had been tipped by some outsiders as a possible successor to his dictator father, others thought that was unlikely because he lived outside the country, including recently in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.
He reportedly fell further out of favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Multiple South Korean media reports, citing unidentified sources, said Kim Jong Nam was killed at the airport by two women believed to be North Korean agents. They fled in a taxi and were being sought by Malaysian police, the reports said.
A Malaysian police statement confirmed the death of a 46-year-old North Korean man whom it identified from his travel document as Kim Chol, born in Pyongyang on June 10, 1970. Investigation is in progress and a post mortem examination request has been made to ascertain the cause of death, the statement said.
Ken Gause, at the CNA think tank in Washington who has studied North Koreas leadership for 30 years, said Kim Chol was a name that Kim Jong Nam has traveled under. He is believed to have been born May 10, 1971, although birthdays are always unclear for senior North Koreans, Gause said.
Mark Tokola, vice president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington and a former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, said it would be surprising if Kim Jong Nam was not killed on the orders of his brother, given that North Korean agents have reportedly tried to assassinate Kim Jong Nam in the past.
It seems probable that the motivation for the murder was a continuing sense of paranoia on the part of Kim Jong Un, Tokola wrote in a commentary Tuesday. Although there was scant evidence that Kim Jong Nam was plotting against the North Korean leader, he provided an alternative for North Koreans who would want to depose his brother.
The reported killing came as North Korea celebrated its latest missile launch, which foreign experts were analyzing for evidence of advancement in the countrys missile capabilities. For the next several days, North Korea will be marking the birthday of its late leader Kim Jong Il, the brothers father, though they have different mothers. The major holiday this Thursday is called the Day of the Shining Star and will be feted with figure skating and synchronized swimming exhibitions, fireworks and mass rallies.
Since taking power in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has executed or purged a slew of high-level government officials in what the South Korean government has described as a reign of terror. The most spectacular was the 2013 execution by anti-aircraft fire of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the countrys second-most-powerful man, for what the North alleged was treason.
Gause said Kim Jong Nam had been forthright that he did not have political ambitions, although he was publicly critical of the North Korean regime and his brothers legitimacy in the past.
Kim Jong Nam had been less outspoken since 2011, when North Korean assassins reportedly tried to shoot him in Macau, Gause said, though the details of the attempted killing are murky. South Korea also reportedly jailed a North Korean spy in 2012 who admitted to trying to organize a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong Nam in China in 2010.
Despite the attempts on his life, Kim Jong Nam had reportedly traveled to North Korea since then, so it was assumed he was no longer under threat. Kim Jong Nam may have become more vulnerable as his defender in the North Korean hierarchy, Kim Kyong Hui Kim Jong Uns aunt and the husband of his executed uncle, Jang Song Thaek appears to have fallen from favor or died. She has not been seen in public for more than three years, Gause said.
Kim Jong Il had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third. Kim Jong Nam was the eldest, followed by Kim Jong Chul, who is a few years older than Kim Jong Un and is known as a playboy who reportedly attended Eric Clapton concerts in London in 2015. Its unclear what positon he has in the North Korean government. A younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, was named a member of the Workers Party of Koreas Central Committee during a North Korean party congress last May. She has a position in a propaganda and agitation department and is known as Kim Jong Uns gatekeeper, Gause said.
While the most likely explanation for the killing was that Kim Jong Un was removing a potential challenger to North Korean leadership within his own family, he could also be sending a warning to North Korean officials to demonstrate the reach of the regime. It follows the defection last year of a senior diplomat from the North Korean Embassy in London who has spoken of his despair at Kims purges.
(AP)
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that the most significant question posed by the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn is why intelligence officials eavesdropped on his calls with the Russian ambassador and later leaked information on those calls to the press.
I expect for the FBI to tell me what is going on, and they better have a good answer, said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which is conducting a review of Russian activities to influence the election. The big problem I see here is that you have an American citizen who had his phone calls recorded.
Flynn resigned Monday night, days after The Washington Post reported that intelligence officials had recorded Flynns conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before Trump took office. Those recordings, the Post reported, appeared to contradict Flynns own claims that he had not discussed easing U.S. sanctions on Russia.
Separately Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said he had no plans to further probe links between Flynn and Russia. Its taken care of itself at this point, he said.
Nunes said he was dismayed that those recordings had leaked, citing a complex process for tapping communications involving U.S. citizens and then unmasking it for intelligence use.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said late Monday that Flynn resignation does not end questions over his contacts with the Russians.
These alleged contacts and any others the Trump campaign may have had with the Kremlin are the subject of the House Intelligence Committees ongoing investigation, he said in a statement. Moreover, the Trump Administration has yet to be forthcoming about who was aware of Flynns conversations with the Ambassador and whether he was acting on the instructions of the President or any other officials, or with their knowledge.
Nunes said it was very hard to believe that Flynn was acting as some sort of secret Russian agent.
He also said he saw some hypocrisy in the response of Democrats to the Flynn recording.
Where are all the privacy groups screaming now? he asked.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post Mike Debonis
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday denied reports of intercepted phone calls between Russian intelligence officials and members of Donald Trumps presidential campaign.
The New York Times said that the Russians made contact with Paul Manafort, who briefly served as Trumps campaign chairman. Current and former U.S. officials interviewed by the Times declined to identify other Trump associates contacted by the Russians.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, pointed to the anonymity of the sources, saying that the reports are not based on any facts, do not point to actual facts.
The report comes a day after U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned following reports he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia.
Asked about the allegations, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday they prove once against there is a major internal, political game, you can call it bargaining, in the United States.
Russian lawmakers were more direct in trying to defend Trump.
This is not about information but about a high-precision information bomb, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Federation Councils information committee, tweeted. The goal is to blow up the Trump administration.
(AP)
CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian intelligence service chief Majed Farij on Tuesday evening in Ramallah. During the meeting, the two discussed the two-state solution, security matters and the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The meeting took place just a day before U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, the three discussed security and political matters ahead of the Israeli-American Washington meeting. In addition, it was reported by the news agency that Farij said: The meeting was beneficial and positive and during it, we discussed important issues including the two-state solution, the security situation in the region and the danger that the construction in the settlements poses.
Senior Palestinian security sources told Israel Radio last nights meeting between Abbas and Pompeo was the second in recent weeks, with the first one taking place at the start of this month.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
Intelligence officials believe North Korean agents assassinated leader Kim Jong Uns exiled half brother, but if the whodunit seems settled, a very big question still looms: Why now?
Kim Jong Nam, reportedly killed by two female agents in a cloak-and-dagger operation in a Malaysian airport, had long been an embarrassment to North Koreas government humiliated during a failed attempt to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland and outspoken in opposing the rise to power of his brother, who had his uncle executed after taking over.
But the overweight gambler and fading playboy had kept his head down in recent years from his base in Macau. Kim Jong Nam was seen by many outsiders as only a minor distraction for North Koreas leaders, and certainly not an existential threat worth the risk of a potentially embarrassing assassination caper on foreign soil.
The spotty South Korean intelligence community ascribed the Norths motivation in killing Kim Jong Nam, without any elaboration, simply to Kim Jong Uns paranoia. There is a more intriguing possibility floating around Seoul, however: The tipping point in North Koreas bloody calculations may have been a largely ignored South Korean news story from last week.
A national daily, the Kyunghyang Shinmun, reported that Kim Jong Nam tried to defect to South Korea several years ago and had served, in the 2000s, as a middleman between disgraced current South Korean President Park Geun-hye and officials in North Korea.
Kim Jong Un may have clenched his teeth and carried on when he heard reports of his half brothers exploits in Macau casinos, and even when Kim Jong Nam, often photographed in an expensive, untucked, button-down shirt and newsboy cap, questioned in 2010 the need for a third generation of the Kim family to rule in Pyongyang.
But public reports in rival South Korea of alleged close dealings between a direct relative of North Koreas ruling dynasty and high officials in Seoul and possible attempts to defect to the South could have represented a serious challenge to a leader who portrays his family as the only legitimate power on the Korean Peninsula.
If a person with the blood of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung flowing in his veins was considering defecting to prosperous, democratic South Korea, what message did that send to North Koreas elite, or to the millions of poor and dissatisfied?
South Koreas spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, which has a spotty record in reading the goings-on in North Korea and often tries to paint the leadership as unbalanced, denied any defection attempt by Kim Jong Nam.
But Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Koreas Sejong Institute, raised the possibility that the assassination was linked to the newspaper report, which cites interviews with anonymous officials from the Europe-Korea Foundation, where Park served as a board member for a decade before stepping down ahead of the presidential election in late 2012, and computer files and emails that showed exchanges between Kim Jong Nam and the foundations officials.
The newspaper reported that Kim Jong Nam, who was then living in Beijing, delivered a letter that Park wrote to Kim Jong Il, North Koreas second leader and Kim Jong Uns father, in 2005. The letter, according to the newspaper, showed Park requesting help on cultural exchange programs pushed by the foundation.
Jeong Joon-Hee, the spokesman of South Koreas Unification Ministry, previously said the government doesnt believe such a letter from Park, who has been impeached over a corruption scandal, was delivered to North Korea.
The newspaper also cited anonymous sources to report that Kim Jong Nam explored the possibility of defecting to South Korea, and also to the United States and Europe, in 2012 before giving up. The sources said Kims talks with South Korea and the United States eventually fell through because of his excessive demands.
While the South Korean news report is a fascinating potential explanation for Kim Jong Nams death, there are other possibilities including that Mondays killing was the culmination of years of effort by North Korea.
Seouls spy service told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea had for five years tried to kill Kim Jong Nam, who had kept a low profile since his uncle and former protector, the Norths former No. 2, Jang Song Thaek, was executed by Kim Jong Un in 2013.
The NIS, according to lawmakers, cited a genuine attempt by North Korea to kill Kim Jong Nam in 2012, but didnt elaborate. The lawmakers said the NIS told them Kim Jong Nam sent a letter to Kim Jong Un in April 2012, after the assassination attempt, begging for the lives of himself and his family. The letter said, I hope you cancel the order for the punishment of me and my family. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and we know that the only way to escape is committing suicide.
Kim Jong Nams links with China may have also played a role.
Beijing had long protected Kim Jong Nam, according to South Koreas intelligence service. China may have been interested in propping up Kim Jong Nam as a future North Korean leader should the current government in Pyongyang collapse.
Kim Jong Un would not have been pleased by knowledge that his brother was being used by Beijing as a pawn and potential replacement.
(AP)
The editor-in-chief then asked Aoun whether Lebanon, under his command, will serve as a bridge for a Gulf-Iranian or Arab-Iranian understanding.
Aoun answered, Why not? Trying is better (than doing nothing) as at least there is the honor of trying.
The way they whether its Aoun or some Egyptian media outlets depict the situation with Iran is wrong. Whats happening between Arab countries including those in the Gulf and the Khamenei Regime is not a temporary political dispute or a media battle and more importantly, its not a sectarian, a Sunni-Shiite, division or a nationalistic struggle between Arabs and Persians. This is what some media outlets, which do not have a clear understanding of the entire situation, try to show, writes Saudi journalist Mshari Al Thaydi, who presents Al Arabiya News Channels views on the news daily show Maraya in his article for Al-Arabiya.
Without Irans invasions and interventions, there would be no problems for Bahrain, or Saudi Arabia or Morocco, he continues, and adds that,The same applies to Sudan or to Yemens government or to the majority of the Syrian people whom al-Nusra Front and ISIS do not represent like the Assad regimes propaganda machine claims.
Al Thaydi refers to the suppressed Green Movement, saying that the problem with the Khamenei Regime is with the ideological regime with its dangerous doctrine that first subdues the Shiite Iranians, like the Arab Ahwaz, and other ethnic and religious groups. It even suppresses the Shiite Persians who support the Regime but call for reforms.
The Iranian regime is governed by Khamenei, whose ideological precepts include control over the Islamic world. Khamenei views himself as the guardian of Muslims who, according to Al Thaydi, is not just an extremist cleric, like thousands others across the world, one who has established a Regime that possesses money and weapons and that has gangs to promote his ideas. He says that Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon are nothing but mere arenas to this ideological Khamenei invasion.
The Lebanese Party Hezbollah is not a party of resistance, according to Al Thaydi, Hezbollah is an authentic organic extension of Khameneis Revolutionary Guards.
It is the duty of the president of any country to control arms, maintain the states control over them, and subjugate everyone to the same authority of law.
Lets wait and see how President Aoun performs, Al Thaydi concludes.
During his first meeting in Washington with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu extended an invitation to him to visit Jerusalem.
The two met before Mr. Netanyahus meeting with President Donald Trump. He met with Secretary Tillerson for about two hours.
Following the meeting and the subsequent meeting with the newly-elected US President it is clear the White House is not adopting the position of its predecessor, who was committed to the so-called two-state solution, which entails the establishment of the State of Palestine with portions of eastern Jerusalem serving as its capital. Former President Barak Obama insisted the two-state solution was essential for regional peace but it appears President Trump is more flexible and not necessarily committed to this.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The Shin Bet has decided changes in security for Israeli airlines are required, including El Al, Arkia and Israir.
According to a Walla News report, while the Shin Bet does not discuss such matters openly, security arrangements have been tightened and the air marshal team reinforced. The Shin Bet oversees security for the airlines including the check-in arrangements, agent counters, as well as on flights.
There have also been technological additions to enhance security for Israeli airlines not too long ago including a system to counter shoulder held missiles fired at a passenger plane along with the double bulletproof door on the drivers cabin.
The experts add that at one time Israeli airline security appeared extreme to many but following 9/11, many of the regulations are being copied by airlines around the world in the hope of emulating El Al and other Israeli airlines.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who is serving a prison term, underwent an emergency surgical procedure earlier this week. According to a Kikar Shabbos News report, the rabbi on Tuesday 18 was recuperating, isolated on the sixth floor of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital with over 20 police outside his door. The Chief of the Israel Prison Authority also made a visit to consult with physicians towards ascertaining when the rabbi can be released by to prison.
Followers of the rav were mispallel at Kever Rochel while he was undergoing the procedure.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Police boarded an EasyJet flight that originated in Tel Aviv after it made an unscheduled landing in Luton England to prevent a possible breach of the peace by a group of strictly Orthodox Jewish men.
According to a Jewish Chronicle report on Wednesday 19 Shevat, the flight in question departed on Monday at 14:55. The problems began when chareidi passengers insisted they be seated next to men and not women. They refused to take their assigned seats. There was a delay as they reportedly blocked the aisle until some females voluntarily agreed to change seats to accommodate them.
The Jewish Chronicle report quoting passengers on the flight states ten men were involved, describing them as ten men in black hats who refused to be seated and then blocking the aisle.
Later into the flight, one of the men plugged his cell phone into the control panel area for one of the cabin crew, causing exit lights to turn on. A crew member instructed the man to remove the phone charger, explaining he was compromising the safety of the flight.
The airline said: easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2084 from Tel Aviv to Luton on 13 February 2017 was met by police on arrival at London Luton due to a small group of passengers behaving disruptively by not complying with the captain and cabin crews request to take their seats both prior to departure from Tel Aviv and during the flight.
For the safety of all passengers easyJets crew must ensure that whenever the seat belt signs are illuminated all passengers are in their seats with their seatbelts fastened.
easyJets cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
Separately during the flight a passenger plugged a mobile device into a USB port on the crew control panel in the forward galley in a foolish attempt to charge it.
This led to the exit light above the panel being illuminated but did not in any way comprise the safety or security of the aircraft.
Local police escorted the ten men off the flight. It does not appear that anyone was placed under arrest.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
Following an undercover investigation, police detectives moved in and arrested members of a cellphone theft ring. Suspects in custody were arraigned in the Jerusalem Magistrate Court on Wednesday, 19 Shevat. The three suspects are residents of the eastern capital, Arabs, and are suspected of operating a ring that robbed and stole cellphones from passersby.
Police received a complaint from a young woman who was walking on the Mount Scopus Prominade while speaking on the phone. The younger male followed her and then snatched her bag and fled to a waiting vehicle. Police also received numerous complaints from residents of Beit Haninah and French Hill, both neighborhoods in the northern capital. They stopped their vehicle near the victims, asking if they might borrow their phone for a moment to make a call. When given the phone, they drove off. In one case, the victim hung on to the vehicle and eventually fell off and was lightly injured.
Police received descriptions of the vehicle from victims and learned they actually changed some of the license plate numbers using black tape to avoid being apprehended.
The suspects have already been tied to at least six thefts.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Police spokesman)
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday made clear that the United States was committed to NATO while also reinforcing the Trump administrations demand that allies pay their fair share.
Speaking at his first NATO defense ministers meeting, Mattis called the alliance a fundamental bedrock for the United States and for all the trans-Atlantic community.
That message, delivered as Mattis stood alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, comes amid mixed signals from President Donald Trump and as chaos swirls in Washington. The Pentagon chief made no references to the abrupt forced resignation Monday of Michael Flynn, the U.S. national security adviser, over his pre-inauguration discussions with Russia, and what the change may mean for U.S. policy toward Moscow.
I havent changed what Im heading there for, Mattis told reporters traveling with him to the NATO gathering. It doesnt change my message at all.
The allies interest and concern about the latest furor in Washington was evident early on as officials crowded around televisions at the NATO meeting to watch Mattis initial appearance with Stoltenberg. Ministers immediately clustered around the retired Marine general as he entered the meeting room.
In public statements, however, NATO leaders brushed aside questions about the turmoil in Washington.
Stoltenberg said he has spoken to Trump twice on the phone, and has gotten the same reassurance from Mattis and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
They have all conveyed the same message to me as they have conveyed to other leaders in NATO countries, and that is that the United States will stay committed to the trans-Atlantic partnership, Stoltenberg said.
Mattis also urged that all who benefit from the best defense in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary cost to defend freedom. The U.S. wants allies to increase their military funding to the benchmark goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product. Some NATO members have been slowly moving toward that.
He also was expected to press for greater assistance, including additional trainers, in the military campaigns in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Mattis said he wanted the U.S. to maintain the strongest possible relationship with NATO.
Trump has criticized NATO as obsolete, repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened that the U.S. might not defend allies that dont fulfill their financial obligations as NATO members. Its all rattled European leaders, who are looking for some clarity from Mattis.
Such comments are playing into fears that Trump will ease U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow after it annexed Ukraines Crimea region in 2014 and supported an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Another concern is lessened U.S. military support for Eastern European allies near Russias border who worry about being the next target.
In recent weeks, Trumps public statements on NATO have softened somewhat.
After meeting Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters that he assured her he was 100 percent behind NATO. A joint statement issued after Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by telephone said the two agreed on the fundamental importance that the NATO alliance has for trans-Atlantic relations and the need for all members to pay their fair share. Trump made similar comments in a call with French President Francois Hollande.
Only four countries other than the U.S. Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland are meeting NATOs 2 percent spending target. Many are increasing their budgets in response to Russias actions.
Still, the U.S. spends more on its armed forces than all the others combined. Washington also pays more than 22 percent of NATOs commonly funded budget.
The U.S. also would like to see an increased NATO commitment in Afghanistan, where forces have been fighting the Taliban since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Washington wants more trainers in Afghanistan, where about 8,400 American troops are still deployed.
There also will be discussions about how to accelerate the newer, U.S.-led campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
(AP)
Malaysian police arrested a woman Wednesday in the apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leaders exiled half brother who South Korean spies say once begged his sibling to spare his life.
The astonishing killing, which reportedly came at the hands of two female assassins, set off waves of speculation over whether North Korea had dispatched a hit squad to kill a man known for his drinking, gambling and complicated family life.
Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, was estranged from his younger brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and had been living abroad for years. He reportedly fell out of favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
According to two senior Malaysian government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves sensitive diplomacy, the elder Kim died en route to a hospital on Monday after suddenly falling ill at the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
He told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray, the Malaysian officials said. Multiple South Korean media reports, citing unidentified sources, said two women believed to be North Korean agents killed him with some kind of poison before fleeing in a taxi.
Malaysia started an autopsy Wednesday to determine the cause of death. But a Malaysian government official, who also demanded anonymity because of the cases sensitivity, said North Korea objected to the procedure because they wanted the body back. But the Malaysian official said the autopsy was still continuing.
Also Wednesday, Malaysian police arrested a woman carrying Vietnamese travel documents bearing the name Doan Thi Huong at the Kuala Lumpur airport budget terminal, where Kim Jong Nam was attacked. It was not immediately clear whether the passport was genuine. She was identified using earlier surveillance video from the airport, police said.
Still photos of the video, confirmed as authentic by police, showed a woman in a skirt and long-sleeved white T-shirt with LOL across the front.
Police said they were hunting for more suspects. No further details were released.
Since taking power in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has executed or purged a number of high-level government officials in what the South Korean government has described as a reign of terror.
South Koreas spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said Wednesday that North Korea had been trying for five years to kill Kim Jong Nam. The NIS did not definitively say that North Korea was behind the killing, just that it was presumed to be a North Korean operation, according to lawmakers who briefed reporters about the closed-door meeting with the spy officials.
The NIS also cited a genuine attempt by North Korea to kill Kim Jong Nam in 2012, the lawmakers said. The NIS told them that Kim Jong Nam sent a letter to Kim Jong Un in April 2012, after the assassination attempt, begging for the lives of himself and his family.
The letter said: I hope you cancel the order for the punishment of me and my family. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and we know that the only way to escape is committing suicide.
Details of the Malaysia case were sketchy, but the NIS cited Kim Jong Uns paranoia about his half brother. The NIS has a history of botching intelligence on North Korea and has long sought to portray the countrys leaders as mentally unstable.
Although Kim Jong Nam had been originally tipped by some outsiders as a possible successor to his late dictator father, Kim Jong Il, others thought that was unlikely because he lived outside the country, including recently in Macau.
He also frequented casinos, five-star hotels and traveled around Asia, with little say in North Korean affairs.
But his attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland reportedly soured North Koreas leadership on his potential as a successor. Kim Jong Nam had said he had no political ambitions, although he was publicly critical of the North Korean regime and his half brothers legitimacy in the past. In 2010, he was quoted in Japanese media as saying he opposed dynastic succession in North Korea.
Among Kim Jong Uns executions and purges, the most spectacular was the 2013 execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the countrys second-most powerful man, for what the North alleged was treason.
Kim Jong Il had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third. Kim Jong Nam was the eldest, followed by Kim Jong Chul, who is a few years older than Kim Jong Un and is known as a playboy who reportedly attended an Eric Clapton concert in London in 2015. Its unclear what positon he has in the North Korean government.
A younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, was named a member of the Workers Party of Koreas Central Committee during a North Korean party congress last May.
Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in South Korea, said Kim Jong Nam could have faced threats from any number of directions.
He was probably not viewed as a direct threat to his half brother, but as an obstacle to Kim Jong Uns plan to maintain the regime for the next 20 to 30 years, the professor said.
So there is a possibility of Kim Jong Un directly or indirectly giving orders to get rid of those who could threaten the plan in the long term, he said. The other possibility that cannot be ruled out is that of North Korean elites, who are competing against each other to show their loyalty to Kim Jong Un, making a move against Kim Jong Nam.
(AP)
While the Trump administrations actions seem to lack necessary might to Irans regime, they represent turn away from the former appeasement policies.
Now, there is serious talk of labelling Irans Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization.
This has become more urgent following a press conference held Tuesday by Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Washington.
Based on information obtained by the social network of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) inside Iran, NCRI US Representative Office Deputy Director Alireza Jafarzadeh revealed details and specific locations where the IRGC Quds Force has increased the number militia members trained to take part in wars already threatening Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain, Afghanistan and beyond.
Jafarzadeh said, Daesh (ISIS) and the Tehran regime armed with its Revolutionary Guards are two sides of the same coin, with the distinction that the Revolutionary Guards has at its disposal a nation state with all its strategic resources.
The IRGCs role in fomenting crises across the region and terrorism on a global scale is undeniable. This includes provocative meddling in Saudi Arabia, and goes in line with the necessity to designate this entity as an organization focused on global terrorism, writes Heshmat Alavi, political and rights activist focusing on Iran, in an article for Al-Arabiya.
Irans long history includes the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon that left over 240 dead, as well as the 1994 Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, resulting in 85 deaths and hundreds injured.
Alavi says, Irans mullahs are the godfathers of the Lebanese Hezbollah, the force behind many of its international terrorist attacks, and it is only a logical conclusion that the entity providing the arms, training and finances would be none other than the IRGC.
Irans involvement in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon are different fronts coordinated by the IRGC, according to Alavi, that were boosted by a failed appeasement policy.
He says that the IRGC was also able to take advantage of those appeasements to advance Irans nuclear program and ballistic missile drive, and to test the new Trump administration with a medium-range ballistic missile test.
By taking advantage of loopholes in the nuclear accord with Iran, the IRGC has pursued the nuclear program, and are now claiming to have tested new centrifuge designs, and their troubling ballistic missile aspiration threatening US interests and strategic allies across the Middle East, according to Alavi. He adds, Parallel to all these troubling activities, and not of any less importance, has been the IRGCs leading role in the mullahs domestic crackdown. The main IRGC entity in implementing this policy is the paramilitary Basij militias that roam the streets to enforce a climate of fear and oppression, leading to an array of violations of human rights in Iran.
Iran is said to be the leading country in executions per capita, and continues as such during the tenure of Iranian President Hassan Rowhani, writes Alavi, saying further that, Irans jails are also known as dungeons where many such executions are performed, and the IRGC enjoys specific wards used to torture inmates for coerced confessions.
Iran as a regime is designated as the leading state sponsor of terrorism by the US State Department, and also described most recently by Defense Secretary James Mattis. Its been discussed that the IRGC meets the necessary legal index of a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation.
Alavi lists the criteria for FTO designation:
a) A foreign organization
b) Involved in terrorism or terrorist engagement, or retaining the ability and intention to engage in terrorism or launch terrorist activities
c) US nationals and/or national security is threatened through the organizations terrorism or terrorist engagements.
Initiatives have also been instigated in both chambers of Congress, as the The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Terrorist Designation Act. It underscores how the IRGC meets the designation criteria of an FTO.
Tuesdays revelations by the NCRI in Washington according to MEK-obtained information highlight the major role the IRGC plays in Iran. Alavi believes it is of the utmost necessity for the Trump administration to issue an FTO designation for the IRGC.
He writes, Such a move will have the new US administration stand alongside its allies in the Middle East and signal to the Iranian people the true support they now enjoy in America.
Every year, thousands of families lose a parent, husband or wife, leaving them both devastated and also in many cases having to adjust to a completely different standard of living.
Households often drop from two incomes to one and bereaved parents become the sole breadwinners for themselves and their children.
The government provides a financial lifeline in these cases, issuing payments to affected families from the National Insurance contributions of the deceased.
However, the amount of money issued in bereavement support has been falling by around 41million on average every year since 2003, This is Money can reveal.
Support: Bereavement payments can help families with the initial costs such as paying for a funeral for a loved one
The decline in payments has meant a saving of more than 5.2billion on what would have been paid out if support had stayed at the same level since 2003.
Despite the savings, thousands of new widows in future are set to see their payments slashed from April, with some losing out on tens of thousands of pounds.
The government predicts that the changes will cost it around 45million in the first two years. However after that, costs are set to fall even further, by around 21million every year.
Families bereaved before the changes are introduced in April will not be affected.
According to the government, the reforms are not designed to save money, but instead are a modernisation of an old system.
A DWP spokesman said: 'The old system introduced more than 90 years ago was based on the outdated assumption that a widowed parent relied on their spouse for income, and would never work themselves. This doesnt reflect peoples lives today.
Total costs have been falling, according to figures from the National Insurance Fund
'The new Bereavement Support Payment restores fairness to the system and focuses support during the 18-month period after a loved one dies, when they need it the most. It is also easier to claim, wont be taxed and will be subject to a disregard for benefit claims, helping those on the lowest incomes the most.'
Despite the claims that plans to cut back benefits for widows are not designed to save money, the Department for Work and Pensions has predicted that it will save around 100million every year from its budget.
Reforms will cost 45million over the first two years, after which costs will steadily fall. There will be an additional spend of 79million a year on Universal Credit, but even so, the net saving will amount to 21million a year, government documents show.
The Work and Pensions Select Committee last year urged government to use some of the cost savings to extend support to children who lose their mother or father where their parents were not married, but the government has so far declined.
Savings have averaged 41million a year since 2003, according to This is Money calculations
Despite modernising the system, the children of unmarried couples will still not receive support. The government estimates that extending support to cohabiting couples would cost 75million a year in the first four years. However extending them just to families with young children would cost considerably less.
Alison Penny of the Childhood Bereavement Network commented on the changes: The sad truth is that the brunt of these cuts will be borne by the next generation of young children grieving the death of their mum or dad.
Those parents will have paid into the National Insurance system in good faith, but in 75 per cent of cases, the children and widows/widowers they leave behind will get less support than under the current scheme.
We ask the Government to reconsider their plans, and to work with us and others to find a way to secure a better future for more widowed parents and their children.
Why will the cost of payments fall?
The government is planning a complete overhaul of the current bereavement payment system. You can read more details on this here.
The changes mean that in general higher payments will be made upfront, but paid for a shorter period of time.
Those eligible currently receive a tax-free lump sum worth 2,000, which is set to increase to 2,500 for those without children and 3,500 for those with children. This will push up upfront costs.
However other benefits that are currently made for up to 20 years will now be limited to 18 months. Existing claimants will not be affected, but will naturally cease to receive the benefit with the passage of time. The changes mean the cost of these benefits will fall overall in time.
Why have payments fallen already?
There is likely to have been a small decline in bereavement payments paid out over the years due to some general improvement in the health of the nation, with fewer people smoking, fewer doing manual labour, etc. A decline may also have come from the proportion of married couples falling in favour of those who are not married but cohabit.
However, a big reason for the regular falls since 2003 are cuts phased in in 2001. This is Money asked former pensions minister and director of policy at Royal London Steve Webb to explain.
He said: Prior to 2001 if you were a childless widow aged 45 or more at the time of the bereavement you could in theory get a widows pension until you retired. In other words, there was no real time limit. Under the 2001 changes, the new bereavement allowance stops after just one year.
He added that in some ways the benefits became more generous at this time: they were extended widowers as well as widows and the lump sum given to the bereaved spouse immediately following the death was doubled from 1,000 to 2,000.
However, even so, the net effect was a significant cut.
This fall has been working its way through the system, because those who were already on the widows pension did not have it taken away from them the new rules only applied to new widows after 2001.
Steve Webb added that some of the cost savings should be used to find the money to extend benefits to bereaved parents who lose a partner to whom they were not married, who paid the same National Insurance as everyone else and whose only crime is that they weren't married to the person who died.
The Department for Work and Pensions says: Marriage and Civil Partnership confer legal rights and responsibilities on individuals that cohabitees do not have.
Allowing the surviving members of cohabiting couples to have access to bereavement benefits would significantly increase complexity and require extensive proof of cohabitation which could be both difficult and intrusive for the bereaved person to establish. For example, this would require the Government to provide a legal definition of a couple, including determining the period the individuals had been together to be classed as a couple.
A landmark case won at the Supreme Court last year may put pressure on the government to extend payments to children who lose their mother or father where their parents were not married.
Denise Brewster challenged a ruling that she was not automatically entitled to a survivors pension as she would have been, were she married to her partner when he died.
Ms Brewster, a lifeguard from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, and her partner Lenny McMullan had lived together for ten years and owned their own home.
They had got engaged just two days before Mr McMullan died.
Five Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled she is entitled to receive payments under the pension scheme.
Amazon is set to shake up the UK clothing retail scene by launching its own fashion label, according to industry reports.
Fashion magazine Drapers has reported that the Seattle-based giant is developing its own-label clothing, which could be launched as early as this spring.
Although it already sells clothes from third party suppliers in Britain, Amazon is said to have its eye on a slice of the UK's clothing market, taking on businesses ranging from high street stalwarts, such as Marks & Spencer and Next, to internet retailers like Asos and Boohoo.
Amazon could launch its own UK fashion label, according to industry reports
The rumours are fuelled by Amazons recruitment of former Marks & Spencer big-hitters Frances Russell (ex-head of womenswear) and Karen Peacock (previously the high street chains head of design), as well as Primarks menswear buying director, Glen George - who also once worked at Marks & Spencer.
Keely Stocker, Drapers Editor, said a mid-market range could really appeal to the customer who has become slightly disenchanted with the current high street offer.
She added: If Amazon gets its own-label fashion product right, it will shake up the whole industry.
High street stalwarts such as M&S and Next may have most to fear, if Amazon decides to target their customers rather than the heavily-saturated 18-to-34-year-old market.
Although taking on established industry players would not be easy, Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said the online giant has the power to stir things up.
He said: Amazon is a very cash rich business and if they want to launch into a sector, they won't do things by half.
Earlier this month, Amazon announced profits of $749million for the final quarter of 2016 a 55 per cent increase on the previous quarter. After years of prioritising growth over profits, this was its seventh consecutive profitable quarter.
However, the online giant may not get things all its own way in an intensely fragmented and competitive market.
Turning heads: Amazon's entry into the UK's clothing market would challenge online retailers like Boohoo (pictured) as well as high street brands such as Marks & Spencer.
Tom Gadsby, retail analyst at Liberum, said: It takes a really long time to build a brand, even when youre Amazon.
Amazon does have fashion labels in the US, including formal menswear line Franklin Tailored and womenswear brand James & Erin.
In the UK, online fashion retailers such as ASOS and Boohoo have squeezed the market share of the big high street chains.
Amazon has seen how successful these pure online retailers have been over the last few years and are thinking they could compete in that area, said Mr Lim.
The new venture would continue Amazons remarkable growth from online bookseller to comprehensive and convenient one-stop shop.
In June last year, the company made its first foray into the UK grocery market, launching AmazonFresh in London. The service is now available across more than 200 postcodes, generating nervous glances from rivals Ocado and Tesco.
Last week, it was reported that Amazon is searching for shops in London to locate a checkout-free grocery chain. In parallel, it continues testing its Amazon Go store in Seattle, where sensors track customers and record items so people can buy goods without queuing at a till.
Liberums Adam Tomlinson reiterated: When Amazon decide they want to do something in any space, it's always a threat.
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If the terror troops are from a country where Iran is already fighting (Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Lebanon), they will eventually be sent to the front lines of those battles. If it is in a country where Iran is not currently fighting, the troops will join a terror cell there.
The camps are divided by the training they will have to do and by nationality. Their training is overseen by the Iranian Regimes terror squad, the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The training is divided into two types of courses; a crash-course of 45 days for troops that will be used to fight in paramilitary forces like the IRGCs Basij force or a full training course which lasts from between 9 and 12 months.
The full training course has many different sections:
Heavy weaponry
Missile Launches
Marine Training
Theoretical Training (how to spend terror rhetoric)
Survival Training
Commando Training
Paratrooper Training
Security Training
The Iranian Regime may attempt to distance themselves from these training camps but IRGC Brigadier General Khosrow Orouj confirmed that this had the approval of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
He said: I was in charge of training for the Quds Force, and later took charge of training of the Quds Special Forces, working with them round-the-clock, going back and forth to Lebanon. When Khamenei visited the Quds Force, the only unit that he applauded was that same training unit.
Of course, the IRGC is not just responsible for terror abroad; it has many domestic repression duties as well. It is responsible for:
Preventing popular uprisings
Controlling the Iranian economy (diverting money to the military, rather than social care programmes)
Monitoring internet usage by civilians
Controlling Regime officials and arresting them
The report makes clear that the IRGC is in control of these terror training camps, in an attempt to export terrorism, destabilise other countries and take control in those countries.
MBABANE As some received flowers and cards on Valentines Day, it was a different and unforgettable story for Sisana Shabangu, who won a brand new car.
The Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) had a competition where they were awarding the winner of a speciality chain for peak trade competition, LADUMA.
They had a raffle draw where they had three prizes to be won. The first prize was a VW UP valued at E135 000; the second prize being a five day cruise and the third prize was a 43 inch TV.
CNA Mbabane won the best prize worldwide, and hence the car went to their employee who was picked during a draw held yesterday.
Edcon promised to pay directly to the driving school of Shabangus choice and also pay for one appointment of the licence test.
Shabangu, who is a Retail Associate at CNA, also happens to be the longest serving member at the CNA stores. She explained that she started working for CNA in 2004. She said she was shocked when she was announced as the winner that she even cried.
Shabangu said she had joked with all her staff members that they should not bother themselves as she was taking the car with her.
She mentioned that even if she hadnt won, she would have been happy for any of her colleagues to win because they all worked hard and were all dedicated to their jobs.
Shabangu went on to thank the Regional Manager, Basil Mngadi, Head of HR Husain Khan, CNA General Manager (GM) Julie Day, among others, who were present during the draw.
MBABANE SPTC has been ordered not to appoint a replacement for its dismissed Head of Sales and Marketing Charles Ndlovu, at least for now.
This order was issued by Industrial Court Judge Dumisani Mazibuko, who further restrained the company from changing its business structure or organogram in a manner that will phase out the position of head of sales and marketing or render it redundant until the case has been finalised.
The judge said Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) may in the meantime appoint a senior officer in the Sales and Marketing department.
Should that need arise, the first respondent (SPTC) may in the interim appoint a senior officer to lead the said department on an acting basis or short-term contract without creating a legitimate expectation of permanency or automatic renewal, said the judge.
Ndlovu was dismissed despite lawyer Muzi Simelane, who chaired his disciplinary hearing, acquitting him on charges of misconduct.
SPTC Managing Director Petros Dlamini instituted review proceedings of Simelanes decision and ultimately concluded that he made an error in acquitting him and dismissed him summarily on February 22, 2016.
Ndlovu filed an application in the Industrial Court for a review of the decision of Dlamini and sought an order that it be set aside. Pending determination of the matter, Ndlovu prayed for orders that Dlaminis decision be stayed and that SPTC should be restrained from appointing any person to the post of head of sales and marketing.
He also wants the court to order his reinstatement and that the unilateral decision of Dlamini to dismiss him should be declared unlawful.
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By Patrick Donachie
Speakers at a Rosedale forum Saturday hoped to spark the imaginations of students and parents in potential future careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. State Sen. James Sanders (D-Far Rockaway), who hosted the meeting, said it was important for schools to prepare students for the burgeoning fields of the future.
The reason we are here is that we realize the future is now, Sanders said. Anybody who is talking about preparing for the future has already missed it. We have to do everything possible to get ourselves into the 21st century, and we are late. We have to push harder. Our young scholars deserve every opportunity that there is.
Dozens of families attended the event, which was held at St. Clare Catholic Academy in Rosedale Saturday afternoon. The city has placed an emphasis on STEM education, with some proponents adding arts to the equation.
Computer science educator Mariann Cantanzaro said STEAM education was about trial and error, offering practical and innovative approaches to problems, while presenter Samantha Kendrick, a structural engineer, said the STEAM career paths often do not have high rates of employment by women or people of color. She stressed that students needed to continue to chase their passions.
We cannot let the lack of people of color in these fields infiltrate how we feel about ourselves, she said. Whether we want to draw comic books or become astronauts, its so important to remember that yes, we can and continue to live with that idea of black excellence.
Danillo Archbold, the CEO and co-founder of Zion STEAM Academy, said the United States ranked 36th in the world in terms of students graduating with math and science degrees, and he said less than 3 percent of African-Americans were involved in STEM-related fields.
Kendrick, who pointed to the story of the film Hidden Figures about three black women mathematicians working at NASA as a tale of inspiration for budding scientists, paraphrased Henry Ford in her call for students to remain determined.
Whether you think you can, or you think you cant, she said, youre right.
Doctors Without Borders on Wednesday urged all warring parties in Yemen to allow aid deliveries, saying it had treated more than 55,000 people wounded during a Saudi-led intervention in the country.
"Since the violence escalated in March 2015, MSF has treated more than 55,000 war-wounded patients across the country," said Djoen Besselink, using the French acronym of the medical charity that he heads in Yemen.
"The warring parties must support aid organisations to reach the people most in need," he told a news conference in Amman.
Yemen\s war pits the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against Huthi rebels allied with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The fighting escalated in March 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes to help forces loyal to Hadi to take large parts of the country back from the rebels.
The United Nations estimates that more than 7,400 people, including about 1,400 children, have since been killed.
"We call on the international aid organisations and donor governments to together with MSF ensure that aid is delivered to all in need and increase the humanitarian response where needed," said Besselink.
He also called for ports and airports to be reopened.
The Saudi-led coalition has imposed a marine and air blockade against rebel-held areas.
The UN has called for a truce to allow aid deliveries but UN mediation and seven ceasefires have so far failed.
Besselink said medical services in Yemen had been directly affected by the violence.
"Hospitals have been hit by shelling and gunfire. Four MSF facilities have been hit by air strikes," he said.
Tammam Aloudat, the charity\s deputy medical director, said 26 MSF staff had been killed in bombings against medical facilities.
He said many Yemenis suffered from malnutrition, diseases, rising prices, electricity shortages and lack of clean drinking water.
UN aid chief Stephen O\Brien warned last month that Yemen could face famine this year if no immediate action is taken.
SOURCE: AFP
Strong defense, pair of goals from Shaye Bailey hands Freedom WPIAL Class 1A championship
A shutdown defense and a pair of second-half goals from junior Shaye Bailey led the Freedom Bulldogs to a convincing 3-0 win over Springdale Friday.
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Albany
Children in New York state can be married as young as 14, and a troubling number almost all them girls are married off at that young age by their families, according to advocates backing a bill that would raise the state's minimum marriage age to 17.
If they weren't married, the spouses of these child brides would be in violation of statutory rape laws, said Westchester Democratic Assemblywoman Amy Paulin is sponsoring the bill along with Staten Island Republican Sen. Andrew Lanza.
Human rights organizations describe the practice as a violation when it goes on in other countries.
The trouble is, "It happens right here in our very own backyard," said Paulin, who was joined Monday by some women who had been or nearly were married off by their families as teenagers.
"At 14, you're in ninth grade. You probably have braces and you probably have a crush on some guy," said Safia Mahjebin, who in fifth grade was told by her father that she would be sent to the family's native Bangladesh to marry.
A teen from her community who refused to go along with that, said Mahjebin, can be "branded as a disobedient daughter."
Mahjebin was born in Bangladesh but moved to Brooklyn with her family as a child.
With the prospect of a forced marriage approaching, she broke away and, now at age 20, works as an intern at Sanctuary for Families, an organization combating the practice of child marriage.
After a press conference during which Mahjebin and others recounted their experiences, Fraidy Reiss, who runs Unchained at Last and who escaped a forced teen marriage, said there are lots of pressures keeping such practices in place. Moreover, these marriages span the spectrum of religious faiths and ethnic origins.
Mahjebin comes from a religious Bangladeshi Muslim community. Reiss, who was raised an Orthodox Jew, said the marriages happen in "every religion and culture you can think of."
The common threads are traditions, which can be especially powerful in socially isolated communities.
Sometimes there are financial considerations as in arranged marriages that come with dowries in which the bride's family brings money to the husband or a "bride price" in which the bride's family gets the payment.
Immigration can be a factor. Reiss said girls here in the U.S. can enter arranged marriages with those who want to come to the U.S. from abroad. By marrying an American, the husbands can gain a quick path to residency.
Reiss' group has found that between 2000 and 2010 nearly 4,000 teens as young as 14 were wed in New York state.
In New York, children age 14 and 15 need parental consent and a judge's approval to marry, and there are no instructions for judges to view those arrangements as statutory rape even if the husband is in his 30s or older.
rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU
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Albany
A parolee who previously made headlines when he was fired by Walmart was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in state prison for bank robbery, District Attorney David Soares' office said.
Thomas T. Smith, 53, pleaded guilty Dec. 14 to one count of robbery, an armed violent felony.
Albany County Supreme Court Judge Thomas A. Breslin also sentenced Smith to five years of post-release supervision.
In September, Smith was arrested after an Albany police detective fired a round into the window of his vehicle in a neighborhood near the Port of Albany. Then-Police Chief Brendan Cox said the detective reported Smith's car was backing toward him when he opened fire. No one was injured.
At the time, Smith was on parole for a 2002 robbery of a KeyBank branch in Latham. He had served more than 13 years of a 15-year sentence.
In 2015, Smith was part of a protracted battle with Walmart officials after he was fired for redeeming a few dollars in empty cans left unclaimed outside the East Greenbush store.
Smith said he was never told he could not take unclaimed cans, but Walmart officials contended it was theft.
Alice Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, and labor leaders organized demonstrations on Smith's behalf at Walmart to protest his firing, which went viral on social media and made national headlines.
Smith's guilty plea satisfied charges in four bank robberies from July through September in Albany:
July 29: Smith, disguised in a wig, handed tellers at the First Niagara Bank, 120 State St., a note demanding money. He was pointing his hand in a pocket, insinuating that he had a weapon, and escaped with $1,500. A discarded disguise was found near the bank.
Aug. 19: Smith, wearing a hat and sunglasses, demanded money at the Citizens Bank, 111 Washington Ave. He threatened tellers that he had a gun and escaped with $1,300.
Sept. 1: Smith demanded money from tellers at the First Niagara Bank, 899 Western Ave., and slapped one teller in the face. Smith escaped with $3,420.
Sept. 12: Smith, wearing a construction worker hat, handed tellers at the First Niagara Bank, 120 State St., a note demanding money. He escaped with $1,500 and a discarded construction helmet was found nearby.
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A Wednesday roundup of State Police warrants includes a Troy woman wanted in Albany.
Monique D. Moye is accused of collecting more than $7,000 in unemployment benefits to which she was not entitled from June to December 2014, State Police said.
She is charged with felony grand larceny. Albany City Criminal Court issued the warrant for her arrest, troopers said.
Moye's last known address was in Troy and she is known to drive a 2008 Dodge Avenger with New York license plate GYV6593, State Police said.
Troopers also seek nine other defendants:
Paul R. Arce, 25, is wanted in Endwell, Broome County, for endangering the welfare of a child, unlawfully dealing with a child and petit larceny, all misdemeanors. Arce was arrested in connection to two unrelated incidents in 2009 and failed to appear in court on the charges, State Police said. On July 18, 2011, Union Town Court also issued a warrant for his arrest. Troopers said the Broome County Sheriff's Office is seeking Arce on multiple warrants. Arce has "Cristina" tattooed on his right hand and "Isaac" on his left forearm, State Police said.
Ronnie A. Tellstone, 38, is wanted in Dannemora, Clinton County, for four counts of felony criminal possession of a forged instrument. He used a forged credit card to make four different purchases on Aug. 2, 2013, State Police said.
D'Zhanre Herring, 21, is wanted in Cortlandt, Westchester County, for felony criminal possession of stolen property and misdemeanor possession of burglar tools. During a November 2015 larceny investigation, detectives found Herring with more than $1,000 worth of stolen merchandise and arrested her, State Police said. She failed to appear in court in May 2016, troopers said. Herring's last known address was in Marlborough, State Police said.
Lyra M. Travis, 28, is wanted in Wurtsboro, Sullivan County, for felony burglary and violation of probation. Travis broke into a relative's home and stole jewelry, which she pawned in Monticello and sold at a Cash for Gold store in Middletown, State Police said.
Michael A. Potter Jr., 38, is wanted in Syracuse for felony criminal contempt. Potter violated an order of protection during a domestic incident, State Police said. The city court issued an arrest warrant Nov. 3.
Jennifer M. McIntyre, 32, is wanted in Cold Spring, Putnam County, for driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operator, speeding and no vehicle inspection. McIntyre was stopped for speeding on Dec. 14, 2014, and charged with drunken driving and numerous traffic violations, State Police said. She failed to appear in court Dec. 6, 2015, troopers said.
Keegan Olton, 27, is wanted in Rochester for DWI, aggravated operation of a motor vehicle and other traffic violations. Olton was arrested on I-490 in August for drunken driving and driving with a suspended license, State Police said.
Lawrence Ebert, 52, is wanted in Nassau County for felony driving while intoxicated and numerous traffic violations. Ebert was arrested for drunken driving after being involved in an accident on the Northern State Parkway in 2015, State Police said. He was driving a blue Chevrolet at the time of his arrest, troopers said.
Lenny A. Barr, 44, is wanted by the State Police troop that patrols the Thruway for misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. On Feb. 9, 2015, Barr was stopped by a trooper on the Thruway for a traffic violation and was found with heroin and marijuana, State Police said.
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Before you head to Ecuador Juice Bar and Latin Cuisine as you must as soon as you finish reading this you should consult a map of the world. For though Ecuador is in its name, the menu is a beautiful jumble of linked cuisines, the type of thing that gets food historians all excited.
There's mofongo ($8 to $13) green plantains roughly mashed with shredded pork, chicken, beef, cheese or shrimp claimed by Puerto Rico and Cuba; options for Ecuadorian fish; and salty Chinese-style stir-fried rice in arroz con camarones (shrimp) or chaulafan, a meatier weekend version, both of which nod to the "chifas" or Chinese restaurants common to Ecuador and Peru.
In the kitchen at 7 a.m. starting the four- to five-hour slow-roasted pork are Monica Garcia and her mother from Cuenca, Ecuador. Monica's husband, Wilson, hails from the Dominican Republic. No surprise then to find Dominican Los Tres Golpes ($7.50), a "three hits" breakfast of salami, fried cheese, eggs and mashed plantains alongside the Ecuadorian juices popular at home and all over New York City. Toss in family Colombian and Cuban recipes and it's melting-pot Latin cuisine.
The Garcia family moved to Rensselaer from the Bronx only a year ago for an expansion of Wilson Garcia's downstate real estate business. Finding Rensselaer and East Greenbush with few options beyond pizza and Chinese, they opened the restaurant on Columbia Turnpike just a few months later.
More Information Ecuador Juice Bar and Latin Cuisine 175 Columbia Turnpike East Greenbush Phone: 275-0565 Web: ecuadorjuicebarandlatincuisine.com Cuisine: Healthy juices and authentic family Latin food. Try the mofongo and Saturday Ecuadorian classics. Ambiance: Clean, utilitarian cafe with booths and Latin TV. Grubhub delivery with $20 mininum. Price: $ to $$$ Hours: 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday. Breakfast items: 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Credit cards: All major. Parking: Narrow strip mall parking. Handicapped accessible: Yes. Price ratings for inexpensive eateries based on average of entree costs: $: $9.95 and less $$: $9.95-$15.95 $$$: $15.95 and higher See More Collapse
The stubby strip mall location is tough. I've seen signs for a short-lived cafe and a bakery come and go. Ironically, it was its last iteration, as Columbia Cafe, that caught the Garcias' attention, believing it a Colombian restaurant. Flanked on both sides by vacant storefronts and two doors from a Jazzercize studio and tattoo parlor, this is no standout destination. But the easy commute over the Dunn Memorial Bridge makes it a quick jaunt from downtown Albany, and the restaurant's delivery partnership with Grubhub is so successful they cover rent in online orders alone.
The fresh fruits and vegetables of the smoothie counter give way to glistening trays of stewed chicken and beef, silky red beans, yellow and white rice, and thick slabs of roast pork with shiny, crackling caps. All are quickly assembled for solo diners ordering hearty $6.99 lunch specials, many in native Spanish. Everything else, including juices, can take a little time, so call ahead to pre-order if you need to grab-and-go service.
Hand-crimped empanadas are airily crisp, pechuga de pollo (breaded chicken) and tilapia frita impeccably moist in the lightest seasoned brown breadcrumb. Sizing up my picky son, Monica produces pechuga in strips with a scrum of fries, and he scarfs it down.
Some days you can pull unctuous mahogany medallions from slow-braised oxtail with a pile of buttery rice ($10); any day is good for mini bandeja tipica ($12), a mountain of yellow rice topped with thin steak, fried egg, saucy beans, caramelized sweet plantain, ripe avocado and a hulking arch of chicharron (fried pork belly). And that's the mini. Everything is accompanied by aji, shortened from ajillo, a finely diced Ecuadorian salsa picante but substituting habanero for traditional rocoto pepper. It's so popular with regulars there are plans to bottle it for sale. And a nameless blend of garlic, salt and oil adds elemental punch drizzled over mofongo.
Perhaps the greatest tease is the weekend-only Ecuadorian menu. Since they aren't actually open Sundays, Saturday is your one chance. The smart ones call ahead to reserve encebollado, Ecuador's national dish a humming broth of tuna, cilantro, red onions and starchy cassava chunks (the yuca root used to make tapioca, not yucca, the ornamental plant). They sell out every Saturday. It took me three tries to secure a bowl.
Plunder caldo de bolas, digging through the bouncy carapace of a mashed plantain boule to the rich brown and pink shredded beef at its core. Submerged in an umami-packed beef broth speckled with peas, carrots, parsley and icebergs of stewed beef, it's a fusion of caldo de bolas and caldo de carne. You can get either one at Mr. Pio Pio in Albany for $9.95 but here, combined and generously portioned, it's a $12 steal.
On Saturdays, collagen-loosened pork flesh shredding irresistibly as it's plucked with tongs becomes traditional hornado paired with mote corn kernels and llapingacho, gold coins of smashed plantain and cheese. And instead of the citrus-cured ceviche de camaron ($12) you might expect, plump shrimp marinate in a silken, cool tomato, onion, and cilantro soup. Bolster it, if you wish, with seasoned rice.
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The interior is take-out utilitarian, brightened by photos of the Andes, hand-painted plates and a gorgeous shot of Monica's 98-year old grandfather and his cat looking out at a mountain range.
Signs extol the health benefits of fresh smoothies and juice. Most are the familiar combinations of greens, lemon, carrots and ginger, but the Ecuadorian background is almost folkloric with family knowledge generationally handed down to remedy ails and maximize health. All are fresh-made to order, available in three sizes ($5.50, $6.50, $7.50), with a choice of water or milk for smoothies. A Latin Sentation thickened with oatmeal and Carnation condensed milk bears close similarity to Ecuadorian colada, but flavored with banana and vanilla instead of naranjilla fruit.
I've been a half dozen times to grab a juice and food to go or taking kids to eat in, and the smiling family welcome never wanes, sometimes pumped with a vigorous reggaeton-borracha soundtrack. You might need a little patience with the service speed of a made-to-order menu and the whimsical availability of dishes impacted by sudden customer demand. If they sold out of oxtail yesterday, it might not be back on the menu for a day or two. And if the Dominican flan has gone, a fresh batch will be off limits until it's had time to set.
Nothing here is fancy. It's just good family food. So consider this a push to go. Whether that means crossing the river for a post-gym juice or trying mofongo for lunch, this little ray of Latin sunshine needs to grow, not go.
A typical dinner for four averaging four dishes, a couple of empanadas and three small juices averages $65 with tax, plus an optional $10 counter tip.
Susie Davidson Powell is a freelance writer from East Greenbush. Follow her on Twitter, @SusieDP. To comment on this review, visit the Table Hopping blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping.
North Tipperary IFA and Deputy Jackie Cahill moved this week to play down any conflict between them following a walkout at the farm association's AGM in Nenagh.
Deputy Cahill, the FF spokesman on Agriculture and a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, was the guest speaker at the IFA meeting last Thursday.
However, as many as 10 IFA members are understood to have walked out before he could speak.
Both confirmed a walkout had taken place, but put the number at around four or five
IFA chair Tim Cullinan and Deputy Cahill dismissed the action as a storm in a teacup and stressed that there was an excellent working relationship between them.
Deputy Cahill said that those who left the meeting had issues with him, some going back over 20 years.
They would have a bit of history with me, said the Fianna Fail TD. It had little to do with either farming or politics, but they are entitled to their opinion.
He described it as settling old scores, though some of it could be anti-ICMSA feelings from people would not like to see the former dairy farm association president speak at an IFA meeting.
Mr Cullinan said his group had an excellent relationship with all the elected representatives in Tipperary and pointed out that Deputy Alan Kelly had addressed their agm when he was Minister for the Environment.
The Gardai are continuing their crackdown on drink driving around North Tipperary, with a further five motorists arrested in the past week on suspicion of being over the legal limit.
Among those arrested on suspicion of drink driving was a man driving a tractor at Ormond Court, Nenagh, at 4am on Sunday.
A male aged 24 was arrested at Mitchel Street, Nenagh, at 2.05am on Saturday, while a 45-year-old male was arrested at New Line, Nenagh, at 8.35pm on Saturday.
A male was arrested at Gaol Road, Newport, at 10.58pm on Thursday last.
The latest motorist arrested on suspicion of drink driving was a female driver who was arrested at Summerhill, Nenagh, on Sunday at 6.30pm.
Meanwhile, there has also been a spate of burglaries and attempted burglaries in the Nenagh Garda Division over the past week.
In Roscrea a man is being quizzed for attempted burglary after he was found trespassing in the yard of the local Garda barracks at 2.15am on Thursday last.
Gardai are also investigating what appears to have been an attempted burglary at a house in Brookwatson, Nenagh, on Saturday last. The front door was forced, causing 20 worth of damage.
Gardai are investigating what appears to have been an attempted break-in to a house in Latteragh on Wednesday of last week. Damage, estimated at 100, was caused to the outside of a kitchen window.
Perfume worth 60 was stolen from Ryan's Pharmacy in Pearse Street, Nenagh, at 11.15am on Thursday last.
Gardai in Newport are investigating the theft of a car from the Cill Phadraigh estate in the town on Sunday or the early hours of Monday.
A male was arrested for a suspected breach of public order in Pearse Street, Nenagh, at 1.25am on Sunday last. In Bulfin Crescent, Nenagh, the back door panel of a car was damaged sometime between Saturday and Sunday. The damage is estimated at 50.
In Rearcross a window to the local pub, The Rising Sun, was broken on Sunday, causing 100 worth of damage.
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They say life is too short to wear boring clothes and that's exactly what the students of Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles had in mind when they created their breath taking design for the annual Junk Kouture fashion show.
The fashion forward thinking of Winona Ryan, Sarah Ryan and Roisin Heffernan secured the school a surprise visit from Snapchat star James Kavanagh yesterday afternoon who announced that the trio had earned themselves a silver ticket direct to the regional final in the University of Limerick on March 10.
The girls, who began working on their creation last September, used 1,120 burnt matches, discarded vinyl records and coloured wrapping paper to create their apply named 'Kamuro' dress- a name given to a firework which leaves a glittery trail. A total of 100 old vinyl records were donated to the budding fashionistas by the school music department to make the skirt of the gown along with blackout material previously used in a school musical. Broken hoola hoops donated from a nearby child care centre added volume to the skirt while recycled sugar paper taken from old posters added a pop of colour to the finished look. Team member Roisin Heffernan, who also modeled the dress, said the school have been a "massive help" since they began working on their project last year with their art teacher Katie McCormack adding that this is the first time the school has taken part in the annual recycled fashion showcase. A video of James informing the students they had earned their place in UL has now been viewed over 14,000 times.
The Ursuline students will join fourteen other entries from Tipperary schools at the Regional Final of the Junk Kouture competition on March 10 alongside 80 other hopeful teams from Munster to battle it out for a place at the grand final later this year in Dublin.
This years Junk Kouture prizes include 2,500 cash for the school, 500 cash and iPad minis for the winning team, as well as a scholarship to the Limerick School of Art & Design. The overall and regional winning teams will also attend the Cannes Film Festival in May 2017.
Full list of Tipperary finalists for Junk Kouture 2017:
Team Name School Students
Angel Of Darkness - Comeragh College Tinvane, Carrick-On-Suir - Emma Ulrich, Eve Torpey, Eoin Power
"Eye" see what you did there! - Ardscoil na mBraithre Clonmel - Aileen Kennedy, Andy Higgins, Cathal McGuigan
Woven Warrior - Loreto Secondary School Clonmel - Eimear O'Connor, Amy lonergan
The Lone Rhino - Patrician Presentation Secondary School Fethard - Damien Cahill, Juan Ortega, Dillon Costin
Amours' Reign - Patrician Presentation Secondary Fethard - Amy Byrne, Noelle O' Meara, Lucy Whyte
Jungle Jane - Presentation Secondary School Clonmel - Lisa Walsh
Barista - Presentation Secondary School Clonmel - Keisha O'Shea, Louise Bourke
Rise Like a Phoenix - Presentation Secondary School Clonmel - Roisin Nolan, Natasha Holmes, Emer Ryan
Floribus Mori (Flowers Dying) - Presentation Secondary School Clonmel - Sine Landers, Ana Paula Cusnaider, Jade Ryan
Amarillo Starlight Presentation - Secondary School Clonmel - Hayley Kennedy, Lorna Fennessy, Aoife Walsh
Artemis - Presentation Secondary School Clonmel - Michelle Coyle, Leah Hickey, Keyara connolly
Floral Fantasy - St. Anne's Secondary School Tipperary - Emma Hogan
Blaze away - St. Anne's Secondary School Tipperary - Hannah Quinn
Kamuro - Ursuline Secondary School Thurles -Winona Ryan, Sarah Ryan, Roisin Heffernan
Get a Grip! - Presentation Secondary School Thurles - Aoife Butler, Ciara Trainor, Aoife Max
[February 15, 2017] CalCom and SunLink Partner to Bring Solar to Farms in California's Central Valley
With shared expertise in designing, permitting, building and optimizing solar energy systems for agricultural operations, SunLink Corporation and CalCom Solar have successfully completed three solar projects in Shafter and Wasco, Calif. - the first in a larger Central Valley portfolio of installations. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005355/en/ 669 kW GeoPro Ground Mount Fixed-Tilt Solar System in Wasco, CA (News - Alert) out of Kern County. (Photo: Business Wire) To streamline all project construction, SunLink standardized its mounting solution design and permit set to align with CalCom's installation preferences. SunLink PowerCare geotechnical testing was also performed on sites in Madera and Tipton, Calif., to optimize designs and inform the installation teams in order to further accelerate these projects' timelines. CalCom was then able to customize and complete the installation per that customer's needs, such as uneven terrain and boundary constraints.
"When it comes to the geotechnical, engineering and installation expertise essential for agricultural solar projects, our suite of products+services+software solutions answers the needs of farmers and growers for lower project costs, reduced risk and easy long-term operation. We understand the project priorities and drivers of this market," said SunLink CEO Michael Maulick. "Working closely with the other agricultural experts at CalCom, we are able to streamline the entire project lifecycle and deliver more successful energy assets." "CalCom Solar has the technology and knowledge that can help make solar work for many farmers both financially and operationally. By going solar, farming operations can significantly lower operational costs, saving them more money annually on utility bills. The system will also help hedge against raising utility rates, delivering significate utility savings over the next 25 years," stated Dylan Dupre, CEO of CalCom Solar. "CalCom has made a name for itself as a leader in Central Valley agricultural solar with more than 100 MW deployed at some of the largest agricultural sites in the region. We seek out partners who also pride themselves with capabilities in this area, and SunLink's demonstrated success from engineering to mounting solutions has proven a valuable asset."
About SunLink SunLink Corporation brings powerful solar energy solutions to market through innovative, highly engineered products, in-demand customer services and best-of-breed software that make solar PV electricity easier, safer, more reliable and less expensive to install. In addition to bringing to market well-designed products that are agile in their implementation, the company leverages unparalleled R&D, a legacy of more than a GW of successful projects, state-of-the-art engineering and creative problem solving to develop optimized, full-scope product+service+software solutions for roof and ground-mount solar projects of every size and complexity. It is this unique combination of trusted insights, products, services and EnTech convergence that helps solar developers and installers overcome obstacles and furthers the industry's shared mission of advancing universal solar power adoption. For more information, visit www.sunlink.com or follow twitter.com/sunlink. About CalCom Solar Founded in California's Central Valley, CalCom Solar provides energy solutions for commercial agricultural operations and water management organizations. Today CalCom Solar employs 58 people full-time, and hires as many as 70 temporary employees from the local community. The success of the company reflects CalCom Solar's sustainability ethic and strong conviction that a company can provide customers with reliable energy solutions, maintain profitability, and have a positive impact on the community and the environment. For more information, please visit www.calcomsolar.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005355/en/
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[February 14, 2017] Editage Conducts Workshops on Publishing Trends in South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Keeping abreast of the latest trends in scholarly publication is necessary for researchers, especially ESL authors. Therefore, Editage recently conducted eight workshops on 'Trends in Academic Journal Publishing & Research Integrity' at reputed South Korean institutions, including universities and hospitals. In total, over 500 doctors, researchers, journal editors, as well as university and hospital administrators attended these workshops. The eight workshops were conducted over 6 days, with one each at the following institutions: Chosun University College of Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Sookmyung Women's University, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea Association of Medical Journal Editors, Asan Medical Center, and Soonchunhyang Hospital. One workshop was also conducted for the Korea Association of Medical Journal Editors. They were delivered by Dr. Elizabeth Wager, an academic publication trainer who has given training on behalf of Editage Insights for over five years. As an independent consultant, Dr. Wager has trained doctors, journal editors, and medical writers on six continents. She was Chair of he Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) between 2009 and 2012 and is a member of the ethics committees for the BMJ and the World Association of Medical Editors; she is therefore an internationally recognized authority on ethical publication practices.
Dr. Wager observes, "The rules and conventions of scientific publishing are complex and changing. it can be difficult for researchers to keep up-to-date. I am delighted that Editage provides opportunities for so many doctors, scientists, and journal editors around the world to take part in these workshops and discuss best practice. In order to publish their work effectively in international journals, researchers not only need to ensure their articles are in correct English but also that they have followed current guidelines and journal requirements." Dr. Wager conducted similar workshops organized by Editage in Japan in late 2016. Prioritizing educational outreach activities for ESL authors shows that Editage is undeterred in its mission to empower the Asian research community.
About Editage Founded in 2002, Editage (a division of Cactus Communications) is a fully integrated, global scholarly communications company with offices in Japan, South Korea, India, China, and the United States. Employing a global workforce of over 500, Editage has served 179,398 authors and has edited 690,240 papers across 1,200 disciplines to date. Editage aims to help scholars break through the confines of geography and language, bridge the gap between authors and peer-reviewed journals, and accelerate the process of publishing high-quality research. Apart from working with individual researchers, Editage partners with publishers, journals, academic societies, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to assist them in creating compelling, high-quality scientific publications. Editage is also dedicated to author education through its comprehensive author resources site Editage Insights. Please visit http://www.editage.co.kr to learn more. Media contact:
Hridey Manghwani
Manager, Public Relations, Editage
Phone: +1(877)334-8243
Email: [email protected]
Related Links
http://www.editage.co.kr
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[February 15, 2017] Payments Solutions Provider TSYS Selects Pitney Bowes IntelliJet 20 Printing System
Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), a global technology company that provides innovative products and solutions to power commerce, today announced that global payments solutions provider TSYS has selected the Pitney Bowes IntelliJet 20 Printing System to expand its high-quality color transactional printing capabilities. The new agreement expands a 30-year partnership between the two companies. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005409/en/ The Pitney Bowes IntelliJet 20 Printing System (Photo: Business Wire) To meet increasing expectations for advanced color and finishing techniques from their customer base, TSYS invested in new inkjet technology that would provide more efficient and cost effective high-quality color printing. After a competitive RFP process in which TSYS designed and created extensive test files that pushed the limitations of printing equipment, the company decided to purchase two IntelliJet 20 Printing Systems for high-speed, full-color digital inkjet printing. As a long-term partner, TSYS is already deploying Pitney Bowes inserters, software and postage meters across its varied business segments. TSYS said the Pitney Bowes IntelliJet 20 Printing System "shined above the competition in terms of quality and efficiency" during a rigorous RFP testing process. TSYS executives were impressed with the print quality delivered by the IntelliJet. The IntelliJet printing system will be optimized to work seamlessly with their existing inserting technology from Pitney Bowes. "TSYS is invested in the future of payments and the role that transactional printing plays in an integrated physical and digital solution," said Blake Barker, Group Executive, TSYS. "With the Pitney Bowes IntlliJet 20 Printing Systems, we aim to not only increase efficiency and improve the quality of our digital color printing, we also plan to consider new growth and cross-sell opportunities with our customers."
Designed to meet the needs of transactional print and mail operations, the Pitney Bowes IntelliJet 20 Printing System replaces - and outperforms - existing inkjet or toner-based devices as it delivers greater operational and business impact producing higher value communications for less. A flexible and upgradeable platform, the system enables high volume operations to produce personalized, transactional mailings in full inkjet color, efficiently and cost effectively. Pitney Bowes offers the industry's broadest range of inkjet format sizes. Its portfolio includes the AcceleJet, IntelliJet 20 HD, IntelliJet 30 HD, and IntelliJet 42 HD.
The IntelliJet 20 solution will be on display in the Pitney Bowes booth at Hunkeler Innovationdays from February 20 to 23, 2017, in Lucerne, Switzerland. About TSYS TSYS (NYSE:TSS) unlocks opportunities in payments for payment providers, businesses and consumers. Our headquarters are in Columbus, Georgia, USA, and we operate in more than 80 countries with local offices across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. We provide seamless, secure and innovative solutions across the payments spectrum - from issuer processing and merchant acquiring to prepaid program management - delivered through partnership and expertise. We succeed because we put people, and their needs, at the heart of every decision. It's an approach we call 'People-Centered Payments'. Our industry is changing every day - and we're leading the way toward the payments of tomorrow. We routinely post all important information on our website. For more, visit us at tsys.com. About Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company powering billions of transactions - physical and digital - in the connected and borderless world of commerce. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on products, solutions and services from Pitney Bowes in the areas of customer information management, location intelligence, customer engagement, shipping, mailing, and global ecommerce. And with the innovative Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, clients can access the broad range of Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs to drive commerce. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005409/en/
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[February 15, 2017] Record year as Irish tech firms raise 888m in venture capital - up 70% (Irish Venture Capital Association)
Irish based technology firms raised a record 888m in 2016, up 70% from 522m the previous year according to the Irish Venture Capital Association Venture Pulse (News - Alert) survey published today in association with William Fry. This is against an international background where venture capital in the US (NVCA) declined by 13% and in the UK (Pitchbook) the decline was 4%. "The figures demonstrate the continuing attraction of Irish tech firms by international investors," commented Michael Murphy (News - Alert), chairman, Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA). "International syndicate investors, working with local venture capital firms, invested 548m in 2016 compared to 294m in 2015."
"The life sciences sector was the star performer in 2016 with 52% of funds raised," added Regina Breheny, director general, IVCA. "Eleven companies in particular raised over 38% of total funds. The life sciences sector in Ireland is showing signs of maturity and is benefiting from the State's investment in R&D through Science Foundation Ireland." She added that as well as life sciences another area of growing significance in Ireland was fintech. "Fintech is the new kid on the block. It is disrupting the traditional banking model and growing in response to a different regulatory environment that emerged after the recent financial crisis."
Growth/expansion funding was 92% of total funds raised. IVCA chairman Michael Murphy added that new seed funds are already having an impact with first round funding growing again. "The good news for start-ups is that at 70m for the year to end December, seed funds are now exceeding the peak levels of 2014." Mr Murphy said that since the onset of the credit crunch in 2008, in excess of 1,400 Irish SMEs raised venture capital of 3.5bn. These funds were raised almost exclusively by Irish VC fund managers who during this period supported the creation of up to 20,000 jobs; attracted over 1.7bn of capital into Ireland and geared up the State's investment through the Seed & Venture Capital Programme by almost 16 times. Ends View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005049/en/
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[February 14, 2017] Communications & Power Industries Awarded $2 Million Order For C-Band High-Power Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A major United States satellite systems integrator has awarded the Satcom Division of Communications & Power Industries LLC (CPI) an order totaling more than $2 million to provide high-power, C-band traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) for a significant international broadcasting program. The 750 watt and 2.25 kilowatt amplifiers will be used in a fixed satellite service (FSS) uplink application. "CPI's C-band TWTAs continue to be a very attractive choice for applications requiring multi-carrier service, especially at higher power levels," said Andy Tafler, president of CPI Satcom Division. "One 2.25 kilowatt TWTA provides the same linear power as four, power-combined Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs). Both technologies offer viable solutions under the right program parameters, but for this particular program, the TWTA will be more cost efficient to operate at the required power level." CPI is one of the largest global manufacturers of high-power communications amplifiers for satellite uplink applications, whose broad product line includes GaN-based SSPAs and Gallium Arsenide-based SSPAs, as well as TWTAs and klystron power amplifiers. These products are used in fixed and mobile gateways in support of commercial and military communications around the world. About Communications & Power Industries LLC
Communications & Power Industries LLC (CPI), headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is a subsidiry of CPI International Holding Corp. and CPI International, Inc. CPI develops, manufactures and globally distributes components and subsystems used in the generation, amplification, transmission and reception of microwave signals for a wide variety of systems including radar, electronic warfare and communications (satellite and point-to-point) systems for military and commercial applications, specialty products for medical diagnostic imaging and the treatment of cancer, as well as microwave and RF energy generating products for various industrial and scientific pursuits. www.cpii.com
Certain statements included above constitute "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. Forward-looking statements provide our current expectations, beliefs or forecasts of future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the results projected, expected or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, competition in our end markets; our significant amount of debt; changes or reductions in the U.S. defense budget; currency fluctuations; goodwill impairment considerations; customer cancellations of sales contracts; U.S. Government contracts; export restrictions and other laws and regulations; international laws; changes in technology; the impact of unexpected costs; the impact of a general slowdown in the global economy; the impact of environmental laws and regulations; inability to obtain raw materials and components; and the impact of unexpected results of, or issues in connection with, dispositions and acquisitions. These and other risks are described in more detail in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All future written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us. We undertake no duty or obligation to (i) publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events occurring after the date hereof, (ii) to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in our expectations or (iii) to publicly correct or update any forward-looking statement if CPI becomes aware that such statement is not likely to be achieved.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/communications--power-industries-awarded-2-million-order-for-c-band-high-power-traveling-wave-tube-amplifiers-300407288.html SOURCE CPI International Holding Corp.; CPI International, Inc.
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[February 14, 2017] Income Selects Eagle's Full Suite Solution to Replace Legacy Platforms and Achieve IBOR
SINGAPORE, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Investment Systems LLC, a BNY Mellon company, has been selected by NTUC Income ("Income") to deliver a technological transformation of its middle- and back-office for its Investment division. Income will replace its existing legacy technology platforms with Eagle's full suite of data management, investment accounting and performance measurement and attribution solutions. Income is Singapore's largest composite insurer, providing life, health and general insurance products to two million customers across the country. At the end of 2015, it managed assets totaling S$32.4 billion. "We were looking into a technology platform that will support us well into the future, especially one that provides us the flexibility to accommodate new asset classes as we diversify our business," said Andrew Clay, Income's Investment Chief Operating Officer. "We look forward to evolving our daily operations and rapidly adding value to our organization with Eagle's pre-built daily workflow tools and management dashboards." This transformation will provide Income with an accounting book of record (ABOR) and enable it to achieve an investment book of record (IBOR) to aid investment decision-making. The solution will be deployed over Eagle ACCESSSM, Eagle's secure private cloud. John Legrand, Managing Director for Eagle in EMEA and APAC, said, "We are receiving a lot of interest from insurance companies looking to introduce new portfolio management systems to adequately support their evolving business needs. Singapore has long been a key target market for us and we have experienced significant growth since we first opened our office here in 2009. We are therefore delighted to welcoe Income to our growing client base in APAC."
With offices in Singapore, Beijing, and Sydney, Eagle's business continues to see strong growth in the APAC region. Eagle's solutions are helping leading financial institutions in the region by providing cloud-based technology and managed service solutions to help firms efficiently manage their investment data. Notes to editors
Income
Over the last 46 years, Income has served the protection, savings and investment needs of the people in Singapore. Today, it is Singapore's largest composite insurer offering the widest range of life, health and general insurance products. Income also boasts the industry's broadest distribution network to provide insurance access to two million customers across all social segments of Singapore. The company remains committed to its foundational purpose of serving the people of Singapore through insurance that is affordable, accessible and sustainable. The social purpose of maximising value for policyholders continues to be a guiding principle in its decision making. At the end of 2015, it had assets under management of S$32.4billion. Eagle Investment Systems
Eagle is committed to helping financial institutions worldwide grow assets efficiently with its award-winning portfolio management suite of data management, investment accounting and performance measurement solutions that are delivered over its secure private cloud, Eagle ACCESSSM. Eagle deploys trusted solutions and services that create operational efficiencies and help reduce complexity and risk. Eagle Investment Systems LLC is a subsidiary of BNY Mellon. Additional information is available at http://www.eagleinvsys.com/ or follow us on Twitter @Eagleinvsys. BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of December 31, 2016, BNY Mellon had $29.9 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.6 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news. Contact:
Jeremy Skaling
Eagle Investment Systems LLC
+1 781.943.2318
[email protected]
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IMPORTANT INVESTOR ALERT: Khang & Khang LLP Announces Securities Class Action Lawsuit against Under Armour Inc., and Encourages Investors with Losses to Contact the Firm
Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Under Armour, Inc. ("Under Armour" or the "Company") (NYSE: UAA). Investors, who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between April 21, 2016 and January 30, 2017 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm in advance of the April 10, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline.
If you purchased shares of Under Armour during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA (News - Alert) 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at [email protected].
There has ben 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.
On January 31, 2017, Under Armour announced unsatisfactory fourth-quarter revenues and announced CFO Chip Molloy would be resigning. About $2.7 billion of Under Armour's market capitalization vanished on January 31, 2017 after the Company stated its quarterly revenue growth fell sharply.
When this information was disclosed to the public, the value of Under Armour declined, 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 [email protected].
This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006484/en/
[February 14, 2017] F4CP Lauds Drug-Free Back Pain Guidelines from American College of Physicians, Cites Wall Street Journal Reference to Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation
New guidelines published in a report from the American College of Physicians articulates the effectiveness of non-pharmacologic therapies for chronic low back pain (LBP). The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) points to the inclusion of spinal manipulation as a key non-pharmacologic, non-invasive approach to addressing LBP, noting that doctors of chiropractic (DCs) who perform 94 percent of all spinal manipulations in the United States are cited in the Wall Street Journal coverage of the report. Sherry McAllister, DC, executive vice president, F4CP, the leading voice of the chiropractic profession, says, "Chiropractic care offers a safe and effective first-line option for pain management - particularly for back, low back and neck pain, headaches, neuro-musculoskeletal and other conditions. Chiropractic care is an evidence-based, non-invasive approach that is documented to yield improved clinical outcomes, reduced costs and high levels of patient satisfaction." According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, about 60-80 percent of the adult U.S. population has low back pain, and it is the second most common reason people go to the doctor. Low back problems affect the spine's flexibility, stability, and strength, which can cause pain, discomfort, and stiffness. Back pain is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years old. Each year 13 million people go to the doctor for chronic back pain. The condition leaves about 2.4 million Americans chronically disabled and another 2.4 million temporarily disabled.
"As primary care professionals for spinal health and well-being, doctors of chiropractic - who receive a minimum of seven years of higher education - are specifically trained to diagnose, evaluate and provide drug-free care and rehabilitation to individuals suffering from low back pain," explains Dr. McAllister. While chiropractic care has earned a leading role as an important option for pain relief, access to chiropractic care will depend upon several important factors:
Physician referrals to DCs rather than prescribing opioids.
Benefit coverage and reimbursement for chiropractic care by government and commercial payers and reimbursement to DCs as participating providers.
Access to chiropractic care for active military and veteran populations, with chiropractic care expanded in the Department of Defense and veterans' health care systems. The F4CP is launching its national campaign, "Saves Lives. Stop Opioid Abuse. Choose Chiropractic." to educate media and attendees about the role of chiropractic care in providing effective, drug-free pain management; Tuesday, March 14, 3:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m., National Press Club, 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045. RSVP [email protected]. Register for optional live webcast: www.f4cp.com/pressclub2017/. About Foundation for Chiropractic Progress A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) informs and educates the general public about the value of chiropractic care. Visit www.f4cp.com or call 866-901-F4CP (3427). Social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006492/en/
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[February 14, 2017] InGeneron Announces Changes in Management Team
InGeneron, Inc., a regenerative medicine and cell therapy company, today announced changes in its leadership team. Michael Coleman, PhD, has stepped down as President and CEO and will join InGeneron's Scientific Advisory Board. Ron Stubbers, MBA, formerly InGeneron's Vice President of Operations, has been appointed President. The company has started the search process for candidates to replace Dr. Coleman as CEO. The company also announced the appointment of Glenn Winnier, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer. "InGeneron has reached an important stage of its development and the timing is right to bring in new management as well as to benefit from a smooth transition with Ron's leadership as President. We are also pleased to welcome Glenn, who brings extensive clinical experience, which is the primary focus for the company moving forward," stated Eckhart Alt, MD, PhD, Chairman of the InGeneron Board of Directors. "Michael successfully led the evolution of InGeneron. We thank him for his contributions and are happy to continue our collabortion as he will join the Scientific Advisory Board."
"It is exciting to accept the position of President as we advance our clinical trial development plans in wound healing and orthopedic indications. My goal is to ensure effective operational support for establishing the therapeutic value of our approach and I believe 2017 will be transformative for the company," added Mr. Stubbers. Joining the company as new CSO, Dr. Winnier has over 18 years of experience in scientific leadership and a proven track record in the design of studies which have led to the successful commercialization of novel therapeutics. Glenn Winnier holds a PhD in cell biology from Vanderbilt University. He joins InGeneron from Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston where he was Director of Clinical Research Operations at the Clinical Innovation and Research Institute.
About InGeneron InGeneron is elevating the field of regenerative medicine by translating robust science into proven patient benefit. Our purpose is to set new therapeutic standards by enabling physicians to use the patients' own regenerative cells at point of care. With the initial focus on key orthopedic and wound healing indications, we will make regenerative cell therapies broadly accessible across multiple medical fields. www.ingeneron.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214005827/en/
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[February 14, 2017] Content-ing Consumers: Are PR Professionals Getting Social Media Content Right?
SINGAPORE, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Social media can be a love-hate relationship. It likes you, shares with you, and engages you in conversations. But like all relationships, you need interesting content to keep the spark going. One of the key challenges that PR practitioners are facing is "cutting through the clutter and engaging people's attention for more than the few seconds it takes to scroll, swipe or click through to the next thing," according to John Bailey, Managing Director of Ketchum Singapore. For Beth Boswell, Head of Communications, Asia & Russia of Alcon, "the challenges don't come one after another but all at once and are linked... creating content that interests, creating enough content, adapting to the trend of the moment and responding before losing the momentum, sorting out which agencies do it well (PR, digital, marketing, ad), sorting out the medium (video, voice, text) and approvals. The list could go on." "Many PR departments are fundamentally set up to create text -- but social media is highly graphical: video, images, photos, and infographics are key. Simultaneously, the smaller screens of mobile devices provide less space for photos, text, or content of any kind," shares Genevieve Hilton, Head of External Communications, Asia Pacific at BASF. What are the strategies that PR professionals can adopt to tackle these challenges? "Creating all content from a user-centric point of view is of vital importace. Before creating content, the professional must consider how -- when, in what format, and on what platform -- the content is expected to be consumed. By taking this approach, new habits can be formed," Hilton explains.
Bailey agrees, "Develop compelling content that is easily digestible and shareable. Ideally it should be visual and formatted for small screens." For Boswell, "Some of the strategies are back to basics such as really knowing which audience you want to reach and ensure your content and channel choices will resonate with them. Don't get sucked into the social media app of the moment but truly evaluate if it will work for you or is it a distraction."
Shushu Zhang, Director of Marketing and Communications, APAC at Cargotec Asia shares similar thoughts, "It's impossible to be everywhere at the same time for everyone. We need to find the right place to talk to the right people, and make it stick." She points out, "Be yourself. Be original." Bailey, Boswell, Hilton and Zhang are among other communications experts who will be speaking at the upcoming Social Media & PR 2017 Conference, to be held in Singapore from 6-7 March 2017 and Hong Kong from 13-14 March 2017. The conference will feature actionable insights from DHL, Sony, Visa, Diageo, HSBC, Nestle, BASF, Electrolux, Alcon, Cargotec, Hong Kong Airlines, Langham Hospitality Group, SMRT, PSB Academy and more on how to tackle pressing issues including social media strategy, integrated communications, content strategy, content creation, visual storytelling, influencer engagement, media relations, mitigating online risks and crisis communications. Conference Details
Title: Social Media & PR 2017
Date & Venue: 6 - 7 March 2017 , Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore 13 - 14 March 2017 , Regal Hongkong Hotel, Hong Kong
Organiser: Pacific Conferences
Full programme: http://www.conferences.com.sg/spr28-social-media-PR.htm About Pacific Conferences Pacific Conferences specialises in organising business conferences aimed at providing interactive, insightful information and analysis about issues facing businesses in Asia-Pacific. Catered to middle and upper level executives, its events are usually case studies driven with emphasis on providing in-depth and unbiased practical knowledge. www.conferences.com.sg Contact:
Ms. Soh Jing Wen
(65) 6592 7367
[email protected]
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Voicebox Australia Demos Voice Artificial Intelligence Breakthrough
Voicebox, an established leader and pioneer in the growing conversational voice market, demonstrated ground-breaking advances made by Voicebox Australia, its AI Center of Excellence partnership with Macquarie University, at the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) Global Innovation Summit.
Voicebox is the award-winning pioneer of Contextual Natural Language Understanding and a pioneer of Voice Artificial Intelligence (VoiceAI). Voicebox is taking voice interfaces to the next generation by employing AI techniques in Semantic Language Understanding, data mining, Deep Neural Networks and machine learning.
Voicebox Australia is a partnership with Macquarie University, one of the few places in the world with research strengths across a broad range of language sciences. The pioneering use of semantic parsing with deep learning offsets the current approach's need for 'manual authoring' of grammars and greatly simplifies 'translating' apps across languages. It also creates a truly conversational experience.
In what Voicebox calls Location Intelligence, people can ask questions the way they actually think about location: "Find that Japanese restaurant near the Chevron (News - Alert) on Main St. and send the address to Mike;" "Turn off all the lights except in my bedroom."
This capability will greatly enhance the usability of voice interfaces across all markets, particularly Automotive, Home, IoT and chatbots. Also, solutions can be built more easily and quickly.
"We're thrilled with the early progress made by the Voicebox-Macquarie University partnership, under the capable leadership of Dr. Mark Johnson," said Dr. Phil Cohen, Voicebox's Chief Scientist, Artificial Intelligence. "We were proud to demonstrate this true innovation, semantic parsing with deep learning."
About Voicebox - Voicebox provides award-winning voice technology for the automotive, mobile, home and IoT markets. It employs patented Context Management and is an early pioneer in Voice Artificial Intelligence. Shipping in 23 languages across six continents, Voicebox's flagship customers include Toyota and Samsung (News - Alert). Headquartered in Bellevue, WA, the Company has offices in Asia and Europe. See http://www.voicebox.com
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006585/en/
[February 14, 2017] GEMS Education and iD Tech Partner to Bring the #1 Tech Camp in the World to Dubai
iD Tech Continues its Initiative to Deliver Transformative Technology Education CAMPBELL, California and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iD Tech, the #1 tech camp and a leader in STEM education in the United States, has partnered with GEMS Education to bring summer technology camps to GEMS Nations Academy in 2017. "We are so excited to be working with GEMS Education to bring almost two decades of technology education experience and the spirit of Silicon Valley to Dubai," says Joy Meserve, Chief Program Officer of iD Tech. "While visiting GEMS schools, I got to spend some time getting to know a number of students. Seeing their enthusiasm for technology and passion for learning, I knew iD Tech and GEMS Nations Academy were a perfect fit." The GEMS Nations Academy campus goes beyond state-of-the-art and provides a stimulating environment for stuents to be immersed in coding, robotics, and extend their digital fluency skillsets. The approach at Nations is about transforming learning and ensuring that students are future-ready, adaptable, and forward-thinking.
Mick Gernon, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Innovation, is spearheading the strategy. "Our partnership with iD Tech will be groundbreaking. Having seen the camps in operation and understanding their unique approaches to advanced teaching and learning in key STEM areas, this is a tremendous opportunity to bring the very best from the US and further develop it within GEMS schools," says Gernon. "Whilst there are a plethora of STEM providers, iD Tech represents the pinnacle and provides world-class approaches to coding, game design and robotics. We are delighted to partner with them and bring forward a genuinely innovative camp programme and studio labs based at Nations Academy." Courses will be held at GEMS Nations Academy for eight weeks starting July 2, 2017. The program will support 40 students per week, with a range of courses for kids and teens: Java and C++ coding, LEGO and VEX robotics, in addition to engineering and game design courses.
About iD Tech
iD Tech is the leader in summer STEM education programs for students ages 618. Over 275,000 students have attended iD Tech since 1999. Camps are held at over 150 prestigious campuses in the United States, including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA and many others. In addition to its flagship program, iD Tech Camps, the company offers four distinct divisions all aimed at delivering inventive technology experiences to the next generationone student at a time. Learn more at iDTech.com. Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468254/iD_Tech_Logo.jpg
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[February 15, 2017] Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C., Opens Salt Lake City Office
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C., has announced the opening of its 13th U.S. office in Salt Lake City, Utah. Scopelitis partner and international transportation attorney Nathaniel Saylor will launch the Firm's Utah presence. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006590/en/ International transportation attorney Nathaniel Saylor will lead Scopelitis Utah expansion. (Photo: Business Wire) With his wide-ranging experience in transportation and logistics legal issues, Saylor is well-positioned to anchor the Firm's Utah presence and assist transportation and logistics companies across all modes. "I started as a clerk at Scopelitis in 2004. Over the last 13 years I have had the opportunity to learn the industry from our clients' perspective," said Saylor. "I look forward to continuing my current practice, as well as the opportunity to provide more personal services to both new and existing clients in the West." Scopelitis was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1978, with a practice in trucking regulatory law. Almost 40 years later Scopelitis has evolved into a firm with attorneys in over 25 practice aeas working to assist over 5,000 transportation related companies around the world with their immediate and long-term legal and business needs. The opening of its newest office marks another milestone in Scopelitis' strategic growth plan.
"As states such as Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico continue to develop into emerging logistics centers where transportation industry leaders have a presence, our goal is to anticipate the needs of our clients with a proactive approach," said Scopelitis President Greg Feary, who also serves as a Scopelitis managing partner. "A Salt Lake City office will allow us to better serve businesses in this part of the country." Scopelitis is a full-service law firm that serves the trucking, transportation, and logistics industries from its offices in Indianapolis; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chattanooga; Detroit; Spokane; Dallas/Fort Worth; Milwaukee; Mt. Ephraim, New Jersey; Philadelphia; Tulsa; and, as of February 2017, Salt Lake City.
About the Attorney Nathaniel G. Saylor's practice includes licensing and commercial contract matters within all modes of transportation, including motor, air, ocean and rail. Saylor's clients include motor carriers, property brokers, indirect air carriers, non-vessel operating common carriers, and other forwarders. He focuses on complex contractual issues that arise when multiple parties -- including carriers, third-party intermediaries and/or multiple modes of transportation -- are involved. Saylor regularly counsels clients on regulatory compliance obligations, especially as they relate to licensing and authorities. In this regard he regularly assists in merger and acquisition projections and client restructurings to ensure continuity of permits and authorities. He is a frequent speaker at transportation industry association conferences across the nation. About Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C. The Firm's practice areas are specifically focused on transportation and range from corporate and business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, international transportation and logistics law, legislative affairs, insurance law, workers' compensation defense, personal injury/property damage defense, labor and employment law, and employee leasing. More information may be found at http://www.scopelitis.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006590/en/
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[February 15, 2017] World's Largest Equity Crowdfunding Conference Under Way
OurCrowd, the leading global equity crowdfunding platform, today announced that 6,000 guests from 82 countries registered for the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit. The event takes place all day Thursday, February 16th, 2017, at the International Convention Center (ICC), Binyenei HaUmah. "This is by far the largest equity crowdfunding conference in the world, and Israel's largest investor event ever," said Jon Medved (News - Alert), OurCrowd founder and CEO. "We have twice the number of attendees that we had last year, giving proof to the tremendous vitality and dynamism in the global equity crowdfunding market." The theme of the Summit is "The Future is Here" and includes over 60 booths demonstrating a variety of frontier technologies already changing the world, including industrial drones, companion care robots, miniature spectrometers to "google" everything, tracking devices with centimeter accuracy, phone based glucose monitors, and much more. Over 200 multinational corporations are expected, several of which are paired with startup partners to reveal the secrets behind successful collaborative innovation. These partnerships span diverse areas including Machine Learning for preventing prescription errors, anti-collision systems for rental cars, 3D video for live replay at sporting events, and vocal control immune to noisy environments. Laly David, Head of OurCrowd's Business Development, pointed out, "The OurCrowd Summit is a perfect venue for our multinational partners to meet with startups in the global innovation ecosystem and to interact with a large number of entrepreneurs and new technologies in a productive and focused environment." The Summit highlights OurCrowd's new crowdfunded venture funds, which provide unprecedented access for large numbers of investors to diversified venture fund vehicles that have traditionally been limited to just large institutional investors. These funds include, OurCrowd First, for early stage seed investing; OC50 Portfolio Index Fund, a selection of some of the best startups in a single vehicle and OurCrowd Qure, Israel's first digital health fund. OurCrowd Qure's General Partner, Dr. Yossi Bahagon, said, "The Summit provides a unique opportunity to sit down with investors and partners from all around the world. In essence, Jerusalem becomes the center of Global Innovation for this very important day."
The Summit enables audience participation in the critical new direction of "crowdbuilding," whereby the tens of thousands of members of "OurNetwork" can actively take part in helping startup companies grow. Participants can unlock a wealth of investment opportunities on the OurCrowd App, where they can help companies find new employees, make critical business connections, and promote their favorite companies on social networks. In a single day at the Summit, OurCrowd intends to more than double the 1000 company connections and tasks already completed on OurNetwork. A special welcome is being given to hundreds of guests from the Asia-Pacific region that represents the fastest growing segment of OurCrowd's investor network. Large groups from Singapore and Australia, where OurCrowd has active offices, will join investors from India, Japan, Korea and more, providing a truly global perspective on the startup scene. Geoff Levy, the Australian representative on OurCrowd's Advisory Board stated, "While it's indeed a long 'schlep' from summer in Sydney to winter in Jerusalem, the warm welcome and positively buzzing environment at the Summit make it all worthwhile. We can't wait to see old friends and make new ones."
About OurCrowd
OurCrowd is the leading global equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings companies to its accredited membership of global investors. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and takes board seats. The OurCrowd community of almost 17,000 investors from over 110 countries has invested over $400M into 110 portfolio companies and funds. OurCrowd already has thirteen exits to date, two IPO's and eleven acquisitions. To join OurCrowd as an accredited investor visit http://www.ourcrowd.com and click "Join". About the 2017 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit: The OurCrowd Global Investor Summit is the largest equity crowdfunding event in the world, and the biggest investor event in the Startup Nation. Now in its third year, the Summit has hosted thousands of investors, venture and corporate partners, entrepreneurs, global delegations, industry leaders and members of the press. Attendees hailing from more than 80 countries gather in Jerusalem, the capital of the Startup Nation, to celebrate the global community's collective drive for innovation. Each year, attendees come from all over the world to hear from expert industry speakers and participate in interactive programming featuring cutting-edge technologies and the future of crowd investing. They also have the opportunity to support portfolio companies through significant fundraising and making strategic business connections to help grow their businesses. For more information: summit.ourcrowd.com. For Press Materials: http://blog.ourcrowd.com/4thanniversary View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006128/en/
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[February 15, 2017] 'Aino App' Launched to Offer Seamless Customer Support Interaction Across all Major Brands
NEW DELHI, February 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aino CEO, Divij Singhal, announced today the launch of a helpdesk application that would help customers/users connect to the customer support team of more than 200 brands of their choice. Divij shares, "This is going to end the agony all the customers go through when they are put in waiting queues for getting the simplest of queries resolved. Aino App would allow customers to get the call backs at the time of their choice from the customer support team which is otherwise not so easily available." Aino Customer Care Services App is designed to cater to the needs of the consumers who look forward to getting their issues and complaints resolved, or at least heard without wasting their valuable time. Compatible with both iOS and Android platforms, this app features a dashboard where the user can add as many brands as required and connect to each one of them in just one swipe. "The beauty of this app lies in the fact that it would have a number of self-service options that would help customers know their brands better and use their services without connecting to the customer support team," Divij Singhal further explains. In addition to enhancing the convenience of reaching the customer support team, this app goes a step further by providing basic information about the services of the brand in an automated fashion. So, one would find features, like branch locator, bill payment, service request etc. that not only reduce the call traffic to the customer care center, but also bring the brands closer to their target audience. The app is being made more relevant with the introduction of features like bill details, account upgrade/change, recharge options etc. Aino App is going to be a win-win prposition for both the customers and the brands. Every brand needs an integrated database to chalk out the expectations of the target audience and design products/services accordingly. This app provides a reliable database generated out of interactions happening between the brand and the consumer in an organized fashion. It gives a clear insight of the usage pattern of the consumer and helps the brands come up with more user-centric solutions. On the other hand, it encourages the customers to make relationships deeper with the brand without bothering to get through the support team.
How Aino App makes lives of the consumer easier? With Aino customer calling app, the users are allowed to perform the following functions:
- Post a query - Book a request for call-back - instantly as well as later - Register a complaint - Use self-service options This app is certainly a breakthrough in the service industry. It has already won the nods of appreciation from all the business sectors. The business entities have shown great interest in getting a listing on this app; in the B2B business model, businesses are coming forward to use this app as their marketing platform. Aino App is looking forward to reaching the global platform soon. Thus, to have better control on the brands of one's choice, install Aino App today and have the pleasure of truly automated connectivity. To know further about the Aino App, one can log on to: http://www.ainoapp.io/ Install Aino App from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iccstech.aino&hl=en Install Aino App from Apple iOS App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/aino-free-customer-care-calling/id1109400127?mt=8 Contact Email: [email protected] Phone No.: +91-11-49920000 Summary Aino App launches a customer-centric app that would allow the users to connect through more than 200 brands in one swipe through a unified platform. Based on B2B and B2C revenue model, this app aims at bringing the brands and consumers closer to each other and improve their relationship. About ICCS Technology Private Limited: ICCS Technology Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2016 in India by Divij Singhal. It launched its helpdesk application in November 2016 for iOS and Android by the name of Aino. Aino provides automating self-service options for users. The application allows customer query resolution and brand interactions with multiple service providers via a single application. Call abandonment rates, Average Handling Time (AHT) can be reduced with this application. As of 14 February 2017, Aino has around 90,000 registered users. About 1000 call-back requests are made every day.
Media Contact:
Ankit Gupta
[email protected]
+91-9873653233
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer
ICCS Technology Pvt. Ltd.
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[February 15, 2017]
SolarWinds IT Management Platform Being Tested for Secure Government Deployment
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced multiple products are collectively now under evaluation for certification in the Spanish Common Criteria Scheme (SCCS), an international standard for computer security achieved by national laboratory testing and evaluation.
SolarWinds continues to invest in and improve upon the many software tools that comprise our Orion Suite of IT management solutions, said Dave Kimball, senior vice president, federal and national government, SolarWinds. By putting our solutions through Common Criteria evaluation, we are helping to ensure that our solutions meet the critical needs of IT professionals in the government arena.
Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation
Common Criteria is an international program among 25 nations, in which IT products are certified against standard specifications, specifically to ensure they meet an agreed-upon security standard for government deployments.
The SolarWinds Orion Suite v2.0, comprising the below solutions, is currently undergoing Common Criteria evaluation at Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL)2:
Electronic Warfare Associates Canada, Ltd. (EWA-Canada), a Common Criteria Testing Laboratory (CCTL) accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, and approved by Canadas Communications Security Establishment (CSE), is evaluating SolarWinds software to determine that it meets all of the requirements of this security certification. EWA-Canada, in conjunction with its partner lab in the Spanish Common Criteria Scheme, is carrying out the evaluation of the SolarWinds Orion Suite v2.0. EWA-Canada is recognized for its extensive experience with Common Criteria evaluations, enabling companies to manage the process and help to ensure their products meet important certification requirements.
EWA-Canada is pleased to be working with SolarWinds on the re-evaluation of this latest version of the Orion Suite under the Common Criteria, said Erin Connor, director of the EWA-Canada Common Criteria Test Lab. This re-evaluation is the latest in a continuing program by SolarWinds to ensure that as their products are updated, they maintain the certifications to international security standards that their customers rely on.
Previous versions of SolarWinds Orion Suite and SolarWinds Log & Event Manager have been certified for Common Criteria, more details are available here.
SolarWinds Solutions for Government
SolarWinds software is available on the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule, Department of Defense ESI, and other contract vehicles.
U.S. Government certifications and approvals include Army CoN, Air Force APL, Navy DADMS; and Technical Requirements include FIPS compatibility, DISA STIGs, and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) compliance.
SolarWinds also has hundreds of built-in automated compliance reports, which meet the requirements of major auditing authorities, including DISA STIG, FISMA, NIST, and more.
SolarWinds THWACK online user community provides a number of out-of-the-box compliance report templates, available to download for free, that are designed to help users prepare for an inspection. THWACK also provides information on Smart Card and Common Access Card (CAC) product support.
For more product and GSA pricing information, and for a fully functional free trial of all above products, visit the SolarWinds Government Solutions page.
Connect with SolarWinds
About SolarWinds
SolarWinds provides powerful and affordable IT management software to customers worldwide, from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses, managed service providers (MSPs), government agencies, and educational institutions. We are committed to focusing exclusively on IT, MSP, and DevOps professionals, and strive to eliminate the complexity that our customers have been forced to accept from traditional enterprise software vendors. Regardless of where the IT asset or user sits, SolarWinds delivers products that are easy to find, buy, use, maintain, and scale while providing the power to address key areas of the infrastructure from on-premises to the cloud. This focus and commitment to excellence in end-to-end hybrid IT performance management has established SolarWinds as the worldwide leader in both network management software and MSP solutions, and is driving similar growth across the full spectrum of IT management software. Our solutions are rooted in our deep connection to our user base, which interacts in our THWACK online community to solve problems, share technology and best practices, and directly participate in our product development process. Learn more today at www.solarwinds.com.
The SolarWinds, SolarWinds & Design, Orion, and THWACK trademarks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC or its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks of (and may be registered trademarks) of their respective companies.
2017 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Katie Hanusik Speakerbox PR Phone: 703.287.7824 [email protected] Michael Klein SolarWinds Phone: 512.498.6372 [email protected]
[February 15, 2017] Anthem Files Suit Against Cigna Seeking a Temporary Restraining Order to Enjoin Cigna from Terminating the Merger Agreement, Specific Performance Compelling Cigna to Comply with the Merger Agreement and Damages
Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a temporary restraining order to enjoin Cigna from terminating, and taking any action contrary to the terms of, the Merger Agreement, specific performance compelling Cigna to comply with the Merger Agreement and damages. On January 18, 2017, Anthem extended its Merger Agreement with Cigna through April 30, 2017. In addition to the fact that Anthem extended the termination date in the Merger Agreement, Cigna does not have a right to terminate the Merger Agreement at all because it has failed to perform fully its obligations in a manner that has proximately caused or resulted in the failure of the merger to have been consummated. Anthem believes that there is still sufficient time and a viable path forward potentially to complete the transaction that will save millions of Americans more than $2 billion in annual medical costs and deliver significant value to shareholders. In addition to filing this lawsuit, Anthem is pursuing an expedited appeal of the District Court's decision and is committed to completing this value-creating merger either through a successful appeal or through settlement with the new leadership at the Department of Justice. Cigna's lawsuit and purported termination is the next step in Cigna's campaign to sabotage the merger and to try to deflect attention from its repeated willful breaches of the Merger Agreement in support of such effort. Cigna's obvious efforts to sabotage the merger have been recognized by both the District Court and the national media. As the District Court noted, it could not ignore the "elephant in the courtroom," and the fact that Cigna was "actively warning against" the merger and that "Cigna officials provided compelling testimony undermining" Anthem's defense. In addition, the District Court noted that it could not overlook "the doubt sown into the record by Cigna itself." Anthem's interests in consummating the merger, and Cigna's interest in avoiding it, are demonstrated by Anthem's intense efforts to obtain regulatory clearance and Cigna's matching efforts to sabotage that goal, as outlined below:
Integration Efforts Anthem Cigna Anthem retains a team of 165 professionals at McKinsey & Company (News - Alert) to integrate the companies. Cigna refuses to allow meetings with its senior management team, a necessary step to integration. Cigna also consistently delays producing data, preventing completion of an integration plan. Anthem and McKinsey work to implement a key component of integration known as "Value Capture," which was the process by which the synergies and efficiencies for the newly formed company would be identified and realized, the centerpiece defense for the Merger. Cigna refuses to engage in the "Value Capture" work to identify synergies and efficiencies after March 2016 due to alleged "deal uncertainty." By July, Cigna refuses to participate in any integration work at all, severely damaging the centerpiece defense for the Merger. Advocacy Efforts To Discourage DOJ Challenge Anthem Cigna Anthem prepares and submits 22 substantive "white papers" to the DOJ defending the Merger. After January 2016, Cigna refuses to provide any substantive assistance to Anthem's white paper efforts, and refuses to sign several of them. Anthem contacts nearly 200 customers and brokers, explaining the substantial benefits of the Merger and encouraging them to contact the DOJ in support of the Merger. Anthem obtains 60 customer declarations in support of the Merger plus 10 statements of support from customers and brokers. Cigna fails to obtain any meaningful customer support, providing only two declarations. Cigna also prevents Anthem from seeking support from Cigna's customers. The DOJ expresses concern about the Merger's effect in certain geographic areas, so Anthem identifies buyers with serious interest in acquiring Cigna assets to remediate the concern and allow the Merger to clear. Cigna blocks remediation by refusing to sign customary non-disclosure agreements or provide the potential buyers with information to conduct necessary due diligence of the assets. Mediation Efforts Anthem Cigna The Court and Special Master suggest mediation numerous times. Anthem agrees to mediation and repeatedly asks Cigna to also agree to participate in mediation with the DOJ. Cigna refuses to agree to mediation. Pre-Trial Efforts Anthem Cigna After the DOJ commences litigation, Anthem issues a press release stating that it "is fully committed to challenging the DOJ's decision in court," as required under the Agreement. Cigna refuses to join Anthem's press release and instead issues its own press release stating that it is "evaluating its options" and questioning whether the transaction "could close . . . at all." Anthem files its answer on July 26, 2016, five days after DOJ filed the complaint, and asks Cigna to file an answer to help expedite discovery. Cigna rejects Anthem's request, and then does not file its answer for nearly two months. Anthem takes the lead on over 100 depositions, prepares all of the substantive pleadings and briefs defending the Merger, and arranges the submission of non-party witness declarations and 10 expert reports in support of the Merger. Cigna refuses to provide any comments or suggestions on draft litigation materials, fails to offer comments on the DOJ's expert reports, and fails to ask any questions in all but 3 of the over 100 depositions in the case, and those questions were not supportive of the Merger. Anthem asserts the common interest privilege to protect sensitive Merger-related documents from discovery. Cigna sends letters to Anthem manufacturing a false record of breach, and then helps the DOJ obtain those letters and communications during discovery, including by disavowing the Merger parties' common interest privilege. Anthem prepares a pre-trial brief outlining facts and law in support of Merger and requests Cigna's input. Cigna refuses to comment on the pre-trial brief, refuses to sign the brief and refuses to offer any support for the Merger. Trial Efforts Anthem Cigna Anthem presents an opening statement for the two phases of trial. Cigna asks for permission to object to Anthem's questions, which the District Court finds "completely extraordinary." Anthem conducts direct examinations of 15 witnesses and cross-examines 21 DOJ witnesses. Cigna does not cross a single DOJ witness objecting to the Merger, but remarkably crosses Anthem's witnesses supporting the Merger. Anthem spends an average of sixteen to twenty hours preparing each of its witnesses. Cigna grants Anthem only one hour to help prepare key witnesses, including Cigna's CEO, who Anthem is putting on at trial. Anthem presents substantial testimonial and documentary evidence at trial to support the key defense that the Merger would create efficiencies that would generate significant medical cost savings, the vast majority of which ultimately would be passed along to consumers. Cigna's CEO provides testimony attacking the ability of the combined companies to achieve medical cost savings. Anthem requests Cigna's input on its proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Cigna not only refuses to comment on the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, but also refuses to sign these key documents, in effect opposing the factual and legal basis for the Merger. Post-Trial Efforts Anthem Cigna Anthem exercises its right to extend the Termination Date to April 30, 2017 to allow sufficient time to obtain the necessary governmental approvals to consummate the Merger through potential settlement or appeal. Cigna refuses to acknowledge the extension and ignores Anthem's requests for assurances that Cigna will help secure regulatory approval through potential settlement and appeal. Appeal Efforts Anthem Cigna Anthem files a notice of appeal, a motion to expedite and an appeal brief. Cigna refuses to agree to appeal the decision as required under the Merger Agreement. Cigna severely damages the opportunity to obtain expedited appellate review by wrongfully purporting to terminate the Merger Agreement before the DOJ's opposition to Anthem's motion to expedite the appeal is due.
About Anthem, Inc. Anthem is working to transform health care with trusted and caring solutions. Our health plan companies deliver quality products and services that give their members access to the care they need. With over 73 million people served by its affiliated companies, including approximately 40 million within its family of health plans, Anthem is one of the nation's leading health benefits companies. For more information about Anthem's family of companies, please visit www.antheminc.com/companies. IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS NO OFFER OR SOLICITATION This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and otherwise in accordance with applicable law. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT In connection with the proposed transaction between Anthem, Inc. ("Anthem") and Cigna Corporation ("Cigna"), Anthem has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC (News - Alert)") a registration statement on Form S-4, including Amendment No. 1 thereto, containing a joint proxy statement of Anthem and Cigna that also constitutes a prospectus of Anthem. The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on October 26, 2015. This communication is not a substitute for the registration statement, definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus or any other document that Anthem and/or Cigna have filed or may file with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF ANTHEM AND CIGNA ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY AS THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the registration statement containing the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by Anthem or Cigna through the web site maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Anthem are available free of charge on Anthem's internet website at http://www.antheminc.com or by contacting Anthem's Investor Relations Department at (317) 488-6390. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Cigna are available free of charge on Cigna's internet website at http://www.cigna.com or by contacting Cigna's Investor Relations Department at (215) 761-4198. Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 This document, and oral statements made with respect to information contained in this communication, contain certain forward-looking information about Anthem, Inc. ("Anthem"), Cigna Corporation ("Cigna") and the combined businesses of Anthem and Cigna that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not generally historical facts. Words such as "expect(s)," "feel(s)," "believe(s)," "will," "may," "anticipate(s)," "intend," "estimate," "project" and similar expressions (including the negative thereof) are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Such statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond Anthem's and Cigna's control, that could cause actual results and other future events to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed and identified in Anthem's and Cigna's public filings with the SEC. Important factors that could cause actual results and other future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made in this communication are set forth in other reports or documents that Anthem and/or Cigna may file from time to time with the SEC, and include, but are not limited to: (i) the ultimate outcome of the proposed transaction, including the ability to achieve the synergies and value creation contemplated by the proposed transaction, (ii) the ultimate outcome and results of integrating the operations of Anthem and Cigna, (iii) disruption from the merger making it more difficult to maintain businesses and operational relationships, (iv) the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the proposed transaction, (v) the timing to consummate the proposed transaction and (vi) the possibility that the proposed transaction does not close, including, but not limited to, due to the failure to satisfy the closing conditions, including the receipt of all required regulatory approvals. All forward-looking statements attributable to Anthem, Cigna or any person acting on behalf of Anthem and/or Cigna are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Except to the extent otherwise required by federal securities law, neither Anthem nor Cigna undertake any obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or the receipt of new information. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in Anthem's and Cigna's SEC reports. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005488/en/
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[February 15, 2017] Kaplan Test Prep Survey: Most Business Schools Integrate Data Science Courses Into Curriculum, Meeting Market Demand, But Are Cool to Coding, So Far
As global brands increase their hiring of graduates with in-demand tech skills, Kaplan Test Prep's most recent business school admissions officers survey finds that MBA programs across the United States are integrating data science, big data and coding courses into their curriculum*. Of the 209 business schools who participated in Kaplan's annual survey, 72 percent say they offer courses in either data science or big data; 13 percent say they don't currently offer it, but are considering offering it; and 15 percent don't currently offer it and have no plans to offer it. The survey also found that 28 percent of business schools currently offer courses in software development or coding; 9 percent say they don't currently offer it, but are considering offering it; and 63 percent don't currently offer it and have no plans to offer it, indicating that many business schools don't currently see coding as a necessary skill for workforce-bound MBAs. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, the organization that writes the GMAT test, 72 percent of the companies they surveyed in 2016 said they planned to hire recent business school graduates to fill data analytics positions. This is roughly the same percentage who planned to hire graduates for positions in marketing and finance, which are historically more traditional MBA areas. The report also says that employers are loking to hire workers who have strong skill sets in SQL and R, two programs frequently used in data science.
Bain & Company, a consulting company long at the top of many MBA graduates' employer wish lists, is among the businesses that see the importance of their employees holding a strong data skill set. "We have been aggressive in hiring in that space. We are building a team of champions with specific technology expertise," Elizabeth Spaulding, a partner at Bain & Company and head of the firm's global digital practice, recently said in a BusinessBecause.com article. "What companies are saying is that many of their current employees, who graduated a decade ago or more, don't necessarily have these skills, and they're looking to a new generation of business school graduates who do. Our survey finds that many business schools are rising to the challenge to meet this demand," says Brian Carlidge, executive director of pre-business and pre-graduate programs, Kaplan Test Prep. "Employees who both understand a company's business goals and understand the data to help them reach those goals will be highly desirable to recruit and hire in the technology-driven workforce."
*The survey was conducted between August 2016 and October 2016 of admissions officers at 209 business schools in the United States. Among the 209 business schools are 17 of the top 50, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council. Kaplan materials do not contain actual GMAT items and are neither endorsed by nor affiliated in any way with GMAC. About Kaplan Test Prep Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 100 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services. Additionally, through its Metis and Dev Bootcamp brands, Kaplan offers new economy skills training (NEST) programs and resources in data science and coding to build skills that are in high demand in today's job market and prepare participants for hire. Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005665/en/
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[February 15, 2017] GroovyTek Expands Services to Arizona, Brings Personal Technology Training to the Valley
DENVER, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GroovyTek, an education-based company providing hour-long in-home personal technology training sessions, recently announced the launch of its services to the Valley of the Sun. GroovyTek works side by side with their clients to empower them to take control of their personal technology on their own terms. The company's trainers assist customers with their smartphones, tablets, computers and other devices covering a wide array of services and topics from security to social media. "We created GroovyTek because we believe that people over forty years old are being mistreated by the technology industry," said Matt Munro, co-founder of GroovyTek. "Everyone deserves to stay connected and understand the technology that's available to them. We take a personalized approach to helping our customers become confident navigating their devices in a patient and respectful way." The company, which is headquartered and has an established customer base in Denver, was created to serve clients and to help navigate the roads of technology independently. GroovyTek is committed to working one-on-one with customers to overcome technological obstacles that ay arise while also empowering them to learn more.
"At GroovyTek, we use a unique, personalized problem solving technique called the Groovy Method to cultivate working solutions," added Alex Rodas, co-founder of GroovyTek. "Our trainers are passionate and empathetic cultivators who live to help folks achieve those "light-bulb" or "a-ha" moments" in regards to their personal devices." Popular GroovyTek services include smartphone assistance on how to navigate features such as texting, video chatting, using the camera, organizing photos, sending email, managing contacts and keeping track of important appointments and events. In addition, GroovyTek's trainers can help customers stay in touch with friends and family through social media, understand the newest software updates and browse the Internet safely. Additional services include: storage, backup and synching, music downloads and exploring the cloud, apps and downloads.
Those interested in scheduling a session can visit the website or call (602) 638-5400. About GroovyTek
GroovyTek launched in 2016 as an education-based company that offers one-on-one, in-home personal technology training sessions for smartphones, tablets and computers. Built upon a personalized problem solving technique known as the Groovy Method, GroovyTek trainers serve clients patiently in one-hour sessions and help empower them to grasp personal technology in relatable, understandable terms. GroovyTek was created to serve clients and help them navigate the roads of technology independently. For more information about GroovyTek, visit www.GroovyTek.com or call and schedule an appointment at (602) 638-5400 for Arizona and (303) 317-2800 for Colorado. Follow GroovyTek on Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/groovytek-expands-services-to-arizona-brings-personal-technology-training-to-the-valley-300407678.html SOURCE GroovyTek
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[February 15, 2017] Untangle Recognized in Five Categories at 2017 Global Excellence Awards
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Untangle, Inc., today announced that Info Security Products Guide, the industry's leading information security research and advisory guide, honored the company with multiple awards across product categories in the 13th Annual 2017 Global Excellence Awards. More than 40 judges with a broad spectrum of industry voices around the world participated, and their average scores determined the 2017 Global Excellence Awards Finalists and Winners. Winners were announced during the awards dinner and presentation on February 13, 2017 in San Francisco attended by the finalists, judges and industry peers. Untangle was recognized for excellence in the following categories: Integrated Security and Unified Threat Management (UTM)
NG Firewall v12.1, Gold winner Most Innovative Security (Hardware) of the Year
NG Firewall u25 appliance, Gold winner Most Innovative Security (Software) of the Year
ScoutIQ v1.0, Silver winner Security Products and Solutions for Small Businesses and SOHO
NG Firewall v12.1, Bronze winner Best Security Software (New or Updated version)
NG Firewall v12.1, Bronze winner "We wish to extend our thanks to the editors of Info Security Products Guide and the industry leaders of the jury for this recognition," said Scott Devens, chief executive officer at Untangle. "These five awards across multiple product categories are meaningful validation of Untangle's commitment to innovation and technical leadership in the network security segment." About NG Firewll
Untangle NG Firewall delivers a comprehensive solution for small-to-medium businesses and home offices that require enterprise-grade perimeter security with the flexibility of a convergent UTM device and the utility of a consumer product. Untangle's industry-leading approach to network traffic visibility and policy management provides its customers deep insight into what's happening on their network via its database-driven reporting engine and 360 Dashboard. About u25/w
The Untangle u25 and u25w appliances have the smallest footprint of any network security appliance on the market, measuring less than five inches square. Available in a wired or wireless model, the appliances are fanless, making them ideal for quiet desktop operation. They include an HDMI video port, three gigabit ethernet ports and two USB ports, providing easy access to all the trusted network security features of the rest of the NG Firewall appliance line.
About ScoutIQ
The ScoutIQ cyber intelligence platform delivers detailed threat analysis for all traffic types seen on today's networks, inspecting data at the application level, to provide insights across every port, protocol, and application, including SSL-encrypted traffic. By synthesizing intelligence information in the cloud, ScoutIQ can provide superior protection against unknown and emerging threats to Untangle NG Firewall subscribers globally and seamlessly. About Info Security Products Guide Awards
Info Security Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping end-users informed of the choices they can make when it comes to protecting their digital resources. It is written expressly for those who are adamant on staying informed of security threats and the preventive measure they can take. You will discover a wealth of information in this guide including tomorrow's technology today, best deployment scenarios, people and technologies shaping info security and market research reports that facilitate in making the most pertinent security decisions. The Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards recognize and honor excellence in all areas of information security. To learn more, visit www.infosecurityproductsguide.com and stay secured. About Untangle
Untangle is an innovator in cybersecurity designed specifically for the below-enterprise market, safeguarding businesses, home offices, nonprofits, schools and governmental organizations. Untangle's integrated suite of software and appliances provides enterprise-grade capabilities and consumer-oriented simplicity to organizations with limited IT resources. Untangle's award-winning network security solutions are trusted by over 40,000 customers around the world. Untangle is headquartered in San Jose, California. For more information www.untangle.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/untangle-recognized-in-five-categories-at-2017-global-excellence-awards-300407939.html SOURCE Untangle, Inc.
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[February 15, 2017] Globant to Launch Immersive Technology Playground in San Francisco on February 15
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native technology services company focused on creating digital journeys, will host the opening of its recently renovated San Francisco Playground today, February 15. Participants will interact first-hand with cutting-edge technologies that showcase the strategies and experiences used to generate world-class digital solutions for global brands. Hosted at its San Francisco office, the Playground is Globant's Digital Journey Accelerator, featuring tangible demonstrations of how digital experiences are dreamed, designed, and prototyped. The Playground was created to catalyze clients' digital planning by exposing them to the latest technologies and trends available, facilitated by expert staff. The launch of the second-generation Playground will feature the innovations of today that are driving the user experiences of tomorrow. Virtual and mixed reality sets and demonstrations will be among the cutting-edge technologies featured at the launch, including: Some of the latest VR devices /li>
Real-time machine learning algorithms
IoT and wearables (sensors, smart materials, connected devices, etc.)
AAA Video game development
Quick prototyping, 3D printers are other event highlights.
During the opening, Mike Haley, Senior Director of Machine Intelligence at Autodesk, will deliver the keynote speech, about how machine learning pertains to designing and making the world around us. A recognized leader in applying deep-learning, unsupervised training and other techniques to the world of design, he is an established speaker, having provided expert insight at Strata+Hadoop World London, Siggraph 2016, and for the Bay Area Association for Computing Machinery.
About Globant Globant (NYSE: GLOB) is a digitally native technology services company that creates digital journeys for its customers, which impact millions of consumers. Globant is the place where engineering, design, and innovation meet scale. Globant has more than 5,400 professionals in 12 countries working for companies like Google, Linkedin, JWT, EA, and Coca Cola, among others. Globant was named a Worldwide Leader of Digital Strategy Consulting Services by IDC MarketScape Report (2016) and its client work has been featured as business case studies at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. For more information, visit www.globant.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/globant-to-launch-immersive-technology-playground-in-san-francisco-on-february-15-300407942.html SOURCE Globant
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[February 15, 2017] Wolters Kluwer Provides Free Tax Preparation Software to Military Tax Return Preparers at US Military Installations Worldwide
Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting today announced a gratuitous service agreement with the military to provide TaxWise Online 2016 software to volunteer tax preparers located at US military installations around the world. The Internal Revenue Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, through the Armed Forces Tax Council, oversees military tax programs and provides free tax assistance to members of the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and their families. "This announcement is a strong testament to the commitment Wolters Kluwer makes to working with non-profit and volunteer professional tax preparers, who collectively provide an invaluable service to millions of American taxpayers annually," said Julie Peck, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Tax & Accounting North America, US Small Firm Professional. "Although my comments do not in any way imply federal endorsement of any commercial products or services, I would like to thank the Internal Revenue Service and Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting for providing military tax centers with free tax preparation software to facilitate the efficient preparation of military tax returns," said Samuel Kan, Executive Director of the Armed Forces Tax Council. "Our military members and their families will be able to save a considerable amount of money by visiting our free military VITA tax centers across the world, rather than paying for tax preparation services that could easily cost hundreds of dollars per tax return." TaxWise Online 2016 is a secure, cloud-based professional tax preparation software solution that ofers an intuitive interface, a comprehensive library of individual and business return forms in both English and Spanish, and powerful calculations that handle complex tax scenarios. The software also features important functionalities, such as return status and reports and client letters, to assist volunteer preparers in best serving their clients.
"We are proud to support our military and their volunteer tax preparation sites at US military installations across the globe. TaxWise Online 2016 will be a powerful tool for these volunteer preparers to efficiently process and optimize the tax returns of our servicemen and women and their dependents this filing season," said Shannon Bond, Vice President of Commercial Services for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, US Small Firm Professional. To learn more about TaxWise Online 2016 and the full suite of solutions for small tax and accounting businesses from Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, visit cchsfs.com.
About Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting is a leading provider of software solutions and local expertise that helps tax, accounting, and audit professionals research and navigate complex regulations, comply with legislation, manage their businesses and advise clients with speed, accuracy and efficiency. Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting is part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2015 annual revenues of 4.2 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the US (WTKWY). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005813/en/
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[February 15, 2017] D-Link Delivers Canadians New Omna 180 Camera for Apple HomeKit
New Apple HomeKit-enabled camera available now at Apple.ca and in Apple Canada stores later this month. MISSISSAUGA, ON, Feb. 15, 2017 /CNW/ - D-Link, Canada's leader in home networking, today announced that the new Omna 180 Cam HD (DSH-C310) is available for purchase online at Apple.ca and in Apple Canada stores later this month. The first in D-Link's Omna family of HomeKit-enabled devices, the Omna 180 Cam HD provides an easy way for users to monitor their home for extra peace of mind. Omna's HomeKit integration allows users to be "always home" and includes advanced security features with end-to-end encryption and authentication between the camera and an iPhone or iPad. When activity is detected, users will receive a rich notification on their lock screen, delivered via the Apple Home app, showing a live feed from the camera. Users can even access their Omna remotely to see what's happening in their home in real time.* D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD (DSH-C310) Key Features Omna's HomeKit integration allows users to be "always home." Seeing everything through your iOS device offers extra peace of mind keeping an eye on your baby in the nursery, checking on an elderly relative, watching your dog in the living room, or helping ensure homs are safe while on vacation.1
180-Degree Field of View Omna is derived from the Latin word 'omnis' meaning all-encompassing. Most cameras offer a limited 130-degree lens, while D-Link's unique 180-degree solutions and de-warping technology allow users to see just about everywhere and everything.
is derived from the Latin word 'omnis' meaning all-encompassing. Most cameras offer a limited 130-degree lens, while D-Link's unique 180-degree solutions and de-warping technology allow users to see just about everywhere and everything. Dynamic Video Streaming The video bitrate continuously adjusts to ensure optimal performance given the available bandwidth.
The video bitrate continuously adjusts to ensure optimal performance given the available bandwidth. Two-Way Audio Listen and speak using the camera's built-in microphone and speaker, so even when users are not at home they can still make their presence known.
Listen and speak using the camera's built-in microphone and speaker, so even when users are not at home they can still make their presence known. Night Vision See up to 5 meters in complete darkness with infrared night vision.
See up to 5 meters in complete darkness with infrared night vision. Motion Detection Triggers alerts and automatic video clip recording
Triggers alerts and automatic video clip recording Local Recording Record motion detection triggered video clips directly to a microSD 2 card up to 128 GB, with remote playback capabilities. Offers pre-event snapshot and recording, with more flexibility on recording video locally to the camera without impacting network or Internet bandwidth. All with no recurring monthly fees.
Record motion detection triggered video clips directly to a microSD card up to 128 GB, with remote playback capabilities. Offers pre-event snapshot and recording, with more flexibility on recording video locally to the camera without impacting network or Internet bandwidth. All with no recurring monthly fees. Stylish Design The camera is designed to fit effortlessly into the modern home with an elegant, discreet and stylish design. Availability and Pricing Omna 180 Cam HD is available for purchase now at Apple.ca and will be available at Apple Canada stores later this month.
The Omna 180 Cam HD will retail for $269.95 CAD (tax excluded). * Remote access via the Apple Home app requires Apple TV (4th generation) with tvOS 10.1 or later or iPad running iOS 10.1 or later.
1 Controlling the Omna 180 Cam HD away from home requires an Apple TV (4th generation or later) with tvOS 10.1 or later or iPad with iOS 10.1 or later. 2 microSD card not included. About D-Link D-Link is a global leader in connecting people, businesses and cities. We aim to connect more homes, small businesses, medium to large-sized enterprises, and service providers. D-Link implements and supports unified network solutions that integrate capabilities in switching, wireless, broadband, storage, IP surveillance, and cloud-based network management. An award-winning designer, developer, and manufacturer, D-Link has grown from a group of seven friends since its founding in 1986 in Taiwan to more than 2,000 employees worldwide. Web: http://ca.dlink.com/. D-Link and D-Link logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of D-Link Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other third party marks mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2016. D-Link. All Rights Reserved SOURCE D-Link
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[February 15, 2017] Jefferson Scholars Foundation Lures World-Renowned Neuroscientist to University of Virginia with Endowed Professorship
For nearly forty years, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation has played a valuable role in recruiting top undergraduate and graduate students to the University of Virginia. Now, the Foundation is helping recruit world-class professors, too. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005866/en/ Professor J.C. Cang (Photo: Business Wire) The Jefferson Scholars Foundation, a private foundation that supports the University of Virginia through undergraduate, graduate and faculty programs, has filled its first endowed professorship. The Paul T. Jones Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professorship will be held by Professor J.C. Cang, a renowned neurobiology professor. Professor Cang currently serves as Professor of Neurobiology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He will begin work at th University of Virginia in the fall of 2017 and help lead the University's brain-science research efforts.
Professor Cang studies the organization, function, and development of the visual system. In one research area, Professor Cang's laboratory made a paradigm-shifting discovery regarding how sensory experience shapes visual functions in the cortex. Professor Cang has been awarded the Sloan Research Fellowship, the Klingenstein Fellowship Award in Neurosciences, and several research grants including ones from the National Institutes of Health. "Professor Cang is a true rock star. Developing a better understanding of our brain is the focus of a national research initiative, and Professor Cang's research will immediately bolster the work currently being done at the University of Virginia to support that effort," said Jimmy Wright, president of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation.
Joining Professor Cang on the University faculty will be his partner, Professor Xiaorung Liu, also a star career neurobiologist at Northwestern. "Professors Cang and Liu will be stellar additions to our cross-grounds neuroscience initiatives," said Ian Baucom, Dean of the College and Graduate Schools of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation announced the creation of two Jefferson Scholars Foundation Endowed Professorships and launched an initiative to endow several additional Endowed Professorships. The professorships represent an extension of the Foundation's mission to serve the University by identifying, attracting, and nurturing individuals of extraordinary intellectual range and depth whose contributions and leadership will enhance the University community. "We have a rich tradition of bringing exceptional students to Charlottesville and these endowed professorships will help ensure that University of Virginia students learn from some of our nation's brightest teachers," Wright said. "We are grateful to Paul Tudor Jones and our other generous donors for creating these endowed professorships that allow the University of Virginia to compete on the world stage for truly remarkable faculty." View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005866/en/
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[February 15, 2017] IMS and JEOL Partner to Provide World's First Production Multi-Beam Mask Writer
IMS Nanofabrication AG ("IMS") and JEOL Ltd. ("JEOL") announced today they have reached a long term agreement to extend their business partnership for the production of the IMS MBMW-101, the world's first commercial high volume manufacturing Multi-Beam Mask Writer (MBMW). IMS manufactures a multi-beam write engine providing 262-thousand programmable beams of 50keV energy. JEOL provides a novel platform with an air-bearing vacuum stage for writing most advanced patterns on 6-inch mask blanks. Together, IMS and JEOL will supply the MBMW-101 to the industry's leading edge photomask manufacturers. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005023/en/ With the introduction of the 7 nanometer (nm) node, device manufacturers need to implement very aggressive Optical Proximity Correction and curvilinear Inverse Lithography Technology, where the designers often run into Mask Rule Check violations and throughput restrictions. Multi-beam mask writing technology enables these new techniques by eliminating the write time constraints due to the job-deck complexity and facilitates the use of low sensitive resist materials which greatly improve resolution and line edge/width roughness. The MBMW-101 has demonstrated production capability with sub 30m resolution and very challenging Critical Dimension Uniformity and Image Placement specifications. The MBMW-101 supports these increasingly demanding requirements of mask manufacturing while maintaining a write time of < 10 hours for 100mm x 130mm mask layout fields.
Ultimately, the MBMW-101 is the key which will provide the device manufacturers with the freedom to tackle the design challenges of the next sub 10nm technology generation. IMS is actively booking MBMW-101 orders for delivery in 2017/18 to meet the aggressive needs of the industry. "The partnership with JEOL was essential in the realization of the MBMW Alpha and Beta systems. We are happy to further extend our collaboration in providing MBMW tools to the industry", said Elmar Platzgummer, CEO of IMS Nanofabrication.
"This long term agreement solidifies our commitment to IMS and the industry as leading-edge lithography equipment suppliers. JEOL is proud to play an integral part in the introduction of the multi-beam technology to the semiconductor industry", said Yasutoshi Nakagawa, Executive Officer, JEOL Ltd. *** About IMS Nanofabrication AG IMS Nanofabrication AG ("IMS") is an Austrian based high-tech company with more than 160 coworkers that was founded in December 2006. IMS is focused on the multi-beam mask writer tool development and commercialization. For more information on IMS, visit: www.ims.co.at About JEOL Ltd. JEOL Ltd. is a world leader in electron optical equipment and instrumentation for high-end scientific and industrial research and development. Core product groups include electron microscopes (SEMs and TEMs), instruments for the semiconductor industry (electron beam lithography and a series of defect review and inspection tools), and analytical instruments including mass spectrometers, NMRs and ESRs. For more information on JEOL Ltd. visit: www.jeol.co.jp/en/ View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005023/en/
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[February 15, 2017] Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation Awards Grants to 30 Virginia Organizations Committed to Improving Oral Health in 2017
The Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation believes in the power of a healthy smile and has put its money where its mouth is, supporting 30 organizations committed to improving oral health in the Commonwealth. Since its creation in 2012, the Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation has provided $3,653,000 to 51 (unduplicated) Virginia non-profit organizations. In 2015 alone, these grant award recipients were able to provide dental care and education to more than 157,000 in our state who had previously been unable to afford or access care. In December 2016, grants totaling $231,500 were awarded to 30, 501(c)(3), tax exempt organizations whose work will positively improve the oral health of Virginians through education and access to care for the under or uninsured in 2017. (Full list of grant recipients attached.) The Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation works to fulfill its mission of improving the oral health of Virginians through a community-based approach that provides grants to local organizations for research, educational outreach and programs that provide access to care. "Over and over again we have seen the inspiring changes that can happen in a person's life with proper oral care," said Dr. George A. Levicki, president and CEO, Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation. "By providing funding to these organizations that are making a difference in their communities, we can help bring healthier, confident smiles to an increasing number of Virginians in need." The Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) has been a big beneficiary of the Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation grants. Previously awarded a $1 million matching grant over the past three years to establish dental safety net organizations in Virginia communities where access to dental care is lacking, VHCF has received an additional $35,000 this year to continue growing this program, training providers and developing new initiatives. Many of the 30 grants awarded focus on key areas of need throughout Virginia - the state's youth, the uninsured and medically underserved population and dental professionals in training. Community organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia and the Virginia Peninsula, who combined served more than 370 children in 2015 with Foundation grants, will continue providing much- needed dental appointments and education for children in need. Low-income, uninsured Virginians will receive expanded access to dental care through grant recipients such as CrossOver Healthcare Ministry and Free Clinic of Central Virginia. Additionally, four universities and non-profit organizations received grants totaling $32,500 for oral health education and expansion of care through scholarships and workstations for aspiring health professionals. Organizations eligible to receive grants from the Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation include governmental agencies or educational institutions, entities holding a 501(c)(3) tax-exemption, or organizations with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt fiscal sponsor. The Foundation was created with an initial $2.5 million donation from Delta Dental of Virginia in 2012. Information regarding grant eligibility and application can be found online at http://deltadentalva.com/ddvafoundation.aspx. 2017 DDVAF Oral Health Grant Recipients
Grant Recipient How The Grant Will Be Used Amount Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia
http://bgcswva.org/ Smart Smiles At the Dentist Program $5,000 Boys & Girls Clubs of The Virginia Peninsula
http://www.bagclub.com/ Smart Smiles At the Dentist Program $5,000 Bradley Free Clinic
http://bradleyfreeclinic.com/ Support of VCU dental students $15,000 Chesapeake Care Clinic
http://www.chesapeakecare.org/ Safety net program for underinsured $5,000 CHIP of Roanoke Valley
http://www.chiprv.org/ Fluoride varnish application/in-home dental education $5,000 Community Health Center of the New River Valley
http://chcnrv.org/ Dental equipment $10,000 Community Youth Program
http://stjohnsroanoke.org/cyp/cyp.php Oral hygiene education, dental appointments and transportation $4,000 CrossOver Healthcare Ministry
http://www.crossoverministry.org/index.php/about-us/programs/ Dental services and supplies $5,000 Danville Community College
http://www.dcc.vccs.edu/ Dental hygiene student workstations $5,000 Free Clinic of Central Virginia
http://www.freeclinicva.org/ Expansion of access to dental services for low income, uninsured or underinsured $15,000 Free Clinic of Franklin County
http://www.bernardhealthcare.com/ Emergency extractions $2,500 Gloucester-Mathews Care Clinic
http://www.gmcareclinic.com/ Dental assistant to expand hours and see more patients $5,000 Health Focus of Southwest Virginia
http://healthfocusswva.org/scholarships/ Dental education scholarships $5,000 Isle of Wight Christian Outreach Program
http://www.iowcop.org/ Expand dental program $5,000 Lackey Free Clinic
http://lackeyclinic.org/ Dental supplies $5,000 Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic
http://lloydfmossfreeclinic.org/ Dental supplies $5,000 Lucy Corr Foundation
http://www.lucycorrvillage.com/foundation/ Expand dental care to elderly $10,000 Mel Leaman Free Clinic
http://melleamanfreeclinic.org/ Dental supplies $5,000 Northern Neck Free Health Clinic
http://nnmfhc.org/ Support of VCU dental students $7,500 Northern Virginia Dental Clinic, Inc.
http://www.nvds.org/northern-virginia-dental-clinic Dental supplies $7,500 Olde Towne Medical & Dental Center
http://www.oldetownemedicalcenter.org/ Dental equipment $5,000 Park Place Dental Clinic
http://www.parkplaceclinic.org/ Dental supplies $5,000 Piedmont Regional Dental Clinic
http://www.vaprdc.org/ Support for "Smile Time", a school-based dental check-up program $5,000 Piedmont Virginia Dental Health Foundation
http://www.piedmontdental.org/ Support for dental clinic providing services to low income adults and children $7,500 RAM (News - Alert) of Virginia
https://ramusa.org/virginia/ Support for "Smiles Across Virginia" program $5,000 Rescue Mission of Roanoke
http://rescuemission.net/ Support for dental clinic providing services to low income adults $10,000 Virginia Dental Association Foundation
http://www.vdaf.org/ Mobile dental equipment replacement $15,000 Virginia Health Care Foundation
http://www.vhcf.org/ Dental Opportunities Champion $35,000 Virginia Oral Health Coalition
http://www.vaoralhealth.org/HOME.aspx Online toolkits for medical and dental providers on the importance of oral health care during pregnancy $7,500 Western Tidewater Free Clinic
https://www.wtfreeclinic.org/ Dental supplies $5,000
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005927/en/
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[February 14, 2017] Underutilized Spectrum: Wireless Transmission: Technologies, Applications and Markets
LONDON, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the main issues in the developing of 5G technologies is the limited amount of an available spectrum. The industry is trying to find solutions to resolve this problem. Among multiple methods to cope with scarcity of available spectrum, two directions seem very promising. They are: - Intensification of utilization already occupied spectrum windows
- Identification and utilization of vacant (or almost vacant) spectrum windows. This report addresses only the second approach; and particular it concentrates on the following technologies:
- Optical Wireless Communications (OWC)
a) VLC - Visible Light Communication
b) FSF - Free Space Fiber
- TV White Space Communications (TVWSC). OWC includes VLC and FSF. Both these technologies utilize non-occupied (or more precisely, very lightly occupied) frequency spectrum. TVWSC became possible after transition of analog TV to digital when a significant portion of previously occupied spectrum has been freed. OWC is widely recognized as superior to radio frequency (RF) transmission for several use cases. Visible and invisible optical wireless links solve first/last mile connectivity problems, serve for signal distribution inside of premises, and provide secure, jam-free communication. OWC is license-free and can poentially deliver high-speed data rates in the order of tens Gb/s. Its advantages have fostered significant research efforts aimed at utilizing optical wireless communication, e.g. VLC, for high-speed, secure, indoor/outdoor communication under the IEEE 802.15.7 and other standards; as well as FSF for indoor and outdoor communications.
Both technologies are using free space as a communications medium; though they utilize such a medium in different ways and have both similar and specific communications channel properties. TVWSC is another example how the industry makes the spectrum utilization more efficient. Though this technology, so far, did not receive expected popularity due, mostly, to regulatory barriers, it shows potentials in improvements of the RF spectrum utilization.
The report is analyzing OWC and TVWS technologies specifics, market features and industry expectations how they will contribute in the 5G development. It also analyzes the industries, advanced products and their applications. The related standards are analyzed in details. Attachments present the survey of resent patents related to TVWS, IEEE802.22 and IEEE 802.11af and IEEE802.15.7. The report was developed for a wide audience of engineers and managers that are working with advanced communications technologies. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4698537/ About Reportbuyer
Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information:
Sarah Smith
Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 208 816 85 48
Website: www.reportbuyer.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/underutilized-spectrum-wireless-transmission-technologies-applications-and-markets-300407351.html SOURCE ReportBuyer
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[February 15, 2017] Mesquite, Nevada - A Desert Oasis for Testing Big UAS
MESQUITE, Nev., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) industry includes a variety of aircraft and platforms necessary to accomplish a growing number of mission profiles and applications. There is a lot of interest in small (under 55 lbs.) platforms for commercial applications and for hobbyist, but there is also a growing demand for larger aircraft that carry larger payloads, fly higher altitudes and travel greater distances. To date, this is the largest UAS platform over 55 lbs. that NIAS has flown in Nevada reflecting the opportunity Nevada offers to companies that have big commercial UAS platforms destined for military, government, or commercial purposes. "Nevada is a great testing and training location for UAS and has year-round flyable weather as well as demonstrates incredible community support for growing UAS companies," said Dr. Chris Walach, Director of the FAA-designated UAS Test Site. "The Mesquite UAS Test Range, is another example of a publicprivate partnership between the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and local government," Walach said. NIAS and the City of Mesquite, Nevada facilitated flight operations for Arcturus UAV at a rural city-owned UAS test range in Mesquite. "We are very supportive of the UAS industry," said Mesquite Mayor Allan Litman. "Clients can come to the area and conduct their tesing, training and demonstrations in an area that is virtually free from general aviation manned traffic." Mayor Litman also highlighted the abundance of hospitality amenities available to support any size group.
"We are excited to partner with NIAS in their support of the FAA mission to safely integrate UAS into the National Airspace (NAS)," said D'Milo Hallerberg, President of Arcturus UAV, LLC. "Our collaboration with Arcturus UAV began last fall when we executed a teaming agreement to conduct flight testing in Nevada," said Mark Barker, Director of Business Development at NIAS. "It's exciting to see the capability of a larger UAS that fly longer distances and carry larger payloads. In addition, the catapult launch and optional vertical take off and landing capability is awesome."
The Nevada UAS test site has variety of ranges from North to South where clients can come to test, develop and train. The Mesquite UAS range is approximately 9 miles Southwest of Mesquite covering 1400 acres and at field elevation of 4900 feet. About Arcturus UAV:
Arcturus UAV manufactures advanced tactical unmanned aircraft for long endurance ISR missions. The T-20 and Jump 20 aircraft can carry multiple payloads including a full range of gimbal sensors, SIGINT, providing full motion video and communication relays up to 70 miles. competitive global drone market and is on the fast track to mass-market success. About the City of Mesquite, Nevada:
Located just a short drive Northwest of Las Vegas, the city of Mesquite offers an approved, secluded operation location, exceptional flying weather and all the amenities of the big city without all the attention. About the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS):
On behalf of the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development, the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and FAA-designated Nevada Unmanned Aviation Test Site leads the growth of the Nevada Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS) Industry through business teaming relationships, collaborating with primary research institutions on UAS research and development, and enhancing the Nevada UAS Industry knowledge base to attract new and permanent business and create jobs in the State of Nevada. Learn more at www.nias-uas.com or www.flynevada.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mesquite-nevada--a-desert-oasis-for-testing-big-uas-300408085.html SOURCE Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS)
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[February 15, 2017] Webroot Wins 2017 SC Award for Best Customer Service
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- (RSA Conference) Webroot, the market leader in next-generation endpoint and network security and threat intelligence, took top honors in the Best Customer Service Category at the SC Awards Dinner and Presentation. The results were announced at RSA Conference 2017 during the SC Awards Dinner and Presentation in San Francisco. Named for Best Customer Service, Webroot has a highly skilled and globally based Technical Support team, offering 24/7 support around the world. "At Webroot, we utilize a follow-the-sun approach with customer service support staff in Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America," said Amy Wiley, vice president of engineering services at Webroot. "It is an honor to be recognized by the SC Awards as a leader in providing exceptional customer service solutions crucial to protecting our customers against the many threats launched by today's savvy cybercriminals." The mission of the SC Awards is to honor the achievements of companies and information security professinals striving to safeguard businesses, their customers and critical data in North America. Competitors are voted on by two panels of judges comprised of a range of cybersecurity industry luminaries from current and former CISOs to vendor-neutral consultants or analysts to educators from academic institutions all members of SC Media's audience. After the averages for each category were tallied, finalists and winners were selected.
About Webroot
Webroot delivers next-generation endpoint security, threat intelligence services, and anomaly detection solutions to protect businesses and individuals around the globe. Our smarter approach harnesses the power of cloud-based collective threat intelligence derived from millions of real-world devices to stop threats in real time and help secure the connected world. Our award-winning SecureAnywhere endpoint solutions, BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services, and FlowScape solution protect tens of millions of devices across businesses, home users and the Internet of Things. Trusted and integrated by market-leading companies, including Cisco, F5 Networks, Aruba, Palo Alto Networks, A10 Networks, and more. Webroot is headquartered in Colorado and operates globally across North America, Europe, and Asia. Discover Smarter Cybersecurity solutions at www.webroot.com. Follow Webroot: Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/webroot-wins-2017-sc-award-for-best-customer-service-300408103.html SOURCE Webroot
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[February 15, 2017] Nearmap Revenue Up 38% for First Half of Fiscal 2017
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) is pleased to announce its results for the half year ended 31 December 2016 (H1 FY17). The Company's annualised contract value (ACV) has grown 35% to AU$41.2M. Global customer numbers have increased to 7,500, with group average revenue per customer (ARPC) increasing to AU$5,500. Total revenue of AU$19.4M was up 38% on corresponding prior period total revenue of AU$14.1M. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006085/en/ Nearmap's high resolution, frequently updated imagery shows incredible detail. MGM National Harbor in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Business Wire) CEO Dr. Rob Newman said that the results demonstrated successful progress and reflected consistent focus on Nearmap's FY17 goals. "I am pleased to confirm that we continue to deliver strong growth in both Australia and the U.S. - our key metrics show growth in our portfolio, delivered through an increase in both the number of our customers and the average revenue per customer." Financial and Operational Overview Australia ACV and customer growth generated from new business and existing customers, across all subscription segments, and in a large and expanding market
ACV up 25% to AU$37.0M (31 December 2015: AU$29.6M)
Customers up 11% to 7,012 (31 December 2015: 6,310)
Revenue up 30% to AU$17.7M (H1 FY16: AU$13.6M)
Gross profit up 32% to AU$16.2M (H1 FY16: AU$12.3M (News - Alert))
EBIT of AU$10.2M (H1 FY16: AU$7.0M)
United States Increasing momentum delivered through productivity improvements in sales and marketing, with the infrastructure established for future growth
ACV of USD$3.1M (31 December 2015: USD$$0.7M)
Customers of 485 (31 December 2016: 156)
Revenue of USD$1.0M (H1 FY16: USD$0.2M)
Gross profit of USD$(0.4M) (H1 FY16: USD$(0.9)M) Group
EBITDA of AU$2.4M (H1 FY16: AU$(2.1)M)
Completion of AU$20M capital raise and share purchase plan (SPP) to accelerate and support delivery of key strategic objectives
Cash balance of AU$28.4M (30 June 2016: AU$12.2M)
Strong balance sheet, with no debt Commenting on the H1 FY17 result, Andy Watt, Chief Financial Officer, said that successful progress on Nearmap's three key priorities for FY17 positioned the Company for continued growth across both of its key markets. "H1 FY17 saw Nearmap continuing to deliver growth in both Australia and the U.S. Our Australian operations continue to generate strong cash flow to support the U.S. during its investment phase. The business continues to scale and demonstrate operational leverage through improvements to its key operating metrics and margins, and having delivered a second consecutive period of positive EBITDA, remains on track to deliver full year EBITDA guidance." Outlook In commenting on the outlook for the business, Newman said the Company has a clear long-term strategy and will continue its focus on its FY17 priorities, with disciplined deployment of the capital raise proceeds to fund growth. "Nearmap is demonstrating its success as a growth company. Our market leadership in Australia continues, the performance of our U.S. business is significantly improving and the global market opportunity is large and growing, and remains open for our disruptive business model. "Based on the performance of our business as a group, the recent capital raise and the team we are building, Nearmap has the resources to drive continued growth in our existing markets and expand the addressable market in those geographies through our technology leadership." To learn more about Nearmap, please attend a webinar on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. Eastern time: The Top 7 Uses of Aerial Imagery to Boost Business and Cut Costs. In this webinar, viewers will learn how to target new business faster, reduce field work and on-site visits, estimate time and materials without risk, and enhance quotes and proposals with high-resolution imagery. About Nearmap Built around proprietary PhotoMapsTM aerial imagery technology, Nearmap is a visual analytics company with a focus on empowering businesses with timely and reliable information on which to make decisions quickly and with confidence. Our breakthrough technology enables imagery to be updated much more frequently than other providers. With populations of multiple countries covered regularly, Nearmap is changing the way governments, companies and communities see their world. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006085/en/
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[February 15, 2017] Polymer Technologies Is Now the Exclusive Distributor of Polybond India Pvt.
Polymer Technologies, Inc., a leading manufacturer of noise reduction, thermal insulation, and vibration isolation products, is proud to announce it is the exclusive North American distributor of high-performance, engineered hoses and custom molded rubber parts for Polybond India Pvt. The recent distributorship with Polybond allows Polymer to offer custom hoses and molded rubber products directly to manufacturers in North America who have a need for fluid and air distribution on engines and related systems, including cooling packs and emission controls. The new distributorship also enables customers in the transportation, aerospace, and construction industries to have lower costs and further streamline development cycles and their vendor base with one source. Polybond's design, product and part engineering, and manufacturing and quality control combined with Polymer's engineering support, sales, local warehousing, and best-in-industry responsiveness, paves the way for customers to realize significant improvements in bottom-line costs and overall value. With local warehousing available for customer parts after program launch, lead-times can be measured in days versus weeks. Currently, Polymer is fielding requests for new and existing applications with companies who need custom rubber compounds not typically provided by domestic manufacturers, who simply wish to consolidate their supplier base, or need cost reductions to meet ever-demanding markets. Program dvelopment is streamlined through in-house project management, coordinated with Polybond experts, with delivery of prototypes arriving in as little as 4 weeks.
Polybond is an innovative and reputed hose and custom molded rubber manufacturer serving major original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in India and worldwide. Specializing in high-performance engineered hoses, Polybond creates products that are suitable for a variety of engine related applications including power generators and compressors, trucks, buses and construction equipment. Polybond's hoses and rubber parts are custom designed for the application demands of OEMs, with rubbers formulated to meet specific pressure, temperature, durability, and flexibility requirements for fluid and air distribution on engines and other areas. "Polymer's new distributorship with Polybond complements our line of energy management solutions," said Jeremy Dayton, Polymer Technologies, Inc. Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. "We're excited to expand the engineered, high-performance hoses and custom molded rubber products to develop and deliver new, cost-effective solutions for customers."
Polymer customers will now have a wider array of energy management solutions, as the distributorship between Polymer Technologies and Polybond India Pvt. opens up new possibilities for low-cost and expedited production from India with sales and engineering support in North America. "Polymer Technologies looks forward to increasing efficiency, adding value, and creating inventive solutions for its customers' challenges," Dayton said. For more information about Polybond's products, please view our product page. ABOUT POLYMER TECHNOLOGIES Robert Prybutok founded Polymer Technologies in 1989. In the years since its inception, Polymer Technologies, Inc. has grown to become a leading manufacturer and supplier of noise control and energy management composites within the United States. Products are sold to a broad range of industries including aerospace, military, medical, power generation, and transportation. Polymer Technologies employs more than 110 full-time employees at its 87,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in Newark, DE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006087/en/
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[February 15, 2017] Cortney Shegerian Argues Whistleblower Case Before California Supreme Court
Attorney Cortney Shegerian of Santa Monica based employee rights firm Shegerian & Associates, stood before the California Supreme Court last week to argue in favor of a recent Appellate Court decision to allow a trial for a whistleblower case. At age 30, Shegerian is among the youngest attorneys to argue a case before the Supreme Court of California in the Court's history. Shegerian's client, Deborah Shaw, a former employee at Kindred Healthcare (also known as Kindred Hospitals West and THC Orange (News - Alert) County), was employed by the defendant's health care facility. In her complaint, Shaw described having complained to the defendant about conditions that affected the quality of care and services at the health care facility. In particular, she complained that defendants were employing health care professionals who were not licensed or certified, among other regulatory issues. Shaw claimed that in retaliation for her complaints, Kindred discriminated against her by issuing her a warning, taking adverse employment actions against her, and subsequently terminating her employment. Shaw alleged that, as a result of Kindred's conduct, she has suffered and continues to suffer past and future monetary losses, losses of benefits, emotional damages and physical injury. In 2012, Shaw filed her wrongful termination complaint against Kindred, demanding a jury trial. In 2014, the court denied a jury trial, but that decision was eversed in the Court of Appeal, meaning that Shaw would get her jury trial after all.
Last week, Kindred and its attorneys attempted to convince the California Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeals court decision in order to block a jury trial. Cortney Shegerian appeared on behalf of Shaw before the Supreme Court of California on February 7th to argue in favor of the Appellate Court's decision that Shaw has a right to a jury trial. A video of her argument can be seen here: https://youtu.be/F0YPxyP-odI
"It has been an honor to be able to represent Ms. Shaw in this case before the Supreme Court," said Shegerian. "Hopefully we were able to convince the court that the Appellate decision in favor of our courageous client's right to a jury trial was in fact correct and we will be able to move one step closer to justice for Ms. Shaw, a tirelessly hard-working professional who blew the whistle on wrongdoing and was wrongfully terminated by the defendants as a result." A decision by the court is expected in May. Case # B254958 Located in Santa Monica, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in litigating on behalf of employees who have been wronged by their employers or citizens who have suffered personal injury or wrongful death due to the negligence of others. Possessing an unparalleled success record as litigators (founder Carney Shegerian, Trial Lawyer of the Year Award winner for 2013, has won 73 jury trials in his career, including 31 seven figure verdicts), Shegerian & Associates is passionately dedicated to serving the needs of its clients. For more information about the firm, visit www.ShegerianLaw.com Media Contact: To arrange interviews, please contact Paul Williams, 310/569-0023, [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006140/en/
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[February 15, 2017] You'll Never Look at the ATM the Same Way Again
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) today announced the NCR SelfServTM 80 Series, a new family of ATM solutions that will help financial institutions redefine the banking experience and change the way consumers interact with the ATM forever. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006160/en/ Ushering in a New Era of ATMs - NCR Launches SelfServ 80 Series (Photo: Business Wire) Through a unique combination of innovation across software, hardware, and services, consumers and financial institutions will gain many new benefits from this mobile-ready ATM solution. A large, 19-inch multi-touch display drives tablet-like interactions, where consumers can swipe, pinch and zoom their way quickly through transactions. Built-in video banking also enables financial institutions to offer high-touch, personalized service, where customers can be helped by a live teller right at the ATM. This means financial institutions can extend their personal service coverage and be available as close or far from home and as early or late as they choose to be. NCR is currently the only company that can offer video banking fully integrated in one ATM platform. This capability streamlines the way branch staff serve customers with auto loans, mortgages, credit cards or deposits across the network. NCR's research shows that 80 percent of the transactions typically completed inside a physical branch can be completed through a live video teller at an ATM. "The power of digital banking is that it empowers customers to be self-directed and choose the level of interaction they want. But banking is a relationship business, and bankers want to stand ready to provide one-to-one interactions at moments that are the most relevant, useful, and actionable," said Mark Schwanhausser, Director Omnichannel Financial Services, Javelin Strategy & Research. "ATMs with video tellers and enhanced capabilities can play a critical role in digital-first customer service by providing the combination of convenience and immediate assistance. It's a way to restore a human face to an increasingly digital-banking relationship." "Financial institutions need to be ready to offer the experience digital natives demand as they come of age and require more financial services," said Jose Resendiz, vice president, financial services, at NCR Corporation. "This launch fundamentally trasforms the ATM to be perfectly aligned with how consumers want to bank and gives financial institutions a new way to realize omni-channel transformational strategies."
The SelfServ 80 Series was recognized as an International Design Excellence Awards 2016 finalist. It is rooted in NCR's 132-year history of understanding consumer behavior, its deep domain experience in retail banking and the strong legacy of its SelfServ brand - the most popular ATM family in the world. The modern design comes with fully customizable, color-coded media entry and exit indicators. Additionally, a unique 10-cassette cash dispense capability lowers cash replenishment costs. Paired with NCR's CxBanking software suite, the SelfServ 80 series unlocks amazing customer experiences across physical and digital banking channels.
"The adoption of this new solution is incredibly exciting. Several of the largest banks in the world, along with many community banks, have signed on for initial delivery contracts, with thousands of units installed to date," added Joao Perez, senior vice president of NCR financial services sales. "Customers appreciate the new platform, which is beautiful on the outside and full of powerful engineering on the inside. Many more continue to sign up as they look to deploy a future-proof solution that is ready to converge the physical and digital channels in a mobile-first world." The SelfServ 80 Series is available now in select markets, including the United States and Canada, followed by global availability throughout 2017-2018. Please contact NCR Sales for pricing information and details on local availability. For additional materials including high-resolution product images, whitepapers, FAQs, please click here. To download the SelfServ 80 Series application on iOS, click here. About NCR Corporation NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables more than 650 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier. NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia with over 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. Web sites: www.ncr.com; www.ncr.com/SelfServ80 Twitter (News - Alert): @NCRCorporation Facebook (News - Alert): www.facebook.com/ncrcorp LinkedIn (News - Alert): www.linkedin.com/company/ncr-corporation YouTube (News - Alert): www.youtube.com/user/ncrcorporation View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006160/en/
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[February 15, 2017] Mouser Electronics Sponsors Engineers Week to Support Curiosity and Creativity
Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction (NPI) leader that empowers innovation, is proud to once again be a major sponsor of Engineers Week (EWeek), five days of fun and engaging activities at the Fort Worth (Texas) Museum of Science and History. For several years, Mouser has been a major sponsor of this important event designed to increase public awareness and appreciation of engineers and their work. Mouser will sponsor several exciting exhibits Feb. 21-25 at the museum, located in Fort Worth's Cultural District. Entry to EWeek is included with paid admission to the museum. Other activities celebrating National EWeek are planned at schools across the Fort Worth/Dallas area. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005988/en/ Mouser Electronics will be a major sponsor of Engineers Week, a weeklong event dedicated to encouraging young people's curiosity and inspiring the next generation of engineers. Hands-on activities will occur February 21-25 at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. (Photo: Business Wire) To celebrate this year's EWeek theme, Engineers Dream Big, Mouser will host several engineering challenges and activities in the museum's Imaginer Studio, where guests can participate in interactive experiences while learning how engineering affectseveryday life. Experiences include "Lights Out" - a beanbag toss game that features motion sensors and LEDs - and an interactive LED puzzle game that features 900 addressable LEDs.
During EWeek, Mouser aspires to spark the imagination of future design engineers, young and old, and to demonstrate some of the latest technologies affecting the world of tomorrow. Mouser will also promote its Empowering Innovation Together partnership with celebrity engineer Grant Imahara, of MythBusters fame. It's all part of National EWeek, observed each year throughout the United States. "Mouser proudly encourages curiosity and education in young people," said Kevin Hess, Mouser Senior Vice President of Marketing. "Through events like EWeek that promote and enhance STEM education programs, we hope to help shape the innovators, inventors, and scientists who will create the future technological wonders."
"Dream Big as a theme for Engineer's Week really speaks to the full potential of the profession," said Van A. Romans, President of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. "Through financial support and donated components, Mouser and its employee volunteers show that they truly support the engineering community." To learn more about the exciting EWeek activities, visit https://eng.info.mouser.com/engineers-week. To learn about Mouser's educational programs and dedication to shaping future engineers, visit http://www.mouser.com/educationalsales/. With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser strives to empower innovation among design engineers and buyers by delivering advanced technologies. Mouser stocks the world's widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics' website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools. About Mouser Electronics Mouser Electronics, a subsidiary of TTI, Inc., is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. Mouser is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor focused on rapid New Product Introductions from its manufacturing partners for electronic design engineers and buyers. The global distributor's website, Mouser.com, is available in multiple languages and currencies and features more than 4 million products from over 600 manufacturers. Mouser offers 22 support locations around the world to provide best-in-class customer service and ships globally to over 500,000 customers in 170 countries from its 750,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.mouser.com. Trademarks Mouser and Mouser Electronics are registered trademarks of Mouser Electronics, Inc. All other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215005988/en/
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ITA Issues Call for Papers TITANIUM ASIA 2018
International Titanium Association (ITA (News - Alert)), has issued a "Call for Papers" to be presented at the first TITANIUM ASIA 2018, to be held 4-6th February 2018 at the Grand Hyatt Singapore located at 10 Scotts Road, Singapore.
"It was a natural progression for the International Titanium Association," stated Jennifer Simpson, executive director of the ITA, "We have successfully hosted the US Conference which is now comprised of nearly 1,000 titanium related professionals annually; ITA has had a regular presence exceeding a delegation of over 400 in Europe since 2013; and now ITA has selected Singapore as our first venue for the TITANIUM ASIA event." TITANIUM ASIA will be held the day before the Singapore Air Show officially starts and ITA will offer roundtrip transportation to and from the Singapore Air Show included with conference registration.
TITANIUM ASIA 2018 is organized and hosted by the International Titanium Association (ITA), the titanium metal global trade association representing the World's Primary Titanium Metal Producers who together account for over 90% of worldwide titanium production. ITA provides a forum for theexchange of ideas within the industry and educates the public on every aspect of using titanium metal within their design. ITA is comprised of over 200 member organizations representing North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
The Call for Papers Deadline is November 1, 2017.
ITA is seeking technical papers on the topics of BioMedical; Industrial markets; Commercial aerospace; Land Based Military Applications; and Titanium melting technologies. Abstracts from ITA Members, Non-Members and Academia are encouraged and welcomed. Abstract submission guidelines are located at www.TitaniumAsia.org.
ITA Board of Directors include: Henry S. Seiner, Vice President - Business Strategy - TIMET, Titanium Metals Corporation; Donald E. Larsen, Vice President Technology and R&D, General Manager of Advanced Manufacturing - Arconic Manufacturing; Wade Leach, Senior Vice President, Commercial - ATI Specialty Materials; Dawne S. Hickton, Former CEO RTI International Metals, Inc.; Prof. Markus Holz, President, AMG's Engineering Systems and Division CEO, ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH; Michael G. Metz, President - VSMPO Tirus US; Edward J. Newman, Senior Vice President - United Alloys & Metals, Inc.; Frank L. Perryman, President and Chief Executive Officer - Perryman Company; Edward Sobota, Jr., President - TSI (News - Alert) Titanium; Michael Stitzlein, President - Tricor Metals; Graham P. Walker, Vice President, Sales and Marketing - AMETEK - Reading Alloys.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170215006241/en/
[February 15, 2017] Duo Security Honors Extraordinary Achievements in InfoSec at Third Annual "Women in Security" Awards
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Duo Security, the leading cloud-based Trusted Access provider and one of the fastest growing information security companies in the world, today announced Federal Trade Commission attorney, Whitney Merrill, and Eastern Michigan University student, Katelyn Coberly, are winners of its 2017 Women in Security Awards. Now in its third year, Duo's Women in Security Awards recognize the contributions women make to transform the information security industry. Duo Principal Security Strategist Wendy Nather presented Merrill and Coberley with the Industry and Academic Awards, respectively, at a special ceremony held last night in front of a capacity crowd of 500 infosecurity industry luminaries, leaders and reporters during the 2017 RSA Conference. Both women received registration and travel accommodations to the conference and a $2,500 stipend. "We hope to inspire the next generation of leaders in security by raising the visibility of women whose work has lifted our community," said Dug Song, Duo Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer. "Whitney's achievements at the intersection of security, privacy, and law benefit us all, helping to set the bar for how our industry should protect the rights of users, and educating the community to such issues via her Crypto & Privacy Village at DEFCON." "Katelyn has been a tireless champion and organizer of a security community in Michigan that is inclusive and welcoming," continued Song. "We celebrate them not only for the impact they've had in their respective areas, but for their dedication to the success of those around them." Women in Security Awards winners are chosen by a panel of information security leaders including Song, Nather, Jon berheide, Duo Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer; Parisa Tabriz, Google Princess of Security; Scotland Symons, Microsoft Senior Security Architect and Rachel Sitarz, Cyber Inform CEO. Selection criteria is based on:
Significant contributions to the fields of information security and privacy
Exceptional knowledge, leadership and professionalism in technical, academic or commercial industries
Community involvement
Providing mentorship, and encouraging the empowerment and success of women in the security industry and related causes The Winners Industry Award: Whitney Merrill, Federal Trade Commission attorney, called in her nomination, "a force to be reckoned with," leads the charge at the intersection of information security and law and is widely regarded as a leader in the protection of individual rights and privacy. Starting her career as a summer intern at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), she went on to co-found the Crypto & Privacy Village, a staple at numerous security conferences. At the FTC, Merrill works on a number of consumer protection issues involving false advertising, deception, privacy and data security. Merrill's extensive research on data mining with Android APIs was published in the Network & Distributed System Security (NDSS) symposium, among other notable academic projects. She received her Masters in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. During her time at UIUC, Whitney was an Illinois Cyber Security Scholar and a member of the Illinois Security Lab.
Academic Award: Katelyn Coberley, EMU student, was described in her nomination as, "the lifeblood of the Information Assurance program at Eastern Michigan University." Coberley was a digital leader and on-campus advocate for technology education, and one of the cofounders of the Women in Information Assurance program at EMU, which promotes cybersecurity awareness, education, training and professional development. She also led initiatives such as Digital Divas, a conference that attracts more than 500 female students annually to explore different fields in technology, and was an active member of EMU's Cyber Collegiate Defense Competition team. Coperley graduated magna cum laude with honors from EMU in December 2016 and is widely considered a rising star by her peers. Past honorees include Parisa Tabriz, Chrome Security Manager at Google; Rachel Sitarz, Graduate Assistant at Purdue University; Scotland Symons, Senior Security Architect at Microsoft and Jennifer Granick, Director of Civil Liberties at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society. Nominations for the 2018 Duo Security Women in Security Awards will open in September 2017. For more information, please visit www.women-in-security.com. About Duo Security Duo Security is a cloud-based Trusted Access provider protecting thousands of the world's largest and fastest-growing companies and organizations, including Dresser-Rand Group, Etsy, NASA, Facebook, K-Swiss, Paramount Pictures, Random House, SuddenLink, Toyota, Twitter, Yelp, Zillow and more. Duo Security's innovative and easy-to-use technology can be quickly deployed to protect users, data and applications from breaches, credential theft and account takeover. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company also has offices in San Mateo, California; Austin, Texas and London. Duo Security is backed by Benchmark, Google Ventures, Radar Partners, Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures. Try it for free at www.duo.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/duo-security-honors-extraordinary-achievements-in-infosec-at-third-annual-women-in-security-awards-300408281.html SOURCE Duo Security
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[February 15, 2017]
comScore to Provide Company Update on Friday, February 24
RESTON, Va., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore today announced it will provide a company update in a conference call on Friday, February 24 at 8:00 a.m. ET.
To access this call, dial (844) 848-8734 (domestic) or (678) 562-4248 (international) and reference conference ID 73973942. Investors are advised to dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the call to register.
Additionally, a live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations page on the company's website at http://ir.comscore.com/.
Following the coference call, a replay will be available via webcast at http://ir.comscore.com.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. is a leading cross-platform measurement company that precisely measures audiences, brands and consumer behavior everywhere. comScore completed its merger with Rentrak Corporation in January 2016, to create the new model for a dynamic, cross-platform world. Built on precision and innovation, our unmatched data footprint combines proprietary digital, TV and movie intelligence with vast demographic details to quantify consumers' multiscreen behavior at massive scale. This approach helps media companies monetize their complete audiences and allows marketers to reach these audiences more effectively. With more than 3,200 clients and global footprint in more than 75 countries, comScore is delivering the future of measurement. Shares of comScore stock are currently traded on the OTC Market (OTC:SCOR). For more information on comScore, please visit comscore.com.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-to-provide-company-update-on-friday-february-24-300408136.html
SOURCE comScore
[February 14, 2017] FICS Exhibits at the Mortgage Bankers Associations' Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo 2017
Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS), has announced their participation at the Mortgage Bankers Associations' (MBA) Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo 2017. This year's conference will be held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA (News - Alert), February, 19th-22nd. FICS specializes in providing a comprehensive suite of commercial loan servicing technology to the commercial and multi-family lending industry. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006324/en/ FICS specializes in providing a comprehensive suite of commercial loan servicing technology to the commercial and multi-family lending industry. (Photo: Business Wire) "Over three decades of research and development has advanced FICS' Commercial Servicer as the premier commercial real estate mortgage servicing technology solution. FICS offers solutions to take your commercial loan servicing automation to the next level with our ne Commercial Servicer API, providing the ability to use an external solution to schedule virtually all processes within Commercial Servicer," commented Barry Malone, Senior Vice President-Sales. "The conference is also a great opportunity to update attendees on the development of our next-generation of Commercial Servicer, using Microsoft's .NET (News - Alert) framework and Windows Presentation Foundation user interface, which we anticipate rolling out in the second half of this year."
At this year's conference, Barry Malone and Sherri Carr, Vice President-Commercial Servicer Product Development, will showcase FICS' commercial real estate mortgage servicing solutions at Booth #219. No other system offers the depth of automation tools that are available within Commercial Servicer. From integrated imaging with Radstar, to online web access for your borrowers and investors with LoanStat, to custom document and report generation, watch list tracking and My Work List workflow tools, Commercial Servicer provides the tools to be successful. Visitors to the FICS booth can also enter a drawing for a portable JBL Pulse (News - Alert) Speaker that offers Bluetooth capability, sensational sound, and an interactive light show. To learn more about FICS and its solutions, visit us at the MBA Conference in Booth #219 or our website www.FICS.com.
About FICS Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS), specializes in providing flexible, comprehensive residential and commercial technology solutions to the mortgage industry. FICS' systems are designed to operate on Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows platforms with the most recent solutions written using .NET Framework that includes a rich Windows Presentation Foundation user interface and multi-tiered shareable services. The company also provides innovative document management and web-based capabilities into its full suite of products. Additional information about FICS is available via the company's website at www.FICS.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214006324/en/
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[February 15, 2017] TELUQ University partners with Company Canada's Military Employment Transition Program (MET)
QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 15, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - TELUQ University is proud to pursue its commitment to serve the military community by partnering with the Military Employment Transition Program (MET), an initiative developed by Company Canada to assist Canadian Armed Forces veterans, reservists and transitioning members who are seeking jobs in the civilian sector. "As a member of the educational network of Company Canada's MET Program, we will contribute to the support of military members and veterans engaging into university studies as part of their transition towards a civilian career. In this age of mobility, this partnership is congruent with our mission for the past 45 years now: university education available to all," said Martin Noel, President of TELUQ University. Remotely accessible from anywhere in the world, TELUQ University has been providing services to members of the Canadian Armed Forces (Regular and Reserve Forces) since 1981. To this day, TELUQ University has welcomed over 3,000 military students, of which more than a 1,000 graduated from a degree, diploma or attestation of studies. Created specifically to better serve the needs of this clientele, the Service d'accreditation et d'encadrement pour les militaies (SAEM) of TELUQ University provides personalized support, recognition of credits for your military and training experience, and exam coordination under supervision outside Quebec and abroad.
"With an average of 22% (1577) of our MET Members leaving the military with a high school education, our partnership with TELUQ offers a more rapid, seamless but critical step for our members in transition to realize the remarkable experience and value they bring to corporate Canada. The ability to access TELUQ's online learning anywhere in combination with receiving a prior learning assessment for their military experience will fast track them to a civilian accreditation and increase their marketability in the civilian sector." Angela Mondou, President,Canada Company. About Canada Company
Canada Company is a federally registered charity created in 2006 by Canadian businessman and Honorary Colonel, Blake Goldring M.S.M., LL.D., CFA
Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, Canada Company is a federally registered charity founded by Canadian businessman and Honorary Colonel, Blake C. Goldring M.S.M., LL.D., CFA. Canada Company takes pride in serving our country in many ways, celebrating our Military heroes, and their families, and fostering a mutually beneficial exchange between Canada's remarkable military and our innovative Canadian business community to create a Better Canada. A trusted Program Builder, Canada Company offers the Military Employment Transition - MET Program; hosts the National Transition Symposium and Strategic Knowledge Exchange; and funds Scholarships for children of military members who gave their lives in service to our country.
TELUQ University
Founded in 1972, TELUQ University is the only Francophone university in North America offering its entire curriculum online. Each year, nearly 20,000 students attend its undergraduate and graduate programs. TELUQ is also recognized for the performance of its research. Source:
Johanne Nadeau
Communication and public affairs
1-800-665-4333, ext. 5102
[email protected]
Follow us
www.twitter.com/teluq
www.teluq.ca/facebook SOURCE TELUQ
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A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
crime
[February 14, 2017] Huawei Signs MoU with Avira to Announce Partnership on Cloud-Based Zero Day and Malware Protection
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On the second day of RSA2017, Huawei and Avira signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and announced a partnership to deliver cloud-based zero day and malware protection worldwide. The partnership will allow Huawei to provide customers with optimized content security protection by increasing detection rates without detracting from performance. While online file transfers and shares enable digital transformation among businesses, they can also increase the spread of viruses and malware. However, if businesses choose to deploy anti-virus software, they risk damaging the performance of their computer systems. As a result, enterprises are increasingly interested in adopting malware database solutions that not only protect against advanced persistent threats and vulnerabilities like zero day, but also offer system stability and high performance. The collaboration between Huawei and Avira solves this need, affording companies the security protection of anti-malware along with the high detection rates and high performance of a firewall. Specifically, Huawei and Avira's partnership involves integrating Avira's advanced anti-malware and zero day protection technology into Huawei's Next-Generation Firewall. Huawei's Next-Generation Firewall contains an Intelligent Awareness Engine (IAE), or local stream-based engine, which constantly works to inspect files and update virus signature databases to detect and remove viruses. Concurrently, Avira's protection technology which is currently deployed by global companies across an array of industries performs real-time security intelligence gathering to provide reputation reference; this intelligence is then integrated into the Huawei cloud to support the Next-Generation Firewall in detecting threats at higher rates. In this way, Huawei's malware protection system is both more efficient and effective than solutions currently available in the industry. "Zero day and malware threaten business and consumers alike, and Avira is pleased to be a key technology within Huawei's content security portfolio," said Travis Witteveen, CEO of Avira. "With this partnership, Huawei's Next-Generation Firewall customers will benefit from Avira's advanced cloud-based malware protection, which gathers security intelligence every minute of every day from our existing 500 million installations, by having it protect their customers as threats emerge in real-time." "Huawei's ever-expanding market share of firewall products around the globe has triggered an increasing need for content security capable of firewalls," said Liu Lizhu, general manager of Security Gateways at Huawei. "This worldwide cooperation with Avira enables Huawei to help customers obtain higher content security protection efficiency with higher system performance, thus greatly improving the competitiveness of Huawei's Next-Generation Firewall products and solutions." There is currently an industry-wide consensus that the only way to cope with network threats is to build a security ecosystem. In line with Huawei's integration strategy, the cooperation between Huawei and Avira will play an important role in helping enterprise customers further improve their network security levels, while also promoting the development of the security industry at large. About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Our aim is to enrich life and improve efficiency through a better connected world, acting as a responsible corporate citizen, innovative enabler for the information society, and collaborative contributor to the industry. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei's 170,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei
http://www.twitter.com/Huawei
http://www.facebook.com/Huawei
http://www.google.com/+Huawei
http://www.youtube.com/Huawei About Avira
Avira protects people in the connected world - enabling everyone to manage, secure, and improve their digital lives. The Avira umbrella covers a portfolio of security and performance applications for Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS. In addition, the reach of our protective technologies extends through OEM partnerships. Our security solutions consistently lead in independent tests for detection, performance, and usability. Avira is a family-owned company with headquarters near Lake Constance, in Tettnang, Germany, and additional offices in Munich, Bucharest, Beijing, and Silicon Valley. A portion of Avira's sales support the Auerbach Foundation, which assists education, children, and families in need. For more information, visit http://www.avira.com/.
Huawei Media Contact: Huawei Analyst Contact: Francis Hopkins Sarita Kincaid Director, Corporate Communications Director, Enterprise Analyst Relations (240) 472-1724 (mobile) (408) 330-5324 (mobile) [email protected] [email protected]
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huawei-signs-mou-with-avira-to-announce-partnership-on-cloud-based-zero-day-and-malware-protection-300407478.html SOURCE Huawei
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[February 15, 2017] First OVH Smart-city Barometer - Quebecers want smarter cities to develop thriving local economies
MONTREAL, Feb. 15, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - A majority of Quebecers living in an urban environment (68%) does not consider their city smart enough. That's what the first edition of the OVH Smart-city Barometer reveals based on a survey of the citizens of the City of Montreal, the Greater Montreal area, Quebec City, Saguenay, Trois-Rivieres and Gatineau conducted by CROPi from December 13 to 20, 2016. HIGHLIGHTS Quebecers want smarter cities. Public transit is currently considered the smartest sector. Quebecers want smarter cities to develop thriving local economies. The use of digital applications and tools to manage transportation, safety, water and infrastructures should be a priority for cities, according to our fellow citizens.
Quebecers want smarter cities!
The OVH Smart-city Barometer reveals that only 32% of Quebecers answered "yes" to the question "do you think your city is smart?". Citizens of the City of Montreal answered "yes" in fewer numbers (28%) than the residents of Sherbrooke (36%) and Quebec City (35%). "The smart city notion is relatively new," said Cedric Combey, vice-president, sales and marketing at OVH Canada, a world leader in Cloud Computing and Internet infrastructures. "This ranking provides us with a reference from which to track the performance of cities over the coming years, and this ability to track will be even more relevant given the impact the advent of the smart city will have on our lifestyle and the evolution of the urban way of life. Starting from the smart city concept, we can then use information and communication technology to meet the economic, social and environmental needs of our century". The OVH Smart-city Barometer also reveals that a clear majority of urban Quebecers (89%) consider it important for cities to develop strategies to become smart. This concept garners the most support in the City of Montreal; 91% of Montrealers consider "smart" strategies to be important (44% of them consider they are "very important," while 47% consider them "somewhat important"). In Saguenay, only 16% of citizens considered that it was "very important" for their city to be smarter, though 69% thought the concept was still "somewhat important.
Total
"important" City of Montreal rest of Montreal CMA Quebec City Gatineau Trois-Rivieres Sherbrooke Saguenay
(Outside the City of Montreal)
91 % 88 % 88 % 88 % 89 % 91 % 86 %
Of which
"very
important" City of Montreal rest of Montreal CMA Quebec City Gatineau Trois-Rivieres Sherbrooke Saguenay
(Outside the City of Montreal)
44 % 30 % 28 % 31 % 26 % 27 % 16 %
Ranking of smart cities according to each city's citizens
More residents of the Greater Montreal area, outside the City of Montreal (rest of Montreal CMA), feel that their city is smart (37%), closely followed by Sherbrooke and Quebec City with 36% and 35% respectively. The City of Montreal only comes in fourth, with 28%. 1 Rest of Montreal CMA (outside City of Montreal) 37% 4 City of Montreal 28% 2 Sherbrooke 36% 5 Saguenay 23% 3 Quebec City 35% 6 Gatineau and Trois-Rivieres 22% Public transportation is considered the smartest sector
According to Quebecers who were polled, the public transportation sector is the sector that most often uses smart technology (40%), closely followed by urban development, such as infrastructures, parks and bike trails (38%), and public safety services (36%). However, some cities set themselves apart, like Trois-Rivieres, where 59% of citizens indicate that they are very satisfied with local smart urban development, which is 21% more than other cities in which citizens were polled. Conversely, citizens of Quebec City appear to be less satisfied with their public safety services from a smart technology point of view, with a satisfaction rate of only 24%, 12% lower than the Quebec average. Smarter cities to develop thriving local economies
According to 41% of urban Quebecers, cities should look into being smarter to develop a thriving economy that focuses on collaborative innovation, leading-edge technology and the boldness and creativity of its citizens. This answer far outscores the second-ranked priority, improving the efficiency of public services (26%).
Total for urban Quebec
Develop a thriving economy with and for citizens by focusing on collaborative innovation, leading-edge technology and the boldness and creativity of citizens 41%
Improve the effectiveness of public services 26%
Mobilize businesses, public institutions, universities and citizens to find and test solutions to everyday problems 14%
Improve access to democratic life and reinforce a culture of transparency and accountability 11%
Development of urban telecommunications 5%
The three priorities that cities should have according to Quebecers
Moreover, OVH's Barometer shows that, if cities want to meet the expectations of their citizens, they must consider three sectors high priority.
Total for urban Quebec
The use of applications and digital tools to manage transportation, safety, water and infrastructures 24%
Real-time communication with citizens 22%
The development of city-specific technologies adapted to the needs of citizens 22%
In addition to tagging some sectors as priorities, citizens also provided their opinion on the applications and concrete systems they would most like to see cities implement.
Total for urban Quebec
An application that makes it possible to notify the city of problems 43%
A smart public transit system application that makes it possible to track buses, trains or subway trains in real time. 35%
A smart traffic management system 32%
An application that makes it possible to communicate in real time during emergency situations 26%
An application that lists free Wi-Fi zones 22%
"Today, more and more people expect information relating to their needs and expectations to be available instantaneously, such as when they are planning a trip, for example. To this end, the OVH Smart-city Barometer provides cities with a plethora of suggestions," said Cedric Combey. Note that Montreal stands out on this point, with the need for a smart public transit system as a top priority, with 50%. Quebecers are ready for smart cities!
OVH wanted to use this first experience to validate Quebecers' smart technology use habits. According to the OVH Smart-city Barometer, 95% of Quebecers use email, social media (79%), cloud file storage (45%) and online purchase sites (36%) a few times or more a week. Forty-four percent of them feel they are better equipped with digital tools at home than at work. "The use of smart technology is a well-established habit for Quebecers," said Cedric Combey. "If cities improve their 'smart' offer, Quebecers will be on board!" OVH in Canada
OVH has been present in Canada since 2012 and has rolled out four business units in Montreal, Beauharnois, Quebec City and Toronto that employ 140 people. The entry into service of its 360,000-server-capacity data centre on Montreal's South-Shore has made it possible to expand accessibility and better serve close to one million clients around the world and has made Montreal one of the largest data-hosting centres in the world. About OVH
Specializing in cloud and internet infrastructure, OVH offers innovative products and services evolving around three universes: Web, Dedicated and Cloud. Since being founded in 1999, the company has become an established partner for hundreds of thousands of professionals worldwide. OVH owes its success to a development model built on innovation, keeping full control over the supply chain, from server manufacturing and in-house maintenance of their infrastructure, right down to customer assistance. For each service and each solution, OVH ensures stable and reliable offerings to its clients at the best price-quality ratio. ______________________
i Online data collection done by CROP from December 13 to 20, 2016, through a web panel. In total, 1,250 questionnaires were completed in the following regions: the City of Montreal, the rest of Montreal's CMA, Quebec City's CMA, Trois-Rivieres, Gatineau, Sherbrooke and Saguenay. Results were weighted so they reflect the distribution of the study population regarding their region, their gender, their age and their first language. Press contact: Chloe Lebouc, Villemarie, [email protected], 514.903.4229, ext. 214, 514.662.3547 SOURCE Hebergement OVH Inc.
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The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a very good value because of its captivating infinity display, strong performance and long battery life for under $500.
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 .
The Galaxy S8 has been around for a couple of years, but it's still a strong choice for those looking for flagship-level design and solid performance for under $500. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ boast 5.8- and 6.2-inch infinity displays, which go from edge to edge, and these handsets feature Qualcomms relatively zippy Snapdragon 835 processor for speedy performance.
Were still not fans of the fingerprint sensors location. But when you add in excellent battery life and improvements to a camera that was already very good, you have two winning handsets with the Galaxy S8 and S8+.
See our best phones list for all of our top picks.
Galaxy S8 price and release date
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were released in April of 2017. You can now get the Galaxy S8 starting at $499 with 64GB of storage. The larger Galaxy S8+ isn't as readily available, but it retails for about $589. However, we've seen this phone for as low as $364 on Amazon (opens in new tab).
You may want to keep an eye out for Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals to see if these phones get discounted during the holiday season.
Design: It feels like the future
The Galaxy S8 exemplifies a nearly bezel-free phone done right. Samsung didnt just take away the bezels on this phone; it crafted a space-age work of art with a new infinity display that stretches from edge to edge. The Galaxy S8 not only has a slightly bigger screen-to-body ratio than LGs phone but also looks sleeker because of the way the Gorilla Glass curves toward the edges on the front and back. Other Android phones look like blah, flat slabs by comparison. The S8 is also thinner and narrower than the G6.
The screen on the S8 is 5.8 inches, versus 6.2 inches on the S8+. But other than the difference in display size, the S8 and S8+ have the same design. Overall, we prefer the bigger screen on the S8+, but if you have small hands, youll likely find yourself repositioning the phone in your hand to reach certain buttons, including the home button, which is now a virtual button instead of a physical key. The button worked well in our testing, providing solid haptic feedback. Its flanked by the Recent Apps and Back buttons.
Whats remarkable about the Galaxy S8 is how much more screen real estate it gives you compared with the S7, while still offering a compact and lightweight design. The S8s 5.8-inch screen is housed in a 5.5-ounce, 2.7-inch-wide chassis, whereas the 5.1-inch S7 weighed 5.4 ounces and had the same width. The S8 is taller, but its still easy to use with one hand.
With its 6.2-inch screen, the 6.1-ounce S8+ is heftier than the 5.5-ounce, 5.5-inch S7 Edge. But the S8+ makes the iPhone 8 Plus (6.2 x 3.1 x 0.29 inches, 7.13 ounces) look positively bloated. Plus, unlike the latest iPhones, the S8 and S8+ have headphone jacks.
No matter which size you choose, it wont be long before you see fingerprint smudges on the back of the phone. The smudges were especially prominent on the midnight black version of the S8 and S8+, but you can also choose the lighter orchid gray or arctic silver, which dont show smudges as easily.
Galaxy S8 Galaxy S8+ Price
From $499
From $589
Display (Pixels) 5.8 inches (2960 x 1440) Super AMOLED 6.2 inches (2960 x 1440) Super AMOLED Camera (Back) 12 MP, f /1.7 aperture 12 MP, f /1.7 aperture Camera (Front) 8 MP, f/ 1.7 aperture 8 MP, f/1.7 aperture Biometric Scanning Facial recognition, iris scanner, fingerprint reader Facial recognition, iris scanner, fingerprint reader CPU Snapdragon 835 Snapdragon 835 RAM
4GB 4GB Storage 64GB 64GB microSD
up to 256GB up to 256GB Battery
3,000 mAh 3,500 mAh Battery Life (4G) 10:39 11:04 Size
5.9 x 2.7 x 0.3 inches 6.3 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches Weight
5.5 ounces 6.1 ounces Colors
Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver Android Version 7.0 Nougat 7.0 Nougat Charging USB Type-C USB Type-C Wireless Charging WPC and PMA WPC and PMA
About that fingerprint sensor
We were worried that the fingerprint sensors placement right next to the camera on the back of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ might be a problem. And it was, initially. Because the sensor is fairly narrow, its difficult to target it without looking. We got used to it after a couple of days, but we still wish it were below the lens.
If you dont want to reach around the S8 to unlock your phone, you can choose from a couple of other biometric options that Samsung gives you. Theres facial recognition, as well as iris scanning. Iris scanning unlocks your phone faster and even works in the dark, but it doesnt work in direct sunlight; your eyes need to be fully open, so squinting isnt an option. The facial recognition is not only slower but also had trouble in direct sunlight and doesnt work in the dark.
Our advice? Use the iris scanning everywhere except in the sun, and when there is bright light, just use the fingerprint scanner.
Display: The perfect screen is here
Apple is bringing an OLED screen to the iPhone X, but you have to pay a grand for the privilege. Sporting a resolution of 2960 x 1440 pixels, both the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ turned in nearly perfect scores on our tests, offering a very bright picture, amazingly vivid colors and near-perfect color accuracy.
The extra-wide 18.5:9 aspect ratio doesnt work well with some apps, but overall, we like how immersive the experience is when watching video and playing games.
When watching the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer, we could make out every wrinkle in Reys hands as she seemed to levitate the rocks around her with the Force, as well as every rising ring of smoke around Kylo Rens smoldering mask. As the camera panned around to the island where Luke was training Rey, it was hard not to be impressed by the golden sunshine that reflected off the water, as well as the lush, green foliage dotting the mountains.
The S8 backed up our experience by reproducing a superb 183 percent of the sRGB color gamut. That blows away the LG G6s 134 percent, but the AMOLED screen on the Google Pixel scored an even higher 191 percent. (However, when you turn on Adaptive Display mode on the Galaxy S8, it can reach as high as 255 percent.)
If youre looking for accurate color, the S8 can deliver that, too. In its AMOLED photo mode, the display notched a Delta-E score of 0.28 (0 is perfect). The LG G6 was closest, at 1.01, but the Pixel XL was way behind, with 5.88. Like the LG G6, the Galaxy S8s screen is HDR certified, which means you can enjoy a wider range of colors and better contrast on videos that support the standard. Amazon, Netflix and YouTube offer a growing variety of HDR-ready movies and shows.
The 18.5:9 aspect ratio doesnt work well with every app. For instance, in Super Mario Run, we noticed unsightly bars above and below the game. But Samsungs own apps are optimized, and you can fill the screen by pushing a button while watching YouTube and Netflix, even if the video looks a bit stretched out.
Since our initial review, some users complained about a red tint appearing on their S8 screens, but Samsung has released a fix.
Audio: Poppin
For a small speaker, the Galaxy S8 pumps out pretty sweet sound. When we listened to Justin Timberlakes Cant Stop the Feeling, on this phone, the lyrics were clearer, and the volume was louder, than the same track on the LG G6.
The latter handset sounded slightly muffled by comparison. However, you dont get stereo sound from the Galaxy S8 as you do from the HTC U Ultra.
The S8's Snapdragon 835 muscle blitzes every other Android phone on the market.
Performance: A handheld powerhouse
The Galaxy S8 goes boldly forward into a new era of speed, thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 system on a chip (at least in the U.S.; in other regions, the S8 will have Samsung's Exynos 8895 chip). The S8 also comes with a healthy 4GB of memory, 64GB of storage (twice the amount you get from base models of the LG G6 and the Google Pixel) and microSD card expansion for people who need even more space.
When you put it all together, the S8's muscle blitzes every other Android phone on the market, but it falls short of the iPhone 8's A11 Bionic chip. The S8 almost always feels exceedingly snappy, no matter if you're vaulting over Goombas in Super Mario Run or mowing down aliens in N.O.V.A. Legacy. We didnt experience any lag when using multiwindow mode for chatting with friends while streaming video on YouTube. If you pay close attention, you may notice that some of the transitions when switching between apps aren't 100 percent smooth, but that seems mostly cosmetic.
In terms of benchmark performance, the Galaxy S8s multicore score of 6,295 in the Geekbench 4 overall performance test was more than 50 percent higher than that of its closest Android competitor, the Snapdragon 821-powered Google Pixel XL (4,146). However, the iPhone 8 scored above 10,000 on this test.
The Galaxy S8's graphics power was also quite impressive, as it hit 36,508 on 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited test. Other Android adversaries, like the LG G6 (29,611) and the Google Pixel XL (28,182), were farther behind. But the iPhone 8 scored a much higher 64,532.
New for the S8 is Samsung's Device Management tab, which is best accessed by swiping in from the Edge tab. It offers a quick look at the status of your device, including battery status, power mode (optimized, performance, game or entertainment), available storage and your current memory usage. There's even an optimization button that cleans up any lingering apps and clears your cache, which is a handy tool for people who go weeks or months without actually turning off their devices.
Cameras: Better on both the front and back
When we first found out that the S8's 12-megapixel rear camera is ostensibly the same as the one on last year's S7, we were a bit disappointed. But that rush of emotion was a bit premature, because under the hood, Samsung made some important software enhancements. And then you toss in a new, higher-resolution, 8-MP front cam, and you get a phone that produces noticeably better pictures no matter which shooter you're using.
The most important tweak comes in the form of Samsung's new multi-image photo processing, which mimics the operation of the Google Pixel's HDR+ mode by taking multiple pictures when you press the shutter, selecting the best one, and enhancing that image with extra details and info from the remaining two pics.
When we took both the S8+ and a Pixel XL out for some side-by-side testing, it was clear that Samsung's adjustments have had a pretty positive effect. At a nearby farmer's market, the S8 captured a crate full of apples with better contrast, richer colors and better details than the Pixel XL.
And when I continued down the street, the S8+ topped the Pixel XL again when I snapped a pic of some flowers, this time offering better white balance than Google's phone, as evidenced by the greenish hue on the white flower's petals.
But it wasn't a clean sweep for the S8+. When I really tried to push both cameras to the limit by shooting a backlit scene pointing straight at the sun, the Pixel XL stunned us with a shot featuring big, bold colors and sharp details, even though there was some serious lens flare going on.
Inside, in pretty much ideal conditions, the S8+ and the Pixel XL were again neck and neck. The one difference is that the Pixel's cool color tone brought out the green in the pistachio macaroon, while the pic from the S8 sported a more neutral white balance, which led to a more pleasing overall photo.
Finally, at a local bar with even less light to work with, both the Pixel XL and the Galaxy S8 impressed us with photos that were brighter than the scenes in real life. Small differences included less blown-out highlights in the S8's pic, which was countered by more detail in the darker areas of the scene in the Pixel's photo.
When it comes to tweaking your photos or changing modes, Samsung has added new Snapchat-like filters that let you decorate faces with various animal masks, hats and other silly emojis. But if that doesn't strike your fancy, the camera also comes with modes for shooting panoramas, food, slow-mo and more. And as with all good camera apps, there's also a Pro mode that lets you adjust settings manually.
As for selfies, the S8 and S8+ sport new 8-MP cams with a wide-angle lens, which makes it easy to snap you and all your besties at once. However, compared with the Pixel XL's 8-MP camera, the S8's selfies can sometimes be a little lacking.
We compared photos shot by the S8 and the Pixel XL outside on a sunny day. The Pixel XL's photo had an extra level of sharpness and detail we didn't get from the S8+. Our face looked a little too smooth and perfect on the Samsung, to the point where we were wondering whether Beauty Mode was kicking in even when we had it set to 0.
The Galaxy S8s camera can shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second and slow-mo video at up to 240 frames per second at 720p. (In comparison, the LG G6 shoots at just 60 fps in slow-mo.)
To test the Galaxy S8s video quality, we shot some footage of a pond with fish swimming about in 4K. The S8s footage looked crisper and more vibrant than what the iPhone 7 Plus captured, even if the colors looked a bit oversaturated. However, when we put both phones on a mount to test image stabilization, the iPhone 7s video looked smoother; we saw a bit of stuttering in the S8s footage as we walked up a grassy hill.
For a hallmark feature on a flagship phone, Bixby feels pretty half-baked right now.
Bixby: Still a work in progress
The Galaxy S8 introduces a new personal assistant, Bixby, to take on the likes of Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana. And for a hallmark feature on Samsung's flagship phone, Bixby feels pretty half-baked right now, even after Samsung has rolled out voice controls to its virtual assistant.
The main difference between Bixby and other digital assistants is that it lets you use voice commands to control your phone in lieu of tapping the screen, which can save you time and energy. You can also use Bixby to tell you the weather or look up the definition of quixotic, but its real purpose is giving you a whole new way to control your phone. For instance, you can ask Bixby to show you emails from a specific person by name, and it will slickly pull up all your conversations in just a couple seconds. That's way faster than tapping to open the email app, hitting search and then typing in that person's name.
Bixby can also understand complex commands with contextual language, so you can do things like ask Bixby to post the last photo you took to Instagram and add a caption, all with one command. You can also change almost any setting on the S8 using your voice, which is often much faster than trying to dig through a modern phone's increasingly complex array of menus and tabs.
Or at least, that's how things should work. The big problem is that Bixby's voice-command functionality, while now available, was pretty erratic when we tested it.
Sometimes Bixby will fail to understand your language at all, while other times, Bixby will get confused and try to open the wrong app or adjust incorrect settings. But every once in a while Bixby will get everything right and you won't even be able to tell that its voice commands are still a work in progress. Currently, simple commands have the best success rate.
MORE: 11 Coolest Things Bixby Voice Can Do on the Galaxy S8
As of August 22, Samsung announced that the Bixby voice command feature is now available in more than 200 countries and territories, though you'll still need to use either English or Korean to make it work. Support for additional languages, as well as more third party apps, is in the works.
Then there's Bixby Vision, which leverages the S8's camera along with object recognition to identify items in the world. We found this worked pretty well when we pointed the S8 at various household items, such as shampoos, snacks and aluminum foil. It also works for books. After pointing the Galaxy S8's camera at any object, we could check prices online on Amazon.
Say you're at the liquor store and want to know the rating of that wine or what food to pair it with. Bixby has also partnered with Vivino to identify that bottle and spit back information. However, at a wine store in New York, the feature was more miss than hit, as it seemed to have trouble with the bright lights. At home, however, Bixby identified three wines correctly, though we were greeted with a home server error.
Bixby's other talents include the ability to set reminders and a Bixby Home tool with a card-based interface that shows you your schedule, what's trending on Facebook, the weather, news and other info.
All told, Bixby is a frustrating mix of success and failures, though there is a lot of potential should Samsung work out all the kinks. Thankfully, though, you can turn to the Google Assistant, which also comes preloaded on the S8.
Software: Feature-rich but accessible
Running Android 7.0 Nougat, the Galaxy S8 still has a skin on top of Android, but its fairly intuitive, and Samsungs minimalist, line-drawn icons are easy to understand. We like that you dont have to tap a button to see all of your apps from the home screen; just swipe down from the middle of the screen, and then swipe left to see more apps.
If you swipe down from the very top of the screen from wherever you are, youll see your notifications and Samsungs quick-settings shortcuts. Finally, swiping in from the left provides access to Edge screen shortcuts, such as a customizable list of apps, a device maintenance screen (for battery, choosing performance mode, etc.) and a Smart Select tool for selecting an area of the screen and sharing it or pinning it to the top of your display.
Youll also find a ton of advanced features. The ones at the top of our list include a one-handed mode that you can activate by tapping the home button three times to shrink the screen, as well as the ability to quickly launch the camera by pressing the power key twice.
At least on the T-Mobile S8 we tested, there was minimal bloatware. T-Mobile included just five of its own apps: Device Unlock, T-Mobile, T-Mobile Name ID, T-Mobile TV and Visual Voicemail.
Accessories: Way beyond Gear VR
The Galaxy S8 works with the new Gear VR for those who want to experience virtual-reality games and content, but thats not the only interesting accessory. The new DeX ($149) is a dock that lets you use the S8 and S8+ as a mini PC. The dock can connect to a full-size monitor via its HDMI port, as well as a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth. It also has an Ethernet jack and a USB port.
Out of the box, the Samsung Connect app will let you access and control various Samsung-branded smart home gear. For instance, you can start your Samsung robot vacuum ($549) or peek inside your Samsung Family Hub fridge (about $2,900) to see what you need from the store while youre out. But youll get a lot more possibilities if you buy Samsung's $169 Samsung Connect Home a combination mesh Wi-Fi router and SmartThings hub that will let you control other items, such as Philips Hue lights and Netgears Arlo security camera.
Samsung offers a slew of other accessories, including an LED View cover for always having the time in view, a wireless charging stand and more. Check out our roundup of the Best Galaxy S8 accessories and Galaxy S8 cases.
Battery Life
One concern about a phone with this much screen is how that extra real estate might impact battery life. The Galaxy S8+ has a slightly smaller battery than last years S7 Edge (3,500 mAh versus 3,600 mAh), and yet the S8+ improved almost 1 hour, to 11 hours and 4 minutes, on the Tom's Guide Battery Test (continuous web surfing on 4G LTE using T-Mobile's network). The standard Galaxy S8s 3,000-mAh battery endured for 10:39 on the same test, improving on the Galaxy S7's (8:47) time by nearly 2 hours.
We obtained these results with the phones resolutions set to their max 2960 x 1440 pixels. They come with the less demanding 2220 x 1080 setting on by default.
MORE: Smartphones with the Longest Battery Life
Compared to the Galaxy S8+, the Pixel XL's battery life was just a bit longer, at 11:11. The iPhone 8 Plus hit 11:16, while the smaller iPhone 8 lasted 9:54. LG G6 finished way behind, with a time of just 8:39.
On top of that, the S8 has battery smarts that let it learn about your usage patterns to help extend its longevity even further. And when you need to juice the phone back up, you can take advantage of the S8s fast-charging capabilities via its included USB Type-C cable or use one of Samsung's slick wireless chargers (available separately).
Bottom Line
Its clear that, with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung set out to create more than a phone. Its trying to build a more Apple-like ecosystem, with devices ranging from the Gear VR and the DeX dock to the new Samsung Connect app for controlling smart home gear and the Bixby assistant. Its also evident that Samsung hasnt yet reached that goal, as Bixbys voice features can be hit or miss.
But even with that shortcoming, the Galaxy S8 still beats the Android competition while surpassing the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in terms of design, display quality and features. The iPhones are better, though, when it comes to sheer speed and their cameras.
Some shoppers will prefer a newer Android phone in the same price range, like the $479 Pixel 3a XL, but overall the Galaxy S8 and S8+ remain good values for those who prefer Samsung handsets.
Credit: Jeremy Lips/Tom's Guide; Comparisons: Samuel Rutherford/Tom's Guide.
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CHECK TKC TRIBUTE TONIGHT TO THE TOP KANSAS CITY POWER COUPLES!!!
STAY TUNED!!!
For tonight we want to not only affirm our dedication to Jordan Carver cleavage but also remind Kansas City denizens of locals who are living both career and personal lives far better than most of us.To wit . . .Familiar faces for this Tuesday night celebration of love that still deserve a bit of recognition . . .. . . Hebe the next Mayor and she's still the top Democratic Party lady fundraiser in town even after Hillary Clinton defeat. Like it or not, there are very few Kansas City couples who BOTH wield the citywide influence of these two.And then . . .- She is the director of theand he represents Missouri's 5th Congressional District in D.C. - There aren't any other higher ranking power couples in the region and their hard work sets a powerful example of local devotion to faith and community.And then . . .- Kansas City's favorite anchor dude and radio talker . . . They get a bit of hateration from jealous social media denizens but the ability for two local names to make it would should inspire so many lonely newsies passing through town in search of someone special. Like it or not, they're still going strong and deserve more than a bit of local love.And so . . .Happy Valentine's Day to all of Kansas City and hopefully we'll see you beautiful bastards back here for the morning update if neither one of us get the love knife.
The President of the EuroGroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed the view that Greece would default if the IMF left the bailout program. During a speech before the Dutch parliament Mr. Dijsselbloem warned that those who claimed Greece would be better off leaving the commonc currency area had no idea what they were talking about. According to Dutch newspaper Financieele, Mr. Dijsselbloem stressed both the European Commissions and the IMFs efforts were directed at averting such a prospect. My job is to stabilise the situation in Greece. This is in the interest of all of us, he said in parliament, according to the newspaper.
The head of the EuroGroup added that those floating such an idea were overlooking the huge impact a possible Grexit would have both economically and politically. It should be noted that during the discussion in the Dutch parliament, the Greens supported a partial write-off of the Greek debt that would result in a 90% to GDP ratio. On the matter of a possible Greek debt haircut, Mr. Dijsselbloem pointed out that such an option was currently off the table, claiming that apart from the Germany and the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal also opposed it.
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
Eurostat's figures confirm that the Greek economy is outperforming as it has returned to growth, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday said during a meeting with Pierre Moscovici
Eurostat's figures confirm that the Greek economy is outperforming as it has returned to growth, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday said during a meeting with EU Commission for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici.
"According to 2017 and 2018 estimates, Greece will have 2.5 percent and 3.0 percent growth rates," he stated.
The Greek Prime Minister underlined that these results are the result of the Greek people's sacrifices. Tsipras stressed that everyone must acknowledge the importance of these figures and honour the sacrifices of the Greek people.
Enough with austerity in Greece, Tsipras said adding that a discussion of a one euro more of austerity can be damaging. What we need is relief measures, he stated and stressed the importance of creating an alliance of the reasonable states.
On his part, Moscovici expressed his optimism over an agreement and the conclusion of the second review of the Greek programme.
Moscovici said that we are closer to an agreement and we will be even closer in the next few days. He added that the aim of February 20 Eurogroup is to set the parametres of the agreement. "We need a strong Greece in the core of the eurozone," he said.
Moscovici thanked Greece for the progress achieved and stressed the importance of continuing the reforms.
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
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres requesting his intervention on a decision made by the parliament on Friday to refer to the enosis referendum in schools
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres requesting his intervention on a decision made by the parliament on Friday to refer to the enosis referendum in schools, an announcement from the so called presidency said on Wednesday.
Akinci said in his letter that the reference to the 1950 unofficial referendum would be a blow the efforts to build trust between the two communities in Cyprus and the negotiation process.
Earlier, the Turkish Cypriot leader called for a correction to the parliaments decision on the enosis referendum, CNA reported.
He added that the process of negotiations would have no point without the correction.
We need confidence building measures, we do not need conduct that would erode security, Akinci said.
He noted that since he was selected as the Turkish Cypriot leader, he has stood against statements for annexation of the occupied areas and enosis, or union, of the state with Greece.
It is our right to await the same behaviour from the Greek Cypriot leader, Akinci said.
Akinci added that President Nicos Anastasiades has to take steps to cancel the decision of the parliament, which was made last Friday.
ELAM the party that proposed the amendment the Turkish Cypriot leader said is a small party that is dragging the larger parties. He referred to examples of small parties in the UK, which gained ground and influenced the countrys decision to exit the EU.
EIDE: TOMORROWS MEETING CRUCIAL
Akinci also met with UN Secretary General Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide on Wednesday, ahead of a leaders meeting scheduled for Thursday.
After the meeting, Eide said that all the Anastasiades-Akinci meetings are important, but tomorrows was crucial.
He added that it is important now to deal with the latest developments to rebuild the trust, which was lost between both communities.
Eide said that regardless of how constructive and dedicated the leaders to dealing with the issues that remain, support is needed from both communities, which need to trust one another.
The UN envoy noted that the leaders have their role, but the wider community has a role to deal with the issue, because we have come this far, and now we are in the end game.
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
Bentley University, Center for Marketing Technology, in collaboration with Visitor International, undertook consumer research among visitors to 17 locations in North America, Europe and South Africa during the summer of 2016
Bentley University, Center for Marketing Technology, in collaboration with Visitor International, undertook consumer research among visitors to 17 locations in North America, Europe and South Africa during the summer of 2016. The purpose of it was to understand the effectiveness of tourism brochures.
Here are 10 ways, confirmed by their research, that brochures positively impact visitors during a trip.
2 out of 3 of visitors picked up a brochure during their trip (67%) The travel plans of almost all of these visitors was influenced by a brochure in market at their destination (95%) More than 4 out of 5 visitors planned to visit an attraction or business as a result of picking up a brochure (83%) Nearly 4 out of 5 visitors would consider altering their plans because of a brochure (78%) 2 out of 3 visitors planned to purchase tickets or merchandise for businesses they learned about from a brochure (65%) 7 out of 10 visitors
6 out of 10 visitors find brochures to be a tangible, easy to use hard copy of information (60%) 6 out of 10 visitors believe brochures are trustworthy (59%) More than half of visitors appreciate that brochures are convenient and always available (53%) More than half of visitors value discounts and coupons in brochures (51%)
About City Contact
Greece, the research was undertaken by In, the research was undertaken by City Contact which was founded in 1996 in order to provide printed information to foreign and domestic visitors of Greece's major hotels. It has currently developed an Info Stand and Visitor's Free Editions and Brochures information network, collaborating exclusively with 220 top Athens, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Thessaloniki, Santorini and Mykonos hotels.
Moreover, it covers printed information needs of tourists by offering free publications at conferences, travel agencies, public institutions, trade fairs, embassies, yacht marinas, etc. In 2004, City Contact initiated the Athens Walking Tours , drawing upon the extensive experience of its staff, and, ever since, these tours have turned into one of the most acclaimed and innovative tourism activities in Athens. Athens Walking Tours offer today, on a daily and all year round basis, high-quality, historical and gastronomic interest guided tours to visitors of Athens, Chania and other popular Greek tourist destinations.
About Visitor International
Visitor International is the International Association of Visitor Information Providers. Our member companies around the world specialize in providing client information to visitors during their stay in their destination, to guide them to wonderful experiences. In this way our member companies:
British tourists will be the first ones to arrive on the island of Rhodes for 2017 tourist season
British tourists will be the first ones to arrive on the island of Rhodes for 2017 tourist season. The tourists will land at Rhodes airport on March 29 with three flights carrying 300 passengers.
The first charter flight by EasyJet will land at Diagoras airport at 11.35 followed by a Thomson charter flight expected to land at 13:00 both from Gatwick airport, London. Minutes after another Thomson charter flight will bring tourists from Manchester.
The first flight from Scandinavia will be carried by Primavera airline with tourists from Finland landing on Rhodes on Saturday 1 April.
The flights to Rhodes will be launched earlier this year due to the fact that the Catholic and Orthodox Easter coincide this year.
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 Malaysian authorities have under custody a woman accused of the murder of North Korean leaders Kim Jong Uns half-brother, Kim Jong Nam.
According to the Malaysian news agency Bernama, the woman was arrested in the international airport of Kuala Lumpur. She was alone at the time of her arrest and she had a Vietnamese passport with her.
South Koreas National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Kim Jong Nam has been under a kill order since his half-brother took power in 2011, according to opposition politician Kim Byung Kee.
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
UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the plan Dubai 10X, which sets the Government of Dubai on a mission to be 10 years ahead of all other cities.
He called on all Dubai Government entities to embrace disruptive innovation as a fundamental mantra of their operations and to seek ways to incorporate its methodologies in all aspects of their work.
"With its forward-thinking vision and initiatives, the UAE Government is setting an example for authorities all around the world as it moves from simply forecasting the future to actively working to shape it," Sheikh Mohammed asserted.
"Traditionally, governments are known all over the world to be resistant to change and bureaucratic organisations that are last to adopt disruptive innovation. The future is a collection of ideas and ambitions that are made and tested in experimental laboratories, and todays initiative transforms Dubai into the worlds largest laboratory for the governments of the future, he added.
"The future will not be as patient with us as the present. The future belongs to those who affect radical changes, not those who make minor, gradual improvements. Today, I am calling on all government leaders and employees to embrace disruptive innovation and find new, creative and truly disruptive approaches and technologies to delivering their mission rather than incremental and minor improvements. We are a young and energetic government who want to be leaders in disruptive innovation and technology, Sheikh Mohammed stated.
He went on to state that he would be personally following up on the reports prepared by the teams of experts assembled at all government departments to redefine government work and establish the UAE as the city of the future.
"Succeeding in becoming the best government in the world underlies the basic elements of creative disruption, allowing not only our tools and systems to be enhanced, but also our mindsets, to be revamped, upgraded and open to embracing disruption. Dubai and the UAE as a whole is no stranger to raising the bar when it comes to innovation. As we launch Dubai 10X here, at the World Government Summit, we are looking to overhaul the way governments operate, making them all the more future-ready."
Disruptive innovation refers to exploiting available technologies to deliver new or existing services in radically different ways that are design-thinking-based and customer-focused, in contrast to incremental innovation, which focuses on making good services better for existing customers. Instead, disruptive innovation will create new operating and business models that replace traditional services and provide multiple times the value for end users and customers.
The Dubai 10X requires Dubai government and quasi government entities to produce and implement three specific initiatives and present these to Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Maktoum within the next three months: 1. X-Units for each government entity: the first requirement is for every government entity to set up and staff with adequate resources an independent X-Unit mandated with the objective of finding ways to disrupt their own organisations practices and develop their own moonshot solutions to deliver beyond their mission. This X-Unit, such as the Dubai 10 X RTA Unit or Dubai 10 X DEWA Unit, will report directly to Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Maktoum.
2. Trial and scale radically disruptive organisational structures, systems and technologies: the second requirement is for government entities to develop systems, processes and labs to trial and scale radically disruptive technologies and approaches in order to deliver on their respective missions. This plan will also need to involve reviewing and reconsidering the traditional organisational structure and hierarchies of government organizations and finding new structures that facilitate creative innovation and disruption.
3. Partnering with and facilitating disruptive solutions and removing regulatory obstacles: the third requirement is to develop processes and methodologies that will allow each Dubai government entity to work with truly disruptive companies and start-ups that radically offer better services or allow Dubais residents to lead a happier life. Regulatory obstacles facing such disruptive companies should also be removed to allow for their uninterrupted operations. TradeArabia News Service
The American Chamber of Commerce Bahrain (AmCham Bahrain) is gearing up to host this years AmCham Mena Regional Councils annual forum next month, expected to be attended by more than 300 business leaders.
Themed SMEs: Unlocking Economic Potential in the Mena Region, the event takes place on March 15 and 16 at the Ritz Carlton Bahrain.
The forum will prioritize the delivery of tangible results for attending companies including helping them to connect directly with potential partners, investors and clients and more swiftly scale up for international investment, trade and business engagement through a series of focused strategy discussions, B2B matchmaking and workshops.
Qays Zu'bi, president of AmCham Bahrain, said that great interest has been building in the forum from high level delegations of business leaders and decision and policy makers.
This includes an expected 300 participants comprising representatives from the US and Mena governments, multilateral financing institutions supporting SME development in the region, as well as key players from the regional SME and entrepreneurship scene.
From the private sector, the event will feature representation from Mena Council member AmChams of Abu Dhabi-UAE, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia, in addition to representatives from other regional US Business Councils and a broad range of international and regional business associations.
Participants will benefit from a series of high level discussions and commentary on opportunities and effective strategies for business development that will feature at the Forum including coverage of key topics such as:
SMEs as key drivers of economic development in the Mena region
The Regional SME Ecosystem: A Fresh look at Thriving Techniques
SME Financing Opportunities and Export Support Programs
The integration of regional SMEs into the supply chain of U.S. and multinational companies in the region
In addition to discussion based engagement, the Forum will also offer companies the opportunity to take part in pre-organized B2B meetings and introductions as well as workshops offering practical solutions and support to help in the expansion of markets and achievement of business goals.
This years Forum also incorporates a new and exciting feature in line with its focus on SME development. In cooperation with CH9, a company helping startups and SMEs, and with technical and knowledge support provided by Microsoft, a half-day Pitch Session is being organized.
This session aims to provide AmCham member companies with the opportunity to present their business case to groups of potential partners, investors and clients in support of accelerating international business growth.
A total of 10 AmCham member SMEs from across the region will be selected to present after being shortlisted by the organizers and supporting parties. TradeArabia News Service
The Prince Mohamed bin Salman Foundation (MiSK) and Google launched Tuesday an initiative to promote the best practices and knowledge to Saudi youth on how to act smartly and safely online.
With the Saudi Ministry of Educations support, We Are All Online will see Google-trained staff from MiSK lead student assemblies in 50 public and private middle schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the second academic semester.
The programme leaders will teach students how to act responsibly and safely online using content developed and localized by Google for Saudi schools. We Are All Online will then expand to five other provinces by the beginning of the next academic year.
Speaking at the programmes launch in Riyadh, Minister of Education Ahmed Al Eissa reiterated the importance of information security especially among todays youth and the education systems role in spreading digital awareness.
The Minister also called upon the students who attended the launch to engage with the programmes trainers and content to make sure they get the best of the initiative. He also expressed his optimism for Kulluna Online.
MiSk secretary general Badr bin Mohamed Al Asaker said: Given the notable growth of usage of the digital world whether through regular browsing or instant messaging applications, it was necessary that we find a creative initiative to spread awareness on digital safety. Kulluna Online was the product of MiSKs belief that the Internet has become one of the most important languages of our time and a necessary tool for development. The programme aims to spread digital awareness and to keep up with the latest global practices which ensure safe Internet browsing.
We are excited to launch the We Are All Online National Digital Awareness Program here in Saudi Arabia. With our partners at MiSK and the Ministry of Education, we want to equip young Saudis with the best practices and knowledge on how to get the best of the web while acting responsibly and safely online. These assemblies will leave a lasting impact on students and will lead to an even better and safer online community in Saudi Arabia, said Sam Blatteis, Google head of Government Relations and Public Policy for the Gulf.
Deputy Minister of Education Dr Mohamed Attia Alharthi said: This programme targets students in both primary and secondary schools and will include hour-long assemblies in each school. It will be executed over four academic semester and we expect that 10,000 students across 50 schools will benefit from the first phase of Kulluna Online, he added.
Drawing from everyday-situations and questions young children face online, the content of the assemblies is based on a gamified experience that would help popularize the memorable key insights from the programme.
The key pillars of We Are All Online include the following:
- Post wisely: The assembly will encourage students to think thoroughly before sharing something online.
- Stay secure: Students will learn how to keep their belongings online (pictures, passwords, documents, etc.) secure.
- Know your settings: Teachers will walk students through how to navigate and adjust their settings to keep their devices and accounts secure.
- How to avoid fraud and identity theft: The programme will help students become more critical of what they see on the web and to seek advice from parents and students.
- Importance of being positive online: The programme aims to promote a positive online community where students can feel safe.
In addition to the school assemblies, the programme will have its own website where all the material will be available online for anyone to view in Saudi Arabia and beyond. TradeArabia News Service
ABB has successfully energised a major substation that will help evacuate power from the Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park in Dubai, UAE.
The 400/132 kilovolt (kV) gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substation has been built for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), the UAEs leading power utility, to connect the second phase of the MBR Solar Park and integrate 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the transmission grid.
The utility scale solar photovoltaic plant, which covers 4.5 sq km, will produce enough electricity to serve more than 130,000 people. Its addition to the UAE network displaces the need for power from fossil fuels that would have produced about 250,000 tons of carbon emissions annually, said a statement.
Further expansions are planned and the Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, when completed by 2030, will be spread across a 70-sq-km area, making it the largest single-site solar project in the world with a capacity of 5,000 MW - enough to serve 800,000 homes and help mitigate the impact of around 6.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. This development supports the UAEs goal to be a global centre of clean energy and a green economy by 2050.
We are proud to work with Dewa and be associated with this important project. Our state-of-the-art GIS substation will boost transmission capacity and bring clean solar power to the people said Claudio Facchin, president of ABBs Power Grids Division. Integrating renewables is a key element of our Next Level strategy as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid.
ABB was responsible for the design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the substation. Key product supplies include 11 bays of 400 kV and 21 bays of compact 132 kV GIS, power transformers and IEC 61850-based open architecture automation and control systems.
Dewa works to build world-class energy infrastructure that meets Dubais development demands. This is part of our ongoing efforts to achieve our ambitious strategy and plans, to deliver the highest standards of availability, reliability and efficiency in a sustainable manner, while minimising environmental impact, said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa.
ABB is a leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport and infrastructure globally. TradeArabia News Service
The inaugural Egypt Petroleum Show, set to be the biggest industry event ever seen in North Africa, opened yesterday (February 14) in Cairo with participation from more than 400 exhibiting companies.
The debut event, launched by Tarek El Molla, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, will run until February 16 at the Cairo International Convention Centre (CICEC) Nasr City. The exhibition and conference will host more than 25 technical and strategic conference sessions and in excess of 10,000 visitors.
"The new Egypt, which is working on turning its citizens' dreams and aspirations into reality, welcomes and actively supports the convening of this Show. It reflects Egypt's strong, valuable position as an active country in this industry. Egypt's petroleum sector, with the guidance of a dedicated executive committee of industry experts is working to achieve maximum possible use of the event through reviewing and demonstrating research, exploration and production, and investment opportunities, said El Molla.
It is anticipated that Egypt will invest more than $14.5 billion into its downstream refining and petrochemical sector in the next five years. Current infrastructure project investments for receiving, transfer, and trading of petroleum products in Egypt stand at EGP8.8 billion ($504 million).
"The Egyptian petroleum sector has ambitious plans to jump-start its oil industry, taking it to new horizons. We are investing heavily in the sector, and have successfully launched international bids and concluded new petroleum agreements, the cornerstone of petroleum activities," said the Minister.
The Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS 2017 offers the opportunity for graduates through to recently qualified young engineers, geologists and technicians to develop their skills and learn the latest state-of-the-art research and techniques thanks to the EGYPS Graduate Programme.
EGYPS Women In Industry programme will celebrate the growing role of women within the North African oil and gas sector. This will include dedicated conference sessions regarding women in upstream, midstream and downstream strategic and technical positions, and the opportunities that lay ahead.
Christopher Hudson, president of dmg events, Energy Division, organiser of the conference and exhibition, said: "EGYPS 2017 is the first step in establishing the leading annual platform in North Africa for the oil and gas sector; especially Egypt. With the active support and participation of our local partner ACG-ITF, we are in agreement that choosing Egypt reflects the faith international partners have in its investment climate and its potential for significant economic growth in the near future."
"Egypt is clearly a growing market with huge opportunities, and EGYPS presents the first opportunity for local, regional and international players to come together and create a blueprint for the future energy security of Egypt. This inaugural show will provide an opportunity for global buyers and sellers to display their products and services on the exhibition floor, and to establish alliances and partnerships. The conference represents an unparalleled opportunity for the global oil and gas industry to explore the opportunities and challenges of the exciting North African market," he said.
EGYPS 2017 is the latest expansion in dmg events' Energy Division conference and exhibition portfolio, which includes some of the world's largest and most important events, including the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), Gastech in Japan, and the Global Petroleum Show (GPS) in Canada. TradeArabia News Service
Upon boarding Delta Air Lines 767 you'll find its tray tables turned into works of art that "celebrates themes of optimism, travel, refreshment, and happiness." In cooperation with the Coca-Cola Company, Delta invited 12 artists around the world to showcase their works 35,000 feet above the ground.
Each artist delivers their unique style while drawing up inspiration from famous tourists destinations like Amsterdam, Atlanta, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo, according to Cross Roads Today. However, if one can't board to Delta 767, you can find the airlines' tray tables on display at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport between gates A15 and A11.
The airport, being the busiest one in the US, was chosen because of foot traffic, making it more visible to the public. Moreover, the exhibit will feature video footages and behind the scenes works of artists painting the tray tables.
Among the featured works are the Amsterdam Dutch waffles and bicyclists in a flower-lined street by Sac Magique, to which the artist's attributes to the city he loves in a more quirky manner. Meanwhile, Skip Hursch painted themes about Central American textile design with a contemporary touch and stroke alluding to Mexico City.
The Parisian night was captured by James R. Eads in a swirling, effervescent night a little bit reminiscent of Van Gogh's Starry Night. Also, the Hollywood Boulevard work by Stevie Gee got its spot in the airlines' tray tables where they are contrasted with average people walking on the stars of the boulevard.
Three Asian countries also made it among the 12 artists. Yulia Brodskaya crafted Seoul's food culture with paper, with Ping Zhu depicting Shanghai street markets and Paola Gracey who painted Tokyo, Japan famous lights and neon signs.
Even Atlanta's very own painting made it in the 12 displays with Delta's creative department designer Adam Pinsley and contributed it to Coca-Cola and Delta.
See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
The trend for best accommodations for 2017 would seem to be not to own a chain of properties, but to own several thousand of them worldwide. Airbnb -- without having to own a single property -- had accomplished this by making a platform for private property owners to share their properties to both luxury and backpacking travelers. The trend of property sharing has yet to disappear, making Airbnb likely to dominate the accommodations industry in 2017.
According to Fast Company, Airbnb is the world's most innovative accommodations company despite starting only as a listing platform for private company owners focused on renting out their properties for travelers and now is focusing on "handling users' entire travel experience." Fast Company speculates its deal with another app called "Resy" -- the latter focusing on restaurant reservations -- could mean handling entire itineraries for travelers in the near future.
HotelBusiness.com cites data from industry thinktank Tambourine and CBRE that indicate Airbnb has dominated against "traditional hotel stays" in luxury hotels or hostels. CBRE Senior Economist Jamie Lane even indicated that the "switch of travelers for an Airbnb stay" had "the US lose more than 0.9%" in terms of travel profit.
The news website said Airbnb's short-term property rental domination would continue based on their figures. The number of Airbnb users, increasing from 17m to 40m in 2015-2016, is an indicator of steady and skyrocketing growth for 2017. Following its profit victories during the Super Bowl of 2017, Airbnb is likely to include and feature luxury properties in its listing. The feature of Lady Gaga's $20 million Super Bowl short-term estate had made Airbnb into a brand that caters to an upscale tier.
According to Conde Nast Traveler, Airbnb is potentially tying up deals with Luxury Retreats -- the latter owning more than 4,000 rental properties worldwide from well-provided mountain log cabins to luxurious castles and mansions -- an immense rival who may have interest in sharing mutual profits. The travel news and tips website said the deal has the potential to give Airbnb better chances to include more Canadian luxury properties given Luxury Retreats is a Canadian brand.
See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
MATTOON -- Business owners, employees and community residents are invited to attend the Our Town Community Update Breakfast meetingfrom 7:30-9 a.m. on March 9. The breakfast is hosted by the Charleston and Mattoon Chambers of Commerce.
Key community leaders have been invited to give updates from their perspectives. Speakers at the breakfast include: Brandon Combs (mayor, City of Charleston), Tim Gover (mayor, City of Mattoon), Lynette Drake (interim associate vice president for student affairs, Eastern Illinois University), Dr. Josh Bullock (president, Lake Land College) and Angela Griffin (president/CEO, Coles Together).
As part of her update, Angela Griffin will be sharing findings from the recently conducted EIU Economic Impact Study. The impact study generated important data such as the amount of spending done in the community by on-campus student versus an off-campus student, the state and local taxes that are generated by the university, and the number of indirect employees that are a result of the university.
The meeting will conclude with time for questions from the attendees for any of the speakers.
The breakfast will take place in the banquet facility at the Unique Suites Hotel, 920 West Lincoln Avenue in Charleston. Individual tickets and tables of 8 are available.
Tickets are $20 per person for Mattoon and Charleston Chamber members and $30 per person for non-members. A buffet breakfast is included. Community residents are welcome to attend.
Registration is required and can be done by going to the Mattoon Chamber website at www.mattoonchamber.com or the Charleston Chamber website at www.charlestonchamber.com.
For more information call the Mattoon Chamber at 217-235-5661 or the Charleston Chamber at 217-345-7041.
An United Airlines pilot dressed in street clothes went to the cabin, took control of the intercom and began ranting. She began discussing her divorce and firing off about the recent election. The passengers were surprised and scared about the incident.
United Airlines Flight 455 was parked at Austin-Bergstom International Airport in Austin and was bound for San Francisco airport, when the incident happened, reports NBC. The pilot appeared to be on a nervous breakdown. The incident happened Saturday evening.
The pilot ranted about politics and her personal life, particularly about her recent divorce. She also said something about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over the intercom. The pilot also mentioned that she was going to be on Oprah. She was visibly agitated before being overcome by tears.
It quickly went from playful to scary, according to a passenger. At first the pilot seemed friendly, said Randy Reiss, a passenger, but things took an nervous turn when she mentioned out an interracial couple sitting in first class.
Reiss, who tweeted that he felt unsafe and uncomfortable during that point of the rant, proceeded to depart from the plane. Half of the other passengers followed also, said Sylvia Nguessan, another passenger.
Reiss tweeted, "So y'all. I'm shaking right now. I just left my United 455 flight 'cos the captain demonstrated that she was not mentally in a safe space."
Because of the incident, the flight was delayed for more than two hours. United Airlines confirmed that the pilot was removed the airplane. According to Daily Mail Co UK, a spokesperson for United Airlines responded to the incident while the plane was still on the tarmac: "We hold our employees to the highest standards and replaced this pilot with a new one to operate the flight," the statement read in part. "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Smoking is one of the deadliest habits around the world. According to the World Health Organization, around 6 million people every year die in connection with smoking-related diseases, such as lung cancer.
Countries all over the world have their own platforms in trying to lessen the amount of smoking in their citizens, but Russia has decided to take it one step further: The country proposed to ban smoking altogether.
The proposal states that in 2033, those born after 205 will not be allowed to buy or smoke cigarettes anymore, the offense would be treated harshly and its degree of severity is equivalent to purchasing illegal drugs.
President Vladimir Putin, a nonsmoker, supports the ban. Over the last few years he has exercised strict rules to curb smoking in his country. Now, smoking is banned in most public places and restaurants, and he has increased the taxes on several tobacco products.
Russia is one of the top countries in the world with a high smoking population. But because of the recently enforced laws, the percentage of smoking Russians is slowly dwindling; something its Health Ministry is treating as a success. But what they really want is the approval of the smoking ban proposal to be in effect in 2033. According to Nikolai Gerasimenko, a member of the Russian parliament's health committee, "This goal is absolutely ideologically correct."
But some lawmakers worry about the effects of banning cigarette sales completely. Elena Topoleva-Soldunova of the Russian public chamber thinks that this step would just encourage smokers to use counterfeit tobacco products, which are more dangerous to the health.
Others also think about the rate of possibility of this ban. Some countries have tried to ban smoking completely, like in Bhutan, but it didn't stop the smoking locals to purchase illegal cigarettes from India.
The proposal is still under talks and intensive study before it can be approved. Marina Gambaryan, an expert at the Health Ministry, said: "By 2033, the ban on the sale of tobacco products to people born after 2014 will not seem an extreme measure, but an entirely logical development of events."
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The man who once won The Best Job in The World as a caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef is taking his job to a whole new level. Now, he's going to get paid to travel the world and the best part is that he can take his wife with him.
Ben Southall became the talk of the town back in 2009 when he was chosen to be the caretaker of a paradise island in Australia. According to Saxton, Southall bagged a job that payed him AUD$150,000 that included accommodation and the chance to explore the area.
For six months, he spent his days blogging and video recording his activities. However, when his contract with the management expired, he decided not to return to his old job as an event organizer.
But now he's back on track and the Daily Mail reported that Southall was hired by the tourism board in Australia and New Zealand to explore the different attractions in the world. Along with his wife, Sophee, the married couple are now traveling the world while getting paid to do it.
The two are documenting their travels and adventures while posting it on their travel blog called The Best Life In The World. In some of their adventures, the couple are seen longboarding in Tasmania and cruising a 54,000 mile trip from Singapore to London in a Landrover.
The married couple met back in an event while Ben was hosting an awards ceremony. Since then, the two haven't stayed in one place and started to explore the world. Sophie is also a travel blogger after she quit her job back in Brisbane in a publishing company.
But it's not all fun and games because the couple was once chased by an angry mob. However, Ben expressed his feelings about traveling with his wife and said, "The benefits are you get to enjoy and share the experience of some of the world's most stunning places together."
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The Sichuan cuisine is considered to be one of the eight great Chinese cuisines because of its bold and unique flavors that are derived mostly on the spiciness and pungency of different chilis and spices particulary the Sichuan peppers. And for chilli-lovers and everyone who wants to indulge in the authentic Sichuan flavors, the best place to find the legendary Sichuan classics in on Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province.
Chengdu is popular in China because of its wide range of food choices - from streetfoods, hotpots, noodles, mapo tofu, and other Sichuan dishes. If you are planning to go on a foodtrip to Chengdu, here are some of the things that you must not dare to miss.
The Chuan Chuan Xiang Skewers
Chuan Chuan Xiang Skewers is popular in Chengdu especially for groups of customers who come in bulk. This dish is one of the classics in Chengdu and in fact, you can find stalls and restaurants selling Chuan Chuan Xiang Skewers in almost every corner of Chengdu. All you have to do is to pick the skewers with the raw vegetable, meat, enoki mushrooms or bean curd of your choice then let the servers cook them for you. The skewers that you chose will be cooked in an extremely hot and spicy broth that is filled with Sichuan peppers and then serve to you with the same soup where the skewered meats or veggies are cooked.
Zhangfei beef
According to Top China Travel, just like the Chuan Chuan Xiang, Zhangfei beef can be found all over Chengdu. It is a Chinese specialty with a powerful hint of the spicy Sichuan flavour. The packaging of the Zhangfei beef is derived from its own brand culture showing the signature traditional face make-up from the Culture of the Chinese Three Kingdoms. Zhangfei beef is composed of beef jerky that is of different sizes that is spiced with the unique Sichuan flavors.
Spicy Mung Bean Jelly Noodles
Commonly known in Chengdu as the Liangfen, the Spicy Mung Bean Jelly Noodles is actually a must-try when you are going on a foodtrip to Chengdu. It is a traditional Sichuan dish that is composed with thick and translucent noodles that is made from mung bean starch. After being boiled in water, the noodles are then tossed in a savory sauce that is flavoured with a lot of chilli oil, Sichuan peppers, sesame paste, julienned carrot, crushed garlic, say sauce and vinegar. According to the Food Ranger, the best place to go on for a bowl of Spicy Mung Bean Jelly Noodles is on Dongzi wei zhang lao er liangfen.
Husband and Wife Lung Slices
Traditionally called as the Fuqi feipian, the "Husband and Wife Lung Slices" is a well-known Sichuan dish that is served either cold or hot and as an appetizer. The dish is composed of thin slices of beef and beef offal that is bathed in a savory combination of Sichuan peppercorns, a lot of chilli oil, sugar, garlic, and vinegar. As time went by, the original ingredient of the dish which was beef or beef offal was replaced by a variety of lamb and other meat slices. However, many customers, especially the locals, still prefer to order the traditional one.
Mapo tofu
Mapo tofu is also known on the Sichuan cuisine as the "Pockmarked grandma's tofu". The dish is considered to be one of the most in-demand Sichuan dishes of all times. It is typically a tofu set in a spicy, thick sauce that is bean-based and topped with minced meat that can usually be either beef or pork. Mapo tofu is also regularly cooked with fermented black beans also known as he douchi.
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Wedding is definitely one of the most memorable events that will ever happen in a person's life. And since it happens only once, well, for others, you really have to make the most out of it and assure that everything will be perfect as you have planned it to be. Most women dream of exchanging vows with their partner in a beach wedding. However, the idea is often being screwed because of the limited budget the couples have for their wedding plans.
Little do these women know that being wed beside a crystal clear sea with the sunset in their backdrop is not always expensive as they expect them to be. We listed some of the most affordable beach wedding destinations that you might want to consider on your wedding.
1. Belize
With low costs on airfare as if you are going to Mexico or other nearby destinations, a wedding in the seaside of Belize is perfect and definitely budget-friendly. According to Belize Weddings, the white sand beaches of Belize is an ultimate choice for the most memorable wedding experience as the couple and the guests will witness a beautiful beachside wedding while enjoying a candid view of the Caribbean Sea. Also, lobster is one of the local specialties of Belize and is sold on a cheaper price. Therefore, you can serve and impress your guests with a sumptuous lobster dinner without falling off the limit of your budget.
2. Dominican Republic
A wedding on the white-sand beaches of the Dominican Republic will give you an opportunity to explore the wonders of nature and indulge yourself in several outdoor activities without even worrying about your budget. Aside from the clear blue seas and perfect white sand beaches, Dominican Republic is also rich when it comes to amazing rainforests, mangroves and underwater caves. With a view of both the Caribbean and the Atlantic, a wedding in the Dominican Republic will let you celebrate romance and adventure all at the same time.
3. Negril, Jamaica
With over 700 miles of white and gold sand beaches, Negril, Jamaica is definitely one of the most affordable yet one of a kind beach wedding destinations you have to choose from, the Destination Weddings says. Negril is where you can find the most beautiful sunsets in Jamaica without spending too much of your money. Negril is also known because of its Seven Mile Beach which is considered to be the perfect destination for beach weddings not only in Jamaica but in nearby states as well.
4. Destin, Florida
Beach weddings and even vow renewals are best celebrated in a wonderful beach destination. And if you are going on a beach wedding with only limited resources on your pockets, Florida is the perfect choice for you and for your future husband or wife. And for budget-friendly weddings in Florida, Destin offers less expensive nuptials compared to that of Miami and Panama City. The beaches in Destin drops-off rates especially when it is not peak season so you can actually save a lot while living the Florida wedding of your dream.
5. Maine
This Northernmost state in the East Coast is among the top choices of couples who plan to go on a budget-friendly beach wedding. With more than 9,000 weddings each year, Maine will give you a picture-perfect beach wedding that you have never imagined. With its natural beauty and a winding coastline, Maine has an impressive collection of rustic beach wedding destinations on a spectacular beach waterfront.
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Being a part of the Seven Wonders of the World, the ancient pyramids of Giza are truly magnificent edifices that signify the rich history and culture of Egypt. Scientists have discovered a lot of information about the pyramids but there are still more questions to be answered. Here are five interesting facts about Egypt's pyramids.
Who Built the Pyramids?
A lot of stories coming from movies, documentaries and books tell about how Egypt enslaved people to build the pyramids. It's true that the ancient civilization did use slavery but a lot of Egyptians were also employed to build the pyramids. According to USA Today, there were also other workers like cooks, bakers, medicine men and priests, who helped indirectly in the construction.
When Were the Pyramids Built?
Pyramids weren't continuously built all throughout the reign of the pharaohs. One of the first pyramids were built around 2630 B.C which was the Step Pyramid of Djoser. It was then followed by the Pyramids of Giza. But the whole pyramid construction halted after the sixth dynasty ended.
How Were the Pyramids Built?
Many archeologists have researched about the building methods of the Egyptians. It's quite a marvel how these huge structures had withstood the test of time. It is believed that limestone blocks were used and carved using copper chisels. The workers would have the blocks float to the construction site whenever the Nile River overflows.
What Were the Materials Used?
A lot of scientists say that limestone was the main material used. However, some studies show that there were other elements found in the pyramid's composition. It is believed that some parts of the pyramids had some concrete in it.
What Were the Pyramids' Purpose?
Egyptians believe that when a pharaoh dies, his spirit must be properly cared for. According to History, the pyramids were built to house the pharaoh's spirit as it ascends into the heavens to join the sun god Ra.
Until this day, a lot of scientists are still unraveling facts about the pyramids. The mystery and the beauty of the pyramids are something that needs to be experienced.
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Italy is one of the most popular romantic destinations which opens all year round to accommodate travelers from all over the world. But with that being said, it can get a bit crowded and expensive at times. It is important to know some travel tips as to when to visit Italy.
Ideal Seasons
According to Frommer's, April to June and mid-September to October are the ideal months if you want lesser crowds but still have the comfortable daytime temperatures with picturesque rural scenes. However, late October has a shorter operation time since hotels are closed for renovation and redecoration.
Seasonal Rates
Another consideration is the fluctuating rates and prices. Hotel prices in Rome and Florence surge high during May and June due to peak tourist seasons. While mid-September to March offers cheaper airline fares as well as lower rates for apartments and villas. But if you're looking for the best deals, winter is the best time except on Christmas breaks.
Culinary Calendar
USA Today suggests that travelers should consult the kitchen calendar which caters two seasons. The fall season allows you to party in the well-known grape harvest and to experience the chestnut roasting in the famous paved streets. The springtime is a culinary experience with its fresh fava beans garnished with pecorino cheese and a scene of busy markets displaying their fresh native produce.
August Advice
If you love the summer's warmth, August is ideal for you with the rates getting cheaper in Florence, Rome and less teeming attractions. Aside from that, you would surely enjoy the free cultural events and concerts that Rome offers. But a tour in Turin and Milan should be unmarked on your list since they become temporary ghost towns.
There is much to explore in Italy but be mindful of the travel tips that would definitely help you get the best deals. Always consider the ideal season for the fun activities and the culinary calendar for the authentic Italian food experience.
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Lapland is famed for its wintery glory and a lof of tourists like the place due to its picturesque view, outdoor activities and the magnificent aurora borealis light display. But it's not all snow, you can try hiking or just enjoying the lake during the summer . Here are five things every traveler must do when visiting Lapland, Finland.
Ice-swimming
According to Lonely Planet, the Sampo offers a four-hour cruise with meals and reindeer visits through snowmobiles. To complete the experience, tourists get a chance to swim in the thick ice with the use of special drysuits.
Husky Tours
Another experience is to visit one of Lapland's husky farms and avail this somehow pricey but worthwile excursion. It's a chance to be pulled by expertly trained dogs for an hour and a half ride. Make sure to take lots of pictures especially when you're taking control of the sleigh.
Ice fishing
Mirror reported that Northern Finland's lakes are the perfect spot to catch local fishes such as the Arctic Char. Their three to five-hour tour includes ice fishing complete with hot dogs and hot drinks on the side. What can be more relaxing than that?
Reindeer rides
Lapland is blessed with a vast number of reindeer farms. Nothing completes a reindeer experience than a chance to visit the farm itself. Guests can also avail a five-year certificate to drive a reindeer sleigh in any part of the world.
Tobongganing
To complete the authentic Lapland experience, one must try Europe's longest toboggan run. Be courageous to take the long walk up and then have the most memorable ride sliding down.
Lapland doesn't only make your fantasies come true, being the home of Santa Clause himself, but it's a place jam-packed with outdoor activities. Most activities are specifically planned for to showcase the beauty of Lapland.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has demanded an immediate inquiry into the ties between Russia and the Trump Administration. This latest report came after the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Warren posted a series of tweets on her Twitter account on Tuesday morning, demanding a "real bipartisan, transparent inquiry into Russia." She also questioned what kind of role the Trump administration had in Flynn's communications with Moscow. The senator also questioned President Donald Trump's knowledge of the situation.
"This.Is.Not.Normal. @realDonaldTrump owes Americans a full account of his admin's dealings with Russia, both before and after the election", she said in a tweet. She even claimed that Flynn could have been used a scapegoat by the Trump administration in its relationship with Russia. She called Flynn's resignation a "win for American values" and described his "blinding hatred and shady Russian ties" as a couple of reasons why he was not qualified to be a National Security Advisor.
Flynn resigned from his position last Monday after reports surfaced about he had misled Vice President Andrew Pence and other senior White House officials about his communications with Russia. According to The Hill, Flynn had reportedly been discussing sanctions made against Moscow during the Obama era before Trump was sworn into office as president.
Warren joins a list of Democrats who want an investigation on the Trump's administration's relationship with Russia and are using Flynn's resignation as a basis for it. Fellow Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey also wants an investigation into the Trump-Russia ties.
According to a report by The Guardian, President Trump had allegedly known about Flynn's communications with Moscow for weeks. Flynn's resignation came as a result of an "eroding level of trust" and not because of a potential violation of the law. Flynn stepped down after only 24 days as the Trump administration's National Security Adviser.
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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.
CHARLESTON -- Fall enrollment numbers are historically higher than numbers in the spring, and this year was no different, according to Eastern Illinois University spring enrollment numbers.
According to this years official enrollment figures, which were provided upon request, 5,270 undergraduate and 1,403 graduate students, a total of 6,673, are attending Eastern this semester. This is a decrease of 742 students from the falls enrollment of 7,415.
This was expected, according to university officials. Given that 749 academic degrees and certificates were awarded in December and a smaller influx of freshmen come in halfway through the academic year, that decrease was not a surprise, they say.
Fall-to-spring enrollment numbers are traditionally down -- in large part, a result of the number of students who graduate at the end of the fall semester, said Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs. There were no surprises there.
However, in comparison with spring 2016 numbers, this semester's enrollment was still a stark decline.
Official numbers show that 7,876 students were attending the university just a year before. That is a difference of 1,203 students.
A more granular breakdown depicts declines in enrollment in each class. The figures show that (as compared with spring 2016 figures in parentheses) there are 791 (1,084) freshmen, 959 (1,143) sophomores, 1,318 (1,655) juniors and 2,160 (2,562) seniors.
Beyond the undergraduate level, there are 42 (49) post-baccalaureate undergraduates and 1,403 (1,383) graduate students.
Kelly Miller, admissions director, said these enrollment figures can be attributed to several external issues facing aspects of higher education.
She listed the state of Illinois' finances and the uncertainty citizens are facing when deciding how much of an impact the state budget woes are having on higher education. However, Miller also mentioned Monetary Award Program grant payment uncertainties have also deterred people, even though Eastern is still covering MAP grant funding while the state is not.
Outside of broad strokes, the university is seeing minor improvements in other categories, such as international student enrollment. The number of international students shows an increase of more than 14 percent in a years time -- from 382 in spring 2016 to 436 this spring.
To combat negative news and uncertainty spilling out of Springfield from state lawmakers, Miller noted the university has been leaning more heavily than in years past on marketing. She cited numerous advertisements that have and are expected to run in newspapers, radio stations, movie theaters and other media outlets in hopes of reaching out to prospective students across the state.
The admissions department also has been stepping up its outreach to prospective students with new initiatives and events to hopefully spark more or continued interest in the university, she said. She mentioned events such as receptions in the St. Louis and Chicago areas for admitted students, something not done before.
Miller said she also has hope for what the ideas and directions the recommendations made by the Vitalization Project will do for the university moving forward.
She said her focuses are lying on what she and the university can control, instead of what they cannot at the state level.
We are working on what we can control, she said. (State lawmakers) are not going to ride in on a white horse and save us.
University President David Glassman has said one of his goals is to eventually push enrollment back up to 9,000.
Other figures listed in the official release of the enrollment numbers include:
Minorities represent nearly 26 percent of Easterns enrollment with 15 (18 in 2016) American Indian/Alaskan Native, 74 (86) Asian, 1,073 (1,244) black, 418 (444) Hispanic, five (three) Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and 141 (151) two or more races.
The number of participants (both on and off campus) taking advantage of the program providing out-of-state students with in-state tuition prices is as follows: Indiana, 94 (104); Iowa, 24 (18); Kentucky, 10 (10); Michigan, 19 (14); Missouri, 67 (54); and Wisconsin, 45 (35).
Visit.org is Changing Global Access to Impactful Travel
(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - February 15th, 2017
Visit.org is the debut marketplace for social impact travel experiences hosted by social ventures (nonprofits and other community-based enterprises) around the world. The startup is committed to the United Nations Year of Sustainable Travel with goals that align with the mandate to create sustainable consumption for travelers. Visit.org was established in response to the travel industrys immense potential to generate economic sustainability for local communities. The $7T travel industry is the worlds top economic driver yet only 5% of earnings are left in local hands. The only entities that can guarantee that revenue from tourism activities stays in local hands are the local social ventures that offer access to their unique cultures. The platforms technology enables these social ventures to create and market mainstream tourism products that will finance their missions using modern business practices.
Globally, there are 10M do-good organizations out of which at least 100K have the ability to offer excursions. Meanwhile, the demand for authentic travel has been growing 65% year over year since 2009. Visit.org offers immersive and impactful travel experiences hosted by social initiatives to raise awareness and increase revenue for their causes. The objective is to offer authentic activities that are unique to the organizations cause and can be added to any trip itinerary. 100% of hosts revenue is invested back into the local community.
Visit.org reverses the traditional model of voluntourism; instead of the visitor providing a service to the local community, the local community provides a service to the visitor in the form of an immersive experience. Travelers may learn Peruvian weaving with Awamaki artisans ($60), cook traditional meals with immigrants in New York City ($124), or save sea turtles in Athens, Greece ($21). Once a person interacts with an organization they tend to become long-term advocates. In addition, 30% of the guests book another Visit.org activity within a week after their first transformational experience.
We have an extensive vetting process with criteria requirements that ensure organizations are benefiting local communities in a meaningful, lasting way. Our set of values promotes cross-cultural understanding and respecting local customs. Michal Alter, Co-Founder and CEO of Visit.org. Visit.org is the worlds largest platform for community-driven travel experiences, growing at a monthly rate of 24%. The platform offers 500 short activities in 64 countries that promote causes such as the environment, womens empowerment, human rights, animal welfare, and heritage preservation. Prior to joining Visit.org many of these organizations did not offer a mainstream tourism product or have a meaningful digital presence.
A global network of 200+ remote travel Ambassadors help improve partners Visit.org profiles through their professional photography, videography and storytelling. In addition, Ambassadors assist in identifying and vetting new partner organizations. They also provide partners with advice and ongoing feedback to enhance their tourism offerings.
About Visit.org Inc.:
Visit.org is a NY-based startup founded in 2015 and is the worlds leading platform for social impact travel experiences hosted by do-good organizations. 100% of hosts' revenue is invested back into the local communities. The platform offers 500 immersive and impactful travel experiences in 64 countries. Visit.org won Columbia Business Schools award for Social Entrepreneurship, and the Inc. Magazine and Salesforces annual Small Business Big Impact competition. Key business partnerships include Expedia and TripAdvisor. Visit.org, meet the world in person! Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn and the Visit.org Blog.
Contact: Lola Mendez, Business Development and Communications, Lola.Mendez@visit.org
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Researchers studying sharks are able to identify individual sharks by the markings on the edge of their dorsal fins. Much like a fingerprint, each shark has its own unique pattern of bumps, notches and scars. When studying shark populations, researchers have had to manually compare old images with new ones to sort out sharks they've already identified from new ones, a task that can be very time consuming.
Dr. Sara Andreotti, a marine biologist in the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa knew there had to be a better way. For six years, she had built a database of great white sharks she's seen off the coast of South Africa, with profiles on each individual, including DNA information if she and her colleagues had been able to collect a biopsy. She wanted to have a faster way to pair new photographs with her detailed database.
Andreotti sought help from the university's applied math department where a specialist in machine learning knew exactly how to tackle the problem. They built an image recognition software called Identifin that traces a line along the notches on the back edge of the dorsal fin in a photograph and then matches that line to existing images in the database. The existing images are ranked in order of likelihood of it being a match, with the photo in the number one spot being the correct one if it's an already known shark.
Stellenbosch University
If the photo in the number one spot doesn't match, it's a new shark.
"Previously, while at sea, I had to try and memorize which shark is which, to prevent sampling the same individual more than once," said Andreotti. "Now Identifin can take over. I will only need to download the new photographic identifications from my camera onto a small field laptop and run the software to see if the sharks currently around the boat have been sampled or not."
"By knowing which sharks had not been sampled before we can focus the biopsy collections on them. This saves us both time and money when it comes to genetic analysis in the laboratory."
On a larger scale, if software like this can be become the industry standard for marine biologists, researchers will be able to compare their data to others around the world and get a full picture of the distribution great white sharks and other species as well.
The next step for the team is to tweak the software so that it can be used for a variety of large marine animals and make it accessible to other researchers.
MATTOON (JG-TC) -- The Regional Office of Education was given some access to sales tax money expected to funnel into Mattoon schools from the state after a school board vote Tuesday.
The Mattoon school board approved a resolution that essentially allows the regional office to keep the interest collected from the Coles County Facilities Tax money coming down from the state for the short period it is in the regional office's "bank account," Larry Lilly, Mattoon superintendent, said.
Lilly explained that the state collects the tax money and that money is sent to the regional office to be sent to the school districts. For the short period of time that the regional office has the money, interest grows on it.
As previously reported, Lilly said the agreement would allow them to retain that interest. Lilly said it will essentially offset facilitation costs for the regional office. Should every district in the county OK this agreement, this interest is expected to amount to roughly $50 total each time the money runs through the regional office.
In other action Tuesday evening, First Mid-Illinois Insurance Group and Dimond Brothers Insurance, both in Mattoon, presented offers of insurance proposals to the school board. Earlier, the district started soliciting for bids for insurance services outside of health insurance. This includes property, casualty, workers compensation, school board legal, and other commercial insurance.
An insurance broker will be chosen later on.
Also approved Tuesday:
Next years school calendar. According to the calendar, the first day of school will be Aug. 15, and high school graduation is scheduled for May 25, 2018.
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 15
The Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), a city-based NGO, has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to impress upon the Union and state governments on resumption of international flights.
The AVM president, Kulwant Singh Ankhi, stated that the High Court (HC) on Monday put the Centre and Punjab government on notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking resumption of non-stop international Air India flights from Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport to London, Birmingham, Milan, Vancouver, Toronto, besides other destinations.
He said the HC Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice Darshan Singh also put Air India and Jet Airways on notice. The petition was filed by the AVM through its president Ankhi.
It was argued that stopping of direct international flights from the airport was causing inconvenience, mental and physical harassment to the public at large and also financial loss to the government exchequer.
The direction has also been sought for Jet Airways, to start non-stop flights to Abu Dhabi and other countries from Amritsar, besides telling Centre to contact international airlines including Turkish Airways, Air Asia Malaysia, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Oman Air and Saudi Airlines, to know whether they were willing to start direct flights from Amritsar.
The petitioner has also sought directions to declare Hub and Spoke Policy of Air India null and void. Under the facility, international passengers are required to clear immigration and security at the boarding airport, but no check is done at the last point of exit.
Direct international flights from Amritsar to Kabul were started in 1960. Air India started direct flights from Amritsar to Birmingham with a stop at Moscow in 1982.
In 2010, Air India and other private airlines either cancelled or diverted many international flights from Amritsar airport via Delhi to benefit the newly-constructed airport at the Capital, alleged the petitioner.
He further claimed that Air India also announced a policy that all its international flights would depart only from Delhi and Mumbai airports and passengers from all over India would be connected via these two airports using Hub and Spoke Flights.
After privatisation of the Delhi international airport and diversion of flights from Amritsar, footfall of international passengers fell drastically from 80 per cent to 30 per cent at the Amritsar airport. It shows the great injustice being done with Amritsar airport, the petitioner had argued.
The court has also been requested to issue directions to equip the airport with infrastructure facilities such as food court, business class lounges, parking and functioning of all aero-bridges, he said.
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15
In a major step towards creating bigger public sector banks through consolidation and gaining global scale, the Union Cabinet today approved the merger plan of SBI and its five associate banks but did not take a decision with regard to Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
The associate banks which will be merged with SBI are: State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH).
The Cabinet had earlier in-principle cleared the merger proposal. It had gone to the Boards of various banks which have granted the approvals. The recommendations of the Boards were considered today and the Cabinet cleared the proposal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
He said with this merger, the SBI will also become a very large bank, not merely from a domestic point of view but actually a global player in its very size.
On the proposal to merge Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI, Jaitley said, It is under consideration as of now. We have not taken any decision related with that today.
Chandigarh, February 15
Experts today deliberated upon Brexit Challenges and opportunities for India during a panel discussion at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh.
The panel of experts comprised David Lelliot, British Deputy High Commissioner, Bhaswati Mukherjee, former Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Prof Sucha Singh Gill, former Director General, CRRID and VK Sibal, former member, Punjab Human Rights Commission.
Assuring the gathering that Brexit will have no negative impact on the relations between the UK and India or trade between the two, the British Deputy High Commissioner said Britain wanted to do trade with all countries, including India.
Appreciating the India-UK ties, he said he hoped that more Indian students and highly skilled workers would opt to go to the UK. He emphasised that the UK needed a fair and controlled immigration policy. In her address, Mukherjee emphasised that the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union (EU) would have wide-ranging ramifications on not just Europe but also on countries across the world, including India. The Indian diaspora that had voted against Brexit, will be impacted as their mobility will be sharply affected, thereby affecting their trade., she said. She also stressed that Brexit was a huge challenge, which can be difficult to manage for the UK. The UK within the EU is a much more attractive proposition to India than the UK without EU, Mukherjee remarked.
Prof Gill, in his address, opined that Brexit was a sign of weakness rather than strength. Currently, power belongs to Asia rather than Europe or America, he said. Britains exit represents a process in the western world towards moving against globalisation. Brexit is a move towards protectionism, taken in the garb of protecting workers rights and wages, he said. The more Britain will withdraw, deeper the crisis will be. If you go in a cocoon, your thinking gets cocooned. Brexit will create chaos. It will mark the beginning of an era of protectionism in the world. TNS
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service
Mohali, February 15
Despite having 24X7 foolproof security arrangements for three strongrooms, where EVMs of three Assembly constituencies of Mohali district have been kept at the District Administrative Complex here, an intruder has reportedly managed to sneak in.
If three activists of the Aam Aadmi Party, who were keeping an eye on the strongrooms through CCTV cameras here today, are to be believed, a rat has entered one of the heavily guarded strongrooms, having EVMs of the Mohali constituency, and is roaming around freely there. The rat is seen moving from one corner to the other every now and then, claimed Beant Singh, Jaswinder Singh and Balbir Singh, the three AAP activists deputed to keep an eye on movements near the strongrooms.
It is an unwanted guest; in fact, an intruder, which has managed to break the three-tier security cover to enter the strongroom, said the AAP activists smilingly.
Beant Singh said they conveyed their concern over the presence of the rat in the strongroom to the authorities concerned as it could cause damage to the EVMs lying there. We were told that the EVMs have been properly covered and the rat would not be able to damage these, said the AAP activists.
However, there are paper slips pasted on the covers of the EVMs and the rat could damage these, said the activists.
Mohali District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner DS Mangat said, We checked the CCTV footage, but could not find the rat. Even if it (rat) is there, it wont be able to damage anything.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 15
Slain Akansh Sens close friend Shera, whom Sen had come to pick up from a house in Sector 9, was present at the spot when the victim was run over by a BMW car on February 9. The police said Shera was outside the house while Deep Singh was inside when the incident took place.
Akansh, Himachal Chief Ministers nephew, was one of the owners of BoomBox Cafe in Sector 9.
On the day of the incident, Akansh, along with a friend, had gone to a common friends place in Sector 9 where they had a party. The victims friend, Shera, had an altercation with the accused there. According to the complaint, the victim and his friend later came to Sector 18, leaving Shera behind in Sector 9. Fearing that Shera and the accused might have a tiff again, the victim decided to bring Shera back. It was then that the victim had an altercation with the accused and was run over by the car.
Ram Gopal, DSP (Central), said Shera was at the spot outside the house when the incident took place.
The DSP said 25 teams had been sent to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi for conducting raids.
A raid was also conducted in Gurugram at an address provided by the victims family. However, the address was found to be wrong. The BMW car used in the crime is yet to be recovered by the police. The BMW car, owned by Randhawa, is registered on an address of Sector 22. His relative, who is in the Punjab Police, lives in that house, said a police official.
Accused havent withdrawn money from account
Police sources said the two accused booked for murdering Akansh had not withdrawn money from their bank accounts since the day of the crime.
Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, February 15
The city is all set to witness the states first South Asia Trade Fair and Consumer Expo from February 16 to 20 at Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall here. The expo organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be the first of its kind as it will witness participation of over 70 exhibitors from six countries Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran and Thailand, besides India.
RS Sachdeva, Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said besides consumer goods, the expo would also offer Pakistani cuisines and cultural programmes every evening.
There is a dire need to increase Indian exports to South Asian countries which at present stands at a mere 15 per cent of the total Indian export. Such events will boost the bilateral trade relations, especially between India and Pakistan, and also among other South Asian countries, he said.
Sachdeva said each trader had been provided with a swiping machine and Paytm facility so that consumers could make purchases without any hassle.
He said while an exhibition was held every year in Amritsar in association with the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, this is the first time that more South Asian countries too were roped in.
Sachdeva added that the second edition of the expo would be held in Chandigarh in April this year.
South Asia a populous region of two billion people lags behind other parts of the world in regional trade. Economists compare the meagre five per cent of trade in this bloc to the more robust 25 per cent in the Association of South East Asian Nations.
The cross-border trade has been restricted between the regions two biggest countries, India and Pakistan, due to their hostile ties.
A 2005 agreement to turn the region into a free trade zone has failed to yield substantive results. High tariffs remain an impediment.
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, February 15
The city police today busted a gang of fake travel agents, who had duped over 71 persons in the past two years, and arrested three of its members.
While giving details about the modus operandi of the gang, ACP (Central) Manpreet Singh Dhillon said the kingpin of the gang, Pandya, a resident of Malaysia, had opened a fake firm in Kuala Lumpur and was duping people on the pretext of providing them jobs in the company.
He had come to Punjab in 2015 and had formed a gang of four persons and placed them in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Moga to get clients. Soon his business flourished and they began to charge up to Rs 75,000 from each of the aspirants, Dhillon said.
The ACP (Central) said Pandya came to India on February 3 and was staying with his friend Ramandeep, alias Babbu. The police after receiving information raided the spot and arrested Pandya, along with his other three accomplices.
The three arrested accused were identified as Darshan Singh, a resident of Amritsar, and Satnam Singh and Ramandeep Singh, alias Babbu, of Jalandhar.
The police also recovered five passports, a laptop, a mobile phone, Rs 17,670 in cash, 55 Malaysian ringgit and two Singapore dollars from Pandya. Five passports from Darshan Singh and three passports from Babbu were also seized.
Though the gang has received over Rs 70,000 from each of the 71 aspirants, it has not provided even a single visa to any of them.
The police have registered a case under Sections 406, 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 and 120-B of the IPC. A case was also registered against Sandeep Singh, a resident of Moga, and Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Hoshiarpur, who too were part of the gang and at present staying in Malaysia.
Lt Gen (retd) Bhopinder Singh
RAJYA Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar's appeal to Members of Parliament to declare Pakistan a "terrorist state" and snap all economic, trade and cultural ties is well meant, though insufficient in changing the essential ground realities. The evidence to nail Pakistan's complicity in terror is incontrovertible and universally acknowledged, with the hard data since 1998 showing14,741 civilian and 6,274 security personnel killed in terror attacks, which can be directly linked to the progenitors in Pakistan.
However, labelling a country unilaterally or even multilaterally does not lead to tangible course-correction. It only appeals to the constituents and cadres, internally. Declarations by forums like the UN, for anointing nations, entities or individuals as "terrorists" or "terror sponsors" is becoming irrelevant. This is due to the sophistry of the procedures involved in the designation and the subsequent inability to enforce tangible restrictions and punitive actions. The UN declaration of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on December 10, 2008, (resolution 1822), as being associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba and Al-Qaida and for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts of activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of" both entities, mattered little to the Pakistani state. Pakistan allowed a free reign to the fugitive with civil impunity, as the Pakistanis maintained that India ostensibly lacked, "evidence nor any real proof behind their allegations". That the UN declared him a terrorist and that the US had placed a $10-million bounty on his head, besides the ban was simultaneously enforced on Hafiz Saeed's organisation by other countries like UK, Russia, Australia, EU etc. was of no consequence to the Pakistani establishment and narrative.
Similarly, the contradictory optics of Pakistan's "all-weather friend" China vetoing the designation of the Jaish-e-Mohammad Chief, Masood Azhar as a "Global Terrorist" at the UN is to be contrasted with the shocking delisting and lifting of sanctions against another virulently anti-India terrorist, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, known as the "Butcher of Kabul". The leader of the Hezb-e-Islami faction, he is infamous for his single-handed plunder and massacre in Afghanistan. The recent pardon inked by the Afghan government led to the lifting of UN sanctions and the political rehabilitation of the warlord, who remains unrepentant, even after his established scale of brutality.
In the case of Masood Azhar, unlike earlier when the proposal was initiated by India, the latest proposal to seek his branding as a terrorist was initiated by the US, UK and France. Yet, China thought it prudent to put the same on technical hold, even though Jaish-e-Mohammad is already an UN-designated terrorist organisation. China refuses to explain how it distinguishes the leader from the organisation. Donald Trump's observation of the UN as just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time reflects the growing irrelevance of such platforms.
Even the much-bandied issue of withdrawing the MFN (Most-Favoured Nation) status accorded to Pakistan in 1996 (without a reciprocal status from Pakistan, citing the plausible non-tariff barriers made by India), is rooted more in political symbolism than punitive implications for Pakistan. On the contrary, such a move could upset the overtly advantageous trade surplus position to India, besides complicating WTO-level arrangements. So withdrawing MFN, like other forms of "naming and shaming" is more internally appealing than economically or strategically hurtful to Pakistan.
The genesis of the Pakistani establishments brinkmanship lies in the genealogical fault lines of its two-nation theory. The creation of Bangladesh still rankles. The necessity of keeping the K- bogey alive fuels the essential relevance of the trinity of ruling institutions in Pakistan army, politicos and the clergy. Lastly, poking India via terror through non-state-actors, is a ploy to deflect attention from Pakistan's own internal challenges like Panamagate and unrest in Balochistan. The only time Pakistan has undertaken a tangible course-correction is when the applecart of the Pakistani institutional structures is threatened with irrelevance, and not through any external condemnation. Pakistan extracts leniency from the US which overlooks Pakistan's proven duplicity on terror due to the compulsions of maintaining supply routes for its assets and personnel in Afghanistan. Despite outbursts and diplomatic berating, the US has desisted from declaring Pakistan, a terror state.
Even the latest report submitted by the dozen odd US think tanks like the Brookings Institution, Hudson Institute, Georgetown University etc. to the Donald Trump administration suggest desisting from designating Pakistan as a state sponsor of terror, at least in the first year of administration. While it clearly notes Pakistani duplicity, it also recognises the geostrategic importance of keeping Pakistan afloat, given the lack of alternatives. There is a call for more direct finger pointing of the terror nurseries, sanctuaries and the infrastructure of Pakistan's supposed "strategic depth", as a means to exert meaningful reaction, while supporting the countrys democratic framework.
The last two times that the Pakistanis retracted from their beaten path was immediately after the 9/11, when General Musharaf did a volte face owing to US pressures which threated to delegitimise the Pakistani establishment and its antecedents. The second time was after the Peshawar school massacre, which targeted the Pakistani military institution. Corrective measures were initiated by Pakistan, albeit, selectively and temporarily. Rather than investing all energies in declaring Pakistan a terror state or any such encomium, it is unrelenting diplomatic and military pressure and economic squeezing of Pakistani interests in a hypersensitive-on-terror world that will shift gears. The new US establishment promises a short-drift to diplomatic niceties and ambiguities. It has centred its foreign policy with an overwhelmingly anti-China stand and the Pakistanis would invariably find themselves on a sticky wicket, given its vassal status towards China. So, India may "name and shame" Pakistan with dossiers, it must be live to the thick-skinned real politik which shows that rogue nations can contextualise any negative label given to them, with creative interpretations and myth-making. Historically, the only time a course correction is initiated is when there are prospects of either a regime change, economic combustion or when the ruling "institution" faces spectres of absolute irrelevance.
The writer is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Since Sunday five soldiers, one officer, eight militants and two civilians have been killed in gunfights in the Kashmir valley. Statistics reveal that the conflict is becoming more local and lethal. The new phenomenon has been in the making over the past two years - belligerent crowds would gather and stone the security forces with an aim to disrupt the counter-insurgency operations and enable the militants to escape. At times, the militants were protected by the human wall of people of all age groups. This trend picked up pace especially after the killing of militant Burhan Wani in July last year. Burhan's death became a turning point. The fearlessness with which the mobs attacked the security forces' camps and convoys has shaped the young generation's audacity. New information suggests more locals are joining the militants' ranks. The security forces are caught in a catch-22 situation for they cannot abandon their operation against militants nor can they fire live ammunition on stone-throwers.
Obviously, this new mood of the people has not been factored in by the security forces and the government. The rush-and-raid strategy of the past is no longer relevant. Militants making videos of their preparations to face security forces is something unique. The circulation of such videos on social media as also that of large crowds attending the funeral processions of slain militants works up the intense passions of the young. They are swelling the militants ranks. The counter-terrorism strategy has not moved with this changing pace of reality. The original infiltration-guide-militant and the overground-worker nexus is getting supplemented by fast-growing local militancy.
The Jammu and Kashmir Government is looking towards New Delhi to initiate dialogue to infuse hope and defuse militancy as also violent protests. New Delhi is relying on the old approach of getting everything done and achieved through a hammer approach and leaving things to subside on their own. That strategy appears to be backfiring. An entire population of civilians is getting sucked into the militants corner. The portents of a wider conflict are becoming ominously clear.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 15
Internal strife in the state Congress has assumed new dimensions with the registration of an FIR under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Delhi in connection with the clash of party workers in October last year, in which state party president Ashok Tanwar was hurt.
Though the column for details of identified and unidentified accused on the first page of the FIR, registered at the Tilak Nagar police station, has been left blank, the complaint mentions former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his MP son Deepender Singh Hooda as the main accused.
Tanwar today took a dig at the Delhi Police and said they had taken more than four months for registering an FIR for the brutal assault on him. Speaking to mediapersons in Sirsa today, he hoped that the police would investigate the matter fast and arrest the accused soon.
On the other hand, former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma said it was unfortunate that the internal issue of the party had gone to the police.
Intra-party matters must be resolved within the organisation. Senior party leaders have already conducted a probe into the issue. They have briefed party leaders about it. If the police investigate the matter, the gap within the party will be out in the open, he told The Tribune.
In his complaint to the police, party worker Kamaljit of Bahadurgarh mentioned that he filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on October 14, 2016.
On the last date of hearing on December 26, the commission directed me to lodge an FIR at the Tilak Marg police station and directed the SHO concerned to register a case, Kamaljit said in his complaint lodged on February 12, the day when the police registered the case. The complainant said he went to Delhi to attend Rahul Gandhis rally on October 6, 2016. He said he and other workers were raising slogans in favour of Rahul and Tanwar when Satish Rathi (Hoodas PSO), Satyawan Pehalwan, Virender Rao, Sunda, Wazir Singh and Kala, along with between 30 and 40 others, abused and attacked them with lathis and iron rods.
He alleged that when Tanwar tried to intervene, he was beaten up, resulting in injuries on the head and other parts of the body. Hooda had denied the allegations on several occasions.
New Delhi, February 15
The CBI has registered two separate cases in connection with the alleged arson at Indus Public School and Haribhoomi Press in Rohtak during the Jat quota agitation in February last year.
These properties reportedly belong to trusts run by Haryana minister Captain Abhimanyu, CBI sources said.
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The CBI move comes after the Centre referred the cases to it on February 6, 2017, nearly an year after the incidents.
At least 30 people were killed and properties worth crores of rupees were destroyed in Haryana during the violent quota agitation by Jats in February, 2016.
The protesters were seeking reservation in government jobs and educational institutes for the Jat community under the category of Other Backward Classes.
It is alleged that some people gathered around the school in Rohtak on the evening of February 19. These people threatened the guard and ransacked the school.
On February 20, a mob of 100-150 people armed with oil cannisters and rods gathered around the school. They allegedly ransacked the property and put the building, school buses and other vehicles on the properties on fire.
In the complaint, the guard has named several individuals including some former village heads of the area.
CBI has registered a case of rioting and arson against 10 persons on the basis of his statement.
Second FIR pertains to alleged arson at Haribhoomi Press in Rohtak which was also set on fire by a mob in the intervening night of February 19-20.
The FIR has been registered against eight persons on the basis of the statement of the manager of the press.
It is alleged that a loss of around Rs 15.50 crore was caused by the alleged rioters. PTI
Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Mahendragarh, February 15
The two-year deputation of Major Satish Dahiya (32), who sacrificed his life while fighting terrorists during a special operation in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday, was about to end this month and his family members were expecting his next posting in Jaipur (Rajasthan).
They also got his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Priyansa enrolled in a play school in Jaipur recently, but the destiny had another plan for Major Dahiya. The braveheart had returned to his posting station on January 2 after spending 20 days in the village.
Since Jaipur was believed to be his new posting station, a rented accommodation was already taken for him. Even, his wife had started residing there after getting their daughter enrolled in a school, said Sunil Kumar, cousin of Major Dahiya.
Major Dahiya was the only child of Anchal Singh who runs a brick-kiln in partnership with his two brothers in the village. Major Dahiya had joined the Army Supply Corps (ASC) in 2009 and the Rashtriya Rifles in 2015 on deputation for two years.
Major Dahiya had led several operations successfully during his career. He was also the part of the teams which conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan last year, said Major Naveen Phoghat who was here to console the bereaved family.
Earlier, a pall of gloom descended on the village as soon as the tragic news of his death reached here last evening.
A large number of villagers spent sleepless night at Major Dahiyas house yesterday as they had lost their brave son, said Ishwar Singh, a villager.
Shocked father Anchal Singh and mother Anita Devi were unable to speak and they responded to relatives and co-villagers merely by shaking their heads.
Major Dahiyas wife Sujata Choudhary said she was proud of her husband who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland. I will send my daughter to the Army to serve the nation, she added.
Bhup Singh, uncle of Major Dahiya, said that he talked to him over phone when he was about to launch the operation yesterday. Major Dahiya told me that he himself will call back after the operation, he added.
Sarpanch Nihal Singh said that Major Dahiya had not only made the village proud by attaining martyrdom, but also set an example of patriotism for the youth of the village.
More than 50 youths from the village are serving in the Army and the paramilitary forces, but Satish is the first who sacrificed his life for the country, he added.
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Jassia (Rohtak), February 15
Protesters at the Jat Nyay Dharna being organised here under the aegis of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) have accused the state government of dividing the people on caste lines.
Speakers who addressed the gathering at the dharna today maintained that the state government talked about communal harmony, but had publicised that 13 non-Jat MLAs had opposed the demands of the Jat community.
The agitators asked Jat ministers in the Cabinet to resign from their posts, failing which the community would never forgive them.
The speakers asserted that the agitation would be intensified if the state leadership kept on dilly-dallying on their demands.
The protesters sought the resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as his government had not fulfilled the promises made to the Jat community on February 22, 2016, and party MLAs defied him.
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 14
Graduating from dealing in illegal narcotics trade of charas and opium in Kullu-Manali, the international drug mafia seems to be targeting the Valley of Gods with easy supply of high end drugs like heroin, cocaine and smack, considering the large number of foreign nationals visiting the area.
Chance seizure of 15 gm of heroin in Manikaran on February 11 led Himachal police to lay its hand on a Nigerian national Oke Chikku Matthew, with 1,550 gm of heroin (worth Rs 3.77 crore) in Uttam Nagar of Delhi yesterday. This not being an isolated case had put Himachal police on the alert who are now taking a close look at the linkages to get to the mafia behind the entire illegal trade, making Kullu-Manali belt notorious for drugs.
Recent trends indicate that international drug mafia was involved in supply to areas like Manikaran, Malana and Parbati valley frequented by a large number of foreigners. We are now very minutely looking at the larger picture to get to the root cause of the problem and the mafia engaged in supplying heroin, smuggled into India from Afghanistan, admits Sanjay Kumar, Director General of Police. There have been a number of big seizures and we hope to focus on preventive detention through thorough investigation, involving the financial angle, he said.Kullu Superintendent of Police Padam Chand said Praveen Kumar Samal (26) of Keonjhar district (Odisha) was nabbed with 15 gram heroin on February 11 near the Kasol region of Manikaran valley. The SP said during interrogation Praveen revealed that he had earlier visited the Kasol region about four times and supplied drugs. The SP said Praveen revealed that he used to take the drug consignment from Delhi and supply to drug addicts here.
The SP said a team was constituted and sent to Delhi along with Praveen to trace Matthew on February 12. He said the team was able to nab the accused with the contraband from his rented accommodation in Delhi. The Kullu Police arrested the accused and brought him here.
Incidentally, the same Nigerian national, who was arrested by a team headed by a Sub-Inspector of the Himachal Police from Delhi yesterday, had been arrested from Manali in 2014 for carrying 20 gm of cocaine. However, he could not be convicted and was released in 2016, returning to the trade once again. The number of foreign nationals arrested for alleged involvement in drug trade in 2014 was 15, while six persons each were arrested in the next two years. Notwithstanding the sustained campaign by the police, data about narcotic seizure indicates a clear increase in the supply of heroin, cocaine and smack. Heroin which is being smuggled into India is bought at the rate of Rs 2,500 per gm and sold here in Kullu-Manali at the rate of Rs 6,500 per gm, mainly to foreigners, admitted police officials. Though there has been a crackdown by the state government on the illegal cultivation of cannabis and poppy which is grown to get charas and opium the new worry now is to contain the smuggling of heroin, cocaine and smack.
In 2014, a total of 644 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which involved seizure of 557.44 gms of heroin and 206.21 gms of smack and 69 gms of cocaine. In 2015, the number of NDPS cases was 622 but seizure of heroin was 385.91 gms and 157.55 gms of smack. In 2016, a total of 929 cases under NDPS Act were registered with 634.65 gms of heroin and 209.36 gms of smack being seized.
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 15
Governor Acharya Devvrat today stressed the need for launching a mass movement to combat the drug menace which, he said, was the biggest threat to any society as drugs had gripped the younger generation.
The Governor was speaking at the launch of a campaign organised by the Shimla Press Club against drug addiction. The easiest way to destroy any nation is to get its youth addicted to drugs, which is so visible in states like Mizoram and Punjab, he said.
He said every section of society would have to join hands to save the youth from drugs as all forms of narcotics were being pumped into the country.
He said he had seen many families being devastated with their children becoming drug victims. Each one of us needs to make a resolve to ensure that the menace does not grip the youth of Himachal, he said. The energy of the youth need to be channelised towards healthy living, including yoga and physical activity.
He regretted the situation in Punjab was so alarming that it was getting difficult to find the youth who were physically fit to join the Army. Punjab, which sent the most well-built and valiant soldiers to fight the enemies on the borders, is grappling with drug menace with many youth having lost their lives after getting addicted to drugs, he said.
There were some social evils like foeticide which also need to be eradicated. A society, which does not respect its women and worst of all resorts to female foeticide, can never progress. So we need to change the mindset of the people, he stressed.
The Governor also emphasised the need for promoting organic farming which would help save people from the ill-effects of harmful chemicals found in pesticides and insecticides. The Governor honoured senior journalists on the occasion.
The Legislature on Wednesday imposed a cease-fire to ongoing warfare over its filibuster rule, extending current minority protections for another month and opening a path to conducting backed-up legislative business.
Although committees have acted on business as usual, the Legislature has been virtually grounded by a continuing brawl over filibuster protections.
That impasse now has eaten up one-third of the 2017 legislative session.
Speaker Jim Scheer of Norfolk authored a motion to extend the temporary rules under which the Legislature has been operating until the 50th day of the session, which occurs on March 20, and his call for a truce was approved on a 45-1 vote.
Only Sen. John Lowe of Kearney voted no.
The decision preserves the current filibuster rule that requires the vote of at least 33 senators to invoke cloture and end a minority filibuster.
Under the current rule, 17 senators -- whether they vote no, are absent or don't vote-- can sustain a filibuster in the 49-member Legislature.
Scheer told senators he accepts his share of the blame for the impasse that has virtually shut down business on the floor of the Legislature.
The truce will give senators an opportunity to "work with each other (and) move forward," he said, hopefully in a more collegial manner.
"We do have to be able to trust each other," Scheer said.
The pause also allows time for the Legislature, and particularly its freshman members, to determine whether it can function effectively under the current filibuster rule.
The minority in the nonpartisan Legislature is composed largely of Democrats and more independent Republicans. The split is largely defined as differences between conservative and moderate, progressive or liberal senators.
The Legislature is composed of 32 Republicans, 15 Democrats, one Libertarian and one nonpartisan.
A series of efforts to weaken minority filibuster rights has occupied the Legislature in contentious debate for weeks.
On Tuesday, a 23-25 vote barely rejecting a motion by Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg to extend current rules until the end of the session demonstrated how split the Legislature is on the filibuster issue.
"The place is in a shambles," Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said.
"And nicey, nicey is not going to last," he said.
"We are now Washington," Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte said.
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 15
Flights could finally be resumed from Jubbarhatti airport near here after a span of over four-and-a-half years with the Director General, Civil Aviation, indicating start of two flights daily under the Domestic Summer Schedule from March 26, 2017.
As per the latest schedule issued by the Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) for regions with poor connectivity, there is a proposal to start two ATR-42 flights from Shimla from March 26 to October 28, 2017 which is the main tourist season for Himachal. The other cities which will get these special flights during this period include Shillong, Silchar and Srinagar.
The Himachal Tourism and Civil Aviation Department too has signed an agreement with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and Airport Authority of India (AAI) last month to enhance affordable regional connectivity. We have signed the agreement to enhance regional connectivity and it is hoped that not just Shimla but other towns within the state will also get aerial connectivity, said V.C. Pharka, Chief Secretary, holding charge of tourism.
All the necessary works at the Jubbarhatti airport, including repair of 300 feet of sunken portion of the runway, providing refueling facility and shifting of mobile towers, had been completed. As such the airport, which has occasional chartered flights, is ready for regular commercial flights.
The issue of resumption of air connectivity to Shimla has been hanging for very long and it is hoped that with the DGCA itself coming out with the new connectivity schedule, flights will be resumed. The Supreme Court had also directed the Civil Aviation Ministry to provide connectivity to Shimla and take whatever steps are required in this regard.
Pharka confirmed that as a signatory to the agreement, the state government will have to extend certain facilities like security and other such concessions to the airline which comes forward to operate on these routes. The endeavour of regional connectivity is also aimed at stabilizing the air fare, which is normally very high.
Shimla Hoteliers Association, too, has been demanding that efforts should be stepped up to resume flights as air connectivity was essential to attract the high end tourists. The need for having flight was being felt even more as efforts to start helli-taxi services also failed. With exorbitant helli-taxi tariff, there were practically no takers. Moreover, the objection by the local army authorities in allowing use of the Annandale Ground for parking the helicopters was another hassle.
With near absence of rail connectivity, the need for good and reliable aerial connectivity is being felt, especially to enable high-end tourism. Gaggal airport at Dharamsala and Bhuntar in Kullu have regular flights but the state capital has still been deprived of the facility.
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 15
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the state government was aware of the problems of outsourced employees and would soon frame a policy for them.
At a function organised by the Outsourced Employees Federation, the Chief Minister said the outsourcing was done to carry out policies and programmes of the government for a limited period.
He said the period of service of outsourced employees should not be prolonged. There should be a policy for such employees. The government was aware of the grievances of the outsourced employees and would surely redress them, he added.
He said the employees should work sincerely for the welfare of the state. They should rise above petty politics as they form the backbone of the state government and are instrumental in implementing the policies and programmes.
Targeting the BJP, Virbhadra said there were a few forces which were trying to create a rift between the people right from the panchayat to the state level. They try to divide the people when the elections near and sometimes succeed in their motive, but the people have to understand their modus operandi, he cautioned.
State president, HP Outsource Employees Federation, Dheeraj Chauhan thanked the Chief Minister for taking up the issue of regularisation of the outsourced employees.
The federation said the employees should be brought into the fold of contractual policy of the state government.
State Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh said the demand for framing a policy for the regularisation of employees was taken up during Dharamsala rally on the completion of four years of the present government with vice-president Rahul Gandhi. He supported demand for minimising the contract period to three years of these employees after bringing them under the contractual policy.
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 14
In one of the bloodiest gunfights this year, three soldiers and a top Lashkar commander were killed in north Kashmirs Bandipore district today. At least 12 security personnel, including two officers, were wounded.
Protests erupted even while the encounter was on with locals trying to march toward the site. The police lobbed tear-gas shells to quell them.
In another encounter at Kralgund (Handwara) in Kupwara late in the evening, an Army Major from Narnaul in Haryana identified as S Dhaiya of the Army Service Corps, who was attached with 30 Rashtriya Rifles and three militants were killed, while a jawan was injured.
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Sources said a fierce gunfight erupted in the wee hours as the security forces cordoned off a house at Parrey Mohalla Hajin, 30 km northwest of Srinagar, following information that two Lashkar militants were hiding there. Cornered, the militants jumped out of the house, opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades to break the cordon, inflicting heavy casualties.
In the initial gunfight, at least 14 security men, including an Army Major and a CRPF Commandant, who were leading the assault teams, were wounded. Three Army men later succumbed to injuries. A Lashkar commander too was killed, the sources said. Another militant fled as protests erupted.
Chetan Cheetah, Commanding Officer, 45 Battalion, CRPF, sustained multiple gunshots. His condition is critical. He may be shifted to Delhi. The other injured are being treated at the Armys hospital in Srinagar.
There have been at least six gunfights in Hajin area in the past nearly three months in which seven Lashkar militants have been killed.
The encounter at Kralgund Handwara was backed by locals, the police claimed. Frequently troubled by militants, the locals helped us. A combing operation was launched during which the militants opened fire, triggering a gunfight in which three Lashkar militants were killed, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Nitish Kumar said."
In the past three days, three fierce encounters have taken place in Kashmir. Four militants, two soldiers and a civilian were killed in south
Kashmirs Kulgam on Sunday. In the subsequent clashes, another civilian was killed.
Amir Karim Tantray
Tribune News Service
Meen Sarkar Tabela (Vijaypur), February 15
She is lost in her thoughts and her eyes are searching for the most loving person on the earth for her, her father. But she is unaware that her father, Rifleman Ravi Kumar, who sacrificed his life for the nation, will never return.
As she grows older, Ravi Kumars three-year-old daughter Ruhani Ratta will realise and will have to adjust to the fact that her father is no more.
While everyone in this village in Samba district was mourning Ravis death, Ruhani was wondering why so many people had come to their home and what was inside the coffin that was surrounded by Army men and villagers.
Ravi is survived by wife Esha Devi and daughter Ruhani Ratta. Others in his family are father Rattan Lal, mother Shakuntla Devi, two sisters Rekha Devi and Vandana Devi, and brother Kavi Kumar. All were in a deep shock and crying.
The 34-year-old soldier was liked by all in the village. He used to play with children whenever he was home. Around 14 years ago, he joined the Army and started supplementing income of father who was a cart-puller. He gave the work after his son started earning enough to run the family.
Ravi was expected to reach home on February 18 to get his daughter admitted to a school. However, before he could return, he fell to the bullets during an anti-militancy operation in the Hajin area of Bandipora district yesterday.
Talking to reporters, Rattan Lal said during his last chat with Ravi on February 13 evening, he had advised his son to take care of himself as the situation in the Valley was not good. Ravi replied that everything was normal at the place of his posting, but next morning, an encounter started where he sacrificed his life for the nation, he said.
Saying he was proud of his sons sacrifice, Rattan Lal said he wanted the government to take a call on Pakistan and go for the final assault. We dont want everyday violence and death of our soldiers, he added.
Ravis mortal remains reached his house around 2.30 pm. For around 30 minutes, his body was kept in his home and then taken for cremation. He was cremated with full military honours.
Local MLA Chander Prakash Ganga, who is also Minister for Industries and Commerce, and newly appointed IGP, Jammu, SD Singh Jamwal also attended the cremation besides hundreds of villagers.
Srinagar, February 15
Authorities on Wednesday imposed restrictions in parts of south Kashmirs Kulgam district as a precautionary measure in view of separatists call for a march to protest the death of two civilians there on Sunday.
Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in some sensitive areas of the district, including Kulgam town, to maintain law and order, Kulgam Deputy Commissioner Showkat Aijaz Bhat told PTI.
Bhat said the curbs on the assembly of people had been imposed as a precautionary measure keeping in mind the Kulgam Chalo march scheduled for Wednesday.
He said the situation was normal in the area but security forces were maintaining a tight vigil.
Separatist groups, including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with JKLF chief Yasin Malik, have called for the march to Kulgam to protest the death of two civilians on Sunday.
One civilian was killed in an encounter between security forces and militants in Frisal area of the district.
Another was killed during protests that had broken out in the area after the encounter in which four militants and two army personnel were killed. PTI
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 15
Separatist leaders, who were steering the last years summer unrest and continued to issue protest calendars, today announced significant relaxation and called for a one-day shutdown in the next fortnightly calendar which begins tomorrow and ends on February 28.
The separatist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, who have been jointly issuing protest calendars, have called for a shutdown on February 24. The calendar also details protests and demonstrations from February 16 to 28.
The separatists have also called for peaceful protests throughout the Kashmir valley on Friday. Keeping in view the three-day strike in the past week, it has been decided that there will be no strike this Friday, the separatist leaders said.
The separatists, however, said there would be no relaxation on Friday next week and peaceful protests would be held after the midday prayers throughout the Valley. They also appealed to the transporters and traders to hold a sit-in for an hour on Saturday this week and next week.
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15
The government today cleared the appointment of five new judges to the Supreme Court, taking its strength to 28 against the sanctioned strength of 31.
President Pranab Mukherjee signed the Warrants of Appointment for the five judges. The official notifications would be issued soon. Four of them were chief justices of state high courts while one was a high court senior judge.
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Those elevated to the Supreme Court are: Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Naveen Sinha, Kerala High Court Chief Justice Mohan M Shantanagouder, Chhattisgarh High Court Chief Justice Dipak Gupta and Karnataka High Court Judge S Abdul Nazeer.
They are likely to be sworn-in on Friday, sources said.
The top court which has almost 60,000 cases pending has been functioning with only 23 judges. The appointments were stuck due to differences in the collegium as Justice J Chelameswar raised the issue of lack of transparency in its functioning.
Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant are due to retire later this year.
CJI JS Khehar had recently indicated that the stalemate between the judiciary and the executive over the proposed memorandum of procedure for judges appointment might end soon.
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, February 15
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav as well as his elder daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav campaigned for the familys younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav through two election meetings.
Aparna Yadav is making her political debut from the Lucknow Cantonment seat where she is in direct contest with BJPs Rita Bahuguna Joshi. The slogan of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance here is Bhabhi ko jitana hai, didi ko harana hai (Have to ensure victory for sister-in-law (Aparna) and defeat for sister (Rita Bahuguna Joshi).
Addressing the meeting, senior Yadav said the SP government had gone beyond its promise on the development front. He said if Aparna Yadav won the elections she would ensure greater development of the constituency, especially the youth, farmers and minorities which was always a priority of the SP.
Appealing to minority voters, Yadav recalled his 1990 order of opening fire in Ayodhya to save the Babri mosque. It was an unfortunate decision. But if the mosque had been damaged, Muslims would have lost confidence in the government and administration. Religious places must be protected at all costs, he said.
Two days ago, Mulayam had campaigned for his brother Shivpal Yadav in Jaswantnagar in Etawah. Despite promising to campaign for the alliance (SP-Cong) candidates till now he has addressed only two meetings only for family members.
Ottawa, February 15
The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombings that killed 331 persons is now free, Canadas parole board said today. Inderjit Singh Reyat had been ordered to live at a halfway house following his release from prison a year ago, after serving two decades behind bars.
That condition has now been lifted and Reyat may return to a normal life, including living in a private residence, parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said. The Sikh immigrant from India was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover for his co- accused. One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 on board, including entire families. The second exploded at Japans Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers.
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Reyat was working as a mechanic in westernmost Canada and purchased the dynamite, batteries and detonators to make the bombs. Two alleged co-conspirators were acquitted because of lack of evidence and, according to prosecutors, because of Reyats perjury.
Storey said Reyats parole officer had assessed those with whom he would live to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him. Conditions of his release
from prison still apply, including having no contact with the victims families nor with extremists. Reyat must also shun all political activities and take counseling for violent tendencies, a lack of empathy and exaggerated beliefs.
AFP
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 14
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the NDA government to consider allowing community radio stations to broadcast news bulletins based on already-published material in print and electronic media, going beyond the existing policy that permits them to use only All India Radios news content.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar gave the central government six weeks' time to clarify its stand. If the government should decide against it, reasons for its decision must be stated in its affidavit, the Bench told the government counsel.
The top court was hearing a PIL filed in 2013 by Common Cause (an NGO) seeking a direction to the government to allow community radio stations to air news and current affairs.
The courts direction came after senior counsel Jayant Bhushan contented that the governments stand of not allowing private radio operators to offer news and current affairs content went against Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution that guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression.
He said the government could not create a monopoly over news on radio as it would be beyond the purview of Article 19(2) that prescribed certain reasonable restrictions on free speech.
The NDA government has ruled out allowing news and current affairs programmes on community radio stations, saying it could pose serious security risk to the country in the absence of a mechanism to monitor live content. In its affidavit filed in the top court last week, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said: These stations may be exploited by foreign radical organisations to broadcast fabricated/radical views
Citing the objections raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the affidavit said: As these stations/channels are run mainly by NGOs/other small organisations and private operators, several anti-national/radical elements within the country can misuse them for propagating their own agenda.
The government had said: Unlike television, which is an omnibus medium, FM Radio caters to disparate audiences of much smaller sizeSuch a situation calls for local monitoring throughout the country, which is a complex issue.
The Bench said allowing news on community radio stations could create trouble in communally sensitive areas or otherwise disturbed areas like the northeast.
However, Bhushan contested the governments claim, saying If they (community radio stations) cant be regulated, how can be given licences? What if they broadcast news or some objectionable content without any permission? How will the government check it? Absence of regulation cant be a ground to deny right to free speech?
Broadcasting news and current affairs programmes on radio is currently the exclusive preserve of All India Radio (AIR) and private FM Radio operators and community radio stations are not allowed to offer such content.
Any shift in this policy would necessitate adherence to a rigorous code of conduct, a proper monitoring mechanism and penal provisions for violation of such broadcast code, the affidavit read.
Community radio stations were started under the 2002 Policy Guidelines, which were later revised in 2002, 2006 and 2017. Such radio stations are meant to be set up and operated by the local community. A typical community radio station covers a radius of 10-15 km and could be set up at a cost of Rs 10-15 lakh.
The government had issued letters of intent to 519 commuinity radio stations but only 201 of them are operational.
In December 2002 many educational institutions, including IITs and IIMs were given licences to run community radio stations. In 2006, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting came out with another Policy Guidelines which said community radio stations should focus on developmental, agricultural, health, educational, environmental, social welfare, community development and cultural programmes.
Programmes should be in local language and at least half the content should be generated with the participation of local community, the policy stated. However, it banned broadcast of any programme which relate to news and current affairs and are otherwise political in nature.
In January this year, the Centre allowed community to broadcast news and current affairs contents exclusively sourced from AIR in its original form or translated into local language/dialect without any changes, if such contents related to sporting evetnts, traffic, weather, examinations, results, admissions, career counseling, employment opportunities and public utilities.
Simran Sodhi
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15
India and China today indulged in yet another exchange of words with Beijing protesting a visit earlier this week by a parliamentary delegation from Taiwan and New Delhi dismissing the objections saying no political meanings should be read into such visits.
China is extremely sensitive to any issue that it feels violates the one-China policy. Recently, US President Donald Trumps phone conversation with a Taiwanese leader had left China fuming.
With regards to India too, the Chinese message was loud and clear that India should prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations. The message coming from the Chinese foreign ministry was backed by a column in Global Times, a state-controlled publication.
India, meanwhile, was rather dismissive in its response. The Ministry of External Affairs maintained such informal groups have visited India in the past too for business, religious and tourism purpose.
There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
India-China ties have seen one tension after the other in recent past. Last year was marked by two contentious issues: China blocking attempts to get Jaish chief Masood Azhar designated as terrorist at the UN and also objecting to letting India become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Both the issues have spilled onto this year and show no sign of an early resolution. Taiwan, for China, remains a sore point and if not handled properly, it could well be another addition to strain in ties.
New Delhi, February 15
Foreign tourists availing e-visas will now get pre-activated free SIM cards as they arrive here, a move hailed by tour operators body IATO.
Launching the much awaited service, Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said the talk time to the tune of Rs 50 will be available on the BSNL SIM card which will also have 50 MB data.
Initially, the service will be provided at Indira Gandhi International Airport here but will be later extended to 15 other airports in the country where e-visa facility is available, he added.
The initiative will help the tourists to immediately communicate with their relatives at home, hotels, tour operators and so on. I got this idea when I had got a similar card when I had visited Sri Lanka, Sharma said.
The minister said the facility will provide ease to the tourists who have to spend about two hours to get their SIM cards activated after they land in India.
Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi said over 10 lakh tourists had arrived in India on e-visa facility last year. Launched on November 27, 2014, the facility is currently available for 161 countries.
To a query about the expenditure on the initiative, Zutshi said the expenses on SIM cards will be borne out of the tourism promotion budget of the ministry which he said is well within the budget.
Tour operators body IATO hailed the initiative, saying its a great gesture.
I think we are the first country to give free SIM cards to the tourists. Its a great gesture and will make the arrival experience better for the travellers, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) senior vice president Rajeev Kohli said.
Sharma said the SIM card, with 30 days validity, will also help the travellers to contact the 24-hour tourist helpline number available in 12 languages, including Russian, German and Japanese.
To a query as to why the facility is available only to e-visa tourists, he said the complete information about the travellers on such visa is readily available in advance which could be immediately synced with the data of concerned authorities for providing the SIMs.
Meanwhile, the minister said there was no impact of demonetisation on tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings as these segments recorded a robust growth.
The tourists arriving in India on e-visa could get the SIM cards, a part of welcome kit, from India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) counters at the airports.
Under the e-visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorising him or her to travel to India after it has been approved. The tourist can travel with a print-out of this authorisation.
On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country. PTI
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), February 15
Space agency ISRO on Wednesday scripted history by successfully launching 104 satellites, including Indias weather observation Cartosat-2 Series, in a single mission on board its dependable Polar rocket from here.
Bettering Russian space agencys feat of launching 37 satellites in a single mission in 2014, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) injected the Cartosat-2 Series satellite and 103 nano-satellites into precise orbit after a textbook lift-off from this spaceport, about 100 km from Chennai.
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The previous highest number of satellites launched by ISRO in one mission was 20 in June 2015, the agency said.
Cartosat-2 Series satellite, a remote-sensing spacecraft with a five-year life span, would send images that would be utilised in coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water, creation of land use maps among others, ISRO said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO for the successful launch, saying, This remarkable feat by @isro is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists. The complex mission has once again proved ISROs capabilities in undertaking commercial launches with the PSLV achieving its 38th consecutive success.
President Pranab Mukherjee also congratulated ISRO for the record launch, saying the day will go down as a "landmark" in the history of India's space progaramme.
So far, ISRO has launched 226 satellites, including 179 belonging to foreign countries.
At the end of the 23-hour countdown, the shortest so far by ISRO, the agencys trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, on its 39th flight, blasted off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 9:28 a.m. and soared into clear skies.
ISRO said it was able to reduce the countdown time, which normally varies up to 52 hours, as the preparations were completed in a shorter span.
After a flawless flight, the rocket first orbited 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series satellite followed by the co-passengersISROs INS-1A and INS-1B, 96 other nano-satellites belonging to two US companies, and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and UAE.
The satellites were placed in the polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) in a gap of about 30 minutes during a series of separations.
A beaming ISRO Chairman A.S. Kirankumar announced that all 104 satellites successfully placed in orbit. My hearty congratulations to the entire ISRO team for the wonderful job they have done.
Kiran Kumar said 77 of the satellites have already started communicating with the earth stations after the launch.
He said the mission was about maximising ISROs returns and improving its capabilities.
Through PSLV, we are trying to capture a particular segment of (space launch market), he told the post-launch media conference.
Replying to a question, he said US firms approach ISRO for launch of smaller satellites as the frequency of PSLV launches was more by India.
Project Director B. Jayakumar said ISRO had lived up to the expectation of customers.
It was a very good learning experience for us. We have launched 226 satellites out of which 179 are from foreign nations.
With a total payload of 1378 kg, ISRO opted for the most powerful XL variant of the PSLV for the 16th time in todays mission. It had earlier been used in the Chandrayaan and the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) among others.
The nano-satellites belonging to international customers were launched as part of their arrangement with the Antrix Corporation Ltd (ANTRIX) the commercial arm of the ISRO.
CARTOSAT-2 Series satellite was similar to the earlier four satellites in the Series.
INS (ISRO Nano Satellite) 1-A and 1-B carry a total of four different payloads from Space Applications Centre (SAC) and Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems (LEOS) of ISRO for conducting various experiments. PTI
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
Bengaluru, February 15
Even as delivery of the newly acquired Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft, the Rafale, is scheduled to commence from September 2019, the makers of Rafale, the Dassault Aviation France, are expecting a bigger order to supplement their make in India efforts.
Last year, India ordered 36 twin-engine Rafale jets for 7.8 billion euros, the first major induction since the Sukhoi-30 jets first started coming in batches since 1997.
Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, while speaking on the sidelines of the 11th edition of the Aero-India said: We are pushing for more orders. The existing order of 36 is not big enough to have transfer of technology. Our plan is to be in India. India should be ready to be part of the global supply market.
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The company, he said, was in race for the additional twin-engined fighter jets needed by the IAF as well as the Navy requirement of 57 jets for ship-deck-based operations. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had announced that 300-400 jets (single-engine and twin-engine) are needed by the IAF over the next 10 years.
On being asked what could be an ideal number for making in India, Trappier pointed to the original tender that was for 126 twin-engine jets. It will be good if we get an order of some 200, including 36 of the existing IAF order and the Navy needs, Trappier said in an interaction with a select media group. We need to know how many more we get. On being asked if what will be cost reduction for India, Trappier said, That will be fresh negotiation.
We are today signing a joint venture with Reliance (Anil Ambani group) for the make in India for military and well and civil aircraft, Trappier said. We have chosen Reliance as our existing partner, the HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), was busy with existing commitments, the company CEO said.
Kancheepuram (TN), February 15
Tamil Nadu Police booked All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham General Secretary VK Sasikala and its Legislature Party Leader Edappadi K Palaniswamy on Wednesday on charges of illegally detaining party lawmakers at a resort in the district.
The two were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to abduction and wrongful confinement.
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The case was filed at Koovathur police station on a complaint from Madurai (South) MLA S S Saravanan, who has since joined the rebel O Panneerselvam camp.
Last week, while extending his support to Chief Minister Panneerselvam, Saravanan claimed that he had managed to flee from the resort by changing into a T-shirt and shorts.
On February 5, Sasikala was elected as the Legislature Party Leader.
However, two days later, Panneerselvam had raised a banner of revolt against her, claiming he was forced to step down for her.
The AIADMK MLAs have staying at the luxury resort since a week, and many of those who swear allegiance to Sasikala have been insisting they were staying on their own volition.
Sasikala herself had visited the resort thrice to hold discussions with her party legislators. PTI
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, February 15
The police have released footage from a CCTV camera which shows the gruesome murder of Manoj Mhatre, 53, a politician from the Congress Party being hacked to death on Tuesday night.
According to police, Mhatre was shot at and stabbed to death by at least eight assailants while he returned home after a meeting with party colleagues at around 9.30 pm on Tuesday. Mhatre was a corporator from the Congress Party in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation.
Video courtesy the Facebook account of Police Tapas
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Police said they had identified five of the eight men involved in the crime after local residents identified the assailants who featured in the CCTV footage.
We will shortly arrest all of them as they have been identified. Once we question them the others involved in the murder will also be arrested, DCP (Bhiwandi Zone) Manoj Patil told reporters.
The officer said the attackers first fired three bullets at Mhatre as he alighted from his car after arriving home. One bullet struck Mhatre on his back. His assailants then chopped off one of his arms and stabbed him several times before escaping.
Mhatre was rushed to hospital where he died during treatment, police said.
Elections to the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation are due to be held in May this year.
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15
The Supreme Court today refused to entertain convicted AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala's plea for more time to surrender. Immediate means immediate, said a Bench headed by Justice PC Ghose when senior counsel KTS Tulsi requested that she be given more time.
We have already passed the judgment which specifies that the accused should surrender immediately. Immediately means immediately. The judgment is a fat document. We are not saying anything further.
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The Supreme Court had on Tuesday convicted Sasikala (61) in a 21-year-old corruption case and sentenced her to four years' jail. It had asked her two relatives, Elavarasi and VN Sudhakaran, also convicted in the case, to surrender forthwith.
After the top court refused to entertain her plea, Sasikala visited her mentor J Jayalalithaas memorial in Chennai and then proceeded towards Bengaluru where she surrendered before a trial court. Sasikala gave herself up at the Central Jail along with her relatives. As the long-time confidante of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa reached the prison complex, clashes erupted between AIADMK supporters and police personnel.
Sasikala stands disqualified to contest elections for 10 years. Under the election law, a convicted person cannot contest elections for six years from the date of completion of his/her sentence.
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15
The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday referred the dispute between the AAP government and Lieutenant Governor over their powers and jurisdiction to a Constitution Bench, saying it involved important questions of law.
A Bench headed by Justice AK Sikri, however, did not frame the issues to be considered by the Constitution Bench.
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It said the parties were free to approach Chief Justice of India JS Khehar to seek an early setting up of the Bench for speedy disposal of the matter.
The AAP government and LG have been involved in a bitter power tussle over who controls various departments in Delhi. The Delhi High Court had on August 4 last year declared that LG was the boss in the capital.
In a setback to the Arvind Kejriwal government, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the Delhi High Courts verdict declaring the LG the administrative head of Delhi.
It had also declined to stop functioning of a three-member panel set up by LG Najeeb Jung to scrutinise 400-odd files relating to decisions taken by the AAP government without his concurrence.
Following the HC order, the appointment of 21 parliamentary secretaries was also declared illegal for want of LGs approval. The AAP government had accused the LG of acting like an employee of the Centre.
"A piquant situation has emerged in Delhi due to the Delhi High Court's August 4 judgement, which had held that all decisions of the elected government have to get prior approval of the LG, it had said.
In its August 4 verdict, the HC held concurrence of the LG in administrative issues was mandatory".
The high Court had rejected the AAP governments contention that LG was bound to act only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers with regard to making of laws by the Legislative Assembly under the Article 239AA and termed it was without substance.
However, it had agreed with the AAP government's submission that the LG will have to act on its aid and advice in appointment of special public prosecutors.
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala's plea for more time to surrender.
A Bench headed by Justice PC Ghose said "immediate means immediate."
Her petition was mentioned by senior counsel KTS Tulsi.
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But the Bench said: "We have already passed the judgment which specifies that the accused should surrender immediately. Immediately means immediately. The judgment is a fat document. We are not saying anything further."
The court had on Tuesday reversed a Karnataka High Court's verdict and convicted her in a corruption case.
She was given a four-year jail term and asked to pay a fine of Rs 10 crore.
A simmering dispute between a firebrand state regulator and some conservatives in the Legislature neared a boiling point Tuesday at the Capitol.
Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades of Omaha accused lawmakers of seeking retaliation for her outspoken presence on the commission, which regulates utilities, phone services, pipelines, taxis and other services in the state.
Meanwhile, members of the Legislature's Transportation and Telecommunications Committee discussed calling for an investigation into her handling of campaign robocall scripts, which also falls under the commission's jurisdiction.
"This is a witch hunt," Rhoades said following a committee hearing Tuesday.
The legislative committee took testimony on three measures related to the Public Service Commission. One was a bill (LB410) by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion that would eliminate commissioners' salaries and grow the commission from five to seven members, thereby shrinking each existing member's district and reducing their individual power.
He denied that the proposal is aimed at Rhoades, saying it would bring representation "closer to the people" and is consistent with national trends toward deregulation of many industries under the Public Service Commission's jurisdiction.
Smith said Rhoades "needs to get over that the world revolves around her."
Commissioners currently are paid $75,000 per year. That ranks among the highest salaries for elected officeholders in Nebraska, but is comparable to pay for similar regulators in other states.
Smith's bill would eliminate the salaries entirely, along with retirement and health benefits, but would also remove a ban on commissioners holding outside employment.
No one testified in favor of the proposal Tuesday. The commission submitted a letter describing its workload, but did not take a position on the bill.
Retired commissioner Anne Boyle, whom Rhoades replaced, said Smith's measure would "destroy" the Public Service Commission's ability to do its job.
Commissioners work full-time and need compensation, she said, and allowing them to hold outside jobs would open the door for them to work in industries they also regulate.
Members of the Legislature spend "countless" hours interacting with constituents, reviewing documents, attending events and participating in legislative proceedings while making just $12,000 a year, Smith countered. Most juggle those obligations with work and family responsibilities.
For the Public Service Commission, he said, "I simply do not believe that a full-time commitment is necessary."
Rhoades did not testify on the proposal, but said later that she works at least 50 hours each week.
She said several legislative proposals this year related to the Public Service Commission are a form of "punitive retribution" against her and illustrate Smith's "disdain for regulation of any kind."
Smith disagreed, arguing that he has worked in regulated industries for much of his life and supports regulation that is constructive and low-profile.
With Rhoades, however, "there at least is an appearance that she is using her position for more than its intent," he said, alluding to her handling of the robocall scripts.
The scripts are public records maintained by the Public Service Commission.
One day before the primary election in May, Rhoades forwarded several scripts filed by Republicans to the campaign of then-legislative candidate Tony Vargas, a Democrat. She also acknowledged regularly forwarding commission documents to her personal email account.
Rhoades said she often works at home using her home email, and shared the scripts because they were public documents and someone requested them.
During a closed meeting following Tuesday's public hearing, Sens. John Murante of Gretna and Mike Hilgers of Lincoln discussed whether to seek an investigation by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission or the attorney general's office, or even invoke the Legislature's own subpoena power for an inquiry.
The situation exposes established partisan roots on all sides.
Rhoades is chairwoman of the Douglas County Democratic Party.
Murante, who sponsored a bill to move oversight of robocalls from the Public Service Commission to the Accountability and Disclosure Commission, is state director for a political consulting firm that does robocalls.
New Delhi, February 15
The Indian Army Chief warned against impeding anti-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir saying that those willfully obstructing them could be termed anti-national and could face harsh actions.
At a ceremony the Army held to honour those who died in Tuesdays gun battles, Army General Bipin Rawat said security forces faced higher number of casualties because of how locals hindered operations to stall security forces, at times even helping them escape.
"We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms and they are the local boys if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go after them, Rawat said. "They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue. We are giving them an opportunity: should they continue, we will also continue with our relentless operations that may be with harsher measures and that is the way to continue (sic)."
The development comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet on Wednesday: Paid tributes to the brave men who lost their lives fighting terrorists in J&K. India will always remember their valour & sacrifice.
An Army major was among the four armymen killed in two encounters one in Bandipora, and later in Handiwara. Four militants were killed in the two encounters.
Protests followed the gunfight, with police using teargas to stall angry marchers heading to the site of the encounter.
Protests also followed a gunfight on Frisal in Kulgam district in which four militants, two army generals and civilian were killed on Sunday. A man was killed and more than 24 injured in the protests that followed the gunfight.
While the Army claimed the civilian was taken hostage by the militants, the locals claimed he was used by the soldiers as a shield. PTI/ Agencies
New Delhi, February 15
Uttarakhand recorded 68 per cent voter turnout, highest to date, on Wednesday as voting in the Assembly elections remained peaceful. The turnout was 2 per cent more than the last Assembly polls as the fate of 628 candidates in 69 out of the total 70 seats was sealed.
Poll schedule for the lone Karnaprayag seat in Chamoli district had to be revised to March 9 due to the death of BSP candidate Kuldeep Singh Kanwasi in a road accident on Sunday last.
In a press briefing after ballots were cast, the Election Commission said the figure recorded until 5 pm would likely rise beyond 70 per cent in Uttarakhand after ballots of those still queued up to vote after the deadline was considered.
Twenty Electronic Voting Machines and seven Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) had to be replaced in the state. There was also one instance of paid news in the state.
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Voting was largely peaceful in the state.
"479 polling station were in snow-covered areas," Deputy Election Commissioner in charge Sandeep Saxena said.
Authorities seized Rs 3.38 crore in cash, 147 illegal weapons, liquor worth Rs 3.1 crore and drugs worth Rs 37.23 lakh.
"The voting percentage had breached all records by 5 pm when it touched 68 per cent. Around 67.22 turnout was recorded in the 2012 Assembly polls while 2014 Lok Sabha polls saw 62.15 per cent turnout," Saxena told reporters.
Sixty women and two third gender candidates contested elections in Uttarakhand.
Both men and women voters braved inclement weather at some places to vote in large numbers, officials said.
Nainital registered 70 per cent voting, Haridwar 70 per cent, Uttarkashi 73 and Udham Singh Nagar 70 per cent.
It is the fourth assembly polls in the hill state after it was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. As many as 7.5 million voters decided the fate of 628 candidates.
Polling in Karnprayag was suspended after the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Kuldip Singh Kanwasi in a road accident. Voting there will now be held on March 9.
According to an official, postal ballots will be received till March 11 morning, the day votes will be counted in all five states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.
In Uttarakhand, 10,685 polling stations were set up, with 1,409 declared as "very sensitive".
The highest polling station was Reeh at a height of around 10,000 feet above sea level in Ghansali constituency in Tehri Garhwal district, Saxena said.
The polling station had 275 voters in all.
"We set up the polling booth at 10,000 feet above sea level for just 275 voters so that no voter is left behind," the Deputy Election Commissioner said.
Although the BSP is also in the race, the race in Uttarakhand was primarily between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Agencies
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 14
A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) here and sought an inquiry over the alleged breach of security of EVMs at strong rooms in Punjab.
The delegation, led by Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and comprising party leaders HS Phoolka, Ashutosh and Raghav Chadha, submitted a memorandum alleging that there are multiple instances of breach in EVMs safety in the state, where the party is hopeful of forming the government.
Sisodia said they had pointed out the recent security breaches in strong rooms. He said they had also mentioned about the May 2015 notification of the EC which detailed instructions regarding the storage, physical verification and movements of EVMs and that the set norms were not being complied.
Major lapses in the security of EVMs have been noticed across the state. Two recent events have brought to the fore gross and criminal negligence on the part of ROs in handling the security of the EVMs, read the memorandum.
Sisodia alleged that EVMs were moved out of a strong room in Patiala in complete violation of the EC norms. The RO along with other officials entered the strong rooms on the pretext of procuring certain documents. But it was found that they were moving steel boxes in which the EVMs were kept. We have demanded an inquiry into the matter, Sisodia said.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha claimed that in some districts in the state EVMs were kept in schools where there was regular movement of teachers, a clear violation of the rules.
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 15
High drama was witnessed at Pragma Hospital on the Bhatti Road here today when relatives of a patient and a doctor had a dispute over the medical bill.
While cardiologist Dr Gursharan Singh, owner of the hospital, accused patients and their relatives of arguing over petty things, the patients relatives alleged that the doctor pulled out a pistol over the delay in payment after their kins death.
Sahil Monga said his father Tara Chand was admitted at Pragma Hospital with a heart ailment and was declared dead on Wednesday. He said the doctor sent an inflated bill to them and when they (relatives) raised the issue, the hospital staff said some entries were pending in the bill. If the entries were pending, the bill should be of a lesser amount and not an increased amount. How can the bill amount become less after adding all entries? he questioned.
He said when they questioned the staff and the doctor, the latter got angry and took out a pistol and threatened them to pay at gunpoint.
The staff and doctor, however, informed the police that though the pistol was taken out, it was not pointed towards any of the patients relatives. The police said the doctor claimed that the pistol was taken out in self-defence as the patients relatives tried to push the doctor away.
The patients relatives also raised a hue and cry over the use of pistol despite a ban over the carrying of arms during the election code of conduct. They demanded that a case be registered against the doctor under the Arms Act and his licence be cancelled.
Dr Gursharan Singh denied the allegations and said the issue had been blown out of proportion by the patients relatives to escape from the payment.
SHO, Civil Lines, Robin Singh said the matter was being investigated.
Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 14
In a startling revelation, it has come to the fore that the Punjab Police were fully aware of the nefarious designs of the Nabha Jail conspirators and they had registered an FIR on June 3, 2016, in this regard.
The name of Hong Kong-based financer-cum-handler Ramanjit Singh alias Romi was mentioned in the FIR, which stated that he might try and rescue his accomplice from the Nabha jail.
The FIR was registered at Kotwali police station, Nabha, wherein SHO Vasdev Singh had mentioned that he had information from his reliable sources that Romi might help his accomplice to flee.
It further stated that during a naka, Romi along with Jagseer Singh alias Seera Sidhana, Saraj Singh and an unidentified person was spotted near Bauran Gate, Nabha.
Based on the FIR, the police arrested Romi along with five others and recovered two cars, a .32 bore pistol with nine live cartridges, two Chinese mastercards and 27 Chinese credit cards from their possession.
After his arrest, the police learnt that Romi had fled to Hong Kong when the Bathinda police booked him in a case and he tried to collect money for criminal activities there. He sent huge amounts to criminal groups in Punjab and later returned with credit cards to dupe China-based banks by hacking the accounts with the help of data from the cards.
Despite this, Romi was sent to the same jail (Nabha) where he stayed for sometime before his bail application was accepted. He later jumped the bail and again fled to Hong Kong. Romi was in touch with gangster Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, lodged in Nabha jail, and he helped him with monetary aid to execute the jailbreak in November. Sekhon was one of the six prisoners who fled. He was arrested last Sunday from Moga.
The incident has once again pointed fingers at the capability of the state police in averting the jailbreak despite having prior information. When contacted, Ashish Choudhary, DIG, Patiala Range, admitted that a case had been registered, but claimed that during investigation, it was found that Romi was planning to execute some forgery with the help of fake credit cards. "Romi and his accomplice were arrested on suspicion. During the investigations, nothing came out that could be related to the jailbreak planning," he claimed.
Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 15
An Election Commission team which arrived here on Wednesday to inspect the strong rooms in wake of the EVM controversy gave a clean chit to district administrations move of shifting old EVMs and said there was no violation.
AAP candidates Dr Balbir Singh and Dev Mann met the team to complain about the EVMs being moved.
The team has started their two-day visit from Patiala and will be visiting Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Tarn Taran.
Following a controversy over shifting of old EVMs from Government Physical College, Patiala, District Electoral Officer Ramvir Singh had initiated an inquiry into the matter. He had yesterday asked for a detailed report from the returning officer (RO) of Nabha.
Meanwhile, another controversy arose when Mann reportedly made a video alleging that the authorities were shifting EVMs and uploaded it on social media.
Ramvir Singh said no one was allowed to carry a mobile phone within 100 metres of the area where EVMs were kept. A probe was on and the law would take its own course, he said.
Mann, however, said no one stopped them to carry the mobile phone before the incident and now that we have highlighted their misdeeds, they are trying to cover up their mistake. How else a candidate is supposed to keep tabs on such activities. We were just gathering proof for what was happening there and I dont see any violation.
He, however, admitted that the strong room was intact. I agree that the strong rooms are safe but they cannot move anything from the building without getting it checked from us. It does not matter whether the EVMs were old or new. Why were they being shifted now is my contention, he added.
Interestingly, Dev Mann has already put his own lock outside the strong room three days prior to the incident. Moreover, the strong room is situated on the first floor of the building whereas the old EVMs were being shifted from the ground floor.
When contacted, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, VK Singh, said his primary duty was to look into the apprehensions of all stakeholders and reinstate their confidence in the Election Commission.
Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 15
The two-member team of the Election Commission of India has given a clean chit to the district authorities in the controversy arising out the shifting of old EVMs from the local Government Physical College.
The incident took place on February 13 when the district administration informed candidates of all parties regarding shifting of some documents from the college. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Gurdev Singh Dev Mann had raised a hue and cry after finding that the officials were shifting some old EVMs.
The team, comprising Himachal Pradesh CEO Naresh Chouhan and Additional CEO of National Capital Territory (NCT) Delhi Rajesh Kumar, was in Patiala today in the wake of a complaint by AAP, allegeing that the district administration tried to shift EVMs.
They had also demanded the registration of an FIR against Nabha RO Jashanpreet Kaur Gill and some police officials for trespass, criminal breach of trust, cheating and other offences.
After a meeting with District Election Officer Ramvir Singh, Jashanpreet Kaur and representatives of all political parties, Chouhan said he was satisfied with the action taken by the district administration. He said they had followed the protocol for the safety of EVMs.
There is no question of any violation. The authorities had followed rules and regulations for making arrangements for counting on March 11. Since the candidates objected, they had put the old EVMs back which will now be moved after another meeting between candidates and the district authorities, he added.
Meanwhile, the team visited Government Physical College and checked the strong rooms where the EVMs were kept. They said besides the lock put up by the authorities, AAP candidates had put their own locks and chains at the strong room gates.
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 14
Kulvir Singh, a Maur resident sought by the Bathinda police in connection with the Maur Mandi blast, today surrendered amid a hue and cry by area residents.
Kulvirs house was raided by the district police a few hours after the blast on January 31. Failing to find him, they had reportedly detained his cousin Gursharan Singh, a Bathinda resident.
The family members were today directed to hand over Kulvir to the police at a restaurant, but around 60-70 persons accompanied them. The police then decided to take Kulvir into custody at Maur police station.
The residents, however, followed the family to the police station as well. The cops questioned Kulvir there and later took him to the CIA-II office in Bathinda.
Swapan Sharma, SSP, said Kulvir had not been arrested, but rounded up. We will release him if he clears all our queries regarding the blast and is found innocent. He said police teams had been sent to Delhi to collect vital clues.
Meanwhile, Rajinder Kaur, Kulvirs mother and a retired school principal, said: We were not even aware of the blast as our house is situated at a distance from the spot. The policemen asked for my son who was not in the house at that time.
She said the policemen refreshed the memories of militancy period by taking away Kulvirs cousin (Gursharan) and stating that he would be released after Kulvir surrendered.
Rajinder said her son ran a dairy and hardly got any time to indulge in other activities. She said her son was booked a few years ago during clashes between dera followers and Sikhs in Bathinda, but he was acquitted later.
Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 15
The Nabha court has sent gun house owner Kiranpal Singh, who was arrested from Moga, to police remand till February 18.
He was arrested after it was found that Nabha jailbreak mastermind Gurpreet Singh Sekhon and his accomplice had bought the weapons that were used in the jailbreak from his gun house.
He was produced at Nabha court on Wednesday. The police claimed that the weapons that were recovered during the police operation to arrest Sekhon, Manvir Sekhon, Kulwinder Singh and Sultan were purchased from him.
Meanwhile, state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh has demanded a thorough probe into Arvind Kejriwals nexus with militants and gangsters in the state.
In a statement issued here, Amarinder expressed concern over the arrest of Gurpreet Singh Sekhon from Goldy Gills (AAP activist) house, just two weeks after Kejriwal himself courted controversy by staying at a KLF militants home in Punjab.
With the Maur bomb blast also being traced to KLF, and occurring just a few days after Kejriwals suspicious stay at KLF terrorist Gurwinder Singh during his Punjab visit ahead of the Assembly polls, the situation warranted a detailed inquiry into the whole episode.
Contradicting the Congress president, AAP state convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich said AAP would ensure a thorough probe against those involved in the Nabha jailbreak so that truth was unearthed.
Meanwhile, the state unit of the BJP today slammed AAP for harbouring criminals and militants in the state.
State party president Vijay Sampla, in a press statement, said: The Aam Aadmi Party is sheltering criminals and militants in Punjab.
He said: We would like to ask Arvind Kejriwal why is he silent over the arrest of Sekhon from his party workers house?
Sampla said: Kejriwal stayed in the house of KLF activist Gurwinder Singh during his Punjab visit.
He alleged: Not only this, AAP even fielded candidates with a dubious background. The partys candidate from Talwandi Sabo, Baljinder Kaurs uncle Pala Singh was a militant leader and was shot in a police encounter. Her father Darshan Singh served seven years of jail in a TADA case.
Waraich said: We have already responded to these baseless charges being levelled by the frustrated BJP in the run up to the elections.
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OF late is has become almost a fashion to sneer at lawyers and discourage young men from adopting the legal profession. In a country where the masses are illiterate and Government is not of the people, the lawyers services are frequently required to defend individual rights and liberties. At the recent gathering of the Bombay Government Law School the other day Mr. Justice Marten delivered the annual address in the course of which he encouraged the students to adopt the legal profession. The students, said he, are just starting, or have started on a career, which is one of the finest or noblest professions that men could go into.
Tribune News Service
Mussoorie, February 15
The Mussoorie constituency recorded around 59 per cent polling while the percentage for 29 booths set up in the Mussoorie municipal limits was 48.50 per cent, which could change as the figures from two or three booths were yet to be received, said election department officials.
The voting began at 8 am and was slow in the beginning. However, it picked up around 9 am as progressed during daytime. Markets remained closed to facilitate poling but the number of votes polled was discouraging in comparison to the state level figure of 69 per cent.
The voting percentage for 29 booths within the Mussoorie municipal council limits was 48.50 per cent. Out of 22,819 existing voters, 11,078 cast their votes, which is less than the average state percentage of around 68 per cent. People blamed the local administration for not engaging voters through awareness programmes. Non-availability of electoral officials in the town while the control room was at Dehradun affected polling and thus the low turnout.
Some voters termed the apathy shown by major political parties towards the real issues facing Mussoorie town as the main reason for the low turnout as compared to other areas in the constituency.
Ganga Prasad Bahuguna (105) and Tara Devi (94) cast their votes at Bala Hissar. It was the highlight of the day and a fine example of democracy at its best. Both said that they voted for the development of the state.
Former Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola cast his vote at the polling booth on the Camels Back road primary centre. He was elated at the response of the voters. He said Congress candidate Godavari Thapli would win from Mussoorie with a huge margin.
The police remained vigilant and BBD Juyal, Mussoorie station officer, accompanied by police and paramilitary forces ensured free and fair elections in the town.
Hargiri, returning officer and Mussoorie SDM, said the polling percentage in the constituency crossed 59 per cent, which could improve as polling was continuing in some booths till the filing of this report. The voting percentage in the Gurkhali community-dominated areas does not augur well for sitting MLA Ganesh Joshi.
Joshi thanked voters for casting their votes and participating in the festival of democracy. Poling agents of Independent candidates, namely Rajkumar Jaiswal, Sarika Pradhan, UKD candidates from both factions Jaiprakash Upadhyay and Anirudh Sharma were also seen at several booths.
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, February 15
Chief Minister Harish Rawat and state Congress president Kishore Upadhyay have thanked the administration and people of the state for peaceful polling.
The Chief Minister, in a statement issued here today shortly after the conclusion of the polling, expressed gratitude towards election officials, the administration and people of the state for peaceful polling. He said people of Uttarakhand had a tradition of peaceful polling and they had yet again upheld it. Upadhyay hoped that the Congress would get a two-thirds majority. The way people have come out and voted indicates that the Congress will register a big win, he added.
Washington, February 15
US President Donald Trump asked for National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's resignation because he had lost confidence in him after revelations regarding his contacts with Russia prior to the inauguration, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday.
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In his daily press briefing, Spicer denied that Flynn's departure was due to a "legal" issue regarding his conversations with Russia's Ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, the content of which he lied about to Vice President Mike Pence and other top government officials, EFE news reported.
The President's spokesman said that Trump was informed weeks ago that Flynn had not told the truth about his contacts with Kislyak and, after evaluating the matter, his confidence in the former general "eroded" to the point where he felt that "he had to make a change".
To date, it had not been clear whether Trump was aware that the Department of Justice had warned the White House in late January that Flynn could be in a compromising position as a result of the contradictions over his contact with the Russian envoy, perhaps even finding himself to be vulnerable to blackmail by the Kremlin.
But on Tuesday Spicer said that Trump was indeed aware of the situation from the start and, although he concluded with his legal team that Flynn had not violated the law, he ultimately decided to ask for his resignation due to a "matter of trust".
Nevertheless, the spokesman said several times that Flynn said nothing improper or illegal in his calls with Kislyak, adding that "the President had no problem with the fact that he acted in accord to what his job was to be doing".
Spicer's version contrasts with the one related by one of Trump's closest advisers, Kellyanne Conway, who on Monday, hours before the announcement of the resignation, said that Flynn had the President's "full confidence" and on Tuesday remarked that the former adviser had tendered his resignation voluntarily.
Flynn, a decorated general who advised Trump on foreign policy during the election campaign, held conversations with Kislyak during the transition period prior to the mogul's inauguration and even before the November 8 election.
Some of those telephone calls were intercepted by the US intelligence services and, according to the transcripts, Flynn and the Russian Ambassador spoke about the sanctions on the Kremlin that former President Barack Obama imposed before leaving the White House in reprisal for alleged Russian interference in the US election.
While the rumours about the content of those calls were making the rounds in Washington, Flynn assured Pence and other top government officials that he had not discussed the sanctions with Kislyak.
Flynn resigned on Monday evening, writing in his resignation letter that he "inadvertently briefed the Vice-President elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador".
On Tuesday, Spicer categorically denied that Trump had instructed Flynn to discuss the sanctions with the Russian envoy.
IANS
Peshawar: At least seven persons were killed and several others, including judges, injured on Wednesday in two separate suicide attacks in Pakistans northwestern region, days after a bombing claimed 13 lives in Lahore. In the first attack, at least six persons, including four security persons, were killed when two Taliban suicide bombers attacked a government compound in Mohmand tribal region. In another attack, a driver was killed while four judges were injured in Hayatabad area of Peshawar. PTI
Beijing, February 15
Chinas official media on Wednesday warned India against playing the Taiwan card, saying New Delhi will suffer losses by challenging Beijing over the sensitive issue.
The warning came after a Taiwanese women Parliamentary delegation visited India.
By challenging China over the Taiwan question, India is playing with fire, state-run Global Times said in an op-ed article titled New Delhi will suffer losses if it plays Taiwan card.
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At a time when new US President Donald Trump has put the brakes on challenging China over the Taiwan question, agreeing to change course and respecting the one China policy, India stands out as a provocateur, the tabloid daily, which is a part of Communist Party of Chinas publications, said.
High-level visits between India and Taiwan are not very frequent, so why did India invite the Taiwan delegation to visit at this time? the article asked referring to Taiwanese MPs delegation.
It is the first such visit since the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen administration took office, it said.
Tsai, who won on elections last year, is a strong supporter of Taiwans independence from China.
Some Indians view the Taiwan question as an Achilles Heel of the mainland. India has long wanted to use the Taiwan question, the South China Sea and Dalai Lama issues as bargaining chips in dealing with China, the article said.
India may be looking to use the Taiwan card against China out of its suspicions with China specially over the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project with Pakistan, it said.
With the advancement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in recent years, Indias strategic suspicions about China have been growing, it said.
It stubbornly misinterprets the flagship project of the One Belt, One Road Initiative that will benefit countries along the route, including India.
As the corridor passes through the disputed Kashmir, some Indian strategists have advised the Modi government to play the Taiwan card, it said.
To India, the island can not only help realise some of Indias development goals, but also, strategically, check the mainland.
Growing Taiwanese investment in India, including in steel, telecom and information technology sectors, are important to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Made in India campaign, it said.
Although the mainland is a major trading partner of India, political discord and the historical feud make economic cooperation between the two difficult, the article said.
Tsai is exploiting Indias vigilance and strategic suspicions against China. The pro-independence leader came up with the new southbound policy to ramp up trade and economic interactions in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania, in which India is considered not one of the, but the most important country, it said.
Quoting Taiwans representative to India Chung Kwang Tien, the article said Tsai hopes to put pressure on the mainland by tying India and Taiwan closer.
India wants benefits from the development of trade with Taiwan and Taiwanese investment. But it should be wary of Tsais political intentions and avoid being used to confront the mainland, it said. PTI
London, February 14
UK Prime Minister Theresa May today rejected a petition endorsed by nearly 2 million people against the state visit of US President Donald Trump to Britain, saying her government does not support the view.
The rejection comes after the petition Prevent Donald Trump from making State Visit to the United Kingdom attracted 1.8 million signatures, ensuring a debate in the parliament on the matter on February 20. Any petition crossing a million signatures has to be considered for a debate in the House of Commons, but the British government has the right to take a stand on the issue in the lead up to that debate.
The petition - to be debated later this month - called for Trump to be allowed to visit the UK but not be granted an official state visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.
Mays official response said the government believed Trump should be extended the full courtesy of a state visit. We look forward to welcoming President Trump once dates and arrangements are finalised. [Her Majestys] government recognises the strong views expressed by the many signatories of this petition, but does not support this petition, it read.
During her visit to the US on January 27, May invited Trump for a state visit later this year. The invitation was accepted. PTI
Downing Street fooled by V-Day prank
British Prime Ministers office fell prey to a Valentines Day gag put up by a comedian claiming to offer flowers from US President Donald Trump to Theresa May. An unidentified female No 10 Downing Street aide revealed hydrangeas, a type of plant native to southern and eastern Asia and the Americas, were Mays favourite flowers after ringing serial trickster Heydon Prowse back on his mobile number. During the six-minute exchange, the prankster claimed to be Jeff Arnold, an assistant to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in the Oval Office, The Sun reported.
After being put through to the British prime ministers office, he asked what Mays favourite flowers were because they want to send something really nice for Valentines Day. The aide said shes not 100 per cent sure off the top of her head but said she will check and get back to him. She ringed him back a short while later asking: Can I check who the gift is coming from? The prankster replied: Its essentially from Mr Trump but Sean Spicer is organising it. She then responded: Ah yes, I see, excellent, fantastic.
Dhaka: The Bangladesh police on Tuesday shot dead a militant commander of a banned Islamist outfit and a close aide of one of the masterminds of the deadly Dhaka cafe attack in which 22 persons, including an Indian girl, were killed. Abu Musa alias Abu Jar was killed in a gunfight with police which acting on a tip-off raided a house in the northern city of Bogra. The other militants fled the scene leaving wounded Jar at the scene while doctors declared him dead as we took him to the (nearby) hospital, Zaman said. Abu Jar was a close aide of neo-JMB leader Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi, one of the masterminds of deadly Dhaka cafe attack who was arrested last month, Bogras district police chief Asaduz Zaman told reporters. PTI
Lincoln police have arrested a 33-year-old Lincoln man on suspicion of trying to rob the Walgreens at 27th Street and Pine Lake Road early Friday.
Sgt. Randy Clark said they identified Derek Mueller as a suspect after receiving tips he was the man in surveillance footage police released Monday.
Officer Katie Flood said a man went into the pharmacy just before 1 a.m. and handed the pharmacist a note demanding prescription drugs. According to a affidavit for Mueller's arrest, he went into the store with his face uncovered, then came back with it covered.
The pharmacist refused to give Mueller what he wanted and tried to grab his face mask, the document says.
The man displayed no weapon and made no threats, police said.
Mueller was arrested Tuesday at his home at 3921 Village Court, Clark said. Prosecutors charged him Wednesday with attempted robbery and Lancaster County Judge Matt Acton set his bail at $25,000.
Geneva, February 14
North Korea said on Tuesday its missile launches were self-defence measures, rejecting UN Security Council criticism of its weekend test, but the US demanded international action against Pyongyangs weapons programmes.
North Koreas ballistic missile firing on Sunday was its first direct challenge to the international community since US President Donald Trump took office. The missile had a range of more than 2,000 km. It reached an altitude of about 550 km and flew about 500 km towards Japan before splashing into the sea east of the Korean peninsula.
The UN Security Council on Monday denounced the launch, urging members to redouble efforts to enforce sanctions against the reclusive state, but gave no indications of any action it might take. Han Tae Song, the new Ambassador of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the United Nations in Geneva, addressed the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament a day after taking up his post.
The various test-fires conducted by DPRK for building up self-defence capabilities are, with no exception, self-defence measures to protect national sovereignty and the safety of the people against direct threats by hostile forces, Han told the 61-member-state forum. My delegation strongly rejects the latest statement of the UN Security Council and all UN resolutions against my country.
US Ambassador Robert Wood said: All efforts to advance North Koreas nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities must cease, adding: If ever there were a situation that called for international collective action to ensure our mutual security, it is this. Reuters
Seoul, February 15
North Korea defended its latest ballistic missile launch and slammed UN Security Council condemnation in a defiant statement on Wednesday, as tensions escalate over the reclusive states recent behaviour.
The communique from the Norths foreign ministry came as investigators in Malaysia probe the shock assassination of Kim Jong-Uns half-brother Monday.
The Norths leader has been trying to strengthen his grip on power in the face of growing international pressure over his countrys nuclear and missile programmes.
The United Nations Security Council, which includes the Norths only major ally China, sharply castigated Pyongyang on Monday for the missile test a day earlier, describing it as a grave violation of UN resolutions and threatening further significant measures.
The rocket launch was the first since US President Donald Trump came to power and was seen as a challenge to the new American leader, who has vowed a strong response to the provocation.
The country is barred under UN resolutions from carrying out ballistic missile launches or nuclear tests.
The North said the Council should face squarely our advance into securing a strategic position as a nuclear state, according to a statement quoting a spokesman for the foreign ministry, carried by state media KCNA Wednesday.
We flatly reject the UN Security Council statement that raises issues with a sovereign states right to self-defense, the statement added.
However, there was no statement from Pyongyang about the death in Kuala Lumpur of Kim Jong-Nam, once tipped as heir apparent.
North Korea has blasted off a series of missiles in the last year and conducted two nuclear tests in its quest to develop a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.
The latest rocketsaid by Pyongyang to be able to carry a nuclear warheadflew east for about 500 kilometres before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Koreas defense ministry said.
The Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions since Pyongyang first tested an atomic device in 2006. AFP
JERUSALEM, February 15
Palestinians warned the United States on Wednesday against abandoning a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel after a White House official said peace did not necessarily have to entail Palestinian statehood.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet later in the day for the first time since the US election in November that brought the Republican to office.
On the eve of the meeting, a senior White House official said it was up to the Israelis and Palestinians themselves to decide on the shape of any future peace.
"Whether that comes in the form of a two-state solution if that's what the parties want, or something else," the official said, adding that Trump, while giving peace "high priority", would not try to "dictate" an agreement.
For Palestinians, who seek a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip, even the notion of a US retreat from the internationally backed goal of a future Palestine existing alongside Israel was alarming.
"If the Trump Administration rejects this policy it would be destroying the chances for peace and undermining American interests, standing and credibility abroad," Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in response to the US official's remarks.
"Accommodating the most extreme and irresponsible elements in Israel and in the White House is no way to make responsible foreign policy," she said in a statement.
Netanyahu committed, with conditions, to the two-state goal in a speech in 2009 and has broadly reiterated the aim since.
But given regional instability and long-running divisions in Palestinian politics, many in his cabinet argue the time is not ripe for a Palestinian state to emerge.
Far-right cabinet ministers in Israel have called for the annexation of parts of the West Bank, which was among the territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Netanyahu has not endorsed that demand.
Commenting on the White House official's remarks, Husam Zomlot, strategic affairs adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, noted that Palestinian statehood has long been at the heart of international peace efforts.
"The two-state solution is not something we just came up with. It is an international consensus and decision after decades of Israel's rejection of the one-state democratic formula," Zomlot told Reuters in Jerusalem by telephone from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
On his departure for Washington on Monday, Netanyahu sidestepped a question on whether he still backed a two-state solution, saying he would make his position clear in the US capital.
But he has spoken of a "state minus, suggesting he could offer the Palestinians deep-seated autonomy they already exercise limited self-rule in the West Bank under interim deals and the trappings of statehood without full sovereignty. Reuters
Seoul/Kuala Lumpur, February 15
South Koreas spy agency suspects two female North Korean agents assassinated the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Malaysia, lawmakers in Seoul said on Wednesday, as Malaysian medical authorities sought a cause of death.
US government sources also told Reuters they believed that Kim Jong Nam, who according to Malaysian police died on Monday on his way to hospital from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, had been murdered by North Korean assassins.
(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
South Korean intelligence believed Kim Jong Nam was poisoned, lawmakers said after being briefed by the countrys spy agency.
They said the spy agency told them that the young, unpredictable North Korean leader had issued a standing order for his half-brothers assassination, and that there had been a failed attempt in 2012.
Meanwhile, a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport was arrested today in connection with the assassination, Malaysias police chief said.
Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement she was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
According to the spy agency, Kim Jong Nam had been living with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, under Beijings protection, the lawmakers said. One of them said Kim Jong Nam also had a wife and son in Beijing.
Portly and gregarious, Kim Jong Nam had spoken out publicly against his familys dynastic control of the isolated state.
If the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime, South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the countrys acting president, told a security council meeting.
The meeting was called in response to Kim Jong Nams mysterious death, news of which first emerged late on Tuesday.
South Korea is acutely sensitive to any sign of potential instability in North Korea, and is still technically in a state of war with its impoverished and nuclear-armed neighbour.
Ticket to Macau
Malaysian police said the dead man, 46, held a passport under the name Kim Chol. Kim Jong Nam was known to spend a significant amount of time outside North Korea, traveling in Macau and Hong Kong as well as mainland China, and has been caught in the past using forged travel documents.
Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat said on Tuesday the cause of Kims death was not yet known, and that a post-mortem would be carried out. Kim had been planning to travel to Macau on Monday when he fell ill at KLIAs low-cost terminal, Fadzil said.
Kims body was taken on Wednesday morning to a second hospital, where an autopsy was being performed.
A Malaysian police source who had seen closed-circuit TV footage from the airport said a woman was involved in the attack.
So far from the CCTV we can confirm its a woman, the source said.
Asked during a news briefing if the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said: Yes, I have said it is confirmed. South Koreas TV Chosun, a cable-TV network, cited multiple South Korean government sources saying that Kim had been poisoned with a needle by two women believed to be North Korean operatives who fled in a taxi.
Reuters could not independently confirm those details.
Officials at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur would not speak to reporters gathered outside its gate and refused them entry. A few cars were seen leaving the embassy.
South Koreas Unification Ministry urged North Korean defectors in South Korea and abroad to be mindful of their security.
Malaysia is one of a dwindling number of countries that has close relations with North Korea, whose nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches - the latest of which took place on Sunday - have provoked global sanctions.
Malaysians and North Koreans can visit each others country without visas. Reuters/AFP
Washington, February 15
President Donald Trump on Wednesday dropped US insistence on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a longstanding bedrock of the Middle East policy, even as he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb settlement construction.
In the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Trumps victory, the President backed away from a US commitment to eventual creation of a Palestinian state. Im looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like, Trump told a joint news conference with Netanyahu. I can live with either one.
Trump vowed to work toward a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians but said it would require compromise on both sides and up to the parties themselves ultimately to reach the terms of any agreement. But he offered no new prescription for achieving an accord that has eluded so many of his predecessors.
Trump told Netanyahu: I'd like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit. The right-wing Israeli leader insisted that Jewish settlements were not the core of the conflict and made no commitment to reduce settlement building. Reuters
Washington, February 14
President Donald Trumps national security adviser (NSA), Michael Flynn, resigned late on Monday after revelations that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice-President Mike Pence about the conversations.
Flynns resignation came hours after it was reported that the Justice Department had warned the White House weeks ago that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took power on January 20.
Flynns departure was a sobering development in Trumps young presidency, a 24-day period during which his White House has been repeatedly distracted by miscues and internal dramas. The departure could slow Trumps bid to warm up relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Flynn submitted his resignation hours after Trump, through a spokesman, pointedly declined to publicly back Flynn, saying he was reviewing the situation and talking to Pence. Flynn had promised Pence he had not discussed US sanctions with the Russians, but transcripts of intercepted communications, described by US officials, showed that the subject had come up in conversations between him and the Russian ambassador.
Such contacts could potentially be in violation of a law banning private citizens from engaging in foreign policy, known as the Logan Act. Pence had defended Flynn in television interviews and was described by administration officials as upset about being misled.
Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador. I have sincerely apologised to the President and the Vice-President, and they have accepted my apology, Flynn said in his resignation letter.
Retired General Keith Kellogg, who has been chief of staff of the White House National Security Council, was named the acting NSA while Trump determines who should fill the position.
A US official confirmed a Washington Post report that Sally Yates, the then-acting US attorney general, told the White House late last month that she believed Flynn had misled them about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador.
She said Flynn might have put himself in a compromising position, possibly leaving himself vulnerable to blackmail, the official said. Yates was later fired for opposing Trumps temporary entry ban for people from seven mostly Muslim nations. Reuters
Retired General Kellogg is acting NSA
Michael Flynns temporary replacement, General Kellogg, is a decorated veteran of the US Army, having served from 1967 to 2003, including two tours during the Vietnam War, where he earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with V device
He served as the Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division from 1997 to 1998. Prior to his retirement, General Kellogg was Director of the Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Directorate under the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Kellogg, retired General David Petraeus, a former CIA director, and Robert Harward, a former deputy commander of US Central Command, are under consideration for the position. Harward was described by officials as the leading candidate
Illegal leaks behind NSAs resignation: Prez
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the real story behind the NSAs resignation was illegal leaks, indicating that it was not the top official misleading him as being reported in the media The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N. Korea, etc? Trump told his more than 24.8 million followers on Twitter.
Kuala Lumpur, February 15
The Malaysian police probing the killing of the half-brother of North Koreas leader today arrested a woman as they tried to unravel a Cold War-style assassination the South said was carried out by Pyongyangs agents.
As Seoul pointed the finger at poison-wielding female spies from North of their shared border, police in Kuala Lumpur said they were holding a woman with a Vietnamese passport.
Her arrest came around 24 hours after news broke of the death of Kim Jong-Nam, the elder sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, with reports saying female assassins had sprayed toxins in his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
CCTV images that emerged in Malaysian media, purportedly of one of the suspects, showed an Asian woman wearing a white top with the letters LOL emblazoned on the front. Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said 28-year-old Doan Thi Huong was arrested at the airport this morning, two days after the killing.
The suspect was positively identified from the CCTV footage at the airport and was alone at the time of arrest, Khalid said in a statement.
Meanwhile, pathologists in the Malaysian capital examined the body for clues as to how he died, in a killing that has echoes of Soviet-era spycraft. South Koreas spy chief Lee Byung-Ho said the two women struck on Monday morning as Kim was readying to board a flight to Macau where he has spent many years in exile.
Malaysian police said Kim, a portly 45-year-old, was walking through the departure hall when he was attacked.
He told the receptionist... someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him, Selangor states criminal investigation chief Fadzil Ahmat was reported as saying by Malaysias The Star newspaper.
He asked for help and was immediately sent to the airports clinic. At this point, he was experiencing headache and was on the verge of passing out, said Fadzil.
At the clinic, the victim experienced a mild seizure. He was put into an ambulance and was being taken to the Putrajaya Hospital when he was pronounced dead.
No party had yet laid claim to the body, Abdul Samah said. As for now the body will be kept at the Kuala Lumpur morgue. AFP
A Lincoln man was arrested outside of the Walgreens near 48th and Huntington Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of robbing a woman at gunpoint.
Lincoln Police Capt. Bob Farber said Laderrius Rawls, 25, approached a 31-year-old woman in the parking lot after she made a purchase inside the store. She told police he began going through her pockets as she was putting her child in a car seat.
The woman said she began to resist, but stopped after Rawls said he was carrying a gun. Farber said he took off after taking money and belongings from her pockets.
Police responded to the call about 2:30 p.m. and arrested Rawls three blocks away. Officers said they did not find a gun on him, but he had the woman's EBT card.
Photo: DB Schenker
Global logistics company DB Schenker reportedly is taking a $25 million stake in U.S.-based uShip, which uses online technology to match freight shippers and carriers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Schenker said it is pressing a digital transformation of its business model.
The Journal reports that the German firm also received a seat on uShips board.
Last summer, hailing it as the digital future, Schenker signed a five-year agreement with uShip for exclusive collaboration in Europe.
The uShip marketplace platform, which has been matching shippers with carriers in at least 19 countries, will first be used in DB Schenker's land transport sector.
Founded 14 years ago, uShip was ahead of the so-called Uber for trucking trend. The privately held business said its shipping marketplace has handled more than 1 million shipments. UShip earlier this month announced a new CEO, Mike Williams.
The Journal points out that Schenker isnt the only traditional large logistics company thats been investing in technology. For instance, UPS bought Coyote Logistics in 2015, and in lat 2104, C.H. Robinson announced it was buying Freightquote.com Inc.
Cass County sheriffs deputies arrested two men Tuesday afternoon after recognizing their SUV from a description given after a hit-and-run in Chicago.
Deputies found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a large butcher knife in the SUV, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
At 12:06 p.m., a deputy sheriff pulled over the green Oldsmobile Bravada heading south on U.S. 75/34 north of Union, the release said. The SUV's front end was damaged and matched the description of a vehicle involved in a hit and run near Chicago on Feb. 8.
The driver was identified as Benjamin Robinson, 18, of Omaha. Passengers were Adam Ellison, 30, of Nebraska City, who owns the SUV, and his 2-year-old daughter.
A second deputy arrived, and they determined the information the two men were giving about the damage was false, the sheriff's office said. They searched the SUV and arrested Robinson on suspicion of false reporting and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Ellison was arrested on suspicion of possession of a deadly weapon by a felon, carrying a concealed weapon, false reporting, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The toddler was released to her mother, the sheriff's office said. Robinson is a ward of the state and was released to a state worker after being cited.
The Chicago hit-and-run investigation is ongoing.
Nearly 80 percent of Nebraska babies, toddlers and preschoolers spend at least part of their day in child care.
Increasingly, studies find a childs first eight years of life are most critical for developing the skills needed to become successful adults.
Yet, when it comes to providing consistent high-quality care, and adequately compensating those who care for children in their most influential years of life, Nebraska, and the nation, fall woefully short. Eleven of Nebraskas 93 counties dont even have a single licensed child care facility, and in 75 percent of Nebraskas counties there are not enough child care slots to meet the current demand.
But thanks to a partnership between the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and the University of Nebraska, early childhood education leaders are hoping to make the Cornhusker state a model for the nation.
On Wednesday, the Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission -- a 39-member group comprised of public and private sector leaders -- will embark on a comprehensive three-year collaboration to address the most pressing issues facing early childhood education:
* A shortage of child care workers.
* Inconsistent and inadequate preparation and training for early childhood educators and providers.
* Abysmal salaries for the very people parents are entrusting their most valuable possession -- their children.
In 2015, the average salary for Nebraska child care professionals was $19,620 -- below the poverty line for a family of three. Twenty percent of early childhood teachers serving children birth through third grade take on a second job just to make ends meet. And many of these same teachers leave the profession for the fast food industry, where wages are higher, said Samuel Meisels, founding executive director of the Buffett Institute.
This is not just a parenting issue, its a professional crisis for the state, Meisels said in a telephone interview from his office in Omaha.
Simply put, early childhood education is at the core of economic development.
If kids are not cared for well early on and dont thrive and contribute as they grow into adulthood, they will be a burden as they grow, Meisels said.
Bottom line: communities, states and the nation will pay dearly for clinging to the outmoded thinking that babies are just blobs, and their education is solely a parental responsibility, according to Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who co-chairs the commission with Meisels.
Research and empirical neurological data support long-held theories that childrens earliest experiences and lessons pay off later in life, Kostelnik said, citing the work of Nobel laureate James Heckman.
Although later interventions and efforts can yield long-lasting positive results, It is not as powerful as if you do it early, Kostelnik said of Heckmans research finding. Not long ago, a childs preschool years were thought to be the most important, but Heckmans findings reveal infant and toddler years are even more powerful, she said.
Communities need to see it as a return on investment, Meisels said.
Small communities need to invest in early childhood programs so they can attract and retain people in these small communities, he said.
The early years of childrens lives come when their parents have the lowest earning power, Kostelnik said. New parents are younger, just starting out in their own careers, she explained.
Which means solutions to early childhood education disparity and availability cannot be viewed as the sole responsibility of the parents. It must be a collaborative effort of public, private, business and educational sectors, Meisels said.
To not see child care and early childhood education as community issues is an outmoded view of family, economy and gender, he added.
Everyone shares the responsibility. If a child is in poverty, high-quality care and education can be a life-changing experience, he said.
Kostelnik said families and communities are not separate entities, but entwined.
Families are the community. Its a partnership between family and community, not an either-or, Kostelnik said. Families can rely on the community support and communities can rely on families to remain in the community and contribute.
Referring to the focus of Prosper Lincoln, a community program charged with setting the agenda for positive change for Lincolns future, Kostelnik said three key areas were identified: early childhood, a skilled workforce and innovation.
The three threads go together. You cannot have one that is not integrated with the others, Kostelnik said. We dont just need a place to put a child. We need a high-quality place, a stimulating place and nurturing place."
The Early Childhood Workforce Commission drafted a blueprint for change, Meisels said. And then build momentum to turn those solutions into reality.
Key is shifting the perspective from old thinking to new understanding.
If people thought we were squandering (a childs opportunity) we wouldnt do it, Kostelnik said. They dont recognize that is exactly what it happening.
Meisels agreed.
There is a tremendous waste of potential that I think can be avoided, he said. We all care about what happens to very young children. We are all in it together because it is our future."
UK-Chinese fashionista Gok Wan turns his attention to cuisine in a new series Goks Chinese Takeaway on LifeStyle FOOD.
This was produced for National Geographic Asia.
Gok Wan, the fashion star, harbours a secret wish within the next few years, hell want to buy over his fathers take- away restaurant and turn it into something of his own. Itll serve fusion-Chinese food with pizzazz.
However to fulfil that dream, Gok would first have to get past his father, an immigrant from Hong Kong and a purist in Chinese cuisine. Having grown up in the only Asian family on his street in Leicester, Gok believes that there is more to his take of modern Chinese food than his fathers rigid vision. His dad says go see what other remote Chinese communities are doing with their Chinese food. So Gok sets off to visit Chinese communities around the globe to discover their take on Chinese food outside of China.
Is their view of Chinese cuisine as strict as his fathers? Or have they immersed into their new localities so completely that theyve created a distinct flavour? And what will Goks journey into the Chinese diaspora help him discover his own identity?
From the UK to the Caribbean through to the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, Gok will meet people who take him on food adventures and spark off ideas of creating Chinese style food without the quintessential Chinese ingredients. He will come off with concrete ideas of creating food that best reflects his personality and Chinese heritage.
Thursdays from February 16 at 8.30pm on LifeStyle FOOD.
Seven chairman Kerry Stokes yesterday lashed out at a journalist during the half-yearly results conference call.
After an hour of analysts questions, the media was allowed only 15 minutes to ask Stokes and Tim Worner about the affair.
Will Glasgow, from The Australian, queried whether former board member Sheila McGregor had been silenced after she quit just as an independent report into the issue was being published.
How dare you? Thats outrageous, Stokes fumed. Are you seriously suggesting I will tell a director what they can and cant do?
The reason remains between her and I, he added.
When asked if Worner had offered to resign, Stokes said he offered to do what was in the best interests of the company.
But he also took aim at former executive assistant Amber Harrison.
There was a significant amount of money taken by her and theres no other excuse for it, he said.
We have dishonest people who work for us, he said.
But friends of Amber Harrison told the Herald Sun It is wrong that they keep throwing around these expenses figures, making her out to be a fraudster, when she is not, they said. This is not about the expenses, but thats all theyve got on her, so thats why they keep bringing it up. And to do it when they have gagged her and she cant explain herself is extraordinary.
Source: Fairfax, Daily Mail
Seven West Media Chairman Kerry Stokes today backed his CEO Tim Worner amid ongoing headlines regarding his affair with Amber Harrison.
Worner today fronted Sevens half-yearly results in Sydney.
Responding to questions about whether Seven News had ignored the headlines, Stokes said, I am not aware of any restraint on Seven News covering this issue. In fact I think there is a fairly large article on this this morning, so Im not quite sure what youre referring to.
I would suggest our news editors cover what they think is appropriate to cover.
Tim Worner himself continues to enjoy the full confidence of the board as our CEO. (Hes) doing an outstanding job.
At the start of todays results conference call, Tim Worner said, Over the past two months much has been written and discussed concerning the ongoing claims of a former employee.
I have apologised for what did happen and we dont wish to give any more oxygen to things that did not happen.
The company has made a number of public statements on the matter and will continue to keep the market informed.
But Seven West Medias first-half net profit plunged nearly 91 percent, hurt by changes relating to its investment in Yahoo7, divestments and costs related to the defunct streaming service Presto.
Net profit dropped to $12.4 million for the six months to December 24, from $135.2 million a year earlier, relating to the impairment of its investment in Yahoo7, sale of Magazines youth titles and Australian News Channel as well as Prestos closing down costs.
Excluding significant items, profit after tax fell 31.8 per cent to $95.7 million.
Tim Worner said: We are delivering leadership across our media platforms. We are delivering on a successful strategy that provides us with a clear, continuous and sustainable plan for growth to 2020 and beyond. We will continue to build our businesses, manage our costs, grow our content production capacity, and deliver that content wherever the audience wants to consume it and wherever we can monetise it. Much has been done on driving greater efficiencies across all aspects of our business and we will continue to focus on further enhancing our operating margins.
Meanwhile Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham rejected calls for Mr Worner to resign.
Im disappointed he has got himself into this situation, Im disappointed for him and his judgment but that doesnt necessarily mean there are grounds to ask someone to step down from a board, he said.
The presentation follows a flurry of headlines this week surrounding his affair with Amber Harrison, previously an executive assistant within Seven West Media.
Yesterday board member and Beyond Blue chairman Jeff Kennett took to the press to defend SWMs position and investigation, citing one-sided reportage.
Harrison, remains subject to an injunction this week preventing her from commentary, including on social media. That matter returns to court next week.
Source: AFR, Nine
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.
I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.
More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.
The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.
About me:
I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.
Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).
Age: 42
Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.
I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
| By Patricia Fanning
The Presidents Fellows and the Office of Interprofessional Student Learning & Service Initiatives (ISLSI) welcomed Suzanne Sysko Clough, MD, to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) on Feb. 9. Her remarks were part of the Presidents Symposium & White Paper Project speaker series, which is focusing on entrepreneurship during the 2016-2017 academic year.
(View a photo gallery.)
"We have to do more for students than just the day-in, day-out curriculum, Clough told the fellows and other students during the program. We have to get people to be not only better critical thinkers but we have to help them innovate to solve day-to-day business problems just to stay afloat, especially in medicine.
Suzanne Sysko Clough, MD, co-founder of RAS Digital Health, shares insights at the Presidents Symposium & White Paper Project speaker series on entrepreneurship.
One reason for her assertion: the rapid pace of change in the delivery of health care.
Clough mentioned the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which she said appears to be secure even in the new administration because of its wide bipartisan support. We are finally going from what has been referred to as volume-based careto value-based care.
She said policymakers and practitioners are being challenged to innovate the entire health care system as the message becomes, We are going to start looking at outcomes; we are going to start paying you for value.
The focused teaching of a robust entrepreneurship curriculum in graduate and professional studies has historically been limited to graduate programs of entrepreneurship. In her remarks, Clough shared her views on why teaching entrepreneurship should be a staple in all graduate studies programs, especially those in the life sciences.
Clough focused on medicine given her own background. An alumna of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), she was at UMB for 12 years before leaving her endocrinology and diabetes practice in 2006. As a co-founder of WellDoc, Inc., she became its chief medical officer.
While at WellDoc, Clough was instrumental in informing the design of the algorithms and the clinical and behavioral architecture of WellDocs Food and Drug Administration-cleared software platform. Its goal is to address the unmet needs in both patient self-management education and physician clinical decision support. Clough left WellDoc in March 2016 and co-founded RAS Digital Health, LLC., a digital health consulting firm that supports startups and Fortune 500 companies in building out their digital health strategies.
What I implore universities, she said, is that as physicians, as biologists, as behaviorists, we have got to be in on this. We cant let technologists build technology just for the sake of building technology because it never works. To be effective, Clough said, there has to be a marriage of technology and the background that folks in life sciences have. And for that to happen, she added, newly minted professionals must be equipped with skills and knowledge that allow them to jump in and get in the mix.
How best to encourage that type of entrepreneurial spirit at UMB is the topic of this years white paper. The fellows are Chinonye "Donna" Egbulem, a School of Social Work student who is in her final year of the dual degree Masters in Social Work/Masters in Public Health; Anna Hung, PharmD, a doctoral student in the Pharmaceutical Health Services Research program at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy; Benjamin Portney, a doctoral student in the UMSOM Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Camilo Vanegas, a doctoral student in molecular medicine in the UMSOM Graduate Program in Life Sciences.
Vanegas was among those who took to the microphone during a question-and-answer session with Clough. He said that as a fourth-year PhD candidate, he knows many students who arent allowed to do entrepreneurial activities because their principal investigators want them in the lab. Its not just a frown; its a no, he said.
Yet the selection of the topic, Entrepreneurial Exploration and Education shows the University is definitely trying to change that outlook, Vanegas said.
The next symposium in the series on entrepreneurship will take place March 9 at 4 p.m. at the Southern Management Corporation Campus Center. James Hughes, MBA, chief enterprise and economic development officer and vice president, will speak on "UMBs Entrepreneurial Future." Among other things, he will discuss plans for UMB start-ups in a new student-focused innovation center in the University of Maryland BioPark.
Hughes will be joined by Rana Quraishi, PhD, director of new ventures, and Darryl L. Carter, MD, a UM Ventures entrepreneur in residence, who will share case studies of recent entrepreneurial projects by UMB students.
On April 3 at 4 p.m., the interdisciplinary group of presidents fellows will present their findings on entrepreneurship . Previous fellows explored topics such as civility and cultural competence, and ISLSI maintains an archive of their white papers.
| By David Kohn
The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) has announced the successful recruitment of a broad slate of top scientists, as the first part of a bold new recruitment initiative called STRAP (Special Trans-Disciplinary Recruitment Award Program).
The initiative is a bold, new effort to recruit teams of some of the most talented physicians and scientists, with the primary goal of significantly catalyzing the schools focus on accelerating discoveries, cures, and therapeutics for the most serious diseases that cause morbidity, mortality, and disability. STRAP specifies that the school will recruit scores of well-funded teams of scientists at all faculty ranks by the year 2020, as part of Vision 2020, the shared strategic goals established by the School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical System.
The new teams of scientists will bring federal funding of nearly $30 million (more than $11 million annually) in total grants and contracts to the school, which surpassed $400 million in total research funding in 2016.
Many of the new scientists will be housed in the new 450,000-square-foot, $305 million state-of-the art research facility on West Baltimore Street, Health Sciences Facility III. The facility will be finished by the end of this year and occupied in early 2018. Health Sciences Facility III will feature among the most advanced laboratories and medical research technology found anywhere. University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, pointed out that the new building is a major asset to the schools research portfolio and will be most appealing to leading scientists who wish to have a state-of-the-art research facility for conducting discovery-based medicine in a collaborative manner and at a very high level of sophistication.
We are off to a tremendous start with the STRAP Initiative, and are very excited to be able to attract these first teams of outstanding individuals who are nationally and internationally recognized in their respective fields, said Reece. The University of Maryland School of Medicine is being recognized as a magnet institution for individuals interested in pursuing possible cures and treatments for the most critical and complex diseases that we face around the world.
The program is the most significant and ambitious effort to recruit scientists in the schools 210-year history. It signifies an aggressive move by the school to advance in the top echelon of leading biomedical research institutions in the nation. In particular, the school is targeting top researchers and physician scientists who will help to accelerate breakthrough discoveries in critical areas, including brain disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular-metabolic diseases. The initiative will lead to rich, collaborative research programs across the School of Medicine, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University System, Reece noted.
Experts in Lung Injury
Stephen N. Davis, MBBS, the Dr. Theodore E. Woodward Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine; Jeffrey D. Hasday, MD, the Dr. Herbert Berger Endowed Professor of Medicine and division head, pulmonary & critical care medicine; and Peter Rock, MD, MBA, the Dr. Martin A. Helrich Professor and chair of anesthesiology; with collaboration from Thomas M. Scalea, MD, the Hon. Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor in Trauma Surgery, director of the program in trauma, and physician-in-chief at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center; and Scott M. Thompson, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Physiology, announced the addition of two top pulmonary scientists:
Konstantin Birukov, MD, PhD, comes to the school from the University of Chicago School of Medicine, where he was an associate professor of medicine in the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care. He is a leading expert on the molecular mechanisms regulating lung vascular permeability, the role of mechanical forces and oxidized phospholipidome in development and recovery of lung function, and innovative strategies to prevent acute lung injury. Prior to the University of Chicago, he was a research associate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has authored or co-authored more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and reviews, as well as two book chapters, and has four patents. Birukov will have his primary appointment in the school's Department of Anesthesiology, and a secondary appointment in the Department of Medicine, and serve as director of the University of Maryland School of Medicine Lung Biology Research Program.
Anna Birukova, MD, is a widely published investigator in several areas, including the regulation of lung vascular permeability and inflammation by microtubules, microtubule-associated signaling molecules, and new ways to protect the lungs from acute injury. Prior to coming to the University of Maryland, Baltimore, she was an associate professor of medicine in the Section for Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. Prior to that, she was a research associate at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and reviews and has written three book chapters. Birukova will have her primary appointment in the UMSOM Department of Medicine and a secondary appointment in the Department of Anesthesiology, and serve as associate director of the Lung Biology Research Program.
The team comes to the UMSOM with $4.35 million in total research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (more than $2 million annually).
Top Investigators in Muscle and Tendon Formation
In the Department of Orthopaedics, Andrew N. Pollak, MD, the James Lawrence Kernan Professor and Chair, has led the effort to recruit a team of leading orthopaedics researchers:
Masahiro Iwamoto, DDS, PhD, is an acclaimed scientist who has focused on the development of articular cartilage, the regulation of bone growth, and the repair of muscle, cartilage, and other connective tissue. Prior to coming to the University of Maryland, Baltimore, he was a research associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Prior to that, he was an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Iwamoto has earned four patents, and has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed papers.
Motomi Enomoto-Iwamoto, DDS, PhD, comes from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she was a research associate professor in orthopaedic surgery. She is an accomplished investigator who studies the cellular and signaling mechanisms that regulate skeletal development and function, the cellular pathways that lead to cartilage tumors and osteoarthritis, and the role of local progenitor cells in articular cartilage and tendon repair. Prior to CHOP, she was an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University. Iwamoto has earned four patents, and has authored or co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed papers.
The team joins the UMSOM faculty with more than $2.7 million in total research funding from the NIH ($675,000 annually).
Leading Neuroscientist in Brain Development
In the Department of Pharmacology, Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD, professor and chair, and Bankole A. Johnson, DSc, MD, MB, ChB, MPhil, the Dr. Irving J. Taylor Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, have announced the addition of a nationally recognized neuroscientist:
Tracy L. Bale, PhD, is a leading expert on the links between stress and subsequent risk for neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and schizophrenia in offspring. Her innovative studies use molecular techniques to determine the mechanisms by which this may occur. Her studies on the placenta have revealed novel sex differences that may predict increased prenatal risk for disease in males. Prior to coming to the University of Maryland, Baltimore, she was a professor of neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the School of Veterinary Medicine. She is the co-director of the Specialized Center for Research on Womens Health and Penn PROMOTES. She serves as chair of an NIH study section, is a reviewing editor for the Journal of Neuroscience, and serves on the Congressional Committee on Gulf War Veterans Health. She has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed papers.
Bale brings nearly $4.5 million in total research funding from the NIH ($1.9 million annually).
Top Team in Imaging and Spectroscopy
In the Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Elias Melhem, MD, the Dean John M. Dennis Chair in Radiology, has announced a team of top investigators from Hawaii.
Linda Chang, MD, MS, FAAN, FANA, is a highly acclaimed physician-scientist coming to the University of Maryland, Baltimore from the University of Hawaii, where she was a professor of medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, as well as director of the schools Neuroscience and Magnetic Resonance Research Program. After receiving her MD degree from Georgetown University, she became an assistant professor, and then an associate professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. Chang has done research on a range of topics, including how methamphetamine and other drugs affect the brain and cognition, the neurological effects of HIV/AIDS and how aging affects the brain. During her career, she has authored or co-authored 200 peer-reviewed papers, and has written nearly 30 book chapters and monographs. She also has delivered 175 lectures, grand rounds, workshops, and symposia.
Thomas Ernst, PhD, was also a professor of medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. Ernst earned a PhD degree in physics from the University of Freiburg in Germany. He has focused on several areas of research, including the development of strategies to minimize motion sensitivity of magnetic resonance and other imaging techniques, and to improve the overall precision of these techniques; the use of imaging to study HIV-related brain disease, the neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs, and overall brain development. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, more than 10 book chapters, and has given dozens of lectures and seminars.
The team brings $9.2 million in total research funding from the NIH (nearly $3 million annually).
Leader in Bioengineering and Artificial Organs
In the Department of Surgery, Stephen T. Bartlett, MD, the Peter Angelos Distinguished Professor and Chair in Surgery, and Bartley Griffith, MD, the Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor in Transplant Surgery, announced that a top bioengineering scientist is returning to the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Zhongjun Jon Wu, PhD, is an internationally recognized authority on the development of artificial organs, ventricular assist devices, blood pumps, artificial lungs, and respiratory assist devices. He was an assistant and associate professor at the School of Medicine from 2003 to 2014, when he became a professor of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. His primary areas of research are in blood flow, flow visualization, blood damage, cell mechanics, cardiac biomechanics, hemodynamics; biological responses to artificial organs in human and animals; and stem cell therapies for heart and lung diseases. He has earned or applied for 10 patents and has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed papers.
Wu brings nearly $1.6 million in total research funding from the NIH (more than $660,000 annually).
Academic Leader in Physical Therapy
In the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Mark Rogers, PhD, PT, professor and department chair, along with Department of Orthopaedics Chair Andrew Pollak, MD, announced the addition of a top research scientist in physical medicine and rehabilitation science.
Li-Qun Zhang, PhD, is a senior research scientist who joins the School of Medicine faculty as professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Orthopaedics. Zhang was previously a professor in the departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation, orthopaedic surgery, and biomedical engineering at Northwestern University. He also served as director of ortho biomech research at Northshore University Health System and senior research scientist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He is widely published and speaks internationally on his research related to biomechanics and biomedical engineering.
Throughout his research career, he has consistently received annual NIH funding and currently holds $2.7 million total in grants ($833,000 annually) from the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
University of Maryland School of Medicine is a Major Global Research Enterprise
With more than $400 million in total extramural research funding last year, the School of Medicine now ranks among the top research intensive institutions nationally. Key advances since the school celebrated its bicentennial in 2007 include:
Sidah Hawa stares towards the horizon. The scorching sun filters through the sparse shade of the tree under which she sits. Her six children huddle close as she breastfeeds Asanti, her 18-month-old baby.
"I have suffered a great deal; these past few days have been really bad," she says after a long silence. "I didn't have enough food. I had raw cassava. This is what I fed my children. When they were tired, we rested then I gave them some water."
Sidah, 30, recently arrived in Kuluba, a small dusty town in northern Uganda close to one of the many points along the border with South Sudan.
She is one of thousands of refugees streaming into Uganda since intense fighting broke out again in July last year following the collapse of a peace deal between the government and opposition forces.
South Sudanese refugees hit 1.5 million mark
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced today that more than 1.5 million people have now been forced to flee the country and seek safety since conflict erupted in December 2013. This makes South Sudan Africas largest refugee crisis and the worlds third largest after Syria and Afghanistan with less attention and chronic levels of underfunding.
With an extremely volatile security situation forcing more refugees to flee, the latest influx is straining the capacity of transit and reception centres, which are too small for the growing number of arrivals.
"I walked for two days to the border, but I didn't use the main roads."
Since January 2017, more than 52,000 refugees have been received in Uganda, with the majority crossing at border entry points such as Busia, the one Sidah and her family used, to find refuge. Many refugees are using informal entry points citing the presence of armed groups on the routes to the main border points.
Thousands more have made huge detours on foot to escape South Sudan, heading south through the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, then east into Uganda for fear of attacks from armed forces present along the direct routes. Some report walking for more than a month before finally reaching safety.
The majority of the refugees are being hosted by Uganda, where a total of some 698,000 have now arrived. In less than six months, Uganda has more than tripled its population of South Sudanese refugees, hosting the largest share of the people who have fled their homes in the neighbouring country.
Ethiopia is also hosting some 342,000, while more than 305,000 otthers are in Sudan and some 89,000 in Kenya, 68,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4,900 in the Central African Republic.
Sidah Hawa and her children fled conflict in South Sudan and reached safety in Uganda after traveling for two days. UNHCR/Michele Sibiloni
Sidah Hawa boarding a UNHCR truck to the Palorinya settlements where each family will be given a piece of land for shelter. UNHCR/Michele Sibiloni
South Sudanese refugee Sidah Hawa being registered with her children at Kuluba transit centre. UNHCR/Michele Sibiloni
After arriving at Kuluba transit centre, refugee children are given a medical check and vaccinated against disease. UNHCR/Michele Sibiloni
Since January 2017, more than 52,000 refugees have been received in Uganda. UNHCR/Michele Sibiloni
Appealing for more assistance, UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler added: More than 60 per cent of the refugees are children, many arriving with alarming levels of malnutrition Recent new arrivals report suffering inside South Sudan with intense fighting, kidnappings, rape, fears of armed groups and threats to life, as well as acute food shortage.
Sidah endured a three-day journey to the border from her home in Mogo in Yei County in southwestern South Sudan, which enjoyed relative stability until fighting spread to the area.
"I walked for two days to the border but I didn't use the main roads," she says. "We walked through the bush because if you meet soldiers they might kill you."
"I spent six days hiding in the bush with my six children."
Sarah Apayi is one of 6,000 refugees who used the DRC route to get into Uganda since the middle of 2016. Due to checkpoints and banditry along the main roads, more refugees are forced to use this longer route, walking several days to reach Uganda, usually with few belongings and limited access to food, water and other needs.
"My husband was kidnapped over a year ago after the war started," Sarah says. "I spent six days hiding in the bush with my six children trying to get to DRC. She spent another two days from Bokolo in DRC to Uganda. It was difficult because it is not safe in the bush. I was worried about wild animals but it was better to try that way than to be attacked by the rebels.
Like Sidah and Sarah, women and children continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, making up 86 per cent of refugees arriving in Uganda.
"This has been a massive, unrelenting emergency with close to 2,000 refugees arriving in Uganda daily," says Nasir Fernandes, a senior emergency operations coordinator with UNHCR. "Our number one priority is saving lives and ensuring the basic needs of new arrivals are met as quickly as possible."
Sidah Hawa queues with her children at Kuluba transit centre to get registered and have her children vaccinated. UNHCR/Michele Sibiloni
To cope with the growing influx, new arrivals are first taken to a temporary reception centre in Kuluba, where refugees are registered by the government as soon as they arrive. They are provided with sleeping mats, blankets and sanitary materials, and children are immunised against measles and polio, while they await to be transferred to Palorinya settlement.
Palorinya settlement opened in December 2016 after Bidibidi settlement became full. Having been opened in August 2016, Bidibidi settlement has become one of the largest refugee-hosting areas in the world in the space of a few months. Preparations are underway to open a new settlement as Palorinya is already close to its hosting capacity.
Uganda is widely recognized as having progressive and forward-thinking refugee and asylum policies. Upon receiving refugee status, refugees are provided with small areas of land in villages integrated within the local host community; a pioneering approach that enhances social cohesion and allows both refugees and host communities to live together peacefully.
The process of receiving refugees at the border to place them in settlements takes an average of just three days. In addition, refugees are granted a range of rights and freedoms, allowing them to work, start businesses and freely move around the country.
"I am happy that I am finally safe."
In less than six months, Uganda has more than tripled its population of South Sudanese refugees, hosting more than half of the 1.1 million people who have fled their homes in the neighbouring country.
"The Ugandan Government deserves tremendous praise in their efforts in handling the emergency," Fernandes says. "But this crisis is not something Uganda can tackle alone. Its now absolutely vital that the international community pay attention to what is happening and supports Uganda in providing these refugees with an environment in which they can live in safety and dignity."
In 2016, the humanitarian appeal for the South Sudan response received less than 75 per cent of the funds needed to meet the demands. Without further contributions, the abilities of the humanitarian response to provide critical aid and key basic services could become severely compromised.
Sidah says she is grateful to have found peace in Uganda and a chance to start over.
"I am happy that I am finally safe," she says. "I wanted the suffering to end and I now feel that it is in the process of ending."
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In the daily excitement coming from Washington on immigration, free speech, health care, Supreme Court nominations and accompanying conflict, one might have missed the introduction of a bill to cut funding for the United Nations. Despite frightening calls of America first, the necessary global dialogue and vital work of the United Nations should not be attacked. The United Nations does a lot more than talk. It carries out vital peacekeeping throughout the world.
The United Nations have had many other successes as well. It has worked to provide 800 million people with clean water, lessening water-borne diseases. Through the Nothing But Nets program, it helps prevent malaria, which kills millions throughout the world.
The UN has numerous programs to eliminate poverty through education and economic development and has aided greatly in confronting the refugee problem, the No. 1 challenge facing us today!
The UN has cooperated in climate issues and protection of the environment and has adopted 18 sustainable goals, such as the health and protection of the rights of women and children, international law, energy, more efficient methods of agriculture and other forms of development, not to mention international dialogue among nations and ongoing peacekeeping efforts.
The United Nations is far from perfect but, in these troubled times, we need the UN more than ever. This is the worst time for the United States to cut funding. I would encourage Nebraskans to contact Senators Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer and ask them to oppose cuts in UN funding.
John Krejci, President, Lincoln Chapter of UN Association, Lincoln
When searching for your college or university, you should make sure to select the right choice. Remember that it plays a key role on whatever career you may be choosing and the job that you will be doing for the rest of your life.
It may be daunting to think that you will have to somehow find that single perfect college for you from among the thousands of colleges and universities in the United States because you want to be in the best school you possibly can but according to College Express, selecting colleges that are a right fit for you may mean you have to give up conventional wisdom about what really makes a good school. But it should be about how you feel about that college and how it fits you are and what you want.
But what if you are an average student with an average grades in high school? Which school are really going to help you land a promising career in the future? Marissa Warren, a school counselor at Yorktown High School in New York said that it is important to get away from the brand name, although it can really be very hard, according to US News.
Her first advice is to see schools that accept a student with a C-plus average or 1000 on the SAT, which is something you can do by taking advantage of free college search and fix calculators. It is also important to look for schools with high retention and graduation rates, especially for students who are struggling academically, and the ones with higher admission rates.
Warren also advise to look for smaller institutions because students who have struggled through high school will be able to get the support they need in college if the class is smaller in size. It is never too late to excel in college if you are able to make the right choice about your school.
Valentine's Day never passes by without flowers, and students at Honolulu Community College went out of their way to make roses that will not wither and are guaranteed to last a lifetime. Every year, students with the Sheet Metal and Plastics Technology program make these one-of-a-kind handcrafted roses for valentines, which are popularly known as "forever roses" according to University of Hawaii News. These flowers are sold by the students every February 14 to raise funds to support the program for $15 each or four for $50.
They use flat sheets of copper for the flat sheets of petals and leaves and they cut it and mold into shape, according to Khon 2. Students then assemble the pieces together and then hand-crimp each petal to give them a lifelike look and texture. A total of 460 roses were sold and they have collected a total net proceeds of $2,625.
Danny Aiu, who is a sheet and plastics instructor said that everything is hand-formed. And even if they are cut similarly, they do not necessarily look alike. He also said that their goal was to sell 500 roses, but barely made it. They are still hoping they can sell more so that they can collect additional money to be able to buy what they need toward the end of the semester.
Honolulu CC's Sheet Metal and Plastics program is specifically designed to qualify students and help them with their entry into the sheet metal workforce. Their skills on fabrication, architectural metal work, and pattern development are being developed through hands-on experience. Projects like the handcrafted roses are an excellent opportunity for students to explore and hone their creative side and imagination, and discover the possibilities they can do with working with metals.
NASA's quest to further study space just got a $250 million proposal from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The team from the university's physics department created a proposal that would lead a satellite mission to orbit the moon.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville, along with nine other universities, are working on reaching NASA's goals. The proposal includes a special telescope that is going to orbit the moon and document its surroundings.
NASA already has its hands full with more than a dozen scientific submissions but Physics Professor Richard S. Miller says that everyone is doing the best they can to show NASA why their programs should be funded, as reported by WAFF.
He is also keen on using the specially designed satellite to study the supernova. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is partnering with Johns Hopkins University. Other collaborating institutions are the University of Arizona, Clemson University, Florida State University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of New Hampshire, Ohio State University, Princeton University, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
With other engineering teams and universities in the running, Miller adds that NASA is going to choose the top three proposals. These three successful proposals are going to receive funding to continue the study for space exploration.
When it comes to the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Miller points out that the institution then becomes a home for nuclear astrophysics, if they get in the top three. Everyone expects NASA to make the final decision around June.
While they are waiting for the results from NASA, the University of Alabama in Huntsville are busy preparing to set out their high altitude balloon teams on Aug. 21, 2017 to cover the total eclipse. UAH and other universities are partnering with NASA for their space eclipse camp, as reported by The All State.
Everyone will not only get the opportunity to view the eclipse but also study the sun more closely.
In the meantime, watch the UAH clip below of students working on the Quadrotor and Airship UAV:
When it comes to stem cell therapy, researchers from around the world are focused on creating disease treatments and regenerative therapies that can help produce quality stem cells. In a lab in Kyoto University, a team of researchers led by Ken-ichiro Kamei has found a fiber-on-fiber technique.
Kamei and his team has fabricated gelatin nanofibers onto a synthetic, biodegradable microfiber sheet, made from polyglycolic acid. The team has been working on stem cell therapy ideas that can allow easy exchange of growth factors.
The team has found that their design reduces the amount of stress placed on the stem cells, as reported by Phys.org. Their tests show that the stem cells grew robustly after four days of culture. Comparing that to previous techniques, this new design showed that more than 95 percent of the cells grew.
Stem cell therapy treatments are being worked on around the world. Stem cells are being used to treat a variety of illnesses such as bone marrow diseases, cancers and other immunity disorders.
But stem cell therapy is being exposed to the harsh light of day as Dr. Mehmet Oz exposes for-profit stem cell clinics. According to Dr. Oz, these places are a scam, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. His focus is on the for-profit clinics that are offering supposed stem cell therapy treatments that can treat a host of diseases. Dr. Oz explains that these are unproven as well as very expensive cures.
Dr. Oz warns his viewers who are attracted to stem cell therapy treatment hot spots. People can get confused with the marketing scams being advertised. He is accompanied on his show by Sally Temple, a stem cell scientist and president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Temple explains that it takes years to develop treatments and receive an FDA approval.
Dr. Oz and Temple hopes that false for-profit clinics will not undermine the works of medical experts and labs such as Kyoto University who are working hard to study and develop stem cell designs that can help cure diseases.
Watch the Kyoto University clip below of artificial nanofibers self-sorting into organized structures in real-time:
When it comes to lower back pains, Americans would often reach for the nearest pain killer to quickly relieve the ache. But the American College of Physicians now recommends an alternative to popping those pain pills.
The American College of Physicians admitted that their pharmaceutical tools used to treat patients with lower back pain and other common aches do not always work. A new medical guideline will state that medicine is the last line of treatment.
According to reports, Americans' lower back pain problems are one of the most frequent concerns when it comes to doctor's visits, as reported by Vox. Having admitted that drugs and pain killers should be the last line of treatment, The American College of Physicians suggest all doctors to recommend exercise and other forms of therapies like heat wraps.
Yoga and other physical exercises can be better cures compared to opioids and over the counter pain killers. To make this guideline official, the American College of Physicians has published their guideline in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Lower back pain aches are common complaints among patients. Trying out non-invasive methods such as yoga, for example, can be beneficial in the long run. It does not only help manage pain but also provide the patient with a meditative therapy. The American College of Physicians warn that this is only applicable to lower back pains with no specific causes.
When it comes to alleviating pain, there is no silver bullet. Which is why physicians want to suggest a healthier option before shelling out money. But for patients who wants medication, other publications, like Self, indicates that over the counter pain killers like Advil can help as well as muscle relaxants. However, medicines with steroid injections and acetaminophen, like Tylenol, are found to be not helpful.
In the video below, lead investigator, Professor David Torgerson, explains that yoga may be more effective than usual care for improving back pain and function among chronic low back pain sufferers.
Jailbreaking the latest version of iOS appears to be difficult for the Chinese group of hackers Pangu as evident by their silence amidst the latest request from the community. However, rumors suggest that the silence of the group could mean significant thing related to iOS 10.2 jailbreak tool. See full details here!
Status of iOS 10.2 Jailbreak Tool from Pangu
The popular Chinese group of hackers continues the silence amidst the clamor from the community of their need to have the latest iOS 10.2 jailbreak tool most especially for iPhone 7 users. According to Forbes, a progress has already been made for the latest Apple mobile operating system; however, it is from the effort of the other known hacker Luca Todesco and not from Pangu.
Pangu has been silent over the subject matter since July 2016 when they released the iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak tool. From there on, various and rumors about the release of iOS 10 jailbreak tool continues but 2017 comes and the group is still nowhere to be found.
For this reason, the Jailbreaking community has a divided opinion over Pangu's silence on iOS 10.2 jailbreak tool. Others suggest that the group of hackers have already surrendered to the newly rolled out operating system with enhanced security features while others are hopeful that the group is working on it and will release the most anticipated software anytime soon.
Yalu is the Best Option for iOS 10.2 Jailbreak for Now
Luca Todesco's iOS 10.2 jailbreak tool called "Yalu" app is considered as the best option for a jailbreak software as of now. In fact, Todesco is reportedly eyeing for the tool's longevity and sustenance by working on how to circumvent the restrictions through prompting the users to resign the certificate after its weekly expiration, Smart Stock News reported.
To be able for the users to do that, first they will need the Cydia Impactor and Yalu 10.2 Jailbreak app. Through the use of the two software, the certificate has a chance to be renewed and it is the most reliable method so far.
College Access Day has become a platform to encourage many high school students across the country to aim higher in life by pursuing higher education. It has also served as an eye-opener to a lot of graduating high school students as they get a peek of what college is all about.
During College Access Day, high school students get a taste of what college life is all about and they are also connected with a mentor to help them navigate different opportunities in and ask them questions about college.
John Pascarella, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of California Rossier and the one who started College Access Day at USC, said that one of the reasons he started this is to arm high school students with the knowledge how to apply to college.
Aside from getting a taste of what college life is all about, Pascarella added that financial literacy is also a big part of the College Access Day agenda. He said that he wants these kids to know that there are a number of scholarships and grants that are available for them when they decide to go to college.
Meanwhile, Norfolk High School has also been conducting their College Access Day with the same goal of helping high school students prepare for college. During this time, students undergo mock interviews and career interest inventory. They are also taught how to write an activities resume and take college entrance exams.
The event has indeed helped students think more seriously and positively about college. Staria Martin, a student from Norfolk High School, said that it has helped them figure out what life would be like after high school.
Ana Sotomayor, a junior at Belmont High School in California, shares the same thoughts saying that it has made them more confident about going to college because they have been given this kind of information.
Yale University made headlines this week after it announced that it will be changing the name of Calhoun College because of John C. Calhoun's ties to slavery and his legacy as a white supremacist. The Ivy League institution confirmed that it will honor Grace Murray Hopper, one of its most distinguished graduates, instead.
Last year, Yale faced backlash for confirming to keep the name of Calhoun College. In September, it hosted a discussion on naming controversies and created the Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming.
Yale President Peter Salovey admitted that he has asked Jonathan Holloway, dean of Yale College, and Julia Adams, the head of Calhoun College, to confirm when the change can be implemented. The change appears to override his decision last year to keep the name of Calhoun College but Salovey revealed that he was committed to "confronting, not erasing" the school's history.
USA Today College reported that other universities and colleges have also addressed their historical ties to slavery and white supremacy. This includes Rutgers University, Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, among others.
Earlier this month, Rutgers University has renamed its College Avenue Apartments after former slaves. This includes Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist and women's rights activist, who was a former slave who was owned as a young girl by the family of Rutgers' first president Jacob Hardenbergh.
Georgetown University has also acknowledged its historical ties to slavery and has sought to make amends for the injustice that it may have participated in. In September, university president John DeGiola announced that the school will be providing legacy admissions advantages to the descendants of the 272 slaves who were sold to Louisiana plantations in 1838 to fund the university.
The University of Maryland's board of regents voted in favor of renaming Byrd Stadium back in 2015. The building was named after alumnus Harry Clifton Byrd, who was known for being a segregationist. It has now been named as Maryland Stadium.
Other universities that have renamed buildings in their campuses that had historical ties to slavery are the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt University, Brown University, Winthop University, Clemson University, University of Alabama and University of Mississippi.
17 universities have filed a brief on Monday in support of a court challenge to President Trump's immigration policy. The higher education institutions believe that the executive order, while limited to seven countries only, have already had damaging effects on American universities.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the brief was filed in a civil action sought by the attorney general of New York and several others in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The order has been stayed due to the pending resolution of another case that challenged President Trump's immigration ban in Washington State.
The amicus brief was posted in Princeton University's official website. It listed the universities that expressed their "support of the relief sought by petitioners and intervernor-plaintiff."
Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Chicago, Duke University, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Stanford University and Vanderbilt University have all acknowledged the brief and admitted their support of the challenge to President Trump's immigration ban. All Ivy League institutions: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University have also signed the amicus brief.
The brief noted that each institution that joined the challenge aim to create future leaders from nearly every continent by educating them, attract the best talents in the world and cross international borders to work. President Trump's travel ban threatens the institution's ability to welcome international students, faculty as well as scholars into their communities.
According to USA Today College, an amicus brief is a legal document which can be filed by interested parties who are not directly involved in an active lawsuit. It is also known as a "friend of court" brief.
They are allowed to share their opinions on a specific court case through the brief. This usually happens when the parties feel that the court's decision would affect them. It is a way of asking the court to consider their opinion.
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Professors at the University of Vermont (UVM) have staged a protest as they want full-time faculty wages and benefits. They want compensation that is similar to those of peer universities such as the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire.
Burlington Free Press reported that UVM sociology professor Dan Krymkowski, lead union negotiator, said that the correction is expected to align the actions of the university with its expressed goals and values. It will also make sure that there is parity to its peer institutions in terms of workload, security, compensation, support and benefits.
UVM Provost David Rosowsky's welcome message praised the school's teacher-scholar model as "a beacon to would-be students." Krymkowski noted that this is an indicator of how much value professors should be given during the current round of negotiations.
The union and the university's current agreement is already three years old and will be ending on Jun. 30. On Monday, the two parties met in James M. Jeffords Hall to negotiate on a new contract.
University spokesperson Enrique Corredera stated in an email that both the University of Vermont and the union traditionally agree not to discuss any of the issues that will be dealt with at the bargaining table in public. There were about 30 professors who held signs outside the room where negotiations were held.
Resources and chairs were some of the things that professors wanted out of the talks. Nancy Welch, a co-chair of the contract action team and English professor, added that she wanted funding for the library and that the university should put the money back in education.
The University of Vermont recently confirmed that it will be spending about $80 million for the construction of two on-campus facilities. According to The Vermont Cynic, it is expected to be completed by 2022.
The union has also provided documents from the American Association of University Professors' ongoing study which revealed that UVM has prioritized spending on executive, managerial and marketing positions. The group wants to transfer 3 percent of the budget into academics to create more permanent positions rather than continue with the hiring of adjunct lecturers.
Collabera, the New-Jersey based global leader in professional services and IT staffing, has once again announced its 2017 STEM scholarship opportunity. The announcement further confirmed the company's commitment to education.
The Collabera 2017 STEM scholarship is dedicated to help individuals who want to pursue a higher education in science, technology, math, and engineering. The company will choose three qualified individuals who will then receive a $2,500 worth of scholarship.
The students should be first-year incoming students who will attend either a public or private higher degree institution this coming fall 2017. Recipients should also have a cumulative GPA score of 3.0.
Those who wish to apply for the scholarship must submit a one-page essay that answers a STEM-related question - "Pursuing a career in STEM requires a strong commitment to stay on top of the ever-changing world of technology. As a future STEM leader, what influenced your decision to pursue a career in STEM and how do you think you will make an impact in this industry?"
Those who will be able to articulately provide the best answer will become the recipients of the 2017 STEM Scholarship opportunity from Collabera.
According to Ashwin Rao, the executive vice-president of the company, they recognize the importance of a STEM education as well as the challenges of the students who will pursue a degree in these fields. He added that aside from helping future STEM leaders, the company also hopes that through this endeavor, they will be able to contribute to "new ideas and cutting edge technology" that can impact the world in the future.
All interested applicants have until March 30, 2017 to pass their applications.
The Collabera 2017 STEM scholarship opportunity are open in three different areas: the national level, the Redmond and Seattle region, and the New York and New Jersey region.
February 15 2017
Glasgows architecture has come into focus at a new exhibition which shows familiar places in a new light through careful consideration of the northern light within which the city occasionally basks.Glasgow Shadows was shot by Robin Johnston depicts deserted alleys and grandiose structures lent a film noire-esque feel by a polarizing filter and a keen eye for detail and can currently be found hanging within Skyparks gallery space.Commenting on the exhibition Johnston said: Glasgows unique light gives the images a gritty, cinematic feel that document the life of the people and the contrasts in architecture. Ive tried to explore the various kinds of texture and light found in Glasgow and capture unusual moments that would otherwise pass unnoticed.Key locations captured by the shoot include the Sauchiehall Centre, Govanhill, Red Road and Buchanan Street.The exhibition will run through to 4 March during business hours at Skypark, Finnieston.
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
UW Religion Today: Muslims in America: Some Observations
By Paul V.M. Flesher
One impetus for President Trumps controversial ban on citizens from specific Middle Eastern countries is to reduce the number of Muslims entering the USA, as if Muslims in general were dangerous, rather than simply using the nations intelligence agencies to identify risky people and denying them entry. That impetus went unstated in the bans legal language but was widely bruited about last fall on the campaign trail.
This is rather too little, too late. The USA already counts many Muslims among its citizens, with Islam coming up on Judaism for the honor of being the nations second largest religion. While this sounds sizeable, in percentage terms it is not. Judaism stands at roughly 4 percent of Americans, while Islam is about 3 percent. Compared to the percentage of self-professed Christians, which a 2014 Pew survey puts at over 70 percent, this is rather small. But, like Judaism, Islam is here to stay.
Muslims have been in America since Muslim slaves came with the Spanish in the 16th century. During Americas Civil War in the mid-19th century, Muslims served in the Norths army; one became a captain in the Illinois Infantry while another, Hajji Ali, was in charge of its Camel Military Corps in what is now Arizona. And, their numbers have increased gradually over the decades, with the biggest increase since World War II.
This last observation is significant, for it means that Muslims did not enter during the largest period of immigration in USA history, from the 1880s to the late 1920s. Millions of immigrants entered America during this time, most from Europe. Until that time, America had been largely Protestant, but now large numbers of Catholics and Jews came to the country. Indeed, this is when Judaism become the nations second largest religion.
Judaisms adjustment to American society can be instructive for understanding the changes American Islam is presently undergoing. In the early 20th century, newly arrived Jews found the USA quite different from Europe. And, this required changes to the practices they had followed.
Religions give (at least) two kinds of instructions to their adherents: how to worship and relate to the divine, and how to relate to the people and society in which their adherents live.
While worship rules are internal to the religion and tend to remain fairly stable, rules about relating to society change as that society changes. If a religion moves from a totalitarian society to a democratic society, for example, or from a tolerant to an intolerant one, it will, by necessity, change the way it relates to the new society.
But, how does a religion know when the changes are OK? Do they fit with the centuries and/or millennia of religious tradition? Those decisions are made by trained religious leaders.
In Judaism, rabbis are the leaders authorized to make such decisions. At first, rabbis came from Europe along with their congregants. They were used to European ways of doing things rather than American ways. Change, therefore, was slow.
But, the pace of adjustment picked up when Judaism created seminaries -- graduate-level educational schools to transform young Americans into American rabbis to lead the American Jewish community. Within a generation, American Judaism was led by rabbis who understood America because they were American, not transplanted Europeans. These rabbis reshaped the character of Judaisms social relations to help the religion and its members fit into American society.
Islam in America is at a similar stage right now. Immigration has increased the American Muslim population and the number of mosques. And, some trained Islamic leaders, imams, have arrived. Many mosques are led by devoted and dedicated lay people.
In the past few years, the Islamic community has begun to organize seminaries for training young American Muslims as religious leaders. But, it is a slow process. Nationally, about half a dozen seminaries have programs, but none are yet fully accredited by the USAs higher education accrediting bodies. Hartford Seminary -- a multifaith institution -- has an accredited Muslim chaplaincy degree, but even that falls short of a complete training for Muslim religious leadership.
In the end, while American Muslims have lived here for generations, Islam, as a religious organization, is still in its early stages. The foundation of seminaries is a solid start and, within a few years, they will begin graduating American native imams. That will be a milestone in the advancement of our countrys religious liberty.
Flesher is a professor in UWs Department of Religious Studies. Past columns and more information about the program can be found on the web at www.uwyo.edu/RelStds. To comment on this column, visit http://religion-today.blogspot.com.
UW Researchers: Decline of Grass Threatens Worlds Most Endangered Antelope
A pair of hirola bulls pause in a clearing in Ishaqbini Community Conservancy in eastern Kenya. (Abdullahi Hussein Ali Photo)
University of Wyoming researchers took a big step toward solving the mystery of the decline of hirola, a rare African antelope, conducting wildlife research in one of the most formidable environments -- the border region of eastern Kenya and southern Somalia.
In spite of a long history of coexistence between hirola and local people, we think overgrazing, loss of elephants from poaching and lack of fires have taken away food supplies for hirola -- a large antelope that specializes on grass, says Abdullahi Hussein Ali, a UW second-year Ph.D. ecology student at the time of his research. Unlike efforts to green the desert in many areas, it is the encroachment of shrubs into grasslands that is impacting hirola.
Ali, now a postdoctoral associate at Utah State University, was lead author of a paper, titled Resource Selection and Landscape Change Reveal Mechanism Suppressing Population Recovery for the Worlds Most Endangered Antelope that appeared in the Feb. 15 (today) issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology. The publication is a bimonthly journal of the British Ecological Society that publishes high-impact papers on the interface between ecological science and the management of biological resources. The article first appeared in the journals online edition Feb. 3.
Jacob Goheen, a UW associate professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, was a co-author of the paper.
Between 2012-15, the researchers used GPS collars to track more than 50 hirola from seven herds, and found that the antelope prefer grassland habitats. Using a time series of satellite imagery, the authors showed a 250 percent increase in tree cover since the mid-1980s in the hirolas native range. This "tree encroachment" occurred at the expense of grassland habitats.
Ali and his group also looked at dozens of kill sites made by lions, cheetahs and other predators of hirola. These kill sites were found in open areas -- the very areas where hirola typically spend their time foraging on grasses -- and not forested areas. The researchers concluded that habitat was the major reason why hirola have declined and remain rare for the past 40 years.
Hirola numbers dwindled to fewer than 500 by the mid-1980s, and their populations have remained precariously low since. The reasons for their low numbers have puzzled wildlife biologists and conservationists. The Abdallah and Abduwaq -- Somali clans that live alongside hirola -- treat hirola as near-mythical beasts, indicators of good grass.
Fortunately, solutions for hirola recovery are at hand, and it all starts with people, Ali says. Because hirola are indicators of healthy rangelands, local communities welcome them. We are working with these communities to find solutions that benefit hirola, other wildlife and people.
Goheen, Alis former Ph.D. supervisor at UW, commends his former student for his persistence.
Hirola dont live anywhere that's convenient for outsiders to work, Goheen explains. This region has seldom been visited by western scientists due, in part, to political uncertainty. The fact that Ali pulled off this study under such challenging conditions is just what the hirola will need if they are to survive -- a friend in hard times.
These challenges havent stopped Ali, who is forging ahead with hirola projection and community engagement. In the second year of his Ph.D., Ali founded the Hirola Conservation Programme and is currently its director. Through this organization, Ali and his team are active in restoring grasslands throughout eastern Kenya through elephant conservation, clearing of trees and grass reseeding -- solutions that will provide benefits to both people and wildlife.
The study was supported through generous contributions from many institutions, including UWs Biodiversity Institute, the British Ecological Society, the Saint Louis Zoo, UW Department of Zoology and Physiology, and the Zoological Society of London.
For more information, email Ali at aali5@uwyo.edu or ali@hirolaconservation.org; or Goheen at jgoheen@uwyo.edu.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a fervent supporter of free trade. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)
In a speech on Thursday to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Trudeau is expected to heap praise on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
"He will talk about how it is the most progressive trade agreement in the world and how it should serve as a model for subsequent trade agreements between countries," an official in his office said.
Trudeau will also emphasise the importance of explaining the benefits of trade agreements to average citizens, given the "anxiety in the global economy particularly with middle-class citizens around the world not feeling the same benefits from the economy as they have in previous generations."
Without that buy-in, he intends to say, countries will face "larger problems."
The speech will come one day after the European Union parliament is scheduled to vote to ratify CETA.
Afterward Trudeau will head to Berlin for a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. He also will travel to Hamburg, Germany, where he will give a keynote address at a Saint Matthew's dinner.
Coming on the heels of Trudeau's first meeting in Washington with US President Donald Trump this week, the Canadian prime minister, a fervent supporter of free trade, is not expected to directly raise the issue of US protectionism.
"He will reinforce the point that trade deals like (CETA) are important for the world rather than directly addressing any protectionism or anti-trade sentiments that are out there," the official said.
Trump, who took office Jan 20, repeatedly bashed the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico on the campaign trail and vowed to renegotiate it.
With Merkel, Trudeau is also expected to discuss immigration and refugees, and Canadian security commitments in Latvia.
NATO contributions will come up. Washington has called on NATO members to boost defence spending to two per cent of their economic output. Canada spends less than one percent.
"We will reiterate ... that we are quite comfortable with our contribution to NATO," the official said.
On the trip, Trudeau will be accompanied by Canadian ambassador-designate to the EU, Stephane Dion, as well as foreign affairs and trade ministers Chrystia Freeland and Francois-Philippe Champagne, respectively.
At the same time, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan will travel to Brussels to participate in a meeting of NATO defense ministers and to Munich for a security conference.
Representatives of Saigon-Nhonhoi Industrial Park Corporation and Janpan-based Marubeni Lumber Co., Ltd sign a contract to lease land-use rights of Park A in Nhon Hoi EZ to the Japanese company during a ceremony held on Monday.- Photo baobinhdinh.com.vn
The project, located in the provinces Nhon Hoi Economic Zone (EZ), is the first foreign direct investment (FDI) project that has been implemented in the zone since its establishment in 2005.
A representative of Marubeni Lumber Co Ltd said the project, covering an area of 10ha in Park A in Nhon Hoi EZ with an operation period of 50 years, would be implemented in the second quarter of this year and completed in the second quarter of 2018.
Once completed, the project will provide wood and wood products for export, such as industrial wooden goods and wooden furniture. The investor will also lease land for factory construction.
The project is expected to help increase export volume for Binh Dinh Province, contributing to the growth of the provinces wood processing industry, creating jobs for more than 200 labourers and stabilising the provinces social welfare.
Marubeni Lumber Co Ltd plans to raise the projects investment capital to $20 million in phase two. The company hopes to attract more investors, especially Japanese firms, to the project.
Also at the ceremony, Saigon-Nhonhoi Industrial Park Corporation signed a contract with Marubeni Lumber Co Ltd to lease land-use rights of Park A in Nhon Hoi EZ to the Japanese company.
In February alone, Binh Dinh has, so far, granted investment certificates for two FDI projects.
The previous project is a garment factory funded by a Canadian investor in An Nhon Town.
There are six age groups for contestants in the amateur level, including those aged from 6 to 7, from 8 to 9, from 10 to 11, from 12 to 13, from 14 to 15 and from 16 to 24.
Professional pianists will compete in age group of 9-12, 12-15, 16-18 and 19-24. Participants are advised to submit a portrait picture, a photocopy of birth certificate or ID card and registration fee to the organizer between April 1 and June 1. They have to perform classic pieces, not jazz, blue, Broadway, semi-classic or pop ballad works.
There are one first prize, one second prize and one third prize and some consolation prizes in each age group of amateur and professional contestants.
Especially, winners in the amateur level will be enrolled to study at the faculty of piano of the HCM City Conservatory of Music, without sitting an entrance examination. Furthermore, winners will receive 20% to 50% discounts to join the music summer camp 2017 expected to take place at the conservatory in August.
A judging panel will consist of associate professor Ta Quang Dong, director of the HCMC Conservatory of Music; Le Ho Hai, head of the piano faculty; and Nguyen Thuy Yen, deputy head of the piano faculty; and other veteran lecturers and local and international pianists.
For further information, contact Ms. Tran Kieu Lai Thuy on 0908 155 745, email: laithuy@gmail.com or Ms. Tran Thi Kim Oanh on 0986 896 106, email: kimoanhnvtp@gmail.com or Mr. Tran Tri Trung on 01217 539 128, email: trung4ndt@gmsil.com.
Registration forms are to be sent to 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, HCMC, or 143 Phan Dang Luu Street, Phu Nhuan District, HCM City.
The first TH-branded school, based on Chua Boc street of Hanoi, covering nearly 20,000 square metres, includes a well-equipped system of playground, swimming pool, labs, and gyms.
The school includes 17 classrooms for 340 pre-school pupils, 25 classrooms for 625 primary-school pupils, 24 classrooms for 600 secondary-school pupils, and 21 classrooms for 525 high-school pupils.
The school uses Cambridge-standard English-language curricula which have already been successfully applied worldwide for multi-millions of pupils.
In addition, subjects related to Vietnams culture, geography and history are also taught at the school, where a comprehensive nutritious system is also applied to develop pupils mental and physical health.
Notably, the pupils will be granted international certificates after graduation. The certificates are valid across the world.
We would like to develop Vietnamese kids into global citizens, who will contribute to the development of Vietnam, said Thai Huong, chairwoman of TH Group and the TH School system.
In the groups vision, it will expand its school system to the construction of universities and colleges throughout Vietnam.
We will also continue providing investment consultancy for many other projects involving safe vegetables, fruits, fish and meat, medical herbs, and forest plantation. They will not only benefit investors, but also society, Huong said.
At present, while constructing a $2.7 billion hi-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project in Russia, locally-owned TH Group is considering the construction of a major similar project in the Republic of Bashkortostan, a federal subject of Russia.
Since 2009, TH Group has also been operating a $1.2 billion, 37,000ha hi-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project in the central province of Nghe Ans Nghia Dan district.
The Vietnamese economy is growing strongly, with the highest demand for steel amongst the ASEAN countries in 2015, according to data from Southeast Asia Iron and Steel Institute. In this context, Ton Dong A has sharply increased production capacity. Nguyen Thanh Trung, chairman and general director, said the company has invested over $200 million in factory construction and technology upgrade to meet increasing demand.
Ton Dong A has also welcomed JFE Shoji as a strategic investor. With the capacity of 34 million tonnes a year, making it the second largest steel complex in Japan and the eighth biggest steel producer over the globe, according to 2015 statistics released by the World Steel Organization, the Japanese partner wishes to tap into the potential of the Vietnamese market. JFE Shoji has become a strategic investor of Ton Dong A through a share acquisition implemented by its affiliate JFE Shoji Trade Vietnam Co. Ltd.
Cooperation with JFE Shoji has helped Ton Dong A to grow and improve its products.
The two sides have developed a solid relationship during this cooperation. The Japanese partner has helped Ton Dong A expand its domestic market share, boost exports, take part in the global supply chain, and make further upstream and downstream investments in the steel plate segment.
With a worldwide distribution system and high-quality material supplies, JFE Shoji helped Ton Dong A secure strong growth and make significant improvements in terms of the scale and quality of its coated steel, Trung said.
Focusing on its advantagesupplying high-quality coated steel plates at competitive prices and the best servicesTon Dong A has invested in modern and environmentally-friendly equipment and production lines imported from Japan, Europe, and the US.
Ton Dong A has developed a distribution network spanning across the nation, affirming its leading position in the domestic coated steel industry and expanded exports in the ASEAN, Africa, and the Middle East as well as the US, Australia, and Europe.
In 2016, the company sold 365,000 tonnes of products, up 40 per cent compared to 2015. Revenue was VND6 trillion ($270 million) and after-tax profit at VND500 billion ($22.42 million), up 130 per cent on-year. It expects to raise sales volume to 550,000 tonnes in 2017 and one million tonnes each year in the 2018-2020 period. The companys revenue is forecast to jump from VND8.5 trillion ($381 million) this year to VND14 trillion ($628 million) by 2020. From 2017, the company has supplied materials for home appliance manufacturing, aiming at replacing coated steel imports by 2020.
At its annual general meeting in 2016, Ton Dong A unveiled plans to list on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in the third quarter of 2017.
Ton Dong As high-quality products are exported to the US, Australia, and Europe.
To prepare for the listing, in December 2012, the company invested in a more than $2-million enterprise resourcing planning (ERP) solution produced by Oracle and a business intelligence (BI) system to improve production and governance. Ton Dong A became the first coated steel firm in Vietnam to apply the two systems since 2016.
It has also maintained ISO 9001 system on quality management and ISO 14001 on environment management, while preparing to apply the ISO 45001 - Occupational Health and Safety Management System and ISO 50001- Energy Management System.
With the motto Quality-Prestige-Sustainable Development, Ton Dong A is asserting its commitment to product and service quality, while building solid brand reputation domestically and worldwide.
The experts suggested Binh Dinh province focus investment on key projects, which could adapt to severe impacts of natural calamities in the coming time.
According to the provincial Peoples Committee, floods in 2016 caused an economic loss of over VND2.2 trillion.
Thirty-nine people were killed or unaccounted for, while hundreds houses were destroyed and 18,800 hectares of rice were submerged.
Given the fact, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Binh Dinh in December to inspect the local rebuilding efforts.
The PM also entrusted the Ministry of Planning and Investment to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to arrange an official development assistance (ODA) package for Binh Dinh to rebuild transport and irrigation systems and enhance local capacity to cope with natural disasters.
On February 10, 2017, the Government leader approved a proposal to lend US$100 million from the World Bank to quickly address natural disaster consequences in some central provinces, including Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen and Ninh Thuan.
The management companies of Binh Dien, Thu Duc and Hoc Mon wholesale markets have asked HCM City authorities to adjust their very outdated management fees as they have had to compensate for losses. - Photo traveltimes.vn
Speaking at a meeting with city leaders on Monday, Nguyen Van Huay, director of Thu Duc Wholesale Market Management and Trade Company, said that many kinds of costs such as salaries, garbage collection and electricity have risen by 10 times, but management fees have remained unchanged since 2003 when the market was established.
His company has collected only VND280 million (US$13,334) a month from more than 1,400 traders at the market, which was insufficient to cover garbage treatment of VND300 million and electricity costs of nearly VND250 million a month and salaries for guardians.
We have petitioned to hike the service fee by four to five times from the existing rates, specifically from VND20,000 per sq metre to VND80,000-100,000 per sq.metre. Parking fees in the market also need adjustment in line with the market price, he said.
Tran Thuy Lien, director of Binh Dien Wholesale Market Management and Trade Company, said under the current regulation the management fee at the market was just VND22,000 per square metre.
Such fees are used to pay for many items, such as garbage collection and transport, wastewater treatment, security fees, water and electricity.
As these costs are high, the company has to compensate for big losses every year, she said.
The companies have also asked the city government to resolve problems related to land rentals and to improve transport infrastructure at the markets to make it easy for vehicles to enter and leave the markets.
They have also urged the Peoples Committee to speed up relocation of other inner-city wholesale markets to outlying districts, and clear illegal markets near wholesale markets to ensure the legitimate interests of traders at wholesale markets.
Speaking at the meeting, Tran Vinh Tuyen, deputy chairman of the Peoples Committee, said the citys general plan was to develop modern and civilised wholesale markets that will not only be destinations for product buyers but also for tourists.
He said that building brands for wholesale markets and stalls was important, and that brand building began with selling goods with a clear origin and good quality. Ensuring hygiene and food safety is also critical, he added.
In the case of Ho Thi Ky Flower Market in District 10, Tuyen asked the Peoples Committee of District 10 to quickly implement measures to relocate the market to ease traffic congestion in inner-city district.
He said that districts must review zoning plans for traditional markets and make plans to relocate temporary markets.
Binh Dien, Thu Duc and Hoc Mon wholesale markets should develop measures to attract more traders from inner-city wholesale markets, he added.
As for the petition to hike management fees, Tuyen told the citys Department of Finance to submit new management fees for the three wholesale markets to the municipal government for approval by mid-March.
President Donald Trump received word of North Korea having test-fired a missile on Saturday night, while he was dining with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the terrace at Mar-A-Lago, the exclusive resort Trump owns in Palm Beach, Fla.
As North Korea is a regional neighbor of Japan and a distant antagonist of the United States, the missile test was a clear act of provocation which, naturally, Abe and Trump would want to discuss.
Its what happened next that is troubling. The discussion of the nations security took place where the leaders were sitting when they received the news: At the dining table, with other club members and their guests seated around them.
A club member, Richard DeAgazio, took photos of aides to the president and prime minister passing documents back and forth to the national leaders. We know this because DeAgazio posted photos of the national-security meeting on his Facebook page.
The patio was lit only with candles and moonlight, so aides used the camera lights on their phones to help the stone-faced Trump and Abe read through the documents ... even as a flurry of advisers and translators descended upon the table carrying papers and phones for their bosses to consult, dinner itself proceeded apace, CNN.com reported. Waiters cleared the wedge salads and brought along the main course as Trump and Abe continued consulting with aides.
Somehow, we doubt that the servers working at Mar-A-Lago have the security clearance necessary to be within eyesight of national security reports.
There was a time when nearly every adult did not have a cellphone or smartphone in his or her pocket. But having been presidents of the United States since that era began, when George W. Bush or Barack Obama needed to have a secure conversation at a public event, the 43rd and 44th presidents would move to a secure room nearby. Obamas administration would, on occasion, set up a secure tent within the venue. It was understood that the staffers Blackberry devices had to be left outside the tent. Obviously, no such restriction was in place when the Mar-A-Lago terrace became the Situation Room.
Theres also the matter of unsecured cellphones like those being carried by resort members on Saturday night being susceptible to hacking.
The president disclosed in a New York Times interview shortly after the inauguration that he still uses an old, unsecured Android phone, which he carries around the White House to the protests of some of his aides. This contradicts previous reports suggesting Trump traded his handset for a secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service.
The website AndroidCentral.com analyzed images of Trump using his phone and concluded he probably owns a Samsung Galaxy S3, first released in 2012 a phone so old that it would no longer receive any new security updates or major software releases. If Trump is still using this device, it represents a major security threat, the British newspaper The Guardian reported, adding that the greatest risk, according to security expert Bruce Schneier, is the possibility that the phone could be hacked and turned into an eavesdropping device, listening in on classified conversations. That Android has a microphone, which means it can be turned into a room bug without anyones knowledge. Thats my real fear, said Schneier.
If hacking could be done to the presidents unsecured phone, it could certainly be done to the phone of any person who was at his resort on Saturday night, whether as a guest or an employee.
In the wake of National Security Adviser Michael Flynns resignation late Monday night, the president tweeted on Tuesday: The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?
Mr. President, you could start by dealing with the leaks regarding North Korea coming from the Mar-A-Lago terrace. Then, set up a secure room at Mar-A-Lago, preferably before you return there, which reportedly could be as soon as this weekend.
Wed also like the Secret Service to give you a new phone for your tweeting.
Slain political commentator and government critic Kem Leys mother, Phok Se, 77, still wonders why her son was killed.
Se who lives in the popular political commentators hometown of Ang Takob, Tramkok district in Takeo province, about 80 kilometers from Phnom Penh, questions the story given by his alleged killer, Oueth Ang, who claimed the shooting was over a $3,000 debt.
I dont believe that my son borrowed anyones money. If he owed money, he would be asked to return [the money], she told VOA Khmer while lying prostrate in front of Leys gravestone on a recent mid-afternoon.
Why kill him? I want to find justice, she said.
A photo of Ley adorns the house adjacent to a main road, surrounded by his writings. More photos of the deceased academic are dotted around a shrine in the house. A statue of Ley sits beside the building.
Se rarely leaves the grave site. Her son, Kem Rithisith, 46, who also lives at the house, approached.
We open [the house] for people, both national and international visitors, to come to pay respect to him, adding that some 50 visitors come to the house each weekend.
However, he said the local authorities have instructed him to report the number of people who come to pay their respects.
I have been asked by the village authority to record the number of people paying respect to Ley each day, adding that he was not told the reason for the interest in visitors to the house.
Nhem Chhorn, the commune chief, said that there was no reason behind the request.
I just want to know the statistics. I dont do anything with that number, just to know, he said.
An outspoken government critic and popular grassroots activist, Ley was gunned down on the morning of July 10 at a Caltex gas station in central Phnom Penh, prompting allegations of a political assassination.
Police quickly arrested a suspect near the scene of the killing, who claimed his name was Choub Samlab, which means Meet Kill in the Khmer language.
Later, the court, police and the press revealed his name was Oueth Ang, 43, who has been charged with premeditated murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
If found guilty, he could face a life sentence.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court in December ended its probe of the killing. However, rights groups and families say they dont trust the courts and police and had tried to determine the truth.
Leys brother said that that he will not attend the trial because his family has not been invited and a security video of the murder has not been released by Caltex, which is owned by U.S. Corporation Chevron.
I will go if there are other witnesses and evidence and the release of security camera footage for the public, and also if my family is invited to join, Rithisith said.
It should not be hard to find justice, he said.
The footage is a key piece of evidence which rights groups, politicians and the public have urged the authorities to release.
Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has been sued for defamation by Prime Minister Hun Sen over a speech where he claimed the government was behind the shooting, posted on his Facebook page last Friday that a U.S. court had granted him the right to subpoena Chevron to release the footage.
I cannot say whether he [Ang] is the real killer. But if he is the real one, please show evidence, witnesses and the intention of the killing, Rithisith said, adding that he does not believe that Ley was in debt.
Instead, he believes that there is someone [else] behind the killing.
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, urged the court and authorities to look for the true mastermind of the killing.
He [Ang] may be the person who is the perpetrator. But the important thing is to know who ordered it and who paid for it. And that we dont know. If [the] police was serious about it, they would be able to find them, he said in an interview with VOA Khmer.
No, I dont think they intend to find the mastermind, he added.
Adams also called for an honest and independent investigation.
This case is very strange, why somebody would shoot this person and then just walk out to be caught and have no plan to get away. That always seems surprising to me, I cant understand, he said.
General Khieu Sopheak, Ministry of Interior spokesman, declined to comment.
Now it is under the courts authority. I think I have no more comments, he said.
Ly Sophanna, Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman, said that the court would summon the accused, witnesses, experts and police to join the upcoming trial.
The trial will listen to all the summoned peoples answers, get evidence checked and draw conclusions, he said.
A security guard working for a company next to the murder scene, Heang Narith, 45, said that on that day he heard two shots from the station and then he saw a man running slowly along the street in front of him.
It was said Kem Ley was killed, Kem Ley was killed. I went to see it. The perpetrator was running slowly in front of me but I did not do anything, he said.
When asked whether Ang was the man he had seen, Narith said: Yes he was. He is the guy.
I want to ask [the court] to find who is behind him. He could not do it by himself, I think, Narith said.
Another guard at a store close to the murder site said he saw a a man leaving the scene shortly after the shooting.
Perhaps he is the real one, since his clothes look the same as I remembered, he said.
Staff at the Caltex gas station have been asked not to talk about the shooting.
When asked, a receptionist at the station referred questions to management.
Another worker at the Caltex station said Ley was well-liked by staff there. I filled gasoline for his car and he always gave me a tip, the worker said. He was friendly and humble.
Leys killing came just days after he gave an interview about a report by Global Witness that alleged grand corruption on the part of Hun Sen and his family, leading many to believe he was killed for speaking out about the allegations.
However, an investigation by Al Jazeera suggested that the planning for the murder may have been in motion before the release of the report.
Many Cambodians have interpreted the killing as a warning against being too critical of the regime.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday sued an analyst, Kem Sok, for critical comments he made recently.
Adams of Human Rights Watch said that Hun Sen wanted to silence his critics.
Buth Bunteng, a Buddhist monk and a close friend of Ley, said that he believed Ang was hired as a hitman.
There can be justice, but it is a made-up justice, not a real one, he said.
The investigation was closed quietly and relevant people are not allowed to join [the trial], he said, adding that there should have been an independent commission including NGOs.
Leys wife, Bou Rachana and her five sons fled Cambodia in August, fearing for their safety. Their whereabouts are being kept secret while her asylum application to Australia is processed.
Numerous salacious claims against members of the opposition have circulated on social media in recent weeks, predominantly via an anonymous Facebook page called Sei Ha, which has been accused of acting as a conduit for government propaganda.
Most recently, the Sei Ha page published audio recordings purporting to show key members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party discussing sex acts.
The page claimed that CNRP lawmakers - Eng Chhai Eang, Yem Ponharith, Yim Sovann, Hour Van, Long Ry, Chan Cheng, Pot Pov, Riel Khemrin, Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy - had been involved in salacious acts, including sex acts in parliament and gambling.
Sovann confirmed that the voices in the recordings were those of CNRP lawmakers, adding that he considers the publication of the claims irrelevant.
The owner of the Sei Ha Facebook page did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the criminal code, intercepting telecommunications in bad faith is punishable by imprisonment of up to a year and a fine.
General Khieu Sopheak, Interior Ministry spokesman, said the authorities would not investigate the Sei Ha page unless the opposition requested a probe.
Its difficult to proceed with an investigation without receiving any legal action, if they file a lawsuit, we will initiate an investigation, he said.
When any conversation of anyone is recorded and published it severely undermines the law and national security, General Khieu Sopheak said.
Hong Kim Soun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said if the phone conversations of members of the opposition had been tapped it would be an illegal act which invades the rights of citizens, affects business, and undermines national security.
It can be seen that the government is violating the law when the government does not pay attention to acts of jamming and publishing telephone conversations of the public, he said.
It is a severe legal violation, which means that the nation has no law in practice... if the leader acknowledges the matter and still chooses not to care about it, he is violating the law and rights, Hong Kim Soun said.
Police in Malaysia say they have arrested a woman in connection with the apparent assassination of a half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The woman, detained on Wednesday morning at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the Malaysian capital, was identified on travel documents as Doan Thi Huong, police said in a statement. The statement said the suspect was "positively identified from CCTV footage at the airport and was alone at the time of her arrest.
South Korea on Wednesday confirmed the victim was the North Korean leaders older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, who was once in line to become head of state, but fell out of favor with their father, Kim Jong Il, after he tried to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001.
It seems assured that the person who was killed was Kim Jong Nam, said Jeong Joon-hee, the South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman.
Investigation
A Malaysian police report issued on Tuesday night confirmed a 46-year-old North Korean man, who was traveling with a passport under the name of Kim Chol, died en route to a hospital after seeking medical help in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. His travel destination on Tuesday was Macau, where he had been living, said the Malaysian police.
On Tuesday unnamed U.S. government sources said the United States strongly believes that Kim Jong Nam was murdered by North Korean agents.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Wednesday confirmed that Kim Jong Nam was poisoned by two suspected North Korean female agents and that he was poisoned with an unidentified toxic liquid, administered by needles or a cloth.
Malaysian police investigating the attack said the cause of Kim's death was not yet known and a post-mortem would soon be carried out. His body was taken on Wednesday morning to a second hospital, where an autopsy was being performed. North Korean embassy officials were also at the hospital and were coordinating with local authorities, police sources said.
Motives
There is widespread speculation that Kim Jong Nams death was ordered by high ranking officials in Pyongyang, and very likely by Kim Jong Un.
If it is proved that Kim Jong Nam's death was committed by the North Korean government, it will be a case that shows the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime, said South Korean acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.
Kim Jong Nam was reportedly considered a threat to his brothers rule because of his outspoken criticism of the continued repressive and authoritarian practices within the country, because he was a proponent of reform polices that would loosen state controls, and because there was speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping would prefer to see him replace his younger brother as the leader of North Korea.
South Koreas spy agency said Wednesday that Kim Jong Un had issued a "standing order" for his half-brother's assassination, and that there had been a failed attempt in 2012. Kim Jong Nam had been living under Beijing's protection with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau.
North Korean defector and analyst Ahn Chan-il, with the World Institute for North Korean Studies, said it is likely that North Korean spies, embedded within the large number of laborers that work in Malaysias mineral and mining industry, had learned of the older Kims travel plans and decided to target him while he was outside of Chinas protection.
[I think] North Korea may have put spies within these laborers. And while the two women are suspected to be members of [the Norths] reconnaissance bureau, it is highly possible that more than ten people belonged to other bureaus that may be involved in this case, said Ahn Chan-il.
The South Korean government on Wednesday also urged all North Korean defectors to take extra precautions for their own safety and security.
Reign of Terror
If proven, the sanctioned assassination of Kim Jong Uns brother could further isolate a leadership in Pyongyang that is already struggling under harsh sanctions for its continued development of nuclear weapons and for widespread human rights violations.
South Korea's Institute for National Security in December 2016 claimed that Kim Jong Un has ordered the execution of 340 people since he came to power in December 2011. In 2013, he sentenced to death his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered his mentor and the country's second-most-powerful man, for what the North alleged was treason.
Carl Thayer, a defense analyst at the University of New South Wales, said Kim Jong Nams death was a further indicator of political anxieties in North Korea.
And even though his older brother was pushed outside and it was clear he was never going to come back to challenge him, it may be just another indication of Kim Jong Uns perceived anxieties, he said.
For the next several days, North Korea will be marking the birthday of its late leader Kim Jong Il, the brothers' father, though they have different mothers. The major holiday this Thursday is called the Day of the Shining Star'' and will feature figure skating and synchronized swimming exhibitions, fireworks and mass rallies.
Watching closely
Chinas Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it is closely watching developments in the case, noting that Malaysian authorities were still investigating Kim's death.
Chinese academics and state media were also slow to draw any conclusions about Kim's death before the completion of the investigation. They also played down the half-brother's reported links to the country.
Wang Dong, a political scientist at Peking University, said Kim's death was unlikely to change anything, noting that all of the challenges related to the Korean peninsula would not just go away.
What happened to Kim Yong Nam yesterday was just a piece of titbits or tabloid news. I don't think it will make a fundamental change or have a table-turning impact on the overall [political] situation [in Pyongyang], Wang said.
Online, however, the discussion was more wide-ranging. Kim Jong Un has increasingly become a target of ridicule on the Chinese internet in recent years as relations between the isolated countrys leader and Beijing have become increasingly frayed. Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to meet Kim Jong Un since he rose to power, nor has Kim visited China's capital, as his father did in the past.
"Everyone is really just guessing about who killed Kim Jong Nam and those who support North Korea are trying to whitewash what has happened, but neither side has any evidence," read one online comment on an article about who might have been responsible for Kim's death. "Still, North Korea does have a history of assassinating and hunting down so-called traitors overseas."
Another online post was more certain.
"I think that it was definitely the work of Kim Jong Un, ever since he came to power he has been killing all of his relatives. Why would he not go after the biggest apparent heir," the post said.
North Asia analyst, Justin Hastings, an associate professor at Australias Sydney University, said China had indicated to North Korea that Kim Jong Nam was not to be harmed while he remained on Chinese territory, including Macau. He said the half-brothers visit to Malaysia provided an opportunity to kill him.
Its not surprising he was killed. Kim Jong Un was going to come for him eventually. What of the timing? It may have simply been because this was when they were able to do it, Hastings told VOA.
Youmi Kim, Bill Ide, Joyce Huang and Ron Corben contributed to this report.
Cambodia saw nearly 1,400 strikes and demonstrations in 2016, more than three times as many as the previous year, according to a recent police report.
The annual report on social order published by the Phnom Penh police last week said the security situation had become complicated and adversely affects the well-being of the city.
The report singled out protests organized by civil society intending to overthrow the government.
It said that in 2015 there were 443 recorded strikes and protests. Last year, 966 of the 1,400 reported civil actions were strikes by factory workers, while more than 350 were politically motivated protests and more than 200 were organized by citizen groups.
Phnom Penh Police Chief Chuon Sovann and Police Commissioner Phoung Malai could not be reached.
Opposition officials, human rights workers and land activists dismissed the reports conclusion that civil society groups were trying to overthrow the government.
Mu Sochua, a Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker, said the strikes and demonstrations had proceeded peacefully and legally.
The government made up the report since he [Prime Minister Hun Sen] is unwilling or unable to seek solutions for citizens, she said.
What has the government done over the past decade that has caused citizens to cry, immigrate, and forced them to the point where minors are dropping out of school?
The only problem is the incompetence in leadership at all levels, she added.
Bov Sophea, a land activist from Boeung Kak lake, agreed that the report was an attempt to make excuses for government failures.
As a leader he was supposed to secure the nation, she said of Hun Sen. But rather he accuses his people and NGOs of plotting to overthrow the government.
Am Sam Ath, monitoring director of local rights group Licadho, said despite the large upsurge in protests, they rarely reached a positive outcome.
If there were no land seizures, there would be no protests.
A draft amendment that would see politicians with criminal records barred from leading political parties inched closer to passing on Monday as parliaments permanent committee submitted a proposal drafted by the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party.
The opposition party lodged a disagreement and requested consideration of the proposal be postponed.
The proposal was rushed through parliament amid an opposition boycott of proceedings in response to ongoing political tensions and legal proceedings against its leadership.
Yem Ponharith, a CNRP lawmaker, told reporters after the meeting at the National Assembly on Monday that making the amendment should involve cross-party discussion.
Up until now, relevant parties have not been consulted in open and public discussions, he said.
He added that the election law already mandates against politicians being able to run for office if they hold criminal convictions.
Chheang Vun, a CPP spokesman, said the party would not postpone consideration of the draft amendment because it was needed in such a political situation.
The ruling party has enough votes to amend any law without the approval of other parties, he added, referring to the CPPs majority in parliament.
Thats how it works when youre the winning party. We know that we have enough votes to amend the law.
The political parties law was adopted in 1997. Cambodia currently has about 70 political parties, while only two hold seats in parliament.
Sourn Serei Ratha, president of the Khmer Power Party, said the unilateral actions by the CPP will undermine basic freedom of citizens.
The law does not tackle problems in Khmer society. Therefore, I do not support it. If the amendment is approved, the law will violate the political rights of the Khmer people across the nation, he said.
As thousands of South Sudanese refugees continue to pour into Uganda to escape attacks from armed forces, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is sounding the alarm. It says the dire situation has created the third largest largest refugee crisis after Syria and Afghanistan. VOA's Mariama Diallo reports.
Recent international sanctions intended to curb North Koreas nuclear weapons program are hobbling humanitarian and relief efforts to safeguard the lives of millions in need, according to many aid workers.
With North Korea remaining steadfast in developing nuclear arsenals, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) along with the United States and its allies, has put in place sweeping sanctions to thwart its nuclear development.
The sanctions in particular, those under Resolution 2270 and 2321 adopted in March and November 2016, respectively aim at cutting off money for the regimes nuclear and military activities, calling on member states to limit North Korean financial transactions and withhold any type of foreign assistance, unless intended solely for humanitarian purposes.
Measures imposed by this resolution are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian population of the DPRK, states Resolution 2321.
Sweeping sanctions
A number of international organizations and NGOs, however, say the sanctions pose significant impediments when carrying out their activities in the communist state, which still needs assistance despite continuing humanitarian efforts by the international community.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently designated North Korea as a forgotten crises, with about 60 percent of the population being considered as food insecure and 1.7 million children being at risk of deadly childhood diseases.
Donna Porstner, associate director of media relations at Americares, told VOA the disaster relief agency was unable to provide assistance to North Korea in 2016, due to delays caused by new export licensing requirements, which were introduced by U.N. sanctions last year. Porstner said new internal procedures were implemented at the U.S.-based group to ensure compliance with all applicable export control rules.
New sanctions introduced in early 2016 now require Americares to apply for an export license from the U.S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Industry and Security before shipping medical supplies and consumables to North Korea, she said.
The head of the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the United Nations humanitarian arm, echoed Porstners concerns, saying the restrictions are too time consuming.
As a result of the sanctions, additional documentation is required to support the applications of permits and licenses which vary from country to country, said Lisa Doughten, chief of the U.N.'s CERF secretariat. End-user certification, especially for the dual-use items, raised concerns and complicated the handover of equipment and supplies to the government or at the end of the project cycle. Dual-use items are those which could be used in weapons building.
Aid work crippled
According to Doughten, international suppliers mostly in China have increasingly become worried about being at risk of violating the sanctions.
The very few suppliers willing to participate will often ask for a premium fee to cover the additional administrative legal procedures involved in export processes, Doughten said. Ultimately these additional requirements mean that the funds available to assist the beneficiaries are reduced as the operating costs are much higher.
An official from a U.S.-based charity with experience in providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea said transferring money to suppliers also has become difficult as Chinese banks are getting more risk-averse on sending and even receiving money that will be used in DPRK.
Banks, many of them Chinese, are wary of running afoul of the sanctions for fear of losing access to the international financial system.
So it's gotten more complicated and I think it will continue to get more difficult to, for example, procure things in China, just in terms of the funds transfer, said the official who asked to remain anonymous, as did others who spoke with VOA, due to the sensitivity of the issue.
As Chinese banks in the China-North Korea border regions have become reluctant to make North Korea-related financial or commercial transactions, a growing number of Chinese suppliers are switching accounts to banks in Hong Kong or Shanghai, said another aid worker from an international relief agency, who has spent more than 20 years providing humanitarian aid to the impoverished country.
We had a problem when we procured the CGI [corrugated galvanized iron] sheets for the emergency relief, where the supplier had to change the account to an offshore account, said the worker, who also preferred to remain anonymous. It seems that some banks are just very cautious.
A typhoon that hit North Korea in August 2016 left tens of thousands homeless.
Nuclear tension blamed for impediment
Some experts acknowledge that the sanctions seem to present limitations on aid work and bring unintended consequences for the North Korean people, but said the current problem is likely to persist unless the Kim Jong Un government alters its nuclear policy.
By the nature of sanctions, you will in fact hurt other people who you didn't intend to, said Andrew Natsios, former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and former vice president of World Vision U.S. And my view is that the biggest problem is not the sanctions regime itself, it's the North Korean government.
Natsios, who is now a professor at the George H.W. Bush School of Government at Texas A & M University, said if North Korean leadership cared about its own people, it would be trying to go through economic reforms that would produce more food and more medical care for its people and thats not what they are doing.
Marcus Noland, director of studies at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, whose areas of expertise include the North Korean economy, said increased international pressure is the culmination of years of frustration with North Korean behavior.
I think that the international community has simply reached a point where rather than saying well, under certain circumstances, financial transactions with North Korea they basically said financial transactions are not allowed and if you really have some humanitarian need, you need to demonstrate that in advance, the economist said.
Indonesians are voting Wednesday in more than 100 regional elections but Jakarta's gubernatorial race is attracting most of the attention.
It is a closely-watched contest between moderate and conservative forces in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Religion and race came to dominate the campaign in the city with some seven million voters after the current governor was accused of blasphemy.
Philips Vermonte of the Indonesian Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) believes the Jakarta election is important because the outcome could influence national politics.
For the past few months many people are concerned because old issues have resurfaced, especially on relations between the country and religion, or citizens' rights to be elected or to vote, pluralism, etc., Vermonte told VOA. The religious issue in this election has created frictions that have made the capital seem to be more intolerant than any other parts of Indonesia. Therefore, I think the success of the February 15th gubernatorial election is a test not only for Jakarta's voters, but also for Indonesia.
The incumbent governor, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, is Indonesian Chinese and Christian, making him a double minority. Popular with middle-class residents for his efforts against corruption and to improve the quality of life, accusations against him of blasphemy a criminal offense surfaced in September and he is currently on trial. Protests against him culminated on Saturday, the last day of campaigning, with tens of thousands of Indonesians from around the nation gathering in Jakarta to listen to clerics who urged them to vote for Muslim candidates.
Both of Purnama's opponents, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and Anies Baswedan, are Muslims.
Yudhoyono, an Army major until he resigned to run, is the eldest son of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former president. Although the younger Yudhoyono lacks civilian job experience, he assured voters during his campaign that he is ready to be the next governor.
Baswedan is an academician and former minister of education in the government of President Joko Jokowi Widodo.
Siti Zuhro, a senior analyst with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, LIPI, said the relative youth of the three gubernatorial candidates they're 38 to 50 years old has generated enthusiasm among younger voters.
Baswedan appeals to young netizens who are first-time voters, said Zuhro. They think he is cool and friendly.
Yudhoyono appeals to local voters as a Jakarta native, according to Zuhro, who added that Purnama has seen his voter support drop in polls from over 50 percent to 30 percent since the blasphemy allegations surfaced.
Although quick count results compiled by researchers stationed at a sample of polling places will give an indication of the outcome within hours of the polls closing at 1 p.m. local time, the official results are not due until February 27. It's unlikely that any of the three candidates will get the 50 percent of the votes required for an outright win, which means there will be a runoff in April between the top two vote-getters.
Henri Satrio, an analyst at Jakarta's Paramadina University, said that one reason the gubernatorial election is attracting such attention is that when Joko Widodo won the governorship in 2012, he used that political momentum in 2014 and was elected president of Indonesia.
A second factor is the power behind each candidate, Satrio said. Former president SBY (Yudhoyono) is behind the candidate Agus Yudhoyono, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri is behind Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, and former presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is behind Anies Baswedan. Besides, previous incumbents have never won re-election, so if Ahok (Purnama) is re-elected it would be a historical moment.
And then there is factor of religion.
I think what we are seeing is probably more of an elite-based conflict, said Vermonte. I am confident that our people generally are still moderate as evidence shows that in the other 100 regional elections, the issue of religion is non-existent. But conservative elements have been mobilized by the elite groups, who have no creativity and are unwilling to fight fair in the election. And religious or anti-ethnic issues are the easiest tool to use.
Rural landowners make $222 million per year renting their land for wind turbines.
The solar energy industry added more than 30,000 jobs last year, employing more than 200,000 people.
A group of Republican and Democratic governors focused on these and other economic points in a letter to President Donald Trump on Monday, urging the Republican climate skeptic to support wind and solar power.
President Trump's support for fossil fuels and his threat to pull out of the Paris climate agreement have raised questions about the future of renewable energy in the United States.
But experts say the jobs created by the rapidly growing industry could go to China if the United States pulls back from climate action.
Spinning wind into gold
Ohio seems like an unlikely place to find strong support for wind power. It ranks just 26th in megawatts of installed capacity.
"[Ohioans] look around and see very few wind turbines and say, 'There's not much wind business in the U.S.,'" says sales VP Doug Herr at turbine part maker AeroTorque. "But what they don't realize is, there's companies making gears, there's companies making specialized clutches like us."
In fact, Ohio has more companies in the wind power industry than any other state.
And demand for those companies' products is growing.
Utilities added more renewable energy generation than fossil fuels in four of the last five years. Wind industry jobs grew 20 percent in 2015, to more than 88,000, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
"When you talk about the growth of renewables and particularly the growth of wind, it's going to drive domestic manufacturing jobs," Herr says. "And that's gold."
China first
President Trump's "America First Energy Plan" explicitly backs oil, gas and coal. It makes no mention of renewables.
The bipartisan group of governors urged him to keep supporting U.S. renewables research and development, or else "we will cede leadership in these critical technologies to other nations that have demonstrated ongoing high priority commitments to these technologies, such as China."
Herr agrees.
"If we don't step up and lead and move into the future on this, these jobs are moving to China. These jobs are moving to India. They already have."
Five of the top 10 wind turbine makers and five of the top six solar panel companies are Chinese, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The Chinese renewable energy industry has blossomed with solid backing from the government.
"China has been the largest investor in clean energy for the last few years," says China expert Ranping Song with the World Resources Institute. In 2015, China invested $100 billion in renewables, more than twice what the United States did. Beijing has announced plans to pour more than $360 billion into clean energy through 2020, which it says will create 13 million jobs.
The Chinese government has three solid motivations to pursue clean energy, Song says. Energy security is one.
The second is the potential to dominate a growing industry. "China actually sees really good global opportunities to export this green technology, because every country will want to have them," Song says.
The government's plan to tackle toxic air pollution is a third, he adds. "If China wants to clean up its environment, then they will need to replace existing, polluting power from coal power plants with more clean, renewable sources like solar and wind."
"For China, it's very clear. The government is all behind this agenda," Song says.
Not backing away
When the United States elected a climate doubter as president, some observers thought that Beijing would back away from action on climate change.
"What we're seeing is exactly the opposite," says Paula Caballero, global director of the World Resources Institute's climate program. "Right after the election there was very strong messaging from China about the importance of (the Paris climate agreement), about the fact that they were going to keep delivering on it."
It's not clear that the United States will back away, either.
Trump's pick for energy secretary, Rick Perry, was governor of Texas as the state became a global leader in wind power generation.
Plus, the cost of wind power has fallen 41 percent since 2008. Solar is down 64 percent. They now compete with fossil fuels on price.
That's why Doug Herr is confident about the future.
"It's going to come down to economics around the world. And whether or not you're a believer or not a believer in global warming, the economics (of renewables) wins."
Board members of Wisconsins for-profit college watchdog said Wednesday theyre concerned by Gov. Scott Walkers plan to eliminate the board in the next state budget.
Walker, in his 2017-19 budget proposal released last week, moved to eliminate the state Educational Approval Board and transfer its duties to another agency, the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
The board licenses and regulates for-profit schools, which have weathered criticism for questionable marketing practices and degree programs.
At a meeting Wednesday, board members postponed any official response to Walkers budget until their next meeting in March.
An overview of the plan produced by Walkers office says the move would provide enhanced oversight for the authorization and review of private postsecondary educational institutions.
Among the questions board members want to address is how the move would result in enhanced oversight, said David Dies, the boards executive secretary.
Board member Mark Kapocius questioned how the boards focused mission and small workforce would fit within the much larger agency, which oversees state licensing of professions ranging from accountants to cosmetologists.
My concern would be that the actual mission would get lost in the shuffle, which is to say, looking out for the best interests of the students, Kapocius said.
This isnt the first time Walker has tried to eliminate the board. Two years ago Walkers budget proposal called for transferring the boards equivalent of 6.5 full-time employees to one part-time staffer. The Legislatures joint budget committee removed that provision from the final budget.
This time Walkers budget calls for moving all 6.5 full-time equivalent positions to DSPS. But Dies said the budget doesnt specify how many of those employees would retain comparable job descriptions or if existing staff members would transfer to the department.
Walkers proposal comes at a time when federal oversight of for-profit colleges is expected to weaken. After the Obama administration toughened oversight of for-profit colleges, the Department of Education under President Donald Trump is expected to ease that pressure, which could shift much of the industrys regulation to the states.
A second round of international talks in Moscow on the stabilization of Afghanistan ended Wednesday with participating countries calling for Central Asian nations to be included in future discussions.
Representatives from Afghanistan were included in the talks for the first time, joining those from Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran and India.
"In the context of possible broadening of this negotiation format, [an] understanding was reached to develop regional efforts to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan by involving at the next stage the potential of other countries, primarily from Central Asia," Russia's Foreign Ministry said after the meeting, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
Russia has said it wants stability and cooperation to fight extremist groups, including the Islamic State, which is gaining ground in Central Asia. But Afghan officials are not happy with Russia's direct talks with the Taliban, which U.S. officials say are aimed at undermining their efforts.
The United States was not invited to participate in the talks.
The exclusion of Afghanistan from the first round of discussions raised concerns among officials in Kabul as well as in the United States.
While the United Nations says the Taliban is responsible for five times as many deaths and injuries, Islamic State group attacks are on the rise in Afghanistan, with a tenfold growth in 2016.
U.S. officials say Russia's contacts with the Taliban, along with Iran's and Pakistan's, lend them legitimacy and support while undermining the Afghan government and NATO efforts to fight the extremists.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says thousands more U.S. troops are needed there to train Afghanistan's forces to better handle threats to security.
Turkey has reopened border crossings with neighboring Bulgaria after closing them in the early hours of Saturday following an attempted coup, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said.
There were no signs of an increase in refugee flows into Bulgaria, and Turkey's government has given assurances that the border will not be overwhelmed, Borisov told reporters after meeting with the Turkish ambassador.
An additional 230 Bulgarian soldiers have been sent to the border to bolster patrols and help prevent a possible surge in refugee arrivals, he said. A fence to stop illegal crossings into the country from Turkey is already in place.
"We have been in communication with the Turkish government, with the prime minister, with the ambassador," Borisov said. "I have full assurances from all that the border will not be put under pressure."
Refugee camps in Turkey, which host more than three million people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are calm and Turkish authorities have also agreed to bolster border controls, Borisov said.
Flights from Sofia to the Turkish cities of Istanbul and Antalya were canceled on Saturday, according to the departure schedule on Sofia Airport's website.
Talks to end Burundis political crisis are slated to resume Thursday, but there is renewed and widespread doubt the talks will help bring peace to the unsettled central African country.
Opposition and civil society groups say the facilitator of the talks, former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa, is dooming the process by welcoming politicians who tried to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza in a 2015 coup attempt.
It was not clear Wednesday whether the Burundian government will even send a representative to the talks in Arusha, Tanzania.
The opposition coalition CNARED initially said it will demand that Mkapa remove himself as facilitator but changed its position, saying Wednesday it will attend the talks without conditions.
Burundian political analyst Deogratias Nkinahamira is not expecting a breakthrough from the scheduled three days of talks.
I dont think the list of participants is reassuring, he told VOAs Central African service Tuesday.
You have politicians who have been caught red handed, plotting to topple the government and you have feuds and factions within some of the political parties and within the opposition alliance CNARED. It is going to be hard for these politicians to agree on anything, let alone the agenda.
His comments were echoed by Njangwa Becho Gilbert, the head of a Burundian election observer organization.
The mediators office has made a mistake in inviting former ruling party leaders who have betrayed their party by joining those who were planning to topple the government, as well as the real coup plotters, he told a Bujumbura news conference. Njangwa said he was speaking on behalf of 11 other civil society groups. He predicted the consultations are going to be rocky and fruitless at best.
Attempts to resolve the crisis have been held up by the governments refusal to talk with coup supporters and the insistence by some opposition figures that Nkurunziza is not a legitimate president.
CNARED called on Mkapa to resign as facilitator in December, after he told journalists that politicians who consider Nkurunziza illegitimate are out of their minds.
Ahead of the talks this week, Burundis top prosecutor asked Tanzania to arrest and hand over all politicians invited to the talks who have a pending arrest warrant against them. The prosecutor issued a new list of 32 politicians and leaders of civil society groups who are wanted by Burundian authorities.
Former Burundian President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya said this week that time is of the essence, and politicians need to stop arguing over who will be allowed to participate and who will not.
It is a sign of democracy that party and civil society groups leaders can voice out their opinion over participants to the consultations; however we have to keep in mind that the mediator is the regional trusted leader who is working tirelessly to help Burundians get out of the political imbroglio they have been in for over a year and half now, he said.
Hundreds of people died in protests and violence sparked by Nkurunzizas decision to run for a third term in 2015. Critics said the president was violating term limits in Burundis constitution.
The violence prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country. As of today, the United Nations estimates the number of refugees has grown to 380,000.
Last week, the U.N. refugee agency reported that the number of Burundians fleeing political violence is expected to reach 500,000 this year, and said the U.N. is seeking more land for refugee camps in neighboring countries.
A teenager in northwestern Cameroon has become the first African to win Googles global youth coding challenge, despite an ongoing internet blackout in his hometown.
Nji Patrick Gbahs tailor shop in Bamenda is buzzing with business and pride. His son, Collins, was recently named one of 34 grand-prize winners in this years Google Code-In, a global challenge for young programmers.
He used to punish his son for joking with the computer.
"I was feeling that he is just spending his time without doing house chores. At times I used to seize my computer and lock it in the house and I tell him not to use it anymore because I was believing that he is just spending time on that computer for nothing," said the teen's father.
Nji Collins Gbah has won a trip to Google headquarters in California this June with the other top finishers.
The competition was open to students between the ages of 13 and 17. More than 1,300 young people from 62 countries participated this year.
"The only thing I want to say is focus on studies," Collins said. "Get to know more about the opportunities that are around you and go to sites which have real information about opportunities like this."
But that may be hard at the moment for his fellow students in Bamenda. In mid-January, the internet was cut to English-speaking parts of Cameroon, amid ongoing unrest.
Collins had to plead with his uncle for travel money so he could go to to Mbouda, a French-speaking town 30 kilometers away, to get online and compete. He had just a few days to complete 842 programming tasks.
Many believe the government ordered the internet blackout, though there has been no official confirmation.
Teachers and lawyers have been on strike in the English-speaking regions since November. They have been joined by activists calling for secession. Some demonstrations have turned violent and dozens of people have been arrested.
Officials say activists have been using social media to spread anti-government messages.
Cameroon's minister of post and telecommunication, Libom Li Likeng, told VOA there has to be a responsible use of technology. She says although social networks provide lots of opportunities, they have noticed that many people use them for unhealthy purposes.
African countries have been increasingly responding to unrest by cutting internet access. Uganda, Congo and Mali are just a few other examples.
Last week, a U.N. rights expert called the internet blackout in parts of Cameroon "an appalling violation" of freedom of expression.
Residents in affected areas say it is impacting the economy as money transfer services and ATM's are not working.
Colombia, one of the most mined countries in the world, aims to remove all landmines and other explosives by 2021 after the government and FARC rebels signed a peace deal last year, a top government official has said.
Colombia's left-wing guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), planted thousands of landmines across swaths of the country during its five-decade war against the government.
"Forty percent of the areas that were covered in landmines for the past 25 years are now being cleared to reach the goal of having a Colombia free of anti-personnel mines by 2021," Rafael Pardo, the government's post-conflict commissioner, told local media Monday.
After Afghanistan, Colombia has the second-highest number of landmine casualties, with more than 11,500 people killed or injured by landmines since 1990, government figures show.
The FARC rebels planted homemade mines in mostly rural areas, using empty glass bottles of rum, coffee and tuna cans, and plastic tubes filled with sulfuric acid.
In 2015, the government and FARC rebels agreed to work together to remove landmines during peace talks in Cuba.
Under the December peace accord, around 6,300 FARC fighters have so far moved to designated areas across Colombia where they will hand in their weapons over the next six months.
The government hopes that nearly 1,000 former FARC combatants will work to identify and clear mines, Pardo said.
With the FARC moving away from their former strongholds, it is now safer for government military demining teams, along with local and international demining groups, to work in new areas.
Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, has said clearing landmines is a key challenge facing the nation as it emerges from decades of war and is crucial for rural development.
Experts say Colombia's mountainous and jungle terrain make mine clearance difficult, and it will take Colombia at least a decade to rid the country of all its landmines.
International donors, including the United States and Norway, have so far contributed nearly $112 million for landmine clearance in Colombia.
The Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday to block an Obama-era regulation that would prevent an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from being able to purchase a firearm. The measure now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
The regulation was crafted as part of President Barack Obama's efforts to strengthen the federal background check system in the wake of the 2012 massacre of 20 young students and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old man with a variety of impairments, including Asperger's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, shot and killed his mother at their home, then went to school where he killed the students, adults and himself.
The Obama administration rule required the Social Security Administration to send in the names of beneficiaries with mental impairments who also have a third party manage their benefits.
But lawmakers, with the backing of the National Rifle Association and advocacy groups for the disabled, opposed the regulation and encouraged Congress to undertake a rarely successful process designed to void regulations that Congress takes issue with.
The 57-43 vote to revoke the regulation sends the measure to Trump.
With a Republican ally in the White House, the GOP has moved aggressively on several fronts to rescind some of the Obama administration's final regulations on the environment, financial reporting and now guns. Under an expedited process established through the Congressional Review Act, a regulation is made invalid when a simple majority of both chambers pass a joint resolution of disapproval and the president signs it.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, spearheaded the repeal effort and said the regulation unfairly stigmatizes the disabled and infringes on their constitutional right to bear arms. He said that the mental disorders covered through the regulation are filled with "vague characteristics that do not fit into the federal mentally defective standard" prohibiting someone from buying or owning a gun.
Grassley cited eating and sleep disorders as examples of illnesses that could allow a beneficiary to be reported to the background check system if they also have a third party to manage their benefits.
"If a specific individual is likely to be violent due to the nature of their mental illness, then the government should have to prove it," Grassley said.
The rule isn't scheduled to go into effect until December. It only would apply to those receiving disability benefits. However, someone who is added to the background check system before retirement age would remain there after retirement age.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he didn't know how he could explain to his constituents that Congress was making it easier rather than harder for people with serious mental illness to have a gun.
"If you can't manage your own financial affairs, how can we expect that you're going to be a responsible steward of a dangerous, lethal firearm," Murphy said.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., argued that anyone who thinks they're treated unfairly can appeal, and are likely to win if they're not a danger to themselves or others. But Grassley said federal law requires a formal hearing and judgment before depriving someone of owning a firearm due to mental illness.
Gun rights groups weren't the only organizations upset about the Obama administration's regulation. The American Civil Liberties Union criticized it, too. The ACLU said the rule advanced a harmful stereotype that people with mental disabilities, "a vast and diverse group of citizens, are violent." More than a dozen advocacy groups for the disabled also opposed the Obama administration's regulation.
The NAACP, the United States Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities supported the Social Security Administration's efforts.
"This heartless resolution puts the most vulnerable Americans at risk," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Make no mistake, this vote was really about deepening the gun industry's customer pool, at the expense of those in danger of hurting themselves or others."
Meanwhile, the GOP-led House will seek to rescind more Obama-era regulations later Wednesday, including a Labor Department rule critics say unduly restricts efforts in some states to test unemployment insurance applicants for drug use.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has softened his deadly anti-drug campaign following police mishaps and signs of public skepticism.
Duterte, a 71-year-old, harshly-spoken former mayor, had vowed to kill 100,000 criminals and eradicate drugs by next month. However, Duterte's office announced in late January the police side of the campaign against drugs was suspended.
That shift followed the kidnapping and slaying of a South Korean businessman in October at the Philippine National Polices Camp Crame headquarters in Manila. The incident raised Dutertes angry suspicion of what he called scalawags in the police and a resolve to root them out.
National police Chief Gen. Ronald dela Rosa announced in late January he would dissolve the anti-drug units to go after corruption instead. We will cleanse our ranks, the news organization Foreign Policy quoted the chief as saying.
Dutertes suspension of the anti-drug campaign, during which an estimated 7,000 people were killed, marks his first retreat from a policy criticized by Western countries, human rights groups and most recently, the Catholic Church.
The really sad irony of what has happened in the Philippines is that the deaths of more than 7,000 Filipinos in President Rodrigo Dutertes so-called war on drugs didnt bring any kind of change in policy, said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch.
But it took the kidnapping murder of a single South Korean businessman in the Philippines to cause the government to tap the brakes on the drug war, he said.
Public opinion is also wavering, though still believed to be widely supportive of the earlier anti-drug effort.
Eighty-six Philippine Catholic dioceses have condemned the suspected extrajudicial killings and called for reforms in law enforcement. A unified statement released in early February, the first issued by multiple dioceses and read at masses around the country, called the drug eradication effort a reign of terror in many places of the poor.
About 83 percent of Filipinos are Catholic, making the Church influential in much of the society. We hope that as a statement it should have some bearing on the Catholic faithful themselves, said Antonio Ledesma, archbishop in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro.
The Korean nationals killing was just one police foible, said Jay Batongbacal, associate law professor at the University of the Philippines. The people agree that the drug problem is something that is serious and needs to be solved, but do not agree with the method of killing thousands to address it, he said.
A survey by Manila-based polling group Social Weather Stations found in December that 78 percent of Filipinos fear they or someone they know will become an victim of the extrajudicial killings.
Observers in the country say the president is serious about stripping the power of officers who overstep bounds and reducing police corruption.
Anti-corruption work falls in line with Dutertes pledges before the May 2016 presidential election and his inauguration in June, said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Philippine advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform.
Inside the police is where theyre looking. Theyre cleaning house, said Rhona Canoy, president of an international school and part of a political family on the southern island Mindanao.
Theyre still running after the people who really are very overtly in the drug business, Canoy said. But in terms of like the neighborhood things that they were doing before, thats toned down a bit.
The special Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is still pursuing drug crimes, local media say. A broader campaign is expected to resume once Duterte believes the police are better disciplined or he finds another agency to take charge.
Drug dealing once occupied neighborhood streets and spawned petty crimes against common people, many Filipinos say. Some were afraid to go out at night. According to a 2012 United Nations World Drug Report, the Philippines had East Asias highest abuse rate of the methamphetamine strain called shabu.
Presidential office spokesman Ernesto Abella suggested to Philippine media late last month that Duterte might form a police constabulary, which would include military participation, to solve drug crimes.
The campaign itself is still going on, Casiple said. I dont think it will end. The anti-drug campaign is receiving a big support from the public.
Although U.S. President Donald Trump says he only wants to tweak trade ties with Canada, his pledge to renegotiate NAFTA to focus on Mexico is almost impossible and Canada will not emerge unscathed, Canadian officials and trade experts said Tuesday.
Trump had warm words for Canadian trade following a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, but his call for major changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement to target Mexico stymied experts.
"I can't see how it's possible at all. It would be very complicated to do and I don't think Mexico would ... ever go along with it," said Mark Warner, a trade lawyer and principal at MAAW Law in Toronto.
Canada and Mexico send the bulk of their exports to the United States under NAFTA.
One senior Canadian government official, asked how the agreement could be tweaked for one partner and changed in a major way for another, admitted frankly, "I don't know."
Trump spoke after his first meeting with Trudeau, who is trying to sell the merits of NAFTA while opposing a border tariff, an idea circulating in U.S. political circles that could badly hit Canadian industries.
Warner said that if the U.S. government decided to impose the tariff, "the consequences of that could be described as a tweak but the significance of it would be major."
Matthew Kronby, an international trade lawyer at Bennett Jones in Toronto, said "it is very hard to tease apart the elements of the deal that I suppose Trump might think are a disaster with Mexico while leaving it intact with Canada."
Officials say that while Trump did not reveal any details about his intentions on NAFTA, Canada would suffer collateral damage, whatever the administration pushes for.
"We cannot be untouched or unscathed by this," said one person familiar with the matter.
Separately, another official working on the bilateral trade file said that once talks started, the U.S. dairy industry was set to demand Canada dismantle its supply management system of tariffs and taxes that keep out most dairy imports, including those from the United States.
"That could be a very unpleasant conversation," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Trudeau's ability to make concessions is limited since all of Canada's major political parties have vowed to protect supply management. Holding out too firmly, though, could irritate the American side, which might demand concessions elsewhere.
Boasting spectacular wildlife and majestic scenery, central Kenyas Laikipia area has long been on the countrys tourist circuit, sitting against the backdrop of Mount Kenya.
But due to drought, northern pastoralists are illegally bringing tens of thousands of cattle to private and community lands in search of water and grazing lands, often bringing them into conflict with landowners, and displacing wildlife.
Several people have been killed in these conflicts, with others injured. Attacks on three out of approximately 50 ranches, farms, and conservancies have been reported, including a tourist lodge that was burned down at the end of January.
But Laikipia Farmers Association chairman Martin Evans says all land owners have been affected in some way.
Every single owners had damage, said Evans. When they come in, they smash your fences, they smash all your infrastructure, all your buildings, your security houses, your solar panels, electric energizers, they steal and smash. I havent heard of one who hasnt been.
Drought impact
Kenyas spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Mwenda Njoka blames it on one factor.
Drought, drought, drought, said Njoka. The dry stint that has been in that area for a long time and in many other parts of the country. That is what has caused these people to move their cattle to areas where there is grass and water.
But that is not an excuse, says Paula Kahumbu, CEO of WildlifeDirect.
This drought was known about more than six months ago. These incidents started more than six months ago. There was ample opportunity for the state and state organs to respond and they didnt, said Kahumbu. These cattle should have been bought up and the people had their money put away somewhere safe well before the drought reached this point.
And, its not just a drought that is based on climatic conditions, argues Frank Pope, CEO of Save the Elephants.
This is a drought based on chronic overgrazing of this ecosystem, said Pope. Weve got several different data streams showing us the dramatic degradation that northern Kenya has suffered, and I think the same holds true for many other areas in Kenya where weve had too many livestock on the ground, exerting huge grazing pressure on the ground. About three-quarters of the northern rangelands is now at or below the level of organic soil carbon required for plant growth.
Complex issue
It is is a complex socio-economic issue, according to Njoka, who says the government is working to get the situation under control.
Weve been doing a lot, said Njoka. And weve sent security forces, police officers who are deployed to the area, from different units, to go and protect these farms and ensure they are not invaded. Although sometimes it has not been as successful as wed have wanted, but theres a lot the government has been doing on that.
Kahumbu says the pastoralists are highly adapted to extremely dry conditions, which demonstrates the severity of their current situation.
So for them to have resorted to raiding private land and community land, is really a reflection of how serious the drought is, said Kahumbu. Its a famine for them, so lets not forget that these are people who are in dire straights and the government of Kenya has failed them too, which is why theyre doing what theyre doing.
But Kahumbu and other conservationists cannot fully explain why wildlife have been killed. The Kenya Wildlife Service has recorded at least nine elephant deaths, as well as those of other endangered species like giraffes and the Grevys zebra.
The wildlife is the lowest on the chain when it comes to competing with livestock, because the livestock are accompanied by humans, and these humans have arms, often, said Pope.
Because few wildlife trophies have been taken, some conservationists believe retribution may be more at play than poaching.
Kenya is to hold national elections in August. Evans, Kahumbu and Pope argue politicians directly or indirectly condone their constituents encroaching onto private land, to win their support. But Njoka responds the elections have nothing to do with the situation.
The Laikipia Farmers Association wants the government to begin a disarmament program, prosecute the people involved, and enforce the law. Some conservation groups suggest the government buy some livestock to assist the pastoralists, as well as to bring harvested grass from other parts of the country to Laikipia to help feed the animals.
But everyone agrees a long-term solution must be found.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed into law constitutional amendments aimed at giving him sweeping new powers under an executive presidency. The reforms are deeply divisive, with supporters saying they will strengthen democracy, while critics warn of dictatorship. Turks will decide in a referendum set for April 16. Doubts over its fairness are growing among opponents of the reforms, who claim a crackdown against them already has started.
Leading right-wing politician Meral Aksener recently spoke at a rally to oppose the presidential constitutional reforms. The meeting ended up being held in darkness after the electricity to the venue was mysteriously cut. Aksener said she had little doubt the blackout was deliberate, shouting to the audience, President, what you are afraid of, me as a woman opposing you and your powerful state.
We look for democracy in darkness and hopefully on April 16th we will find democracy coming out of the ballots, she later said to reporters.
Aksener's rally received scant coverage by the mainstream media, being confined to fringe opposition publications and TV channels broadcasting on the internet. Analysts say that's because much of the mainstream was directly or indirectly under the influence of Erdogan, what remains increasingly avoids critical reporting.
Interview goes unprinted
Turkey's Nobel Prize winner for literature, Orhan Pamuk, said he gave an interview to a newspaper, but it declined to publish his comments because he said he would cast a no vote on the referendum. Additionally, a leading news anchor said he was fired after he tweeted his opposition.
A top Turkish constitutional law expert, Professor Ibrahim Kaboglu of Istanbul's Marmara University, also says he and other colleagues were let go from their jobs for voicing their opposition to the reforms.
It is not possible to say there is no connection between these dismissals and the rushing of constitutional change, said Kaboglu at a protest over academic dismissals, which normally would be executed in two-and-a-half years, rather than within two-and-a-half weeks under emergency law, with the full mobilization of the state for a Yes vote for the constitutional changes.
Turkey has been under emergency rule since July's failed coup attempt. It allows the president and his government to dismiss any state employee. Concerns over the neutrality of the state in the forthcoming referendum are increasingly being raised.
Emergency rule essential?
We are under emergency rule, and its very obvious it's not going to be democratic process of election and referendum, warned political scientist Ismet Akca, who like Kaboglu was recently fired under emergency rule decree. You can see this even in the Health Ministry. They produced some public information, which said no to smoking. They are now recalling this literature because it has the word no in it.
The president argues that emergency rule is essential to guaranteeing the security and safety of the referendum. But concerns over the use of emergency powers against campaigners who vote no grew with Erdogan's warning that those who oppose his reforms are in the company of terrorists.
Who says no to these reforms? The PKK terrorist says no. Who says no? The coup plotters say no. Who says no? Those who want to divide this country say no. Only those who are against the flag say no, Erdogan thundered.
Raids continue
Police are continuing to carry out dawn raids under emergency powers, arresting thousands of members of Turkey's second-largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish HDP. Those detained include its charismatic leader, Selahattin Demirtas, widely recognized as one of the most lucid opponents of the proposed executive presidency.
Soli Ozel, an international relations expert from Istanbul's Kadir Has University, questions whether the vote will be fair.
I think this will be very uncomfortable for the naysayers to be able to push their line of thinking, because the last two elections we've held have not really been either as fair or free as we've come to expect. For better or worse, that is one thing Turkey has done very well; that is, we held elections fair and free; that has been infringed upon in my view. I can easily imagine the yes camp will monopolize [media] air time and the no camp will not have all that much of chance to explain itself. But on the other hand, I also see a serious potential for a no vote; will it be mobilized properly? I don't know, said Ozel.
Opinion polls indicate the outcome remains too close to call. That is giving the no campaign hope, but the expectation of further crackdowns on their activities can only deepen the country's political divide.
Gov. Scott Walker signaled support Wednesday for a bill that would only allow candidates to request a recount in state and local races if they trail the winner by a certain margin.
The bill is a direct response to last years presidential recount that was triggered and paid for by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received 1 percent of the vote.
The recount, which cost Steins campaign a little more than $2 million and county and municipal clerks thousands of hours of additional work during a traditionally busy time of year, resulted in Donald Trump extending his lead over Hillary Clinton by 131 votes. It also revealed more than 11,000 errors in how ballots were counted on election night out of 3 million total votes cast, but no major flaws in the state election system.
Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Reps. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, and Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, are lead sponsors of the bill, which LeMahieu said in December he would introduce in response to the recount. Walker also signaled support for such a proposal then, but details werent yet available.
The bill would only allow an aggrieved party to request a recount. An aggrieved party is someone trailing by 1 percent of the total in contests with more than 4,000 votes. In races with fewer than 4,000 votes cast, only someone trailing by 40 or fewer votes could request a recount.
Walker wouldnt say whether 1 percent was the right margin, but said it makes sense if its close that people should have a right to a recount, but it should be within a reasonable margin.
People would expect that someone whos close should have a shot to have a recount, but to have someone who is in third or fourth place, I think a lot of people, regardless of party, rolled their eyes when that happened, Walker said.
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, said she wont be signing on to the bill because she doesnt want the Legislature to be sidetracked from more important issues such as transportation, affordable child care and student loan debt.
I havent had a single person come up to me saying we need less election accountability, Shilling said. This bill is another example of how out-of-touch Republican politicians are with the challenges facing hard-working families in Wisconsin.
In a co-sponsorship memo to lawmakers, LeMahieu said at least seven states limit recounts to candidates who trail the winner by 1 percent of the total votes cast (Delaware, Massachusetts, Montana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah and Virginia).
He also noted there have been only three cases over nearly 40 years where a recount has changed the statewide results, and the largest difference was 0.12 percent of the total vote cast. The largest local election margin that was overturned by a recount was 13 votes, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Recounts would still have to be paid for by the requester if the margin is not within 0.25 percent of the total votes cast. The bill allows the State Elections Commission to recoup any costs it incurs and gives county clerks 15 extra days to tabulate their costs.
The bill also shortens Wisconsins recount deadline by two days, which LeMahieu said is to protect the states Electoral College votes. County Board of Canvassers would have an extra day to start a recount.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said he is still reviewing the bill, but added the Stein recount filing was an abuse of the recount prerogative, born of the irrational belief that Wisconsins highly decentralized and secure elections infrastructure is vulnerable to the kind and degree of meddling that might overturn the will of the voters.
Candidates who do not record more than 1 or 2 percent of the vote should not be able to buy a recount, he said.
McDonell said to assuage concerns about election result integrity he plans to upload images of all Dane County ballots from each election on the internet so anyone can review the results of any race. The ballots wouldnt be posted until after the period for requesting a recount has passed.
1 Women with flowers stand next to Belarusian military cadets holding portraits of soldiers who were killed during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, during a memorial ceremony on the Island of Tears in Minsk.
The humanitarian crisis in northeastern Nigeria remains severe, with aid agencies reporting uneven progress. In areas they have been able to access, relief organizations say they have successfully reduced malnutrition. But in other areas still cut off by insecurity, they fear the worst.
Rainy season is coming in northeastern Nigeria, and aid agencies are worried.
The rains could start as early as April. During the lean season that follows from June to August, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warns that 11 million people in northeast Nigeria will not have enough to eat. The FAO warns that 120,000 of those people could face famine-like conditions.
This is when people have consumed a lot of their food resources before the next harvest comes in. And so as the name suggests, the lean season means people have less resources to cope with during that period, said
Doug Mercado, the deputy country director for the U.N. World Food Program.
He says the organization is using planes and helicopters to bring in aid.
Were trying to do our best to get around the insecurity issues," he said. "Weve been scaling up. Weve been trying to reach as many people in need as possible. Weve been building up over the last few months, and in January, which was our latest distribution period, we distributed to over 1 million people.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross has seen a drastic reduction in cases of malnutrition at a health clinic they opened in the southern Borno town of Biu.
From the period between December of last year and February of this year, less than 10 admissions of severely malnourished children per month. If you compare this to last June and July when we started working in southern Borno, at that time we would receive between 110 and 120 cases every month.
ICRC spokesperson Aleksandra Mosimann told VOA the organization the malnutrition rate among children under five years old has fallen from over 40 to below 10 percent in areas where it provides food relief. Mercy Corps reports similar results in Maiduguri and the southern part of Borno state, where they have been able to set up operations. But the groups regional humanitarian advisor, Adrian Ouvry, says roads are still too dangerous in eastern Borno state, where fighting continues in and around the Sambisa forest.
There may well be other parts of Borno that we havent been able to access yet, including six of the local government areas to the north of the state where there may be pockets of extreme malnutrition and possibly famine. But its very hard to know until access is possible, said Ouvry.
Some of those hard-to-reach towns in the north are along the border with Niger and near Lake Chad. Surveillance and data from militaries, foreign governments and NGOs reveal that Boko Haram members still operate on some of Lake Chads islands.
Over the past seven years, Boko Haram violence has displaced more than two million people and killed at least 20,000, according to the U.N.
French President Francois Hollande is calling for new security measures around the country's presidential race, notably to protect against hacking.
Hollande's order came after the campaign of centrist Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of trying to sway the April 23-May 7 election.
Hollande asked top security officials Wednesday to present electoral security measures next week "including in the cyber domain."
Mounir Mahjoubi, head of digital campaigning for Macron, told The Associated Press that his team identified thousands of hacking attempts originating from Ukraine in recent weeks.
Mahjoubi says the attempts coincided with what he called a fake news operation targeting Macron in Russia-sponsored media in France.
Macron's leading rivals, Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen, want to lift sanctions against Russia, while Macron has been less friendly toward Moscow.
An Indian rocket blasted off Wednesday morning from Sriharikota in eastern India putting a record 104 satellites into space in a single launch, surpassing Russias previous feat of launching 37 satellites one year ago, according to Indias space agency.
The launch also marked a milestone in the countrys efforts to emerge as a serious contender in the multi-billion dollar global commercial space industry by slashing costs.
Besides a 714 kilogram earth observation satellite, the others were mostly nano satellites those weighing up to 10 kilograms. A majority of these small satellites came from customers in the United States, others from countries such as Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
The nationally televised launch showed scientists applauding successive stages in the mission control room.
Calling it a great moment for the Indian Space Research Organization, Associate Project Director B Jayakumar said, as you know doing something new in an innovative way, successfully is always a passion for ISRO people.
Low-cost program
Indias space program has focused heavily on low-cost access to space. The ability to put a larger number of satellites in space in a single launch brings down the cost significantly, which could help the country grab a larger slice of the commercial launch market, analysts say.
Doing record-breaking launches in one go does clearly highlight Indias advancement as well as the sophistication to do a lot more maneuvering in Indias space program, said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a space analyst from New Delhis Observer Research Foundation. Pointing out that it will inspire more confidence in Indias space program, she said A lot many more countries could be approaching India to do their own space launches.
The growing demand for more high-tech communication by countries, as well as by private telephone, Internet and other companies, has hugely boosted the demand for such launches. Last year, India launched 75 satellites for foreign customers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted This remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists.
India increased the budget for its space program this year and allocated resources for a potential second mission to Mars and its first to Venus in the coming years.
Mars mission
Indias ambitious space program got international attention after a successful mission to Mars in 2014, whose price tag of $74 million, compared to $670 million outlay of NASAs Mars mission a few months later, was hailed as an indication that its frugal space program has achieved technological prowess.
ISRO plans to send a second mission to study the surface of the Moon next year and is also eyeing a second mission to Mars and its first to Venus in the years to come.
Many see Indias foray into interplanetary missions as part of its ambitions to be seen as one of the worlds leading countries.
One of the factors is also Asian nationalism and the competition. There are also lot of things being planned to also show that India is an advanced technology power in this regard, said Rajagoplanan.
While India has developed the capability of putting smaller satellites in space, it still has some way to go before it can launch heavier ones, according to scientists.
Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, is urging the United States and Israel not to fall into a "trap" by escalating their disputes with the Iranian government into a military conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are due to hold their first official meeting at the White House on Wednesday. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday that the leaders of the two longtime allies will discuss how to respond to what they see as "threats posed by Iran and its proxies."
In an exclusive studio interview with VOA's Persian service, Pahlavi said he expects to see "more harmony and coordination" of U.S. strategy on Iran under the Trump administration, with Israel and other American partners in the Middle East and Europe.
Speaking in Washington last Thursday, Pahlavi said he anticipates Iran's Islamist rulers reacting to that increased coordination with "typical rhetoric and bravado" for domestic consumption. But, he said, Tehran would be "ill advised" not to take the issue of U.S.-Israeli cooperation seriously.
WATCH: Pahlavi Warns US, Israel Not to Fall into 'Trap'
Appeal for restraint
Pahlavi also had a warning for Trump and Netanyahu as they consider adopting a tougher approach toward Iran, in contrast to the sanctions relief Iran secured from Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. Other world powers joined in that 2015 deal to curtail Iranian nuclear activities that could produce a bomb in return for easing the sanctions.
"If there is anyone who would be the most pleased to see an escalation of conflict, it happens to be the [Iranian] regime, because they stand to benefit by creating more distraction from their problems and one should not fall into that trap," he said. "I have always been a proponent of [a strategy] that avoids military confrontation because I consider that to be lose-lose, and there are so many other options on the table."
Trump told reporters on February 2 "nothing is off the table" in terms of a U.S. response to Iran's January 29 ballistic missile test, which his administration criticized as undermining regional security and putting American lives at risk.
The U.S. and Israeli governments also have long refused to rule out military action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and following through on threats to destroy Israel. Tehran has long described its nuclear program as peaceful.
Pahlavi said the only strategy that he thinks can end Iran's dispute with the U.S. and Israel is to bring about the departure of the Iranian clerical leadership.
"Then, everything will start making sense [in terms] of whatever action you have to take, from sanctions to helping the [Iranian] people. In that scenario, we can see a true alternative shaping up," he said.
In a January 31 letter to Trump, Pahlavi said the U.S. should play a "pivotal role" in supporting what he called the Iranian people's "quest for liberty and justice." Pahlavi leads an Iranian opposition group called the Iran National Council for Free Elections.
A tougher approach
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton also spoke in favor of "regime change" in Iran at a Washington forum held by U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) on February 9.
"It should be declared American policy to overturn the regime in Tehran, because that is ultimately the only way you will get Iran to back off the pursuit of nuclear weapons," he told the forum.
Bolton said that policy requires more U.S. support for the Iranian opposition, rather than military action. Even so, he believes there may not be enough time to achieve regime change before Iran's Islamist rulers acquire nuclear weapons.
Critics of the 2015 nuclear deal say it will allow Iranian leaders to quickly build a nuclear bomb when restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities begin expiring after 13 years. That, said Bolton, "is why, if you don't want an Iran with nuclear weapons, you have to contemplate the use of military force to prevent that."
WATCH: Bolton Discusses Irans Nuclear Program
Responding to a question from VOA Persian at the UANI forum, Bolton said any U.S. attack on the Iranian nuclear program would resemble what he described as "very surgical and very limited" Israeli airstrikes against Iraqi and Syrian nuclear facilities in 1981 and 2007.
However, Iran poses a distinct challenge for the U.S. military because its nuclear program is more dispersed, according to Bolton.
"The danger is that we have let so much time go by that there are any number of [nuclear] facilities that we simply don't know about in Iran, so that we could destroy those we know about and we still wouldn't close the program down," Bolton said. "I'd nonetheless be prepared to take that risk than see the program proceed unimpeded, which is the course we are on now."
Risking unintended outcomes
Bolton's tough talk drew a sharp response from Iran analyst Barbara Slavin of the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
Speaking to VOA via Skype, she said any kind of military action against Iran would be a "disaster," given the U.S. military's recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The kinds of threats coming from people like Bolton [also] will have the reverse effect than we would want," Slavin said. "It would perhaps make certain elements in Iran more interested in acquiring nuclear weapons to deter an attack."
WATCH: Slavin Talks About Iranian Political Change
Slavin said the best way of achieving regime change in Iran is to encourage a "peaceful evolution" of its political system by reintegrating the country into the international community.
"If it means more contact between Americans and Iranians, that's fine," she said. "We should get to know each other better. We should reduce the hostile rhetoric. And then, I think, Iran will have a brighter future, and I think the U.S. will, too."
Iran's deputy minister for petroleum says the hawkish stance taken by U.S. President Donald Trump on the Iranian nuclear deal is a "passing hiccup" that should not affect foreign investment in the country's energy sector.
Amir Hossein Zamaninia made the remarks Wednesday at the CWC Iran LNG and Gas Partnerships Summit in Frankfurt, Germany.
Iran has among the largest proven natural gas reserves in the world, yet it supplies just 1 percent of the global market. Some sanctions on Iran were lifted a year ago in return for controls on the country's atomic program, under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Tehran is now looking for foreign investment to rebuild the sector.
"As far as the oil and gas industry and the credibility of JCPOA is concerned, this may be a passing issue and we can overcome the uncertainties created by this dynamic in Washington," Zamaninia told reporters. He said that $70 billion worth of contracts were available.
"Before the end of March 21st, a number of these tenders will be issued and conducted," he said.
Trump's election, however, has cast a shadow over Iran's plans. On the campaign trail, he pledged to dismantle the nuclear agreement negotiated by the Obama administration and force Tehran back to the negotiating table. On Wednesday, Trump repeated his criticism of the accord, calling it "the worst deal I have ever seen."
This month, French energy giant Total said it would hold off on finalizing its investments in Iran until the United States renewed its waiver on Iranian sanctions in April or May.
Moving ahead
Yet other European and Asian oil companies are leading the charge into Iran. British-Dutch oil giant Shell inked an initial deal with Tehran in December. The company's vice president in Iran, Hans Nijkamp, underlined that commitment Wednesday, telling the conference,"When Shell gets involved in a country, it wants to be there for the long term."
Such investments have been strongly endorsed by European governments. Britain's ambassador to Iran, Nicholas Hopton, described the Shell deal as an important step forward:
"We look forward to developing further cooperation in the oil and gas sector between Britain and Iran, which will be to the benefit of both countries," he told reporters in December.
Craig Pirrong, an energy markets analyst at the University of Houston, told VOA Persian that European countries see Iran as a potentially more reliable source of energy than Russia. They are anxiously looking for alternative sources of gas because theyve been historically dependent on Russia and theyre looking to get out of that, he said.
The 28-nation European Union relies on Moscow for more than a third of its gas needs, but Russian supplies have been disrupted in recent years by pricing disputes between Russia and Ukraine, through which the gas is delivered to Europe.
Tehran's Zamaninia said the recent visit to Washington by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, would hearten investors.
"She came out and said that she's been reassured that the United States government fully complies with JCPOA," he said.
Analysts say that in any case, it will be difficult for Trump to dismantle the Iran nuclear deal, since it was signed and adopted by the U.N. Security Council.
Nevertheless, in the new geopolitical environment, the challenge for Iran is to convince foreign companies that its oil and gas sectors are a safe investment.
U.S. energy companies may be among the hardest to convince.
As the terror group Islamic State loses more and more territory in Iraq and Syria, its propaganda has undergone a significant change, according to analysts. Many of the recent videos produced by the group have focused on the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul with a decreasing emphasis on calls for foreign fighters to join the group.
Charlie Winter of the London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization has been tracking Islamic State's propaganda for several years.
One of the latest videos put out by the terror group, he says, shows suicide bomb attacks on Iraqi forces in Mosul.
"There's been a big shift away from this idea of an Islamic utopia towards something around warfare," he said. "This video, and videos like it, are all geared towards showing that, yes, the Islamic State may be losing territory, but it's making the defense of that territory as expensive to the enemy as possible."
When the Islamic State group was at the height of its strength, many of the videos focused on the utopian dream of an Islamic caliphate showing peaceful landscapes and little fighting. They often called on Muslims to travel to the group's territory in Syria and Iraq.
"The group is still trying to communicate with foreign fighters, but in a qualitatively different way," Winter said. "It's no longer calling for people to make hijrah to migrate, that is to Iraq and Syria. It's saying, 'Stay in your home countries and attack from there.'"
Islamic State still promotes its utopian ideal. One recent video titled Building Blocks purportedly shows the terror group running public services in Raqqa, Syria, including a fire service, schools and hospitals. There is even a smiling policeman directing traffic.
But the tone of the video is different, says Winter.
"It's almost preemptively nostalgic, as if the group is recognizing that its territorial hold on places, even like Raqqa, which is one of its strongholds, is becoming more contested," he said. "When their morale is flagging, they can look to these videos and think, 'That's how it was back in the day when the Islamic State was territorially coherent.'"
Winter notes that Islamic State continues to produce ultra-violent material, but broadcasters now rarely choose to air the videos, a change that analysts say has further weakened Islamic State's media presence.
A Kenyan appeals court has ordered the release of doctors union officials jailed earlier this week for refusing to end their three-month strike. Kenyan legal experts and rights groups will now take the lead in a fresh round of negotiations between doctors and the government to end the strike.
The seven doctors' union officials spent two days behind bars, after being sentenced to one month in jail Monday.
A three-judge bench ordered their release Wednesday, after Kenya's council of governors and union lawyers agreed to continue talks.
Appellants one to eight in civil appeal number 9 of 2017 shall be released forthwith from prison pending the hearing of the appeal," said the bench. "Two of the applicants, respondents and interested parties undertake to resume negotiations forthwith with the view of resolving the outstanding issues in order to restore normalcy in the public sector.
The court ordered the Law Society of Kenya and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights that will be leading the talks to submit a report next week with the aim of calling off the month-long doctors' strike.
After the ruling, the cry of striking doctors in the streets rings out, "CBA." The Collective Bargaining Agreement was signed in 2013 between the union and government representatives.
The deal covers a range of issues, including improving working conditions for the doctors, improved health facilities and security for medical staff.
Several attempts to end the strike through dialogue have failed, with doctors refusing a 40 percent salary increase. In solidarity with their colleagues, doctors working in private hospitals have agreed not to serve patients for two days.
The court hopes the union will call off the strike within seven days.
Policy analyst Boaz Munga says it is not easy to solve the grievances in one week.
But seven days is surely enough for them to negotiate a return to work formula, which means they can go back to work after negotiating and then the other pending issues will be sorted out... but not ironing out all the issues contained in collective bargaining agreement, he said.
Munga also says as the country approaches an election, the doctors feel this may be the only chance for them to get what they want.
The many workers in our country have realized that perhaps the best time to try to arm-twist the government, which does not seem to listen to you at other times, is when we are approaching an election, he said.
A new round of talks is expected to begin Thursday.
Police in Malaysia said Thursday they have arrested a third person in connection with the apparent assassination of a half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Authorities said those arrested included a 25-year-old woman identified as Siti Aishah, who held an Indonesian passport and was positively identified from airport security camera footage. Police also detained a man who provided information that led to her arrest.
On Wednesday, police said they had detained another woman at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the Malaysian capital. A police statement identified her as Doan Thi Huong, with Vietnamese travel documents, and said she was also positively identified from security cameras.
South Korea on Wednesday confirmed the victim was the North Korean leaders older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, who was once in line to become head of state, but fell out of favor with their father, Kim Jong Il, after he tried to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001.
It seems assured that the person who was killed was Kim Jong Nam, said Jeong Joon-hee, the South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman.
Investigation
A Malaysian police report issued on Tuesday night confirmed a 46-year-old North Korean man, who was traveling with a passport under the name of Kim Chol, died en route to a hospital after seeking medical help in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. His travel destination on Tuesday was Macau, where he had been living, said the Malaysian police.
On Tuesday unnamed U.S. government sources said the United States strongly believes that Kim Jong Nam was murdered by North Korean agents.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Wednesday confirmed that Kim Jong Nam was poisoned by two suspected North Korean female agents and that he was poisoned with an unidentified toxic liquid, administered by needles or a cloth.
Malaysian police investigating the attack said the cause of Kims death was not yet known.
His body was taken Wednesday morning to a second hospital, where an autopsy was performed. The results of the post-mortem examination have not been released. North Korean embassy officials were also at the hospital and were coordinating with local authorities, police sources said.
Motives
There is widespread speculation that Kim Jong Nams death was ordered by high ranking officials in Pyongyang, and very likely by Kim Jong Un.
If it is proved that Kim Jong Nam's death was committed by the North Korean government, it will be a case that shows the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime, said South Korean acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.
Kim Jong Nam was reportedly considered a threat to his brothers rule because of his outspoken criticism of the continued repressive and authoritarian practices within the country, because he was a proponent of reform polices that would loosen state controls, and because there was speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping would prefer to see him replace his younger brother as the leader of North Korea.
South Koreas spy agency said Wednesday that Kim Jong Un had issued a "standing order" for his half-brother's assassination, and that there had been a failed attempt in 2012. Kim Jong Nam had been living under Beijing's protection with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau.
North Korean defector and analyst Ahn Chan-il, with the World Institute for North Korean Studies, said it is likely that North Korean spies, embedded within the large number of laborers that work in Malaysias mineral and mining industry, had learned of the older Kims travel plans and decided to target him while he was outside of Chinas protection.
[I think] North Korea may have put spies within these laborers. And while the two women are suspected to be members of [the Norths] reconnaissance bureau, it is highly possible that more than 10 people belonged to other bureaus that may be involved in this case, said Ahn Chan-il.
The South Korean government on Wednesday also urged all North Korean defectors to take extra precautions for their own safety and security.
Reign of Terror
If proven, the sanctioned assassination of Kim Jong Uns brother could further isolate a leadership in Pyongyang that is already struggling under harsh sanctions for its continued development of nuclear weapons and for widespread human rights violations.
South Korea's Institute for National Security in December 2016 claimed that Kim Jong Un has ordered the execution of 340 people since he came to power in December 2011. In 2013, he sentenced to death his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered his mentor and the country's second-most-powerful man, for what the North alleged was treason.
Carl Thayer, a defense analyst at the University of New South Wales, said Kim Jong Nams death was a further indicator of political anxieties in North Korea.
And even though his older brother was pushed outside and it was clear he was never going to come back to challenge him, it may be just another indication of Kim Jong Uns perceived anxieties, he said.
For the next several days, North Korea will be marking the birthday of its late leader Kim Jong Il, the brothers' father, though they have different mothers. The major holiday this Thursday is called the Day of the Shining Star'' and will feature figure skating and synchronized swimming exhibitions, fireworks and mass rallies.
Watching closely
Chinas Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it is closely watching developments in the case, noting that Malaysian authorities were still investigating Kim's death.
Chinese academics and state media were also slow to draw any conclusions about Kim's death before the completion of the investigation. They also played down the half-brother's reported links to the country.
Wang Dong, a political scientist at Peking University, said Kim's death was unlikely to change anything, noting that all of the challenges related to the Korean peninsula would not just go away.
What happened to Kim Yong Nam yesterday was just a piece of titbits or tabloid news. I don't think it will make a fundamental change or have a table-turning impact on the overall [political] situation [in Pyongyang], Wang said.
Online, however, the discussion was more wide-ranging. Kim Jong Un has increasingly become a target of ridicule on the Chinese internet in recent years as relations between the isolated countrys leader and Beijing have become increasingly frayed. Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to meet Kim Jong Un since he rose to power, nor has Kim visited China's capital, as his father did in the past.
"Everyone is really just guessing about who killed Kim Jong Nam and those who support North Korea are trying to whitewash what has happened, but neither side has any evidence," read one online comment on an article about who might have been responsible for Kim's death. "Still, North Korea does have a history of assassinating and hunting down so-called traitors overseas."
Another online post was more certain.
"I think that it was definitely the work of Kim Jong Un, ever since he came to power he has been killing all of his relatives. Why would he not go after the biggest apparent heir," the post said.
North Asia analyst, Justin Hastings, an associate professor at Australias Sydney University, said China had indicated to North Korea that Kim Jong Nam was not to be harmed while he remained on Chinese territory, including Macau. He said the half-brothers visit to Malaysia provided an opportunity to kill him.
Its not surprising he was killed. Kim Jong Un was going to come for him eventually. What of the timing? It may have simply been because this was when they were able to do it, Hastings told VOA.
Youmi Kim, Bill Ide, Joyce Huang, Ron Corben and the VOA Korean Service contributed to this report.
Warring Libyan factions tentatively agreed late on Tuesday on an Egypt-brokered 'road map' to heal divisions with the creation of a joint committee to negotiate reconciliation and elections by February 2018.
The deal comes after months of diplomatic efforts by Egypt, culminating this week with visits by Fayez Seraj, prime minister of the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, and Khalifa Haftar, a military commander supported by eastern factions.
The two men met separately with senior Egyptian military officials and had been set to sit together in a session late on Tuesday, then failed to meet due to last-minute differences.
However, three Egyptian sources involved in the talks told Reuters that Seraj and Haftar had agreed to honor the deal despite lingering tensions.
"The two sides have agreed. I have doubts about the implementation as the atmosphere between them is... tense but we hope the opposite happens," said one of the sources.
Concerned about the spread of Islamic State militants from its western neighbor, Egypt has made stabilizing Libya a priority and has hosted a flurry of meetings in recent months bringing together Libyan politicians from east and west.
The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord's (GNA) leadership, the Presidential Council, is made up of nine members who are meant to represent different geographical regions and political groupings within Libya.
But the U.N.-backed Council has been bitterly divided, with two of its number mostly boycotting proceedings, and different members regularly issuing contradictory statements.
Haftar is a figurehead for factions in eastern Libya but harbors national ambitions and once fought beside long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi. He has shunned the GNA but enjoys close ties with Egypt, which supports his tough approach to Islamic State and other militant groups.
Egypt has refrained from endorsing the GNA, with officials saying it is up to the Libyans to decide on their government.
Lack of trust
According to a statement released by the Egyptian Armed Forces overnight, Seraj, Haftar and Agila Saleh, speaker of the eastern parliament allied to the commander, agreed to establish a committee tasked with forming a power-sharing arrangement.
The joint committee will include at least 15 members of the Tripoli-based State Council, a consultative body aligned with the GNA, and at least 15 members of the eastern parliament.
The road map envisages that any power-sharing deal be reflected in an revised constitution followed by presidential and parliamentary elections no later than February 2018.
Under the plan, Seraj, Haftar and Saleh will keep their posts until the elections.
Egypt will broker the talks, but it was unclear how successful they could be given the depth of mistrust.
Tarek al-Jaroushi, a member of Libya's eastern parliament who was in Cairo, confirmed the deal, but his comments suggested confidence was low.
"Seraj must return to the legitimacy of [the eastern] parliament if he really is looking for a Government of National Accord that secures the rights of all Libyans," he told Reuters.
Libya began to descend into factional chaos after the 2011 uprising that, with NATO backing, ultimately toppled Gadhafi.
Since its arrival in Tripoli early last year, the GNA has struggled to assert its authority among rival armed factions reluctant to cede power. Haftar's forces have extended their control to the west and have threatened to march on Tripoli.
The GNA also faces challenges from a third self-declared government led by Khalifa Ghwell and supported by Misratan militias.
Those militias are among Libya's most powerful but are widely seen as sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Egypt.
With Egypt reluctant to engage with Islamists of any stripe, it was unclear whether success in reconciling Haftar and Saraj would be enough to bring peace to Libya.
A candidate for state superintendent offered an opponent a taxpayer-funded $150,000 job if he dropped out of the race and sought the same for himself if he were the one to drop out, his challenger alleged Wednesday.
Candidate John Humphries said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal that during discussions between him and opponent Lowell Holtz, Holtz proposed in writing that either he or Humphries should drop out in exchange for the guaranteed three-year job with the Department of Public Instruction should one of them defeat incumbent Tony Evers in the general election.
But Holtz said in an interview with the State Journal that the proposal including a driver, benefits and sweeping control over several urban school districts, including Madison was a rough draft of ideas assembled at the request of business leaders he declined to name of how the two conservative candidates could work together instead of running against each other. Both candidates said the proposal went nowhere.
Holtz said the proposal was intended for consideration after the primary, but Humphries said Holtz meant for it to be weighed before the race even began and contemplated scenarios under which one or the other candidate would drop out.
Each sought to make his case with dueling documents released Wednesday, although it was impossible to ascertain whether either had been altered.
Holtz and Humphries are competing in a Feb. 21 primary against Evers, and both are seeking support from conservative voters. The top two vote-getters advance to the general election in April.
In a Wednesday appearance on a conservative talk radio show on WISN-AM, where the candidates debated, Holtz called Humphries characterization of the discussion liberal BS.
Its true that we had breakfast together. Its true that a number of business people asked us to get together and discuss options for working together because they thought we would have a better chance, Holtz said on WISN. There was no specific proposal. There were ideas that were thrown around. They were ideas.
Holtz later told the State Journal that Humphries is not one to let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Unfortunately, we are on totally opposite ends of the political spectrum, he said. The differences between Mr. Humphries approach to education and mine were too stark to be reconciled, so the conversation ended there.
Holtz said on WISN the proposal contained suggestions from business people that were put in writing because the business people asked for them to be put in writing.
Its as simple as that, Holtz said on WISN. If you want to focus on the issues, focus on the issues. If you want to come up with a bunch of stuff thats a bunch of baloney and a bunch of liberal BS, go for it. Because thats exactly what it is.
Humphries said he later offered Holtz a spot on his campaign but did not discuss salary levels or other details. He also declined to name the business leaders.
I would not agree to his terms for me to drop out or to bring him into my team, said Humphries.
Documents
with alleged offer
Humphries told the State Journal that the terms of the proposal were to give either Humphries or Holtz a three-year contract for a position within DPI that would pay $150,000 annually and offer full benefits, including a driver. He provided the newspaper a PDF, or electronic image, of a document with a handwritten date of Dec. 22, 2016, listing the terms. The document, which Humphries said was prepared by Holtz, does not specifically state the proposal is a quid pro quo for one candidate leaving the race.
Under Lowell, the document also calls for Complete authority over Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Madison (Green Bay can be negotiated) and clarifies that the authority includes the ability to create rules for the listed districts, change boards when I deem it necessary, break apart districts, and that the positions budget would be proportional to the districts enrollment.
You identify me as the superintendent in charge of those four urban districts with the authority and autonomy that goes with the office of WI State Superintendent, the document says. We are going to shake up Milwaukee and it is going to make noise.
A somewhat similar list of conditions appears under John, although with some details left blank.
Holtz provided the State Journal with a Microsoft Word version of a document with similar language and formatting, but which contains additional text explicitly stating the proposals were for consideration after the primary election.
The Holtz document also adds that Humphries would oversee Central Office, including curriculum and assessments, if Holtz wins the Feb. 21 primary.
Holtz said Humphries did not provide the State Journal with the original document in question.
He obviously did not share the full story with you and edited pieces, said Holtz.
Humphries rejected that claim.
The document I jotted notes on and scanned is what Holtz gave to me at the breakfast in Milton, Humphries said. Perhaps he edited it afterwards, but this is not the version he handed me.
Its unclear if either document had been edited. The Humphries document does not contain a revision history. The electronic properties in the Holtz document show it was printed on Dec. 22 at 8:21 a.m. and was edited at 1:29 p.m. on Wednesday. The document does not contain any further revision history to indicate whether it had been edited between Dec. 22 and Wednesday.
No current laws
on matter
Reid Magney, spokesman for the state ethics and elections commissions, said the ethics commission does not comment on matters that could become the subject of complaints but said the commission does not believe there is anything under state election law that would cover the allegations.
Kevin Kennedy, former director of the Government Accountability Board the forerunner of the ethics and elections boards and an expert on election law and campaign ethics, also said there are no state laws that prohibit such a proposal.
Its not an unusual political (move), said Kennedy. Youre usually not dealing with something this blatant but theres not a specific prohibition. So, with a lot of things in politics, you use it in a campaign.
Tom McCarthy, spokesman for DPI, said the alleged proposal seeks powers that dont currently exist in state law.
This would be an unprecedented shift in who controls our local schools, said McCarthy.
A spokeswoman for the Evers campaign declined to comment.
The dramatic departure of President Donald Trump's hard-hitting national security adviser creates a vacuum of power and raises a key question about U.S. foreign policy: Will the pragmatists in the administration now gain clout?
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, both known as levelheaded technocrats, stand to fill some of the void. It would be a shift that would mollify anxious U.S. allies and even Republicans who worry Trump is veering too far from traditional U.S. positions. But the duo will be contending with Steve Bannon, Trump's influential senior adviser, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law.
Trump hasn't named a replacement for Michael Flynn. Trump asked the former Army lieutenant general to resign Monday night amid revelations he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia while President Barack Obama was still in office. Trump has tasked retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg with filling the role temporarily, but is also considering two other retired military leaders to permanently replace Flynn.
"It's dysfunctional as far as national security is concerned," Republican Sen. John McCain said. "Who is in charge? I don't know of anyone outside of the White House who knows."
U.S.-Russia relations
Critics of Trump's foreign policy plans are hoping the shakeup leads to a rethink of his desire to seek closer U.S.-Russian relations and a less hostile administration stance on Islam a tone Flynn helped to set through often inflammatory statements about the religion.
Many lawmakers from both parties were appalled to learn that Flynn, in the weeks before Trump's inauguration, discussed with Russia's ambassador sanctions that the Obama administration was enacting as punishment for Russia's alleged interference in the presidential election.
Flynn, who in 2015 was paid to appear at a gala for Russian state-controlled television network RT, was the face of Trump's potential Russia reboot, designed around working with Russia to fight the Islamic State group. In Moscow, Russian lawmakers bitterly mused that American paranoia had forced Flynn out, while analysts there surmised that the Kremlin's honeymoon with Trump was ending.
With Flynn out, it could fall to Tillerson to step into the role of chief envoy to Russia. Tillerson, who heads to Bonn, Germany, on Wednesday on his first official trip, is widely expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the trip. He has long experience with Russian leaders and was awarded a friendship honor by President Vladimir Putin when he was ExxonMobil CEO.
Much depends on who replaces Flynn. It's unclear if Trump will go with someone having a similar world view and willingness to upset the status quo.
In his brief three-week tenure, Flynn stepped up U.S. rhetoric toward Iran and helped spearhead Trump's controversial immigration order that sparked consternation and threats of retaliation in the Muslim world.
"I don't think it will slow the White House down too much," said Jim Carafano, a Heritage Foundation scholar who advised Trump's transition team on foreign policy. Carafano said Flynn's departure "takes away a trusted voice of the president," but that Trump would turn to other valued national security hands.
Filling the gap
That could also mean an expanded role for Bannon, the conservative media executive with outspoken views about Islam who has consolidated immense influence over Trump's foreign policy. Kushner, the husband of Trump's daughter, also could broaden his portfolio, which already has him as a prime Trump emissary to key regions like the Middle East and Latin America despite his dearth of diplomatic or government experience.
Tillerson, too, has elicited concerns about his ties to Putin. But he portrayed himself in a Senate confirmation hearing as well within mainstream U.S. thinking on Russia. And that view is prevailing on policy, at least for now, as the White House said Tuesday it is upholding the sanctions Obama imposed on Russia over Ukraine and the election meddling.
Tillerson, who has kept a low public profile since being sworn in, hasn't commented on Flynn's departure or on Trump's early handling of foreign policy.
But Mattis, speaking to reporters while traveling to a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, said Flynn's departure "has no effect at all" on him.
"It doesn't change my message," he said.
Like Tillerson, Mattis has emerged as part of the global reassurance team Cabinet members familiar to foreign leaders who are easing concerns that Trump will follow through on combative rhetoric about upending U.S. foreign policy. On his first official trip abroad, to South Korea and Japan, Mattis insisted the U.S. wouldn't abandon its treaty allies despite Trump's suggestions that Washington would no longer bear the burden of other nations' defenses.
"The key question is what is the connective tissue between the president and the actual policy," said Derek Chollett, who held various national security posts under Obama. "Every president reaches a point where they stop getting listened to. With Trump, it may happen sooner if there's a sense what he says isn't actually translated into policy."
The U.S. Justice Department says it has reached a plea agreement with the man who purchased two of the guns used in the 2015 attack in San Bernardino, California that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others.
Under terms of the deal, Enrique Marquez is due to plead guilty Thursday to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and making false statements in connection with acquiring a firearm.
He faces a statutory maximum of 25 years in federal prison, but his sentence is up to a judge to decide. The plea agreement includes a section saying the U.S. Attorneys Office will recommend a slight reduction from what is stipulated in sentencing guidelines.
The agreement details the relationship between Marquez and Syed Rizwan Farook, who, along with his wife Tashfeen Malik, attacked Farook's workplace. The husband and wife then fled the Inland Regional Center and hours later were killed in a shootout with police.
Marquez met Farook in 2005 when he moved into a house next door. As late as 2012, according to the Justice Department, the pair planned their own attacks that never materialized, one at a community college where they were each once enrolled and another on drivers on a highway.
The plan for the community college attack included throwing pipe bombs into a cafeteria, then escaping to attack another site on the campus.
The highway assault plan was to thrown bombs onto the road, then to shoot drivers who were forced to stop their cars.
Marquez told federal investigators that he broke off ties at the end of 2012 and had no knowledge of the 2015 attack in San Bernardino before it happened.
But in the year before Marquez said he stopped associating with Farook, he took money from Farook and used it to buy the two guns later tied to the San Bernardino killings. The plea agreement cites a violation of federal law based on the paperwork Marquez signed at the time of the purchase, certifying that he was not buying them on behalf of someone else.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday staunchly defended the national security adviser he ousted earlier this week, saying Michael Flynn was the victim of illegal leaks from the country's intelligence community detailing his conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington and had been treated very, very unfairly by the media.
Trump, speaking at a White House news conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made no mention of why he forced Flynn's resignation after just 24 days on the job, for what the White House described Tuesday as the president's eroding trust in the former Army general.
I think it's really a sad thing he was treated so badly," Trump said. "I think, in addition to that, from intelligence papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. It's criminal action, criminal act. And it's been going on for a long time, before me. But now it's really going on.
Watch: Analyst: Only Independent Commission Could Be Trouble for Trump
He suggested that officials leaking the documents about Flynn's calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state Trump defeated in the November election.
Trump turns to Twitter
Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials in the weeks before Trump's January 20 inauguration in telling them that he had not talked with Kislyak about sanctions imposed on Moscow by former President Barack Obama in retaliation for Russia's meddling in the presidential election to help Trump win, when U.S. intercepts of their conversations showed that he had.
Trump's defense of Flynn came hours after he launched similar broadsides about the White House drama in a string of comments on his Twitter account.
The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. Very un-American! Trump said.
The president, in office for less than a month, suggested news articles detailing links between him, his campaign aides and Flynn and Russian officials were aimed at undermining his victory over Clinton.
In one tweet, Trump said, This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign.
He said, The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. He said two U.S. cable news outlets, MSNBC and CNN, were unwatchable, while describing the Trump-friendly talk show Fox & Friends as "great."
At the same time, the president claimed that information is being illegally given to the failing New York Times and Washington Post by the intelligence community, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, just like Russia.
Russia dismisses report
The Post last week was the first newspaper to publish details about the phone conversations between Flynn and the Russian ambassador before Trump took office, while the Times in Wednesday's editions said Trump aides and associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.
The new president also attacked Obama, saying, Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?
Obama often rebuked Moscow for its unilateral 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and the United States, along with the European Union, imposed sanctions against Russia. But the West did not intervene militarily and Crimea remains under Russian control.
Russia dismissed the Times' report that members of Trump's campaign and other associates were in contact with senior Russian intelligence officials before the November U.S. election.
Accounts called 'absurd'
The Times cited four current and former U.S. officials as saying law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted calls and had phone records involving Trump's one-time campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and several other unnamed associates.
Manafort called the accounts absurd, the Times said.
He also denied a similar CNN report that Trump associates, including Manafort and Flynn, were regularly communicating with Russian nationals before the election.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report is not based on any facts, while Russian media quoted the country's foreign intelligence service saying reports about the contacts were unfounded.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that Russian envoys acted within normal practice for diplomats of all countries.
Flynn was ousted Monday after information became public about contacts he had with Kislyak ahead of Trump's assumption of power.
Evaluation preceded Flynn's resignation
The White House said Tuesday that Trump, based on intercepts of Flynn's calls with Kislyak, was advised nearly three weeks ago that Flynn had misled Pence.
White House spokesman Spicer said the president and his close advisers had been reviewing and evaluating that information on a daily basis for a few weeks before Trump forced Flynn's resignation.
Before Trump's inauguration, Pence told CBS News' Face the Nation that Flynn and Kislyak did not discuss the U.S. sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
Pence also said Flynn and Kislyak did not discuss anything having to do with the Obama administration's decision in late December to expel dozens of Russian diplomats. The Russians were sent home in response to allegations of Russian cyber-spying against Clinton's campaign chief during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Loss of trust
Responding Tuesday to reporters' questions about the 18-day gap between the January 26 Trump briefing and Flynn's departure on Monday, Spicer said, The president concluded he no longer had trust in his national security adviser.
Spicer also said the White House decided there was nothing wrong that Flynn had talked with the Russian diplomat, even though Flynn was a private citizen at the time.
Flynn acknowledged in his resignation letter that he had inadvertently briefed Pence and others with incomplete information regarding his phone calls with Kislyak.
Kellogg joins Trump staff
Key opposition Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, are calling for expanded investigations into links between Russia and key Trump aides.
Trump named another retired Army general, Keith Kellogg, as his acting national security adviser.
Also Wednesday, the Trump administration was said to have offered the job to Vice Admiral Robert Harward, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear if Harward, a former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command who has Navy SEAL combat experience, had accepted the offer, the sources told Reuters.
A White House spokesperson had no immediate comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump launched new attacks Wednesday against media reports of alleged links between him and Russia, blaming the country's intelligence community for what he said were "illegal" leaks to news outlets.
"The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy.Very un-American!" Trump said.
In a string of Twitter comments, Trump suggested news articles detailing links between him, his campaign aides and ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russian officials were aimed at undermining his victory in the November election.
Trump, in office for less than a month, said in one of his tweets, "This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign."
He said "the fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred."He said two U.S. cable news outlets, MSNBC and CNN, were "unwatchable", while describing the Trump-friendly talk show "Fox & Friends" as "great."
At the same time, the president claimed that "information is being illegally given to the failing" New York Times and Washington Post "by the intelligence community," the National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "just like Russia."
The Post last week was the first newspaper to publish details about phone conversations between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington before Trump took office, while the Times in Wednesday's editions said Trump aides and associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.
The new president also fired a broadside at his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, saying, "Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration.Was Obama too soft on Russia?"
Obama often rebuked Moscow for its unilateral 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and the United States, along with the European Union, imposed sanctions against Russia.But the West did not intervene militarily and Crimea remains under Russian control.
Russia dismissed the Times' report that members of Trump's campaign and other associates were in contact with senior Russian intelligence officials before the November U.S. election.
The Times cited four current and former U.S. officials saying law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted calls and had phone records involving Trump's one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort and several other unnamed associates.
Watch related report from VOA's Bill Gallo:
Manafort called the accounts "absurd," the Times said.
He also denied a similar CNN report that Trump associates, including Manafort and Flynn, were regularly communicating with Russian nationals before the election.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report "is not based on any facts," while Russian media quoted the country's foreign intelligence service saying reports about the contacts were unfounded.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that Russian envoys acted within normal practice for diplomats of all countries.
Flynn was ousted Monday after information became public about contacts he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak ahead of Trump's inauguration on January 20.
The White House said Tuesday that Trump, based on intercepts of Flynn's calls with Kislyak, was advised nearly three weeks ago that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations when Flynn claimed he had not discussed sanctions imposed by Obama against Moscow.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the president and his close advisers had been "reviewing and evaluating" that information on a "daily basis for a few weeks" before Trump forced Flynn's resignation.
Before Trump's inauguration, Pence told CBS News' Face the Nation that Flynn and Kislyak did not discuss the U.S. sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
Pence also said Flynn and Kislyak "did not discuss anything having to do" with the Obama administration's decision in late December to expel dozens of Russian diplomats.The Russians were sent home in response to allegations of Russian cyber-spying against Clinton's campaign chief during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Responding Tuesday to reporters' questions about the 18-day gap between the January 26 Trump briefing and Flynn's departure on Monday, Spicer said, "The president concluded he no longer had trust in his national security adviser."
Spicer also said the White House decided there was "nothing wrong" that Flynn had talked with the Russian diplomat, even though Flynn was a private citizen at the time.
WATCH: Spicer says Trump's trust with Flynn "had eroded"
Misled vice president
Flynn acknowledged in his resignation letter that he had "inadvertently briefed" Pence and others with "incomplete information" regarding his phone calls with Kislyak in the weeks before Trump assumed power.
Key opposition Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, are calling for expanded investigations into links between Russia and key Trump aides.
Sen. Hoyer: Russia Cant Meddle in Our Democracy Without Repercussions
Trump named another retired Army general, Keith Kellogg, as his acting national security adviser.
Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny did not fall into despair after a court in Kirov on February 8 upheld his guilty verdict in the Kirovles embezzlement case.
The court's ruling, which almost to the letter reiterated the verdict reached in a 2013 trial, has created a formal barrier to Navalny registering as a candidate in Russia's presidential election, to be held in March 2018, given that Russian law bars those convicted of grave crimes from running for office.
Navalny was found guilty of embezzlement and received a five-year suspended jail sentence in the Kirovles case, which he and his supporters says was a politically motivated prosecution. Despite the verdict, he believes his constitutional right to participate in elections remains in effect, and is confident that public support will help make it possible for him to run in next year's presidential vote.
The opposition leader is trying to organize a wide support network, and he says he is already starting to open campaign offices for the March 2018 election.
In an interview with VOA's Russian service, Navalny discussed various issues, including where he will open campaign offices in the near future, whether he feels personally safe, and how he feels about being compared to U.S. President Donald Trump.
What plans do you have to open campaign offices?
We have already opened a campaign office in St. Petersburg. Next week, we will open campaign offices in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk meaning, first of all, in cities. Our goal is to open campaign offices in Russia's 77 largest cities.
Has there been any kind of reaction to these plans from the Russian regional authorities in the cities you are talking about?
Well, so far we haven't seen any big reaction. Understandably, one cannot speak of any support, but thus far we have not seen any significant resistance. I think it's simply that no serious signal has yet reached the regions. In St. Petersburg, we saw that (the ruling) United Russia (party) demanded that our campaign office be closed. I think the opening of the first five campaign offices will tell us more about what the Kremlin has planned for us.
Politicians say that you are being "proactive," relying on a social movement which, one way or another, will put pressure on the Russian government to recognize you as a legitimate contender. Is that the case?
I would say more broadly that there are simply people who need a new candidate. I appeal to the people, and the people, in fact, understand that this is all legal tricks. They see that there is a person, and that he has the right to participate in elections. Therefore, I appeal to the people in order to exert the necessary pressure on the Kremlin to force it to register me. There is no other way to do it.
What form do you see this pressure taking?
Any setting up campaign offices, propaganda work, shaping public opinion on the streets and on the internet all available methods.
And will a class-action suit be filed? Because you say it is about the conflict between the constitutional right to participate in elections and restrictions in the law.
We do not exclude that. It is more time-consuming work. And, given the situation with our courts, it is clear what the result will be. However, we will move in different directions simply because people want to do different things. There are some who like to sue. We will be suing together with them, too.
Do you feel that anything changed in terms of your and your families' personal security since the first verdict in the Kirovles case in 2013?
Well, if you compare Russia in 2013 and in 2017, it is simply a different country. It is absolutely a different country! Since that time, Boris Nemtsov was murdered. Attacks on people happen practically daily. Chechnya has become a fascist state, where people are tortured and killed. It is therefore impossible to compare the dynamics; it is two different countries. Of course, it's much worse now. But that does not, in general, change our approach to what needs to be fought for.
Have the threats to you personally increased?
Various objects are thrown at me more often; people lie in wait for me near the office, but not so often that it is highly noticeable. No, there aren't such (threats) specifically against me. But we see them against people connected to me.
During Donald Trump's presidential election campaign, Russian media compared you to him, finding some similarities. How do you feel about this comparison?
I don't know where that came from. Journalists constantly need to compare me to someone. Fortunately, they stopped comparing me with Julian Assange, but began comparing me with Trump. If you just look at our political agendas and political views, there are quite a few differences. But in today's political society, probably, this is somehow ignored. For example, Trump and Putin very much love each other, although their political views are simply 100 percent diametrically opposed.
In Europe, there is now fear of the impact of Russian propaganda on elections. This propaganda is associated with the growth of populist sentiment, with candidates tossing out slogans like "Tomorrow, I will give you everything!" to the crowds, and people beginning to follow them. Do you see the danger of populism? Do you think that there is a clear line that separates you from populism?
I don't see the danger of populism. I think it's exaggerated. What is populism? Someone says things that are popular. In fact, these things are not always particularly extremist. I'm an adherent of the view that politics develop like a swinging pendulum. We have seen a long liberal trend; it has been the last two decades in world politics. Now, obviously, there is a correction of this trend, or even a trend in the opposite direction. I don't think that will last long. Overall, it seems to me that over long stretches of time we will, as before, continue to see a liberal trend in European politics.
The leadership of Serbia's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) decided on Tuesday to nominate Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as a candidate for the presidency.
The presidential election is tentatively expected in April and will pit the SNS's candidate against those from a fragmented and bickering opposition.
While the president's role is largely ceremonial, if he also controls the parliamentary majority he could then have huge sway over the government and a new prime minister.
In a live interview with state RTS TV, Vucic said he would accept the nomination to secure stability and continuity for the country, which wants to join the European Union.
"This is the most important [thing] and there's no sacrifice or risk I could not take because of that," he said.
The ruling coalition, which has a comfortable majority in the 250-seat parliament, can also appoint a prime minister without a popular vote.
"The president who controls the parliamentary majority, hence the government, is de facto the strongest political figure in the country. If Vucic preserves control over his party, his political power will be unlimited," said Nebojsa Spaic, a Belgrade-based media consultant.
Vucic said he has no plans to resign from his current post until the election date is announced and refused to say who could be his successor as the head of the government.
Earlier, Ivica Dacic, the head of the jointly ruling Socialist Party of Serbia welcomed Vucic's nomination as "the only rational and logical decision."
"His victory as a joint candidate guarantees the political stability of Serbia in the future," said Dacic, who himself served as the prime minister from 2012 to 2014.
The vote will be a key test of the popularity of Vucic and his economic reforms, which have been backed by the International Monetary Fund, as well as his bid to bring the country of 7.3 million closer to the European Union.
According to polls, Vucic would win the election in the first round with more than 50 percent of votes.
The party decided not to support the candidacy of incumbent President Tomislav Nikolic, a former ultranationalist and the former head of the SNS who started his five-year mandate in 2012.
Vucic's nomination will have to be formally approved by SNS's local party leaders and prominent members at a main board session scheduled for Friday.
The departure of Nikolic, who favors closer ties between Belgrade and Serbia's powerful ally Russia, could mean quicker moves towards EU accession and a further improvement of its ties with NATO, despite its military neutrality.
It was not immediately clear whether Vucic will decide to seek a parliamentary vote alongside the presidential election, though such a move is not mandatory.
In a statement, the SNS said Vucic, who is also the party president, now must start talks with his coalition partners to "try to secure wide popular support for the victory."
Zoran Stojiljkovic, a lecturer with Belgrade's Faculty of Political Sciences said that Vucic's nomination was "a rational move aimed at accumulating power in all levels" and securing a victory in the first round.
"What remains to be seen is who will be the prime minister, most likely Vucic will pick someone with a degree of authority, [good] ratings and with unquestionable loyalty," Stojiljkovic said.
The Trump administration has offered the job of White House national security adviser, vacated by former U.S. intelligence official Michael Flynn, to Vice Admiral Robert Harward, said two U.S. officials familiar with the matter on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if Harward, a former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command who has Navy SEAL combat experience, had accepted the offer, according to sources.
A White House spokesperson had no immediate comment.
Flynn resigned on Monday after revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before President Donald Trump took office.
Losing his national security adviser so soon after taking office is an embarrassment for the new Republican president, who has made national security a top priority.
Harward, a Rhode Island native who went to school in Tehran before the Shah was toppled in 1979, did a tour on the National Security Council under former Republican President George W. Bush, working on counterterrorism. He also has combat experience on SEAL teams and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Harward now works as an executive for defense contractor Lockheed Martin, with responsibility for its business in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East.
A round of Syria peace talks scheduled to begin Wednesday in Kazakhstan has been delayed until Thursday.
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry did not offer an explanation for the change.
The focus of the talks in Astana is a partial cease-fire that went into effect at the end of December. At a previous meeting in Astana in January, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to serve as the monitors for the cease-fire.
The Astana process has notably left out the United States, which in earlier years of the Syrian conflict often partnered with Russia in efforts to push the Syrian government and rebels toward negotiations for peace.
The United Nations plans to being its next round of negotiations next week aimed at finding an actual end to the nearly six years of fighting in Syria.
Previous efforts, which have involved indirect negotiations brokered by the U.N.'s envoy for Syria, resulted in little progress to resolve a war that began as peaceful protests against Assad before spiraling into a multi-party conflict.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died since March 2011, and according to the United Nations nearly 5 million people have fled the country while another 6 million are displaced within Syria.
Two separate bomb explosions in northwestern Pakistan killed at least six people and wounded many more Wednesday.
Officials say the deadliest incident happened in the Mohmand tribal district near the Afghan border, where a suicide bomber blew himself up after security forces spotted and tried to stop him.
The blast killed three Pakistani security personnel and two civilians.
A second bomber accompanying the attacker was gunned down while he tried to detonate explosives strapped to his body.
A military statement asserted the two bombers had come from Afghanistan and planned to attack an area hosting offices, training facilities and residential buildings for employees of the local administration in the central town of Ghalanai.
A splinter faction of the anti-state Pakistani Taliban called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, or JuA, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Peshawar attack
Hours later, a suicide bomber riding a motorbike attacked an official van transporting members of the provincial judiciary in the city of Peshawar. Officials said the blast killed the driver and wounded four judges, including three women.
Mohammad Khorasani, a spokesman for the main Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. He said that members of the judiciary were targeted for trying and sentencing Taliban fighters.
The blasts followed Mondays suicide bombing in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in which at least 13 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded.
Seven policemen, including two high-ranking police officers were among the dead.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar took credit for that attack.
Pakistani officials allege that Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is plotting terrorist attacks in the country from its sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
'Grave concern'
On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry summoned the deputy head of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad to convey Pakistans grave concern about the continuing terrorist attacks by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. It demanded the Kabul government take urgent measures to eliminate the groups sanctuaries, financiers and handlers operating from its territory using actionable intelligence Pakistan has already shared with Afghanistan.
Afghanistans ambassador to Pakistan, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, condemned the violence and rejected allegations the Afghan intelligence agency is supporting it.
Speaking in Islamabad late Wednesday, the Afghan diplomat said his country faces such terrorist attacks on a daily basis.
Zakhilwal praised successes that Pakistans counter-militancy operations have achieved in areas near the Afghan border, but emphasized the need for joint efforts to fight terrorism on both sides.
Not all [insurgents] were eliminated [by Pakistani operations]. Certainly some of them have moved into territory that are not under our control in Afghanistan. So, if indeed, these elements on Afghan soil plan certain things against Pakistan, that is not necessarily of course equated to attacks being supported in any way or shape by responsible institutions and people in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, a roadside bomb in South Waziristan, another tribal district near the Afghan border, killed at least three Pakistani security forces.
Khorasani claimed his group planted the bomb.
The spike in militant violence in Pakistan comes after a months-long lull, with officials citing an ongoing counterterrorism military offensive in border areas for the decline in violence.
A day after U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu projected a message of unity at a White House meeting, a Senate committee is holding a confirmation hearing for Trumps pick to be the United States ambassador to Israel.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled Thursday to question lawyer David Friedman, who is a strong supporter of Israeli settlements and an advocate for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
A group of five former ambassadors who held the position under Republican and Democratic presidents sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying Friedman has extreme, radical positions.
They wrote that Friedman has said he does not believe it would be illegal for Israel to annex the West Bank, and called a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict an illusory solution in search of a nonexistent problem.
The Trump administration has said that with Friedman as its ambassador, U.S.-Israeli relations would be a model of cooperation and respect.
Trump suggested Wednesday he was open to alternatives to a two-state solution. That potentially upends decades of U.S. diplomatic efforts aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"Im looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like," Trump said during a news conference with Netanyahu. I can live with either one. I thought for a while the two-state looked like it might be the easier of the two, but honestly, if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, Im happy with the one they like the best."
WATCH: Trump on Israeli settlements
During the news conference, Trump also asked Netanyahu to hold back for a little bit on expanding settlements in Palestinian territory, while the White House works on efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.
I think were going to make a deal, Trump said. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room understand.
For his part, Netanyahu also refused to commit to a two-state solution. He said he planned to discuss settlements with Trump later, so that the U.S. and Israel dont keep bumping into each other.
I believe that the issue of the settlements is not the core of the conflict, nor does it really drive the conflict, Netanyahu said. I think it's an issue that has to be resolved in the context of peace negotiations.
Trump firm on Iran
The meeting, the two leaders first since taking office, follows a period of rocky U.S.-Israel relations during the past eight years. Former President Barack Obama and Netanyahu clashed frequently clashed over issues including Israeli settlements and the Iran nuclear deal.
Trump and Netanyahu highlighted areas of cooperation, including on opposing radical Islamic terrorism and ensuring that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons.
WATCH: Netanyahu's message to Palestinians
My administration has already imposed new sanctions on Iran. And I will do more to prevent Iran from ever developing -- and I mean ever -- a nuclear weapon, Trump said.
Netanyahu praised what he said was Trumps great clarity and courage in confronting the challenge from Iran.
Eytan Gilboa, a public diplomacy professor at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, told VOA's Persian service he believes Netanyahu no longer seeks to push the United States to reject the Iran nuclear deal something he lobbied the U.S. Congress to do last year, without success.
Netanyahu and Trump already agree that the deal was a bad one and that its not going to accomplish its intended goal, Gilboa said. Now, there are other issues on the table that concern both leaders, namely Irans experiments with long-range missile capabilities as well as Iranian sponsorship of terrorist groups in the region.
Close relationship
Trump and Netanyahu's close relationship strengthened during the U.S. presidential election campaign, when they bonded over similar hard-line stances -- not only on Iran but also on immigration and terrorism.
In his campaign speeches Trump slammed Obama for making his feuds with Netanyahu public, and vowed there would be no daylight -- no difference in basic policy -- between the U.S. and Israel during his administration. Since taking office last month, however, possible areas of disagreement have emerged.
Earlier this month, the White House cautioned Israel against building more settlements, saying they were not helpful to peace efforts. Trump also has not followed through on a campaign promise to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following warnings from Arab leaders that the move could provoke violence.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would still like to see the embassy moved.
Were looking at that very strongly and looking at it with great care, great care, believe me, he said.
Two states?
But Trumps comments on the one-state solution will likely draw the most attention. Observers were mixed on just what the comments meant.
I think its a mischaracterization to see this as a dramatic break with past U.S. policies, said Yousef Munayyer, director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
Munayyer is open to the creation of a single, democratic state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians. But he questions whether that is what Trump was actually referring to.
Instead, he thinks Trump may have been signaling support for the status quo, in which Israel continues to occupy the West Bank, as it has since 1967.
What were hearing from Trump today is that hes open to that, and that he doesnt expressly reject the status quo, Munayyer told VOA.
Jonathan Adelman, who teaches at the University of Denver, also does not think Trump was referring to a single, democratic state -- an idea he says is unrealistic.
The one-state solution wont work because what would happen is that the Arabs would eventually have the majority in the one state. The Israelis are not going to agree to that. They didnt fight for Israel for the last 74 years to have an Arab state, Adelman said.
Two-state solution
Even before Trump and Netanyahu met, a senior White House official signaled the U.S. was backing away from its long-standing commitment to a two-state solution. Peace is the goal, whether it comes in the form of a two-state solution -- if thats what the parties want -- or something else," the official said.
Palestinian officials reacted negatively Wednesday to suggestions that the U.S. would abandon the effort to reach a two-state solution.
The only alternative to two sovereign and democratic states on the 1967 border is one single, secular and democratic state with equal rights for everyone, Christians, Muslims and Jews, on all of historic Palestine," said Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Speaking in Cairo, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also reiterated support for the two-state solution.
There is no Plan B to the situation between Palestinians and Israelis but a two-state solution, and everything must be done to preserve that possibility, he said.
Trump's son-in-law holds key role
Whatever the eventual outcome, Trump has designated his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to head up Middle East peace efforts. Reports have suggested the White House will attempt to advance the talks by involving Arab states, specifically those that have increasingly warmed to Israeli leaders in recent years.
During his news conference, Trump confirmed that he would pursue a so-called outside-in strategy to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Its actually a much bigger deal much more important deal in a sense, Trump said. It would take in many, many countries and would cover a very large territory.
Its unclear how the administration intends to advance that deal, or which Arab states if any would agree to make peace with Israel or pressure the Palestinian leadership to do so.
William Quandt, a former member of the U.S. National Security Council who was involved in negotiations that led to the Camp David Accords and the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, doubts whether Arab states would put enough pressure on the Palestinians to come to an agreement.
Theyre not going to do it. They have other priorities. Theyre relatively weak regimes in terms of fundamental legitimacy, he told VOA.
Political pressure unlikely
Quandt also is skeptical that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would respond to political pressure.
I mean, Abu Mazen [Abbas] is in the 14th year of his four-year term, Quandt said, referring to Abbas. Whats he going to do if people pressure him? Hes going to say: We dont accept. Thats his legitimacy: to say no.
The University of Denver's Adelman thinks there is room for an outside-in approach. He noted that Arab leaders across the region are more open to the idea of using improved ties with Israel as a counter-balance against their rival, Iran.
You take Saudi Arabia. Theyve always hated, hated, hated Israel. The last couple years theres been a number of articles about senior people in Saudi Arabia talking positively about Israel. Why would they do that?
The bottom line is, he says, Theres a deal out there.
President Donald Trump meets Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when they are expected to discuss the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and the fate of the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Trump will rely heavily on the counsel of a team of advisors, both official and non-official.
Here's a look at the key players who will help craft the new administrations Middle East policy:
Jared Kushner Trumps son-in-law and senior advisor, at 36, the real estate developer likely will attend and play a critical role in the Trump-Netanyahu discussions. Vanity Fair magazine quotes Trump as telling Kushner, "If you can't produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can." Kushner has met with a number of Arab leaders ahead of the meeting with the Israeli prime minister and is reported to be helping recruit Sunni Muslim countries to help achieve that deal.
He has no experience in government or international affairs, but as an Orthodox Jew and grandson of a Holocaust survivor, he has close personal ties to Israel. Kushner is said to have helped write Trumps March 2016 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in which he criticized the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, promising to restructure, if not dismantle it entirely. Kushner has not spoken out on the issue of Israeli settlements, but the Washington Post reports his family foundation has donated more than $58,000 to support projects in settlements the United Nations regards as illegal.
Steve Bannon The former executive chairman of the right-wing news site Breitbart, was tapped in August 2016 to head Trumps election campaign, He now serves as the presidents chief strategist and senior counsel, and has been appointed to sit on the National Security Council. He has been criticized by some Jewish and pro-Israel groups as being anti-Semitic, and praised by others as a strong supporter of Israel, highlighting growing political differences between American Jewish groups today. Bannon has spoken harshly against Islam and predicted war in the Middle East: To be brutally frank, Christianity is dying in Europe, and Islams on the rise, he said during a Breitbart News radio in January 2016, and not surprisingly, he strongly supported Trumps ban on immigration from predominantly Muslim countries. Under his tenure, Breitbart News criticized the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as a threat to Israel.
David Friedman Trumps pick for U.S. envoy to Israel, is a New York bankruptcy lawyer who has worked with Trump for at least 15 years. Friedman, who maintains a residence in Jerusalem, has been a regular contributor to Arutz Sheva, a conservative Israeli news site, speaking out in favor of Israels settlement police. Friedman chairs a U.S. nonprofit called American Friends of Beit El Institutions, which has funded a five-story apartment building recently approved for building in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. One of the founders of the settlement disclosed that in 2003, Trump donated $10,000 to Beit El in honor of Friedman.
Friedman made headlines in December when saying he looked forward to working from the U.S. embassy in Israels eternal capital, Jerusalem." Since 1948, the U.S. has maintained its embassy in Tel Aviv, believing the future of Jerusalem should be a matter for final status deliberations between Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom claim the capital as their own. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will begin Friedmans confirmation hearings on Thursday of this week.
Sheldon Adelson The American casino magnate, philanthropist and Republican party mega-donor who, along with his wife Miriam, donated more than $21 million to the Trump campaign and $1.5 million to help fund the Republican National Convention. Sheldon and his wife were given prime seats on the inaugural during Trumps swearing-in ceremony January 20.
He has made headlines twice in recent months: First, for giving $25 million to an anti-Clinton PAC just a week before the November election; and second, last Thursday, when it was revealed he dined with Trump at the White House where, the news site Axios reported, Adelson would raise the issue of the two-state solution, which Adelson opposes, and the move of the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, which Adelson supports.
Journalist Laura Goldman reported on Twitter that Adelson would likely chide Trump for failing to mention Jews in his January 27 statement marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Adelson also is a long-time friend and political supporter of the Israeli prime minister and owns the pro-Netanyahu newspaper, Israel Hayoum. Last week, that paper published Trumps first-ever interview with Israeli press in which he appeared to back down on the issues of Israeli settlements and moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
Stephen Miller Until recently, few had heard of Trumps senior policy advisor, who was formerly an aide to conservative Alabama senator now-confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions. This past weekend, Miller spoke for the president on several TV news shows, aggressively defending the presidents embattled immigration ban, which he reportedly helped craft. He helped write Trumps Republican National Convention speech, in which Trump said, We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror. This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the state of Israel.
In July, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump caused shudders across Europe when he suggested the United States might not defend NATO allies against Russia if they did not spend their share on defense.
On Wednesday, it appeared now-President Donald Trump could make good on that pledge when Defense Secretary James Mattis warned NATO allies Washington will moderate its commitment to the alliance if allies do not commit a minimum of two percent of their GDP to their defense budgets.
America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to the alliance, each of your capitals needs to show its support for our common defense, Mattis told allies during a closed-door meeting at NATO headquarters on Wednesday.
Mattis did not say how Washington might alter its commitments to the 28-member alliance.
Among the five NATO members that meet the commitment are Greece, which pays nearly 2.5 percent, and Poland, Estonia and Britain pay just above the expected two percent. On the other end of the spectrum, Germany falls well below at 1.19 percent and most, including Canada, Italy, and Spain, also fall below the mark. France pays just below two percent.
The United States pays more than 3.6 percent.
"I owe it to you all to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States and to state the fair demand from my countrys people in concrete terms, the U.S. Defense Secretary said to NATO ministers Wednesday.
The United States has long pressed NATO allies to boost their contributions, with calls going back to the Obama administration and beyond.
Then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned in his 2011 farewell speech, "The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the United States 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 or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.
Gates served in both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations.
Trump put politeness aside, with his campaign warnings going as far as including statements in which he called the alliance obsolete.
Once in office, Trump has somewhat tempered his remarks.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters last month after meeting Trump, she and the new U.S. leader had reaffirmed their commitment to the alliance. Mr. President, I think you said, confirmed, that you are 100 percent behind NATO, May said at a White House news conference.Trump did not correct her.
But Wednesdays warning in Brussels was a sign Trump is not letting up on pressure to have nations ease the burden on the United States, which has been paying up to 75 percent of NATOs military costs.
Barack and Michelle Obama, the former U.S. president and first lady, on Tuesday tweeted Valentine's Day greetings to each other. A C-Span reporter tweeted a picture of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at an upscale grocery store buying a Valentine's Day bouquet for his wife, Karen.
Later, Pence tweeted at the reporter: "Don't ruin the surprise. Ready to share our 34th Valentine's Day with my valentine, Karen."
In Pakistan on Monday, the Islamabad High Court placed a ban on the celebration of Valentine's Day because a citizen petitioned for it, saying the February 14 holiday promotes "immorality, nudity and indecency." Public displays of affection are forbidden in Pakistan because they are seen as un-Islamic.
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia also banned celebration of the holiday that honors love of all kinds, but especially romantic love.
Even in places where people are free to celebrate, the holiday has its critics most notably, single people who say the day just serves to highlight their unpartnered status.
Violent origins
But the torture of lonely hearts is a newer development in the holiday's violent past. According to legend, the day's namesake St. Valentine, a Roman priest, was beaten, stoned and beheaded for conducting Christian marriage ceremonies sometime in the third century. However, Catholic histories contain numerous martyrs named Valentine, leaving open the question of which Valentine is responsible for the modern-day celebration.
Pope Gelasius in 496 established February 14 as St. Valentine's feast day. Because of the legend about Christian marriages, over time the day has taken on romantic connotations.
It is even mentioned in the writings of 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who is one of the earliest writers known to have referenced the day. He spoke of it in several poems as the day when birds traditionally choose their mates.
But the timing of the day coincides with a less innocent celebration: that of Lupercalia, the Roman feast of fertility. Lupercalia was celebrated with naked men or near-naked men running through the city streets, striking women's hands with leather thongs to allegedly improve fertility.
By the 19th century, Valentine's Day had become the day to declare one's love with elaborate, handmade cards and handwritten sentiments. By the beginning of the 20th century, mass-produced Valentine cards had become big business.
Big business
The U.S.-based Hallmark Cards company, which dominates the greeting card industry, produced its first Valentine card in 1913.
The National Retail Federation says American consumers spent $4.3 billion on jewelry, $2 billion on flowers and $1 billion on cards for Valentine's Day this year. Valentine's Day is also a big commercial holiday in Japan, where women give men chocolates and men reciprocate with gifts of even higher value a month later, on March 14. South Koreans have a similar practice.
In Ireland, those seeking love might go to Dublin's Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, which houses some relics believed to have come from St. Valentine.
Popular variations
In Finland, the day is known as "Friends' Day," and is centered more on platonic friendships than romantic ones.
And, of course, there is a counterculture for singles feeling left out on the big day. Girlfriends wish each other a "happy Galentines' Day" ("gal" being a euphemism for "girl"), blogs publish anti-Valentine's song playlists and lists of comforting movies to watch, and bars host anti-Valentine's parties.
And, in maybe the biggest Valentine's backlash of all, students at Nanjing University in China concocted "Singles' Day" in the 1990s. Celebrated November 11, the day has grown into Asia's largest single shopping day of the year, with sales of $17.8 billion.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians might not include an independent Palestinian state.
Speaking at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he'd favor whatever agreement the two sides arrived at to through direct negotiations.
"Im looking at two states and one state, Trump said. "I'm happy with the one they like the best."
Trump also urged Israel to "hold back" on building new Israeli settlements, and said Palestinians must stop teaching their youth to hate Israel.
WATCH: Trump to Netanyahu: 'Hold Back on Settlements for A Little Bit'
A senior White House official signaled the shift in U.S. policy regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict while speaking to reporters Tuesday, saying peace between Israel and the Palestinians does not have to be through a two-state solution, and that it is up to the two parties to decide.
The official said the United States will not "dictate what the terms of peace will be."
"A two-state solution that doesn't bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve," the official said. "Peace is the goal, whether it comes in the form of a two-state solution if that's what the parties want or something else if that's what the parties want. We're going to help them."
WATCH: Would Trump-Netanyahu Meeting Move Forward an Israeli-Palestinian Two-State Solution?
The official U.S. position has long been that Israel and the Palestinians should negotiate an agreement to divide into separate states, which would likely leave the Palestinians in control of Gaza, all or part of the West Bank and their envisioned capital in East Jerusalem. The United Nations also backs the two-state path.
Palestinian position
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat rejected any suggestion the two-state solution be abandoned, saying that replacing it means maintaining the status quo of "apartheid."
"The real alternative to a state of Palestine living side by side the state of Israel in peace and security on the 1967 lines is one democratic, secular state where Jews, Muslims and Christians can live equal with equal voice," Erekat said.
The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down nearly three years ago with no agreements.
The senior White House official said U.S. President Donald Trump is "hopeful to bring the two sides together to discuss peace," but the process will not be a high priority for the new administration.
The official also said Netanyahu's visit will "usher in a new relationship between Israel and the United States."
Former Secretary of State John Kerry made the peace process one of his key efforts when he served during the second term of President Barack Obama's administration, but overall U.S.-Israeli ties were strained.
Talks to include Iran
Wednesday's talks are expected to include a focus on Iran, which in 2015 struck an agreement with a group of six world powers to limit its nuclear program to prevent the production of nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief. That deal is unpopular with both Netanyahu and Trump, who each have said is too favorable to Iran.
The White House official also said Trump's support for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is up for discussion, as is Israel's settlement construction on land the Palestinians see as part of the future state. The settlements have been condemned internationally.
The White House says President Donald Trump was advised nearly three weeks ago that national security adviser Michael Flynn had misled his vice president about controversial pre-inauguration contacts with a top Russian diplomat.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer, speaking Tuesday, said the president and his close advisers had been "reviewing and evaluating" that information on a "daily basis for a few weeks" before Flynn was forced to resign late Monday.
Spicer also told reporters that Trump was "immediately" informed on January 26 of the pre-inauguration contact between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Ahead of Trump's January 20 inauguration, now-Vice President Mike Pence told CBS News' Face the Nation that Flynn and Kislyak did not discuss current U.S. sanctions against Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis.
Pence also said Flynn and Kislyak "did not discuss anything having to do" with the decision in late December by the administration of former President Barack Obama to expel dozens of Russian diplomats. The Russians were sent home in response to allegations of Russian cyberspying against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Responding Tuesday to reporters' questions about the 18-day gap between the January 26 Trump briefing and Flynn's departure on Monday, Spicer said, "The president concluded he no longer had trust in his national security adviser."
Spicer also said Trump was pleased that Flynn had talked with the Russian diplomat, and said the president concluded there was nothing legally wrong with their discussions, even though Flynn was a private citizen at the time.
Misled vice president
Flynn acknowledged in his resignation letter that he had "inadvertently briefed" Pence and others with "incomplete information" regarding his phone calls with Kislyak in the weeks before Trump assumed power.
WATCH: House Speaker Ryan on Flynn's resignation
Even as the White House drama played out, Trump attempted to downplay its significance on Tuesday. He wrote on his Twitter account, "The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N. Korea etc?"
Key opposition Democratic lawmakers called for expanded investigations into links between Russia and Flynn and other key Trump aides, extending beyond the conclusion reached by the U.S. intelligence community last year that Russia interfered in the U.S. election.
"This. Is. Not. Normal," said Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, a vocal Trump critic.
After Flynn's resignation, Trump quickly named another retired Army general, Keith Kellogg, as his acting national security adviser, but also could pick former Central Intelligence Agency chief David Petraeus or former Navy Vice Admiral Robert Harward to fill the strategic position on a permanent basis.
Flynn and Kislyak, according to widespread U.S. news accounts, discussed the sanctions Obama imposed late last year.
Pence and Trump aides, relying on information from Flynn, said publicly that Flynn had not discussed lifting the sanctions, which are still in place. Flynn later acknowledged the issue may have come up.
Conversations such as those between Flynn and Kislyak possibly could have been a violation of a U.S. law that prohibits private citizens from conducting diplomatic affairs with a foreign government, because Trump had yet to take office.
Spicer said the White House concluded it was not a legal issue involving Flynn's contacts with Russia, but rather his misleading assertions to Pence.
Spicer said trust in Flynn "eroded to a point that we felt we had to make a change."
WATCH: Congressman Cummings on Flynn resignation
The U.S. Justice Department, according to The Washington Post, warned the White House last month that Flynn had so misrepresented his conversations with the Russian envoy that he might be vulnerable to blackmail by Moscow, as a result of the contradictions between the public descriptions of the calls and what intelligence officials knew based on their routine monitoring of communications by foreign officials in the United States.
Flynn, in his resignation letter, said he had apologized to both Trump and Pence, and that they had accepted his apology.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Tuesday that Flynn's resignation "is the internal business of the Americans, it is the internal business of President Trump's administration. This is not our business."
But Russian lawmakers said Flynn's quick departure amounted to an attack on attempts to improve relations between Moscow and Washington.
Leonid Slutsky, who heads the Duma's foreign affairs committee, said Flynn's resignation was a "negative signal."
A member of the Duma, Konstantin Kosachev, who is chair of Russia's Foreign Affairs Committee, said, "Even a readiness to have a dialogue with Russians is seen by the hawks in Washington as a thought crime. Forcing the resignation of the national security adviser for contacts with the Russian ambassador, which is normal diplomatic practice, is not just paranoia but something immeasurably worse."
Democrats take issue
As a string of U.S. news accounts about Flynn's conversations were published, several Democratic senators called for an investigation of Flynn, while others urged Trump to fire him and for intelligence officials to review his security clearance.
Nine anonymous people described as current and former U.S. officials told the Post that Flynn and Kislyak explicitly discussed the sanctions placed on Russia by Obama after revelations that Russia had hacked into the computers of John Podesta, the campaign chief for Clinton.
The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released thousands of Podesta's emails in the weeks leading up to the election, many of them showing embarrassing, behind-the-scenes details of how Democratic operatives worked to ease Clinton's path to the Democratic presidential nomination.
A majority of voters have approved a referendum supported by the Swiss government and most major parties to make it easier for the grandchildren of third generation immigrants to acquire citizenship.
A Swiss television presenter gets set to announce the results of the days voting at the start of a two-hour special debate and analysis of the outcome.
Of the three referendum on the ballot, the issue of easing citizenship rules for young immigrants was clearly the most contentious.
It was vigorously opposed by the right wing Swiss Peoples Party, which waged a campaign warning that any relaxation of the rules governing Swiss citizenship would attract potential Islamic extremists.
Concerns by supporters of the initiative increased as the Partys controversial poster campaign began to make inroads on what had been a substantial lead by the yes campaign.
So, it was with some relief and jubilation that Margret Kiener Nellen, member of the Social Democratic Party, celebrated passage of the initiative.
She said she thought the opposition did not win because its campaign poster, which featured a woman wearing a niqab urging voters to reject so-called uncontrolled citizenship, went too far. She said people did not buy this argument because only a relatively small group of people, fewer than 25,000, stood to gain from the measure.
Citizenship in Switzerland is determined by the nationality of the parent. Unlike the United States, a child born in the country does not automatically become a citizen.
Obtaining Swiss citizenship is a long, arduous process. A person must reside in the country for 12 years, must be fluent in one of the countrys four languages and has to submit to a costly, close examination by the cantonal and local authorities.
Under the new rules, applicants between the ages of nine and 25, who have at least five years of schooling and a valid residence permit, can submit a formal request for citizenship to the federal government.
Movement for Democratic Change founding president, Morgan Tsvangirai, says some Zimbabweans want the African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and United Nations (UN) to monitor the electoral process in Zimbabwe ahead of the crucial 2018 polls.
Speaking after touring Manicaland province as part of his nationwide grassroots consultation process, Tsvangirai said traditional leaders and civic society members told him to ensure that the AU, SADC, UN and other independent bodies are roped in before the elections to curb voter fraud.
He said most people fear a repeat of previous national elections, which were allegedly rigged by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in favour of President Robert Mugabes ruling Zanu PF party.
People are concerned about the future and high level of intimidation, especially the abuse of traditional leaders by Zanu PF People are concerned about the potential for rigging especially given that were are now going to introduce the new electoral system, which is a system which captures the picture of a person and finger prints.
Tsvangirai further noted that people are also concerned about the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which has conducted some national and local government polls in the country that have been condemned by some contestants as not free and fair.
He said the people are not happy about the involvement of the security forces in the electoral system.
Fundamentally, people are concerned about past practices and that we need a fair and free electoral process. They are others who were concerned about the endorsement that comes from SADC, the AU when the situation is not free and fair. So, the question of monitoring elections becomes very critical and we assured them that the United Nations is involved through the purchase of biometric equipment.
He noted that SADC, AU and UN should monitor the electoral process to ensure a free and fair poll.
Tsvangirai defeated President Mugabe in the 2008 presidential election and the nation waiting for a couple of weeks before the results were announced. The results showed that the MDC-T leader did garner enough votes to form a government.
Critics say the opposition leader won the presidential election, a claim that has been repeatedly dismissed by government as wishful thinking.
U.S. President Donald Trump launched new attacks Wednesday against media reports of alleged links between him and Russia, blaming the country's intelligence community for what he said were "illegal" leaks to news outlets.
"The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy.Very un-American!" Trump said.
In a string of Twitter comments, Trump suggested news articles detailing links between him, his campaign aides and ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russian officials were aimed at undermining his victory in the November election.
Trump, in office for less than a month, said in one of his tweets, "This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign."
He said "the fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred."He said two U.S. cable news outlets, MSNBC and CNN, were "unwatchable", while describing the Trump-friendly talk show "Fox & Friends" as "great."
At the same time, the president claimed that "information is being illegally given to the failing" New York Times and Washington Post "by the intelligence community," the National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "just like Russia."
The Post last week was the first newspaper to publish details about phone conversations between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington before Trump took office, while the Times in Wednesday's editions said Trump aides and associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.
The new president also fired a broadside at his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, saying, "Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration.Was Obama too soft on Russia?"
Obama often rebuked Moscow for its unilateral 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and the United States, along with the European Union, imposed sanctions against Russia.But the West did not intervene militarily and Crimea remains under Russian control.
Russia dismissed the Times' report that members of Trump's campaign and other associates were in contact with senior Russian intelligence officials before the November U.S. election.
The Times cited four current and former U.S. officials saying law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted calls and had phone records involving Trump's one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort and several other unnamed associates.
Manafort called the accounts "absurd," the Times said.
He also denied a similar CNN report that Trump associates, including Manafort and Flynn, were regularly communicating with Russian nationals before the election.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report "is not based on any facts," while Russian media quoted the country's foreign intelligence service saying reports about the contacts were unfounded.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that Russian envoys acted within normal practice for diplomats of all countries.
Flynn was ousted Monday after information became public about contacts he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak ahead of Trump's inauguration on January 20.
The White House said Tuesday that Trump, based on intercepts of Flynn's calls with Kislyak, was advised nearly three weeks ago that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations when Flynn claimed he had not discussed sanctions imposed by Obama against Moscow.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the president and his close advisers had been "reviewing and evaluating" that information on a "daily basis for a few weeks" before Trump forced Flynn's resignation.
Before Trump's inauguration, Pence told CBS News' Face the Nation that Flynn and Kislyak did not discuss the U.S. sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
Pence also said Flynn and Kislyak "did not discuss anything having to do" with the Obama administration's decision in late December to expel dozens of Russian diplomats.The Russians were sent home in response to allegations of Russian cyber-spying against Clinton's campaign chief during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Responding Tuesday to reporters' questions about the 18-day gap between the January 26 Trump briefing and Flynn's departure on Monday, Spicer said, "The president concluded he no longer had trust in his national security adviser."
Spicer also said the White House decided there was "nothing wrong" that Flynn had talked with the Russian diplomat, even though Flynn was a private citizen at the time.
WATCH: Spicer says Trump's trust with Flynn "had eroded"
Misled vice president
Flynn acknowledged in his resignation letter that he had "inadvertently briefed" Pence and others with "incomplete information" regarding his phone calls with Kislyak in the weeks before Trump assumed power.
Key opposition Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, are calling for expanded investigations into links between Russia and key Trump aides.
Sen. Hoyer: Russia Cant Meddle in Our Democracy Without Repercussions
Trump named another retired Army general, Keith Kellogg, as his acting national security adviser.
Zimbabwes central bank chief, John Mangudya, says the countrys economy is expected to be boosted by a revived agricultural sector owing to good rains and export incentives anchored on bond notes.
In his Monetary Policy statement issued Wednesday, Mangudya said a number of policy measures are also being implemented to transform Zimbabwes growth model in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Social and Economic Transformation (ZimAsset).
Chief among them being the ease and cost of doing business reforms being championed by the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Public Finance Management Framework by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the Special Economic Zones by the Ministry of MacroPlanning and Investment Promotion, localisation of domestic industrial production through Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 promulgated by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the foreign exchange management measures put in place by the Bank.
Moreover the introduction of an export incentive scheme financed through bond notes has seen a positive response, particularly from tobacco and gold producers. According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), tobacco farmers have increased the hectarage under this agricultural season by around 10% from 97 000 hectares planted in 2015/2016 to 107,000 hectares with an expected output of 200-215 million kilograms of green leaf tobacco.
He noted that the gold sector has also responded positively to the incentive scheme and the monitoring process by the Gold Mobilisation Committee, resulting in the increase in gold delivered to Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) by 17% from 18.3 tonnes in 2015 to 21.4 tonnes in 2016.
Gold delivery to FPR, which excludes the gold from Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), is expected to be 25 tonnes in 2017.
POSITIVE SPIN-OFFS
The positive spin-offs from the recent removal of Zimbabwe from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remedial measures, following successful clearance of its arrears to the Fund in October 2016, are also expected to go a long way in reducing Zimbabwes country risk, thus attracting the much needed foreign investment.
He said the completion of the clearance of external debt arrears to the rest of the international financial institutions African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB) is expected to further reduce the countrys debt burden that continues to be an albatross on Zimbabwes access to foreign finance for the past 16 years now at a time when other emerging markets have been making tremendous strides in their economic transformation.
As a consequence, Zimbabwe has lagged behind and needs to catch up with its peers.
BREXIT IN EUROPE
Mangudya noted that the implementation and effect of Brexit in Europe will have an impact on the trade relations between Britain and the rest of Europe and also between Africa and Europe.
Also the depreciation of the British Pound following the vote to leave the EU will affect the size of remittances to countries such as Zimbabwe. In addition, the rebalancing of the Chinese economy between production and consumption has direct impact on Zimbabwes exports of primary products (mainly minerals) to China.
... This Monetary Policy Statement aims at taking opportunity of the expected good agricultural season to change the course of the economy through instituting additional policy measures and in some cases reforming current policies with a view to enhance financial stability, bolster business sentiment and increase output and exports in 2017 and beyond. This opportunity should not be squandered.
Measures in the Monetary Policy Statement that are geared to stimulate this economic growth agenda include the strengthening the financial sector by extending the US$200 million African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Trade Debt-Backed Securities (Aftrades) facility which operates on the lines of the lender of last resort at the Bank for local banks and putting in place a US$70 million nostro-stabilisation facility to deal with the delays in processing of outgoing payments by banks.
BANK RATES REDUCED
The central bank said Zimbabwe would attempt to reduce the cost of doing business by reducing lending rates charged by banks from an upper limit of 15% to 12% per annum, and by reducing charges on the use of plastic money to as low as 10 cents for small purchases of $10 and below.
He said efforts will also be made to promote efficiency and discipline in the utilisation of foreign currency by ensuring that banks comply with the foreign exchange priority guidelines, strengthen the resuscitation of firms under ZAMCO through the provision of working capital to deserving cases through normal banking channels, promote exports by revamping the horticulture finance facility and enhancing the gold development facility from US$20 million to US$40 million and put in place facilities to cater for the requirements of bonafide crossborder traders registered with recognised cross-border associations through normal banking channels and Easylink.
Fresh policies will also be targeted at strengthening the parity of bond notes to the US$ by meeting foreign exchange demand attributable to bond notes deposits, making available up to US$35 million for spearheading funding requirements under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to meet the needs for women, SMEs, business linkages/ value chain activities and plug money laundering, among other measure.
DECLINE IN REMITTANCES
Mangudya also said remittances, which are also a major source of import financing declined by 17.9% in 2016, from US$1,917.7 million received in 2015 to US$1,574.0 million in 2016.
Of the total amount received in 2016, US$779.0 million reflects remittances from the Diaspora while remittances from International Organizations (NGOs) amounted to US$795.0 million.
The decline in Diaspora remittances is attributed to the poor performance of the global economy, the depreciation of the South African Rand (South Africa contributes about 34% of the total Diaspora remittances) and the increasing preference of the Diaspora to send remittances in kind and through informal channels.
He said, The introduction of Diaspora Remittance Incentive Scheme (DRIS) is expected to increase the remittances sent through formal channels.
Mangudya further said export growth has not been adequate to surpass that of imports, resulting in an estimated US$1985.1 million negative trade balance in 2016. This situation is not sustainable.
12500 N.E. Tenth Place Bellevue, WA 98005 JPFO.org 800-869-1884 info@jpfo.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb. 13, 2017
JPFO Breaks New Legal Ground
Amicus brief confirms the private right to sell firearms
Teixeira case at 9th Circuit compares gun stores to book stores
The right to bear arms includes the right to buy arms
Alameda zoning scheme attempts to block good gun store
San Francisco, Calif. -- The noted civil-rights group Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, jpfo.org, has filed an amicus brief supporting a gun-store owner who has been blocked in California from opening an important new shop.
To get started, the new owners, three partners, navigated a bewildering maze of red tape and an Alameda County zoning ordinance that required their gun store to be 500 feet from certain other properties. Then the County changed the way it measures distances, after the owners started up. Door to door footage had suddenly become from wall to property line. Other obstacles sprang upthat were insurmountableeliminating any place to put the new facility. Their perfectly legal business and constitutionally protected property were redlined.
The 9th Circuit Court, in a lengthy three-judge-panel ruling properly overturned the lower district court. "The Court recognized that taking away the means of exercising a fundamental right takes away the right itself," said Rabbi Dovid Bendory, the group's Rabbinic Director, commenting on the decision, "but now the full 9th Circuit is going to review the case, and that could spell trouble for those who support the rights protected by the Second Amendment." The County petitioned and was granted a full en banc review, in an effort to overturn the three-judge panel's pro-civil-rights decision.
12500 N.E. Tenth Place Bellevue, WA 98005 JPFO.org 800-869-1884 info@jpfo.org
JPFO's brief presents important new historical information in a compelling, fast-moving way, that has never appeared in any Second Amendment brief. This includes the arms commerce rights expressly guaranteed in the 1606 Virginia Charter and the 1620 New England Charter. The brief describes British attempts to prohibit arms commerce in Colonial times from 1774-83 in great detail, all of it thoroughly documented.
"The JPFO brief makes it clear that commercial activity in firearms and gunpowder was routinely practiced in the Colonies, right down to foreign trade," added Alan Korwin, a gun-law expert and consultant to JPFO. "The British Crown's attempt to ban this activity by law and by force aroused the Colonists and was a key factor in precipitating the American Revolution," he notes.
JPFO supports the historical record and current liberty to buy and sell guns as a routine part of American life.
Copies of JPFO's amicus brief and the Teixeira panel decision are available on the JPFO website, jpfo.org. The amicus brief was written for JPFO by David B. Kopel and Joseph G.S. Greenlee.
JPFO's main mission has always included education,
shining light where some let fear paralyze their sensibilities,
speaking truth to power, and ensuring Never Again
is not just a catch phrase.
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While the media spotlights were transfixed on Sanremo, where even Roberta Pinotti made a spectacle of herself, singing the praises of the military missions that restore peace, on 10 February, the Council of Ministers approved a draft law that will allow actioning the White Book on International Security and Defence once Minister Pinotti has signed it off. This will involve delegating to the government the revision of the operational model of the Armed Forces. By revision, read improving on what took place in the wars which Italy participated in from 1991, in violation of its own Constitution.
After being sanctioned for 25 years by every government in sweet succession, with the complicity of a parliament almost entirely in agreement or acquiescence that never once debated the issue, it is now on the verge of becoming a national law. A bloodless coup is thus unfolding in silence.
The Armed Forces have been assigned four missions, each one entirely disrespectful of the Constitution. Thus the first mission reformulates the Defense of the Fatherland under Art 52 as the defense of the vital interests of the Country. This is followed up by the second mission: a contribution to the collective defense of the Atlantic Alliance and the maintenance of stability in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, in order to protect the Countrys vital or strategic interests. The prohibition contained in art 11 on the use of force as an instrument to attack the freedom of other peoples and as a means of resolving international disputes is replaced by the third mission: the management of crises over and above areas of priority intervention, in order to guarantee international peace and legality.
Thus the White Book destroys the constitutional pillars of the Italian Republic, now reconfigured as a power which arrogates to itself the right to intervene with the use of force in areas looking onto the Mediterranean North Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans to support Italian economic and strategic interests, and, outside such areas, wherever in the world the interests of the West (as represented by Nato under US Command) may be at stake.
Functional to all this, is the Framework Law that entered into force in 2016. [This law] institutionalizes military missions abroad, establishing a specific fund with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to fund them. Finally, the fourth mission entrusts to the Armed Forces on the international level, the safeguarding of free institutions, with specific duties in cases of extraordinary need and urgency, a vague formula that can accommodate draconian measures and subversive strategies.
Furthermore, the new model significantly increases the technical-administrative powers of the Defences Chief of Staff and, at the same time, opens the doors of the Armed Forces to private sector leaders that will be able to perform the duties of the General Secretary, responsible for the technical-administrative area of Defense, and the National Director of Arms. Key duties that will permit powerful groups within the military industry to enter performing leadership roles in the armed forces and to steer them according to their interests linked to the war.
The military industry is defined in the White Book as the pillar of the National System due to its contribution, through exports, to rebalancing the balance of trade and promoting goods manufactured by national industry in well-remunerated sectors, creating quality jobs.
All that remains is to rewrite Article 1 of the Constitution to provide that ours is a republic, a democratic era, that rests on the labour of the military industry.
Museum Lecture Series: A Journey Through World Heritage
The next in the Gibraltar Museums lecture series held in collaboration with the Gorhams Cave Complex and the Gibraltar Scientific Society, will be held this Thursday 16th February at 7pm at the Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall.
Gibraltars heritage has been acknowledged internationally for centuries, and with the Gorhams Cave Complex becoming a World Heritage site in 2016 we have now joined the illustrious UNESCO family made up of 1052 natural and cultural sites.
Speakers Marcello Sanguinetti and Sue Davies will take the audience on a journey round the Worlds rich heritage through space and time, to look at the family that Gibraltar has joined and to examine the wondrous but sometimes also fragile World Heritage sites.
From the Taj Mahal and the Great Barrier Reef, to the remains at Palmyra, Kathmandu and Machu Picchu their illustrated talk will look at the many positives for communities in working together to manage our environment sustainably. But culture and heritage can often be the first casualty in changing and challenging times.
The lecture is open to the public and is free of charge.
Lib Dem Foreign Affairs Spokesman in Gibraltar Brexit Visit
The Foreign Affairs spokesman for the UK Liberal Democrats, Tom Brake MP, is in Gibraltar on a fact-finding visit in order to achieve a better understanding of the impact of the decision taken in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
Mr Brake today met with the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, who is responsible for EU matters and work related to Brexit.
He was given a number of briefings, a tour of the border area and also of the air terminal as part of the familiarisation visit.
The Deputy Chief Minister explained that this visit is a result of the contact that the Government continues to maintain with Members of the UK Parliament from different political persuasions. He added that the Government has engaged widely in the United Kingdom and continues to do so, particularly with the UK Government itself both informally and within the formal structure of the Joint Ministerial Committee.
Mr Brake reaffirmed his partys support for Gibraltar going forward, given the 96% vote to remain in the EU, and for the right of the people of Gibraltar to self-determination.
You know when youre about to break up with someone, and then they break up with you, and for some reason you feel horrible, even though you already knew that person was just not right for you? Anyway, The Daily Show is here to support you following the resignation of President Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who, it was discovered, mischaracterized his communications with Russian official Sergey Kislyak regarding sanctions. Tonight, you eat those chocolates and wistfully gaze at that photo of Sally Yates all you want. No one expects you to get over this right away.
K.J. Apa as Archie. Photo: CW
The Riverdale casting directors sure saw a lot of redheads while they were looking for their lead to play Archie Andrews. I think we literally saw every redheaded young guy in L.A. It certainly felt that way, said Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the executive producer of Riverdale. Every time that a redheaded guy came in, my heart swelled a little thinking, Let this be the redheaded boy who is the answer to all our prayers.
Well, they didnt find a natural redhead, but they did find their Archie in the form of K.J. Apa, the half-Samoan, full-Kiwi 19-year-old actor. Riverdale, a sultry, brooding, and libidinal take on the Archie comics, needed a leading man who could channel that sweet and slightly sinister energy. Archie is going to have some darkness and a little more brooding, but you didnt want that to take over everything, said Aguirre-Sacasa. You wanted a sense of that underneath and on the edges of that performance, but not a joyless vampire. So you had to have the right mix of edge and earnestness, and be able to handle the brightness of Archie, but also the depth of a kid who is really struggling with stuff.
Finding Apa was the most difficult part of a six-month casting process that began before the pilot had even gotten officially picked up from the network. They had cast all of their series regulars in the meantime: Lili Reinhart as the blonde and wholesome Betty, Camila Mendes as the posh brunette Veronica, and Cole Sprouse as the intense and observant Jughead. We were getting, frankly, scared, because there would be no pilot if we didnt find Archie, said Aguirre-Sacasa. We found K.J. three days before we were supposed to test Archies in front of the studio. So he was really slotted in at the last minute.
Apa had first auditioned earlier for casting director David Rapaport, but something was amiss with that audition. Rapaport had told Aguirre-Sacasa that when he had seen Apa, the actor had just arrived after a 12-hour-plus plane ride, and that he hadnt been properly prepped beforehand. Id just come over from New Zealand, and Riverdale was my first audition, said Apa. So I remember going to the studio, auditioning with Dave, and it was kind of nothing. Nothing was really there, nothing happened.
But Rapaport decided to bring him in again to read for other writers and producers, including Aguirre-Sacasa. K.J. read for us and he was immediately Archie Andrews, said Aguirre-Sacasa. It was the right combination of earnestness and edge. And he played the guitar like a dream.
Apa was better prepared for his audition this time around, bringing his electric guitar with him and doing Stevie Ray Vaughans version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. There were a couple Southern people in the theater so I brang my guitar, Apa laughed. I felt really confident after I played that song, because music comes really naturally to me and its always something Ive been really passionate about.
The network loved him, too, but there was one final hurdle: his hair. Its the dreaded day, because we have to dye this guys hair and pray to God that that works, because, you know, some peoples dye jobs look weird, said Aguirre-Sacasa. The director of the first three episodes, Lee Toland Krieger, however, knew the colorist to the stars who does Amy Adamss hair. She had to dye everyones hair: Lili Reinhart had to go blonde; Cole had to go black; and of course, Archie had to go red. We were all literally waiting for pictures to be texted to us from the salon, and now its hard for me to even think of K.J. as anything other than a redhead.
That rust color doesnt come without its cost, though. Its pretty gnarly, man, said Apa. It was really painful the first and the second time I got it done, because they do my eyebrows as well. They ended up bleaching my eyebrows, and I had two holes they burnt into my skin. I was like, Oh, my, weve got to sort this out. To maintain the color, he goes to the salon every two weeks for touch-ups. Im sitting there for at least two-and-a-half hours, so Im on my iPad and I read some scripts and stuff. I keep myself entertained.
All right, but youre thinking: Did he take off his shirt during auditions? (He did not.) As people have vociferously noted on the show, on Twitter, and on Tumblr: Archie Andrews is hot. Hes so hot that his body becomes a plot point in the pilot when Betty and her gay best friend Kevin catch a peek of Archies abs from her bedroom window (theyre neighbors, naturally). Game changer: Archie got hot! Kevin gawks with the suppressed glee of a thousand issues of Tiger Beat. Archie, you see, had apparently worked construction over the summer with his dad, thus blessing him with the body of an Instagram thirst trap. (As for Apa, if you take a scroll through his Instagram, its clear that hes been looking like this for a while.) According to Aguirre-Sacasa, having a hot Archie was a way for him to make sense to modern viewers. It felt like one of the things we had to try to answer from the comics books, he said. Why would these amazing, gorgeous women be falling for this kind of vanilla, edge-less, fine-looking guy?
In keeping with the rest of Berlanti universe, everyone in the cast is stunning, but for Riverdale, the hope was to convey the burgeoning sexuality of teendom. Of course, they are all beautiful to look at, but for me, what I wanted more was a sense that the characters had a ripe sexuality, said Aguirre-Sacasa. Like they were all kind of on the cusp of transitioning from teenagers to young adults. Its almost like the 1950s pinup girls, or the guys that were, like, a little bit like Physique Pictorial. There was a sexual energy to them that I look for, more than, like, Oh my God, is this kid TV pretty. Fortunately, they managed both.
Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have revealed their deepest personal, professional, and sexual secrets to Howard Stern. Add together how humiliating each of those confessions must have been, multiply them by ten, and you still wont have half the embarrassment of having strangers overhear your financial secrets without your knowledge on The Howard Stern Show. Judith Barrigas filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court yesterday against Stern and the federal government, claiming the broadcast of her call to the IRS on May 19, 2015, violated the confidentiality of her tax information and resulted in difficulty finding employment, anxiety, loss of sleep and irregular eating patterns.
As The Hollywood Reporter explains, the incident occurred when IRS agent Jimmy Forsythe called into Sterns show on an unrelated topic, was put on hold, and answered Barrigass tax-related call while he waited. Once a Stern employee caught wind of the conversation, it was aired live on Sirius XM. Barrigas only found out her personal financial conversation was no longer private when strangers began alerting her via call and text, as her phone number had been included in part of the shows audio. If Barrigas is unsuccessful in her lawsuit, at least she can make millions selling her story to Stephen King, as it is the most terrifying story ever told.
Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Every politician comes with their share of pie-in-the-sky campaign promises lower taxes, better health care, safer streets but how many potential candidates can offer a slogan like Bawitdaba da bang da bang diggy diggy diggy? Some voters in Michigan are hoping for that exact possibility. According to Billboard, at last weekends Michigan Republican Party convention, Kid Rocks name was floated to run as a 2018 Senate candidate to unseat current Democratic senator Debbie Stabenow. Rock, who campaigned for President Trump and sells hats that say Make America Badass Again, was born in Romeo, Michigan. He considers himself a Libertarian, though on many occasion he has also identified as a cowboy, baby. There is no word yet on whether Mr. Rock will be joining the race at this juncture.
Photo: Steffan Hill/Starz Entertainment, LLC
The sexiest couple on TV is going globe-trotting once more, as Claire and Jamie Fraser set off toward warmer climates for Outlander season three. The shows production is moving to Cape Town, South Africa, to film its adventures on the high seas, but as a result, season three wont return until September 2017 instead of May, as fans expected. The shows next season is based on Voyager, the third book in Diana Gabaldons fantasy series, which finds our favorite tartan-clad duo sailing to Jamaica. We can only hope that South Africa will be a stand-in for the Caribbean country, but the show has not announced those specifics yet. The move marks an extended departure from Scotland, where the show has primarily been based so far, and while there are few things so romantic as the Highlands, higher temperatures mean fewer layers. And no one was ever mad about clothes being shed on Outlander.
Philip Pullman with the first book from His Dark Materials trilogy, Photo: MJ Kim/Getty Images
Its been 17 years since Philip Pullman released the last book in the best-selling His Dark Material trilogy, but now the celebrated British fantasy author is returning to the world of Lyra Belacqua and daemons for a companion series The Book of Dust. According to The Guardian, the long-rumored trilogy will include several returning characters, like the aforementioned Lyra, and will dive into the nature of dust, a mysterious particle that is used in the original series as a stand-in for the bibles original sin and the power of self-awareness. Pullman didnt give away too many details, but he did reveal that at the centre of The Book of Dust is the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organization, which wants to stifle speculation and enquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free. Hmm, a series of dystopian novels? Perhaps that could resonate with readers in 2017. Perhaps. The first installment will reportedly come out in October, but if Hollywood wants to try adapting it, they better remember to give Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig some better special effects.
Skulking, spying, smuggling, sabotaging, and slaying: These are James Keziah Delaneys stock in trade, and tonights episode of Taboo is all about his tradecraft. As the rogues plan to secure a lucrative trading route out from under the rival English, American, and East India Company factions moves forward, the shows portrayal of his dirty deeds has gotten much clearer and tighter than it used to be, and more entertaining as a result.
Much of this episodes business relies on a bogus cholera epidemic concocted by Delaney and Dr. Dunbarton to keep prying eyes away from the American spys secret headquarters. This winds up being perfect cover for, well, pretty much anything James needs to do. Need to dispose the body of an abusive, alcoholic husband, no questions asked? Call him a cholera victim and hell be six feet under and away from prying eyes within hours. Need some secure containers to transport an illegal shipment of gunpowder? Order up a few coffins for imaginary cholera victims. Need to get that shipment through Londons soldier-patrolled streets? Dress up like undertakers, store those coffins in hearses, and stick cholera warning labels on them to keep unwanted inspections at a minimum. (Just dont forget to leave enough room in one of those coffins for Jamess secret son Robert, so he can sneak in and play dead to maintain the ruse. Its a bit of quick thinking on the kids part, and it makes for one of the hours coolest story beats.)
As has been the case for a few episodes now, Jamess devilish reputation as a killer par excellence is proving well-earned indeed. When he and his crew are ratted out by the farmer who owns their makeshift factory, Delaney tears out the mans tongue and props the corpse in the confessional of the priest who leaked the information to the East India Company. When the EIC retaliates by blowing up Jamess ship, he has his henchman Atticus lead him to the guy who was supposed to be guarding it and tears out the mans heart, offering it to Atticus as a souvenir. Granted, this was the same guy whose thumb Delaney chopped off in last weeks episode, leading Atticus to wonder whether his boss had psychically seen the betrayal coming or caused the betrayal by chopping off the dudes thumb in the first place. Still, its an impressive bit of wetwork.
Even Zilpha, Jamess beloved (ahem) sister, gets in on the homicidal act. Under her brothers telepathic tutelage, she (finally!) kills her thoroughly awful husband Thorne by stabbing him through the heart with a hatpin, no muss, no fuss. After James uses the cholera gimmick to expedite the bodys removal and burial, Zilpha celebrates in the gothest way imaginable: Resplendent in black mourning clothes, she jams the murder weapon through the hat she wears to the victims funeral, smirking all the while. After spending the entire season with the same bug-eyed facial expression and high-tension body language, Oona Chaplin lets her characters lusty satisfaction with this job well done seep into her eyes, her mouth, her shoulders, her walk. She may have killed her brutal husband to be with her sorcerer brother, but shes never seemed more human.
Unfortunately, the hoped-for happy ending never arrives. After the burial at which James digs the grave himself, mensch that he is Delaney shows up at Zilphas house, demanding she take off her dress immediately. Music to her ears! But hes haunted by in flagrante visions of his mother trying to drown him as an infant, a knowledge bomb dropped by his faithful manservant Brace at the beginning of the episode. (Its an odd choice, pacing-wise, but one made with practical considerations for the rest of the episode.) James freaks out, nearly chokes Zilpha, and flees the bedroom before their family reunion reaches its climax. Dont worry, buddy flashback dick happens to a lot of guys.
The irksome thing is that the episode focuses on Jamess reaction to the event, not Zilphas. After all, Delaney isnt the one who just ended years of violent drunken abuse by becoming a murderer in order to rekindle forbidden love with a sibling. Nor is he the one who got physically attacked by the other in the middle of having sex. Can you imagine how Zilpha must feel to have gone through all that for nothing? Well, youll have to imagine it, since the show isnt gonna show us.
Indeed, many of Taboos old troubles the workmanlike plotting, the half-baked supporting cast, the overreliance on Jamess alleged magnetism are still hanging around. To wit:
How do we know that Chichester, the former slave now leading an inquiry into the East India Companys illicit dealing in human cargo, is a good guy? Because hes the only handsome man in a room full of blotchy, weak-chinned uggos.
Why did the EIC wait until now to blow up Jamess ship, when its ownership and location like that of his office, his house, and his sisters house is a matter of public record? Because the show requires him to be as mysterious as Batman even though everyone knows who and where he is at almost all times until a moment like this, when the Company needs to make a major move against him.
Why does Winter, his teenage sidekick, keep hanging around even though hes a mean-spirited creep? Because James is the main character, and everyone from Winter to Brace to Zilpha to Lorna Bow to the poor closeted guy he blackmails into being his EIC spy act as if they know theyre just supporting players in his story.
Why did Braces revelation about the murderous madness of Jamess mom get dumped at the beginning of the episode instead of placed somewhere with more punch? Because it gives us just enough reason to believe that his violent PTSD flashbacks might cause him to brutally murder poor Winter at the end of the hour. Yep, Taboo kills a child in order to plant doubts about Delaneys sanity in the audiences mind, as if we needed any extra guidance in that department. You almost have to wonder: Are these people watching their own show?
HOUSTON For three months in the fall of 2016, Lena was one of the youngest inmates in the Harris County Jail.
The 17-year-old lived with two dozen women in a single room. She slept on a metal bunk and wore an oversized orange jumpsuit every day. She went to the bathroom with no privacy, using a toilet attached to the wall.
Yet compared to what shed endured, it didnt seem half-bad.
Lena had felt trapped her whole life. At home, by an abusive adoptive mother. At school, where she wore turtlenecks and baggy clothes to hide her bruises. In one facility for foster kids after another after her mother lost custody of her. And by a series of pimps who sold her for sex after she ran away.
It was no surprise to Lena when she ended up behind bars for offering an undercover police officer oral sex in exchange for money.
I always wanted older mens attention . . . I got addicted to it, Lena said. And the only way I knew how to get it was to lay on my back.
No one wanted Lena in jail. She was not a prostitute; she was a child who had been sexually exploited and needed protection and care.
Lena and teenage victims like her end up in jail for one simple reason: Theres nowhere else for them to go.
Texas has just one facility devoted to child sex-trafficking victims, called Freedom Place. It can only afford to treat 20 girls at any given time.
So authorities in Harris County and other big Texas counties who encounter kids like Lena take a gamble they call arrest and recovery: arrest them to get them off the street and drop the charges later.
What options do we have with these girls? asked Ana Martinez, a prosecutor in Harris County who specializes in trafficking cases. If I dismiss her case, shes just walking on the street that night.
Running away
Lena was 13 when she ran away from her first residential treatment center, in a suburb of Houston.
Lena bolted from the front lawn of her Houston middle school one morning. Minutes later, as she walked down the street, she ran into a friendly looking stranger. He promised to take care of her if she made him a little money.
His offer wasnt unthinkable. Shed had sex before, and had been sexually abused, a factor that makes kids far more likely to fall victim to pimps. He promised her Ecstasy so she could focus on something else while she was having sex with johns.
Here was an adult who said he could protect her.
Every time a man told me, I love you, Im gonna take care of you, I listened, Lena said. I did everything they wanted me to do.
Lena stayed in the mans apartment in Greenspoint, a North Houston neighborhood, along with a few other women he also pimped out.
Lena said she made $100 or $150 for every trick. She gave all her money to the pimp.
Over the next three years, Lena would have as many pimps. Shed stay with them for a few weeks or months, sometimes moving from motel to motel. Then shed get scared or decide it was time to move, and return to foster care then run away again.
Eventually, police had responded to an Internet post advertising sex with her and found her in a motel room. They arrested her pimp at the motel next door.
With Lenas help, police ultimately charged two people with forcing a child into prostitution. But the question remained: What to do with Lena?
Police knew she was a long-term foster kid and a chronic runaway. They also knew she needed serious help. A medical examination revealed she was pregnant and had three sexually transmitted diseases. She would need months of specialized psychological and medical care.
But she couldnt get any of it if she didnt stay put.
So Houston police charged the pregnant, 16-year-old sex-trafficking victim with a crime she says it was prostitution, though juvenile records are not public and sent her to juvenile detention.
Sex-trafficking experts and victims advocates agree that Lena didnt belong behind bars.
Were looking at this population in a different way, said Angela Goodwin, a top official at Texas child welfare agency, the Department of Family and Protective Services. We dont want to lock them up.
But across the state, the agency is facing a crisis when it comes to finding beds for kids like Lena .
Texas relies on private contractors to build and run treatment facilities for kids and pays them very little money to do so. Those companies are then left to operate the facilities at a very low cost or raise money through donations.
The average cost of housing a high-needs child in a residential treatment center in Texas is about $300 each day. Right now, the state will only pay $260. Running a facility that is licensed to treat sex-trafficking victims is even more expensive; Texas law requires additional services, but the state doesnt pay for them.
Texas child welfare officials have told the Legislature it will take an additional $200 million to pay the full cost of housing children in the states care.
State officials say theyre trying to find better solutions, both for vulnerable kids in the states long-term foster care system and for those who have already been trafficked.
Private-sector plans are in the works to build the kind of place that Lena needed.
For now, the fact remains: While so many child sex-trafficking victims have some connection to the Texas child welfare system, that system has almost no resources to help them. Only the criminal justice system does and sparingly.
Lena was released from juvenile detention just a few weeks before giving birth to a baby boy. She was sent to a residential treatment center outside of Houston.
Lena still had a lot of trauma to deal with, but she was excited to be a mother. Among the countless pictures she posted on Facebook over the past four years, the ones with her baby in the hospital are the few in which shes smiling.
But soon after she delivered her son, the state took custody of him. Out of grief and frustration, Lena ran.
I completely gave up, she said. My mind was still stuck in the streets. All I knew was the streets.
When police arrested her for prostitution a few months later, in the fall of 2016, she had nothing to her name but $50 cash and the crop top and jeans she was wearing.
She was now 17 old enough to be charged as an adult.
A chance to think
At first, Lena was devastated. But her three-month stint at the Harris County Jail gave her time to think and a chance to participate in a county program for women facing prostitution charges. The women, most of them much older than Lena, shared stories of abuse at the hands of boyfriends, dads, grandfathers. They talked about how to live better lives on the outside. They became confidants for her; they braided her hair. She kept a journal.
Kathy Griffin, the programs director, said she was amazed at how much progress Lena made in such a short time.
But there was a lingering question in Griffins mind, one that had plagued Lenas care from the beginning: Where would she go next?
Lena was still 17, still in the states care, and with no place to go. Her caseworker was going to drive her from jail to a 24-hour intake center for foster kids in West Houston, where shed spend the night on a cot.
She had a plan. She wanted to finish high school, go to Prairie View A&M University and study forensic science.
Youve got to want to change, Lena said as she left the Harris County Jail on a rainy Friday afternoon. The test starts when you walk outside. And this is my test.
Lenas caseworker took her to the intake center. When they arrived, Lena went to take a shower and her caseworker left.
At 9:50 p.m., Lena walked out. Griffin and her caseworker havent heard from her since.
Security staff can monitor who comes in, but they cant stop anyone from leaving.
Texas child welfare officials know these intake centers are a terrible place for kids who have been through trauma.
We are working with what we have. Im not trying to be flip; I dont know any other way to put that, said Goodwin, the official at Texas child welfare agency.
But even after Lena ran away, state caseworkers and investigators didnt appear to make much effort to find her.
In late December 2016, Lena turned 18 and aged out of foster care.
Griffin still hopes that one day, shell hear from her. In the meantime, she wishes child welfare workers had made a different plan for Lenas release from jail one that might have enticed her to stay put instead of making it so easy for her to walk away.
Should Dodd-Frank be repealed and replaced? Debate rages in Washington and beyond regarding the need to repeal or significantly amend the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, implemented in 2010 as a result of the 2008 financial meltdown. The intent was to address a lack of oversight and control of financial markets.
The market collapse was due primarily to mega banks and mortgage companies that made bad, even fraudulent loans, to individuals and businesses that didnt qualify, then sold these questionable loans to unsuspecting investors: a perfect storm for economic disaster! Yet this well-intentioned act has had dire consequences reaching far beyond the culprits of the financial disaster.
Our nations financial system is complex. You have Wall Street, investment banks, mortgage banks, the housing institutes of Fannie and Freddie, mega-banks (i.e., too big to fail) and then there are community banks.
Community banks are the backbone of small to mid-range businesses in our country. Did you know that the same sweeping regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act extend from Wall Street to the too-big-to-fail monster banks all the way down to small banks in rural communities across our land? Theres virtually no distinction in size, complexity, risk, etc. And, intentional or not, these regulations have created a chokehold and burden for neighborhood community banks, one greatly impeding their ability to do what theyve done well for decades: serve the financial needs of their communities. The overhead and expenses associated with meeting these federal requirements are more than many small banks can bear.
An American Action Forum study pegged costs of the act since inception at $36 billion. This has forced many community banks to re-evaluate their ability to remain a going community concern. Some smaller banks are forced to close while others choose to merge to achieve economies of scale to address federal compliance costs. This is specifically because the fixed costs of hiring yet another employee to address compliance issues impose a larger burden on small banks. Larger banks dont suffer from this issue as they have a much larger asset base across which to spread the cost of each incremental compliance-related hire.
The community banking group of financial institutions were not a part of the financial meltdown. In fact, they have stepped up and assisted families and businesses more than ever since many of the big banks have all but exited smaller markets since implementation of Dodd-Frank. The big banks today refuse to consider or even hear the varied stories of individual circumstances, choosing instead to follow algorithms and inflexible formulas for underwriting. This trend has caused many small- to mid-sized businesses to go longer before receiving much-needed financing due to having to cast a wider and wider net to find a bank amenable to provide financing. Couple this with many banks reluctance to lend to small businesses with short histories or weak collateral and you have a recipe for an unhealthy small-business environment.
Yes, there is a need for regulatory reform. The extreme overreach of the Dodd-Frank Act has penalized and punished hundreds of quality financial institutions across the country and in turn has negatively impacted millions of consumers and small businesses.
Small business and the folks they employ are the engine that powers this countrys economic success. Community banks are the reservoir of resources those small businesses need to grow and hire. When it works well, bank regulation helps ensure the safety and soundness of the overall banking system. When it does not work well, it constricts the natural cycle of lending, job growth and economic expansion.
When considering regulation for the financial industry, Congress should not lump community banks in with their larger, publicly held, bottom-line counterparts. The time has long passed for the Dodd-Frank Act to be repealed or replaced.
David Littlewood is president of TFNB Your Bank for Life in McGregor. It is the oldest bank in McLennan County and seventh-oldest national bank in Texas still operating under its original charter.
Response to Flores
I read Congressman Bill Flores Sunday column in the Tribune-Herald supporting President Trumps executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries [Pause in immigration will let us improve vetting process for our safety]. While I dont agree with the temporary ban in general, I found one part of Rep. Flores argument particularly troubling.
He stated, we cannot forget that some of the recent domestic terror attacks were perpetrated by second-generation Sunni persons whose parents entered the country as immigrants and/or refugees.
It is outside the scope of any vetting process to try to divine the future impact of an immigrant or refugees potential children. It is impossible to tell what type of child a parent will produce. Im sure there are many American parents who are dismayed and embarrassed by the actions of their own sons when they perpetrate domestic terrorism, but we do not criminalize the parents based on the sons actions. No more should we criminalize immigrant or refugee parents based on the as-yet-unknown actions of their children.
I also found it distasteful that Rep. Flores found it necessary to name the religion of the parents, as if the embracing of Sunni Islam just naturally leads to radical behavior. There are a vast number of Sunni Muslims who are not violent. In fact, peace is a central ideology of typical orthodox Muslims.
I also ask Rep. Flores and all members of the Republican Party to focus their energy on strengthening the vetting process instead of defending the presidents temporary ban on immigrants and refugees. If there are changes that they want to make, I suggest they do so as quickly as possible and make this travel ban a non-issue. It is not necessary to bar immigrants and refugees while they do so.
Elisabeth Rhoton, Waco
Day of rejoicing
I have never understood why an international nonprofit such as Planned Parenthood needs my tax dollars to pay for breast and cervical cancer screenings when it rakes in millions of dollars being the No. 1 provider of abortions in the United States. Its a fallacy to say that defunding PP then leads to low-income women being without care!Taxpayer dollars would be much better used if they were re-routed to the many local clinics that are actually in the business of providing real medical care for the people they serve. Those like myself who find it abhorrent that their hard-earned money goes to PP an organization that is involved in the shedding of innocent blood will have a day of rejoicing if PP is indeed defunded. That day will not come soon enough.
Tina Orosco, Woodway
ASHLAND A local high school art students work helped decorate an annual Valentines Day event at Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum.
Leah Dovel painted a New York City skyline that was used as a photo booth backdrop at the museums Swing Under the Wings annual dinner and dance on Saturday night.
The museum reached out to Ashland-Greenwood High School to see if the school had any students who were interested in completing a project for the event.
Julie Lade-Wills, AGHS art teacher, chose senior Leah Dovel for the task.
I have a lot of very talented students, but I immediately thought of Leah Dovel, said Lade-Wills.
Dovel has an independent study art class and serves as a teachers aide for Lade-Wills, so she is in the art room at least twice a day, the teacher said.
But it was Dovels work ethic and talent that made her Lade-Wills first choice for the project.
I knew I would be able to count on her to do a great job and complete the task on time, she said.
Dovel was not quite as confident as her teacher.
I really wanted to do it, but I was kind of scared, said Dovel. Its a big project for me to do. Ive never done something that big.
The museum wanted something that was based on New York City. Dovel chose the citys iconic skyline.
Dovel started with a smaller version before tackling the 8-foot by 8-foot painting.
Then she set about transforming the blank, white paper into a vibrant painting. She completed the sky and water separately, then connected them with the skyline.
The project helped Dovel learn more about working with acrylic paints.
Blending the paint was really hard, she said.
She also learned to be patient when it comes to a large project. There was a time early when she kept redoing the same area.
I kept painting over the spots because I didnt like how it looked, she said.
Dovel is a perfectionist, focusing on the tiniest mistakes that no one else can see.
I just want to fix it, she said.
Eventually, Dovel worked out the problem and from then on it was pretty smooth sailing, she said.
There was no available space in the art room for a project this size, so Dovel was allowed to work in the media center, where she set up two tables in the corner of the room.
It was challenging to find a place where she could set up, and work on, such a large canvas throughout the day, said Lade-Wills.
Dovel had a two-week deadline, and the project took nearly all of that to complete. She spent every spare minute in the library, even coming to school on the weekends to get it done.
I basically lived in there during the school day, she said.
Still, there were challenges. Lade-Wills said her student is very modest and finds it difficult to accept compliments about her work. And she doesnt like an audience when shes painting.
While in the media center, she was constantly surrounded by people, watching her work and asking her questions, Lade-Wills said.
Incredibly, Dovel found her new work space a relaxing place to work, however.
There is a little less chaos, she said.
Once the painting was finished, Dovel was pleased with the results.
I like it, she said.
She also liked the fact that so many people would see her art. Swing Under the Wings is a big event for Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum. Under the wings of some of the Air Forces largest and most famous planes, guests dress in 1940s-era clothing and swing dance to tunes from the same era. Proceeds support the museums operations.
I think its awesome, Dovel said.
The project benefits not only Dovel, but also the schools art department, Lade-Wills said.
This project was a great chance for Leah to showcase her artistic talent in a supportive atmosphere, and an amazing opportunity for the art department to connect with the staff, students and the community, she said.
Art is one of the ways Dovel connects with her family. Her father, Aaron Dovel of Palmyra, has a passion for art, and her grandmother paints. But it was her sister, Melissa Hansen, who sparked Dovels love for art.
Even though she is several years younger, Dovel would tag along with her big sister and do whatever Hansen was doing.
Shed always sit in her room and draw, said Dovel. Id try to draw the same thing.
Now, art is Dovels favorite subject in school. She has
taken at least one art class every year in high school, and this year is fascinated by the potters wheel Lade-Wills brought in to the art room last year.
I really like it, Dovel said.
The talented artist is considering studying art in college, although she has not made a final decision yet. Whether she studies art after high school or not, art will continue to be a part of her life.
Im definitely not going to stop after high school, Dovel said.
The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Red Tail Squadron, Americas tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, announced their line-up for upcoming events around the country for 2017. After an incident last year resulted in an 11 month restoration, the Squadrons P-51C Mustang Tuskegee Airmen will return to flight this air show season to wow audiences with its aerobatic tribute to our nations first black military pilots and their support personnel.
The CAF Red Tail Squadrons unique cross-country outreach program also includes the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit. This mobile movie theater takes visitors on a journey through time and then through the air with the original short film Rise Above. The theaters dynamic 160-degree panoramic screen creates the sensation of being in the cockpit soaring above the clouds in a P-51C Mustang, the signature aircraft of the Tuskegee Airmen. Entrance to the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit is always free, although tickets may be required to host venues.
Here is a snapshot of where you can find the CAF Red Tail Squadron. For a full list of events, visit redtail.org/calendar.
Dallas, TX February 6-17 CAF National Airbase Tribute to Black History Month
Yuma, AZ March 17-18 MCAS Yuma Airshow
Columbus, GA April 8-9 Thunder in the Valley Air Show
Montgomery, AL April 8-9 Maxwell Air Force Base Air Show
Meridian, MS April 15 Community Open House at Key Field
Panama City, FL April 22-23 Gulf Coast Salute Open House & Air Show
Lake Charles, LA April 28-30 Chennault International Airshow
Waseca, MN July 13-17 Waseca County Free Fair
Ypsilanti, MI September 2-4 Thunder Over Michigan Air Show
Omaha, NE September 13-17 Nebraska Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Community Outreach Event
Port Clinton, OH September 20-24 Liberty Aviation Museum Open House
Tallahassee, FL October 31-November 5 Community Open House
Atlanta, GA October 7-8 CAF Atlanta Warbird Weekend
While on tour, the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit makes additional visits to local schools where students are encouraged to think critically about the groups Six Guiding Principles Aim High, Believe In Yourself, Use Your Brain, Be Ready To Go, Never Quit and Expect to Win. Contact Kristi Younkin, logistics coordinator, at logistics@redtail.org or (479) 228-4520 for information on how to bring the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit to your community.
About the CAF Red Tail Squadron
The CAF Red Tail Squadron is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization dedicated to educating audiences across the country about the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, Americas first black military pilots and their support personnel. RISE ABOVE: Red Tail, their three-fold outreach program, includes a fully restored WWII-era P-51C Mustang, the signature aircraft of the Tuskegee Airmen; the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit 53 mobile theater featuring the original panoramic film Rise Above; and resource materials for teachers and youth leaders. Each year, they embark on a nine-month cross-country tour that includes appearances at air shows, schools, museums and community events. The groups Six Guiding Principles Aim High, Believe In Yourself, Use Your Brain, Be Ready To Go, Never Quit and Expect to Win serve as the foundation for their outreach programs and are based on the experiences and successes of the Tuskegee Airmen. The CAF Red Tail Squadron is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization part of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF). Learn more at www.redtail.org.
The apparent assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's older half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, at Kuala Lumpur Airport on Monday seems intended to remove an ongoing political embarrassment and potential leadership problem for the North Korean regime. According to South Korean media, Kim Jong-nam was travelling on a valid passport in the name of Kim Chol.
Early reports say Kim, 45, was attacked by two women suspected to be North Korean agents using a chemical spray in the airport's shopping concourse. It was obviously quick-acting because Kim died on the way to hospital.
South Korea's national news agency, Yonhap, reported that the North's intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, carried out the assassination.
The bureau is North Korea's premier intelligence organisation, responsible for covert external operations. It has been associated with multiple attacks, including the 1968 attempt on South Korean president Park Chung-hee, the 1983 attempted assassination of South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan in Rangoon that left 21 dead, the 1987 downing of Korean Air flight 858 killing 115 people, and the 2010 attempt on high-ranking North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yeop in South Korea.
The family of a young woman who drowned at a Sydney beach this week have organised a fundraiser to take her body back to Nepal, as her friend remains missing.
Shristi Bhandari, 23, was found on the northern end of Maroubra Beach by a jogger at 6am on Tuesday morning.
She had arrived in Sydney just two weeks earlier to study a Masters of Accounting as an international student.
Friends said Ms Bhandari went to the beach with her friend Sudeep Uprety, 26, who is also from Nepal, on Monday night.
The New Zealand city of Christchurch declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after a bushfire destroyed houses in its suburbs and forced hundreds of people to flee from their homes.
The military were called in to help battle the blaze in the city's southern Port Hills district.
A line of fire burns across the Port Hills, south of Christchurch, on Wednesday evening. Credit:Alden Williams/Fairfax NZ
Two to three houses are known to have fallen victim to the blaze in the Worsley Spur area.
An earlier police estimate that as many as 40 homes had "been lost" to the flames has been dramatically revised down.
Washington: Russia has secretly deployed a new cruise missile despite complaints from US officials that it violates a landmark arms control treaty that helped seal the end of the Cold War, administration officials say.
The ground-launched cruise missile at the centre of US concerns is one that the Obama administration said in 2014 had been tested in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans US and Russian intermediate-range missiles based on land. The Obama administration had sought to persuade the Russians to correct the violation while the missile was still in the test phase.
A Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber on a cruise missile attack mission on targets in Syria. Credit:AP
Instead Russia has moved ahead with the system, deploying a fully operational unit.
Trump administration officials said the Russians now have two battalions of the prohibited cruise missile. One is still located at Russia's missile test site at Kapustin Yar in southern Russia near Volgograd. The other was shifted in December from that test site to an operational base elsewhere in the country, according to a senior official who did not provide further details and requested anonymity to discuss recent intelligence reports about the missile.
A humanitarian issue
International community should put pressure on Bhutan to uphold the refugees right to return home
Gangalal heart centre set to expand services to mid-western region
Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre (SGNHC) is set to expand its medical services to the mid-western region.
Govt appoints seven experts to NPC
The government has appointed seven experts to the National Population Council.
Is Mars Really a Place for Humans? Question Discussed at WSU Event
February 14, 2017
OGDEN, Utah Although a case can be made for human and robotic exploration in space, there is no compelling rationale for "putting down roots" anywhere off Earth, according to an astrodynamics expert who will present his analysis at Weber State University, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in Tracy Hall Science Center Room 234.
Daniel Adamos 90-minute presentation is titled Questioning the Surface of Mars as the 21st Century's Ultimate Pioneering Destination in Space.
Humans are pushing up against the limits of our planet, said John Sohl, WSU physics professor. A common suggestion is moving to Mars, the only other planet in our solar system that might be an option. But does that actually make sense? If anyone knows what is required to get humans to Mars, it would be Dan Adamo.
Adamo is recognized for his human space-flight trajectory design and operations. He worked as a NASA-Johnson Space Center contractor for 29 years. During that time, he served as flight lead for 10 shuttle missions and as primary U.S. trajectory point-of-contact with Russian counterparts during the Shuttle-Mir and International Space Station joint operations. Since retiring in 2008, Adamo has conducted astrodynamic research and consulted for NASA, the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Keck Institute for Space Studies.
His 90-minute presentation at Weber State will question why the surface of Mars is widely accepted as humanity's future home away from home. Science fiction movies and literature have helped lend credibility and allure to the idea. Nearly 200,000 people have registered as willing to attempt forming a permanent colony on Mars.
Adamo has found no evidence in his research that humans could survive on the surface of Mars long term, let alone thrive and populate. If humans were able to colonize another place in space, Mars would not be the most logical option.
Research about our solar system suggests small bodies such as asteroids and the moons of Mars are humanity's best hope for pioneering off Earth this century, Sohl said.
The community is invited to the free event, which is sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and WSUs Department of Physics HARBOR program.
Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
Welcome to Weird Science DC Comics, the DC Comics site for the common man and woman. We love comics and hope you do too. Remember, our reviews are only one persons opinion and doesnt mean you have to agree or disagree, just be you.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)
Today
Cloudy early with partial sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds light and variable..
Tonight
Partly cloudy skies early, then becoming foggy and damp later at night. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.
High Court judge to lead transitional justice court
A three-member Transitional Justice Special Court, to be known simply as Special Court, has been proposed to look into incidents that occurred during the decade-long insurgency.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Feb. 14, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 14, 2017 | 04:57 PM | PADUCAH, KY
It was moving day Tuesday for five babies and their families into the new John and Loree Eckstein NICU at Baptist Health.
The unit celebrated its grand opening on Monday, and Hospital President William A. Brown told a crowd of over 600 people, James 1:17 reminds us, Every good and perfect gift is from above, so our hearts are full of gratitude to God for the many gifts represented here. With a beautiful new facility, scores of dedicated caregivers and hundreds of families we have been blessed to serve.
On Monday, visitors toured the new $3.2 million neonatal intensive care unit, which is three times larger than the original unit. But on Tuesday, the unit began serving its purpose as babies moved in,
Lead gift donor John Eckstein said his family chose to donate after touring the former space and new unit.
I am amazed at the level of care that Baptist Health can provide for these babies and am excited to know how many more families can now receive these services, allowing their families to stay close to home, he said.
More than 1,000 families have benefited from the local service, which started in 2011 with six licensed beds and is now licensed for 14. We can care for more babies now and provide more privacy and bonding space for their families, said Neonatologist Ed ONeill, MD.
Mother & Baby Care, including the NICU, is one of four hospital service areas to benefit from a comprehensive capital campaign announced last month by Baptist Health Foundation Paducah; other areas are cancer, heart and outreach. The campaign has raised $7.6 million toward a $10 million goal. To contribute or get more information, phone 270-575-2871 or see SupportBaptistHealth.org/Paducah.
Japan govt pledges Rs 4.52 billion grant for water supply in Pokhara
The Japan government has pledged a grant assistance of up to Rs 4.529 billion for the improvement of water supply project in Pokhara, Kaski district.
By WestKyStar & Pam Spencer, City of Paducah Feb. 14, 2017 | 07:15 PM | PADUCAH, KY
Ordinances Related to Annexation of 2901 and 2905 Lone Oak Road and 2825 Maryland Street will be voted on February 21.
A municipal order was approved for an encroachment agreement with Musselman Properties, LLC allowing the use of a pre-existing concrete platform and the construction of new stairs encroaching on the eastern right-of-way of Labelle Avenue. This encroachment is adjacent to the property owned by Musselman Properties located at 3121 Broadway, which is the former Coke plant.
Ordinances for contracts were introduced for vote on February 21:
Agreement with Federal Materials for concrete ready-mix to be used for various construction and street repair projects for 2017-2018.
Agreement with Brehm Striping Company for the 2017-2018 pavement marking contract.
Agreement with Danny Cope & Sons for the 2017-2018 equipment rental contract.
City Manager Jeff Pederson explained that the proposed contracts for the Storm Water Master Plan and Phase II of the Noble Park Lake Bank Stabilization Project will be coming before the Board later this month. He also explained that the list of capital improvement projects is being generated with the internal rating process to begin soon. Staff is working to identify a first phase of improvements for City Hall and a first phase of equipment upgrades for the 911 Center.
During its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Paducah Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance to amend city codes that will streamline the application and administration process for areas where artists can set up to sell or demonstrate their artwork.The areas that artists can use are the downtown gazebo at 2nd and Broadway, and the Texaco Station Information Center at the corner of North 7th and Madison Streets.The ordinance also outlines the fees and the regulations for a guest permit and an artist permit. Artists will be filing their applications through the Planning Department.Mayor Brandi Harless said, The art-a-la-carte program has been an important part of getting more art downtown.Paducah Main Street Director Melinda Winchester said, The art and artists add so much to our street life.Additional actions taken during the meeting included:Andrew Wiggins was appointed to the Paducah Human Rights Commission.Roger Truitt was reappointed to the Commissioners of Water Works board.Eri Gjergji was appointed to the Paducah Board of Adjustment.
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By Adam Morton
Feb. 14, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY
By Adam Morton Feb. 14, 2017 | 07:01 PM | PADUCAH, KY
On Tuesday, Paducah city commissioners introduced two ordinances related to the annexation of the area located at 2901 and 2905 Lone Oak Road, and at 2825 Maryland Street. The property, owned by Tri-State Construction Company, is just south of Banks Market.
The owner plans to construct a 13,550 square foot retail strip center on the nearly two-acre parcel. Last November, the city received a request for annexation from Tri-State. At its January 24 meeting, the board approved the intent to annex the property.
Commissioner Sandra Wilson said, "I think it's great." Both Wilson and Mayor Brandi Harless expressed thanks to city planning director Steve Ervin for his hard work on this project.
Ervin clarified the process. "After that intent to annex ordinance was adopted, we went to the planning commission with a map amendment or zone change. A public hearing was held on February 5 and the planning commission has made a positive recommendation to the city commission."
At Tuesday's meeting, commissioners introduced the final annexation ordinance and introduced the ordinance to change the zoning to Highway Business District (HBD). When property is annexed into the city, it receives an automatic Low Density Residential (R-1) zoning. Changing its zoning to the HBD zone is a continuation of the zoning of the adjacent parcels. When the land was part of the city of Lone Oak, it was zoned as commercial property.
The final vote to adopt the adopt the ordinance is scheduled for the next meeting.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 15, 2017 | 06:37 AM | GILBERTSVILLE, KY
A Marshall County man faces theft and gun charges after his arrest on Monday.
According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched Monday afternoon to a property on Terrace Hills Road. Deputies said the property appeared to be in foreclosure, for sale and empty.
A man was found loading items into the trunk of his vehicle. Deputies said the man was armed with a pistol and a fixed blade knife.
The man told police that he had permission to be on the property and to take the items. But deputies said when they questioned him, he was unable to tell them who owned the property.
Deputies arrested 25-year-old Tacody A. Strader of Benton and charged him with carrying a concealed weapon and theft by unlawful taking under $500.
All clear after semi crashes blocked I-24 Caldwell County; semi crashes also blocked detour route
By The Associated Press Feb. 14, 2017 | 04:36 PM | FRANKFORT, KY
The Kentucky Senate has passed a bill that would lead to tougher penalties for people convicted of trafficking in smaller amounts of heroin or fentanyl.
Senators voted 36-0 Tuesday to send the measure to the House.
Republican Sen. John Schickel says his bill would end lighter punishments for people dealing small amounts of heroin. He says what's been missing in the debate regarding heroin-related punishment is the role of personal responsibility.
Under the bill, people convicted a first time of trafficking in any amount of heroin or fentanyl would be guilty of a Class C felony, punishable by five to 10 years in prison. Under current law, people face lighter penalties if they're convicted of trafficking less than two grams of the drug.
By WestKyStar & UT Martin Staff Feb. 14, 2017 | 06:14 PM | MARTIN, TN
The Call me MiSTER program, originally founded at Clemson University in 2000, is a leadership program that seeks to provide future teachers from diverse backgrounds with the tools and support needed to pursue successful careers in elementary and middle schools across the nation.
MiSTER stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models, and the program is geared toward future teachers from under-served, socioeconomically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities. Program participants are provided with UT Martin tuition assistance and room and board.
Applicants must be Tennessee residents and be accepted to UT Martin and enrolled to study early childhood education, special education or middle grades education. Students must also have a composite ACT score of at least 21, be eligible for the Tennessee Hope Scholarship Program and complete an application process.
MiSTER Scholars are required to live on campus with fellow program participants as part of the Call Me MiSTER living-learning community and maintain a minimum 2.75 overall GPA and a full-time course load. Program graduates are also required to teach one year in a Tennessee public school for each year of assistance provided by the Call Me MiSTER program.
Education is perhaps the most powerful and transformative tool that we have at our disposal, said Dr. Louis Glover, program director and professor of curriculum and instruction. My belief is that teachers can truly change the world through their daily interactions with the next generation of leaders within their classrooms. Years later, I can still remember the impact that certain teachers had not only upon my retention of the subject matter being taught, but also upon my worldview.
UT Martin is the first and only chartered provider of the Call me MiSTER program in Tennessee. A complete list of required application materials can be found at utm.edu/departments/mister.
For more information, contact the UT Martin College of Education, Health and Behavioral Sciences at 731-881-7125 or by email at cwest@utm.edu.
The University of Tennessee at Martin will be home to an official branch of the Call me MiSTER program beginning with the fall 2017 semester. Applications are being accepted for the first cohort and will be considered until the program is full.
South Korea confirms death of Kim Jong-nam
South Korea has confirmed the killing of the brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, saying it could be a sign of the brutality of Pyongyang.
Maoist students 'abduct' campus chief, his assistant in Kailali
Chief and assistant chief of the Lamki Multiple Campus in Lamki, Kailali, were allegedly abducted by students afiliated to the Netra Bikram Chand-led All Nepal National Independent Students Union (Revolutionary) on Wednesday.
Mamata Banerjee carves out Kalimpong from Darjeeling, declares it a separate district
A new district of Kalimpong was on Tuesday carved out of Darjeeling, which has seen separate statehood demands since 1980s, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee making the formal announcement in Kalimpong.
Manage security for FSU election, Minister Nidhi tells security chiefs
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi on Wednesday directed the chiefs of all security agencies to manage security for Free Student Union (FSU) election to be held on February 25.
Messy policing
In a last-minute decision taken just the day before Inspector General Upendra Kant Aryals tenure came to an end, the government on Monday evening appointed Additional Inspector General Dinesh Chandra Pokhrel as the officiating chief of Nepal Police. It has been a messy affair already.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2017 (2090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
When EPH Apparel was formed seven years ago, its three young partners were clearly focused on initiating its peer group 22-to-35 year-old men to the concept of well-fitted, stylish suits at an affordable price.
Thats worked well.
Last year, it was ranked as the fastest growing company in Manitoba over the past five years with a 1,393 per cent growth rate over that time and the 58th fastest in the country by Profit Magazine.
PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS EPH Apparel owners Andrew Parkes, Maciek Hunek and Alex Ethans in their new storefront on Smith Street at St Mary Avenue.
It just opened a new, much bigger Winnipeg storefront operation in the Antares building (formerly Place Louis Riel) and by the summer will have a second location in Calgary opened.
And this spring its launching a new web-site with the hopes of cracking into the international market with an automation feature that will let people buy a custom suit on-line.
That will sound preposterous to some who would even try to buy a custom made suit on-line, sight unseen? But on-line shopping has broken through many barriers and Alex Ethans and his partners Andrew Parkes and Maciek Hunek believe the proposition of purchasing the best fitting suit in your life without getting out of your chair will be attractive to many.
And theyve figured out a way to do it.
We are watching the under-30 customer base, Ethans said. They are more willing to purchase on line and much more willing to take out the human element when it comes to making a purchase. They are happy to deal with a computer and a box that comes to the front door.
Working with an IT consultant they have used the data from their 30,000 existing customers to design an algorithm that will spit out the right sizing to the same level of accuracy as a representative in their showroom after the customer answers just five easy questions about their size and dimensions.
If it works and they believe it will it will mean that they can service customers around the world.
It might not be for me or you and thats why we will still have our network of style consultants and storefronts to shop in another fashion, he said, But as we watch the world change and the future of how young people shop we need to be moving with the times.
With the possibility of marketing on-line to say, engaged couples, or men aged 22-30 who attend a certain university, they can conceivably target the customer base they already know in Winnipeg and Calgary and Regina.
We know what our market is now and if we can target lookalike markets in other cities we can follow that momentum and try to replicate it in those cities, he said.
They are now experienced enough to know that a custom-made suit made in their two factories in Shenzhen, China will not be have exactly the right fit all the time. (EPH Apparel provides a $75 alteration credit and will provides 100 per cent rebates when it just doesnt work.)
With annual sales in the $2 million-to-$5 million range, the company now has 32 commissioned sales reps based in all the major cities across the country that do personal fittings at offices or homes.
After only seven years in operation with several competitors already come and gone EPH believes it has become the price leader in the custom made suit business in the country starting as low as $300 up to Italian wool suits for $650. Now they are leveraging investments in back office operations to take a run at the exponential growth that requires the right IT to pull off.
We consider ourselves a technology company as much as a fashion company, said Ethans.
But the company also has the old fashioned bootstrap style of being entirely self-funded with carefully managed growth along with lean operations.
Were lucky to have some success, Ethans said. We have conversations about whether we need to move faster and we worry about the competition and we will always have those conversations.
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2017 (2090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba could suffer an economic slowdown unless the Pallister government starts spending money on major capital projects, the Business Council of Manitoba warned Tuesday.
When you hold up (building) hospitals, schools, you run the risk of having a dip. When you start curtailing health, schools, universities, you do have a ripple effect, said Don Leitch, the business councils president and CEO.
If it continues too long, youre going to get a slowdown. Right now, the emerging weak spot is the public sector, he said.
Leitch said hydro megaprojects in northern Manitoba and private sector developments such as the True North downtown project have been giving construction and the trades a lot of work.
But the industry has been telling the Pallister government that Manitoba needs predictable, stable public capital spending so that its not hurt when the private sector projects slow down, Leitch said.
Lots of organizations have been encouraging the government to commit, he said.
Its not just a matter of the province saving money money for capital projects helps pay salaries that are spent locally; the money buys goods and materials, and the projects and employees pay taxes back to the province, he said. Its the total real experience in the economy thats the driver. Multipliers can be negative, when you take (money) out.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The True North Square construction site along Graham Ave. and Carlton St. Private sector developments such as the True North downtown project have been giving construction and the trades a lot of work.
$1 billion in spending on hold
The Pallister government hase placed every promised NDP initiative under review, vowing to reduce spending and get the provincial deficit under control.
Last week, the province put on hold what it said amounted to $1 billion worth of health projects, including $300 million for the long-awaited new CancerCare Manitoba building. NDP-promised new schools for Waterford Green in northwest Winnipeg and south Brandon are on hold, while every university and community college has projects on the books for tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars worth of capital projects, Leitch said.
Some projects, such as the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Manitoba Museum, depend on matching grants along with their own fundraising, he said, adding it is ironic the former NDP government would provide capital funding and wait for Ottawa; now Ottawa has grants but is waiting for Manitoba to match the money.
If you starve your system of capital for even a few years, you see a deterioration, Leitch said. Other provinces with large projects under way are always a magnet if you let capital slip, youll lose talent here.
Some projects warranted and needed
Ron Hambley, president of the Winnipeg Construction Association, said because of the pause on several public sector projects, the first-half of 2017 is shaping up to be a challenge for his industry.
Certainly there was some infrastructure, specifically roadwork, announced a few months back it was quite a bit less than what we were told to expect (in both Winnipeg and in the rest of Manitoba). So, were watching that one carefully, he said.
Hambley said its no surprise that the new government would take a hard look at past commitments and that some projects wouldnt make the grade.
But some are obviously warranted and needed, he said, citing two Winnipeg personal care home projects that are ready for tender. The Free Press reported last week that the two proposed 120-bed centres could be in doubt because they exceed newly instituted provincial cost guidelines.
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Don Leitch
Hambley said theres been considerable private-sector investment in the city, and the federal government has been keen on rapid transit and other projects, but provincial construction spending is also crucial.
The (project review) process has gone on for quite some time now so were eagerly anticipating the projects that they do announce, he said of the Pallister government.
Chris Lorenc, president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association, said its important that the Progressive Conservatives keep their promise to spend $1 billion annually on strategic infrastructure. He defined strategic infrastructure as streets, highways, bridges, sewer and water projects and drainage.
I think if we start to see wading pools and parks and things like that (included) that should be cause for alarm, he said.
Delaying investments and re-investments in core infrastructure may be easy to do, but such an approach creates substantial costs and economic harm down the road, Lorenc said.
Pennywise but pound foolish
You can be pennywise but extremely pound foolish, if you delay that (in) which you should be investing.
If a slowdown in public-sponsored construction caused skilled trades people to seek greener pastures, it could be difficult to lure them back, said Sudhir Sandhu, CEO of the Manitoba Building Trades and Allied Hydro Council, which represents more than 7,000 workers.
Its so short-sighted, Sandhu said. You can actually exacerbate the situation.
Sandhu said the construction trades are very mobile, and if there arent jobs here, therell be jobs elsewhere. Were at the tail end of the previous projects were at risk of disrupting the continuity of work. People will leave; theyve left before, they will leave again. Youll pay a premium to get them back.
nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Keeyask Dam project site near Gillam.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2017 (2090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It was the end of the line for an otherwise uneventful route that had seen every passenger save for one quietly exit the bus without incident.
But when veteran Winnipeg Transit driver Irvine Jubal Fraser went to rouse the young, scrawny man who had remained on board early Tuesday, he had no idea it was about to cost him his life.
Fraser, 58, was stabbed to death in a senseless attack that has stunned family, friends and colleagues. A 22-year-old man is in custody following a dramatic arrest shortly after the slaying that put the life of a Winnipeg police officer in peril.
Theres no reason why this should have happened, not at all, Nelson Giesbrecht, a 19-year bus driver who knew Fraser well, told the Free Press. My fellow brother was murdered for doing his job last night.
Fraser was an "easy-going" veteran driver who wasnt concerned about ensuring riders had the proper fare, Giesbrecht said. Other drivers spoke of Frasers well-known sense of humour. He died after a confrontation with the last passenger on his bus on the University of Manitoba campus as it hit the end of its route. The attack occurred just before 2 a.m. at Dafoe Road West and Gillson Street.
FACEBOOK PHOTO Irvine Jubal Fraser
A police source told the Free Press on Tuesday what is believed to have occurred.
The suspect was with a group of friends who had been on the bus for some time. They were believed to be intoxicated, either from alcohol, drugs or both. At some point, all of the mans friends got off the bus. But for reasons unknown, the suspect stayed behind.
As the route came to an end, Fraser noticed the man still seated. He put the bus in park and went to the back, telling the man hed have to leave.
"Wheres my buddies?" the suspect asked, according to the police source.
Fraser told the man theyd already left and hed now have to follow. At some point he apparently put his hands on the man in an attempt to escort him off, which prompted the suspect to lash out.
"He spit on (the bus driver)," said the police source.
Fraser then grabbed the man and was in the process of pulling him off the bus when the man pulled out a large knife and began slashing and stabbing away. It was an extremely violent attack, one that left a large pool of blood near the front of the bus and resulted in Frasers arm nearly being severed, according to the police source.
Fraser was rushed to hospital in critical condition but doctors were unable to save his life.
A student in the U of Ms Asper School of Business rushing to catch the last bus to his home on campus arrived at the scene shortly after the attack and was still clearly traumatized later in the day.
I didnt witness the killing but I saw the body. It was in a pool of blood, said the international student, who did not want his name published, adding campus security were already at the scene when he got there.
For me, I was thinking hes dead already. My view was to run away, thinking the murderer should be around. I went over on the river side and this morning, I heard that the suspect was caught around there. Thats the way I ran so Im terrified right now.
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A blood-soaked sidewalk remains as police investigate at the scene of a fatal stabbing of a bus driver at the University of Manitoba.
Witnesses pointed officers, who were being led by the canine unit, in the direction of the Red River, where a suspect trying to cross to the St. Vital side was arrested and taken into custody. The suspect is known to police, the source said.
Following the arrest, an officer returned to the river to continue investigating and fell through the ice. Other officers were able to get a rope to him and pulled him out of the water. He was not injured.
Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said at a police press conference Tuesday that the suspect was the lone passenger on the bus. It is not known how the attack began.
"It is a shocking story any time a public servant is killed while working, whether thats police, fire or in this instance, a public transit driver," Smyth said. "Our heart goes out to all of the public servants that are out there doing their job every day. We dont think things like this are going to happen."
Dave Wardrop, former Transit director and the citys new chief transportation and utilities officer, said the full-time drivers slaying is unprecedented.
This is a very difficult day, obviously, for everybody, both at the City of Winnipeg and certainly within Winnipeg Transit, Wardrop said, adding assaults on public transportation are a problem across North America.
We know how difficult it is. We encourage everyone to focus on the job at hand, on the service we need to deliver on a daily basis, and continue on.
Flags outside civic buildings were lowered to half-mast.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with Jubals loved ones and friends. All of us at Winnipeg Transit are shocked and saddened, and are struggling to come to terms with this news," Transit acting director Greg Ewankiw said in a statement published on the unions website.
U of M spokesman John Danakas said the suspect had no apparent association with the university.
"This is a horrible, tragic event," Danakas said. "Winnipeg Transit drivers provide an invaluable service to the University of Manitoba day-in and day-out."
Danakas said services available to students, such as counselling, are outlined on the U of M website.
Story includes files from: Ashley Prest, Mike McIntyre, Bill Redekop, Aldo Santin, Boris Minkevich, Mia Rabson, Kevin Rollason and Scott Emmerson
Minnesota legislators are attempting again to address rising levels of student debt.
Both the Senate and House will be receiving bills similar to the tax credit proposal included in the failed 2016 tax bill. Provisions in that bill would have provided tax credits of up to $1,000 for college graduates paying off student loans.
On Monday, Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, proposed a bill that would allow a refundable income tax credit of up to $1,000 for people paying more than 10 percent of their income to student loans.
Miller said the bill complimented other efforts to reduce costs for students attending college.
Were always looking for ways to make higher education more affordable, Miller said. But we should also work to help the folks who have already been through college and are struggling to pay back their student loans.
In a 2016 press release, Miller said the refunds wer estimated to save debtors $37.2 million in 2018 and $38.1 million in 2019.
Millers bill would allow the taxpayer and their spouse to both claim the credit.
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, sponsored a similar bill in the House to make higher education students eligible for a $500 to $1,000 tax credit toward loan or interest payments.
His included stipulations allocating the tax credits based on the individuals job.
It would allow both members of a married couple to claim the credit, but it couldnt be more than a taxpayers entire income for a year.
Other, competing, bills giving larger breaks to students through tax credits have been introduced as well.
Sen. Greg Clausen, DFL-Apple Valley, co-authored a bill that would give students up to $5,000 in tax credits.
The funding for the bills would come from the states general fund.
Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation for number of people with student debt, and sixth for the average amount debtors owe, according the Institute for College Access and Success.
Seventy percent of the adults graduate with student debt, with an average debt load of about $30,000 for the holder of a bachelors degree.
To address rising student debt, last year lawmakers floated ideas that included establishing a $10 million program to offer up to $3,000 a year to graduates who commit to work full-time in Greater Minnesota. Another was more specific and would have used $500,000 to offer loan refinancing for specific financial emergencies, such as a permanent disability or death of a spouse.
Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, predicted that, like last year, lawmakers would include some relief, after they agree upon the amounts and strategies for allocating the money.
Im confident some version of this will end up in the final tax bill, Pelowski said. This is a huge issue nationwide and its a huge issue in Minnesota.
Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation for number of people with student debt.
Murder convict jailed after 36 years
A convict in 1980 Bheridanda murder case has been sent behind bars 36 years after the crime that took place in Rukum district. Dhana Bahadur Khatri, 60, of Rungha-6, was arrested and jailed, local police said.
College students have always worried about the Big Talk they might need to have with their parents.
In 1847, a student at the University of Pennsylvania might have had to explain to his parents that he joined one of the literary societies, which, on the eve of the Civil War, debated the role of slavery while pistols lay on the lectern.
In the 1960s, college students were worried about their parents discovering they were having sex.
In the 1970s, college students worried that wed have to tell our parents that not only that were we having sex, but that we were having it with people of a different color, or from a different background or of the same sex.
You know what the Big Talk is for todays students? You know what theyre afraid to reveal to their parental units? The current topic for the Big Talk is telling their parents that theyre going to major in the humanities.
Apparently what people are really terrified of is that their kid is going to end up in the humanities. They think that an English major, for example, is not specialized enough; they think English is something everybody can do.
One of my students said his father asked, How is an English major going to help you? You already speak the language.
Thats as narrow as thinking that anybody could major in biology because you already have a body, or major in math because you know how to count. Its not a valid argument, and English majors would know that, because we know how to make or counter an argument.
Although practical experience and the direct application of knowledge are the result of any good education, theyre not necessarily what is most significant about it.
The importance of a good education, especially one heavy in the humanities, is about being able to survey, understand and either strengthen or dismantle the apparatus that underlies our civilization, culture and society.
Only a sense of context informed by history, the ability to understand competing philosophies and an intellectual curiosity can permit us to confront unexamined systemic injustice, manufactured falsehoods and the electing of a meme into a position of enormous political power. Not that Im bitter.
Taking a lot of selfies doesnt mean you live an examined life, and youll remember hearing that an unexamined life is not worth living. That line isnt from Stephen Colbert or Lady Gaga by the way; its Socrates via Plato.
Were in danger of losing our hold on a shared culture because we no longer have a shared basis of knowledge or basis to assess what has actual value. For example, just because you get a lot of retweets doesnt mean your ideas are original, judicious or accurate.
One of the most interesting new presences on Twitter is called @HalfanOnioninaBag, which is exactly what its name indicates. It was created only to garner more Twitter followers than Donald Trump and, in its brief life, it has amassed 768,000 of them.
One terrific aspect of a humanities education is that is allows you to distinguish irony, satire and humor from what is serious. You can distinguish a fraudcast from a broadcast.
Is language important enough to deserve study? Why dont we just listen to what people mean behind the words?
Because how we envision the world depends on how we construct our description of it. Language makes you see things in a certain way and once youve seen it that way, you cant unsee it. Words can be as irrevocable as an action. They can cut as deeply as a surgeons scalpel.
So what can you do with an English major? The quick answer is: Anything you please. English majors, who know how to read carefully, think critically, write brilliantly, argue convincingly and speak with wit, panache and a vocabulary wide enough to include the word panache are in leadership positions in every field.
Whether in government, academics, business, technology, medicine, the law, teaching, writing or the fine arts, graduates who hold bachelors degrees in English have the erudition, confidence and skills to organize and articulate the worlds most interesting and vital ideas. You can write this down: Our future depends on them.
Since its founding in St. Paul in 1982, Pheasants Forever (PF) has been at the forefront of upland habitat conservation in Minnesota and nationally. Today the groups 149,000 members including 17,000 who belong to its sister organization, Quail Forever have conserved about 16 million acres of wildlife habitat. The groups will host their national Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic from Friday through Sunday at the Minneapolis Convention Center, expecting some 30,000 attendees. Heres a look through the years at PF, at the federal governments fluctuating Conservation Reserve Program and Minnesotas correspondingly fluctuating pheasant population:
1982: Meetings of what will become PFs first board of directors are held with then-DNR wildlife chief Roger Holmes to gather support for a Minnesota pheasant stamp to be required of hunters. Holmes urges a portion of sales, if the stamp is approved by the Legislature, to be sent to a wildlife lobbying group in Washington to push for a multiyear federal farmland set-aside program. Meanwhile, PF incorporates on Aug. 5, 1982. In addition to myself, the first directors include Russ Anderson of Clinton, Minn. (no relation); and Cecil Bell, Norb Berg, Bud Berger, Ted Berger, Walt Bruning, Chuck and Loral I Delaney, Jeff Finden, Bob Naegele, Dave Vesall and Bob Larson, all of the Twin Cities.
1983: PF holds its first banquet at the old Prom Ballroom on University Ave. in St. Paul. Some 800 people attend, including Gov. Rudy Perpich, who signs the pheasant stamp bill into law. About $25,000 is netted at the banquet, with proceeds used to hire PFs first executive director, Jeff Finden.
1985: PF grows to 12 chapters and 1,000 members, including its first Iowa chapter. The groups fast growth is fueled by a unique funding arrangement that allows chapters to keep most money they raise for local habitat work. Meanwhile, Congress includes the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a five-year cropland set-aside plan, in its 1985 farm bill. CRP results from a marriage of conservation interests, spearheaded by PF and others, and the governments desire to pump cash into a struggling farm economy.
1990: In its habitat efforts, PF attempts to leverage a long and glorious Minnesota pheasant-hunting tradition. In 1958, about 1.5 million pheasants were harvested in Minnesota. And in 1961, the state had 270,000 ringneck hunters a number that by 1972 had plunged to 47,000, due to declining bird numbers. In 1982, when PF was formed, only 265,000 pheasants were killed by hunters. But with the advent of CRP about 1.7 million acres are enrolled in 1990 pheasant numbers rise. The pheasant harvest climbs to 483,000.
2000: PFs membership continues to increase nationally, rising to about 90,000. The groups leadership changes, with Howard Vincent, formerly PFs chief financial officer, replacing Finden, who retired. CRP acres decline slightly, to 1.46 million, as does Minnesotas ringneck harvest, to 375,000. Hunter numbers remain relatively healthy at 100,000.
2005: Mild winters and expanding PF habitat work contribute to an upswing in state ringnecks. The DNR August roadside survey yields some of the highest counts in 20 years: 101 birds spotted per 100 miles in 2005; 115 in 2006; and 106 in 2007. State CRP acres top 1.7 million. Hunters respond, with almost 119,000 strolling the states uplands in 2006. Meanwhile, PF has collectively tallied more than 5 million acres of habitat work nationally, and in 2008, the national Pheasant Fest in St. Paul attracts nearly 30,000.
2010: Minnesotas pheasant population and harvest show signs of weakening. In 2006-08, about 600,000 roosters are taken by hunters in each season. But by 2010, the August survey reveals just 63 birds per 100 miles, down from the 115-per-100-mile peak in 2006. Hunter numbers also fall, to around 90,000. Tough winters are to blame in part. But CRP acres decline to about 1.4 million in 2010. The reasons: Rules for the program tighten, and the USDA allows fewer acres to be included. Commodity prices also are about to swing upward a combination that will undercut Minnesota pheasants. Yet PF remains resilient, with membership rising to 118,000 and an additional 7,000 joining Quail Forever, the group PF founded in 2005.
2017: As PF prepares for its national Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center, it reports record membership of more than 140,000 in 740 chapters in the U.S. and Canada. For the fifth consecutive year, it has been given top marks by charity overseers. Also, with other conservation groups, PF is preparing to help mold the next federal farm bill. The effort is important: Fewer than 1 million Minnesota acres remain in CRP, with many due to exit the program in coming years. Encouragingly from a conservation perspective, more farmers are looking to place more of their marginal acres in CRP because of declining commodity prices. Still, money is tight in Washington, and its unclear how CRP will be treated by the Trump administration. The good news: The annual Minnesota ringneck roadside count has risen from 23 per 100 miles in 2011 to 52 in 2016, with the harvest also rising, to 243,000 last year, from 198,000 in 2011.
Heres a sign I recently saw: I would like to apologize to anyone I have not yet offended. Please be patient, I will get to you shortly. As the Larry the Cable Guy would say, Thats funny right there, I dont care who ya are!
Thanks to the political correctness police we have become an incredibly guarded society. There always is someone standing by to call you out for anything that potentially may offend someone else.
Whatever happened to the good old days where it was simply OK to tell a funny, sometimes tasteless, joke in mixed company? And by mixed company, I am referring to cross-racial or cross-cultural company.
I get several opportunities a year to speak in front of various groups. As any speaker does, you carry an arsenal of jokes to either break the ice or for use in transition.
I told a dinner audience an old joke about a priest and a minister that received negative comments in the feedback. Rather than repeat the entire joke, the offensive part was the punch line, When I got to the commandment about adultery, I remembered where I left my bike.
Now, to tell that joke, there is no foul language and the punchline leaves the bulk of the joke to the recipients deduction.
To appease every sensibility, I have yet to determine whether I have to remove the Christians from the joke or the word adultery. Maybe I never tell the joke again despite having told that joke hundreds of times before with no rebuke and tons of laughs.
Its gotten so bad that our top comedians are avoiding college campuses.
Chris Rock told New York magazine in 2014 that the schools simply do not want anybody offended and you cant even be offensive on your way to being inoffensive. Jerry Seinfeld said in a radio interview that other comics warned him not to go near colleges theyre so PC.
Even uber-liberal comedian Bill Maher was the victim of a petition against him at the University of California-Berkley. The universities are busy setting up safe spaces and developing lists of potentially offensive words, all they while creating a culture of intolerance in their protectionist bubbles of tolerance.
Comedy always has been on the cutting edge of political commentary. Remember the topical satire and sexual innuendo of Martin & Rowans Laugh-In? Considered cutting edge at the time, its mild by todays standards. If they attempted to replicate their show today, it probably wouldnt make it.
Who could forget when George Carlin was arrested in 1972 for violating obscenity laws in Milwaukee for reciting his Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television? It made him a campus favorite. One has to wonder if he still were alive whether he would be allowed on campus. After all, he was known to tell a sexist joke or two.
Were losing that cutting edge of comedy. A well-told joke not only makes you laugh, it can make you think. Not all jokes are designed for in-depth analysis, but it was, after all, Saturday Night Live that made it acceptable to make fun of the President of the United States on national television.
This topical humor extended into our homes, too. When I was a kid growing up, I vividly remember the melting pot that was my grandpa Macs dining room in Kenosha.
As the last stop before the Simmons Island boat launch, there always were people coming and going. Guys with nicknames like Curly and Charlie Carp often could be found at the dinner table sharing stories, telling jokes, and insulting each other in jest. They were Irish, Polish, black, and more.
The jokes and stories they told around that table couldnt be repeated today. They usually were poking each other as they teased profusely. Imagine poking fun at a Mick, a Polack, and a black man (I never heard the n-word).
These men dined together, they laughed together, and in times of sorrow, they cried together. They were best friends who embraced not just themselves, but each other. They were never offended.
Were losing touch with who we are as neighbors, and friends, simply because of political correctness and the thought police.
I am not recommending people become uber-offensive, but we can lighten up a bit and learn to laugh with each other again.
Lets get our humor back. Or as Bill Engvall would say, Heres your sign.
President Donald Trump's executive order blocking people from seven Muslim countries from entering the United States fails to clarify or categorize the profession of the people who are prevented from coming. Unfortunately, there will be a direct effect on doctors, researchers, medical students and nurses who are seeking to come here for training or employment.
The order, which has been put on hold by federal courts and may be revised, blocks individuals from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days. Before it was put on hold, the order caused much chaos at U.S. airports. Two doctors who were returning from Yemen were detained and denied entry.
There are approximately 900,000 physicians in the active delivery of medical care in the United States, which is predicted to have a shortage of about 100,000 doctors by the year 2025. About 186,000 of our doctors are international medical graduates doctors who attended medical school abroad and then came here to practice. Approximately 50,000 are Muslim physicians who are immigrants. This number does not include American citizens who went to school in the United States and are Muslims. Muslim doctors are contributing to the U.S. economy in many ways. They are providing health care and are doing research in graduate medical education facilities, where they are either residents or fellows. They are involved in relief work here in the states and abroad.
Physicians who are Muslims come from several parts of the world. Most of them come from the following countries: India 8,000, Pakistan 11,000, Egypt 4,900, Iran 4,500, Syria 3,500 and Lebanon 2,800.
International medical graduate distribution is as high as 51 percent in some parts of the United States. These doctors are providing care to the needy in the inner cities, rural areas and metropolitan cities. New Jersey, New York, Florida and Illinois have the highest concentration of the international medical graduates.
About 30 percent of the applications to take the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination are from international medical graduates. In 2015, the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates granted certificates to practice in the U.S. to 225 doctors from Egypt, 1,093 from India, 230 from Iran, 104 from Iraq, 198 from Jordan, 148 from Lebanon, 765 from Pakistan, 148 from Saudi Arabia, 84 from Sudan, 116 from Syria and 90 from Turkey.
A ban on Muslim immigration that includes physicians would create a deficit in graduate medical education, resident and fellowship programs. International medical graduates are filling a large number of first-year residency positions in the U.S. for example, 42 percent of positions in internal medicine, 26 percent in emergency medicine, and 51 percent in family practice.
This year 260 doctors have applied for medical residency programs in the United States from the seven nations affected by the orders 90-day ban. According to a statement from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the executive order would disrupt education and research and would have a damaging long-term impact on patients and health care. Just stopping 260 residency applicants would affect 1 million patients.
A clarification of the executive order regarding the medical profession needs immediate attention. It is of the utmost importance to stop terrorism but there is no link between doctors and terrorism. Each life matters and the nation should not be deprived of adequate medical care.
Dr. Ayaz M. Samadani has been a family practitioner in Beaver Dam since 1971. He is past chair of the governors Public Health Council and is a past president of the Wisconsin Medical Society.
Voters will elect two board members from the field of four when they head to the polls April 4. The seats that are up for election are currently held by Damm, who serves as the boards vice president, and Kevin White, who is the boards president. White is not seeking re-election.
Butwal-Gorakhpur cross-border transmission line: Nepal, India to finalise DPR of 400 kVA power line
Nepal and India have agreed to finalise the detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed Butwal-Gorakhpur cross-border transmission line prepared by the joint technical team representing both the countries.
Portage Elks Lodge No. 675 is proud to announce that Jared Michael of Portage won the Wisconsin Elks State Hoop Shoot contest in Wausau recently and will be representing Wisconsin in the 12- to 13-year-old category at regionals in Iowa City in March. Pictured from left are Elroy the Elk, Jared Michael and Wisconsin Elks State President Rob Radig.
A Poynette man, accused of undelivered work and taking collectibles from a retiree, has been ordered to spend nine months in jail and four years on probation after entering a plea of no contest to theft charges.
Stephen Corbin, 35, was given a withheld sentence in an emotional hearing Tuesday, in which the daughter of one of the victims testified to profound loss and betrayal from the incident at the heart of one of the two cases Corbin was facing in Columbia County Circuit Court.
He is a military veteran who served his country and bravely earned two Purple Hearts; I do not know anyone more patriotic; I do not know anyone I admire more, the woman said of her father.
She told the court that her fathers wife died a year ago and he has since dealt with limited mobility, putting energy into family and hobbies, including a coin collection that she described as for his children and grandchildren and his legacy in life.
This was a hobby that was started by his dearest mother, she said. There wasnt anything that meant more to him than trying to finish this for his children. It was always so wonderful to see the excitement, the pride he felt touching and cleaning and polishing every coin there was such a sense of sentimentality knowing that he had worked so very hard on each and every coin. And now that has been taken away from us.
She told the court that she had found out about the incident in late September when a Madison coin dealer called her to offer condolences. Coins from her fathers collection had been sold there and the only apparent explanation was that he had died. When she checked her fathers safe, she said that she found between $10,000 and $20,000 worth of collectors coins missing.
Three books of coins from the collection had been sold at Capital City Coin for $1,500, though the broker admitted that the value would be more than $3,000. Corbin was a suspect as having known about the collection from when the woman, who previously dated Corbin, visited her sick father before he was taken to the hospital.
He had an opportunity to be a part of our family, the woman told the court Tuesday. Steve went missing in September 2016 for about a week-and-a-half. He lied to his girlfriend that he had been kidnapped by white supremacists who were beating him and threatening to cut his throat.
That was about the time the family received the call from the coin broker leading them to discover several other books of coins missing from a gun cabinet, along with two guns. The items were insured, but only covered to $200 for the coins and $2,500 for the guns.
Assistant District Attorney Troy Cross said although Corbin was a suspect in the theft of those items, he could not be charged because he could not be linked to them.
Not that I didnt wish to prosecute, Cross said, I just didnt find any evidence.
Corbins no contest pleas were to felony theft in the coins case and felony bail jumping in the second case, in which he was charged with misdemeanor theft, accused of agreeing to help a woman in the town of Leeds to install a window in a chicken coop, taking $300 for a window, but never producing the window and after repeated requests, never returning with the money.
Speaking on his own behalf, Corbin appeared to be apologetic, telling the court that what might have seemed like a lack of remorse, was his simply not wanting to make matters worse.
I wanted to apologize to the victim, but the condition of the bond said no contact with the victim, said Corbin. Ive talked to my girlfriend, who is his daughter, Should I send a letter through you? and (public defender) Mark Gumz said, Absolutely not, that would be bail jumping again.
He repeatedly told the court that he messed up, but that he is now working and has an opportunity to get a promotion and do better in the next week.
I hope I dont lose this chance of a lifetime, and Id just like to tell her, he said turning to the family sitting in the front row, behind him. Im sorry, but it was a condition of bond. I apologize.
Judge Todd Hepler described the case as difficult on a number of levels, with a series of acts that tore a family apart, and not coming forward after being caught.
Looking at the big picture it is also important to make amends and that means being able to work, said Hepler. Working from a recommendation of six months in jail with Huber privileges followed by probation, Hepler ordered Corbin to sit nine months in jail, with work release priviledges, but with no opportunity for early release and four years of probation.
Corbin is still facing two open cases, accused of felony forgery in Dane County.
Opinions varied considerably, but the Portage School Board on Monday approved sending to local lawmakers a resolution in support of repealing state law that prohibits school years from beginning earlier than Sept. 1.
Debate over the resolution, which passed 4-3, centered mostly on whether the gesture would be worth the districts effort and, as member Steve Pate put it, if opposing Sen. Luther Olsens position on the issue might spend too much of the districts already limited political capital.
Wisconsins Sept. 1 School Start Law has since 2000 prohibited public schools from beginning earlier than Sept. 1. The bill to repeal the law, circulated in the Legislature by state Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Sen. Jim Ott, R-Mequon, would allow local school boards to determine when their school years begin.
Repeal has been opposed by the states tourism industry, including The Wisconsin Dells Visitor and Convention Bureau.
We have a bigger problem to deal with as a board and its not this calendar, Pate said. This calendar to me isnt something we should be messing with. Funding for public schools, he added, is the primary issue board members should be focused on when reaching out to the Legislature. If (revenue) caps in the state budget stay flat and our expenses go up, were going to have such a need for a referendum, it may not pass.
You only have so much political capital. Trust me, you dont have a ton of it, Pate said.
To me, Board President Matt Foster said, the bigger picture is getting control, which a certain party in control of the Legislature always speaks of local control, so lets get that local control back to the school board. That doesnt mean the board will have an early calendar, but it gives us the option to develop our own calendar as we see fit for the districts and communitys needs.
Will we blow political capital? I dont think so, he said.
Why would you cut off the hand that feeds you? Pate responded. You know the tourism area is against this, and those are the folks paying the bills.
Joining Pate in opposition were members Dan Garrigan and Chad Edwards. In favor were Foster, Dan Brown, Connie Shlimovitz and Fred Reckling.
District Administrator Charles Poches also supports repeal, noting public education has already seen significant reduction in local control and that this repeal would be one way to regain a little bit of local power. Poches told the board the resolution, if passed, would be sent to Olsen, as well as other local lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly.
I like the flexibility and local control, Garrigan said, but Im not so sure I feel comfortable sticking our neck out there to fight the fight. I know were being proactive, and how many times do you have the opportunity to do that, but Im not so sure its worth a resolution.
I dont think this is sticking our neck out there, Foster replied, to send out a piece of paper stating our opinion.
At the end of the day the money is going to talk, said Edwards, who worried the district in circulating the resolution among lawmakers would be spinning its wheels.
The tourism board is not going to allow (repeal) to happen.
Brown said he recently received a couple of phone calls for the first time in a long time from residents who supported repeal. Why would you let the tourist industry run our school (calendar)? Brown asked opposing members, to which Pate replied, Were not a revenue generator here.
Other issues with beginning earlier than Sept. 1, Brown and Pate agreed, would be the struggles for students working summer jobs that run into September.
But the fact remains, Brown said, that there are times in the year when its a bit more conducive to begin school in August. To sacrifice what I think is valuable learning time in the classroom, in the district, from August, on the basis of tourism, for the few bucks they might make, I just dont believe its the right priority.
I dont think its our battle to fight, Pate said. We have other battles we need to fight.
After the resolution passed, Pate asked Poches if the resolution would note that the vote was not unanimous. Poches said that it would.
More conservatives are proposing action on climate change.
Wisconsins Republican leaders should join the conversation and effort.
James Baker and George Schultz, former Cabinet secretaries under President Ronald Reagan, outlined their proposal for a revenue-neutral carbon tax Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal. Their column, A conservative answer to climate change, suggests a gradually increasing $40-per-ton charge on carbon emissions, with proceeds going directly to the American people.
Baker, Schultz and other conservative thinkers were set to brief Vice President Mike Pence on the idea this week. They want their GOP colleagues who control Washington to lead on the issue, rather than ignoring the problem while Democrats press for solutions.
The extent to which climate change is due to man-made causes can be questioned, the GOP elder statesmen wrote in their op-ed. But the risks associated with future warming are so severe that they should be hedged.
Their reasonable approach, unlike former President Obamas strategy, doesnt require heavy government regulation. Instead, the carbon tax would signal to the free market that businesses and consumers need to figure out the most efficient ways to reduce their carbon footprints. That might include investing in clean energy or buying machines that use less power.
A family of four would receive about $2,000 the first year in quarterly refunds from the tax, which would more than offset higher energy costs, according to the plan. Many economists think those rebates will stimulate economic growth. About 70 percent of Americans would come out ahead, including most working-class people.
The plan would rebate money to U.S. companies that export products to nations without similar carbon pricing, and charge a fee on imports from those countries. Business leaders including Rob Walton, chairman of Walmart for 23 years, have endorsed the levy on carbon, which is similar to a plan by Citizens Climate Lobby in Wisconsin.
A tax-and-rebate system would allow quick repeal of Obamas Clean Power Plan and justify ending civil legal liability for carbon emitters.
Many Democrats have long favored a carbon tax, though some want the proceeds spent on government programs. Steering the money to citizens instead, while limiting the growth of government, should be more popular with the public and Congress. Republicans have a responsibility to lead on the issue because they are in power, Baker and Schultz wrote, and doing so will help the GOP appeal to younger voters.
President Trump belittled climate science during his campaign yet pledged an open mind after his election. Wisconsins congressional delegation including House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville should help persuade the president that climate change, in the words of Baker and Schultz, is one of the defining challenges of our era.
Of love letters and other gestures of romantic love
The form of the love letter is a useful way for us to think about romantic love in Africa.
I remember the first time that I wrote a love letter. I was nine years old and it said something along these lines:
Dear Parham, I like you very much because you are clever.
Sadly, our affections were not mutually shared. Parham reported me to his father, who worked at the same company as mine. Instead of a reply, I got a sit-down with my dad who explained that I should probably spend my time paying closer attention to my schoolwork.
Despite this disappointment, I continue to carry an attachment to the love letter.
Histories of letter writing reveal the ways that dense debates about the individual and collective, or tradition and modernity, have been mediated through both the form and content of the letter.
Romantic love critiqued
With friends, its easy to laugh about the ridiculous pink and red consumables that flood shopping aisles as soon as the December holidays end. Its not surprising that we come to experience and understand romantic love quite cynically as a consumer rite, or practice.
Sara Ahmed explores some of these ideas in her 2010 book, The Promise of Happiness. She explains how the so-called good life that we are encouraged to aspire to is actually a package of conservative and exclusionary family forms and intimacies. These get packaged as happiness in a neoliberal trick that has us convinced that as individuals, through our choices and actions, we can do the work that it takes to be happy.
Romantic love is also the site or scene for various relations of power and violence.
Sexuality generally presents us with personal and private concerns that are also very political. When Stella Nyanzi writes of the [govern]mentality of African sexualities, she highlights that African sexualities inherit the baggage or assumption of the need to be controlled, improved, modernised, civilised or tamed. Established ideas of good and bad sex inform our ideas about romantic love and who we might imagine to experience true love at all.
The love letter expresses a challenge to some of these assumptions about romantic love in Africa. The letter, like other romantic literary genres, offers an intellectual and affective site that demands a more slippery reading.
Of optimism and uprising
Lynda Gichanda Spencer writes about chick lit in a way thats instructive. For many observers, the genre is cheap sentiment, selling the same story over and over again. These stories are also charged with being escapist so women (considered the primary consumers of the genre) are accused of silliness and a lack of focus on more important matters like patriarchy (or their schoolwork). Yet Spencer demonstrates the ways that women writers of chick lit in South Africa and Uganda specifically retain a realist form.
This realist tone is something we might call sex without optimism, in the sense that instead of happily ever after, the story often ends with disappointment. This offers an uprising potential. In a fairy tale, the action comes to a close once the couple mutually recognises each other. This formula has often, although not always, been followed in chick lit. In the African chick lit analysed by Spencer, the threat of infidelity or poverty or both structure the ways that the action is organised. The resolution will instead often involve groups of women supporting each other, or seeking solutions to personal and structural problems.
The term sex without optimism, I borrow from Lauren Berlant and Lee Edelman who use the phrase to open their discussion of sex as a negative relation that opens one up to not only rejection but also vulnerability. All relations with an other are shaped by encounters with power and powerlessness and in that sense, imply a form of risk. Berlant and Edelman draw their insights from this assumption, and suggest that sex presents with a range of unbearable contradictions. Even when love succeeds, these contradictions still remain.
I will offer an example.
In December of 2016, Kagure Mugo published a photo essay of the wedding of Anele Mkuzo and Seipati Magape which was widely shared in my circles on Facebook. I have spent a lot of time thinking about weddings for my doctoral research and forthcoming book. Observing so many versions of the same might make a person rather cynical. Yet, I still cry at weddings. When I saw Anele and Seipatis pictures, again I was overwhelmed by the same feelings.
This is because marriage is a civil right not openly granted to same-sex couples in the world. Weddings of LGBTQIA people in South Africa help us to understand the expression of romantic love as an expression of freedom and not just as an act of buying into the good life.
Further, in a highly unequal society, the ability to marry at all is something that people achieve only by manoeuvring against many odds.
In conclusion
Our accounts of relations of structural violence are often incomplete when we carve out the affective or emotional dimensions. This is why I remain attached to the love letter and other forms of unbearable risk. In part, because they are a resistance to the problematic ways that we continue to encounter images of African sexualities.
Perhaps we can think of the love letter and other gestures of romantic love, as forms, or techniques that mediate the violence of time, dispossession and exclusion; as well as the scene, form and technique of survival, wishing, longing, becoming and failing all at once.
Heres one:
Beloved, You make me dream only of nipples and fingers and wet.
Nepal Telecom to propose reconstruction of Dharahara
Nepal Telecom (NT) has proposed the reconstruction of quake-damaged Dharahara, the iconic tallest historical monument, in Kathmandu.
Shelter case to be heard in the Constitutional Court
CALS challenges the gendered impact of City of Johannesburg shelter rules
The Constitutional Court will tomorrow hear an appeal by residents of Ekuthuleni Shelter against the City of Johannesburg and Metropolitan Evangelical Services. The appeal challenges the constitutionality of rules imposed in shelter accommodation provided to people who would otherwise have become homeless after an eviction.
Ekuthuleni Shelter has been used as alternative accommodation by the City of Johannesburg since 2012 after a Constitutional Court ruling. At the time, the City of Johannesburg was ordered to provide temporary accommodation for people evicted from their homes in Saratoga Avenue. They were placed in Ekuthuleni Shelter, which is managed by an organisation called Metropolitan Evangelical Services and operates under a managed care model. The most troubling aspects of this model include rules which force residents to leave their homes between the hours of 8:00 and 17:30 on weekdays and 9:00 and 17:30 on weekends (the day-time lockout rule) and further prevent spouses and families from living together (the gender segregation rule).
The residents of Ekuthuleni, represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), took the matter to court, arguing that these rules infringe on a number of their constitutional rights, including the rights to dignity, privacy and freedom and security of the person. The matter was heard in the South Gauteng High Court in August 2014 and the Court found that the rules are indeed an infringement of the residents rights. The City of Johannesburg subsequently appealed the judgment at the Supreme Court of Appeal and, in May 2016, the High Courts decision was reversed. The residents were granted leave to appeal the Supreme Courts decision to the Constitutional Court and the final appeal will be heard tomorrow.
The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) has intervened as amicus curiae or friend of the court in both the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal. CALS, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, continues to intervene in the matter at the Constitutional Court. CALS hopes to assist the Court by providing arguments on the need for gender-sensitive policies on housing guided by International Law. Our submissions argue that the shelter rules not only infringe on residents rights to dignity, privacy and freedom and security, but have a disproportionate impact on women. The lockout rule puts women at an increased risk of experiencing gender-based violence, and the gender segregation rule deprives them of intimacy and support from their partners. The shelter places particularly unfair burdens on women and therefore also infringe on their right to equality.
This case raises significant constitutional questions around the connection between the right to access adequate housing and the rights to dignity, equality, privacy and freedom and security of the person. The outcome of the case will have far-reaching implications as it will determine the Citys policy in other shelters which assist those who may face homelessness as a result of evictions, which remain a significant problem in inner city Johannesburg.
The matter is set to be heard on 16 February 2017 in the Constitutional Court. You can read more about the case including court papers here.
For inquiries, please contact:
Baone Twala, attorney at CALS
011 717 8652
baone.twala@wits.ac.za
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Nepali girl found washed up at Sydney beach
A Nepali student has gone missing and the body of his friend, a 23-year-old girl, was found washed up at a Sydney beach in Australia on Monday morning.
BAE Systems plc provides defense, aerospace, and security solutions worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Electronic Systems, Cyber & Intelligence, Platforms & Services (US), Air, and Maritime. The Electronic Systems segment offers electronic warfare systems, navigation systems, electro-optical sensors, military and commercial digital engine and flight controls, precision guidance and seeker solutions, military communication systems and data links, persistent surveillance systems, space electronics, and electric drive propulsion systems. The Cyber & Intelligence segment provides solutions to modernize, maintain, and test cyber-harden aircraft, radars, missile systems, and mission applications that detect and deter threats to national security; systems engineering, integration, and sustainment services for critical weapons systems, C5ISR, and cyber security; and solutions and services to intelligence and federal/civilian agencies. It also offers data intelligence solutions to defend against national-scale threats, protect their networks, and data against attacks; security and intelligence solutions to the United Kingdom government and allied international governments; anti-fraud and regulatory compliance solutions; and enterprise-level data and digital services. The Platforms & Services (US) segment manufactures combat vehicles, weapons, and munitions, as well as provides ship repair services and the management of government-owned munitions facilities. The Air segment develops, manufactures, upgrades, and supports combat and jet trainer aircraft. The Maritime segment designs, manufactures, and supports surface ships, submarines, torpedoes, radars, and command and combat systems; and supplies naval gun systems. It also supplies naval weapon systems, missile launchers, and precision munitions. The company was founded in 1970 and is based in Farnborough, the United Kingdom.
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, a technology company, focuses in the areas of automation and digitalization in Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. It operates through Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure, Mobility, Siemens Healthineers, and Siemens Financial Services segments. The Digital Industries segment offers automation systems and software for factories, numerical control systems, motors, drives and inverters, and integrated automation systems for machine tools and production machines; process control systems, machine-to-machine communication products, sensors and radio frequency identification systems; software for production and product lifecycle management, and simulation and testing of mechatronic systems; and cloud-based industrial Internet of Things operating systems. The Smart Infrastructure segment offers products, systems, solutions, services, and software to support sustainable transition in energy generation from fossil and renewable sources; sustainable buildings and communities; and buildings, electrification, and electrical products. The Mobility segment provides passenger and freight transportation, such as vehicles, trams and light rail, and commuter trains, as well as trains and passenger coaches; locomotives for freight or passenger transport and solutions for automated transportation; products and solutions for rail automation; electrification products; and intermodal solutions. The Siemens Healthineers segment develops, manufactures, and sells various diagnostic and therapeutic products and services; and provides clinical consulting services. The Siemens Financial Services segment offers debt and equity investments; leasing, lending, and working capital financing solutions; and equipment, project, and structured financing solutions. Siemens Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany.
The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH.
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NRB lays down rules for hiring foreigners
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has barred banks and financial institutions (BFIs) from hiring foreign nationals in an arbitrary manner.
One held with Euro 13, 180 from TIA
Police apprehended a man in possession of a cache of undeclared Euro from the Tribhuvan International Airport in the Capital on Tuesday, Nepal Police said.
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Rome wasnt built in a day
Politics in Nepal is guided by interests, but winning elections will be increasingly hard unless benefits trickle down
UK national nuclear archive opens in Scotland
15 February 2017
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A national archive of records related to the history and development of the UK's civil nuclear industry opened to the public for the first time yesterday. The archive, located in Caithness, Scotland, is funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The Nucleus archive in Caithness (Image: NDA)
The archive has been built in response to the NDA's statutory obligation to manage public records, keeping them safe and making them more accessible to the public and the nuclear community.
The NDA embarked upon the project to find a single home for all the relevant material - records, plans, photographs, drawings and other data and information - in 2005, following an evaluation of the options and costs. Caithness - with 2000 people working in decommissioning at the nearby Dounreay site - was selected to house the 20 million ($25 million) archive. Dounreay is set to close in 2030.
The NDA said an exercise lasting at least five years is now under way to collect many thousands of records from locations across the UK for transfer to Nucleus (the Nuclear and Caithness Archive).
The archive will include material from hundreds of thousands of boxes that have accumulated over the decades at Sellafield, Dounreay, Magnox sites, Harwell, Winfrith and other nuclear facilities that are scheduled for eventual demolition. Large quantities of additional material, meanwhile, are also held at off-site commercial storage locations.
Up to 26 kilometres of shelving has been installed in a series of secure pods to store the material and ensure it is preserved. The material will be catalogued, indexed and stored in a carefully controlled environment, with humidity and temperature kept stable to minimise the potential for deterioration.
The NDA said discussions are under way with the wider nuclear industry, including the Ministry of Defence, new build developers and operators of the UK's fleet of nuclear power plants, to consolidate their records at Nucleus.
The archive will also act as a central repository for detailed radioactive waste records related to the UK's planned geological disposal facility. These records, it said, must be safeguarded for many generations.
NDA chairman Stephen Henwood said, "Today we see a new chapter in the important role Caithness has played in the UK's nuclear history. For many decades Dounreay was at the forefront of the development of the British and world nuclear industry and now Nucleus will see this knowledge protected for future generations."
NDA chief executive John Clarke said, "Across the UK, at over 17 sites, we have accumulated large volumes of important and valuable records, some dating back to the 1940s. Now we have Nucleus, we have ensured that this information is accessible, secure and managed efficiently for the taxpayer."
An official opening ceremony for Nucleus - which will employ a staff of about 20 including archivists, preservation experts and support staff - will be held later this year.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
Related topics
Immigration to Australia can be traced to several thousands of years back when the ancestors of the Australian aborigines arrived in the country through Southeast Asia and New Guinea. European settlers arrived in the continent in 1788 and established a British penal colony in New South Wales. After World War II, more than seven million people migrated and settled in Australia. Beginning in the 1970s, there was a surge of immigrants to Australia from different parts of the world, forming a multicultural society. Studies have shown that Australia is one of the most receptive countries to immigrants in the world, next to Canada.
Immigration Through Penal Code
The first European migration to Australia started with the British convict settlement of Sydney on January 26, 1788, which was comprised of 11 ships ferrying 775 convicts and 645 officials. The settlers were petty criminals, the crew of sailors, and second rate soldiers, the majority with little knowledge and skills in farming or building. The settlers faced enormous challenges in the colony, particularly that of hunger. The second fleet arrived in 1790 with more convicts and the third fleet came in 1791 with even more convicts, though many died in the sea or upon arrival because of severe conditions. When the penal code ended in 1868, there were about 165,000 convict who had been already been brought to settle in Australia.
Immigration Through Gold Rush
1851 marked the beginning of the Gold Rush and led to a huge expansion in the population of Australia, which included at first, British and Irish settlers. Secondly, there were the Germans and other Europeans and finally the Chinese. The Chinese community in Australia became the subject of discrimination and restrictions rendering it difficult to remain in the country. The immigration Act of 1901, also known as the "White Australian Policy", was an attempt to unify the all the federation colonies into a nation while restricting non-white to settle in the country. The next wave of immigrants to Australia were the arrival of 5,000 Jews who escaped from Germany in 1938. This groups of immigrants were not restricted entry into Australia.
Immigration After World War II
After World War II, Australia began an extensive immigration program with the attempt to populate the country because it had escaped Japanese invasion and therefore the need for a bigger population. Many displaced Europeans headed to Australia and more than one million British subjects found their way into Australia through the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. The program was initially targeted at citizens originating from the commonwealth countries, but later after the war it was extended to include other countries like Italy and Netherlands. Under the program the qualification was good health and age limit of 45 years.
Current Immigration
There are different classes of immigrants allowed to enter Australia and they are categorized into various types of visa entry programs. There is the employment visa which is granted to the highly skilled people from different countries around the world. The visas are sponsored by the State that recruits workers depending on their needs. Other types of visas include the student visa and family visa.
Penguins are flightless, aquatic birds that belong to the order Sphenisciformes and the family Spheniscidae. These birds live almost exclusively south of the Equator with the exception of the Galapagos penguin which lives in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. Penguins usually feed on crustaceans, cephalopods, and fishes found in the sea. These birds spend nearly half of their lives in water and half on land. Here we present the species of penguins living in the world today.
19. Macaroni Penguin
A pack of macaroni penguins.
The macaroni penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus, is a penguin species whose range stretches from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Subantarctic. One of the 6 species of crested penguins, the macaroni penguin features a yellow crest, black face and upper parts, and white underparts. The penguins feed on crustaceans, mainly krill, cephalopods, and small fish. The macaroni penguin has one of the largest populations of the penguin species. However, the species is still classified as vulnerable due to the steadily declining population.
18. Royal Penguin
A royal penguin on Macquarie Island.
The royal penguin, Eudyptes schlegeli, is a penguin species that lives on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and other islands in proximity. One of the species of crested penguins, the royal penguins are quite similar in appearance to the above-mentioned macaroni penguins and thus there is controversy regarding their classification as a separate species. One of the physical differences between the two types is that the royal penguin features a white face and chin instead of black in the case of the macaroni penguin. However, the two species are known to interbreed. The royal penguins can be sighted in the waters around Antarctica and spend a greater part of their time at sea than on land.
17. Northern Rockhopper Penguin
A northern rockhopper penguin.
Also known as the Moseley's penguin, 99% of the population of the northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi) breeds exclusively on the Gough Island and the Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic Ocean. These penguins feed mainly on krill and other crustaceans, octopus, squid, and fish. Since the 1950s, the population of this penguin has undergone a 90% decline. It is therefore classified as an endangered species.
16. Eastern Rockhopper Penguin
The eastern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi) inhabits sub-Antarctic islands located in the Indo-Pacific ocean like the Campbell, Auckland, Antipodes, Heard, Crozet, Prince Edward, Kerguelen, and other islands.
15. Erect-crested Penguin
An erect-crested penguin.
The erect-crested penguin (Eudyptes sclateri) is a penguin species that is known to live only in New Zealand. Here, it breeds on the Antipodes and Bounty Islands. It is primarily due to this restricted range that this species is classified as endangered.
14. Snares Penguin
Snares penguins.
The Snares penguin (Eudyptes robustus) breeds on a group of islands called The Snares off the southern coast of New Zealands South Island. The penguin is medium-sized, at 50 to 70 cm. The penguin has a dark blue-black dorsal surface and white ventral surface. Krill, small fishes, and cephalopods act as food for these birds. The Snares penguin is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.
13. Fiordland penguin
The Fiordland crested penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) breeds on the Stewart Island/Rakiura and South Islands south-western coasts in New Zealand. Here, the penguins nest in colonies within dense temperate forests. The penguins feed mainly on cephalopods and, to some extent, on crustaceans and fish. Due to its small population, the Fiordland penguin is a threatened species with populations ranging between 2,500 to 3,000 pairs.
12. Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Close up of a yellow-eyed penguin.
The yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) is a penguin species that is closely related to the little penguin. These penguins breed along the coasts of New Zealand's South Island, as well as other nearby islands. The penguins are medium-sized, measuring about 62 to 79 cm in length. The penguins have a bright yellow band running from the eyes around the back of the head. Individuals live as long as 20 years. The yellow-eyed penguin has a population of only about 4,000 individuals and is thus an endangered species. Introduced predators and destruction of habitat are the biggest threats to these penguins.
11. African Penguin
African penguins, South Africa.
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) has a range confined to the African waters. The penguins possess a black facial mask and distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes. The penguins live in colonies spread across 24 islands between Algoa Bay and Namibia, where they forage for pelagic fish and marine invertebrates in the coastal waters. The African penguin is one of the most threatened species of penguins living today and has been classified as Endangered by the IUCN. Only 10% of the population of the 1.5 million population estimated in 1910 survive today. Historical exploitation of the penguins for meat, removal of guano (which served as burrowing grounds for the penguins) for fertilizer preparation, oil spills, and competition by fisheries are some of the biggest threats facing the penguin population.
10. Galapagos Penguin
A Galapagos penguin.
The Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) is endemic to the Galapagos Islands and is the only penguin living north of the Equator. The penguin is 49 cm long and about 2.5 kg in weight. These penguins are found primarily on the Fernandina Island and Iasabela Island of the Galapagos but small populations are also scattered throughout other islands. The penguins feed on small schooling fish and occasionally crustaceans. The Galapagos penguin is classified as endangered after it experienced a 70% reduction in population in the 1980s.
9. Humboldt Penguin
The Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) is a species of penguin living in South America. Coastal Chile and Peru serve as the breeding grounds of these penguins. The Humboldt penguin is named after the cold water current of the same name through which it swims. The species is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN. The penguins range in size from 56 to 70 cm. They feature a black head where a white border that runs from the top of both the eyes, around the ear covers and chin, to join at the throat. Climate change, over-fishing, and ocean acidification are the biggest threats to the survival of this penguin species.
8. Magellanic Penguin
Magellanic penguin.
The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) breeds in the coastal areas of Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. Some of these penguins even migrate to Brazil and are occasionally sighted in the coastal waters of Rio de Janeiro. The penguins grow to attain lengths of 6176 cm. The penguins are characterized by two black bands between their breast. The Magellanic penguins feed on squid, krill, cuttlefish, and other crustaceans in the water. The species is classified as near threatened by IUCN. Climate change triggered increased frequency of extreme events like wildfires, storms, temperature extremes, etc., have induced an increased reproductive failure in these penguins.
7. White-flippered Penguin
The white-flippered penguin (Eudyptula minor albosignata) is a small penguin that stands at about 30 cm tall. It obtains its name from the white markings on its flippers. The penguins nest on the Motunau Island and the Banks Peninsula near New Zealands Christchurch city. The penguins feed on small shoaling fish and cephalopods. According to the US Endangered Species Act, the white-flippered penguin is an endangered species.
6. Little Blue Penguin
Little blue penguin.
The little penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin that grows to an average of 33 cm only in height. These penguins can be observed along the coastlines of New Zealand and southern Australia. Due to their blue plumage and small size, they are fondly named as the fairy penguins. The penguins feed on small clupeoid fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Although classified as a least concern species, the little penguins are subjected to human disturbances in their habitat. Some of these penguins drown due to the effects of bycatch fishing. Oil spills and plastic pollution are also lethal to the penguins
5. Gentoo Penguin
A gentoo penguin jumps into the water.
The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) is a penguin species closely associated with the Adelie penguin. The most characteristic phenotype of these penguins is the wide white stripe stretching like a bonnet the top of the head. They also possess a bright orange-colored bill and a fairly long tail. The gentoos attain a height of 51 to 90 cm which makes them the third largest penguin species. Gentoo penguins breed in many sub-Antarctic islands with the major colonies based in South Georgia, Kerguelen Islands, and the Falkland Islands. These birds feed on krill and other crustaceans as well as fish. Sea lions, killer whales, and leopard seals often prey on the gentoos while many seabirds steal their eggs. Due to the relatively stable and large population, the IUCN Red List enlists the gentoo penguins as a Least Concern species.
4. Chinstrap Penguin
Chinstrap penguins.
The chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) lives on the islands and shores of the Antarctic Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean. The penguin gets its name from the narrow black band under its head which makes it appear as if it is wearing a helmet. These penguins have an average length of 72 cm and weigh around 3 to 5 kg. The species has a circumpolar distribution. Krill, squid, fish, and shrimp constitute the food of these penguins
3. Adelie Penguin
A group of Adelie penguins.
The Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a penguin species living along the coast of Antarctica and is one of the most southerly distributed of all seabirds. These penguins are mid-sized with size ranging from 46 to 71 cm. The Adelie penguins are distinguished by the white ring surrounding their eye and feathers at the base of the bill. The Adelie penguins feed mainly on a variety of krill and also glacial squid. Although the population of these penguins is still quite stable, climate change threatens the future survival of this species.
2. King Penguin
King penguins, Falkland Islands.
The King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is the second largest penguin after the emperor penguin. Two subspecies of the king penguin have been recognized, the A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli. The former is found in the South Atlantic and the latter in other parts of the penguins range. King penguins feed on small fish, squid, and lanternfish. The penguins breed on the subantarctic islands scattered at Antarcticas northern reaches.
1. Emperor Penguin
An emperor penguin with two chicks.
The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) an endemic species to Antarctica. It is the tallest and heaviest among all types of penguins. The penguins attain a height of about 122 cm and weight between 22 and 45 kg. The head and dorsal surface of this species is black in color while the belly is white and breast is pale-yellow in color. The ear-patches are bright yellow in color. Fish is the primary food for these large penguins which also feed on crustaceans and cephalopods. The emperor penguins can remain under water for as long as 18 minutes.
Sajha Yatayat begins night bus service in Valley
With an aim to facilitate night-shift workers and passengers travel to their destinations, Sajha Yatayat operated its night bus service in the Kathmandu Valley from Tuesday.
The Netherlands has a hereditary constitutional monarchy that was established in 1815. The monarchy is a hereditary position within the Royal House of Willem, where heredity is determined by proximity of blood. Both males and females alike are allowed to inherit the monarchy on equal grounds. The constitution identifies the roles and duties of the monarch as well as the monarchy's cycle. An heir can become a king or queen as long as they are 18 years or above and if below 18, a regent is appointed. The monarch is the chief head of state that is responsible for appointing the prime minister. The monarch does not have absolute powers over the government but is responsible for signing laws that have been approved by parliament. The monarch is expected to uphold the constitution in carrying out their duties. Netherlands regained independence in 1813 and became a kingdom in 1815. Since its establishment, Netherlands has had seven monarchs who have inherited the throne mainly from their relatives.
Monarchs Of The Netherlands
Willem I
Willem Frederick was the first king of Netherlands who served between 1813 and 1840. He had close to absolute powers given to him by the constitution. He declared Netherlands a kingdom in 1815. His major focus during his reign was to unify the people.
Willem II
Willem II served as the king of Netherlands from the abdication of his father in 1840 until his death in 1849. Previously, he served in the British Army which saw him rise through the ranks and win several awards. During his reign, the constitution of 1848 was established, making Netherlands a parliamentary democracy. Though he was a conservative, he allowed for constitutional reforms and rarely interfered with government matters. His reign ended after his death in 1849, when he was succeeded by his son.
Willem III
Willem III was the king of Netherlands from 1849 to 1890. He succeeded the throne after the death of his father in 1849. Willem III was a conservative inclined towards the military, with his reign characterized by several dismissed cabinets and disbanded State generals. The reign of Willem III saw the institution of the reactionary constitution for Luxembourg. He ruled Luxembourg on his own until it became a fully independent country once again, following the second treaty of London. The kings behavior was often described as bordering on dictatorial and violent, drawing fear from his servants and ministers and constant conflicts with his wife, Sophia. He was succeeded by Wilhelmina after his death.
Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina served as the queen of Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. Wilhelmina was born on August 31, 1880. She succeeded her father, King Willem III, after his death when she was ten years old. She took over from her mother who served as her regent until she was eighteen. Wilhelmina reigned for about 58 years until her abdication. During her reign, she was identified as a strong-willed woman with a thorough understanding of business which saw her become the richest woman in the world. She reigned during the two world wars during which she inspected the progress of her army and went to exile during the Second World War. She ceded her monarchial duties to her daughter, Juliana in 1948 due to health problems.
Who Is The Current Monarch Of The Netherlands?
Netherlands has been served by other monarchs including Queen Juliana (1948-1980), Beatrix (1980-2013) and the current monarch King Willem-Alexander who took over the kingdom in 2013 after the abdication of his mother, Queen Beatrix.
Currency is an important object in the exchange of goods and services around the world. Currencies include banknotes and coins that are used as a legal tender. A total of 28 currencies are used across 50 European countries who are all members of the United Nations. The most common currency used in Europe is the euro, and any country entering the European Union is expected to join the Eurozone. Only Denmark is exempted from using the euro while Sweden is yet to adopt the euro because it is yet to meet the Exchange Rate Mechanism II. The euro is a legal tender in 19 of the 28 countries who are members of the European Union and in five other non-EU members.
The Euro Currency
The euro currency is a result of the EU project for the Economic and Monetary project which was established in January 2002. The currency is used by all the EU member states except three: the UK, Denmark, and Sweden. The euro is also the currency used in all the institutions of the EU and other countries or states outside of the European Union such as the Republic of Kosovo. Over 200 million people outside of the EU use currencies that are pegged to the euro. The euro is the second largest currency reserve as well one of the most traded currency worldwide (after US dollars). The name euro was adopted officially in Madrid in December 1995 and the euro was introduced into the world in 1999. The euro is divided into euro cents (100 cents). The Latin alphabet version is used on the euro in support of linguistic plurality. The euro sign () was created by a Belgian called Alain Billiet with the inspiration for the symbol coming from the cradle of European civilization.
Pound Sterling
Pound Sterling is a currency used in the United Kingdom and also used in other territories and colonies of the UK. The pound is also used in other countries and states like Isle of Man, Falkland Island, and Gibraltar. It is the worlds oldest in-use currency and has continuously been used since its inception. The Bank of England regulates the issuance of the sterling banknotes and coins. The pound is the fourth most traded currency in the world after US dollars, euro, and Japanese yen. The pound sterling was commodity money backed by silver or gold up to some point in time, but it is currently backed by the economy of the countries where it is a legal tender.
Krone And Krona Currencies
Krona and krone is a name given to the currencies used in some of the European countries. The two names translate to crown in English. Danish krone is the official currency of Denmark, introduced in 1875. Danish krone is pegged to the euro. The Norwegian krone is used in Norway and its territories and has existed only electronically since 2012. The currency is the 13th most traded currency in the world. Other countries using krone or krona include Sweden and Iceland.
Fractional Units Of The Currencies
The euro currency is subdivided into 100 cents (referred to as euro cents) in order to distinguish it from other currencies. Krone or krona currencies are subdivided into 100 re, derived from a Latin word meaning gold coin. The pound sterling is divided into 100 pence abbreviated as p. Other fractional units include Lipa for Croatian Kuna and ban for leu currencies.
Motor Vehicles, aircraft, coal, and fertilizers are some of the top exports of Canada, one of the worlds wealthiest nations. After WWII, Canadas economy developed rapidly fueled by growing service, manufacturing, and mining sectors. The discovery of oil reserves has propelled Canada to the fifth largest producer of oil in the world. The country produces high-quality products since it is a high-tech industrial society, which competes favorably in the international market.
Economy Of Canada
The countrys fiscal year starts from April 1 to March 29 the following year. Canadas GDP stands at $1.6 trillion to rank as the 10th by nominal GDP and 15th by Purchasing Power Parity. The GDP experienced a 0.5% growth in 2015. The nations GDP per capita is valued at $56,100 ranking 10th and 9th by Purchasing Power Parity. The Canadian Dollar is the currency in circulation in the country, and it ranks 22nd in regards to ease of doing business. The services sector contributes 69.8% to the GDP while the agriculture and industry sectors contribute 1.7% and 28.5% respectively. Canadas leading industries are foodstuffs, petroleum, and natural gas, chemicals, transportation equipment, fishery, and wood and paper materials. Canada boasts abundant minerals including iron, zinc, sulfur, gold, nickel, and magnesium. In 2015, the country exported goods worth $523.904 billion such as motor vehicles, aircraft, chemicals, industrial machinery, and crude petroleum. The country imported goods valued at $547.874 billion.
Service, Mining, And Manufacturing Sectors In Canada
Canada, like other developed nations, has its economy dominated by the service industry. The country receives thousands of visitors annually who boost the tourism sector. Other service industries include healthcare, information technology, finance and insurance, wholesale and retail, and telecommunication. Canadas is a major producer of natural resources such as sulfur, zinc, gold, cobalt, titanium, potassium, and uranium. 80% of these resources are exported, and the US is the largest consumer. The oil sands in Alberta have made Canada a top exporter of oil. Canada has a strong manufacturing sector credited with the production of products including food items, clothing, electronics, medical equipment, transportation and sporting equipment, and automobiles and aircraft.
Top Exports Of Canada
Cars exported from Canada are valued at $47,632 million and the country is ranked 10th in top auto producing countries. Aircraft, helicopters, and spacecraft are the second most exported products at $7,322 million. Aircraft parts exported from the country are valued at $2,758 million. The top natural resources exported by value are coal ($6,766 million); raw aluminum ($5,570 million); iron ore ($4,569 million); gold ($3,730 million); and copper ore ($3,107 million). Top agricultural products are wheat ($6,317 million); rapeseed ($5,190 million); rapeseed oil ($3,398 million); pork (2,828 million). Other exports from Canada are potassic fertilizers ($6,519 million); pharmaceuticals ($5,162 million); sulfate chemical woodpulp ($4,390million); ethylene polymers ($4,022 million); gas turbines ($3,23million); spark-ignition engines ($2,740 million); and refined petroleum ($2,514 million).
Top Export Partners Of Canada
The United States is the largest consumer of Canadas exports at 75.2% followed by China at 4.10% and the UK at 3.17%. Canadas trade with the US is facilitated by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which also includes Mexico, a country which imports 1.51% of Canadas exports. Other consumers of Canadas exports include Japan, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Germany, France, and Belgium.
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National Foreclosure Inventory Down 30 Percent from December 2016
On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures declined by 8.1 percent to 21,000 in December 2016 from the 23,000 reported for November 2016. As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged about 22,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.
On a month-over-month basis, the December 2016 foreclosure inventory fell 1.9 percent compared with November 2016.
The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in December 2016 were Florida (45,000), Michigan (30,000), Texas (24,000), Ohio (21,000) and California (19,000). These five states accounted for 36 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.
Four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in December 2016: North Dakota (182), the District of Columbia (254), West Virginia (312), Montana (630) and Alaska (668).
Four states and the District of Columbia had the highest foreclosure inventory rate in December 2016: New Jersey (2.8 percent), New York (2.7 percent), Maine (1.8 percent), Hawaii (1.7 percent) and the District of Columbia (1.6 percent).
The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate in December 2016 were Colorado (0.2 percent), Minnesota (0.3 percent), Utah (0.3 percent), Arizona (0.3 percent) and California (0.3 percent).
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According to CoreLogic's December 2016 National Foreclosure Report, U.S. foreclosure inventory declined by 30 percent and completed foreclosures declined by 40 percent compared with December 2015. The number of completed foreclosures nationwide decreased year over year from 36,000 in December 2015 to 21,000 in December 2016, representing a decrease of 82 percent from the peak of 118,336 in September 2010.The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process and completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 6.5 million completed foreclosures nationally, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 8.6 million homes lost to foreclosure.As of December 2016, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 329,000, or 0.8 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 467,000 homes, or 1.2 percent, in December 2015.CoreLogic also reports that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 19.4 percent from December 2015 to December 2016 with 1 million mortgages, or 2.6 percent, in serious delinquency, the lowest level since August 2007. The decline was geographically broad with year-over-year decreases in serious delinquency in 48 states and the District of Columbia."While the decline in serious delinquency has been geographically broad, some oil-producing markets have shown the effects of low oil prices on the housing market," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Serious delinquency rates rose in Louisiana, Wyoming and North Dakota, reflecting the weakness in oil production.""Foreclosure and delinquency trends continue to head in the right direction powered principally by increasing employment levels, stringent underwriting standards and higher home prices over the past few years. We expect to see further declines in delinquency and foreclosure rates in 2017," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "As the foreclosure inventory diminishes, we must look ahead and tackle tight housing supply and growing affordability issues which are keeping many potential homebuyers, especially first-time buyers, on the sidelines."
A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took
Service seekers hit by protests
People have been deprived of government services after employees at the local bodiesdistrict development committees, municipalities and VDCsresorted to sit-ins three days ago demanding job security.
Bunch Of Passionate Amateurs Acknowledged As Brymbo Plans Formally Get Council Support
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Feb 14th, 2017
Truly exciting plans for the former iron and steelworks site in Brymbo have the potential for a world class tourist venue for Wrexham, councillors were told today.
The Brymbo Steelworks site has been the subject of redevelopment proposals since it saw its closure in 1990. Formed by ex-workers and local history enthusiasts, Brymbo Heritage Group came together with landowners Brymbo Developments Ltd in 1994, to become the Brymbo Heritage Trust and develop a regeneration project for the site.
Aiming to be phased over a twenty-year period, the redevelopment proposals are seen to have the potential to bring a wide range of benefits to Wrexham in the long term. In particular, a tourism and heritage based vision after the discovery of the 300-million-year-old Brymbo Fossil Forest in 2004.
Today members of the Executive board agreed a reports recommendations to support the Trusts proposals to gain more funding in the development of the former iron and steel works becoming a visitor attraction.
The Board authorised the Head of Housing and Economy to provide more of their time towards the Trusts proposals and that in support of the Trust, the Lead Member for Communities and Partnerships, Cllr Hugh Jones, was also given the green light write a letter of support to prospective funders.
Cllr Jones described the programme as one that is truly exciting with the potential to develop into a world class tourist venue in Wrexham.
These proposals are really exciting and the industrial heritage of Wrexham aligns with that of Ironbridge, said Cllr Jones.
If you look at the links with Wilkinson development and Wilkinson family that stretch back to the late 1790s through to the end of steel making in the 1990s, Brymbo Steelworks was the last in a long line of industrial activity which includes mining, lead smelting, quarrying and brick making.
Significantly part of this, weve got the 300-million-year old fossil forest that has been found. I remember asking an expert from the British Museum about the level of this status in terms of how important is it. He said that it is probably unique in the United Kingdom, it was certainly one of the finest in Europe and it has world status. I believe we have the potential here in Brymbo to have yet another world heritage site.
He went on to say: Its interesting that the Brymbo Heritage Group describe themselves on their Twitter page as a bunch of passionate amateurs. This bunch of passionate amateurs have managed to raise 162,000 in revenue funding, 91,000 in capital funding, has had support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, from the Princes Regeneration Trust and from CADW. Not bad for a bunch of enthusiastic or passionate amateurs!
Other members of the Executive Board, including Cllr Neil Rogers also added their support: Fossil forest is quite a significant find within the world and I think theres an opportunity there for that to be developed. Its an opportunity for the Trust to strengthen as well, so Im happy to support the scheme.
Cllr David Kelly added: For me this is excellent. It goes beyond just what is happening in Brymbo. Theres no reason why Wrexham couldnt have a scheme like Ironbridge.
The type of minerals we have throughout the county borough are quite unique really. Brymbo Heritage are keen to take this further to promote the county borough with multiple heritage sites to offer a unique industrial heritage experience.
You could say the fire went out in the steelworks, but this will relight the fire, Ive no doubt about it.
Cllr Jones made further comment regarding the instrumental work thats gone into the project: I also want to make reference to the work of Cllr Paul Rogers, the local member who was instrumental in bringing together the council officers and the number of key stake holders to ensure this project went forward.
Cllr Paul Rogers finished by saying: It is vital that the Welsh Government recognise the importance of this site and the need for investment and to create jobs. Obviously we have some jobs onsite, but it falls short of the amount of jobs which were promised when the steelworks were closed and we need to keep campaigning to try and deliver those jobs that were promised to the local community.
Councillor Mark Pritchard jumped in at the end of the agenda item, adding: I have to, as elected member of Rhostyllen, mention John Iron Mad Wilkinson. When in school I was taught that the industrial revolution was started in Rhostyllen, Bersham. I have to put a marker down for that!
Cllr Hugh Jones perhaps laid the groundwork for a future turf war in historic sites, by stating, Without Bersham, Ironbirdge would not be built.
A mini-trivia session then broke out with Cllr Kelly having made an observation regarding relighting the fire in Brymbo, a reference of course to the steelworks furnaces, prompting a pop quiz. Cllr Pritchard used his extensive Take That knowledge to point out that was sung by LuLu, but noting: She did not work at Brymbo though!
Car Destroyed in Arson Attack
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Feb 14th, 2017
A car has been destroyed in an arson attack in the Caia Park area this evening.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to the fire at the Dunks, Caia Park at 6:20pm this evening.
One crew from Wrexham attended the incident and used one hose reel jet to extinguish the fire.
The vehicle suffered 100% fire damage.
A spokesperson for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of fire is thought to be deliberate ignition.
Anyone with any further information about the incident is urged to contact North Wales Police on 101.
Picture tweeted to Wrexham.com by PSCO John Davies
Plans to Transform Former Miners Rescue Centre Into Museum and Accomodation For Young People
This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2017
A former Miners Rescue Centre in Wrexham could be transformed into a museum and cafe, along accommodation for young people.
An application submitted to Wrexham Council proposes that Miners Rescue Centre on Maesgwyn Road is restored to a functional state by converting the building into accommodation and a museum with an associated cafe.
The building, which was built in 1913 and retains its traditional appearance, received a Grade II listing by CADW in 2010.
Over the years the site has been subject to planning applications proposing that the building is converted into student accommodation, however these have been refused.
However in January 2017 it was announced that Wrexham had received an additional 530,000 of Welsh Government funding as part of the Vibrant and Viable Places (VVP) programme.
Of the VVP funding up to 150,000 will be used to support the acquisition and refurbishment of the centre, with the provision of funding allowing the building to be purchased by the Wrexham Warehouse Project.
The charitys aim is to provide a self-build project for young adults coming through the care system which, when completed, would create seven affordable accommodation units with a room for a live-in site supervisor.
It will also help preserve a part of Wrexhams coal-mining heritage by creating a museum and cafe in the remainder of the space.
Details about the development are provided within the applications design and access statement, which notes that while some alterations will be made externally, the majority will take place inside the building.
The rear of the property is also reported to have undergone heavy demolition over the years, with plans to restore the walls of that section of the building to their former glory.
The design and access statement concludes: We feel this planning application should be looked favourably upon as the intention is to provide additional accommodation within close proximity to the town centre.
The proposed self-contained apartments and bedsits are planned for use by a local charity, The Warehouse Project, to house young people. Therefore the support from the local authority will allow our client to provide a service to the local community.
We are utilising an existing resource and creating new accommodation / service within an existing structure. By allowing this proposal to take place, a business can continue to grow and take on a new lease of life to support the local community by providing new residential apartments suitable for a younger generation.
The application is expected to go before Wrexham Councils Executive Board at a later date.
Wrexham Council Sign a Formal Agreement With Portuguese Government to Support its EU Residents
This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2017
Since the launch of Together in Wrexham in 2008, Wrexham Council has maintained close working relationships with communities from all over the world with ties with Portugal formally strengthened yesterday.
Drawn to the area by employment opportunities, as well as community based support for equality and diversity, Wrexham now has over 2,000 Portuguese nationals, many of whom reside in the Hightown area.
In light of this, the Portuguese Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs approached Wrexham Council to formally agree a Cooperation Protocol, which was yesterday approved for signing by the Executive Board of Wrexham Council.
The protocol is for one year and doesnt require any financial commitment from Wrexham Council, but in signing this agreement, the local authority will now receive ongoing commitment and support from the Consulate General of Portugal in Manchester.
Councillors were told in the report that it will assist Wrexham Council in working with the Portuguese community to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty, taking forward the values and ambition of Together in Wrexham and delivering the principles of integration, collaboration and involvement as described in the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015.
Welcoming the report, Cllr Bob Dutton said: This authority and its predecessors have had a great deal to do with international relations. The people of Wrexham do look outside their borders, do take an interest in what is going on elsewhere and aim to ensure that weve got first class relations, as far as were able, with all parts of the world.
The protocol wont be too testing from a financial perspective but it will certainly emphasise our willingness and wish to have a good relationship with people who come to live and stay in this part of the world.
Cllr Alun Jenkins also commented: My ward (Offa) is probably one of the most diverse in the whole of the County Borough so I very much welcome the contents of this Portuguese protocol.
He added: The Polish community is an even larger community in Wrexham and I give every encouragement for other protocols being worked on.
In response, Cllr Hugh Jones replied: Wrexham has a very proud history of welcoming residents from a wide range of communities. As youll see, this is an approach that was made to us by the Portuguese government, rather than an initiative on our behalf and obviously we would welcome any similar approach that was made to us by any other community or any other official government.
Cllr Jenkins made a further point: Together in Wrexham was launched quite a long time ago and was a very significant step forward. Perhaps we could go through a relaunch of that just to bring it out in the open again and bring it to peoples minds. It was such a major step forward, that I dont want it to be lost.
Cllr Jones responded by saying: I will certainly take on board what you say about Together in Wrexham. I think we need an update report which will highlight the progress that we are making and the grants that we are giving.
The Cooperation Protocol will be signed at a formal ceremony in Wrexham by the Mayor of Wrexham on behalf of the Council and a representative of the Portuguese Government at a future date.
Shrestha in India: Local poll date first
CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha has said the government would announce the date of local elections before expediting efforts to endorse the constitution amendment bill that has been tabled in Parliament.
Rollback: Unpopular KUKL chair withdraws court cases
The chairman of Kathmandu Valleys sole drinking water supplying firm, who has lost support of most of the staff because of his high-handed attitude, has withdrawn two court cases filed against the company he is working for.
Some 9,000 Brazilian troops began to deploy in the streets of Rio de Janeiro Tuesday in the face of mounting protests against austerity and privatizations and the threat of a work stoppage by the Military Police (PM), the force that patrols the countrys second-largest city and the state which bears the same name.
On the same day that Brazils right-wing President Michel Temer announced the deployment, calling the threat of a walkout by the PM an insurrection against the constitution, workers of Rios State Water and Sewage Company (CEDAE) staged another mass protest outside the states Legislative Assembly in opposition to a planned privatization of this essential social service.
Last Thursday, riot police violently repressed a similar demonstration, leaving a number of people severely injured.
The military deployment in Rio follows a similar dispatch of federal troops to its neighboring state to the north, Espiritu Santo, where blockades organized by wives, mothers and other relatives outside PM barracks, demanding higher pay and improved conditions, led to the PM staying off the streets and triggered a sharp rise in homicides and other crimes.
Schools, public transportation and businesses shut down in the course of the protests, particularly in Vitoria, the states capital. While some 3,000 troops, including armored units and paratroopers, were sent in to restore law and order, the return of the PM to the streets at the beginning of this week appeared to be the result of an agreement reached between their representatives and the state government.
The PM, an inheritance from the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for two decades following a CIA-backed coup in 1964, is under military discipline and legally barred from striking. The force is responsible for killing thousands of Brazilians each year. In 2015, Brazils police killed at least 3,300 people, roughly three times the number killed by cops in the US.
Off-duty police have participated in protests against the austerity measures, in some cases calling for a return to military dictatorship and forcing workers to take down their banners. There have also been reports of off-duty cops pulling guns on riot police sent to quell their protests.
The deployment of federal troops to Rio was requested by Rios state governor, Luiz Fernando Pezao, who is a member of the PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party), the same party as President Temer. Under the federal intervention, known as a guarantee of law and order, the troops are to be deployed until February 22, when an evaluation will be made by the government over whether they will be kept occupying Rio for a longer period. The following week is that of Rios Carnival, which brings visitors from around the world.
The use of the army to carry out policing functions has become increasingly frequent as Brazil continues to face its worst economic crisis in a century, and with the Temer governments approval ratings falling to the abysmal level reached by former Workers Party President Dilma Rousseff before her impeachment on trumped-up charges of budgetary manipulations last August. Some 47,000 troops were deployed in Rio during the summer Olympic Games, and more recently the government sent troops in to quell bloody prison revolts.
In announcing the deployment to Rio, Brazils Defense Minister Raul Jungmann insisted that, as opposed to the events in Espiritu Santo, there was no loss of control in Rio de Janeiro nor any inability of Rios organs of state security to maintain law and order. He claimed that 95 percent of Rios Military Police were operating as normal. Instead, he said, the deployment was of a preventive character, designed to free members of the PM on account of demonstrations.
Jungmanns estimate of the percentage of Military Police going out on patrol is no doubt overly optimistic, even though the stoppage has reached nowhere near the level seen in Espiritu Santo. Still, wives and relatives of police have sought to block the entrances to nearly 30 of Rios 50 PM barracks, including that of the Shock Battalion used to repress demonstrations. In some cases, the police have resorted to changing shifts outside the barracks and even opening up new entrances to circumvent the pickets.
Police, like the civilian public-sector workforce, have still received neither their January salary nor the so-called 13th salary, a legally mandated year-end bonus that should have been paid out at the end of last year.
The state and federal governments are particularly concerned about mobilizing sufficient repressive force to hold a vote February 20 on the privatization of CEDAE, the state-owned water company. Previous attempts to enact legislation on the sale of the public service have been blocked by protests. A vote had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed for fear that the protests outside the PM barracks could deprive the Rio Legislative Assembly of an adequate security force.
The sale of the state water company is a key piece in the austerity program being championed by Governor Pezao in the face of Rios desperate fiscal crisis, which has been deepened by the fall in the price of oil, a commodity that had previously fueled the local economy. The privatization is supposed to secure a loan of 3.5 billion reais (approximately US$1.1 billion) from the federal government designed to prevent the states complete default on debt payments.
Even as the Temer government was deploying army troops to quell opposition to capitalist austerity and privatization, it also moved in a manner unprecedented since the days of military rule to impose censorship on Brazils two most prominent daily newspapersboth of which had supported the impeachment of Rousseff that brought Temer to power.
Temer sent a government lawyer to court to obtain an injunction ordering Folha de S.P. to withdraw an article it had posted on its website reporting on an attempted blackmail of the presidents wife, Marcela. The piece described some of the messages sent by the blackmailer, a hacker who had cloned the Brazilian first ladys iPhone. This included a threat that unless she paid him 300,000 reais, he would make public information that would drag the presidents reputation through the mud.
The Rio-based O Globo announced Monday that it had been subjected to a similar censorship order secured by the Palacio do Planalto, Brazils White House.
This state censorship is particularly onerous in that it is preventing the dissemination of information that was revealed in the public trial of the hacker, who was prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison.
Temers actions reflect the extreme crisis of the government he heads and fear of any further public reference to scandals surrounding his administration The Petrobras bribes-for-contracts corruption scandal that engulfed the entire political establishment could still bring down his own presidency as well. Temer is reportedly still under investigation over testimony by a top executive at the Odebrecht construction conglomerate that he solicited nearly US$3 million in illegal campaign donations during the 2014 election.
Given the crisis and instability gripping the government, the increasing resort to calling out the army to deal with social unrest carries with it the real threat of laying the foundations for a return to military rule in Latin Americas largest country.
Up to 1,000 disability service workers held a one-day strike yesterday in New South Wales (NSW), Australias most populous state, in opposition to the ongoing privatisation of the sector. Over 500 participated in a Sydney meeting, then marched to the state parliament.
The walkout was in defiance of a state Industrial Relations Commission order banning any industrial action. The ruling underscored the determination of the tribunal, following similar interventions by the federal Fair Work Commission, to criminalise virtually any political or industrial campaign against the bipartisan agenda of privatisation and attacks on workers jobs and conditions.
The Public Service Association (PSA), however, called the limited strike and protest in a bid to divert widespread anger among disability workers behind impotent appeals to the state Liberal-National government, and to promote the opposition Labor Party.
While issuing empty denunciations of privatisation, the assorted union officials did not mention that much of the sector has already been sold-off over the past three years, with the PSA having done nothing to oppose the destruction of public disability services. Only around 6,000 workers in the sector are still employed by government departments.
Last year, for instance, the state government completed the privatisation of the Home Care Service, which provided assistance to over 50,000 disabled and elderly people, and employed 4,000 workers. The government bodys role has been outsourced to Australian Unity, in a contract worth around $114 million. There are already widespread reports that some of those previously covered are not receiving any services from the privatised body.
At the Sydney meeting, PSA assistant general secretary Troy Wright all but dispensed with the fraud that the PSA opposes privatisation. His remarks largely focused on calls for the state government to increase the transfer payment for those workers being moved from the public to the private sector.
Tacitly accepting the dismantling of public services, Wright declared: The compensation thats on offer for you to transfer to the private sector is inadequate. Its insulting because groups of workers that have been privatised in other industries have gotten far more.
Wright issued empty promises that the union would seek a better employment guarantee for workers set to be thrown into for-profit enterprises. Like other speakers, he issued a futile appeal for the state government to grow a heart.
The union pushed through a motion for an ongoing community campaign. This is to consist of nothing more than political campaigning in marginal seats and representations to members of parliament, along with vague suggestions of limited strike-action in the future.
Chairing the rally outside parliament house, PSA representative Bronwyn Couch pointed to the unions real concern. We are here because this government has refused to consult with your representative, she said. In other words, the union is seeking to maintain its position at the bargaining table and provide a figleaf of consultation as it supports the privatisation of the sector.
The keynote speaker at the rally was state Labor opposition leader Luke Foley. He unabashedly defended the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), announced by the former federal Labor government of Julia Gillard in 2012. From the outset, the NDIS was aimed at establishing a voucher-based system for disability services, and pushing those who require care into the private sector. It has been the basis for cuts to the disability sector by state Labor and Liberal-National governments across the country.
Foley echoed the fraudulent rationale for the scheme, declaring that the fundamental premise of the national insurance disability scheme is about choice for people with disabilities, their carers and their loves ones, i.e., the choice to seek care from private providers. Foley recalled that the NDIS passed federal parliament with the support of the Liberal-Nationals and said disability policy should be bipartisan.
Foley spelt out the nature of this bipartisan policy, stating that he does not object to the role of non-government providers in disability services. He claimed that public servants in the disability sector had been left to do it by yourselves... So, if theres more resources, more dollars, more support, more choice, thats a good thing and it will include the non-government sector.
In reality, as Foley knows, the NDIS is premised on cutting government budgets by selling off the provision of services to private businesses. Foley said some government providers should be maintained to function as services of last resort, in other words, a small, poorly funded and run-down public complement to a largely privatised sector.
The PSAs acceptance of the pro-business drive of successive Labor and Liberal-National governments raises the necessity for workers to break with the union in order to carry out any struggle in defence of their jobs, wages, conditions and the social right of the disabled to high-quality, public services. Such a campaign must to be based on a socialist perspective and directed not just at the government but at the profit system itself.
WSWS reporters spoke to a number of workers at the protest.
Paul, a disability support worker for ten years, said: I grew up in boys homes in similar circumstances to a lot of the people we help, so I know what its like to lose your sense of security. A lot of the people we look after have no security in their lives and now with the privatisation of these services, they dont know whats going to happen.
Theres been a lot of change over the past ten years, moving towards the private sector. The workforce is in complete uncertainty. People are moved around and the clients that we look after dont see the same people. The young people we deal with have a whole range of complex disabilitiesthey need a lot of support.
I see people who have lived together for ten or twenty years, who are going to be broken up. Some of the older people we look after, who are in their 70s, are going to be shifted into old peoples homes and discarded by an uncaring private sector.
Its already moving ahead. They just want to have less costs to the government. Its very hard fighting it when both sidesLabor and the Liberalsare really on the same side when it comes to privatisation.
A registered nurse specialising in drug and alcohol rehabilitation commented: Undoubtedly the NDIS is about the privatisation of the health system, especially for disability services. Its going to lead to poorer services and less qualified staff looking after the most vulnerable people in our community. I think long-term, eventually were going to find that privatisation doesnt work. The services will be slashed, and people with disabilities will be blamed for not working.
She spoke about the changes that have already taken place in the sector, noting: Theyre bringing in activities-based funding which has taken the focus from the health of the patient to cost-cutting. Its led to higher rates of incarceration and more of my patients going to prison. Staffing is being cut across the board. It should be registered nurses who have proper training caring for the disabled to manage their diseases.
The NDIS is privatisation by stealth and its demolition by neglect. Ultimately, were going to see these people have shorter lifespans and lower qualities of life.
Jamie said: As far as Im concerned, privatisation is just going to make things worse for the community. I worked in a privatised benevolent society and it doesnt do anything for people. Its all about screwing people.
I also worked in a privatised immigration service and it was all about money. I was the first point of contact for immigrants when they came into the country. We housed them. It was privatised around 2004, when immigration contracted out services. It had a massive impact on services. The clients werent getting what they needed and everybody was undermining each other. It became an intolerable place to work, so I left and now Im a bartender.
These are some of the most vulnerable people, the disabled, immigrants and the elderly. Services should be about helping people.
It doesnt matter which party is in government, Labor or Liberal, ordinary people are going to get screwed either way. Ive worked with government departments under governments of both parties and they were both as bad as each other. It used to be that white-collar people supported the Liberals, and blue-collar workers were Labor. Now all the parties are for the rich.
Across the UK, teachers are drawing attention to the impact of the Conservative governments slashing of funding to schools.
The government had pledged to protect school spending, but this was a facade. Successive UK governments have failed to stop the austerity cuts on schools and the Conservatives proposed fairer funding formula is a further attack on the education system. A desperate situation has been created as cash-strapped schools look to face even further cuts from proposed funding reforms.
The National Audit Office (NAO) reports that schools faced 3 billion in spending cuts and a forecast from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said this equated to an 8 percent real-term cut to funding. This means that schools face the worst reduction in funding since the mid-1990s.
The situation is so dire that MPs recently debated the schools funding crisis. At the Education Select Committee on January 31, Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb admitted that 5,500 schools are on the funding floor.
This was in stark contrast to previous comments by the Education Secretary Justine Greening who claimed that schools were already receiving record levels of funding. We recognise that schools are facing cost pressures, which is why we will continue to provide advice and support to help them use their funding in cost-effective ways, including improving the way they buy goods and services, so they get the best possible value for their pupils.
Greenings response covers up the truth that schools will be forced to find detrimental ways to cope with the coming cuts on spending. Pressures of funding are compromising the education of every child, with schools being treated as businesses. The most expensive part of a schools budget is teachers pay. School head teachers will ultimately be forced to decide between allocating funding for staff or resources.
This will only exacerbate the existing crisis. Cuts in funding have already led to a desperate situation where class sizes have increased substantially.
There are many cases across the UK where, even before further attacks take place, schools are struggling and are already considering extreme measures to survive. Schoolchildren face the prospect of a four-day week in the county of West Sussex, and the same is now being considered in the north-west county of Cheshire because of a shortage in funding.
School principals from Cheshire have warned that some subjects could be scrapped, while teaching assistants and mental health support workers could face redundancy.
While public education faces this crisis, Prime Minister Theresa May has nevertheless pledged that schools will take on a larger role in dealing with mental health issues. This is due to cuts of at least 600 million to mental health services since 2010. Previously paid for by central and local government funding, schools will have to pay for these additional responsibilities out of their own budgets.
This attack on school budgets is not sustainable, with school leaders forced to consider unprecedented measures. The BBC reported Denis Oliver, head teacher at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School in Cheshire, saying he was investigating the possibility of having children working at home with their teachers online as virtual support, [thereby] saving on heating, lighting, cleaning and transport costs. We are looking at everything.
He added, Class sizes will rise, services for children with high needs will drastically reduce, school libraries may have to close. Its draconian. It will destroy some schools.
This is not an isolated case but the emerging reality nationwide, with the Independent reporting, 40 percent of small rural schools are set to lose funding.
The impact is being felt across the board. North Devon schools are likely to go bankrupt due to proposed funding changes. Member of Parliament for Liverpool West, Stephen Twigg, said, 80 percent of schools in Liverpool are set to have budget cuts. In the area of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, only one school is set to benefit from the new funding formula changes, with the rest losing money. In Oldham, each school is set to lose 438 per pupil.
Not only are schools worried about the coming changes, but growing numbers of secondary schools are over-spending and deficits are growing. Their average deficit during 2015/16 increased from 246,000 to 326,000. Schools Week magazine reported, Schools are now at the point where they have cut all they can from non-staff budgets.
In this situation, the only solution left to head teachers is to cut money from staffing.
The governments strategy in response to funding problems in Academy schools has been to intervene to give them notices to improve. There is no evidence that this process has helped improve a schools financial situation. In fact, the NAO found that 70 out of 322 academy trusts ended back on financial concern lists even after receiving Education Funding Agency (EFA) support.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which asked 1,000 schools about their funding situation, substantiates these statistics. They found that 71 percent of head teachers polled were only able to balance their budgets by making cuts or dipping into reserves. Seventy-two percent of head teachers fear budgets will be unsustainable by 2019 and 85 percent save money by spending less on new equipment.
The greatest cost pressures on schools, according to head teachers, are government changes, which have passed the costs of employing staff on to schools; the decline in local authority services; and the abolition of a central government grant that enables councils to support schools with pupils who have mental health issues.
According to the NAHT, almost 80 percent of schools are providing support for children with mental health issues from general school budgets. Schools are stepping in where cuts in health and social care funding have failed to meet the growing demand for support.
As wider cuts to social care and childrens services continue, schools have to deal with the effects by taking over the care systems that have been wiped out. This situation only exacerbates the school funding situation and directly affects the care of children, with fully funded and dedicated services no longer available.
Schools are forced to cut hours of speech therapy sessions, and specialist staff who used to work in areas such as drugs, gangs and counselling have disappeared or had their hours cut. Head teachers complain that there is no help outside school for children with mental health issues and schools are now being asked to take on even heavier burdens, but without extra funding.
Schools cannot afford family liaison workers, yet are being judged on the attendance records of children. Head teachers are cutting training budgets at a time when the government has changed every course and every exam curriculum. Money for resources and training for these courses cannot be found by some schools. Some head teachers have followed a policy of not replacing staff where they do not have to.
Parents are increasingly being asked to contribute to school funding. One example is Beechen Cliff, a state school in Bath, which sent a letter to all parentsseveral years before the new funding formula came inasking for a regular voluntary financial contribution. Noting the bleak governmental funding future, it said that maintaining existing standards will only be possible with help and support. The letter continued, At Beechen Cliff education is free but, if parents are willing to give a fraction of that money, we could achieve so much more. It added, We are asking ALL families for a voluntary contribution of 30, 20 or 10 per month to the new Top-up Scheme.
Many schools are heading towards bankruptcy and will be forced to go to the wall. The aim of the governments attacks is to force schools to become businesses that compete, with the privatisation of school-age education the goal.
A preferential vote deal struck by the Liberal Party with Pauline Hansons right-wing One Nation party for the March 11 Western Australian state election has sharpened the political crisis within the Liberal-National Coalition across the country.
Facing a landslide defeat, the state Liberal government has negotiated a pact with Hansons party, whose media polling in the state has soared to 13 percent since last Julys federal election. Premier Colin Barnetts Liberal administration, in the former mining boom state, has slumped to just 30 percent in the polls, as part of a wider collapse in support for the Liberals nationally.
The Liberal Party will direct its second voting preferences in the upper house to One Nation, not to the rural-based National Party, which is part of the Coalition government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the federal level. In exchange, One Nation has agreed to direct its preferences to the Liberals in 35 lower house seats. The Nationals have retaliated in response, directing preferences in some upper house electorates to the Greens, thus endangering Liberal Party seats.
This is not merely a Western Australian development. Senior ministers in Turnbulls government were intimately involved in the horse-trading with One Nation, notably Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Employment Minister Michaelia Cashwho took Hanson to dinner in Perth, the state capital, last December.
Turnbull and other cabinet members have strenuously defended the deal. While claiming to disagree with some of Hansons anti-immigrant and protectionist policies, Turnbull emphasised that his government was now collaborating with her. I have to say we work very closely with the One Nation senators, Turnbull stated.
A previous Coalition government, under former Prime Minister John Howard, vowed in 2001 that it would never swap preferences with One Nation and then railroaded her to jail after her partys appeal to disaffected voters threatened to destabilise the two-party system.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, the National Party leader, has bitterly denounced the deal, warning it would lead to a loss of government in Western Australia and, eventually, nationally. Tensions between the Liberals and the Nationals are deepening throughout Australia, due primarily to the crisis in rural and regional areas, where most of the National Partys support base lives. This has been caused by a severe loss of jobs and basic services, from mining-related closures and government austerity cuts.
This political crisis not only raises the prospect of a split in the federal Coalition government. It underscores the level of political disaffection wracking the entire parliamentary establishment. Buoyed by the election of Donald Trump as US president, Hanson is seeking to emulate the American billionaires success in diverting the anger and alienation felt by millions of working class, small business and impoverished people into reactionary nationalist, xenophobic and protectionist directions.
After decades of declining living conditions and ever-more glaring social inequality imposed by Coalition and Greens-backed Labor governments alike, Hanson is cynically exploiting the seething hostility that has resulted. In this, she is walking in the footsteps of mining magnate Clive Palmers Palmer United Party, which made a similar pitch in the lead up to the 2013 federal election, but has since imploded.
In Hansons home state of Queensland, another ex-mining boom state, media polling currently puts One Nations support at 23 percent. This may be enough for her party to join a coalition government with either Labor or the Liberal National Party after the next state election, which could be held this year. The same poll reported that more than a third of respondents, while not necessarily agreeing with Hansons policies, thought it would be good for One Nation to hold the balance of power in the next state parliament.
Behind the support for Hanson lie dangerous illusions that she represents the interests of ordinary working people, or that One Nation will at least push governments into backing away from their pro-corporate offensive on jobs, working conditions and essential public services such as health, education and welfare.
In reality, as indicated by the comments of Turnbull and Hanson herself, she is actively seeking a prominent position within the parliamentary system, having already assisted the Coalition government to push through socially destructive spending cuts. Not only does Hanson scapegoat Muslims, asylum seekers and foreign workers, in an effort to divide and weaken the working class. She denounces welfare recipients, thus blaming unemployed youth and workers, as well, for the relentless destruction of jobs and conditions by Australian corporations.
The Labor Party, while hypocritically criticising the Liberals for courting One Nation, is also seeking an accommodation with Hanson. Her economic nationalist and protectionist views dovetail with the efforts of the Labor and trade union movement to divert workers discontent down divisive anti-Chinese and anti-foreign worker channels.
The Trump administration has served notice that it intends to expand the Indo-US military strategic alliance. This is not surprising, but nonetheless highly significant: first, because it underscores the new administrations intention to pursue confrontation with China; and second, because Washingtons drive to harness India to its military-strategic offensive against China has dangerously destabilized the region, fueling tensions between India and both China and Pakistan.
US Secretary of Defense, General James Mad Dog Mattis, telephoned his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar last week. Mattis, according to the Pentagon readout of their Feb. 8 conversation, hailed the tremendous progress made in recent years in Indo-US defense cooperation and said the new administration is eager to sustain the momentum and build upon it.
The readout made specific mention of the bilateral Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) under which the US and India are codeveloping and coproducing advanced weapon systems.
Mattis placed his call to Parrikar shortly after returning from a trip to East Asia, during which he reaffirmed Washingtons longstanding strategic alliances with Japan and South Korea. He also reiterated the Obama administrations commitment to go to war with China if Beijing were ever to threaten East China Sea islets (known in Japan as the Senkaku and in China as the Diaoyu) that are currently held by Japan, but claimed by China.
Mattiss call came the day after officials in Washington had said that all the legal changes necessary to give effect to Indias recent designation as a Major (US) Defense Partner have now been completed. As a quid pro quo for New Delhi agreeing to allow the Pentagon to use Indian military bases to service its warplanes and battleships, the Obama administration last year conferred Major Defense Partner status on India. This gives New Delhi access to US weapons on a par with Washingtons most trusted treaty allies and Indian companies a presumption of approval when they seek to buy most US Commerce Department-controlled military and dual use goods.
Since the turn of the 21st century, Republican and Democratic administrations alike have prioritized strengthening strategic ties with India, viewing it as critical to US efforts to contain and, if need be, thwart Chinas rise. Indias size, large nuclear-armed military, and strategic location are all reasons India has been touted by the Pentagon, CIA, and US foreign policy think tanks as a strategic prize. From the standpoint of the strategists of US imperialism, India is Chinas western underbelly. Moreover, it juts far out into the Indian Ocean, providing a prime vantage point for controlling the sea-lanes that convey much of Chinas oil and other natural resource imports, and almost all its exports to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Since the Obama administration launched its Pivot to Asia in 2011, and especially since the Indian elite propelled Narendra Modi and his Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in May 2014, India has been integrated ever more completely into Washingtons military-strategic offensive against China.
In their parting addresses, both Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry characterized the enhanced Indo-US military-strategic ties as one of the major achievements of Obamas eight-year presidency.
Under Modi, India has been transformed into a veritable frontline state in Washingtons anti- China offensive.
In addition to opening its military bases for routine US use, Indiaas revealed by the head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, last monthis now exchanging intelligence with the US Navy on Chinese submarine and ship movements in the Indian Ocean.
New Delhi has also dramatically expanded its bilateral and trilateral military-security cooperation with Americas closest Asia-Pacific allies, Japan and Australia.
Beginning with the January 2015 India-US Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, the Modi government has consistently parroted Washingtons provocative position on the South China Sea dispute, painting China as the aggressor. This stance is encouraging the US to act ever more recklessly. The Trump administration has gone so far as to threaten to block Chinas access to the South China Sea islets it currently controls, an act that would be tantamount to a declaration of war.
The extent to which India is being integrated into the US war build-up against China has been further underscored by this weeks announcement that the Pentagon has decided to make India a hub for servicing and repairing battleships and other vessels attached to its Seven Fleetthe force that would play the lead role in implementing the US militarys Air-Sea Battle plan against China.
The ever-tighter Indo-US alliance has overturned the balance of power in the South Asian region, leading to the dangerous intensification of geopolitical tensions between India and its principal rivals, China and Pakistan. One expression of this is a nuclear and ballistic missile arms race, involving all three states.
Emboldened by the many strategic favors Washington has showered upon it, New Delhi has launched a campaign of diplomatic, economic and military pressure aimed at forcing Islamabad to stamp out all logistical support from Pakistan for the anti-Indian insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Last fall, South Asia was plunged into its gravest war crisis in over a decade, when India mounted commando raids inside Pakistan in retaliation for an attack on an Indian military base carried out by Islamist Kashmiri separatists.
For more than four decades, India did not publicly admit to attacks inside Pakistan for fear of triggering a dynamic of escalating strikes and counterstrikes that could quickly lead to all-out war. The Modi government has dashed this policy. It has celebrated the commando raids as the throwing off of the shackles of strategic restraint and has vowed that it will continue to punish Pakistan until it renounces terrorism even if that leads to the first-ever war between nuclear-armed states.
The Modi government has been encouraged in this provocative stance by Washington. Eager to demonstrate to New Delhi the value Washington places on their strategic partnership, the Obama administration supported Indias illegal and highly provocative surgical strikes inside Pakistan, first implicitly and then explicitly.
Even before Mattiss phone call to his Indian counterpart, Parrikar, New Delhi was calculating how it could exploit the harder line the Trump administration is expected to adopt with Pakistan, which Washington has repeatedly criticized for not doing more to stamp out Taliban safe havens inside Pakistan. In reality, if Islamabad, or at least sections of Pakistans military-intelligence apparatus, have maintained ties with some Taliban factions it is because they are hedging against the impact of the Indo-US alliance, which has drastically increased the strategic imbalance between Pakistan and India, a country with a six times larger population and an eight times larger economy.
Pakistans principal military-strategic response to the burgeoning Indo-US ties had been to deepen its longstanding alliance with Beijing. This in turn has further exacerbated tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.
In a statement to the Indian parliament last week, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reiterated the Modi governments hardline policy of refusing all substantive contacts with Pakistan until it abandons any material support for the Kashmir insurgency. Swaraj proclaimed Indias policy was no dialogue, until peace and boasted about Islamabads growing diplomatic isolation.
Up until 2015, China adopted a cautious approach to the Indo-US military-strategic alliance, based on the calculation that a strong reaction might backfire and push New Delhi further into Washingtons embrace. But over the past two years, Beijing has taken an increasingly confrontational stance, as exemplified by its decision to make the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor a cornerstone of its One Belt, One Road initiative.
Significantly India figures large on the list of key strategic concerns Beijing has reportedly given to the Trump administration. According to Michael Pillsbury, a Trump advisor and China expert, Beijing listed six top sensitivities: Taiwan; the One China policy; the antiballistic missile system Washington is building in South Korea (THAAD); US arms sales to India; the Sino-Indian border dispute; and the Dali Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is located in India.
At Modis invitation, the US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, made a high-profile visit last October to Arunachal Pradesh, territory China claims as South Tibet. On a similar visit earlier last year a lower-level US diplomat said Washington considers Arunachal Pradesh an indisputable part of India.
Woman nabbed with psychoactive drugs
Police on Tuesday arrested a woman in possession of psychoactive drugs from Jaisidewal, KMC-20, Nepal Police said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) parliamentary group at the end of August that in refugee policy the most important thing in the coming months is repatriation, repatriation and again repatriation.
Last Thursday, the chancellor met with the minister presidents of Germanys states to put this slogan into practice. In place of the so-called welcoming culture a deportation culture has emerged which could certainly be compared to the policies of US President Donald Trump.
Prior to the summit in the chancellors office, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (CDU) urged a joint pooling of forces to deport refugees in large numbers. The minister presidents then agreed on a 15-point plan which drastically curtails immigrant rights, and supports more frequent and quicker deportations.
The measures were supported by state presidents from all political parties. Only the President of Thuringia Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) stayed away from the summit out of tactical considerations.
The 15-point plan includes the following measures:
The reasons for detention pending deportation will be increased. In the future, rejected asylum seekers can be interned if they are accused of endangering public security or order. Such preventive detention violates current laws, and the utterly unclear concept of a threat in criminal law opens the door wide to police arbitrariness.
Custody pending departure, a euphemism for the detention of entire families, is being lengthened to 10 days. This violates EU law, which bans arbitrary measures without constitutional review.
The police and intelligence surveillance of foreigners required to leave will be significantly expanded. The smart phones and SIM cards of refugees who are not cooperative enough during identification checks can be confiscated and examined. In addition, the federal office for migration and refugees can also pass sensitive data to the police authorities.
Rejected asylum seekers can have stricter residency requirements imposed upon them so that they are not permitted to leave the area or city in which they live. Refugees can also be sanctioned more strictly with benefit cuts and employment bans.
Until now, refugees who had held tolerated status in Germany for at least a year could challenge a deportation order within one month. This option shall be restricted so that tolerated refugees can expect to be deported at any time.
Asylum seekers who are deemed not to have a perspective of staying prior to their first hearing can be compelled to stay at arrival centres. They are to be sent back from the arrival centre as soon as possible after the commencement of the requirement to depart. In this way, the permanent internment of refugees will become the norm. The refugee camps will thus become centres of organised hopelessness, as refugee support organisation ProAsyl has noted.
The heads of government at the federal and state levels have also agreed to create a sufficient number of detention pending deportation places within close distance of central departure institutions. In addition, a centre to support return will be established to coordinate deportation measures between the federal and state governments and press ahead with mass deportations, especially to Afghanistan.
The Interior Ministry also intends to expand the number of the so-called Dublin regulations. Refugees will be sent back to the country where they first entered European Union territory. According to Interior Minister de Maiziere, there will soon be Dublin transfers to Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria, even though refugees are abused in those countries and there is no functioning asylum system or adequate accommodation.
And finally, the so-called voluntary repatriation of refugees will be intensified. An additional 90 million is to be made available for this. In this procedure, refugees will face pressure already during asylum hearings to return voluntarily to their homeland in exchange for a small incentive. The repatriation programme Starthilfe plus listed countries gripped by civil war, including Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea as targets for voluntary repatriation.
If one includes the refugee deal with Turkey, the systematic sealing off of the Balkan route and the Mediterranean as well as the attempts of the European Union to build detention centres in North Africa for refugees, these measures hardly differ from the bullying, internment and deportation of refugees adopted by the Trump administration. Constitutional principles are being thrown overboard and human rights trampled underfoot.
The right to asylum has been restricted several times in Germany since the autumn of 2015 to deter refugees. Benefits have been cut, residency requirements reintroduced and toughened, family reunification made more difficult and deportations pushed forward.
Now the criteria for the acceptance of asylum seekers are to be arbitrarily intensified. The decision paper from the heads of government meeting states early on, In the coming months, the BAMF [Federal Office for Migration and Refugees] will in the future reject a high number of asylum applications from people who do not require protection in Germany.
Chancellors office Minister Peter Altmeier (CDU) told Bavarian Radio, We assume that deportations will be more frequent and quicker from all states, including to Afghanistan. This should also result in fewer people setting out to Germany.
It is significant that the government has hired the consultancy firm McKinsey, which is normally tasked with rationalising business operations, to produce a study on the deportation of refugees. Refugees are being treated like cattle whose deportation is a mere matter of feasibility and cost-effectiveness.
Even though only 150,000 tolerated refugees who currently live in Germany are obliged to leave, the McKinsey study assumes that the number could rise to 485,000 in 2017.
The stepped-up actions against refugees were agreed to by an all-party coalition. For the Social Democrats, Justice Minister Heiko Mas praised the package of measures, Only if we enforce our regulations can we permanently achieve acceptance for migration.
A despicable role is being played by the Left Party. Their interior policy spokeswoman in parliament publicly described the measures as competition of shamelessness in deportation policy and attacked the expansion of federal authority in deportations for suppressing humanitarian considerations, which luckily are still employed in some states.
However, the Thuringia state government noted its readiness in the protocol to the 15-point plan to enforce the obligation to return for rejected asylum seekers. It merely intends to rely more heavily on the so-called voluntary repatriation, because the support of voluntary return [is] an efficient instrument. And in Berlin and Brandenburg, where the Left Party is also in government, the party has not raised any principled objections to the measures.
In Mexico, 57 percent of adolescents in prison are tortured, according to a report released by the National Center for Human Rights (CNDH) late last month.
The CNDH, an independent agency, details the background and experiences of youth aged 14-18 who have been accused of committing a violent crime. It is based on interviews and surveys with 730 adolescents in 17 representative states throughout the country.
According to the Mexican Commission of National Security, there are currently over 13,000 adolescents behind bars, of which over one-fifth have been convicted of a violent crime, such as murder, robbery using violence and kidnapping.
The nationwide report documents the systematic abuse of imprisoned adolescents by local and federal police, as well as by sections of the Mexican Army and the Marines. Over half (57 percent) of all interviewed teens reported being torturedoften over the course of several daysafter their arrest. Interviewees frequently reported being subjected to electric shocks, stabbed, tasered, drowned, asphyxiated and struck by the police.
One youth told interviewers: I was undressed and tied up. They put water on me, the put bags on my face, they left me undressed and wet for five hours. They hit me in the ribs and tasered me. When they tortured me, I had to say what they wanted to hear or they would hit me more.
While Mexican law prohibits using torture to extract confessions, previous investigations by the CNDH have found multiple cases of falsification of medical records that would confirm detainees had been subjected to torture.
Violations by the justice system documented by the study spread beyond torture and abuse at detention centers, including systematic violations of due process. The majority of adolescents reported not being informed of the charges against them (59 percent), not being informed of their rights (69 percent) and not being told they had the right to an attorney (54 percent).
Overall, 16 percent of those interviewed reported being innocent, although this number was over twice as high in some regions (37 and 44 percent in Veracruz and Oaxaca, respectively). The report notes a particularly high percentage [of alleged innocence] was found among those who, under conditions of poverty, marginalization and powerlessness, also suffered from discriminatory treatment by the justice system due to their ethnic or indigenous status.
The report tells the story of Wilfrido, a 21-year-old indigenous youth who was charged with murder and was convicted because a seven-year-old relative of the victim cried in court at the sight of him. Despite Wilfridos explanation that the young boy had cried because he was frightened and did not speak Spanish, the existence of no other evidence against him and an alibi placing him elsewhere during the crime, the judge found this to be sufficient proof and he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The study sheds light to the complicit role of the armed forces in the drug trade: about 20 percent of those interviewed said current or former members of the police or the army also took part in the criminal operations for which they were convicted.
Under conditions of violence and endemic poverty, vulnerable youth become entangled in the drug trade in an effort to provide for themselves and their families. The majority (64 percent) of those interviewed reported getting involved in crime to help their families financially. Prior to their arrest, adolescents reported working both in legal (e.g. farmer, daily worker, fisherman, dishwasher) and illegal (e.g. robbery, selling drugs, kidnapping) activities. However, those who worked in the illegal sector could earn up to 10 times as much.
Adolescents who are convicted of violent crimes are among the most vulnerable sections of the Mexican working class. Interviewed teens were three times as likely to live in conditions of extreme poverty than the general population, and 40 percent noted they had been physically abused frequently prior to being incarcerated. Highlighting the predatory role of the drug trade, the majority of those interviewed joined organized crime when they were between 12 and 14 years old.
The CNDH report is a damning indictment of the existing conditions in Mexico more than a decade after the US-backed war on drugs, which has claimed over 80,000 lives since 2006. With the military and economic aid of the Bush and Obama administrations, this bloody war has not only led to countless deaths, but has militarized society to the degree that, as the report states, torture constitutes normal behavior that is to be expected from police.
About half of all murders between 2008 and 2015 can be attributed to the war on drugs, according to the Mexican Statistics and Geography Institute (INEGI). Of these murders, 84 percent have never gone to trial.
Despite spending billions of dollars on security forces and military equipment, the drug war has been an abject failure. The US continues to have the highest levels of illegal drug use in the world, and the supply of illegal drugs to the US remains virtually unchanged.
Trump has sought to scapegoat immigrants for both the failure of this policy and for the conditions of poverty in the US that lead many to become addicted to drugs. We have to keep the drugs out of our country, he has stated. We are getting the drugs, theyre getting the cash. We need strong borders. We cannot give amnesty.
Workers and youth in Mexico and the US must reject this nationalist poison and fight to end capitalism, the social system that breeds the desperation and hopelessness that creates both the demand for and supply of drugs in order to serve the profit interests of corporations, banks and cartels.
California officials announced that the 188,000 people living under the Oroville dam could return home early Tuesday afternoon, after a harrowing last-minute evacuation 48 hours earlier. Residents were forced to flee on Sunday when it was revealed that erosion in the emergency spillway of the tallest dam in the United States threatened to flood their towns. A large, 250-foot long by 45-foot deep hole had previously been discovered last Tuesday in the dams primary spillway.
Experts currently estimate that it will cost at least $200 million to repair the hole in the dams spillways if no further damage is incurred.
Crews spent the past two days attempting to patch up the erosion in the emergency spillway of the dam by dropping bags of rocks into it from helicopters and covering them with a slurry, which engineers say would temporarily slow the further erosion of the spillway. However, several days of rain are forecast to begin this evening, and an evacuation warning remains in place, meaning residents must be prepared to evacuate again at a moments notice.
The potentially devastating situation at the Oroville dama number of cities could have been wiped out by a 30ft wall of water if the dam had failedhighlights the decaying and decrepit state of infrastructure in the United States. Routine repairs and necessary maintenance that could ward off disasters and protect tens of thousands from natural disasters are neglected, amidst the speculative and parasitic accumulation of wealth by the corporate and financial elite.
Dam and levee failures have had significant impact on populations across the United States in recent decades. The failure of levees in New Orleans in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina led to the flooding of a major American city, the deaths of more than 1,800 people and the permanent displacement of many thousands more.
Flooding in 1997 in Yuba County, just south of Butte County where the Oroville dam is located, was caused by two separate levee breaks along the Yuba River in areas that had been designated for repair following flooding a decade earlier. Those floods resulted in the deaths of three people and the evacuation of 38,000 residents, including most of the city of Marysville.
The fact that the Oroville dam emergency spillway could suffer serious erosion after heavy rains was well known to federal, state and local officials, who were warned about this possibility more than a decade ago by environmental groups. However, nothing was done to prevent the catastrophe that nearly occurred Sunday.
The Friends of the River, the Sierra Club and the South Yuba Citizens League filed a motion in 2005 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking for the emergency spillway to be paved to avoid erosion that would lead to a catastrophic failure. Their appeal was rejected as unnecessary by the California Department of Water Resources and host of other local water agencies.
Infrastructure across America is in a general state of disrepair, including roads, bridges, dams and levees, railways, drinking water and other categories. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that California alone requires annual spending of $65 billion to fix and maintain its infrastructure. In 2013, the ASCE gave the US a grade of D+ for the state of its infrastructure and estimate that the level of needed investment was $3.6 trillion.
A 2012 report published by the American Progress think-tank points out that more than one third of US dams are more than 50 years old, which is the standard intended lifespan of a typical dam (the Oroville dam is 48 years old). By 2030, more than 70 percent of dams will be past this mark. More than one in six dams are classified as high-hazard, meaning a dam failure could result in the deaths of nearby residents. In 2008, more than 2,000 high-hazard dams were rated structurally deficient or at high risk of failure.
The state of Alabama, home to 201 high-hazard dams, had no dam safety program and spent $0 annually on dam inspection and maintenance as of 2012.
Many of the cities in the Oroville evacuation zone are home to working class and poor residents. The city of Oroville has a poverty rate of 23.8 percent; Marysville 28.6 percent; and Linda 37.6 percent, including 47.2 percent of children. For these vulnerable layers, missing two days of work during the evacuation can itself cause significant harm.
More than one thousand impoverished men, women, children and infants with nowhere else to go took shelter in a makeshift camp set up by the Red Cross at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in the nearby city of Chico, just outside of the evacuation area. Families spent two nights sleeping hundreds to a room on cots, or in their cars in the packed parking lot. Residents of Chico donated childrens clothing, food and other supplies.
Joshua Seely, 30, his wife and four children, including a one-month-old baby, had been trapped in their home in Oroville without transportation before being evacuated to Chico. I called the cops and told them we didnt have a vehicle, Josh explained to the WSWS. They said go upstairs! That was at five oclock. At eleven [six hours after the evacuation order], they came by and told us to we needed to leave. Eventually they sent a bus to get us.
Twenty-four year old Audryanna, from the town of Linda, said that she and nine of her family members, including her wheelchair-bound grandmother and infant niece, frantically packed a pickup truck and two cars with garbage bags full of their most essential belongings and headed for Chico. We didnt know how much time we had. We packed everything in about ten minutes. My two sons are with my other grandmother in Auburn, but I havent been able to reach them.
Audryanna explained, My mom was supposed to start a new job today, working in a daycare. Now, she may not get the position at all. Its stressful. Really stressful, she said.
The Trump administration is facing an escalating political crisis following the Monday evening resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. There are growing calls from the media and sections of the political establishment for congressional investigations into Flynns contacts with Russia prior to Trumps inauguration, and demands that Trump explain what he knew about the contacts and whether Flynn was operating with his knowledge and approval.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was reported that the FBI interviewed Flynn soon after Trumps inauguration about his telephone conversation with the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, on December 29, 2016. The call was secretly monitored and recorded by the National Security Agency.
The Washington Post revealed that Justice Department officials informed the White House several weeks ago that Flynn had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the ambassador, and that his repeated denials of that fact were false. A transcript of the Flynn-Kislyak conversation is reportedly circulating at the highest levels of official Washington.
In the corporate-controlled media, a series of commentators, serving as conduits for material provided by the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, have begun to raise the specter of impeachment or a Nixon-style forced resignation.
A raging conflict within the US ruling elite has erupted to the surface of American political life. The battle involves the major institutions of the capitalist statethe White House, CIA, NSA, FBI and Pentagonas well as the leaderships of both the Democratic and Republican parties. At the center of this conflict are divisions over foreign policy and concerns within the military-intelligence apparatus that the Trump administration is not taking a sufficiently aggressive line against Russia.
The campaign against Trump is no less reactionary and militaristic than the new administration itself. It has a definite logic, leading to an escalation of the political and military confrontation with Russia, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the entire world.
This campaign is the central preoccupation of the Democratic Party. Throughout the final months of the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton repeatedly attacked Trump as a political stooge of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while presenting herself as the more reliable defender of American imperialism.
The issue was raised again during the postelection transition, with claims that Russian hacking was responsible for Trumps surprise victory. Following Trumps inauguration, the theme has been taken up once more, with congressional Democrats and a section of Senate Republicans acting as the political spearhead of the CIA and Pentagon.
Congressional Democrats seized on Flynns resignation to raise the Watergate-era question, What did the president know and when did he know it? Their contention is that when Flynn telephoned Kislyak on December 29, the same day President Obama imposed new sanctions on Russia, Flynn was conveying assurances from Trump that those sanctions would be relaxed or discarded outright once Trump entered the White House.
The most strident comments came from Eric Swalwell of California, a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, who declared that Trump aides have improper relationships with Russia and that Trump himself was implicated. The Republicans may have the majorities in Congress and their candidate may have won the White House, but [the Democrats] are not helpless, he said. We have the American people, and the American people will not be satisfied until they know whether the president is with us or with Russia.
Swalwell would have been more truthful if he had said the Democrats are not helpless because they have the CIA, the NSA and much of the Pentagon behind them, powerful sections of the state apparatus that have made an enormous strategic investment in preparing for war with Russia.
The Democratic Party oozes complacency and passivity when it comes to Trumps cabinet nominations and his issuance of antidemocratic and unconstitutional executive orders. This is because, whatever their tactical criticisms of these elements of Trumps policy, they are in line with the interests of the corporate and financial aristocracy that both parties represent. But when given the chance to wage a McCarthy-style campaign claiming that Trump is a Russian stooge, they charge into battle frothing at the mouth.
It is significant that sections of congressional Republicans, as well as Democrats, have distanced themselves from Trump over this issue. It is not just warmongers like John McCain and Lindsey Graham. The Senate Republican leadership has agreed to investigate alleged Russian interference in the US elections and to include Flynns contacts with Russia within the scope of the inquiry.
US imperialism seeks to counter its declining world economic position by exploiting its unchallenged global military dominance. It sees as the principal roadblocks to its hegemonic aims the growing economic and military power of China and the still-considerable strength of Russia, possessor of the worlds second-largest nuclear arsenal, the largest reserves of oil and gas, and a critical geographical position at the center of the Eurasian land mass.
Trumps opponents within the ruling class insist that US foreign policy must target Russia, with the aim of weakening the Putin regime or overthrowing it. This is deemed a prerequisite for taking on the challenge posed by China.
Numerous Washington think tanks have developed scenarios for military conflicts with Russian forces in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in the Baltic States and in cyberspace. The national security elite is not prepared to accept a shift in orientation away from the policy of direct confrontation with Russia along the lines proposed by Trump, who would like for the present to lower tensions with Russia in order to focus first on China.
Even as the struggle rages within the ruling class and the capitalist state, the Trump administrations attacks on democratic rights are provoking an unprecedented outpouring of popular opposition. Millions of working people and youth, native-born and immigrant, have taken part in protests against the new government. But this broad social movement has, as yet, neither a clear political program articulating the independent interests of the working class nor a revolutionary socialist leadership.
This situation poses grave dangers. The intelligence agencies, acting primarily through the Democratic Party, are seeking to hijack the mass opposition to Trump and redirect it behind their war plans, whether directed against Russia or China, using supposed external enemies as lightning rods for rising social and economic distress.
Workers and young people must not line up behind either faction of the ruling elite. Both are preparing for new military bloodbaths to safeguard the profits of American corporations. They are fighting over tactics and the sequence of targets, not over whether to send American youth to kill or be killed in imperialist wars.
The struggle against the Trump administration poses the need for a complete break with the Democrats and Republicans, the twin parties of big business, and the building of a mass independent political movement of working people, based on a socialist and internationalist program.
Talks to resolve the Syrian conflict organized by Russia, Turkey and Iran are set to begin today in the Kazakh capital, Astana. The second round of discussions has been overshadowed by renewed tensions between Russia and Turkey, and the possibility that an opposition delegation could refuse to attend.
An announcement was made Tuesday by the Kazakh government that the meetings would take place behind closed doors.
The initiative to reach a peace agreement to end the civil war was taken by Russia and Turkey after US-backed rebels suffered a disastrous defeat in eastern Aleppo at the end of last year. The retaking of the countrys second major city by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, with the support of Russian air strikes and Iranian fighters, was a severe setback to Washingtons six-year-long war for regime change in Damascus. Washington has been left sidelined in the Astana talks, although Moscow and Ankara extended an invitation for the US to attend as an observer.
US President Donald Trump ordered senior military personnel January 28 to propose plans for the US intervention in Syria, giving them a one-month deadline. The administration has continued a brutal air war in collaboration with an international coalition, which is ostensibly targeting ISIS positions. According to the latest statistics, US air strikes in January killed over 250 civilians.
Over 400,000 Syrians have lost their lives since the outbreak of the conflict and at least 11 million, around half of the countrys population, have been forced to flee their homes.
In contrast to the Obama administration, whose Syria strategy of backing Islamist rebels dominated by the al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Nusra Front suffered a debacle in December with the fall of Aleppo, Trump has indicated his readiness to consider safe zones in the north of the country. This policy would aim to keep the millions who have been forced from their homes within the country and would at the same time serve as the pretext for a vast escalation of US military personnel in the country. It has already been pointed out by several commentators that defending such zones would entail a far larger US military commitment.
There is little prospect that the peace talks over the coming days can avert a further escalation of tensions in the region. After the two-day meeting in Astana, the parties will reconvene next week under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva, where the United States and other Western powers are expected to participate.
Over the weekend, Turkey continued to advance on the ISIS-controlled town of al-Bab and currently has approximately 40 percent of it under its control. The offensive came following a telephone call last week between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a visit to Ankara by new CIA head Mike Pompeo.
The seizure of al-Bab heightens the risk of renewed clashes between Turkish and Kurdish forces organized in the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). The YPG is at present engaged in operations to retake Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS territory, but control over al-Bab would increase Turkish influence on the military offensive. Erdogan even suggested last week that Turkish troops could move east to attack the ISIS stronghold. Trump, who initially expressed the hope that Turkish and Kurdish forces could be persuaded to collaborate in combatting ISIS, appears to have abandoned this position in the face of stiff opposition from Erdogan, who opposes any expansion of Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria for fear that it will encourage separatist sentiments across the border in the Kurdish-majority areas of southeast Turkey.
Turkish-Kurdish hostilities could yet trigger frictions between Ankara and Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited representatives of the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), the political arm of the YPG, to Moscow for a briefing on the last round of talks in Astana. Turkey has not criticized this move so far, but it rejects any cooperation with the PYD, which it denounces as terrorists and being linked to the separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). While Moscow has spoken out in favor of a federal settlement for Syria, this is rejected by Turkey.
The Turkish push further into Syrian territory also threatens to trigger clashes between Turkish-aligned Syrian militia and Assads forces, which are advancing on al-Bab from the south with Russian support.
An Amnesty International report released last week, Human Slaughterhouse: mass hangings and exterminations at Saydnaya prison, documented the brutal repression employed by the Assad regime against political opponents. The yearlong investigation uncovered a systematic program of extrajudicial killings under which groups of up to 50 prisoners were taken to the basement of the jail and hung without prior notice, let alone legal proceedings. This practice went on between 2011 and 2015, and Amnesty noted that there is strong evidence to suggest it still continues.
The report went on to detail how prisoners were systematically abused from the moment they entered Saydnaya prison, with frequent beatings or so-called parties organized by the prison guards.
Predictably enough, the US media, led by the New York Times, seized on the findings of the Amnesty report to renew its campaign for confrontation with Russia over Syria and an intensification of the war for regime change fomented by the United States in 2011. The Times followed up its coverage of the report with a lengthy article on Sunday drawing on research carried out for the Atlantic Council by the US government-funded Bellingcat research group in the UK. The report provided information on Russian air strikes in Aleppo that targeted civilians and hospitals.
There is no doubt about the brutality of the Assad regime, or the fact that the months-long bombing campaign conducted by Damascus and Moscow to retake Aleppo claimed many civilian lives.
However, the task of overthrowing such dictatorships and putting an end to the scourge of imperialist war, which has devastated Syria and the entire region, cannot be outsourced to the United States and the European major powers. US imperialism and its allies have been responsible for death and destruction on a much broader scale, as the one million civilian lives ended by the intervention in Iraq, the tens of thousands killed in the brutal NATO air war in Libya in 2011 and the hundreds of thousands who have died in the US-instigated Syrian conflict tragically testify. Only by constructing an international antiwar movement, based on a socialist program to unite workers in the advanced capitalist countries with their brothers and sisters in Syria and throughout the entire Middle East, can an end be put to the wars and dictatorships that have ravaged the region.
The chief responsibility for the atrocities that have been committed in Syria lies squarely with Washington. The destabilization of the country and the entire Middle East region, including the incitement of sectarian violence, is the product of more than 25 years of virtually uninterrupted military conflicts led by the United States and its European imperialist allies, beginning with the first Gulf War in 1990.
For his part, Assad used an interview last Friday with Yahoo News to appeal to the Trump administration for support in his governments efforts to regain control of territory held by the Islamic State.
Referring to Trumps repeated pledges to focus on fighting terrorism and eliminating ISIS, Assad commented, We agree about this priority. Thats our position. In Syria, it is to fight terrorism.
Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL) - Seven newly appointed Florida democrats will work together to award a total of $100,000 from the Janet Reno Challenge Grant. The Florida Democratic Party allocates the funding to support year-round grassroots organizations.
Stephen Bittel, FDP Chair, says "The FDP is committed to building a 67 county grassroots organizing operation that competes for every vote in every city in every county across Florida. This grant will help kickstart our grassroots mobilization, increase Democratic voter registration and activism across the state and Im grateful to our panelists for their leadership in this effort."
The newly assigned panelists are:
Nikki Barnes, Wakulla County, State Committeewoman and DNC Member
Leah Carius, Osceola County, DEC Chair
Juan Cuba, Miami-Dade County, DEC Chair
Lisa King, Duval County, State Committeewoman
Russ Patterson, Hillsborough County, State Committeeman
Ian Whitney, Hillsborough County, Former State Committeeman and Monroe County DEC Chair
Janet Reno Challenge Grant applicants can submit 2-page proposals by February 28th to compete for ten $5,000 and twenty $2,500 merit-based awards.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- A local restaurant is asking for the public's help after two recent burglaries.
Harold Bailey, the owner of Chicago Chicken and Grill reached out to WTXL to see if someone can figure out who's behind either burglary.
Two break-ins in less than two months -- including the most recent incident early Monday morning.
There's a surveillance camera set up inside the restaurant, and Bailey said he hopes the video will help police catch whoever's responsible for the two incidents.
The first happened on December 23, and the second occurred on February 13 around 4 a.m.
The video of the most recent break-in shows a man jumping over the counter and going straight for the register, stuffing cash into his pockets. He's wearing shorts and a hoodie that covers his face.
Bailey told WTXL that the business has always had locks. However, in the first incident, he says the suspect pried open the back door -- and in the second, the suspect broke a window to get in.
Employee Walter Davis says he thinks it's the same suspect in both burglaries.
"If you go back to the footage, he has kind of like a hump in his head," he said, "and the guy in the first video, he had hair on his head as well, so I would say it's the same guy. He has the same build."
Bailey said he's lost several hundred dollars. He's replaced the window already, and customers have kept coming in, but he's hoping the public can identify who's costing him business.
Tallahassee police are actively investigating Monday's incident. Anyone with information that can help identify the suspect is asked to call TPD at 850-891-4200.
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The Knesset speaker and faction heads agreed on Monday to set up a special interparty committee to provide recommendations with an aim to increasing Knesset supervision of the government and reducing private legislation.
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Following the announcement of measures introduced by the ministers of justice and tourism last week and the ensuing debate , Speaker Yoel Edelstein hosted the leaders of every faction to discuss the proposal's details. Their meeting ended with their decision to establish the committee that is to include representatives from every political party.
The Knesset (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
The proposal seeks to limit the number of private bills an MK can propose each year to four or five. Currently, there is no limit. The committee of ministers that proposes bills would be limited to 15 per week. Further, the number of bills that are voted on by parliamentarians in preliminary readings would be significantly reduced to 250 maximum per annum.
During the meeting with Edelstein, Yesh Atid's faction leader, MK Ofer Shelah, presented a three-point plan assembled by his party's leader, MK Yair Lapid, that seeks to end the controversy over the proposal, which Yesh Atid has already supported.
The first part seeks to reduce the number of Knesset committees and simultaneously increase their oversight authority on government ministries. Amongst the requested new powers would be holding hears for senior officials before the committees, the authority to summon civil servants and budget supervision of the ministry.
The second part both limits private bills and enables MKs to appear before the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.
The third section addresses the running of the Knesset, seeking, inter alia, to establish a minimum quorum for debates to take place in the plenum and assigning sanctions for MKs who miss debates.
Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, a Trump administration official said Tuesday, a development that complicates the outlook for US-Russia relations amid turmoil on the White House national security team.
The Obama administration three years ago accused the Russians of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing and testing the prohibited cruise missile, and officials had anticipated that Moscow eventually would deploy it. Russia denies that it has violated the INF treaty.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the missile became operational late last year, said an administration official, who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity.
The deployment may not immediately change the security picture in Europe, but the alleged treaty violation may arise when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends his first NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. It also has stirred concern on Capitol Hill, where Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, called on the Trump administration to ensure US nuclear forces in Europe are ready.
The Trump administration suggested Tuesday that peace between the Israelis and Palestinians may not come in the form of a two-state solutiona position that could represent a major shift from what has been US policy for more than 20 years.
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Speaking to reporters ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior White House official said Trump is eager to begin facilitating a peace deal between the two sides and hoping to bring them together soon.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and PM Netanyahu (Photo: Avi Ohion/GPO)
But the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the meeting beforehand, said it will be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to determine what peace will entailand that peace, not a two-state solution, is the goal.
The main goal is peace, the official stated ahead of the meeting, whether by way of a two-state solution, if the two sides want, or by other means agreed to by the sides.
Insisting that Trump had no intention of dictating terms, forging peace was high on the presidents agenda.
Nevertheless, State Department officials expressed surprise at the comments and said Tuesday they were not aware of any policy shift on the desirability of a two-state solution.
Three officials said the department was seeking clarification from the White House comments, which came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was having dinner with Netanyahu. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Netanyahu tweeted Wednesday afternoon about the meeting that took place with Tillerson, repeating comments he made before he borded for Washington.
"Excellent meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The US-Israel alliance has always been strong, and it's about to get stronger," he wrote on Twitter.
Tillerson was the official who called Netanyahu shortly before the White House issued a press statement two weeks ago stating that while it had not formulated a policy on settlements, their construction may not be helpful.
Netanyahu would later tell express his view that Indeed, it is true that it will be more comfortable for Israel but anyone who thinks that there wont be limits on Israel is mistaken, he said.
Netanyahu prepares with his advisors ahead of meeting with President Trump (Photo: Avi Ohion/GPO)
Trump Spokesman Sean Spicer said that Trump and Netanyahu would discuss an array of issues including strengthening the relationship between the two countries, the need to stabilize the region, the Iranian threat and the need to fight against ISIS and terror.
Spicer added that the two would discuss a future agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians so that the two sides could live in peace.
Asked during his press conference whether Trump and Netanyahu would speak about moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as promised by the president during his election campaign, Spicer remained evasive on the matter, stating that he has no intention of going ahead of Trump on the issue.
During his final White House news conference, Obama warned that the moment for a two-state solution "may be passing" and said the "status quo is unsustainable."
It was not clear if the White House had intended to declare a major shift in policy during the hastily arranged briefing Tuesday night.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House Wednesday. The two leaders will hold a joint press conference before convening for meetings and a working lunch.
Photo: Avi Ohion
The prime minister will then head to Capitol Hill for meetings with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Trump takes pride in his deal-making skills and said during his campaign that he'd love the challenge of negotiating a Mideast agreement. He has appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to lead the effort.
The official said the visit was meant to mark a new, closer relationship between Israel and the United States, which grew strained during the Obama years.
Trump told The Associated Press during his campaign that he wanted to be "very neutral" and try to get both sides together. But his tone became decidedly more pro-Israel as the campaign progressed.
He has said that Palestinians have been "taken over" by or are condoning militant groups. Some of his top aides challenge the legitimacy of Palestinian demands for a state.
After repeatedly clashing with Obama for eight years, capped by a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, Netanyahu seemed relieved by Trump's arrival. Trump slammed the US decision to abstain from the UN vote, saying in December that Israel is being treated "very, very unfairly."
Now in office, however, Trump has been forced to reevaluate and revisit his position on a number of issuesincluding those relating to Israel.
After initially greeting Israel's settlement announcements with a shrug, Trump appears to be having second thoughts. In an interview with a pro-Netanyahu Israeli daily Friday, Trump said, "I am not somebody that believes that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace."
In preparation for the meeting, Yedioth Ahronoth obtained information that the White House requested a detailed report on the ongoing investigations against the Israeli prime minister in order to ascertain whether Trump will be facing a man with whom he can do business, or a man who is about to make an exit from the political scene.
Moreover, despite the cordial relations which are expected to characterize the talks, White House officials were perturbed by comments in a cabinet meeting made by Netanyahu on Trumps personality shortly before departing to Washington.
PM Netanyahu and his wife Sara land in Washington (Photo: Avi Ohion)
Indeed Netanyahu warned the ministers to be under no illusions: Trump still believed in carving out two states, meaning that Israel had to act with caution, particularly in light of his personality.
It is unclear what was written in the report provided to the president, but it is believed that White House officials interpreted these words as an insult.
While the meeting is expected to be much warmer than Netanyahu's famously tense encounters with Obama, the Israeli leader will still need to tread with caution on sensitive issues like Israeli construction in the West Bank, Iran and the war in Syria.
In dealing with such a divisive president, Netanyahu will also face some potential pitfalls. Key constituencies, including congressional Democrats and many American Jews, oppose Trump's policies, while at home Netanyahu is under pressure from his hard-line allies to push for policies that Trump may not support.
"Netanyahu seeks to shift the discussion in the US-Israel relationship away from settlements and peace and back to Iran so that he can put off the difficult political decisions that would roil his coalition and put his rule in jeopardy," said Yousef Munayyer, a political analyst and executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: EPA, AFP)
"The challenge to Netanyahu is domestic," Munayyer added. "He spent so much time arguing that Obama was the problem that now that we are in the post-Obama era, his right-wing coalition partners want to exploit the moment and take huge steps that would further isolate Israel, trigger international condemnation from other corners, and potentially destabilize the land and Israeli politics."
Meanwhile, in Ramallah senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said that the change in US policy "does not make sense."
"This is not a responsible policy and it does not serve the cause of peace," Ashrawi said. "They cannot just say that without an alternative."
Trump has yet to speak directly to the Palestinian leadership since taking office.
Ahead of the visit, Netanyahu said he would handle ties with the US in a "prudent manner," but he steered clear of specifics.
The Israeli prime minister is also scheduled to have breakfast Thursday with Vice President Mike Pence before departing back to Israel.
Tell me the truth: Is there anyone who really longs for or dreams of being appointed as the United Nations envoy for solving conflicts in Libya ? Up until this very moment, I have not seen a list of candidates pushing in line at the entrance to the New York office of the new secretary-general, Antonio Guterres. After all, this a mission in which one will find it difficult to gain any achievements. You have a title, you get a diplomatic passport, the salary isnt bad, but the list of shortcomings is long.
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We are talking about a lot of frustration on the ground, of running around from the prime minister in Tripoli to his rival in eastern Libya, General Khalifa Haftar, and in between we have the Islamic State villains who might kidnap the envoy. Due to the circumstances, in faltering Libya one has to be armed with nerves of steel, speak Arabic, and be prepared and willing to risk ones life. Its so unattractive, that had the UN secretary-general chosen a Saudi, Egyptian, Moroccan or Iraqi politician, no one would have said anything.
Dr. Salam Fayyad is an eccentric person. A former prime minister in Ramallah, a finance minister (twice) and a stubborn fighter against corruption, who had the courage to search through Suha Arafats accounts and developed a lot of resentment towards the confluence of money and government in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas family as well.
There is a clear Israeli fingerprint behind the effort to thwart Fayyads UN appointment. The voice is Netanyahus voice, the hands are Trumps hands (Photos: AFP, Noam Moskovich)
In his seven years as prime minister, Fayyad outlined plans for the establishment of state institutions in the Palestinian Authority territories and prepared to upgrade the security apparatus. He did not get the chance to complete his mission. Abbas, who suspected that the American Fayyad was gaining authorities at his expense, made sure to set him up, sent the security apparatus to turn his modest office upside down and showed him the way out.
In Israel, Fayyad was known as a modest, honest and diligent man. He gave up on an extravagant official car in favor of taxis, walked around without bodyguards and answered the phone himself. One could have handed him donation money or tax returns amounting to tens of millions of shekels and be certain that they would reach their destination without him taking some into his pocket. His appearances in Israel, Washington and the European Union left a strong impression of a politician and economist who says what he means, is openly opposed to terror and is determined to tighten the security cooperation with Israel.
All that collapsed at once. Two years ago, at the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel on the outskirts of Amman, I ran into Dr. Fayyad huddled deep in an armchair, busy playing Candy Crush on his cellphone. "What are you doing?" I was shocked, and photographer Shaul Golan snapped a picture of his fall. Fayyad raised his head with a look of despair. "When I am not wanted in Ramallah," he explained, "I go out to offer my skills elsewhere."
Israel's fingerprint are all over the effort to thwart the appointment of Fayyad, the Palestinian who has no state. The voice is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus voice, the hands are US President Donald Trumps hands. If he is appointed, Israeli officials say, it will be a hostile diplomatic maneuver, another move towards international recognition of a Palestinian state. And lets not forget that the Palestinians only have a non-member observer state status at the UN.
But there is another side to this issue, which is just as complicated: Libya is defined by Israel as a dangerous transit station for shipments of weapons and money funding the Hamas terror in Gaza. Israel could use its good ties (up until a few days ago) with Fayyad and enlist his help in the battle against those shipments. And looking into the future, Fayyads appointment to this international mission could invigorate his status in the PA, so that he would return in the future to a senior position in the post-Abbas era in Ramallah.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who claims to support the two-state solution, could have accepted the appointment, avoided spoiling the relations with the Israel-friendly UN secretary-general, and on the way, stopped the big mouths around him from thwarting the honorable appointment offered to Tzipi Livni as well.
MOSCOW - Russia will not hand back control of Crimea to Ukraine, Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, responding to comments from the White House that the United States expected the Black Sea peninsula to be returned.
"We don't give back our own territory. Crimea is territory belonging to the Russian Federation," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told a news briefing.
On Tuesday, the White House said US President Donald Trump had made it clear that he expects Russia to relinquish control of the territory.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, prompting the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia, plunging Western relations with the Kremlin to their worst level since the end of the Cold War.
WASHINGTON - Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, a Trump administration official says, a development that complicates the outlook for US-Russia relations amid turmoil on the White House national security team.
The Obama administration three years ago accused the Russians of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing and testing the prohibited cruise missile, and officials had anticipated that Moscow eventually would deploy it. Russia denies that it has violated the INF treaty.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the missile became operational late last year, said an administration official.
Russia will not hand back control of Crimea to Ukraine, Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, responding to comments from the White House that the United States expected the Black Sea peninsula to be returned.
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"We don't give back our own territory. Crimea is territory belonging to the Russian Federation," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told a news briefing.
On Tuesday, the White House said US President Donald Trump had made it clear that he expects Russia to relinquish control of the territory.
US President Trump and Russian President Putin (Photos: AFP)
"President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea," White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said at a daily news briefing. "At the same time, he fully expects to and wants to get along with Russia."
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, prompting the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia, plunging Western relations with the Kremlin to their worst level since the end of the Cold War.
Meanwhile, Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, according to a Trump administration official.
However, on Wednesday the Kremlin responded to the reports of violation, saying that Russia is committed to honouring its international obligations, including in relation to missiles.
"Russia has been and remains committed to its international commitments, including to the treaty in question," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a daily telephone briefing.
"Nobody has formally accused Russia of violating the treaty," he said.
On Tuesday, media reported, citing US officials, that Russia had deployed a ground-launched cruise missile despite US complaints that this violated an arms control treaty banning ground-based US and Russian intermediate-range missiles.
This development further complicates the outlook for US-Russia relations amid turmoil on the White House national security team.
The Obama administration three years ago accused the Russians of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing and testing the prohibited cruise missile, and officials had anticipated that Moscow eventually would deploy it. Russia denies that it has violated the INF treaty.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the missile became operational late last year, said an administration official.
The deployment may not immediately change the security picture in Europe, but the alleged treaty violation may arise when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends his first NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. It also has stirred concern on Capitol Hill, where Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, called on the Trump administration to ensure US nuclear forces in Europe are ready.
"Russia's deployment of nuclear-tipped ground-launched cruise missiles in violation of the INF treaty is a significant military threat to US forces in Europe and our NATO allies," McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement Tuesday. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "testing" Trump.
Trump's White House is in a difficult moment, with no national security adviser following the forced resignation Monday night of Michael Flynn. He is accused of misleading Vice President Mike Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat while President Barack Obama was still in office.
Meanwhile, a US defense official said Tuesday that a Russian intelligence-collection ship has been operating off the US east coast, in international waters. The ship had made a port call in Cuba prior to moving north, where it has been monitored off the coast of Delaware, the official said.
Archive photo: Russian spy ship SSV-175 Viktor Leonov off the coast of the US (Photo: Reuters)
The New York Times, which was first to report the missile deployment, said the Russians have two battalions of the prohibited cruise missile. One is at a missile test site at Kapustin Yar and one was moved in December from the test site to an operational base elsewhere in the country.
The State Department wouldn't confirm the report. It noted that last year it reported Russia was in violation of its treaty obligations not to possess, produce or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, or to possess or produce launchers for such missiles.
"The administration is undertaking an extensive review of Russia's ongoing INF treaty violation in order to assess the potential security implications for the United States and its allies and partners," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
John Tierney, executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said strategic stability on the European continent is at stake.
"If true, Russia's deployment of an illegal ground-launched cruise missile represents a very troubling development and should be roundly condemned," Tierney said.
Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, sees little reason for the US to continue adhering to the INF treaty, in light of Russia's violations. He has recommended building up US nuclear forces in Europe, which currently include about 200 bombs that can be delivered by aircraft. The US withdrew land-based nuclear-armed missiles from Europe as part of the INF deal.
The treaty has special significance in the recent history of arms control agreements. Signed in December 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, it has been credited with helping accelerate an end to the Cold War and lessening the danger of nuclear confrontation. It stands as the only arms treaty to eliminate an entire class of US and Russian weaponsnuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles of intermediate range.
The Obama administration had argued for maintaining US compliance with the treaty while urging the Russians to halt violations. At the same time, the Pentagon developed options to counter Russian cruise missile moves, some of which would have involved bold military action.
At his Senate confirmation hearing in February 2014, Ash Carter, who headed the Pentagon until last month, said disregard for treaty limitations was a "two-way street," opening the way for the US to respond in kind. He called Russia's violations consistent with its "strategy of relying on nuclear weapons to offset US and NATO conventional superiority."
The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will be closely watched in Jerusalem, of course, but just as closely in Amman, less than 50 miles away. Jordans King Abdullah has already met the American president , although briefly, and a second one-on-one meeting is scheduled soon.
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Jordans King Abdullah was the first Arab leader to meet with the new president earlier this month when both attended the National Prayer Breakfast.
The Palestinians, in contrast, have struggled to make connections with the Trump Administration. Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told media outlets that the president had rebuffed overtures from Abbas repeatedly, although security officials did meet the Palestinian security chief Majed Faraj last week.
Jordan's King Abdullah meets with US President Trump (Photo: AFP)
Many in Arab states were angry when then-candidate Donald Trump announced that one of his first acts as president would be to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. For Palestinians, that means an effective end to any chance of a two-state solution, as they say that east Jerusalem must be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Days later, Netanyahu announced that almost 6,000 new homes will be built in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, another move that Palestinians say takes aim at a future independent Palestinian state. On both of these issues, analysts say, Jordan stepped in to argue the Palestinian case.
I met the King a few days ago and he said he spoke with US officials about the consequences of moving the US embassy (to Jerusalem), and the damaging role of enlarging the settlements, Oraib al-Rantawi, the director of the Al-Quds Center in Amman, told The Media Line. The King told the president that these moves could put an end to a viable Palestinian state, which would also affect Jordans stability and security."
Jordan's King Abdullah meets with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (Photo: AP)
The King is also keen for the US to help establish safe zones on the border between Jordan and Syria, which would keep more Syrian refugees from entering Jordan.
This is of high importance to Jordan, Mohammed Hussainy, the director of the Identity Center, an independent civil society organization in Amman, told The Media Line. If the Trump administration decides to go ahead with this, they will find cooperation from Jordan, especially for a safe zone in the south of Syria.
Jordan currently has about 1.4 million Syrian refugees and the country simply cannot handle anymore, analysts say. It would be even better if some of those refugees could eventually return to Syria.
Jordan is also interested in helping the US step up the fight against Islamic State, analysts say. Jordan is suffering economically partly because its borders with Syria and Iraq have been closed due to the fighting.
We are trapped in this crisis, Al-Rantawi said. We hope to open the borders and conclude deals with Syria and Lebanon and through them with Europe.
Jordan has long had close ties with the US, under both Democratic and Republican presidents. Analysts say that Jordan can play an important role in coordinating with the US on war against terrorism.
Article written by Linda Gradstein.
A flight en route from Toronto to Ben Gurion Airport was forced to conduct an emergency landing in London on Wednesday morning after a female passenger began randomly strangling other passengers.
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Police officers were called to the runway and waited on the tarmac on standby outside the Air Canada plane after it landed in Heathrow Airport to take the problematic passenger in for investigation before permitting the pilots to continue the flights journey to Israel.
Photo: Air Canada
On the instructions of security officials the plane changed its flight route in order to remove a disorderly passenger during the flight, said representatives of the company in Israel.
The flight crew aboard AC84 that took off on Tuesday night from Toronto to Israel was forced to declare an aviation emergency above the city of Glasgow in Scotland, six hours after the planes departure.
The crew, in accordance with flight procedure, removed the passenger from the flight with the help of the police who entered the plane the moment it touched down.
Following an hour-long delay the pilots were given the green light to take off again.
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Mike Pompeo, met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, Palestinian officials told Ynet, confirming a report from the Palestinian news agency Ma'an.
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Palestinian security chief Majed Faraj was also present at the meeting which, according to the officials, was positive and serious and touched upon diplomatic matters.
CIA director Mike Pompeo (Photo: MCT)
Pompeo was on a visit to the region last week, arriving at Saudi Arabia and Turkey among others.
While the meeting marks the first of its kind between an American official and Abbas since the Trump administration entered the White House in January, according to one Palestinian security official who spoke to Ynet, this is actually the second time that Pompeo has visited Ramallah since occupying the top intelligence post.
Throughout recent weeks, the Palestinians have been approaching every avenue through which to establish a back channel with the new US government in order to begin any kind dialogue, amid fears that they were falling behind in the diplomatic race for Trumps heart, particularly given his repeated statements that it lies with Israel.
Palestinians have also sought to open the lines of communication ever since Trump expressed his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a powerful symbolic move that would potentially torpedo Palestinian stated claims to at least the eastern half of the city.
During his visit to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Pompeo dealt primarily with ways to counter the growing threat of ISIS and how to restore stability to Syria, devastated by the ongoing civil war.
Pompeo is considered a friend of Israels and was among the most outspoken critics of the Iranian nuclear deal pieced together by the Obama administrationa position which kindled warmer predispositions toward the Netanyahu government.
Indeed, much like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pompeo claimed in the past that the deal would not prevent Iran from acquiring the bomb and would place Israel in greater danger.
Additionally, Pompeo fiercely objected to the the removal of sanctions from Iran, unequivocally dismissing the notion that it would moderate the aggressive regime as a "joke. They want to annihilate Israel, now buying Russian missiles," he said.
He also lashed out at Obama for failing to make the deal conditional upon Iranian agreement to stop its calls for Israels destruction.
Prior to being confirmed as the CIA director, Pompeo Tweeted that I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism.
Pompeo also made extremely flattering comments about Prime Minister Netanyahu himself back in 2015 during a visit to Israel, describing him as a true partner of the American people,"
El Al pilots were ordered to return to the negotiating table with the Israeli airline amid an ongoing labor dispute after the regional labor court denied their request for "urgent temporary reliefs" on Wednesday.
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The airline's request followed the pilots' submission of resignation letters, which according to the company, would have grounded all flights.
Photo: Reuters
The company continued to claim that the resignation announcements were made in a collective manner given the dispute between the pilots and the airline.
An hour into the deliberations, Judge Ofira Dagan-Tuchmacher put a stop to proceedings and ordered both parties to reach an agreement amongst themselves outside of the courtroom. "I have a feeling of deja-vu," she said.
Representatives of both sides stepped out of court accompanied by the chairman of the transport workers union Avi Edri. Upon their return, the judge decided that the resignation of the eight supervisory pilots will be delayed and the sides will continue negotiating intensively until Shabbat begins.
The judge also criticized El Al by stating that "the customers are the only ones affected by this childish behavior. I still don't understand who buys tickets from this company."
The representative of the Board, attorney Efrat Biran said that "the emerging proposal delineates that the negotiations continue until Saturday and in the meantime, the captains who also hold managerial positions will continue their position."
Biran noted that El Al CEO David Maimon even agreed to cancel his own flight abroad scheduled for the weekend for the sake of these negotiations.
The sides agreed that if the negotiations fail to progress, they would reschedule the deliberations and reach a decision then.
Over the past week, the pilots and El Al have been negotiating the terms of employment for pilots over the age of 65. As per protocol, these pilots are forbidden from flying passengers, unless they are supposed to keep working until they retire at the age of 67.
Captain Ronnie Zohar (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Prior to the cessation of deliberations, the judge said that "any judicial decision or a lack of certainty incurs great damage on both sides. Maybe the company should be dismantled and started over. Financially perhaps that would be the right thing to do, or perhaps not, but both sides should realize that it is not the ideal solution."
Captain Ronnie Zohar, manager of fleet 737, who threatened to quit his senior position, said during the discussion: "I ask to be released from managing flights since my entire work plan has collapsed. I can't take responsibility for my fleet. It has nothing to do with the negotiations and I'm not involved in them. I will only be 65 in six years."
Captain Guy Nevot, manager of fleet 767, said in the discussion that for a year, he has been "alerting the company on safety issues and the pilots' professional side. I can't maintain my managerial duties. Three months ago, I decided I couldn't take the responsibility any longer, which is why I asked to resign in accordance with company protocol."
The pilots' representative, Efrat Deutsch announced that both parties have already agreed that veteran pilots will become flight instructors and will earn a basic monthly salary of NIS 45,000.
The Board representative stated that the main point of contention is the calculation of the pilots' activity hours. The pilots are willing to commit to nine days a month, whereas the management requires the calculation to be done annually, since there are six months with decreased instruction activity.
The Histadrut representative Edri told the judge: "a company isn't run in the courtrooms. There is an entire population here whose funds were severely damaged. People took a drastic pay cutNIS 17,000 less. The company should give its employees what they already agreed to."
On Tuesday, El Al announced that the resignation of these pilots could entail inestimable damages for the company . "Therefore, the airline appealed to the court, asking them to issue an order stating that the supervisors' resignation would entail an unlawful strike."
Technically flights could take off without supervisory pilots but not without a captain, and the company would have to ground those flights. According to assessments, the captains are being pressured into resigning.
Histadrut representative Avi Edri (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
El Al further claimed that "as part of their agreement with the pilots, they undertook to maintain silence on the matter. Despite this commitment, additional disruptions continued to occur, which led to a temporary injunction issued by the court on February 6, compelling the pilot representatives to exercise their authority in order to enforce complete silence and orderly work. The company has also been using all of its available tools to make sure flights run their scheduled course."
In response to El Al's claims, the head of the Histadrut Avi Nissenkorn said that the pilots' union hasn't blown up negotiations, nor have they recanted from the agreements reached over the last few days.
According to Nissenkorn, the unions' representatives haven't disparaged or abandoned the meeting that took place on Monday: "El Al Airlines is dear and important to us all. I ask the sides to return to the negotiating table and bring the dispute to an end."
The union responded by stating that "the El Al fleet managers and captains, board members who do not belong to the pilots' union, have all expressed lack of confidence in the CEO David Maimon and in his methods of management A CEO who manages a company through court orders and injunctions is a failed CEO who does not know how to direct."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying there was "no alternative".
"There is no alternative solution for the situation between the Palestinians and Israelis, other than the solution of establishing two states and we should do all that can be done to maintain this," Guterres said during a visit to Cairo.
Ships from an array of countries have made their presence known in the Mediterranean over the last few months due in part to the ongoing Syrian civil war. The ships are trying to maintain civility and mutual respect but at times, the encounters can be somewhat unnerving.
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Last week, a Turkish warship approached an Israeli navy missile boat in the international waters of the Mediterranean, a few kilometers from Israel's shores. Despite tensions thawing between the countries, the adopted stance in such situations is usually one of "respect them and suspect them." The sailors already had clear sight of their counterparts when all of a sudden, the Turkish ship took a stance that could have easily been interpreted as threatening. However, after a few minutes of tense radio silence, the Turks continued on their way, friction averted.
Missile boat sailors have grown accustomed to such occurrences. Over the last few months, they have found themselves facing a growing number of "presence displays" with dozens of warships, among them destroyers and aircraft carriers of the world's powers, which are sailing along the shores of Lebanon and Syria. These displays come as a result of the increasing Russian and American involvement in the Syrian civil war.
The increased presence of Israeli missile boats amidst the American, Russian, French, Turkish, British, Italian and Greek warships is intentional. A lack of presence in these crucial times, in an area that is of strategic significance to Israel, would make it that much harder to later return to force.
"Over the last year and a half, we started executing an ancient role of the navy, existing from the 19th century, 'The Gun Boat Diplomacy.' We sail those areas to maintain our freedom of navigation," explained a senior naval officer to Ynet.
Navy missile boat. (Photo: Elad Gershogoren)
"You need to instill the understanding that you are present. There is no violent altercation but we have witnessed threatening maneuvers between the Turks and the Russians, for instance, and the radio chatter, which is usually polite, can also sometimes turn impolite these regions see many power struggles, aiming to show who's in charge."
Almost every country that sends its ships to the Mediterranean's back yard, near Israel, follows maritime diplomacy to pass messages, which are at times aggressive, to other countries. The method: the ships' conduct at sea; pulling close to other vessels or barging in on their route.
Russian Aircraft carrier (Photo: EPA)
"Not an hour passes without the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea being put to the test," said the naval officer. Regarding the Israeli navy, it is not just about displaying its presence, there are other no less important missions, like the collection of intel."
In this manner, the Syrian civil war and the Houthi rebels fiasco in Yemen, alongside the renewed tensions between Tehran and Washington, have made for a very tumultuous maritime arena, not only in the Mediterranean: US President Donald Trump ordered a week ago to position an American destroyer in a threatening manner in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait near Yemen as the Houthis turned the area into the private playground of Iranian industry.
The Trump Administration appears to be easing away from longstanding US support for Palestinian statehood as the preferred outcome of Middle East peace efforts, which may please some allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. But the alternatives are few, and each comes with daunting and combustible complications, including for Israel itself.
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The idea of two states in the Holy Landa Jewish Israel and an Arab Palestinerests on a particular logic: There are two quite different peoples of roughly equal size living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River; each wants their own nation-state to control and dominate numerically; each has shown tenacity toward this goal.
Netanyahu speaking before the United Nations General Assembly (Photo: AFP)
This would require Israel to let go of most and maybe all of the territory it captured in the 1967 war, when it completed its takeover of all the land that British colonizers abandoned in 1948. That includes the West Bank, where there are now islands of Palestinian autonomy, scattered Jewish settlements and overriding Israeli military control; the eastern part of Jerusalem, which Israel has fully annexed and populated with Jews; and the coastal Gaza Strip, which was actually evacuated in 2005 and is now controlled by the Islamic militants of Hamas and blockaded by Israel and Egypt.
Over the years many and probably most Israelis have come around to the idea of a partition largely because they want to be considered a democracy and do not want all the Palestinian future citizens that would come along with the territory. For almost two decades, US policy has been to advocate a two-state solution.
But over two decades of peace talks have failed to produce agreement on the details, and many on both sides consider it impossible without a major change in circumstancesmassive global pressure on Israel, more upheaval in neighboring Arab countries, perhaps tectonic shifts in the prevailing world order.
Ahead of Wednesday's White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Netanyahu, a senior US official suggested a two-state solution was optional, bringing condemnation from Palestinian officials. But many of them have for years been quietly preparing for an alternative strategy of a single bi-national state in the Holy Land.
Here's a look at that option, and other scenarios that might arise:
One state
For years this was the goal of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and for many Palestinians it is indeed the preferred option: a single democratic state, not defined as specifically Jewish or Arab, in the area of British colonial Palestine. Many prefer it anyway to the two-state notion whereby even if Israel gives up all the land it captured in 1967 it retains almost 80% of Palestine.
The problem is that almost no one in Israel is arguing for the true extension of full rights to Palestinians in the currently occupied territories because even with Gaza excluded it would leave Arabs constituting close to half the country's populationand that is clearly the end of the Zionist dream of a Jewish state. This is why Israel has never annexed the West Bank and why the more sophisticated nationalists profess to support a partition, albeit on terms the Palestinians have not accepted and are not likely to.
If the Palestinians formally drop the two-state strategy and demand incorporation into Israel it will put Israel in the awkward position of refusing to annex territories where it has been settling Jews for decades. Down this path lie coercion efforts in the form of international sanctions on Israel, or Palestinian violence.
Interim agreement
Many Israelis have concluded that a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is simply not possible because the Palestinians are asking for the moon as a result of a feeling that they hold the demographic cards. It is not, however, just about territory: the Palestinians still in theory demand a "right of return" to Israel proper for millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees living around the region and the world, which most Israeli officials reject.
But perhaps a partial deal is possible whereby the Palestinians would not have to forego future claims but for now get their state on, say, 80% of the West Bank, with some sort of preferred access or new regime in the Old City of Jerusalem? Even the current nationalist Netanyahu government would probably accept such a thing, but the Palestinians have ruled it out, fearing the temporary would become permanent. To get them to agree would require massive global and Arab world pressure, and risks huge internal conflict among the Palestinians.
Jordanian option
Jordan took over the West Bank and east Jerusalem during Israel's War of Independence in 1948 that followed the British pullout, lost the areas to Israel in 1967 and then gave up all claims to them in favor of the Palestinians in the 1980s. But Jordan is a country with a majority Palestinian-descended population, and some Israelis still think that it can play a role in satisfying Palestinian national aspirations while resuming control over only a part of the West Bank.
But this would probably require a collapse of Hashemite rule, founded on Jordan's Bedouin population, and as such is anathema to the Jordanian monarchy, which is beloved by many israelis for making peace with them in 1994. Adding to the difficulties, the Palestinians reject it altogether as well.
Partial unilateral pullout
Under these vexing circumstances many Israelis conclude no peace is possible, but they still want to be rid of the Palestinian population of the West Bank. In the mid-2000s the government of Ehud Olmert planned a unilateral pullout from most of the territory, to follow the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. But those plans were upended when Gaza was taken over by Hamas militants and became a launching pad for rocket attacks on Israel, leading to several mini-wars.
Few want to see that scenario repeated with the West Bank, which is much larger and closer to Israel's main cities. Now talk grows of a pullout of settlers from some areas, to create a more convincing reality of partition, while the military stays for now, pending some future arrangement. NATO? A global or Arab peacekeeping force? Perpetual Israeli control? No one can say.
Status quo
When the best that can be hoped for is the least bad option, the status quo looks attractive to some. But Israel is constantly changing the landscape by adding settlersalready there are some 350,000 Israelis in the West Bank and a quarter million in East Jerusalem. This arrangement, brittle and loved by few, undermines Israel's democratic credentials by leaving millions of people without a vote for the government that has ultimate control over their fate.
The Palestinians do not have a history of acquiescing for long: There were multi-year uprisings in the late 1980s and early 2000s and a spate of violence in late 2015 and early 2016. Down this path lies the very strong likelihood of more.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. In contrast to former US President Barack Obama, Netanyahus meeting today with President Trump will not focus on what will Israel do for the Palestinians today, but rather on What does Israel want to be when it grows up, how do you see the Middle East.
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The Trump administration suggested Tuesday that peace between the Israelis and Palestinians may not come in the form of a two-state solutiona position that could represent a major shift from what has been US policy for more than 20 years.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Trump's meeting Wednesday with Netanyahu, a senior White House official said Trump is eager to begin facilitating a peace deal between the two sides and hoping to bring them together soon. However, the official said it will be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to determine how to go about achieving peace.
Trump (L) and Netanyahu's previous meeting at Trump Tower (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)
The main goal is peace, the official stated ahead of the meeting, whether by way of a two-state solution, if the two sides want, or by other means agreed to by the sides.
Insisting that Trump had no intention of dictating terms, forging peace was high on the presidents agenda.
A senior Republican source with close links to several of the administrations key Middle East players, who serves as an informal adviser to some of them, has told TPS that these are the administrations main concerns.
The Palestinian issue per se does not figure high on Trumps agenda, said the source. His main concern is Iran. He believes that it is a primary American interest to contain it, and to thwart Tehrans ambitions to become the regions dominant power.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the administration, the source said that Trump is not as much a unilateralist as people think. In contrast to his predecessors, however, the president believes in ad-hoc regional coalitions and alliances, rather than UN-based or global ones.
Unlike Obama, who was risk- and confrontation-averse, he has no problems with confrontations, and believes America must and should act to effectively contain Iran. But he would much rather do it together with Turkey and the moderate Sunni states, and if possible with Russia as well, than have the US shoulder the entire burden by itself.
PM meets with high-profile US officials
Netanyahu tweeted Wednesday afternoon about the meeting that took place with Tillerson, repeating comments he made before he borded for Washington.
"Excellent meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The US-Israel alliance has always been strong, and it's about to get stronger," he wrote on Twitter.
Tillerson was the official who called Netanyahu shortly before the White House issued a press statement two weeks ago stating that while it had not formulated a policy on settlements, their construction may not be helpful.
Netanyahu would later tell express his view that Indeed, it is true that it will be more comfortable for Israel but anyone who thinks that there wont be limits on Israel is mistaken, he said.
Trump Spokesman Sean Spicer said that Trump and Netanyahu would discuss an array of issues including strengthening the relationship between the two countries, the need to stabilize the region, the Iranian threat and the need to fight against ISIS and terror.
Spicer added that the two would discuss a future agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians so that the two sides could live in peace.
Asked during his press conference whether Trump and Netanyahu would speak about moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as promised by the president during his election campaign, Spicer remained evasive on the matter, stating that he has no intention of going ahead of Trump on the issue.
During his final White House news conference, Obama warned that the moment for a two-state solution "may be passing" and said the "status quo is unsustainable."
After meeting with Trump, Netanyahu is due to head over to Capitol Hill for meetings with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Wheeling and dealing for peace
Trump takes pride in his deal-making skills and said during his campaign that he'd love the challenge of negotiating a Mideast agreement. He has appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to lead the effort.
Trump told The Associated Press during his campaign that he wanted to be "very neutral" and try to get both sides together. But his tone became decidedly more pro-Israel as the campaign progressed.
He has said that Palestinians have been "taken over" by or are condoning militant groups. Some of his top aides challenge the legitimacy of Palestinian demands for a state.
After repeatedly clashing with Obama for eight years, capped by a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, Netanyahu seemed relieved by Trump's arrival. Trump slammed the US decision to abstain from the UN vote, saying in December that Israel is being treated "very, very unfairly."
Now in office, however, Trump has been forced to reevaluate and revisit his position on a number of issuesincluding those relating to Israel.
After initially greeting Israel's settlement announcements with a shrug, Trump appears to be having second thoughts. In an interview with a pro-Netanyahu Israeli daily Friday, Trump said, "I am not somebody that believes that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace."
In preparation for the meeting, Yedioth Ahronoth obtained information that the White House requested a detailed report on the ongoing investigations against the Israeli prime minister in order to ascertain whether Trump will be facing a man with whom he can do business, or a man who is about to make an exit from the political scene.
Moreover, despite the cordial relations which are expected to characterize the talks, White House officials were perturbed by comments in a cabinet meeting made by Netanyahu on Trumps personality shortly before departing to Washington.
Indeed Netanyahu warned the ministers to be under no illusions: Trump still believed in carving out two states, meaning that Israel had to act with caution, particularly in light of his personality.
It is unclear what was written in the report provided to the president, but it is believed that White House officials interpreted these words as an insult.
While the meeting is expected to be much warmer than Netanyahu's famously tense encounters with Obama, the Israeli leader will still need to tread with caution on sensitive issues like Israeli construction in the West Bank, Iran and the war in Syria.
Meanwhile, in Ramallah senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said that the change in US policy "does not make sense."
"This is not a responsible policy and it does not serve the cause of peace," Ashrawi said. "They cannot just say that without an alternative."
Trump has yet to speak directly to the Palestinian leadership since taking office.
Ahead of the visit, Netanyahu said he would handle ties with the US in a "prudent manner," but he steered clear of specifics.
The Israeli prime minister is also scheduled to have breakfast Thursday with Vice President Mike Pence before departing back to Israel.
Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked traveled to Austria Tuesday in order to meet with the German Federal Minister of Justice and the head of Vienna's Jewish community.
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During a meeting with law students at Vienna University, BDS activists attempted to disrupt Shaked's speech by accusing the State of Israel and Shaked herself of apartheid.
BDS hecklers interrupt Ayelet Shaked in Vienna
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Hecklers interrupt Shaked during her remarks at the University of Vienna
Shaked answered the hecklers, saying, "I feel bad for you that you are fed lies from the media and the BDS movement. Yelling your lies louder won't make you right.
"Hundreds of people are being butchered everyday in Syria and you're busy with lies about the only democracy in the Middle East. The only country that really cares about human rights."
Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked
After the hecklers left the hall, Shaked continued her speech and was thanked by those in attendance, who also explained that the activists represent an extreme minority whose opinions do not reflect those of the majority.
In an interview with Ynet, Shaked said, "I've been asked many times why I take this and why I come to these places. I want to tell all these detractors the truth and I will continue to say it, even if I have to deal with disturbances. The days were Jews were afraid to speak are over."
The Health Ministry of Peru has approved an Israeli request to fly 100 units of blood over, in an effort to save the life of an Israeli traveler. They are due to fly out Wednesday night.
22-year-old Zohar Katz is in critical condition in Lima with an aggressive infection; the units of blood will be sent over after intense diplomatic work by the Israeli MDA and MFA.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb settlement activity but avoided any explicit endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a longstanding bedrock of US Middle East policy.
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Trump opened his joint news conference with a vow to encourage a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. But the president said the two parties themselves "must directly negotiate such an agreement."
Netanyahu added, "both sides."
Post-meeting press conference
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Meeting in the Oval Office (Photo: AP)
Netanyahu said there is "no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump." The prime minister was addressing a question from Israeli media about fears the administration "is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones."
The arrival at the White House
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Netanyahu said that he's known Trump, members of Trump's team and his family for many years. That includes Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, whom Netanyahu has known since Kushner was young. Netanyahu said he thinks any insinuation otherwise should be put "to rest."
Setting a chummy tone for the meeting, Trump greeted Netanyahu on a red carpet rolled out to the White House driveway. The two leaders smiled, shook hands and chatted amiably before heading inside the executive mansion, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and Netanyahu's wife Sara.
Trump reaffirmed the United States' "unbreakable bond" between the two countries. He called Israel a symbol of resilience. He said Israel faces enormous security challenges and is calling the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama "one of the worst deals I've ever seen."
The heads of government at the press conference (Photo: MCT)
"I'd like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit," Trump told Netanyahu. The Israeli leader later insisted that Jewish settlements were "not the core of the conflict" and made no commitment to reduce settlement building.
The American leader broke with his predecessors on the idea of a two-state agreement. While such an accord may have once appeared to be the "easier of the two" options, Trump said he'd be open to alternatives if the two sides propose something better.
Trump echoed Netanyahu's calls for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state - something they have refused to do - and to halt incitement against Israelis.
But even as Trump promised to pursue peace between the two sides - who have had no substantive peace talks since 2014 - he offered no new prescriptions for unblocking the peace process or achieving a deal that has eluded so many of his predecessors.
Melania Trump shows Sara Netanyahu her seat (Photo: AP)
"I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like," he said.
"I can live with either one. I thought for a while it looked like the two-state, looked like it may be the easier of the two, but honestly if Bibi and if the Palestinians if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I'm happy with the one they like the best," Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Netanyahu said that he wanted to focus on "substance" and not "labels," when asked about support for a two-state solution for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"Rather than deal with labels, I want to deal with substance," Netanyahu said.
"There are two prerequisites for peace. First the Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state ... Second, in any peace agreement, Israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River," he said.
Trump also said that he'd like to see the US Embassy in Israel moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but noted that "we're looking at it with great care."
A retreat from U.S. backing for a two-state solution would upend decades of U.S. policy embraced by Republican and Democratic administrations and a principle considered the core of international peace efforts.
Trump asks Sara Netanyahu (: )
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Trump also took a moment to call out and praise Sara Netanyahu, asking her to stand to be recognized. He also referenced his daughter, Ivanka, who was in attendance, when addressing a question on rising anti-Semitism in the United States. He said that he was going to do everything in his power to stop long-simmering racism
Palestinians alarmed
Prior to Trump's meeting with Netanyahu, Palestinians reacted with alarm to the possibility that Washington might ditch its support for an independent Palestinian nation.
"If the Trump administration rejects this policy it would be destroying the chances for peace and undermining American interests, standing and credibility abroad," Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in response to the US official's remarks.
"Accommodating the most extreme and irresponsible elements in Israel and in the White House is no way to make responsible foreign policy," she said in a statement.
Husam Zomlot, strategic adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Palestinians had not received any official indication of a change in the US stance.
However, following Trump and Netanyahu's joint press conference, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that he agreed with US President Donald Trump's call on Israel to "pull back" on settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
A written statement issued by Abbas's office said that the "presidency demands that (Israel) agree to (Trump's call), and that of the international community, to halt all settlement activities including in occupied East Jerusalem."
Trump told Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint news conference in the White House that "I'd like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit."
For Netanyahu, the talks with Trump are an opportunity to reset ties after a frequently combative relationship with Democrat Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor. After speaking to reporters, the two leaders were due to hold talks in the Oval Office followed by a working lunch.
The prime minister, under investigation at home over allegations of abuse of office, spent much of Tuesday huddled with advisers in Washington preparing for the talks. Officials said they wanted no gaps to emerge between U.S. and Israeli thinking during the scheduled two-hour Oval Office meeting.
Trump, who has been in office less than four weeks and has already been immersed in problems including the forced resignation of his national security adviser earlier this week, brings with him an unpredictability that Netanyahu's staff hope will not impinge on the discussions.
The two leaders, who seemed to strike up an emerging "bromance" in social media exchanges since the election, sought to demonstrate good personal chemistry face-to-face as well, both sporting smiles and exchanging asides.
Meetings with Obama were at best cordial and businesslike, at worst tense and awkward. In one Oval Office encounter in 2011, Obama grimaced as Netanyahu lectured him in front of the cameras on the suffering of the Jewish people through the ages.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying there was "no alternative."
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"There is no alternative solution for the situation between the Palestinians and Israelis, other than the solution of establishing two states, and we should do all that can be done to maintain this," he said during a visit to Cairo.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Photo: EPA)
The idea of a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel has underpinned Middle East peace efforts for decades, though the last US-brokered negotiations broke down in 2014.
But a senior White House official said on Tuesday peace did not necessarily have to entail Palestinian statehood, and US President Donald Trump would not try to "dictate" a solution.
Trump, at a Washington news conference held after Guterres spoke, left the question open, saying he would work to bring about peace between Israel and Palestinians, but it would be up to the parties themselves ultimately to reach an agreement.
Before the two leaders met, Palestinians warned the White House not to abandon their goal of an independent state.
Antonio Guterres (Photo: AFP)
For Palestinians, who seek a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip, even the notion of a US retreat from the internationally backed goal of a future Palestine existing alongside Israel was alarming.
"If the Trump Administration rejects this policy, it would be destroying the chances for peace and undermining American interests, standing and credibility abroad," said Hanan Ashrawi.
Speaking later in the day at Cairo University, Guterres stressed once again the need to pursue a two-state solution.
"We should not forget the mother of all conflicts is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said in a wide-ranging speech. "It is important to stress that, in my opinion... there is no plan B other than the two-state solution."
US Senator John McCain said on Wednesday he is leaning against voting to confirm US President Donald Trump's nominee to be White House budget director, Representative Mick Mulvaney.
A Senate vote on Mulvaney, a leading member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who represents South Carolina, was expected on Thursday at 7 am (1200 GMT). Wavering support from McCain alone would not jeopardize Mulvaney's confirmation, but the Arizona senator and former presidential candidate could sway other Republicans. A Senate panel only narrowly backed the nominee earlier this month in a party-line vote.
Republicans have 52 of the 100 Senate seats and are able to approve Trump's nominees if they can hold together a majority.
To the benefit of all peace-loving peoples, Sweden has announced the appointment of a special envoy to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon marked the occasion by issuing a somewhat sarcastic statement saying, "Given the extraordinary success of the current Swedish government in making peace all over the world, we are grateful for the decision to finally solve the ills of our region. Why couldn't they think of such an appointment earlier?"
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom (Photo: Getty Images)
In other Swedish news Haredi IKEA catalogue is a no-ma'am's land Iris Lifshitz-Kliger & Gahl Becker The women in IKEA's new Haredi catalogue are conspicuously out of stock, inadvertently creating all-male families; 'Where are the women?' wondered one commenter; IKEA Israel says the new catalogue 'allows the religious and Haredi communities to enjoy thumbing through our products.' Haredi IKEA catalogue is a no-ma'am's land
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, announced the appointment during a special speech before the Swedish parliament.
"This year, we mark 50 years of the occupation of Palestine. Sweden continues to work toward a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and will appoint a special envoy," said Wallstrom.
"After visiting Palestine last December, I was impressed that hope can turn to despair and this is reflected in consultations Sweden held with 150 social organizations, both Israeli and Palestinian. Security Council resolution 2334 on Israeli settlements and the international conference in Paris are the best scenarios to create the conditions necessary for a resumption of the peace process for a two-state solution."
A senior Israeli diplomatic source said that the Swedes are aware of Israel's cool attitude towards them. However, according to the source, all the Swedes care about is the perception of Sweden as a peacemaking country.
Likewise, Israel's standing in Swedish public opinion has never been worse. Members of the Swedish left refuse to meet the Israeli ambassador in Stockholm, Isaac Bachman, but are willing to meet with Hamas.
Right-wing Israelis and the settlement camp celebrated US President Donald Trumps commitment to re-think US policy vis-a-vis the Israel-Palestinian peace process, while left-wing politicians accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning Israels national interest for the benefit of domestic politics.
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Looking more relaxed than he has in many months, and at any time in the White House since returning to the prime ministers office in 2009, Netanyahu praised the new administration for its aggressive stance towards Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, and took a parting shot at former US President Barack Obama, calling the change in policy long overdue.
Photo: MCT
Education Minister Naftali Bennett said the visit marked the end of the two-state vision for the land of Israel and noted that two Palestinian states already exist: Gaza and Jordan.
I congratulate the Prime Minister for making the right decision, showing leadership and courage, and fortifying Israels security and sovereignty. Now we must look ahead and shape a new strategic approach in light of the new reality, Bennett said.
Minister of Culture and Sport MK Miri Regev joined in the positive chorus, saying, "The freeze era in the West Bank is over. The freeze era in relations between the United States and Israel is over. Today in Washington, a new era of policy began."
On the other side of the aisle, voices were less enthusiastic. MK Dr. Nachman Shai, chairman of the US -Israel Friendship Caucus, said the cordial visit was an indication of Netanyahus cowing to right-wing elements in his coalition instead of speaking to Israels national interest.
MK Dr. Nahman Shai (Photo: George Ginsburg)
Every once in a while, the laughing faces of Minister Bennett and Netanyahus other coalition partners peeks out from behind the prime ministers back, Shai said. The prime minister bowed to right-wing pressure and refrained from mentioning the two-state solution. Netanyahu knows, better than anyone in the White House, that this is the only acceptable solution that will preserve a Jewish and democratic Israel.
Shai also noted Trumps repeated statements that Israel must be prepared to make concessions, and criticized Netanyahu for refusing to answer those demands.
The two-state solution is first-and-foremost in the interest of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Once again, Netanyahu has proved that Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic policy, Shai said.
Herzog (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Head of the opposition, MK Isaac Herzog, responded to the press conference, saying, "It was sad and embarrassing to see Netanyahu twisting and winding to avoid the idea of a separation from the Palestinians to form two states. Every Israeli should be anxious tonight from the possibility of a single state between the Jordan River and the sea, which means there is no Jewish state. This is a very dangerous disaster and we will fight it every way possible."
In addition, MK Stav Shaffir (Zionist Union) cautioned the settlement movement against premature celebrations, criticizing Netanyahu for lacking a plan to maintain security, while Meretz Party Chairwoman Zehava Galon said the end of the two-state solution would guarantee that Israel becomes an apartheid state.
YORK Mayor Orval Stahr will be bringing forward his recommendation for a new city administrator during Thursday nights council meeting.
The name of the candidate is not yet being publicly released, Mayor Stahr said.
Mayor Stahr said the city received 14 applications/resumes for the position.
I asked the president and vice-president of the council to review the applicants and bring forward their top three choices, Mayor Stahr explained. Interestingly enough, their choices and mine were the same. Then interviews were conducted and the final candidate was interviewed twice.
Mayor Stahr said the candidate for city administrator is very, very qualified and educated, with a lot of experience in city administration and economic development.
If the council agrees with the appointment, the mayor said he hopes to see this person in the position by the first part of March.
If the council agrees, this will fill the position that was vacated upon the resignation of Tara Vasicek.
Also added to Thursday nights agenda will be proposed fee changes for Levitt Stadium, Miller Park and the Family Aquatic Swim Team.
And Pellet Technologies USA will be asking for the annexation of land that is included in their plant property.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m., in the council chambers.
YORK The York County Commissioners are toying with the idea of moving their meetings to Monday nights at 7 p.m., rather than Tuesday mornings at 8:30 a.m.
While it didnt seem to garner a ton of support Tuesday morning, the county board members would like to hear from the public about whether or not changing their regular meetings from Tuesday mornings to Monday nights would improve the attendance of constituents.
I bring this up every other year or so, for discussion, said Commissioner Kurt Bulgrin. It might be a way to have more people attend the meetings, it might spur public interest and it also might encourage others to run for office who havent (because of daytime work commitments). I also realize that we work with many elected officials and county employees, we meet with them during our meetings, and that might be an issue for them in attending. But many boards village, city and school boards meet at night. I brought this up, and suggested Monday nights, for the purpose of discussion.
Commissioner Bill Bamesberger said, Ive been here for six years and we have never heard a constituent say they wanted us to have evening meetings. Well, except for one who wanted us to have a special meeting about pipeline issues and we did that. But there are a lot of things to think about with an evening meeting.
First, theres the issue of security, Bamesberger said. We would have to open up the courthouse would we have to have the sheriffs department standing by? And then theres the issue of scheduling we are parents and grandparents and our constituents are parents and grandparents with children who have nighttime activities all through the week that people attend.
And we have a lot of county personnel who attend our meetings, Bamesberger said. Will it be mandatory for them to be here? Would we have to pay them overtime to be here? And then theres the issue with how that would affect the payroll process. I am going to say that I totally disagree that we should have evening meetings.
I do appreciate Kurt (Bulgrin) asking about this, said Commissioner Randy Obermier. Two years ago, when I joined the board, I had the same idea in my mind. But since then Ive realized that there are a lot of things (meetings and board commitments) that we do besides this meeting and theres a lot more that takes place in these meetings.
The majority of county board meetings last between three and four hours although some have lasted well into the afternoon, sometimes to the end of the work day.
I will tell you, after 10 years of being on the York City Council, that having a meeting in the evening does not change the number of people who attend, Obermier continued. If there is something going on, that people are interested in, they will show up. Otherwise, it doesnt make a difference. But I would like this conversation to continue and I would like to hear from the people.
We had the one- and six-year road hearing a couple of weeks ago. How many people showed up? asked Bamesberger. None. And in all these years, Ive never seen a soul for budget meetings or hearings.
The county board members noted there is one person in the county who consistently attends budget meetings and hearings.
We will need to have legal counsel at our meetings and it is convenient now for her (the county attorney) to come in and leave as needed, Obermier said. And yes, that was a good point about security.
It was noted that many times hourly-paid employees are required to be at meetings such as the deputy clerk who is the countys human resource director, the director of general assistance and more.
And then there would be the issue of who would open and lock up the courthouse before and after, and the security issues at the door, commented Commissioner Jack Sikes.
I do think it is worth talking about, Obermier reiterated. We might want to table this conversation so we can hear what people have to say on the subject.
Well, for the sake of argument, as far as security, all the offices are locked at 5 p.m., Bulgrin said. We also have law enforcement presence in the courthouse 24-7 because of the sheriffs department, and it would be only one night every two weeks that we might have to have a deputy in the building. We also have cameras everywhere.
I, too, have a child and we have activities at night . . . so do a lot of city and school board members who have their meetings in the evening. As far as the county officials who attend our meetings, most of us are salaried employees and you are right, sometimes we talk with those who are paid by the hour but they arent here the whole time, and those things could be worked out with their times. As far as opening and closing the courthouse, that is already done for planning commission meetings and we all have keys.
If we moved to Monday evenings, what would that do to our cut-off time on the agenda, as it is done 24 hours before the meeting? Sikes asked.
That would mean that all agendas would be set in stone at 5 p.m., the Friday before.
One last comment, Bamesberger interjected. I am very, very worried about security and us being a target if the courthouse was open at night.
Well, we could be a target at 9 a.m., too, Bulgrin said.
I think this is something we should talk about more, Obermier said. I think we should table it, to hear from constituents, other elected officials and staff members.
The other commissioners agreed.
Readers are encouraged to vote in the YNT online poll regarding this matter on the yorknewstimes.com home page. They can also submit comments that will be passed along to county board members by emailing melanie.wilkinson@yorknewstimes.com . . . addressing whether they think they would be more likely to attend more meetings if they were in the evening, if they would be less likely to attend because meetings would be in the evening, if it doesnt make any difference, if they feel county board meetings are too lengthy to have in an evening, or if they have other concerns or questions about either time slot. And everyone is very much encouraged to communicate their opinions with the county board members themselves, as each of the five has said they would like to hear from their constituents, county employees, elected officials, etc.
MANHATTAN - More than 3,900 students earned semester honors from Kansas State University for their academic performance in the fall 2016 semester.
Students earning a grade point average for the semester of 3.75 or above on at least 12 credit hours receive semester honors along with commendations from their deans. The honors also are recorded on their permanent academic records.
YORK A 46-year-old Lincoln woman has pleaded guilty to felony shoplifting, as well as for failure to appear.
Kathryn S. Smith was transported to York County District Court, as she is already in custody of the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
A change of plea hearing was scheduled earlier before the court, but Smith didnt appear for that hearing and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Smith admitted to stealing large amounts of electronics from Wal-Mart in York on a number of different occasions.
Court documents indicate that in one situation, over the course of a few days, she stole one Google Chromecast HDMI streaming media player, a Roku 3 streaming player, four Xbox One video games, two Playstation 4 video games and one Playstation 3 video game.
On another occasion, she stole one Sony Playstation 4 camera, five Playstation 4 controllers, one Microsoft Xbox game and one Playstation game.
And on another occasion, she stole a number of controllers and DVDs.
Each time, the value was between $500 and $1,500.
In return for Smiths guilty plea, the prosecution will not pursue seeking a habitual criminal status on Smith which could have brought a prison sentence in its own.
Judge Stecker explained to Smith that she could now be facing up to a possible maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Sentencing has been set for late March.
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A puppy robot that smell odor was developed in Japan. This is a result of college student's ideas and now they are making a commercial fund for it.
According to the local Nishinihon newspaper, students at Kitakyushu National University succeeded in developing a living robot that senses the smell and responds to it.
Students who set up venture company "NeXT Technology" at this school installed an odor sensor on the nose of a puppy robot and devised a robot that hovered or barked according to the intensity of the odor measured. Through programming, puppy robot was stunned if the odor was strong.
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Students have begun to develop robots with the goal of "shaping their ideas" into reality in the laboratory of Professor Takimoto,
At first, the robot, which was about 50cm long, had been improved, and now it has been reduced to 20cm, so that it can be used conveniently at home.
The students who developed the robot said, "We aim to develop a model to live comfortably with people and to live with people." We will continue our research so that we can commercialize it by adding the function of spreading deodorant to the detected smell as we go around the house. .
On the other hand, they read human expressions, and when the stress detected here is strong, a robot that ejects aroma fragments is also presented. And a Pinocchio robot that uses polygraph detection technology as well.
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LIVE-2 Inning |06-10
PAKISTAN VS BANGLADESH
PAK 54/0 VS 127/8 BAN
Pakistan need 74 runs in 62 balls at 7.16 rpo
New Delhi: Polling in the state was held on February 4. The counting of votes will be done, with other states, on March 11 and results declared the same day.
The EC had already instructed to put double locks on the strongrooms and the keys to be kept by the Returning Officer and the District Electoral Officer (DEO).
It had instructed a two-layered security of the strongroom buildings, with inner periphery guarded by central paramilitary forces (CPF) and the outer security ring to be formed by the state armed police.
In the constituency-wise compliance report it has sought from the CEO of Punjab, the EC has asked whether all this is being done, apart from ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the strongroom premises and allowing candidates` representatives to keep a close watch on the strongroom entrance.
On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) approached the poll panel in Delhi and alleged breach of security at the strongrooms. It sought strict security of strongrooms. The party earlier moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this connection.
The AAP delegation led by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia urged the EC to act against the officials involved in the alleged security breach at strongrooms.
"We highlighted major lapses in the security of EVMs seen across Punjab and also criminal negligence on the part of Returning Officers in handling the security of EVMs kept in strongrooms," Sisodia said after meeting the EC.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday accused state officials of trying to move EVMs from a strongroom in Punjab. Officials, however, denied the charge.
The memorandum submitted to the CEC read that on February 6, the Returning Officer of Gill constituency entered the premises of strongroom unaccompanied either by candidates or their representatives.
Another similar incident took place on Monday where the Returning Officer of Nabha constituency in Patiala allowed four people to enter the storage campus on the pretext of collecting certain documents. "Instead, they moved some EVMs kept in steel boxes," it said.
"The lackadaisical approach with which the Returning Officers in Punjab are following the instruction of May 5, 2015, notification -- which lists out instructions regarding the storage and safety of EVMs -- it merits your urgent attention," the AAP memorandum said.
Hello dearies! This is the Mistress of Spize, cooking up a lot of salt n sour, sweet n saucy stories and observations for you. Sniff! Can you smell, my preparation? Aroma is in the air and smoke is already rising from my hot pot.
Lets talk about eye-candy! The latest would be Hrithiks sword brandishing scene from Jodhaa Akbar. Man! how his muscles flexed as he challenged Aishwaryas defiance. That perfectly carved body language said it all without a word. It drew sighs from women across all ages. It was so amusing to hear a huddled group of aunty jis chatting about that perfectly chiselled body. And I was shocked to see the teeny-weeny teenagers just ogling. The sword-brandishing scene kind of bonded all females. And, let me tell you, it is that scene which will be remembered when all would be forgotten about Jodhaa Akbar.
For the male species, well, the latest eye-candy is the catty eyed Katrina Kaif and her sizzling item-numbers.
Dearies, I am sure you would be bursting with excitement to relate such stories and add on to the story-churning pot. Do interact and relate your rare observations through comments. Mistress of Spize is all ears!
Love ya!
Editors Note: Brandon Russell is portfolio manager at the Ag Innovation Development Group in Memphis, Tennessee. Here he writes about how the groups offerings for startups have developed and the benefits of being based in the Mid-South.
Most of you reading this will likely agree that agriculture, particularly in the United States, is a unique industry. Long-standing relationships built on trust, multiple generations of management on the same farm, and one (sometimes two) shots at revenue for an
entire year all make developing successful production technologies a one-of-a-kind experience. As many companies and investors that are new to the space are finding out its not easy. The difficulty is compounded by the relative immaturity of the recent agtech investment wave. In nearly all other industry segments, you have serial entrepreneurs that have built multiple companies within their area of expertise. This industry-specific entrepreneurial talent is hard to find in agriculture.
This is why its increasingly important that entrepreneurs in the sector have plenty of resources to draw on to help them succeed. By combining the right resources and partners, it is possible for teams to commercialize impactful innovations that reduce risk, increase yields, expand margins, and increase both efficiency and safety throughout the value chain.
We believe the Mid-South will be the next hotbed of agricultural innovation because growers in the region have proven their willingness to adopt early when the technology is solid. Bt cotton, Roundup Ready genetics, and furrow irrigation provide but a few examples. There is no other place in the world that you can access a combination of these types of growers, crop diversity at scale (corn, cotton, wheat, soy, rice, sorghum), specialty crops (peanuts, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and more), with diverse and plentiful water (our region is one of the most heavily irrigated in the US), and direct access to major post-harvest logistics services along the Mississippi River. Its an innovators dream, and its the platform that powers AgLaunch activities.
Three months after our first Demo Day, the cohort continues to make solid progress in the New Year. Skycision, which facilitates early detection of crop stress through satellite and drone imagery, is successfully raising money on the back of a strong product and growing customer interest. YieldStart, an innovative seed coating product, is beginning testing with a new strategic partner a market leader on biological inputs. Secure Food Solutions is executing additional research and product development under their $225,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Science Foundation. The funding supports calibration of their rapid aflatoxin detection systems. Animal wearable technology Cowlar leveraged their success in the AgLaunch Accelerator to gain entrance to Y Combinator where they continue to craft their product by expanding the breeds of dairy cows with which they work.
This year, were doing things a little differently, and have launched three simultaneous initiatives to help startups in the region, which Ive laid out below. We hope it will allow teams to have immediate and deep access to expertise across the value chain.
1. AgLaunch Accelerator a 15-week cohort-based accelerator offering $50k in upfront equity investment in the form of a Secure Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE). Participating teams receive intensive customer discovery, business model building, and business development training in addition to access to industry experts. Leading ag-tech venture capitalists participate in evaluating teams. The accelerator runs in Memphis, TN giving entrepreneurs access to all major US row crops as well as select specialty crops. Applications are due March 1.
2. AgLaunch Farmer Network for in-field technologies, developing early strategic relationships with growers is absolutely critical, especially if you are not a farmer-entrepreneur. Having growers involved at the ground floor allows for immediate feedback that informs iteration as well as helps to set strategic direction. The AgLaunch Farmer Network allows for selected companies to develop these relationships with leading growers in the Mississippi River Delta. Apply on a rolling basis by emailing me here.
3. AgLaunch Startup Station at the Farm & Gin Show The Startup Station is an all-day pitch contest held on March 3 in conjunction with the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show, which hosts more than 400 exhibitors and 20,000 farmers. Startups will pitch to expert panels comprised of farmers, investors, and corporate partners, including Farm Bureau, Farm Credit, DuPont, Monsanto Growth Ventures, and Case IH. The contest is startup-stage agnostic. If you would like to pitch, email me by Friday, February 17.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America Raffi Hamparian held a meeting with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez , ANCA told Armenpress.
During the meeting the sides discussed the priorities of the Armenian-American relations, as well as the prospects of signing new U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty.
This bilateral tax agreement, which would facilitate increased investment by removing the threat of earned profits being taxed twice, is among the ANCAs economic development priorities, along with Millennium Challenge funding for STEM education and direct Los Angeles to Yerevan commercial and cargo flights.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Foreign airlines operating in Armenia are increasing the frequency of flights, press secretary of the General Department of Civil Aviation Satenik Hovhannisyan told Armenpress.
In line with the increase of passenger flow, a number of airlines are increasing the frequency of flights. In particular, Pobeda airlines will carry out flights 4 times a week with Moscow-Gyumri-Moscow route in March, Qatar Airways will carry out flights on a daily basis with a route of Doha-Yerevan Doha, Aegean Airlines will carry out flights 6 times a week with the route of Athens-Yerevan-Athens in the summer navigation period to be launched in March. The Iranian airlines also increase the frequency of flights in the summer navigation period and especially during their New Year, she said.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Russia makes all efforts to protect the rights of blogger Alexander Lapshin who is extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan, Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a meeting with reporters on February 15, reports Armenpress.
The Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan is in constant contact with Azerbaijans law enforcement agencies, the Prosecutor Generals Office and the Ministry of Interior Affairs. We do everything to protect the rights of our citizen. We always keep in our spotlight this issue, Zakharova said.
She added that Lapshin is provided with qualified attorney support ahead of the trial.
On February 9 representatives of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan visited Lapshin. During the meeting Lapshin didnt express any complaint over the conditions of the arrest.
Alexander Lapshin, the Russian-Israeli blogger who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan on February 7, has been placed in the isolation cell in Azerbaijans state security service.
Lapshin was flown to Baku from Minsk on a special flight, escorted by state security agents. A group of reporters were waiting for Lapshin in Bakus airport, but Lapshin didnt give any comment to them.
The Belarus Supreme Court denied Lapshins appeal on the extradition verdict issued by the General Prosecutor of Belarus.
Lapshin faces up to 5 years imprisonment in Azerbaijan, under charges of public calls against the state, and unauthorized crossing of borders.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will have a meeting with Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov within the framework of his upcoming visit to Moscow February 21-22, Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters, reports Armenpress.
This visit will be the continuation of the Armenian-Russian dialogue which aims to develop the allied mutual cooperation of the two states in political, trade-economic and humanitarian spheres, Zakharova said.
During the talks the two FMs are expected to discuss issues related to the bilateral cooperation, as well as contemporary topics of foreign policy, including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Special emphasis will be put on issues related to the mutual partnership in the common integration unions and other international organizations, she said.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The 6th round of talks on trade and investment issues of the Armenia-EU new framework agreement has launched on February 15 in Yerevan, press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments told Armenpress.
Armenias negotiation delegation is led by First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan. The EU delegation led by Petros Sourmelis, head of unit, the European Commission Directorate-General for Trade, is taking part in the talks.
During the talks it is expected to hold discussions on the agreements directions of Trade in Services, Intellectual Property Rights, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, as well as to summarize the talks on directions of Trade in goods, Settlement of disputes, Transparency, Technical Barriers to Trade, Customs issues (including the Protocol on mutual administrative support in customs affairs), Competitiveness, Enterprises with state participation, Trade and Sustainable Development.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Under the auspices of First Lady Rita Sargsyan a charity concert was held in Yerevan all proceeds of which will be directed towards the treatment of children with cancer. The ticket buyers were children, mainly school-children, reports Armenpress.
A child must learn to make a charity from the early childhood and feel that charity is a supreme pleasure, the First Lady said.
She said the concert repertoire includes old and kind songs for children. We remembered the children songs of parents, grandmothers and grandfathers, and there was a need to translate them. At that moment, Avet Barseghyan helped us, translated all the texts, then Narek Duryan joined us with his perfect scenario, Rita Sargsyan said.
Broadcaster, author of words of songs Avet Barseghyan said they managed to hold this concert due to Rita Sargsyans many years of teaching experience. The main guarantee of the success of songs is Rita Sargsyans careful work since she has worked with children for many years and knows well which songs, sounds can enjoy the children, Avet Barseghyan said.
February 15 is celebrated all over the world as the International Childhood Cancer Day aimed at raising the awareness and providing assistance to sick children and their family members. According to the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), 215.000 new cases of malignant tumor morbidity is being registered annually throughout the world among the children up to 14 age, and 85.000 cases among the children from the age of 15 to 19.
The WHO experts say in case of diagnosis and receiving treatment on time, 80% of malignant tumor is treated. In Armenia this number ranges from 65% to 70%.
However, as a result of the medical science developments of the recent decades, positive results were registered in the pediatric oncology field. Diseases, that previously were considered incurable, now can be treated as a result of various innovative medical methods.
50 to 60 new cases of childhood cancer are annually registered in Armenia. The diagnosis and treatment of children with malignant tumor morbidity is being made in the National Oncology Center after V. Fanarjyan, the Hematology center after R. Yolyan.
The participation of honorable Chairwoman of Devote life charitable foundation and Board of Trustees Rita Sargsyan is invaluable in the treatment process of children with cancer. The foundation always assists solving problems related with the treatment of sick children, acquiring expensive drugs, as well as supporting to organize the treatment in the hospitals abroad, as well as in the Hematology Center after R. Yolyan. The malignant blood diseases diagnosis in the Center is carried out with innovative methods in accordance with the international standards.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. It was no surprise for Prime Minister Karapetyan to not be included in the proportional list of the Republican Party of Armenia.
Its not a surprise for me that Im not in the Republican Partys list. Maybe theres a requirement which I dont meet, he said during a meeting with students in the Yerevan State University. According to the Prime Minister, if the RPA succeeds in the upcoming parliamentary election and gets the chance to form a government, he hopes the current team will continue being in office.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. On February 15, the expert group from the NATO Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP) visited the National Defense Research University (NDRU) of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, the NDRU told Armenpress.
President of the NDRU, Doctor of Political Science, Professor, Lieutenant-General Hayk Kotanjian welcomed the guests. He highlighted the support provided by the NATO expert group for the defense education reforms underway in Armenia,
Professor Hayk Kotanjian noted that the target of the Second Strategic Defense Review (SDR) of Armenia, launched in 2014, is the review of the National Security Strategy (NSS) of Armenia. This work will be implemented through the adoption of Armenias National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) based on the Draft NCS, which was developed at the NDRU and reviewed by the experts of the U.S. National Defense University (NDU) and the NATO PfP Consortiums Working Group on Cyber Security Reference Curriculum Writing.
NDRUs Vice President for Research, Head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) of the NDRU, PhD in History, Beniamin Poghosyan presented the Universitys main activities and work done after the visit of the expert group in March, 2016.
Head of the Center for National Security Policy and Information-Communication Technologies of the NDRU Arman Grigoryan presented the main results of the Centers activities.
The coordinator-consultant of the NDRUs educational activities, Doctor of Political Science, Professor Arthur Atanesyan presented the work done aimed at launching the Interagency Executive Education Certificate and Master Programs. The steps taken towards the organization of strategic-operational-level military education in the NDRU, suggested by the NATO DEEP experts in March 2016, were also touched upon.
The Head of the Academic-Educational Center of the NDRUs National Institute for Strategic Defense Security Education Anna Gevorgyan presented the main activities of the Center.
The presentations were followed by Q&A session and a professional discussion ensued. At the end, the NATO DEEP expert group expressed satisfaction over the visit.
GAVAR, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The surface of the largest part of the lake Sevan basin, known as Greater Sevan, has frozen due to low thermal and climatic factors.
The Gegharkunik Governors Office told ARMENPRESS as of February 15 the surface of the larger part of lake Sevan is frozen, the lesser part of the lake, known as Smaller Sevan, is partly covered in ice.
If the low thermal regime and climatic factors are maintained in the coming days, the lakes surface can get entirely frozen, which can last weeks or more than a month, which has taken place previously as well, depending on various climatic changes, Hambardzum Hambardzumyan, an official of the Gegharkunik Governors Office said.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Blogger Alexander Lapshins wife Yekaterina alarms that her spouse has not been provided with the necessary legal support in Azerbaijan, and the appointed public defender doesnt inspire trust at all, she writes on Facebook, reports Armenpress.
Yekaterina says although the Azerbaijani prosecution announced on providing the necessary legal support to Lapshin, however, this was done 10 hours later after Lapshin was extradited to Baku. Why Lapshin was not immediately provided with attorney and translator. Didnt they find them, or didnt they manage to do it? In this case why did they manage to send a group of reporters to the airport. Therefore, it is not surprising that after spending a night together with the special enforcement agencies Lapshin didnt have anything to complain. Even several hours are enough to explain many things to every person, Yekaterina writes.
She expresses her complain over public defender Safar Huseinov and says the ICRC representatives are not allowed to visit Lapshin for unknown reasons, and Huseinov continues stating that her spouse has no complain. The problem is with the attorney who until now insisted that no one of the family applied to him in case when I called him and talked with him both on February 13, 14 and today, Lapshins wife said, adding that various reports say that Lapshin gave various testimonies. In other words, the attorneys mission is to get Alexanders confession about what he has never done. To convince the relatives that Alexanders life is perfect, she stated.
Yekaterina informed that Lapshin will have a new attorney in the coming 1-2 days, thus, more objective information about him will be provided. But if you see in the media that Alexander refuses the attorney send by his relatives, I think you will understand that he really needs the urgent support of the Red Cross, she concluded.
Alexander Lapshin, the Russian-Israeli blogger who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan on February 7, has been placed in the isolation cell in Azerbaijans state security service.
Lapshin was flown to Baku from Minsk on a special flight, escorted by state security agents. A group of reporters were waiting for Lapshin in Bakus airport, but Lapshin didnt give any comment to them.
The Belarus Supreme Court denied Lapshins appeal on the extradition verdict issued by the General Prosecutor of Belarus.
Lapshin faces up to 5 years imprisonment in Azerbaijan, under charges of public calls against the state, and unauthorized crossing of borders.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The German-Armenian Economic Forum kicked off in Berlin.
Vahan Martirosyan, minister of transportation, communication and IT of Armenia, delivered opening remarks at the event.
The minister greeted the participants of the forum and stressed the ICT sector has rapidly developed in Armenia during the past years.
This enabled to attract international organizations and foreign investments to Armenia, in order to build a competitive labor market, offer products and services globally, the minister said.
The ministry of transportation, communication and IT told ARMENPRESS the minister presented the directions of the products and services offered by Armenian ICT companies, project design, engineering, chip-design, artificial intelligence, network systems etc.
In terms of infrastructure development, the minister highlighted the North-South Road Corridor investment program, which aims at connecting the countrys northern part to the southern part improving both regional and the Europe-Caucasus-Asia road communication.
The project is open for realization in the format of state-private sector cooperation, we will welcome the involvement of German companies as well, the minister said.
He expressed hope the German-Armenian international economic forum will enable the national companies of both countries to deepen and strengthen cooperation circles.
The ministers remarks were followed by discussions regarding IT, telecommunications, transportation and road construction, where the ongoing programs and development prospects were presented.
Over 15 Armenian private companies are taking part in the forum, who are interested in establishing new business ties and implementations of new projects.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian will pay an official visit to Russia on February 21-22 by the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, press service of the MFA told Armenpress.
The two Ministers will discuss a wide range of issues related to Armenia-Russia allied, strategic relations, as well as the implementation process of agreements reached between the leaders of the two states. They will exchange views on urgent regional and international issues.
The two FMs will discuss the steps taken over the implementation of agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits aimed at moving forward the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on February 15 held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to Armenia Maria Pavlova Tzotzorkova-Kaymaktchieva, press service of the Ministry told Armenpress.
During the meeting issues related to the Armenian-Bulgarian bilateral cooperation in the defense sector were discussed. The sides attached importance to the development of Armenian-Bulgarian military-technical cooperation.
Minister Sargsyan highly appreciated the current level of cooperation, stating that Bulgaria is one of the first European countries cooperating with Armenia in the defense sphere. Vigen Sargsyan highlighted the cooperation development opportunities in several fields and attached importance to the exchange of experience especially in the fields of military police, military education, human resource management and etc.
In her turn the Bulgarian Ambassador emphasized the readiness of the Bulgarian side to develop the cooperation and expressed hope the results of the cooperation will be visible in near future.
Regional security issues were also discussed at the meeting.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenias foreign trade with the UAE in 2016 recorded the steepest rise. Armenpress reports, citing the data released by the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in the reporting year trade turnover between the two countries doubled against 2015.
According to the official data, total trade between the UAE and Armenia amounted to 119.34 million USD from which Armenias exports amounted to 63.84 million USD and UAEs exports to Armenia amounted to 55.50 million USD.
During the reporting year increase was recorded for both exports and imports, while Armenian exports to the UAE rose 7 fold, and imports from the UAE rose by 27%.
As a results, UAEs share in Armenias exports amounted to 3.6%, and imports 1.7%.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Iran Artashes Tumanyan met with Chairman of the Education and Research Committee of Irans Majlis Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi on February 15, Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia.
During the meeting the sides discussed educational issues, cooperation between Armenia and Iran in the sphere of education and science, including the issue of mutual recognition of diplomas and joint educational and scientific programs.
Mohammad Zahedi proposed that mutual visits of education and science committees of the legislative bodies of both countries should be organized to discuss issues of mutual interest.
The contribution of Armenian scientists to the development of Irans science was also touched upon at the meeting.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Everyone in Azerbaijan realizes that the corrupt regime is unable to settle Nagorno Karabakh conflict or negotiate with anyone on that issue, Armenpress reports member of Talysh Cultural Council, participant of Talysh freedom movement, journalist at the Tolishi Sado newspaper Shahin Mirzoev, who moved to Armenia with his family and requested for temporary asylum from the Armenian leadership told.
Generally, it is necessary to study the roots, to understand how that country was established. First of all, there is no Azerbaijani nation, and now they are used to say that Azerbaijanis are Turks. Everyone in Azerbaijan knows well that this regime is in no way capable of solving Nagorno Karabakh issue. The corrupt regime cannot negotiate with anyone. The April war disclosed everything starting from the border, from Ganja city everybody fled to Baku in panic taking with them their sheep and lambs. Baku was flooded with sheep and lambs, Mirzov said.
To his conviction, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev will not launch a war, since he has no support. Peoples support is necessary for unleashing war, but he does not have the support of the people. Why did the war stop? Maybe you have some other interpretation for that, but Azerbaijanis and the Talysh people think in another way. First of all Aliyev started to believe in his own illusions, thinking that Armenia is starving and people are dying of hunger. Taking those illusions for reality he launched an offensive against Nagorno Karabakh on April 2. Encountering a tough resistance and fearful of possible counter-attack, he was forced to stop the war, Mirzoev said, adding that they have evidences how Azerbaijani soldiers fled in panic.
They faced death from both sides. Turkish supervisors were standing behind, firing at anybody who would try to flee. Is it possible to wage a war in this way and win? In no case, participant of Talysh freedom movement said.
According to him, the Talysh people just sought some autonomy, but the Azerbaijani leadership has killed many Talysh representatives and oppressed them. But now we do not agree even to a high status. I cannot talk on behalf of everyone, but personally I do not agree to that. We want to create our own state and I think it will happen soon. Talyshistan will become a reality, Mirzoev expressed conviction.
Mirzoev also noted that the majority of Azerbaijanis do not watch TV, since they do not believe in the state propaganda about a prosperous country. Everyone in Azerbaijan knows that when conscript starts, skirmishes take place in the front line, and they demonstratively bring to Baku bodies of a number of killed soldiers, in order the people give bribes for preventing their children from taking to serve on the front line. And here mainly poor people serve, and this goes for the Talysh people first of all, though everyone knows, including you, that we, the Talysh people, are not interested in that war and Nagorno Karabakh issue is not connected with us, he said.
The Armenian MFA on February 11 announced that the Armenian leadership received a request from Shahin Mirzoev for temporary asylum, since as a member of Talysh Cultural Council, Talysh freedom movement, journalist at the Tolishi Sado newspaper, he was obliged to flee from Azerbaijan due to the persecutions against ethnic and religious minorities and gross violations of their rights, and to arrive to Armenia with his family. Armenian leadership reacted positively to the request of Shahin Mirzoev.
Protestors demonstrate against the EU-Canada trade deal outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France
The European Parliament backed a contested EU-Canada free trade deal on Wednesday, facing down protests by activists and Donald Trump-inspired calls for protectionism.
MEPs hailed the deal as a rare victory for an imperilled global trade system that is under threat from US President Trump who opposes far-reaching trade deals.
The accord, known as CETA, is tipped as Europe's most modern ever and a possible model for relations with Britain after its leaves the EU.
EU states and Canada formally signed the deal in October after seven years of tough talks, overcoming last-minute resistance from a small Belgian region that blocked its national government from approving the accord.
But it needed the backing of MEPs meeting in Strasbourg, France, who solidly approved the pact with 408 votes in favour, 254 against and 33 abstentions.
"This is a watershed moment -- EU trade policy will never be the same again," said senior Scottish MEP David Martin, whose Socialists and Democrats group split on the issue.
Approval by the parliament allows the provisional implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement as early as next month. It must then be approved by national parliaments.
Protesters attempted to disrupt the vote, with about 700 people marching outside the European Parliament to voice their opposition to the deal.
Anti-globalisation activists dressed in surgical masks dramatically blocked the entrance to the parliament building, before being dragged off by riot police.
"Saying yes to CETA is a trampling of the people," said a banner.
Following the approval by parliament, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will address MEPs in person on Thursday.
"Looking forward to it," Trudeau tweeted on Wednesday, adding in a statement that the deal "prepares the ground for stronger ties with the EU, which will result in greater possibilities for the middle classes on both sides of the Atlantic."
- 'Blow to EU' -
Opponents to CETA slam the deal as a "Trojan horse" to big business and a danger to health, democracy and the rule of law.
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"The disconnect between MEPs and public concerns over living standards, public health and the environment is another blow to the EU," said Greenpeace's EU trade policy adviser Shira Stanton.
Some of the more controversial aspects, including a much-derided investor court system, still require ratification by EU member states, which could take years.
CETA will remove 99 percent of non-farm customs duties between the two sides, a big win for exporters on both sides of the Atlantic.
And unlike classic trade deals, CETA harmonises regulations on matters such as health and the environment, a major concern for activists.
Some industries are left untouched. The CETA deal will not remove tariff barriers for public services, audiovisual and transport services and a few agricultural products, such as dairy, which is heavily subsidised in Canada.
A major flashpoint for opponents is the proposal to set up special courts to settle disputes between investors and national authorities that is central to the deal.
Opponents believe this provision hands too much power to multinationals that will use powerful lawyers to undermine national regulation.
"Multinationals will be able to attack governments in a privatised court system," said France's far-right presidential candidate and MEP Marine Le Pen, who voted against CETA.
But the deal's EU negotiator, Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem, said many of the concerns were "myths".
"You have to remember too that 28 countries, 28 governments have signed this deal and said it is a good deal. Would the 28 really sign something that was so dangerous for their citizens?" she told AFP in an interview.
The vote comes at a particularly sensitive time for global trade matters, with Britain poised to leave the European Union and new US president Trump rejecting an Asia-Pacific trade deal.
Trump is also widely expected to drop a similar proposed deal with the EU known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP.
Trudeau met with Trump on Monday in Washington.
Trump had vowed to put "America first" and rip up the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, but significantly toned down that rhetoric after meeting Trudeau.
burs-dk/ri
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (left) listens to top EU economic affairs official Pierre Moscovici during their meeting in Athens on February 15, 2017
Top EU economics official Pierre Moscovici urged Greece and its creditors Wednesday to try and reach a compromise over the cash-strapped country's bailout terms in the next few "key days".
The former French finance minister spoke during a visit to Athens aimed at breaking the deadlock between Greece and its eurozone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) lenders, which has raised fears of a fresh debt crisis.
His trip came five days before a meeting of eurozone ministers that is seen as an unofficial deadline to end the stalemate ahead of important elections in Europe.
"We have a few key days, let's concentrate now to finish all these talks. The parameters are on the table, everybody knows them," Moscovici told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.
The EU commissioner said he was confident of progress towards a deal "if efforts are made by all sides".
The IMF and Europe are split over a demand by the eurozone that Greece deliver a primary balance, or budget surplus before debt repayments, of 3.5 percent of GDP. The IMF has said only 1.5 percent is feasible.
The Tsipras government refuses more pension cuts and tax hikes, which the IMF -- quietly backed by Germany -- insists are necessary for Greece to deliver on its targets.
- 'Tunnel of austerity' -
The feuding has blocked a tranche of loans from Greece's 86 billion euro ($91 billion) bailout that it needs for debt repayments of 7.0 billion euros this summer.
Considered an ally of Greece, Moscovici said that although more reforms would be necessary, it was important to tell Greek people "that there is a light at the end of the tunnel of austerity".
"We must strike the right balance between fiscal sustainability on the one hand, but also prosperity and the necessity to address... the concerns of those who suffer from poverty or unemployment," he said.
Talks in Brussels between Greece and its creditors on Friday ended with no breakthrough.
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On Tuesday the Greek government hailed figures showing the country had returned to annual growth in 2016, using it for a fresh assault on further austerity measures.
Early estimates from the national statistics office and projections from Brussels showed growth of 0.3 percent last year.
Moscovici welcomed the growth and called for a "reformed Greece in the heart of the eurozone," defying concerns over the country's future in the monetary union.
- More time needed -
Despite the commissioner's push for an agreement next week, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned on Tuesday warned that the standoff was likely to drag on.
"The IMF has to come on board," he told Dutch broadcaster RTL Z.
"It will take more time. People think that as there is a Eurogroup meeting next week we must have something worked out. But that has not been my planning."
An IMF report obtained by AFP last week said Greece's debt "is highly unsustainable" and "will become explosive in the long run".
But European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said the outlook from the Washington-based fund was "very pessimistic".
"That's why there is now a gap between our figures and those of the IMF" he told German newspaper Handelsblatt on Wednesday, expressing hope that the gap could be filled.
VANCOUVER, B.C.BellaPass has launched the official site of feature dancer and adult performer Alexis Monroe as part of the BellaPass network.
The Las Vegas resident said she was grateful for the "freedom" she has with the all-new AlexisMonroe.com.
I am so excited to be starting my next big adventure with BellaPass!" Monroe said. "I chose to go with them for many reasons, but most importantly it was the freedom. Not only am I part of an AVN Award-winning company, but I have the ability to shoot what I want, when I want to. For me that was everything. I cant explain it without being overly blunt but no one wants to watch forced content. The emotion, passion and utter enjoyment get taken away when someone doesnt want to be there. So for me having the freedom to work when I am actually passionate about filming means I'm giving my 100 percent best to my fans! Without them I would have nothing so I want to give them access to only the best of my work.
"With that being said, I look forward to bringing a little bit of everything to my site. Yes of course there will be the usual boy/girl, blow job, and girl/girl content, but I'd like to dive into something a little deeper. I want to give my fans their real life fantasies acted out for them to enjoy. Not everyone understands fetish, but for some, once they find something they like it's hard to find a ton of content on it so I'd like my site to have that. I have received a lot of requests for me to start doing anal again and I am happy to announce that AlexisMonroe.com will be the exclusive place to find my new anal scenes!
"I have been given so many opportunities to start a website and this is the first time Ive taken it! I think this is a great step forward for my career and I'm excited to bring a one stop shop for all your Alexis needs.
Bryci, co-CEO of BellaPass with her husband, JD Bella, added, After meeting Alexis over a year ago when we filmed together and seeing her determined work ethic, we are so proud to be adding her brand new website to the BellaPass Network. We are excited to see her filming some of her hottest content, real passion, done exactly how she wants to do it. We couldn't be happier to help her grow in the online adult industry.
Alexis can be booked for work via LA Direct Models.
The Canadian Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) In recent years, a moment often came when a visitor to Argentina suddenly grasped they could have gotten a lot more bang for their bucks if only they had brought cash to buy pesos on the unofficial market. A dollar sometimes would buy twice as many pesos in informal cash trading as the amount in pesos it would get in purchases using a credit or debit card covered by the official exchange rate. You can almost hear the blood drain out of their voice when they realiz
Ubers Brazilian business is having a terrible week. And its only Wednesday.
On Monday, Brazilian Judge Marcio Toledo Gon?alves ruled that Uber drivers are employees who are entitled to workers' benefits. Gon?alves ordered the tech giant to pay one driver approximately 30,000 reais ($10,000) in compensation to cover overtime hours, night shifts, holidays, and other expenses.
The ruling could threaten Uber's business model in the Latin American nation that--like its operations elsewhere--hinges, in part, on being able to classify its drivers as contractors. Uber said on Tuesday that it would appeal the decision, repeating its long-held stance that drivers are independent contractors, rather than employees.
The Brazilian case is one fight in a string of legal battles related to Ubers employee benefits, price fixing, and safety. And its the second piece of bad news Uber received about its Brazilian business in as many days.
On Tuesday, Reuters published an analysis of crime data in Sao Paulo and found disturbing statistics on the robberies and murders of Uber drivers. Its investigation revealed that robberies of Uber drivers in Brazils largest city rose ten-fold and attacks of drivers increased from an average of 13 per month in the first seven months of 2016 to 141 per month for the rest of the year. Its important to note that Brazil is not an easy (or safe) market to crack. The country has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
Related: Here's Where Uber Is Facing Some of Its Biggest Legal Problems
All this came after Ubers announcement in January that its launching a support center in Sao Paulo. With a plan to invest $62 million and create 2,000 jobs, the center is meant to provide technical support for Ubers 9 million users in the country. Ubers planned expansion in the country followed news that its Brazilian rival, an on-demand taxi service called 99, received a $100 million investment from Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing.
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Brazil is crucial to Uber's global expansion efforts because the market is Uber's third biggest business after the U.S and India.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
Chateau Laurier's latest look 'quite different' from maligned designs: planner
The City of Ottawa has struck an expert working group and launched a website to gather public feedback on the proposed expansion of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier after public criticism forced a redesign of the original proposal.
City staff told council's planning committee that public pushback, combined with both national and local interest in the hotel, which opened in 1912 and was declared a national historic site in 1980, were factors in deciding to go "above and beyond" on this consultation process.
Architects and owners of the iconic hotel next to the Rideau Canal on Wellington Street first put forward drawings of a modern glass addition to the hotel in September 2016, sparking a fierce online backlash and a do-over in November 2016.
The architecture firm described the revised addition as eight per cent smaller than the original.
The website launched for the public consultation said the proposed addition includes two tall buildings, 11 storeys on the east side and 12 storeys on the west side. Building materials include Indiana limestone with bronze accents.
It would include 218 long-stay hotel units and five levels of parking including 385 stalls accessible from Mackenzie Avenue.
The application includes a request to remove the current parking structure, which was added to the north side of the hotel in 1960.
Heritage structure scrutiny
The Chateau Laurier is formally designated a city heritage building, which means certain restrictions apply to any changes.
A five-person heritage working group made up of architects, landscape architects and a representative of Heritage Ottawa will provide advice to the city, Larco Investments and the National Capital Commission.
That group will hold a closed meeting at the end of February to focus on the proposed design's windows, roofline and relationship to Major's Hill Park.
"We've heard a lot from residents on the fact that the building is not very integrated into the park," said Court Curry, the city's manager responsible for heritage.
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"It's [part of the] iconic skyline in Ottawa and we want to make sure it respects not just the policy but the views we want of that building."
City approvals to be debated in late spring
The hotel's owners want to collaborate with the city and listen to feedback from the heritage working group and the public, said Coun. Mathieu Fleury, whose ward includes the historic hotel.
"Anything and everything is on the table, in my mind," said Fleury.
The public consultation marks the beginning of a legally-required comment period of 28 days.
The city is considering a second community meeting to discuss the design in March.
Construction could start as soon as fall of 2017.
Tech Trends
The 6 Major Barriers to Technology Adoption in Higher Ed
Even as technology proliferates in education at unprecedented rates, new hurdles including limitations of the human mind to keep up with technological advances are throwing themselves in the way of effective implementation.
About the NMC Horizon Report Each year, the New Media Consortium, in collaboration with the Educause Learning Initiative, pulls together a panel of experts to settle on a list of 18 issues that the experts contend will have a major impact on education practice and policy in the near term, mid-term and long term six significant trends, six significant developments and six barriers. The experts (79 this year, including 75 panelists and four project leaders) range from NMC and Educause staff to prominent figures in academia and policy from around the world. The process is accessible to the public through the Horizon Project wiki at horizon.wiki.nmc.org, and the complete list of participants can be found at horizon.wiki.nmc.org/Panel+of+Experts.
Here's a word you don't hear much anymore: obsolescence. But it's a word that's making a comeback in 2017 in a new and distressing way. Popularly used in a business context (e.g. the planned obsolescence of consumer devices that are designed to fall apart in a few years, like cars and laptops), it's now being used to describe the human mind. It's no longer the technology that's becoming obsolete too quickly; it's the knowledge of technology that's rapidly falling behind advances or changes in technologies. And that obsolescence, according to the New Media Consortium's Horizon Report: 2017 Higher Education Edition, is just one of the six major challenges facing technology in higher ed in the coming years.
The Horizon Report is NMC's annual research project that, with a panel of higher education experts, attempts to identify significant and not necessarily obvious technology trends that will impact education in the coming years. Among those trends are those accelerating adoption of technology, those impeding technology and those that are simply educationally significant technology-based developments.
Roadblocks Ahead: Wicked Challenges
This year's report identified six major roadblocks to education technology, either in its adoption or in its implementation. The report divided the roadblocks into three categories: those that pose challenges but that are solvable in the near term, those that are more difficult to solve but are still understandable and those that are "wicked difficult" nigh impossible even to define, let alone solve.
Falling into the wicked difficult category in this year's report are two issues that did not make last year's list: managing the obsolescence of human knowledge and, perhaps even more difficult, grappling with the changing role of the educator.
On the human obsolescence front, the report explained: "Staying organized and current presents a challenge to academics in a world where educational needs, software, and devices advance at a strenuous rate. New developments in technology hold great potential for improving the quality of learning and operations. However, just as faculty and staff are able to master one technology, it seems a new version launches. Institutions must grapple with the longevity of technologies and devise back-up plans before making large investments. There is added pressure to ensure that any tools selected are in service of deepening learning outcomes in ways that are measurable."
Professional development can only go so far to alleviating this problem, though the report did note a few exemplars. One of those is the Houston Community College system, which provides both technical and pedagogical assistance to adjuncts. As the report described: "Eight Curriculum Innovation Centers work with instructors to integrate the latest technologies into their courses and facilitate engaging learning experiences. Adjuncts receive training on special projects, such as digital storytelling and designing online courses, as well as basic assistance with LMS and grade entry software. The centers are accessible during set hours or by appointment, providing flexibility for adjuncts to visit the location nearest their home, place of employment, or teaching campus."
Another exemplar noted in the report was Penn State University, which "employs a three-pronged approach for managing knowledge obsolescence among faculty and staff: providing them with emerging technologies for freeform experimentation, bringing together instructional designers and programmers to reimagine how technology can transform classroom activities, and establishing long-term bonds between leadership and faculty to engage in creative problem-solving."
According to Samantha Becker, co-principal investigator for the Horizon Project and NMC's senior director of communications, this particular challenge "converges with integrating formal and informal learning. Not only is keeping up with new educational trends and technologies an important part of formal PD, but educators and staff must (somehow) find the time in the limited free time they have to pursue external learning pathways. I've heard educators, for example, refer to their social media as personal learning networks."
MONDAY, Feb. 13, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Shoveling is the probable reason why men are more likely to suffer a heart attack after a heavy snowfall, researchers report.
In a new study, investigators analyzed data on heart attacks between the months of November and April in the province of Quebec between 1981 and 2014. About 60 percent of hospital admissions and deaths due to heart attack were in men.
The findings showed that men's risk of heart attack hospitalization and death was higher after heavy snowfalls. The highest risk was on the day after a snowfall and after snowfalls lasting two to three days. The risk of heart attack after a snowfall was higher regardless of age, cardiovascular risk factors or other health conditions.
The link between snowfalls and increased heart attack risk was not seen in women, the study authors noted.
However, "men are potentially more likely than women to shovel, particularly after heavy snowfalls," according to Dr. Nathalie Auger, of the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center, and colleagues.
"We suspect that shoveling was the main mechanism linking snowfall with [heart attack]," Auger's team reported.
"Snow shoveling is a demanding cardiovascular exercise requiring more than 75 percent of the maximum heart rate, particularly with heavy loads," the researchers added.
The study authors acknowledged that their research lacked data on sex-specific shoveling habits, size of areas shoveled and whether snow removal was manual or with a snow blower.
Although the study did not prove cause and effect, the theory that shoveling is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks among men remains "plausible," the researchers concluded.
The report was published Feb. 13 in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Public education campaigns are needed to alert people about the risk of heart attack after a snowfall, and the need to be cautious about shoveling if they have health problems, the study authors said in a journal news release.
Dr. David Alter, of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Toronto, wrote an accompanying commentary in the journal.
He said that the study adds "to our understanding that the act of snow shoveling in cold temperatures sets the stage for an ecobiological-behavioral 'perfect storm,' particularly among those physically deconditioned who have or who are at risk of heart disease."
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on winter health and safety.
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 15, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- In what they call a first, researchers say they can predict whether some infants under the age of 1 will actually develop autism in their second year.
The new experimental technique, using standard brain screening, is designed to focus solely on newborns known to be at high risk for autism because they have an older sibling who has it.
But the diagnostic breakthrough addresses a key problem that has confounded efforts to effectively screen for autism as quickly as possible: Babies typically don't show clear outward signs of the disorder until nearly the end of their second year of life.
By using scans to peek into the shifting size, surface area and thickness of certain parts of a baby's cerebral cortex as a baby hits the 6-month and 12-month mark, investigators found that they could forecast autism risk with 80 percent accuracy.
"These findings suggest a cascade of brain changes across the first two years of life that result in the emergence of autism at the end of the second year," explained study senior author Dr. Joseph Piven. He is director of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Piven and his team report their findings in the Feb. 15 issue of Nature.
The new screening approach was tested on approximately 150 infants, more than 100 of whom were deemed to be at high risk for developing autism because of familial background.
Piven pointed out that newborns who have older siblings already diagnosed with autism face a five times higher risk for developing autism themselves.
MRI scans were conducted on the babies at the 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year marks. This is a time frame during which obvious symptoms of autism are few, despite possible evidence of motor and/or mental dysfunction.
Key brain measurements were then fed into a computer-generated algorithm, which generated autism prediction scores based on two observations: First, infants who develop autism by age 2 appear to undergo relatively high brain-surface growth between ages 6 months and 1 year.
The second observation: High brain surface area growth in the first year of life is linked to a higher overall brain size in the second year of life. This brain overgrowth is an established marker for autism risk, researchers said.
The results: The computer program was able to accurately predict autism in eight out of 10 of those babies who developed autism by age 2.
Also, the approach was nearly perfect in predicting which high-risk babies would not develop autism by age 2.
"This finding," said Piven, "suggests that in the future, early brain imaging may be able to predict later autism risk and identify those infants who might benefit the most from intensive interventions before the symptoms emerge, and during a time when the brain is most malleable."
Still, Piven cautioned that the findings are "experimental," and need to be replicated with more research.
He also noted that even if the screening technique holds up under scrutiny, a range of new issues will have to be addressed before such early diagnosis could be offered on a widespread basis.
For example, Piven said, "We have no data yet on how families would react to this information."
And he added, "There are no treatments agreed upon by the field for infants [deemed to be] presymptomatic for autism. So there are a whole host of questions that need to be figured out before this would be available."
Still, Mathew Pletcher, vice president and head of genomic discovery at Autism Speaks in New York City, found the research encouraging because "providing early and accurate diagnosis for autism is critical for ensuring the best outcomes.
"[And] the sooner an individual can begin therapy," he said, "the greater benefit they will receive from it across their lifetime."
"Of course," Pletcher added, "this early work needs to be repeated with a larger set of individuals. But if true, the predictive algorithm developed by the project could be of great benefit to particularly at-risk populations, like younger siblings of individuals diagnosed with autism.
"[But] due to the expense and difficulty of this screening technique, it would be difficult to translate it into a screen for autism among the general population," he said.
More information
There's more on autism screening at U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Donald Trump
Top Republicans said Tuesday that it is likely Congress will launch a probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over his communications with Russia.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters it's "highly likely" the Senate intelligence committee will investigate the retired army lieutenant general in the aftermath of his Monday resignation.
"I think the fundamental question for us is what is our involvement in it, and who ought to look at it," the Kentucky Republican said. "And the intelligence committee is already looking at Russian involvement in our election."
Speaking to reporters, the second-ranking Republican senator was blunt in his assessment of whether the Senate should investigate Flynn.
"Yes," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
He did not say, however, whether Flynn should testify before the Senate.
"I think it's symbolic of somebody with a distinguished military career making a bad mistake," Cornyn said.
Flynn resigned Monday after just three weeks on the job. The resignation came amid an uproar over talks he had had with a Russian diplomat, the content of which he didn't fully disclose to the administration, and followed a Washington Post report that said the White House was warned that he could be vulnerable to blackmail.
Moreover, it was reported by The New York Times Tuesday that the FBI interviewed Flynn during his first days in the White House.
Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told a local St. Louis radio station that an investigation into Flynn "needs" to happen, and lawmakers need to speak with Flynn "very soon."
"I think everybody needs that investigation to happen," he said. "And the Senate Intelligence Committee, again that I serve on, has been given the principle responsibility to look into this, and I think that we should look into it exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldn't reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions."
Weiterlesen
"What did he know?" Blunt continued. "What did he do? And is there any reason to believe that anybody knew that and didn't take the kind of action they should have taken."
michael flynn
Speaking to CNN Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joined calls for an investigation into Flynn's correspondence with the Russian diplomat, saying he believes Congress "needs to be informed" of what was actually said in the conversations.
"And I want to know," Graham said, "did Gen. Flynn do this by himself or was he directed by somebody to do it?"
Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on multiple occasions Tuesday about the potential investigation, telling reporters "it wouldn't be out of the question" for Flynn to testify before a Senate committee.
Corker said the Flynn resignation is "heightening the intensity" of the Senate's wish to answer all of the questions circulating around Russia's influence pre-and post-election, which have dogged Trump since he pulled off his improbable November victory over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
However, while it is illegal for unauthorized citizens of the US to negotiate with foreign governments, White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted during Tuesday's press briefing that no laws were broken. Spicer said the White House reviewed Flynn's situation, and the national security adviser only resigned because his trust had "eroded" with the president.
Spicer's comments jibed with prominent House Republicans who were not vocal in their requests to see Flynn investigated before its chamber of Congress.
Rep. Devin Nunes, a California Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, instead focused on the stream of leaks from government officials to outlets such as The Post and The Times, saying his committee will investigate.
It echoed a Tuesday tweet from Trump in which the president said the "real story" was the "many illegal leaks."
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, did not demand an investigation into Flynn from his committee, telling reporters "it's taking care of itself."
In a statement, Republican operative Kurt Bardella, who was formerly a senior adviser and spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee, said that if the first month of President Barack Obama's administration had been anything like the first month of Trump's, the committee would've been launching investigations "at a record pace."
"When the tragedy of Benghazi unfolded and Susan Rice went on national television and misled the American people about what inspired the attack, Jason Chaffetz was rushing to every news camera he could find to call for investigation," said Bardella, who worked for Chaffetz's predecessor, Rep. Darrell Issa of California.
He added: "The litany of conflicts-of-interest and legitimate security questions that exist but have gone unanswered in the Trump Administration are more than enough grounds for numerous investigations and hearings ... just as we did during the Obama Administration."
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Manila, Philippines
Parliamentarians from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday urged Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies at the House of Representatives to reject the re-imposition of the death penalty in the country, and to respect the Philippines' international obligations and standing in the ASEAN as a regional leader in human rights protection.
Instead of bringing back the death penalty, the Philippines and ASEAN should think about reforms, preventive measures, and rehabilitation, as ways of deterring crimes instead of the old "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" doctrine, Cambodia Rep. Mu Sochua, Battambang Representative of the National Assembly of Cambodia, said.
"Killing, in whatever form, is a form of violence. Death penalty is the extreme form of violence," Sochua said.
Malaysia, a nation that still imposes capital punishment, still gets opposition from its legislators lobbying for the abolition of the punishment that has been labeled as anti-poor.
Malaysian Batukawan Representative Kasthuri Patto of the Parliament of Malaysia said most victims, if not all, of capital punishment in Malaysia are the poor.
"The ones who are normally victims of this are the marginalized, the poor. Members of the opposition have been lobbying to push for the abolition, particularly in drug trafficking," Patto said.
"Of the 1,000 people who are in death row, 600 are foreigners," Patto added.
She added that the Malaysian government has already put up a committee that will look into the methods of the death penalty.
The Philippines, represented by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, argued that there is consensus worldwide that the death penalty is not an effective means of combating crime, including illegal drugs.
"Iran has had the death penalty since 1959 and yet they admitted the death penalty did not solve their drug problem," she said.
"Singapore and Hongkong...Hongkong has no death penalty, Singapore does, but they have the same crime rate," Hontiveros added.
The ASEAN Parliamentarians also reminded the Duterte administration about the country's international obligations.
The Philippines formally abolished capital punishment in 2006 and ratified in 2007 the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) aimed at the worldwide abolition of the death penalty.
"We have always been inspired by your people power movement, democracy. We want to continue to put you in that high platform, to play that role to protect fundamental rights for our people," Sochua said.
"The Philippines must commit to its true self of being a righteous nation, a nation of faith, a nation that is looked upon," Patto said.
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said that since the Philippines abolished capital punishment in 2006, it has inspired other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam to restrict the use of the death penalty, which denotes positive regional progress in the move toward abolition.
Source: abs-cbn.com, February 15, 2017
Palace to ASEAN lawmakers: Death penalty 'apt' for Philippines
The Philippine government, responding to criticism from Cambodian and Malaysian lawmakers, says the death penalty is needed to enforce discipline
Malacanang reacted to Southeast Asian lawmakers' opposition to the revival of the death penalty in the Philippines, arguing that capital punishment is an appropriate measure for the country.
"While some countries may have their opinion, we find the move to reimpose death penalty, reserved for certain heinous crimes, as apt for exercising discipline in a culture that now treats adherence to law an option rather than a rule of community life," said Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella in a statement on Wednesday, February 15.
9 members of the Cambodian Parliament and 6 from the Malaysian Parliament signed a solidarity statement opposing the planned reimposition of capital punishment, a measure strongly supported by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Cambodian and Malaysian lawmakers called the death penalty a "barbaric and outdated form of punishment" and one that "puts the Philippines' internatonal credibility at risk."
Despite the criticism, the Palace said the reimposition of the death penalty "remains a priority legislative measure."
Malacanang Palace
It pointed out that several other Southeast Asian countries, like Singapore, continue to impose the death penalty in order to deter crime.
The Philippines' House of Representatives is currently holding debates on the bill for the revival of the death penalty. Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is eyeing the bill's passage by mid-March.
The Senate, however, is not keen on approving the measure.
Last February 10, Duterte reiterated his support for the reimposition of capital punishment, saying that government statistics prove it is an effective deterrent against crime.
The Philippine President, elected partly for his hardline stance against crime and drugs, said he also believes the death penalty is the only fitting punishment for certain crimes.
Death penalty lifting did not increase incidence of heinous crimes
President Duterte last week argued for the return of the death penalty by referring to the purported statistics reported by the Bureau of Corrections head Benjamin de los Santos in his recent testimony to the Senate.
The bureaucrat testified: "BuCor statistics show that before the abolition of the death penalty we had 189 inmates convicted for the commission of heinous crimes. After such abolition, a staggering 6,024 were sentenced for heinous crimes, an astonishing 3,280 percent increase."
That's a total lie, a patent fabrication: The Senate must cite the BuCor official for perjury, and for attempting to fool it to pass a law re-imposing the death penalty by presenting false information.
There is no such data: Neither the BuCor nor its mother agency, the justice department, has collated information on convictions on heinous crimes.
The only BuCor data that could approximate the number of "inmates convicted for heinous crimes" are the number of its yearly admissions of convicts. The number of those convicted of heinous crimes - such as murder, rape, and kidnapping - may be estimated based on its data that 48 % of convicts in its prisons are "maximum security" inmates.
(To clarify, the BuCor under the justice department is charged with supervising 6 national prisons, including the biggest, the national penitentiary at the New Bilibid Prison, with its inmates consisting of those already convicted and with sentences of more than 3 years. On the other hand, the inmates in the jails of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which is under the Philippine National Police, are those still on trial and with convictions of less than 3 years.)
As the data below show, after the June 2006 ban of the death penalty, there was very minimal increase in the number of those convicted for murders and rapes, the 2 most frequent crimes punishable by death, with very little deviation from the yearly average of 2,558 incidences.
The slight increases are due of course to the increases in our country's population, which grew from 87 million in 2006 to 101 million in 2015. Indeed, for both 2016 when there was no death penalty, and 2005 when there was, the heinous crime rate per 100,000 population, was the same, at 2.8.
Lifting of capital punishment in 2006 had no impact on incidence of murder and rape.
The data therefore indisputably shows that the abolition of the death penalty had not encouraged more heinous crimes, contrary to the claims of the BuCor official and proponents of the death penalty.
The Philippine data isn't at all surprising: rigorous, scientific studies show that the death penalty has no impact on the incidence of heinous crimes. 2 studies in the United States that claimed to prove that the abolition of the death penalty increased murder rates in certain US states, were later proven to be "fundamentally flawed" by that country's National Research Council.
In fact, murder rates from 1900 to 2010 in American states in which there is no death penalty were even lower than in states with capital punishment. A 2009 survey of criminologists showed that over 88 % believed that the death penalty was not a deterrent to murder.
The issue is really so commonsensical. As Amnesty International has pointed out: "The threat of execution at some future date is unlikely to enter the minds of those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime (such as a robbery), or those who suffer from mental illness or mental retardation and do not fully understand the gravity of their crime."
House opposition: Pointless to push for death penalty if Senate rejects it
Trigger-happy: President Rodrigo Duterte
Representative Raul Daza says the House debate on capital punishment will be 'moot and academic' if the Senate kills the death penalty bill Opposition lawmakers advised the House leadership to "pause and think" given that a majority of senators are not keen on passing the controversial death penalty bill.
In a press conference on Tuesday, February 14, Northern Samar 1st District Representative Raul Daza cited a resolution passed by 14 senators declaring that the Senate has a say in the termination of any treaty or international agreement.
During the Senate's first hearing on the proposed revival of capital punishment, anti-death penalty Senator Franklin Drilon forced a government lawyer to admit that restoring the death penalty is illegal under an international treaty that the Philippines ratified in 2007.
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bans states party to it from reimposing capital punishment.
"So this raises a prejudicial question: Should the House now proceed on HB 4727 given that the Senate or a majority of the Senate has already put in writing their sentiment that we should not tamper with our treaty obligations without first according to the Senate due respect to look at how the bill will affect a treaty that has been ratified by it?" asked Daza.
He said that if the Senate ultimately decides to block the passage of the death penalty bill, all the efforts of the House leadership to push for the measure will be "moot and academic."
"I think the House leadership, given this new development, should pause and think. Because in the event that the Senate asserts its authority and expresses its sentiment to uphold and restate our treaty commitments under the protocol, which is that we committed not to reimpose the death penalty, the House bill now becomes moot and academic," said Daza.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is bent on ending the plenary debates on the death penalty by March 8. He had already warned congressmen that he would strip them of their leadership titles if they vote against HB 4727.
The Speaker also said he "does not care" if the Senate ends up blocking the bill so long as it is passed in the House. But Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman disagrees with Alvarez.
"This is a bicameral legislature. No one acts solely and independently of the other. So kailangan mangialam (you need to care) because of the bilateral nature of the Congress of the Philippines," said Lagman.
He also urged the House and Senate leadership to meet and iron out the differences in their approach to the reimposition of the death penalty.
"Otherwise, we in the House will be engaged in an exercise of futility if after all, the Senate will not approve any measure reimposing the death penalty," said Lagman.
Source: rappler.com, February 15, 2017
Minority solons to House leadeship: Pause, think about death penalty
An independent minority lawmaker called on the leadership of the House of Representatives to reconsider its support for the death penalty bill due to the country's treaty obligations for the abolition of capital punishment.
In a press conference at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza urged the House leadership to "pause and think" about the country's obligations to abolish the death penalty, the central issue that stalled the deliberations in the Senate.
Senators centered on the country's obligations to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which under the Second Optional Protocol states that "Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction."
Daza urged the members of the majority supporting the bill to allow Senate to first consider the treaty obligation, which if found valid would render the House bill seeking to restore the death penalty moot and academic.
"The House leadership, given this new development, should pause and think because in the event that the Senate asserts its authority to uphold and restate our treaty commitments under the protocol, the House bill becomes moot and academic," Daza said.
For his part, Albay Rep Edcel Lagman said the House should not waste its time on deliberatingon the death penalty if it would be an exercise in futility.
He called on the congressional leaders to meet and thresh out its differing positions on the death penalty.
"I'm urging the House as well as the Senate leadership to meet in order to iron out this particular difference. Otherwise, we in the House would be engaged in an exercise in futility if the Senate will not approve any measure reimposing death penalty," Lagman said.
The House bill is expected to limit crimes punishable with death to the most heinous, making the proposal more favorable to lawmakers, and indicating that the death penalty bill has better chances in the lower House than in the Senate.
House Bill 4727 restoring death penalty is seen to be a priority legislation in the House of Representatives.
The bill seeks to impose death penalty on more than 20 heinous offenses, such as rape with homicide, kidnapping for ransom and arson with death.
According to the original version of the bill, the following are punishable by death under the Revised Penal Code - treason, qualified piracy, qualified bribery, parricide, murder, infanticide, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with homicide, rape, intentional mutilation or arson and destructive arson.
Plunder is also punishable with reclusion perpetua to death according to the Republic Act 7080 or the plunder law as amended by Republic Act 7659.
Some lawmakers, however, believe plunder should not be punishable with death under the bill.
The following offenses under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act are also punishable with death - importation; sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation; maintenance of a den, dive or resort; manufacture; possession of certain quantities of dangerous drugs; cultivation; unlawful prescription; misappropriation or failure to account confiscated, seized or surrendered dangerous drugs; and planting of evidence.
Carnapping is also a criminal offense punishable with death under the Anti-Carnapping Act or Republic Act 6539.
Justice committee chairperson, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, said the House leadership is willing to reduce the list of crimes punishable under death only to the most heinous - drug trade and abuse, murder, kidnapping, carnapping and rape.
Umali said though that plunder may be removed from the list as it is not as heinous a crime as those committed against persons and life.
| Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
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Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net, February 15, 2017
Indonesian maid Minah (center) has been charged with the murder of her employer. Indonesian helper in Singapore faces death for alleged murder of elderly employer
An Indonesian domestic helper in Singapore has been charged today with the murder of her 78-year-old employer, media reports said.
Wheelchair-bound Tay Quee Lang was found dead in her flat at Block 276 Tampines Street 22 with a knife reportedly lodged in her neck.
Channel News Asia reports that Minah, 37, is accused of causing the death of Tay at about 2.10pm on Monday in the Tampines flat Tay shared with her husband, who was not home at the time of the alleged killing.
Police said they received a call for assistance at about 2.10pm.
When officers arrived at the unit on the 5th floor, they found the woman lying motionless. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
In court today, Minah, dressed in a black and white striped T-shirt, appeared calm as the capital charge was read to her by an interpreter.
She will be remanded for a psychiatric evaluation and will next appear in court on Mar 8. If she is found guilty of murder, Minah will face the death penalty.
| Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
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Source: thestandard.com.hk, February 15, 2017
-- Estimates suggest that helping religious leaders to discuss circumcision with their congregations could lead to 1.4 million more circumcisions and prevent between 65000 and 200000 men from being infected with HIV in Tanzania alone.
Educating religious leaders about how circumcision helps to prevent HIV infection increased the number of men being circumcised in Tanzania, according to a study published in The Lancet.
The authors say that the intervention should be considered as part of the male circumcision programmes in other sub-Saharan African countries, and that the process of working with religious leaders could be a new way to promote other healthy behaviours in communities.
"Our study led to a major increase in uptake of male circumcision. It also lays groundwork for further research to establish the effect of promoting healthy behaviours through religious communities in sub-Saharan Africa, where the overwhelming majority of the population is deeply committed to their religious beliefs and practice," said lead author Dr Jennifer Downs, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA. "We believe that our intervention would also work to address other health behaviours in other regions and among other religious groups. The strength of our approach was that we equipped religious leaders with information and education, and then they could teach their congregations as they saw fit, which ensured that our approach was contextually relevant." [1]
In 2009, a Cochrane review found that male circumcision was an effective strategy to prevent HIV infection, reducing risk by 38-66% within one to two years. As a result, the WHO recommends that countries with HIV epidemics should implement voluntary medical male circumcision services. In 2011, they set a target of 20.8 million circumcisions across 14 sub-Saharan African countries by 2016, but uptake was lower than expected and only 10 million men were circumcised by the end of 2015.
Research has suggested low uptake may be caused by the religious significance of the practice. For example, some worry that circumcision could be an attempt to convert Christians to other religions.
Almost all people (93%) in Tanzania see religion as very important in their lives, and 83% attend religious services at least once a week. Religious leaders are highly respected authorities in their villages and hold influence over the community. Using this influence, the researchers believed they could change the community's uptake of circumcision by teaching religious leaders more about the practice and how to discuss it with their congregations.
16 villages were involved in the study, which took place at the same time as the Tanzanian Ministry of Health's voluntary circumcision campaign arrived in the village. The campaign visited all 16 villages, offering outreach events, free circumcisions and HIV counselling to boys and men over three to six weeks. Half of the villages received information from the campaign only. In the other half, the religious leaders attended a seminar about the medical and cultural aspects of circumcision by a pastor and a clinician.
The eight intervention villages were home to almost 86500 men, and 1194 religious leaders attended the seminar. The other eight villages were home to 58500 men. The number of circumcisions was recorded, as were people's reasons for undergoing the procedure.
In the villages where leaders were taught about circumcision, 23.3% more men underwent the procedure (52.8% compared with 29.5%). There were also significantly more men citing discussions in church as their reason for having a circumcision in the intervention villages (30.8% compared with 0.7%).
However, uptake of circumcision varied and the proportion of men in intervention villages undergoing the procedure varied from 21.9% to 99.1%, while the control villages varied from 7.4% to 49.9%.
Based on the overall uptake in their study, the researchers estimate that if the intervention were used across the whole country it could lead to more than 1.4 million more male circumcisions, which could potentially prevent between 65000 and 200000 new HIV infections.
After the campaign, religious leaders from intervention and control villages were invited to a focus group to discuss their views on circumcision. The main topics discussed were misinformation and suspicion around circumcision, the need for more information about the practice, whether working with religious leaders was an effective way to share health information, and if attending the seminar helped religious leaders feel empowered and knowledgeable.
Speaking about the intervention and why it worked, one of the religious leaders said: "Pastors have a power to motivate people and church members are trusting their pastors more than any other person or leader. If the pastor will encourage people in church many young men will uptake circumcision." [2]
The researchers note some limitations in their study, including that there were a small number of villages, and the small risk that villagers could have heard about the intervention or control happening in another nearby village and changed their decision on whether to have a circumcision. In addition, the study used the latest census data available but as this was from 2012 it may not have been up-to-date (the study took place from June 2014 to December 2015) and this could impact the estimates within the paper.
Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Nelson Sewankambo, Makerere University, Uganda, said: "...the use of religious leaders to increase uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision is an example of a simple-to-adopt approach to utilize existing community resources for health promotion. By examining the cultural context within which social life is sustained, culturally acceptable resources for health promotion and disease prevention and care can be identified. By adapting the interventions used elsewhere to the cultural norms, values, and beliefs of the community, researchers developed sustainable health interventions... Questions remain regarding the effectiveness of education of religious leaders in different contexts in which the target population engages in practices that religious leaders might be opposed to on a religious basis. Examples of such opposition include condom use for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men, commercial sex activities, and the use of routine immunisation. Religious institutions have a strong influence on the beliefs, cultures, and behaviours of large populations across Africa and other parts of the world. Further research is therefore required to explore and assess innovative religion-based approaches to promote healthy behaviour in religious communities."
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NOTES TO EDITORS
The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Mulago Foundation. It was conducted by scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine, St Paul
College, Mwanza, Bugando Medical Centre and Fuller Theological Seminary.
[1] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article.
[2] See the Panel in the Article for more quotes from the focus group.
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The first ever evidence of live birth in an animal group previously thought to lay eggs exclusively has been discovered by an international team of scientists, including a palaeontologist from the University of Bristol.
The remarkable 250 million-year-old fossil from China shows an embryo inside the mother.
Live birth is well known in mammals, where the mother has a placenta to nourish the developing embryo.
It is also very common among lizards and snakes, where the babies sometimes 'hatch' inside their mother and emerge without a shelled egg.
Until recently, the third major group of living land vertebrates, the crocodiles and birds, part of the wider group Archosauromorpha, only laid eggs.
Egg laying is the primitive state, seen at the base of reptiles, and in their ancestors such as amphibians and fishes.
The new fossil is an unusual, long-necked animal called Dinocephalosaurus, an archosauromorph that flourished in shallow seas of South China in the Middle Triassic.
It was a fish-eater, snaking its long neck from side to side to snatch its prey. The embryo is inside the rib cage of the mother, and it faces forward. Swallowed animals generally face backward because the predator swallows its prey head-first to help it go down its throat. Furthermore, the small reptile inside the mother is an example of the same species.
Lead study author, Professor Jun Liu from Hefei University of Technology in China, said: "We were so excited when we first saw this embryonic specimen several years ago but we were not sure if the embryonic specimen is the last lunch of the mother or its unborn baby.
"Upon further preparation and closer inspection, we realised that something unusual has been discovered.
"Further evolutionary analysis reveals the first case of live birth in such a wide group containing birds, crocodilians, dinosaurs and pterosaurs among others, and pushes back evidence of reproductive biology in the group by 50 million years.
"Information on reproductive biology of archosauromorphs before the Jurassic period was not available until our discovery, despite a history of 260 million years."
Evolutionary analysis shows that this instance of live birth was also associated with genetic sex determination.
Professor Chris Organ, another author from Montana State University, added: "Some reptiles today, such as crocodiles, determine the sex of their offspring by the temperature inside the nest.
"We identified that Dinocephalosaurus, a distant ancestor of crocodiles, determined the sex of its babies genetically, like mammals and birds."
This new specimen from China rewrites our understanding of the evolution of reproductive systems.
Professor Mike Benton, another co-author from the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: "The analysis of the evolutionary position of the new specimens shows there is no fundamental reason why archosauromorphs could not have evolved live birth
"This combination of live birth and genotypic sex determination seems to have been necessary for animals such as Dinocephalosaurus to become aquatic. It's great to see such an important step forward in our understanding of the evolution of a major group coming from a chance fossil find in a Chinese field."
This piece of work is part of wider collaborations between palaeontologists in China, the United States, the UK and Australia.
###
By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Even as strikes cripple output at the world's two biggest copper mines, Asia's copper industry is pretty relaxed, sitting atop metal stockpiles that have grown by nearly two-thirds since the end of January. Copper inventories tied to China's Shanghai Futures Exchange have surged 61 percent since the week of Jan. 20 to 277,659 tonnes, the most since May 2016, the latest data shows. Stockpiles held in bonded warehouses in China have edged above 500,000 tonnes, from around 450,000 tonnes in November, according to consultants CRU Group. BHP Billiton declared a force majeure last week on contracted copper shipments from its Escondida site in Chile, the world's largest copper mine, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc has sent home workers from its Grasberg facility, the world's second-biggest mine, this week. But, because of the ample stockpiles, the outages have not worried the market as copper cathode premiums in China's bonded zones, what buyers will pay above global prices to procure the metal, remain steady at $75 a tonne. China is the world's biggest copper user. <0#BASEBW-SHMET> "In China's bonded market there is still a lot of stock, so we are not that worried about the force majeure for now," said a BHP customer in Shanghai whose February shipments were delayed. BHP halted its Escondida operations because of a worker's strike while Freeport closed Grasberg after filling up its on-site storage after a strike shuttered the smelter that is the only buyer of its copper output. In addition to the high refined metal stockpiles, copper ore and concentrates imports to China swelled in the months before the disruptions. November imports were a record 1.76 million tonnes, with December just below that at 1.67 million tonnes, according to customs data. [MTL/CHINA1] While Chinese premiums remain steady, copper prices have surged, with three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rising to $6,204 a tonne on Monday, the highest since May 25. On the mine supply side, analysts estimate the disruptions will cut around 5,400 tonnes per day from the global supply of copper concentrate. If the Escondida strike lasts for 20 days, first-quarter global supply could drop 1.8 percent, according to Goldman Sachs. In theory this could wipe out a small surplus of 80,000 tonnes of refined copper this year, estimated by analysts polled by Reuters. Analysts at Standard Chartered said the loss of both Escondida and Grasberg is a "justified" bullish factor but they also note the high inventories. "If sustained beyond the end of February then it is possible that the cathode market could... start to tighten. For the time being, though, we remain in a clear phase of cathode surplus," said the analysts in a report referring to the typical type of refined copper. With the surge of concentrate imports, most Chinese smelters are in no rush for new supply. "For the next two to three months most of the smelters are well prepared, particularly the main smelters. They were restocking the concentrate before Chinese New Year, so they are comfortable," said a source at a trade house in Shanghai. Fees that smelters pay miners to process their concentrate, an indicator of the supply and demand balance, dipped to the mid$80's a tonne last week from the high $80s in mid-January, according to CRU. JX Holdings Inc's <5020.T> metal unit, Japans biggest copper smelter, does not expect any impact from Escondidas strike unless it dragged on for a few months, a spokesman said. But Escondida could have ripple effects amid labour talks at other mines such as Rio Tinto's Kennecott mine in Utah. One trade house source in North America believes China has underestimated the strikes' impact. "There is already a lot of enquires and some for as early as February. There seems to be a fair bit of appetite for Feb-March," the source said. (This version of the story adds dropped word in 1st paragraph.) (Reporting by Melanie Burton Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Susan Taylor in Toronto.; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Boston, Massachusetts, Feb. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boston, MA, February 15, 2017 Skyword, the leading content marketing software and services company, today announced Skyword Personalized Recommendations (SPR), an artificial intelligence-based engine that delivers personalized onsite and email recommendations. Now brands can build an audience through sustained publishing of original content and increase engagement with those audiences by recommending other relevant stories through Skywords predictive technology.
It used to be enough to create content based on a persona or representation of your ideal customer, said Tom Gerace, CEO and founder of Skyword. Not anymore. Todays consumers expect stories that address their specific needs and preferences. Otherwise, they'll bounce from your site or ignore your emails. But, it hasnt been easy to personalize individuals' experiences at scale and in real time.
While 74 percent of people get frustrated when content appears that has nothing to do with their interests, 60 percent of marketers struggle to create one-to-one experiences, said Gerace. With SPR, weve made it easy for our clients. Now they can centralize their content creation, distribution, and personalization initiatives all within the Skyword Platform as well as gain actionable insights on all three areas.
Gerace continued, In early installations of Skyword Personalized Recommendations, we have averaged 65 percent lift in web site engagement and 120 percent lift in email response rates from personalized recommendations when compared with control group results.
Were excited about the ability to create personal experiences for our visitors to The Benefits Guide, said Andrew Reinbold, content marketing director at Anthem, Inc. Anthem built this destination to help businesses navigate the changing health-care environment. Most people land on our site because they are searching online for a specific answer about health care plans and benefits. We implemented Skyword Personalized Recommendations to help guide these visitors to other relevant articles and content that will make their jobs easier and their employees lives better. This personal interaction helps us turn a one-time visitor into a loyal fan of Anthem.
About Skyword Personalized Recommendations
With Skywords Personalized Recommendations, brands and media companies can provide onsite recommendations for specific visitors based on personal profiles built with Skywords deep learning and predictive technology. They also can nurture these relationships by including personalized recommendations in emails or newsletters to subscribers -- fueling outbound channels with smart, adaptive content. Skyword Personalized Recommendations uses an ensemble algorithm to deliver recommendations and learns from machine learning algorithms such as collaborative filtering. Collaborative filtering is a way of making automated predictions about a user by collecting preferences or taste recommendations from other users. This type of approach is considered to generate the most accurate methods for delivering personalized recommendations that deliver results.
About Skyword
Skyword liberates brands from ineffective marketing practices and inspires them to create deeper connections with their audiences. The Skyword Platform makes it easy to produce, optimize, and promote content at any scale to create meaningful, lasting relationships. Skyword also provides access to a community of thousands of freelance writers and videographers, an editorial team, and program managers who help move clients content marketing programs to new levels of creative excellence. Skyword is a privately held company headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in Palo Alto, CA, and New York, NY. The companys technology center is located in Pittsburgh, PA. Investors include Cox Media Group, Allen & Company, Progress Ventures, and American Public Media Group.
Connect with Skyword
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skyword
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Skyword
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skyword-inc-
The Content Standard: http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hip Cuisine Inc., (PINKSHEETS:HIPC) a global fresh-served food purveyor for the health conscious consumer, has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire RAWkin Juice, the popular organic-vegan spot based in Burbank CA. Under the terms of the purchase agreement RAWkin Juice will be required to complete two years of PCAOB-audited financials, which will put the anticipated closing on or before March 30, 2017. The agreement has been mutually extended by Rawkin Juice and Hip Cuisine due to the PCAOB audits not being completed as originally projected. The closing date has now been extended to on or before March 30, 2017.
RAWkin Juice is known for its 100% organic, cold-pressed, music-themed juices and smoothies.
The purchase of RAWkin Juice will provide Hip Cuisine with a popular brand in the growing organic-vegan market in Southern California. This move will allow us to develop our strategy in the fresh-made healthy nutrition category. Hip Cuisine plans to leverage the brands success by building additional vegan-friendly locations and delivery systems. We are excited about this acquisition and look forward to expanding the RAWkin Juice brand, stated Natalia Lopera, CEO of Hip Cuisine.
Larry Biggs, CEO of RAWkin Juice said, With the asset purchase we are confident that popular RAWkin juices, smoothies, organic-vegan menus and desserts and our exclusive Tune Up! Cleanses will reach a larger customer base in the Southern California market. Hip Cuisine will provide the capital and management structure needed to expand the brands reach. We expect revenues and profitability to improve significantly as the brands popularity continues to spread and costs are leveraged across multiple outlets.
About Hip Cuisine
Hip Cuisine is an international nutritional value concepts company and global fresh-served food purveyor for the health-conscious consumer. Based in Miami, Florida, its holdings include fusion restaurants in the Western Hemisphere known for fresh, vegan friendly, on-demand nutritious menus and cold-pressed juices and smoothies. Hip Cuisine opened its first location in Panama City, Panama in 2015 designed to deliver a nutritious menu with super-food ingredients at affordable prices tailored for the on-the-go customer looking for a healthy alternative. The company plans to expand its brands in the U.S. and Latin America.
Hip Cuisines U.S. address is 2250 NW 114th Ave. Unit 1P, PTY 11020, Miami, FL 33172-3652. The Panama offices are located at Balboa Boutiques, Ave. Balboa, Local 104, Panama City, Panama. Our telephone number is 011-507-6501-8105.
@Hip Cuisine Hip Cuisine's Facebook www.hip-cuisine.com
About RAWkin Juice
RAWkin' Juice serves authentic cold pressed juices & smoothies, amazing salads, vegan meals and raw desserts. After years of research RAWkin Juice opened its doors in Burbank in 2014 featuring its state-of-the-art organic-vegan kitchen. The company made its own original, cold-pressed juice and smoothie blends, always made fresh to order, for pick up in person or through online delivery. Its colorful, musical menu creates an upbeat theme and a fun environment for healthy conscious customers. Using local sources for organic fruits and vegetables, the company uses glass bottles exclusively to further demonstrate its commitment to optimum credibility of nutrients.
RAWkin Juice is located at 4201 West Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA.
Phone: (818) 859.1002. The website is www.rawkinjuice.com
Forward Looking Statements
This document contains forward looking statements related to the transaction and business combination between Hip Cuisine and RAWkin Juice, including statements regarding the benefits of the transaction as well as statements regarding the companies products and markets. Forward looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this document, including the following: expected synergies and other financial benefits of the transaction may not be realized; integration of the acquisition post-closing may not occur as anticipated; litigation related to the transaction or limitations or restrictions imposed by regulatory authorities may delay or negatively impact the transaction; unanticipated restructuring costs may be incurred or undisclosed liabilities assumed; attempts to retain key personnel and customers may not succeed; the business combination or the combined companys products may not be supported by third parties; actions by competitors may negatively impact results; and, there may be negative changes in general economic conditions in the regions or the industries in which Hip Cuisine and RAWkin Juice operate. Legal filings may identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements set forth in this document. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Hip Cuisine and RAWkin Juice assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Praxsyn Corporation (OTCQB: PXYN) is pleased to announce that Praxsyns corporate headquarters have been moved from Irvine, California to Las Vegas, Nevada.
The board of directors authorized the move of Praxsyn Corporations headquarters to Nevada in order to allow for the expansion of Praxsyns operations, the ability to secure a larger pharmacy facility in Nevada at a more competitive price, and the overall lower labor costs.
Greg Sundem, PXYNs Chief Executive Officer, stated I have moved to Nevada from California because I believe it is important to be physically at any new facility to oversee the day-to-day operations and to ensure a successful transition.
The new facility provides ample space for collection operations; with our increased focus on products and services that will pay within a 30-day billing cycle. By changing the business model to a type of business that collects in a shorter amount of time, the company will have a more fiscally responsible financial model than the long collection cycle.
About Praxsyn Corporation
Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, Praxsyn Corporation is a holding company that finds solutions to fit the needs and goals of medical professionals and their patients. Mesa Pharmacy, located in Irvine, California works to realize the vision of medical professionals to improve the lives of their patients. Mesa Pharmacy continues its operations and services in Irvine, California to provide patients with pharmaceutical treatments as prescribed by their doctors. Additional company information can be found at www.praxsyn.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) including but not limited to statements in this press release regarding Praxsyn Corporations move to Las Vegas, Nevada, accordingly, are subject to risks and uncertainties. The actual results may differ materially from those described or contemplated and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in the reports as have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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the best choice. The use of both explains that a single army did two things.
filling the ranks is not the same as acting as shift in meaning
determined is not the same as told.
great army is not the same as a powerful army . was saying is wrong tense; as each a a weird expression
carried out the responsibilities is not the same as acted as.; did tell is un necessary unless you wish to emphasize about telling; otherwise, the report was a simple narration. Told is good enough for the purpose.
Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club !
-bb -bb Signature Read More
It doesnt make much of a critical difference whether you say something or you say something to someone or you tell something or you tell someone something. But more importantly, none of the choices other than A carries the original intent of the text.A) told how a powerful army acted as both ---B) said much how a powerful army filled the ranks of both ---C) determined that a powerful army acted as such ---d) was saying that of a great army which acted as each a e) did tell how a powerful army carried out the responsibilities of a ---_________________
- An 11-year-old girl has touched many hearts with her heroic act before she passed away in a horrific car accident
- The young school girl sacrificed her life to save that of her three-year old cousin who was trapped in wreckage following an accident
- Though everyone else survived the crash, the family is still in pain and fear as late Iman Jayeds father battles for his life in hospital
In an accident that nearly claimed a whole family, one little school girl saved the day, but at a hefty price.
Iman Jayed, an 11 year old girl and twin sister to Rehan, saved the life of her three year old cousin, Aaima Vasim, after her familys car smashed another on the M61.
READ ALSO: Cross River state government shows love to woman who delivered triplets (photos)
Iman Jayed, the 11 year old girl who saved the life of her three year old cousin, Aaima Vasim
Jayed, a pupil at Norden Community Primary School in Rochdale, reportedly pulled Vasim out of the wreckage but was hit by a lorry that accidentally plunged into the two cars, instantly killing the brave girl.
The diseased girl was travelling with her family, including her mum Khaldah, 15 year old sister Saania, and the little cousin Aaima in a Volkswagen when the accident occurred.
The car, which was being driven by Jayeds father, was allegedly hit by a Renault Clion that was travelling in the same direction.
Khaldah and her daughter Saania (Jayeds elder sister) are said to must have safely pulled themselves out of the wreckage, with minor injuries. But Jayed went back to rescue her cousin Aaima, a rescue mission that claimed her life.
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Iman Jayed and Aaima Vasim
Police reports indicate that both Jayed and her cousin were either inside or close when the lorry hit the cars, leaving the youngster dead shortly after she saved her cousin.
The diseased girls father also reportedly suffered serious injuries in the crash and is still battling for his life in hospital.
According to the family, Jayed had a special bond with her cousin, and her heroic act was a clear manifestation of that.
She was a beautiful blessing, cunning, fun-loving, inquisitive and at times cheeky. She touched the heart of many, says Khaldah, adding that Jayed also loved cooking and baking.
Relatives and friends, including Norden Community Primary school head teacher, Linda Cotton, have since sent their condolences to Jayds family.
READ ALSO: Woman kidnapped from her home in Asaba, Delta state (photo)
READ ALSO: Father burns his son and daughter ALIVE in house fire
Watch video of the 11 year old girl who sacrificed her life to save her cousin's:
Source: Legit.ng
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On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ...
On an outrage scale of 1 to 10, the temptation is to make every column an 11. I could be in highest dudgeon, screaming at the top of my lungs, in every single column -- and readers, quite sensibly, would tune out. At the same time, however, it's wrong to normalize the outrageous and unacceptable. So that's one problem. Another is to distinguish between signal and noise. We can't ignore Trump's tweets because he is POTUS and what he's thinking, or thumbing, is by definition important. But if you focus on that stuff, you never write about substance. Today I chose to write about health care policy. I feel good about the column -- but at the same time, I know I'd be higher on the most-read chart if I'd written a screed about the latest Trumpian tempest. Look, I'm not complaining. The truth is that I have the best job in the world.
Iraq fighter jets dropped bombs on a house in an orchard, in Anbar province, believed to be hosting a meeting of senior members of the Islamic State, including its leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi.
A statement from the military mentioned the names of 13 commanders who were killed in the airstrike and amongst them were Abu Janat al-Rawi, a top Islamic State security leader, media official Abu Zaid and the groups leader in Tal Afar Abu Asid.
Baghdadis whereabouts are unknown amid reports that he must have sustained injuries during the attack.
The ISIS officials were discussing the collapse happening in Mosul and other strategic plans because the groups control over the city continues to shrink due to the advancing Iraqi forces and their allies. They also convened to choose a successor for him (Baghdadi), according to the Iraqi military statement without stating the reasons. IS is an al-Qaida breakaway group, and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was announced to be its leader on May 16, 2010, following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
It is unclear if the ISIS leader has returned to Syria. The Iraqi military confirmed that he arrived in the region of Qaim, Iraq, from Syria in a motorcade that was being carefully monitored by its intelligence agency.
Just like Mosul in Iraq, Raqqa serves as the hub of the group in war torn neighboring Syria. Baghdadi has a $25 million bounty on his head. There have been numerous claims of him being killed or injured in airstrikes since he took over the leadership of the extremist group and declared the territory under its control as Islamic Caliphate in June 2014.
Airstrikes were also conducted in western Iraq killing around 64 ISIS militants, reportedly including 24 suicide bombers.
A fluorescent nerve cell (green) in a cell culture. The cell communicates with its partners at the pink-colored synapses. Credit: MPI for Experimental Medicine
'Timing is everything' in the transmission of signals between neurons in the brain. Most of the complex functions that humans are capable of performing would be severely impaired if their neurons were not capable of communicating accurately with one another to a thousandth of a second. Interpersonal communication, learning processes, focusing attention, the rapid processing of sensory stimuli, even the correct execution of movements would no longer be possible. The Israeli scientist Noa Lipstein-Thoms at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Gottingen has now discovered a new genetic disease mechanism that affects the strength and precise timing of neuronal signals and leads to movement disorders (dyskinesia), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.
Lipstein-Thoms studies the fundamental mechanisms of signal transmission between neurons. This process takes place at the synapses as they are known. A transmitting neuron triggers the release of a chemical messenger in response to an electrical stimulus. This chemical messenger is recognised by the recipient neuron and converted into an electric signal. A series of regulatory proteins guarantees that this signal transmission process, which is biologically extremely complex, operates with the necessary millisecond precision. The proteins control the release of the messenger at synapses. One of these proteins is known by the cryptic name of Munc13-1.
"Our genetic research on mice has shown that Munc13-1 is vital for the transmission of signals at synapses," explains Lipstein-Thoms. "When it is missing, the brain does not function because the messenger is blocked and cannot be released at synapses. The affected mouse dies." Even minor changes to the Munc13-1 protein often has catastrophic consequences because the precise timing of the synaptic signals is lost.
Because of this fundamental importance, Munc13-1 has up until now only been of interest to the basic researchers among the neuroscientists. "Disorders that could only be caused by a malfunction of Munc13-1 were not known," says Lipstein-Thoms. "My colleagues and I did not expect that the protein could play a role in a disorder as even small disruptions in the functioning of Munc13-1 have grave consequences. We suspected for a long time that a defect in Munc13-1 inevitably led to the death of an organism."
Munc13-1 as cause of psychiatric disorders
This view has changed dramatically as a result of a new study conducted by Lipstein-Thoms. Together with Gottingen-based neurobiologist Nils Brose and psychiatrists, neurologists and geneticists at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Lipstein-Thoms describes a patient with a Munc13-1 protein that has been changed by mutation. The patient, who is currently seven years old and is being examined and treated in Utrecht, suffers from an unusual combination of dysfunctional movement patterns, ADHD and autism.
Lipstein-Thoms' Dutch colleagues discovered the Munc13-1 mutation during an in-depth genetic examination of the patient. They assume that this mutation is in all probability responsible for the specific symptoms. "This is the first case of a Munc13-1 mutation that is a factor in a disorder. But my colleagues could not explain why this mutation caused the disorder. However, that is the basis on which they can develop a treatment."
Gene mutations make synapses weaken much faster
"This is where we came in," says Nils Brose, who supervised Lipstein-Thoms when she was a doctoral student and has worked with her for the last ten years. "Here at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine we have developed a huge repertoire of methods, reagents and animal models to analyse very precisely Munc13 proteins and the synapse functions associated with them. And we know a lot about these proteins." Using the tools and knowledge at her disposal, Lipstein-Thoms demonstrated that the Munc13-1 mutation discovered in the patient initially leads to an unexpected boosting of the synaptic signal transmission but the affected synapses weaken much faster than normal synapses in the case of persistent activity and especially when the activity is intense and very frequent.
"While the changed transmission characteristics of the synapses are rather small, they can explain the complex symptoms in the affected patient," says Lipstein-Thoms, describing the state of her findings. Many neurological and psychiatric medications already target synapses. "We know which process in the patient's synapses is damaged and could even try to correct the hyperactivity of synapses that we have described using medications that are already licensed," explains Lipstein-Thoms. "That would be a wonderful example of how basic research is essential to medical application."
More information: Synaptic UNC13A protein variant causes increased synaptic transmission and dyskinetic movement disorder. Journal of Clinical Investigation, www.jci.org/articles/view/90259 Journal information: Journal of Clinical Investigation Synaptic UNC13A protein variant causes increased synaptic transmission and dyskinetic movement disorder.
(HealthDay)Circulating extracellular RNAs (ex-RNAs) are associated with insulin resistance (IR), according to a study published online Feb. 9 in Diabetes Care.
Ravi Shah, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined the correlation between ex-RNAs and metabolic phenotypes in 2,317 participants without diabetes in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Offspring Cohort. The correlation between candidate ex-RNAs and markers of adiposity was measured. Individuals with diabetes were included in sensitivity analyses. Selected ex-RNAs and metabolites were measured in a separate cohort of 90 overweight/obese youth.
The researchers found that across 391 ex-RNAs in FHS, 18 were associated with IR in age-, sex, and body mass index-adjusted models. Independent of metabolites, miR-122 correlated with IR and regional adiposity in adults and IR in children. Metabolic regulatory roles for miR-122, including regulation of IR pathways, was observed on pathway analysis.
"These results provide translational evidence in support of an important role of ex-RNAs as novel circulating factors implicated in IR," the authors write.
Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Credit: CDC
University of Tubingen researchers in collaboration with the biotech company Sanaria Inc. have demonstrated in a clinical trial that a new vaccine for malaria called Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac has been up to 100 percent effective when assessed at 10 weeks after last dose of vaccine. For the trial, Pro-fessor Peter Kremsner and Dr. Benjamin Mordmuller of the Institute of Tropical Medicine and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) used malaria parasites provided by Sanaria. The vac-cine incorporated fully viable - not weakened or otherwise inactivated - malaria pathogens together with the medication to combat them. Their research results have been published in the latest edition of Nature.
Malaria parasites are transmitted by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite is responsible for most malaria infections and almost all deaths caused by the disease worldwide. Most of the previous vaccines which have been tried involved the use of individual molecules found in the pathogen. However, they were unable to provide sufficient immunity to the disease. The Tuebingen study involved 67 healthy adult test persons, none of whom had previously had malaria. The best immune response was shown in a group of nine test persons who received the highest dose of the vaccine three times at four-week intervals. At the end of the trial, all nine of these individuals had 100 percent protection from the disease.
"That protection was probably caused by specific T-lymphocytes and antibody responses to the parasites in the liver," Professor Peter Kremsner explained. The researchers analyzed the bodies' immune reactions and identified protein patterns which will make it possible to further improve malaria vaccines, Kremsner added. The researchers injected live malaria parasites into the test subjects, at the same time preventing the development of the disease by adding chloroquine - which has been used to treat malaria for many years. This enabled the researchers to exploit the behavior of the parasites and the properties of chloroquine.
Once the person is infected, the Plasmodium falciparum parasite migrates to the liver to reproduce. During its incubation period there, the human immune system could respond; but at this stage, the pathogen does not make the person sick. On top of that, chloroquine does not take effect in the liver - so it is unable to prevent the parasite from reproducing. Malaria only breaks out when the pathogen leaves the liver, entering the bloodstream and going into the red corpuscles, where it continues to reproduce and spread. As soon as the pathogen enters the bloodstream, however, it can be killed by chloroquine - and the disease cannot break out.
"By vaccinating with a live, fully active pathogen, it seems clear that we were able to set of a very strong immune response," said study leader Benjamin Mordmueller, "Additionally, all the data we have so far indicate that what we have here is relatively stable, long-lasting protection." In the group of test persons who demonstrated 100 percent protection after receiving a high dose three times, Mordmueller said, the protection was reliably still in place after ten weeks - and remained measurable for even longer. He added that the new vaccine showed no adverse effects on the test persons. The next step is to further test the vaccine's effectiveness over several years in a clinical study in Gabon funded by DZIF. Malaria is one of the biggest health threats in the African nation. The University of Tuebingen has worked with the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Gabonese town of Lambarene and with the neighboring research institute, the Centre de Recherches Medicales de Lambarene, for many years.
Malaria is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. The World Health Organization reports that some 214 million people became infected with malaria in the year 2015 alone. Approximately 438,000 died of the disease. Around 90 percent of those malaria deaths were in Africa. Nearly three-quarters of those who succumb to the disease are children under five. The search for a vaccine has been going on for more than a century. An effective vaccine would make it easier to control malaria; vaccination campaigns could be conducted in severely affected areas to eliminate the pathogen. Such a vaccine could also help to stop the spread of resistance to the treatment, and to better protect travelers.
More information: Benjamin Mordmuller et al, Sterile protection against human malaria by chemoattenuated PfSPZ vaccine, Nature (2017). Journal information: Nature Benjamin Mordmuller et al, Sterile protection against human malaria by chemoattenuated PfSPZ vaccine,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature21060
Provided by German Center for Infection Research
Taking one pill of an antiretroviral drug per day can help prevent infection among people at risk of contracting HIV. Credit: Alec Tributino/The Miriam Hospital
One of the most promising new approaches to slowing the spread of HIV is pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a once-a-day medication that people who don't have HIV can take to prevent becoming infected. But that strategy only works if people at risk for contracting HIV become and remain fully engaged in preventive care and actually take the pills. In the real world of clinical practice, that has often proved tricky.
In a new article in the journal AIDS, a Brown University-based team of researchers draws on their experience in providing and carefully studying PrEP programs to propose a new system for understanding and evaluating how PrEP is implemented in clinical practice. By viewing the process as a continuum with nine specific steps, they write, researchers and clinical providers can properly assess where patients might fall out of preventive care that can help them remain HIV-negative.
"It's helpful to visualize PrEP care as a continuum, because patients can drop out at any point on this long continuum," said Dr. Philip Chan, co-author of the paper, assistant professor of medicine at Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School and an infectious disease physician at the Miriam Hospital, where he runs a PrEP program serving all of Rhode Island. "We are providing a framework for how we can identify and assist people who are at high risk for acquiring HIV to stay uninfected."
In these early days of PrEP programs, physicians nationwide have found that it's sometimes difficult to retain patients in care and ensure that they are keeping up withor "adhering"to their medicine, said lead author Amy Nunn, associate professor at the Brown University School of Public Health. In early academic trials of PrEP, adherence to the medication was promising, but outcomes in research studies are often different than in the grittier domain of real-world clinical settings.
"Important research trials and CDC-funded demonstration projects have proven PrEP was overwhelmingly effective in reducing HIV acquisition," Nunn said. "But it's time to move beyond research trials to implement and study how to scale PrEP in safety net and primary care settings, where it's needed most. We propose an approach based on our experiences providing PrEP to people in real-world clinical settings that helps us evaluate how to measure population progress."
In a study last year analyzing the progress of clinical programs in cities in Rhode Island, Mississippi and Missouri, Nunn, Chan and colleagues found that among patients who sign up to begin PrEP, only about 60 percent remained in care after six months.
In this study, their goal was to identify elements of the process where interventions could improve access to PrEP and the retention of patients in care.
Nine PrEP steps
The nine proposed steps are: (1) identifying individuals at highest risk for contracting HIV; (2) increasing HIV risk awareness among them; (3) enhancing PrEP awareness; (4) facilitating PrEP access; (5) linking to PrEP care; (6) prescribing PrEP; (7) initiating PrEP; (8) adhering to PrEP; and (9) retaining individuals in PrEP care.
In much of the nascent research literature of the field, scholars have looked at a looser progression of four steps (identifying those at risk, increasing PrEP knowledge, ensuring access to PrEP, ensuring medication adherence), but Chan and Nunn said that such a general process leaves too many gaps where problems can be missed.
"The process is more complicated and nuanced than many people think," Chan said.
For example, even when some patients have been identified as being at risk to contract HIV and have been well-informed about what PrEP is, they still might not appreciate their HIV risk enough to feel sufficiently motivated to take PrEP, Nunn and Chan said. PrEP does have side effects and can be expensive. That's why the steps of identifying patients who are suitable candidates for PrEP and making sure they understand their degree of HIV-infection risk are critical.
In another example, the researchers noted that adherence is not always the most accurate measure of success for evaluating the public health impact of PrEP. Retention in care may be more important, they said. On one hand, adherence to PrEP isn't the only measure that high-risk patients should take to protect themselves from HIV transmissionroutine testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, counseling about reducing sexual partners, using condoms and understanding community-level HIV risks can also be important, Nunn and Chan said. On the other hand, some patients may no longer require PrEP over time as they change their risk behaviors and sexual partnerships. A person who settles into a monogamous sexual relationship and practices safe sex might not need PrEP anymore, but that shouldn't be perceived as an HIV prevention failure requiring intervention.
In a future study, Nunn said, she and colleagues will focus on when people cease to be retained in care and why.
In some cases, she said, patients are lost to follow up and don't take their medications because they may lose their health insurance or not have sufficient support services to overcome other barriers to taking PrEP medications. For that reason, Nunn advocates for funding PrEP navigators who can help high-risk patients overcome barriers, such as insufficient insurance, to stay engaged in preventive care.
More information: A.S. Nunn et al. Defining the HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Care Continuum, AIDS (2017). Journal information: AIDS A.S. Nunn et al. Defining the HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Care Continuum,(2017). DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001385
Gautam Dantas, associate professor of molecular microbiology and pathology and immunology, both in the School of Medicine, and associate professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, studies how physicians can treat antibiotic-resistant infections. Credit: Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
More than any other discovery in the modern era, antibiotics have changed the world. Once-deadly infections are easily treatable, surgeries are safer, and other life-saving treatmentssuch as chemotherapiesare only possible with antibiotics.
Unfortunately, the use (and oftentimes abuse) of antibiotics has also helped bacteria develop new ways to resist treatment. Already, antibiotic-resistant infections cause tens of thousands of deaths across the country each year, and scientists predict that the problem will worsen.
Fighting this trend is Gautam Dantas, associate professor of molecular microbiology and pathology and immunology, both in the School of Medicine, and an associate professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science. His efforts are helping physicians come up with new ways to fight antibiotic-resistant infections.
What is driving antibiotic resistance in America?
Quite often when kids get sick, their parents will effectively go and demand antibiotics from their pediatricians, even though there's a lot of evidence to suggest that when these kids are getting sick what they really have are viral infections. Antibiotics really are antibacterials. They do nothing against viruses. Now, you've got this issue where kids are sick due to a viral infection but because of a misperception they've been given lots of antibacterials, which can be causing lots of collateral damage. So they do nothing good for the infection, but they [could make the kids become] resistant to antibiotics.
Credit: Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
What is something your lab is doing to treat resistance?
There's this awesome collaboration with Carey-Ann Burnham; she's the director of the clinical micro lab here at Barnes. We've got this awesome suite of collaborations where effectively if Carey-Ann comes across a really hard-core, drug-resistant pathogen, which would dare modern molecular methods and they can't elucidate what the resistance mechanism isso basically, the reason they care about this is because this thing made some patient very sick here.
And that's when we come onboard, Carey-Ann then shares that information and then, eventually, the isolates with our lab. And then we throw effectively the -omics kitchen sink at it. So we take genomics and transcriptomics and lipidnomics; it doesn't matter. This idea of measuring as many physiological or metabolic properties in these drug-resistant organisms as possible compared to their susceptible counterparts, to try to in real time to figure out not theoretically what resistance exists in the soil, but what resistance is in this emerging pathogen.
That's been a super-exciting area for the lab. It actually moves very, very rapidly. It's also easy to get graduate students and post-docs involved. If they were able to figure out what that resistance mechanism was, within a short period of time, Carey-Ann's lab could develop a molecular diagnostic and save the next life. And to have that kind of impact over the course of a PhDI wish I was so lucky when I did my PhD.
What motivates your work?
It's crazy what microbes can do. There's just a sort of discovery aspect of wanting to study how do microbes respond to the challenges that we throw at them? So antibiotics thrown at a microbe is a challenge and it's remarkable how quickly they adapt and evolve. So there's just a basic science component of wanting to understand how that occurs.
But then the parallel motivation, perhaps the greater motivation for this specific area, is I really think it's terribly under appreciated how close we might be to this precipice of running out of chemotherapeutics.
We're so dependent on antibiotics. It's kind of a weird thing, but if you had access to a time machine and if you were able to take one thing back with you to say the 1800s, the one thing that you should take with you is antibiotics. Right? Just think of the number of people who just dropped dead because they got some, what is now an easily treatable, infection. We're entering an era where that's no longer going to be true. And we have to do something about that.
Zohn Centimole, right, administered a cognitive test to measure memory loss three to five days after surgery. Credit: University of Kentucky
No patient wants to remember the traumatic experience of going under the knife.
With the conveniences of modern medicine, anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists erase the memory and pain of invasive surgeries by administering medicines that induce relaxation and unconsciousness. Patients awake from a deep sleep with no memory of the surgery, the incision or the physical harm done to their bodies.
But 10 years ago, Zohn Centimole, a nurse anesthetist at UK HealthCare, noticed his elderly patients were concerned about short-term memory loss, which they attributed to anesthetics. While only temporary, the cognitive deficits caused by anesthesia can linger for several days post-surgery, a period of time when important medical decisions and conversations take place.
One of Centimole's senior patients, who had experienced memory changes after a previous surgery, feared the same effect as she prepared for another surgery. Rather than worry about her postoperative pain and recovery, the patient was fixated on whether she would retain her mental capacity post-surgery.
"My conversation with her that day was one of those imprinting memories," Centimole said. "Her fear was so sincere and impactful that I can still see her face and everything about the situation."
This patient's consternation motivated Centimole to investigate more precise techniques of delivering anesthesia and minimizing exposure in middle-aged and senior patients. Centimole, a native of Plum Springs, Kentucky, harnessed the brain-reading capabilities of Bispectral Index (BIS) monitor, an electroencephalographic (EEG) technology, to tailor anesthesia titration to the individual needs of surgical patients.
Centimole recently defended his doctoral dissertation in the UK College of Nursing, which found anesthesia guided by EEG-derived monitoring was superior to the standard administration and effective in reducing cognitive decline at three- to five-days post-operation. The Bispectral Index System (BIS) measures EEG and, through a proprietary calculation, converts changes in real time to a score, which anesthesia providers associate with depth of consciousness.
The CANTAB-MCI (Cambridge Cognition) cognitive battery was used to evaluate patient cognitive performance preoperatively, three to five days postoperatively, and three to five months postoperatively. With its touch-screen format, the battery reduces administrator bias and is cost effective. The EEG-guided technique showed to reduce the cognitive deficits experienced in the post-surgical period, with patients whose anesthesia was conducted through this method reporting higher cognitive functioning immediately after their surgery.
Collaborating with faculty members in the UK Department of Surgery, the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and the UK College of Nursing, Centimole conducted an experiment testing the cognitive functioning of surgical patients whose anesthesia levels were monitored through a cognitive battery against patients who received surgery without the cognitive battery and a control group of individuals unaffected by anesthesia. Centimole recruited patients for the study in the preoperative clinic, often recruiting a spouse as the non-surgical counterpart for the control group. Eighty-eight surgical patients were randomized to the BIS cognitive battery condition or the non-battery condition. Both experimental groups, as well as individuals in the non-surgery control group, completed the CANTAB neuropsychological functioning test. The test measures the test taker's short-term memory, reaction time, verbal memory, and visual learning capabilities.
The 39 surgical patients who received the treatment, or BIS, condition demonstrated high levels of cognitive functioning post-surgery. Centimole also found that patients who smoked reported lower cognitive function post-surgery, suggesting a correlation between smoking and lower cognition after surgery. The results of the study suggest that EEG-derived technology has the potential to assist anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists in tailoring their care to individual cognitive characteristics.
"We were looking for a way to assess cognitive frailty in patients," Centimole said. "Being precise and tailoring anesthesia will vary from patient to patient. EEG-derived technology allows you to balance exposure without unwanted side effects. We want to keep tight control over exposure, and this is what that device was engineered to do."
Centimole believes EEG-derived devices can enhance care and improve engagement and alertness in patients who were disadvantaged by the memory loss caused during their surgery. Further, the CANTAB-MCI battery was cost-effective and showed the potential to help providers evaluate frailty in patients preparing to undergo surgery.
"The novelty of the project is knowing there is a relationship between EEG-guided anesthesia and cognitive function," he said. " But we also present evidence that this cognitive battery is financially appropriate and has a great ease of use."
Molecular model of the drug (in gray) in interaction with some structures of the disordered proteins (in green and orange). Credit: National Research Council of Italy
Ductal carcinoma is the most common pancreatic tumor. Its recovery rates are low, not only due to difficulties of early diagnosis, but also because of the absence of a specific pharmacological treatment. New hopes are coming from a study published in Scientific Reports by the Nanotechnology Institute of CNR, unit of Rende, in collaboration with a team of French and Spanish researchers. A molecule long used to treat anxiety has been found to interfere with the activity of a protein involved in the cancer development process.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal tumors, and up until now, the only drugs available to fight it are generic chemotherapy treatments. The protein Nupr1 belongs to the special class of 'intrinsically disordered proteins' and its involvement in pancreatic cancer pathology was demonstrated in the 1990s by a French team at the National Institute of Health in Marseille. A molecule capable of inhibiting this protein has been found through a study at the Institute of Nanotechnology of the National Research Council of Italy (Cnr-Nanotec).
"The research has been performed starting from the screening of more than 1000 drugs already approved for various therapeutic indications," says Bruno Rizzuti of Cnr-Nanotec in Rende. "The combined use of experimental techniques and computer simulations has allowed us to identify some of those drugs capable of interacting with the protein Nupr1. In vitro experiments have afterwards shown that the selected compounds were able to lower the vitality of tumor cells, reduce the ability of migration, and completely suppress the possibility of colony formation. The most effective compound has been tested in vivo on human pancreatic cancer cells transplanted on mice, and proved to completely arrest the development of the disease. The molecule known as trifluoperazine, and used until now only for its anti-psychotic action has demonstrated an antitumor efficacy even higher than the most powerful chemotherapy treatments available. Furthermore, this study shows that this new molecule constitutes not only an alternative to such previously known drugs, but can be combined with them to increase the overall therapeutic effect."
'In vitro' decrease of the proliferation of tumor cells with the use of the drug, compared with the use of two typical chemotherapy drugs, or in the absence of a treatment. Credit: National Research Council of Italy
Additionally, this work is an important step on the research into proteins with disordered structure. "According to one of the dogmas of classical biology," says Rizzuti, "the conformation of a protein should be unique and well defined to allow each of these 'molecular machines' to carry out a specific function. Disordered proteins overturn the validity of this principle, and due to their flexible structure, are able to perform multiple functions of cell communication and regulation. However, the absence of well-defined structural elements appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle to proceed to a rational design of selective drugs to hinder their action."
The demonstration of the possibility of identifying active molecules that inhibit disordered proteins is an important step forward from the point of view of basic research, because it changes completely the scenario in the fight against numerous pathologies. In fact, it opens up the concrete possibility of multiplying the number of molecular targets that could be hit through a focused use of pharmaceuticals.
'In vivo' decrease of the tumor growth with the use of the drug (10 mg/kg dose), compared with a reduced dose or in the absence of a treatment. Credit: National Research Council of Italy
More information: Jose L. Neira et al. Identification of a Drug Targeting an Intrinsically Disordered Protein Involved in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, Scientific Reports (2017). Journal information: Scientific Reports Jose L. Neira et al. Identification of a Drug Targeting an Intrinsically Disordered Protein Involved in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep39732
The Learning Health System Network (LHSNet) represents a collaboration of nine health-related organizations and nearly 10 million patients. The network - among the first of its kind nationally - is focused on improving patient-centered clinical care through research.
For the first time, members of LHSNet have outlined how their work can serve as an emerging resource for translational research.
Full details of the network's findings, including governance, organizational structure, key milestones, challenges, and opportunities - appear in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. L.J. Finney Rutten of the Mayo Clinic serves as lead author of the publication.
The LHSNet includes six health systems (Mayo Clinic, Allina Health System, Essentia Health, Intermountain Health Care, University of Michigan, and Ohio State University); one health plan (Medica Research Institute); one data partner based in a university (Arizona State University); and one local public health department (Olmsted County Public Health Services).
"The Medica Research Institute brings to the network its expertise in linking administrative claims data to data sourced from electronic health records, as well as engaging stakeholders from the payer community and identifying research topics that contribute to the understanding of value-based care," says Kristina Bloomquist, executive director of the Medica Research Institute. "LHSNet's focus on learning health-care systems fits with our goal of conducting translational research and is a key reason we joined the network."
Says Glenn Flores, Distinguished Chair in Health Policy Research at the Medica Research Institute and contributing author: "A key feature of LHSNet is its integration of key stakeholders in health care. This collaboration ensures that our research will contribute to clinical outcomes that closely align with patients' priorities."
LHSNet has outlined several key milestones, many of which have been achieved. These milestones focus on:
streamlining federal research design requirements
increasing data linkage for electronic health records and claims data from 1 million to 3 million lives
data-mapping among each member site
executing a basic data query across sites
developing computable phenotypes for identifying condition-specific cohorts
validating cases for three disease cohorts: obesity, heart failure, and osteogenesis imperfecta
"LHSNet has demonstrated the ability to engage with patients in both the governance of our network and in our research design," says Flores. "Our work holds promise for research efforts that are meaningful to patients, caregivers, and clinicians."
More information: L. J. Finney Rutten et al, Patient-Centered Network of Learning Health Systems: Developing a resource for clinical translational research, Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (2017). L. J. Finney Rutten et al, Patient-Centered Network of Learning Health Systems: Developing a resource for clinical translational research,(2017). DOI: 10.1017/cts.2016.11
Provided by Medica Research Institute
Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, and colleagues at the John A. Moran Center and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, were looking for a way to tease apart the effects of preeclampsia on the risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disease found in premature infants. Their results, and the model they developed, were published February 14, 2017, in Scientific Reports.
In ROP, blood vessels in the retina grow outside of their normal space. This can lead to blindness. In addition, there is a strong link to premature birththe more premature the infant, the more likely the infant is to develop ROP and the more severe the ROP may be. Previous research has also found an association between premature birth and preeclampsia. The linkage between premature birth and ROP, and between premature birth and preeclampsia, makes it difficult to tease apart the effect of preeclampsia on risk for ROP.
Preeclampsia is a high blood pressure condition in pregnant women that can lead to decreased blood flow to the placenta. Hence, both preeclampsia and ROP are linked to premature birth, and reports in the literature indicate either increased risk or apparent protective effects of preeclampsia on ROP. Therefore, researchers asked what the association between preeclampsia and ROP would be in the absence of premature birth.
In this report, researchers reduced blood flow to the placenta in some of the pregnant rats to create a condition called uteroplacental insufficiency (UPI), which is present in maternal preeclampsia. Other pregnant rats, the controls, underwent a sham procedure that did not cause UPI. UPI in the mother rats caused the offspring to have poor growth. All pregnant rats delivered full-term pups. Pups born to the mother rats with UPI and those born to the controls were exposed to variable oxygen, simulating a premature infant at risk for ROP.
Researchers then looked to see if the restricted blood flow caused by preeclampsia and changes in oxygen levels had any effect on weight gain or development of abnormal retinal blood vessel growth.
They anticipated that the pups born to mother rats with UPI would have more severe retinopathy. However, they found the oppositethese pups had less severe retinopathy and more normal retinal vascular development than pups born to control mother rats and placed into varying oxygen levels. The pups with less severe retinopathy also gained the same amount of weight compared to control pups in variable oxygen. Therefore, while they expected to see examples of retinopathy representative of more severe ROP, researchers found that the combination of preeclampsia and oxygen fluctuations actually reduced features of ROP in the retina.
Researchers also looked at whether growth factors needed for retina development came from the mother or if they were produced by the pups. Growth factor levels were the same in preeclampsia and control female rats and did not align with levels in pups. But the pups from the preeclampsia mothers produced greater amounts of certain growth factors, particularly erythropoietin.
These findings support the idea that those pups that are strong enough to survive induced preeclampsia may be stressed enough to induce growth factors necessary to increase normal retinal blood vessel development and reduce ROP severity.
"This model removes premature birthwhich is highly linked to preeclampsia in mothers and to ROP in premature infantsfrom the equation and allows us to see the effect of preeclampsia on ROP," Hartnett explained. "The impact actually is that the oxygen fluctuations in the growth-restricted pups that survive lead to a growth advantage and reduced retinopathy.
Further research is needed to determine if growth factors transferred from the mother to the fetus affect retinal development in models without induced preeclampsia and to identify levels of circulating growth factors in premature infants to refine ROP treatment.
More information: Protective effect of maternal uteroplacental insufficiency on oxygen-induced retinopathy in offspring: removing bias of premature birth. Silke Becker, Haibo Wang, Baifeng Yu, Randy Brown, Xiaokun Han, Robert H. Lane, and M. Elizabeth Hartnett. Scientific Reports, February 14, 2017. Journal information: Scientific Reports Protective effect of maternal uteroplacental insufficiency on oxygen-induced retinopathy in offspring: removing bias of premature birth. Silke Becker, Haibo Wang, Baifeng Yu, Randy Brown, Xiaokun Han, Robert H. Lane, and M. Elizabeth Hartnett., February 14, 2017.
Schistosome mansoni, center. Credit: Oregon State University
A naturally occurring protein has been discovered that shows promise as a biocontrol weapon against schistosomiasis, one of the world's most prevalent parasitic diseases, Oregon State University researchers reported today in a new study.
Schistosomiasis is transmitted via flatworms shed by the freshwater snails that serve as the parasite's non-human host. It's a potentially life-threatening illness that affects more than 250 million people annually in tropical and subtropical countries, according to the World Health Organization.
The disease can cause frequent, painful or bloody urine; abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea; anemia; fever, chills and muscle aches; inflammation and scarring of the bladder; and enlargement of lymph nodes, the liver and the spleen.
While a drug called praziquantel is an effective treatment, there is no vaccination for schistosomiasis, and those who've had it develop no immunity.
But researchers in OSU's College of Science have discovered a key new protein in a snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, that hosts and releases Schistosoma mansoni parasites that infect humans. Findings were published today in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Known as Grctm6, the protein seems to prevent the snails from shedding at least some of the parasites that could go on to infect people working or playing in the water where the snails live.
"Shedding none would be great, but shedding fewer could still feasibly make a difference," said the study's corresponding author, Euan Allan, a postdoctoral scholar in the college's Department of Integrative Biology. "If snails are releasing a smaller number of parasites into the environment, people are less likely to be infected."
Three variants of Grctm6 naturally occur, Allan said, and one of them confers more resistance to Schistosoma than the others.
"What's interesting about that, from kind of an eye in the sky look, is that in the future we might be able to increase prevalence of the more resistant version and create a new population of more resistant snails without actually interfering with their biological function," Allan said. "That's the next step."
Attempts to control schistosomiasis by focusing on the snail hosts date to the 1950s, but earlier efforts involved either molluscicides - poisons - or the introduction of non-host snail species to eat or compete with the hosts.
"Those approaches bring their own slew of problems," Allan said. "We'd anticipate far fewer ecological consequences from gene-driving one of these naturally occurring proteins into a population of snails, because they'd remain natural in pretty much every other wayjust instead of being more susceptible to Schistosoma, they'd be more resistant."
Allan says it's not yet clear if the protein makes snails less likely to pick up the parasite in the first place, more likely to have their immune system kill it, or less likely to shed it.
"It's speculative, but our best guess is the protein helps a snail's immune system better recognize the parasite," he said.
"The real take-home of the work is that we've discovered a completely new protein that's never been discovered in any other species. And this protein is involved in the extent of infection in an intermediate species, and potentially involved in the extent of human infection."
More information: Euan R. O. Allan et al, Schistosome infectivity in the snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, is partially dependent on the expression of Grctm6, a Guadeloupe Resistance Complex protein., PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2017). Journal information: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Euan R. O. Allan et al, Schistosome infectivity in the snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, is partially dependent on the expression of Grctm6, a Guadeloupe Resistance Complex protein.,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005362
Estimates suggest that helping religious leaders to discuss circumcision with their congregations could lead to 1.4 million more circumcisions and prevent between 65000 and 200000 men from being infected with HIV in Tanzania alone.
Educating religious leaders about how circumcision helps to prevent HIV infection increased the number of men being circumcised in Tanzania, according to a study published in The Lancet.
The authors say that the intervention should be considered as part of the male circumcision programmes in other sub-Saharan African countries, and that the process of working with religious leaders could be a new way to promote other healthy behaviours in communities.
"Our study led to a major increase in uptake of male circumcision. It also lays groundwork for further research to establish the effect of promoting healthy behaviours through religious communities in sub-Saharan Africa, where the overwhelming majority of the population is deeply committed to their religious beliefs and practice," said lead author Dr Jennifer Downs, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA. "We believe that our intervention would also work to address other health behaviours in other regions and among other religious groups. The strength of our approach was that we equipped religious leaders with information and education, and then they could teach their congregations as they saw fit, which ensured that our approach was contextually relevant."
In 2009, a Cochrane review found that male circumcision was an effective strategy to prevent HIV infection, reducing risk by 38-66% within one to two years. As a result, the WHO recommends that countries with HIV epidemics should implement voluntary medical male circumcision services. In 2011, they set a target of 20.8 million circumcisions across 14 sub-Saharan African countries by 2016, but uptake was lower than expected and only 10 million men were circumcised by the end of 2015.
Research has suggested low uptake may be caused by the religious significance of the practice. For example, some worry that circumcision could be an attempt to convert Christians to other religions.
Almost all people (93%) in Tanzania see religion as very important in their lives, and 83% attend religious services at least once a week. Religious leaders are highly respected authorities in their villages and hold influence over the community. Using this influence, the researchers believed they could change the community's uptake of circumcision by teaching religious leaders more about the practice and how to discuss it with their congregations.
16 villages were involved in the study, which took place at the same time as the Tanzanian Ministry of Health's voluntary circumcision campaign arrived in the village. The campaign visited all 16 villages, offering outreach events, free circumcisions and HIV counselling to boys and men over three to six weeks. Half of the villages received information from the campaign only. In the other half, the religious leaders attended a seminar about the medical and cultural aspects of circumcision by a pastor and a clinician.
The eight intervention villages were home to almost 86500 men, and 1194 religious leaders attended the seminar. The other eight villages were home to 58500 men. The number of circumcisions was recorded, as were people's reasons for undergoing the procedure.
In the villages where leaders were taught about circumcision, 23.3% more men underwent the procedure (52.8% compared with 29.5%). There were also significantly more men citing discussions in church as their reason for having a circumcision in the intervention villages (30.8% compared with 0.7%).
However, uptake of circumcision varied and the proportion of men in intervention villages undergoing the procedure varied from 21.9% to 99.1%, while the control villages varied from 7.4% to 49.9%.
Based on the overall uptake in their study, the researchers estimate that if the intervention were used across the whole country it could lead to more than 1.4 million more male circumcisions, which could potentially prevent between 65000 and 200000 new HIV infections.
After the campaign, religious leaders from intervention and control villages were invited to a focus group to discuss their views on circumcision. The main topics discussed were misinformation and suspicion around circumcision, the need for more information about the practice, whether working with religious leaders was an effective way to share health information, and if attending the seminar helped religious leaders feel empowered and knowledgeable.
Speaking about the intervention and why it worked, one of the religious leaders said: "Pastors have a power to motivate people and church members are trusting their pastors more than any other person or leader. If the pastor will encourage people in church many young men will uptake circumcision."
The researchers note some limitations in their study, including that there were a small number of villages, and the small risk that villagers could have heard about the intervention or control happening in another nearby village and changed their decision on whether to have a circumcision. In addition, the study used the latest census data available but as this was from 2012 it may not have been up-to-date (the study took place from June 2014 to December 2015) and this could impact the estimates within the paper.
Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Nelson Sewankambo, Makerere University, Uganda, said: "...the use of religious leaders to increase uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision is an example of a simple-to-adopt approach to utilize existing community resources for health promotion. By examining the cultural context within which social life is sustained, culturally acceptable resources for health promotion and disease prevention and care can be identified. By adapting the interventions used elsewhere to the cultural norms, values, and beliefs of the community, researchers developed sustainable health interventions... Questions remain regarding the effectiveness of education of religious leaders in different contexts in which the target population engages in practices that religious leaders might be opposed to on a religious basis. Examples of such opposition include condom use for HIV prevention among men who have sex withmen, commercial sex activities, and the use of routine immunisation. Religious institutions have a strong influence on the beliefs, cultures, and behaviours of large populations across Africa and other parts of the world. Further research is therefore required to explore and assess innovative religion-based approaches to promote healthy behaviour in religious communities."
The most important thing about a carbon tax plan proposed last week may be the people behind it: prominent Republicans like James Baker III, George Shultz and Henry Paulson Jr. Their endorsement of the idea, variations of which have been suggested before, may be a breakthrough for a party that has closed its eyes to the perils of man-made climate change and done everything in its power to thwart efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This gang of Republican elder statesmen they call themselves the Climate Leadership Council is not made up of the usual environmentalists, which is why their proposal might gain traction, though probably not right away.
Their proposal would tax carbon emissions at $40 a ton to start and would be paid by oil refineries and other fossil fuel companies that would pass costs on to consumers with higher gas and electricity prices. The money raised would be returned to Americans through dividend checks; a family of four would get about $2,000 a year to start. This would help people adjust to higher energy prices and give them an incentive to reduce consumption or switch to renewable sources of energy. Most lower-income and middle-class families would get back more than they pay in taxes. To avoid placing American industry at a disadvantage, imports from countries that do not impose a comparable tax would be subject to a per-ton tax on the carbon emitted in the production of their products, while exports to those nations would not be.
Scientists and economists have long argued that putting a price on carbon would encourage conservation and investment in renewable energy. Ireland, Sweden and British Columbia already have carbon taxes. The European Union, Quebec, California and Northeastern states like New York and Massachusetts have adopted cap-and-trade systems that use emission permits to lower emissions over time.
The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Siyabonga Cwele, has announced that the government will not issue a new tender for the first phase of SA Connect.
During his State of the Nation Address debate speech, Cwele said that following the failure of SITAs tender last year, the government had decided to use its state-owned companies to start the roll-out.
This will be done in line with the provisions of the law, said Cwele.
The aim is to connect government offices to broadband infrastructure, giving communities better access to services.
He said Broadband Infraco has already used its points of presence to connect local SMMEs to its network to provide services to end users.
Black-owned companies such as Galela and Mzinyathi provide services in the under-serviced areas of the Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Mzinyathi Districts, respectively. This will allow smaller businesses to create new local jobs, said Cwele.
USAASA has employed the service of another small black-owned company, BrightWave, to build, operate, and transfer a network at King Sabata Dalindyebo and Mhlontlo municipalities in the OR Tambo District.
Cwele said that by July 2017, they plan to have connected 542 schools, 65 clinics, and municipal offices.
Trouble ahead
Conspicuously absent from Cweles speech was mention of its state-owned telecommunications powerhouse, Telkom.
In 2015, President Jacob Zuma announced that Telkom had been designated as the lead agency for the roll-out of a national broadband network as stipulated in the SA Connect policy.
The policy states that by 2020, 90% of South Africans must have access to 5Mbps broadband or better, and 50% must have access to 100Mbps.
Following Zumas proclamation, the industry warned that the government should not give Telkom the estimated R744-million contract for the first phase of SA Connect without a proper tender process.
Cweles announcement that the government will now proceed with the SA Connect roll-out using state-owned companies, of which Telkom and Broadband Infraco are two, is likely to draw the ire of companies who put in bids for the business and from opposition political parties.
The companies who submitted tenders were: Broadband Infraco, EOH, MTN, Neotel, Tradepage and Galela Telecommunications Holding (joint venture), and Vodacom.
SITA said it cancelled the tender for phase one of the SA Connect roll-out because none of the bidders met the technical requirements.
Heading into phase 2
Cwele also announced that the government would start raising funds through the partnership with the private sector as part of our InvestSA 40 priority projects to aid the roll-out of phase two of the project.
ICASA has declined Etvs request to stop broadcasting news in prime time.
ICASA spokesperson Paseka Maleka said the request was turned down following Etvs application for an amendment to its licensing conditions to drop its prime time news broadcast.
ICASA published a notice about the application on 4 April 2016, inviting stakeholders to comment.
Following discussions between the SABC, Etv, and ICASA, a public hearing was set for 25 October 2016.
The SABC indicated it may also be interested in having its licence conditions amended so it was no longer required to broadcast news in prime time.
According to ICASA, the SABC did not formally submit an application.
Application turned down
ICASA said it considered sections of the Constitution, the Electronic Communication Act, the ICASA Act, and the position paper for the introduction of the first free-to-air private (commercial) television service in South Africa.
It also considered the regulatory impact of the amendment Etv requested.
The Authority has taken a decision to refuse the licence amendment application by Etv, it said.
ICASA said removing the news out of prime time would not be in the public interest, which is a key mandate for the regulator.
Parisien: French man wins 160 million in European lottery
U.S. decides to block number of seats on planes because of the increase in passenger weight
BMW M4 turned into a pickup truck
Blinken calls on Israel and Palestine to urgently de-escalate tensions
Romania signs deal with Norway for purchase of over 30 F-16 fighters
Stoltenberg: The alliance has no plans to change nuclear positions and deployments
Tagesschau: Nearly 200,000 people took part in strikes at industrial enterprises of Germany
Teenagers hacks Uzbekistan senate website
Artsakh Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis fired at tractor in Khramort village of Artsakh
Rally participants' statement: Artsakh can't be a part of Azerbaijan
Person accused of arson in Russia cafe confesses
Fars: Iranian Foreign Ministry reported UAV deliveries to Russia a few months before the start of the UAS
Bayramov: Azerbaijan, Armenia leaders next meeting will take place in Brussels this month
Unity rally of participants start march in downtown Yerevan
North Korea launches 4 ballistic missiles
Council of Border Guard Troops commanders discusses situation at CIS external borders
Armenia ex-President Kocharyan joins rally in downtown Yerevan
Russia oil, natural gas companies plan to collaborate with Iraq
Armenia army intelligence troops 30th anniversary is solemnly celebrated (PHOTOS)
Rally of unity in support of Karabakh kicks off in downtown Yerevan
Pentagon announces sending 8 NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine
Armenian Apostolic Church Supreme Spiritual Council meeting ends, Armenia and Artsakh security discussed
Tropical Storm Nalgae death toll climbs to 155 in Philippines
Artak Beglaryan is appointed advisor to Artsakh Minister of State (PHOTOS)
US House committee extends deadline for Trump to produce documents on Capitol attack
Over 200 elephants die in Kenya amid drought
13 dead in cafe fire in Russia
Armenia Security Council chief to head for Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania
Rishi Sunak: State cannot fix all problems
Newspaper: To what extent Armenia adheres to sanctions on Russia?
Biden accuses Twitter of spewing lies
Newspaper: There are active political processes in Karabakh
Qatar FM slams hypocrisy of calls to boycott World Cup
France, Singapore and Switzerland begin joint testing of experimental digital currencies
Oil war is Biden's biggest mistake
Japan considers possible deployment of hypersonic missiles by 2030
Germany to install better air defense system over Defense Ministry buildings
Erdogan and Stoltenberg discuss war in Ukraine
Armenian MOD: Azerbaijani Armed Forces open fire in direction of Armenian positions
True cost of Europe's rejection of Russian gas
White House tries to explain Biden's statement about freeing Iran
Former Pakistani Prime Minister: Either we will have a peaceful revolution or a bloody one
Aramyan: Why are police officers' salaries increasing, while defense officers' are not?
Pentagon and U.S. weapons manufacturers to discuss Russia, human resources and supply chain
Ankara says U.S. may approve sale of F-16s to Turkey within few months
IMF: Turkey should tighten monetary policy and give the Central Bank more independence
Pope urges religious leaders to keep the world from brink of abyss
Putin awards Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II with Order of Honor
U.S. says G7 countries realize need for coordinated response to China
Round-the-clock curfew is introduced in Kherson
Borrell says they can't put China and Russia on same level
Olaf Scholz calls on China to influence Russia
G7 foreign ministers express 'unwavering commitment' to protecting Ukraine, criticized PRC and IRI
Political technologist explains why Pashinyan was elected chairman of board of ruling party in Armenia
Erdogan signs up for TikTok
China's army is constantly preparing for war amid provocative U.S. actions
Kalin: Armenia is constructive about normalization of relations
Poland asks EU to suspend fines
Putin: Situation in Ukraine was deadly for Russia
Portugal to test a four-day workweek
US embassy in Armenia issues statement ahead of November 5 protests in Yerevan
Dollar, euro go up in Armenia
Baku authorities once again refuse to allow PFPA to hold protest rally
Iranians commemorate anniversary of US embassy seizure
Richard Kauzlarich: Azerbaijan, Armenia FMs meeting in Washington 'will send message to Putin'
Russia ratifies protocol on requirements for length of service of EEU bodies' employees for pensions
Armenia deputy defense minister in Russia, discusses military cooperation
Yerevan receives proposal to hold Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan interparliamentary talks
Health minister: We will work with fallen Armenia detainees relatives one more time after which bodies will be buried
Putin allows mobilization of citizens with unexpunged criminal record for serious crimes
Arnika, NESEHNUTI NGOs of Czech Rep. issue joint statement on plan to expand gold mine in Armenias Karaberd
Putin urges to evacuate civilians living in Kherson from the war zone
Iran parliament speaker to visit Armenia
Ruling force MP: Canada is opening embassy in Armenia because we are one of worlds most democratic countries
Girl with Armenian roots ends up in Vladimir orphanage
Erdogan says he has agreed with Putin to supply grain to needy countries for free
Armenia President, UK envoy agree to continue cooperation, close contacts
Armenia FM receives EU Monitoring Capacity
Spanish MPs don't approve agreement with Baku as a sign of solidarity with Armenia
Japan says North Korea may go ahead with nuclear test
Armenia government to allocate about $5M to Karabakh refugees support program
Belarusian border service: Border guards intercepts Ukrainian training drone
President appoints Ruben Vardanyan as Karabakh Minister of State
US embassy expresses concern about human rights violation in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan continues muscle play on Iran border
Ibrahim Kalin says Turkey will become an important gas center one way or another
Biden: We're gonna free Iran
Reuters: G7 countries and Australia agrees on fixed price for Russian oil
World oil prices dropping
Wizz Air to launch new flights between Venice, Yerevan
EU assesses Armenia, Azerbaijan border commissions meeting in Brussels as constructive
Artsakh President convenes enlarged working consultation
Envoy: China supports Armenians
Azerbaijan MOD disseminates disinformation, Armenia army did not fire
Armenia ruling party recounts congress voting results
Quake jolts Turkey
Newspaper: Armenia PM once again manipulates topic of negotiations, Karabakh conflict
Newspaper: Studies underway on Armenia MPs business involvement
US wants to prevent Germany, other allies from working together with China
Protests turn violent in Iran's Alborz Province
STEPANAKERT. The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces 45 times, from late Tuesday night to early Wednesday morning.
During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired more than 600 shots toward the Armenian position-holders, and with different-caliber shooting weapons, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) Defense Army informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.
In addition, the adversary fired three mortar shells, in an easterly direction of the line of contact.
But the NKR Defense Army vanguard units took actions in response, so as to suppress the aggressive actions by the Azerbaijani armed forces, and continued reliably maintaining their military positions.
Repair of the collapsed Oroville dam in the American State of California can cost 200 million dollars, RIA Novosti reported quoting Associated Press.
The head of California's water agency says repairs to the damaged concrete spillway at Oroville Dam will cost between $100 million and $200 million. Dozens of construction crews are dropping 1,200 tons of material on the earthen emergency spillway per hour using heavy equipment and helicopters. Crews are working around the clock and the area is being continually monitored with the help of drones carrying cameras.
U.S. President Donald Trump provided the federal assistance help to California in connection with emergency on a dam.
During the war in April 2016, the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan had a systemic and well-organized nature.
The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), Ruben Melikyan, on Tuesday noted the above-said at a press conference in the European Parliamentin Strasbourg, Franceas he presented the report on Azerbaijans human rights violations during the four-day war, which it had unleashed against Artsakh in early April 2016.
In Melikyans words, this report contains alarming information for the international community, especially in terms of human rights.
The systemic and grave violations of the International Humanitarian Law [(IHL)] in April 2016 by the Azerbaijani armed forces still require proper actions from the respective international human rights organizations, as a matter of concern for the whole international community, reads the introduction of this report.
Subsequently, the writers of this report present the details of this war.
Under the IHL, Azerbaijan bears State Responsibility for the war crimes of its armed forces, and has an obligation to investigate and properly prosecute the perpetrators and others who bear responsibility, states the conclusion of this report.
An armed man who was trying to violate the state border between Georgia and Azerbaijan was noticed by border guards, Haqqin.az reported quoting the State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
According to the information, the violator did not obey the orders of border guards and tried to escape, showing armed resistance.
In accordance with the charter of the border guards, they fired wounding the man in his left leg. The has been detained.
The criminal is Muhammad Isa oglu Garayev (1966), the resident of Salahli village.
The international community should be informed about the crimes which Azerbaijan committed in April 2016.
Emil Babayan, Adviser to the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), told the aforementioned to reporters.
In his words, however, due to international law issues, the Karabakh side has not yet been able to directly submit the respective evidence at its disposal to the European Court of Human Rights, and other international tribunals.
But Im confident that knowing the truth stems from the interests of the European Court of Human Rights, and the international community, stressed Babayan.
He added that all materials and documents regarding each and every case of human rights violation by Azerbaijan are kept at the NKR.
The Artsakh presidential adviser also noted that the Karabakh side is seeking ways to present these facts.
YEREVAN. Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Shavarsh Kocharyan, who is an eyewitness of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh capital city of Stepanakert between 1991 and 1992, presented his respective recollections at an international conference, entitled Breakthrough of the Blockade of Stepanakert: 25 Years Later, being held in Armenias capital city of Yerevan (PHOTOS).
[The Azerbaijanis] were bombing the town from Shushi and Khojaly, said Kocharyan. People [in Stepanakert] could not even bury [their] relatives; they were waiting for the fog to descend, or for it to get dark, to bury the dead.
People were living in basements. There was only [natural] gas from the conveniences, and this was because had they [i.e. the Azerbaijanis] turned off the gas of Stepanakert, gas supply of the Azerbaijani sector also would have been tuned off.
Stepanakert could be reached only by helicopter. People [there] were hungry. There was a time when less than one kilogram of flour was rationed to each person, per month. Bags of flour were brought to Stepanakert, [and] the wounded [were] taken.
Even children knew from the sound as to what type of weapon they [i.e. the Azerbaijanis] were firing from.
YEREVAN. The blockade of Stepanakert during the Karabakh War needs to be known and remembered.
Russian journalist Svetlana Kulchitskaya, who is the author of several documentary films about this war, on Wednesday stated the aforesaid at a conference, entitled The Breakthrough of the Blockade of Stepanakert: 25 Years Later, being held in Armenias capital city of Yerevan.
The journalist shared her recollections of those years.
Kulchitskaya noted that she had lived in a basement in Stepanakert during those years, together with the residents of the capital city of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
The Russian journalist visited Karabakh three times, over the course of several years.
How low can one [i.e. Azerbaijan] go to inflict such a situation to people? asked Kulchitskaya. My meetings with people in Karabakh are like an open wound. So many years have passed, yet I always will remember about it. (). This should be spoken about, be remembered. The war needs to be stopped; its terrible.
WASHINGTON, DC - Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Raffi Hamparian recently held a working meeting on Capitol Hill with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez on a range of shared priorities, including the negotiation of a new U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty.
This bilateral tax agreement, which would facilitate increased investment by removing the threat of earned profits being taxed twice, is among the ANCA's economic development priorities, along with Millennium Challenge funding for STEM education and direct Los Angeles to Yerevan commercial and cargo flights.
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Senator Menendez serves, is constitutionally charged with ratifying all treaties, including a future tax accord with the Republic of Armenia.
We are pressing forward with our pro-active engagement with the full range of American and Armenian stakeholders in support of a new U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty, remarked Hamparian. The ANCA looks forward to the day when Senator Menendez and his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have the opportunity to further strengthen America's partnership with Armenia by ratifying this long overdue bilateral accord.
The current treaty governing double taxation issues between the two countries is the 1973 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Tax Treaty, an outdated forty year-old accord. The lack of a double tax treaty between the United States and Armenia creates legal uncertainty that deters potential U.S. investors, diverts investment flows and disadvantages American businesses seeking to invest in the Republic of Armenia.
WASHINGTON, DC - Citing concerns about risks to U.S. regional interests and the danger of weapons proliferation, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has called upon the Department of State to oppose the third-party transfer of sensitive U.S. equipment and technology as part of a reported Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system sale to Azerbaijan.
In a February 13th letter sent to the State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, the ANCA asked for formal U.S. opposition to the Iron Dome Sale on the grounds that it would: undermine U.S. interests by raising the risks of regional conflict, setting back the cause of peace, and potentially allowing advanced weapons technology to fall into the hands of anti-American powers.
Separately, the ANCA has, under the Freedom of Information Act, requested any official records related to the Iron Dome sale to Azerbaijan.
In Ilham Aliyev's hands, Iron Dome is a first strike weapon, said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, "one that will only embolden him to escalate his aggression." He added: Green-lighting this sale would undermine all that America and our OSCE partners have done to promote peace and prevent weapons proliferation, raising the very real risk that advanced technology that will both destabilize the Caucasus and potentially end up in the hands of anti-U.S. countries - from Belarus to North Korea.
In 2014, U.S. defense firm Raytheon won a $149.3 million co-production contract to supply Tamir missiles for the Iron Dome system. Under the terms of the May 3, 2014, U.S.-Israel Iron Dome Procurement Agreement as well as relevant provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act, the Arms Export Control Act, and other U.S. laws, the U.S. has the right to block the third-party transfer of U.S. equipment and information included in the Iron Dome system.
YEREVAN. The British Council in partnership with the British Embassy Yerevan and Beeline in Armenia is organising the 15th Anniversary Edition of the British Film Festival from 18 to 24 February.
The best samples of the British movies will be presented to the Armenian audience again, UK Ambassador to Armenia Judith Margaret Farnworth told reporters on Wednesday.
Ken Loach's film 'I, Daniel Blake' will open the British Film Festival on 18 February at 16.30 at Moscow Cinema .The film received the second Palme d'Or, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as won the BAFTA award.
Margaret Farnworth said that the choice was not casual because next year one of the main themes of the festival will be the protection of human rights. She also added that they chose that film because for the government of Britain it was one of the priorities.
The festival will hold creative seminars with schoolchildren and students, and also a photo contest titled Inclusivity in My Environment.
The aim of the festival is to introduce to the viewer the United Kingdom, the past and the present of the country, the culture, lifestyle and customs, as well as to nurture the knowledge of the English language and creativity through films.
Seven films will be screened during the festival not only in Yerevan but also in Gyumri, Armavir, Gavar and Dilijan. Movies will be followed by discussions. Admission is free. The films will be screened four times - twice without subtitles in Armenian and two with them.
The space for democratic debate in Turkey has shrunk alarmingly following increased judicial harassment of large strata of society, says Memorandum on freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey.
The Memorandum has been published by Nils Muiznieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights based on the findings of two visits to the country that he conducted in April and September 2016.
This deterioration came about in a very difficult context, but neither the attempted coup, nor other terrorist threats faced by Turkey can justify measures that infringe media freedom and disavow the rule of law to such an extent. The authorities should urgently change course by overhauling criminal legislation and practice, re-develop judicial independence and reaffirm their commitment to protect free speech said Nils Muiznieks.
The Commissioner regrets that tangible progress concerning media freedom and freedom of expression which was painstakingly achieved by Turkey in co-operation with the Council of Europe, was halted and reversed in recent years, leading to an already alarming situation at the time of the Commissioners visit in April 2016.
In particular, the overly wide application of the concepts of terrorist propaganda and support for a terrorist organisation, including to statements and persons that clearly do not incite violence, and its combination with an overuse of defamation, has put Turkey on a very dangerous path. Legitimate dissent and criticism of government policy is vilified and repressed, thus shrinking the scope of democratic public debate and polarising society. This situation has significantly worsened under the on-going state of emergency which confers almost limitless discretionary powers to the Turkish executive to apply sweeping measures, including against the media and NGOs, without any evidentiary requirement, in the absence of judicial decisions and on the basis of vague criteria of alleged connection to a terrorist organization.
Media pluralism and independence, in particular, have been casualties of these developments characterised notably by the use of state resources to favour pro-governmental media, pervasive internet censorship, arbitrary exclusion of media and journalists, takeover or closure of media outlets critical to the authorities, violence and reprisals against media workers and the incarceration of over 150 journalists.
The Commissioner also underscores that this deterioration goes hand-in-hand with the erosion of the independence and impartiality of the Turkish judiciary. While this problem affects the whole judiciary, it is in particular the role of the criminal judges of peace that is the most concerning, because these formations have transformed into an instrument of judicial harassment to stifle opposition and legitimate criticism and are now at the origin of some of the most obvious violations of the right to freedom of expression.
The Commissioner urges the Turkish political leaders in the strongest possible terms to change course and to display the responsibility and tolerance expected in a democratic society. They must redevelop the political will necessary to tackle the very long-standing systemic issues suppressing freedom of expression, including on the Internet, and finally execute the numerous judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, some of which date decades back.
A first step is to lift the current state of emergency and reverse the numerous unacceptable infringements of freedom of expression, and in particular media freedom and academic freedom, that it engendered. In addition, the Turkish authorities must completely overhaul the Criminal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Law so as to align law and practice with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Beyond these deficiencies, it is crucial to change a judicial culture where judges and prosecutors interpret and apply laws in a way that consistently undermines freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey.
The Russian embassy in Azerbaijan is taking all possible measures to help blogger Alexander Lapshin.
Official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Maria Zakharova, stated the above-said, reported TASS news agency of Russia.
Despite the Russian position of the impermissibility of its citizens extradition to third countries has reached Minsk several times, Lapshin was extradited [from Belarus] to Azerbaijan, on February 7, noted Zakharova.
In her words, however, Russia is in constant contact with Azerbaijans law enforcement agencies, Prosecutor Generals Office, MFA, and the Israeli embassy in this country.
We are taking all possible measureswithin our powerfor the protection of the Russian citizen, added the Russian MFA representative. We keep this matter under constant watch, a qualified legal assistance is provided to Lapshin; a judicial clarification is ahead.
In December 2016, Israeli Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk. The reason was his being on the international wanted persons list, due to a search which Azerbaijan had declared. Baku accuses him of visiting Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) without its consent.
And on February 7 of the current year, Belarus extradited the blogger to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.
Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), Ruben Melikyan, was in Strasbourg, France, on a working visit between Sunday and Tuesday,.
During his stay, Melikyan held talks at the Council of Europe, and several other European organizations.
During his press conference at the European Parliament, the Artsakh ombudsman reflected on the messages he expressed during his discussions in Strasbourg.
In particular, Ruben Melikyan noted that, as a bearer of the European system of values, the people of the NKR wish and stand ready to assume a more inclusive European involvement, and for the benefit of the continued strengthening of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Artsakh.
Safar Huseynov, the attorney of blogger Alexander Lapshin who is in custody in Azerbaijan, met with his client on February 9, according to Trend news agency of Azerbaijan.
The source added that Lapshins wife, Ekaterina, had a telephonic conversation with the lawyer.
Today, I spoke by phone with Lapshins wife, said Huseynov. I informed her about her husbands situation, detention conditions, and the course of investigation.
In his words, the embassies of Russia and Israel in Baku are following this case, since the blogger is a citizen of these two countries.
In December 2016, Israeli Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk. The reason was his being on the international wanted persons list, due to a search which Azerbaijan had declared. Baku accuses him of visiting Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) without its consent.
And on February 7 of the current year, Belarus extradited the blogger to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.
But the last time when attorney Huseynov met with his client was on February 9; this means that the Azerbaijani lawyer has visited Lapshin only once.
European Parliament (EP) deputies approved EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) at a plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, despite numerous protests of citizens of the EU, EP reported.
It was noted that this was final vote on CETA. The EU and Canada signed the bilateral trade and economic agreement on 30 October 2016. It will also need to be ratified by national and regional parliaments.
Mass protests were held against this agreement in Europe. Even on Wednesday, dozens of protesters gathered in front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg.
As EUobserver reported, three and a half million EU citizens signed the petition urging EP not to ratify the CETA.
When CETA starts working in full force, it will cancel about 98% of fees which are applied in trade between EU countries and Canada. Brussels expects that implementation of the agreement will increase trade turnover between the parties by 12 billion euros a year.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian on February 13 unveiled the official plaque of the LA City Hall pomegranate tree to mark the commemoration of the Centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reported.
In April 2015, Krekorian planted the first pomegranate tree on City Halls lawn and launched the Armenian Genocide Memorial Tree Project, which planted 100 pomegranate trees in parks in each of the citys 15 Council Districts. Councilmember Krekorian was joined by Archpriest of the Armenian Apostolic Church Western Diocese Arshag Kahatchadourian, and Executive Officer and Chief of Staff of the Department of Recreation Parks Anthony-Paul Diaz at the plaque dedication ceremony.
The plaque reads: The City of Los Angeles Commemorates the Armenian Genocide Centennial: 1915-2015. This tree was planted by Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilmember Paul Krekorian on the occasion of the commemoration of the centennial.
The pomegranate is one of the most recognizable symbols in Armenian culture. In the wake of the Armenian Genocide, the pomegranate became a symbol of hope, rebirth, and survival of a nation, said Councilmember Krekorian. With the help of community members and my city colleagues, I planted this tree in 2015 to mark the commemoration of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. Anyone who visits City Hall will see the pomegranate tree and this memorial plaque as an enduring symbol of the Armenian peoples culture and history.
Regular tensions in the frontline is an evidence of Azerbaijans inability to fight against democratic developments in Karabakh, said the spokesman to the NKR President David Babayan, in an interview with NEWS.am, commenting on the question about the hysterical reaction of Azerbaijan in regard to the upcoming referendum in Artsakh.
"The response of the Azerbaijani side demonstrates the real intentions of Baku in Karabakh settlement process. They have nothing to do with democratic developments, "said David Babayan.
Babayan noted ironically, that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry needs to implement a large-scale work in regard to the referendum in Kharabakh to expand the black list. "The referendum will be monitored by many international observers, journalists, and experts. Thus, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry will have to make a lot of efforts in this regard, "said Babayan.
At the same time, Babayan noted, that many Azerbaijani officials are deep inside delighted about the events that are taking place in the NKR. "They spend huge resources on anti-Armenian propaganda. Half of them get into the pockets of the Azerbaijani officials. Under the pretext of the fight against Armenians, Mamedyarov and the like ones rob their own country and end up purchasing a real estate somewhere in a democratic country," Babayan said.
YEREVAN. The Armenian government has studied 471 investment projects and only 345 of them with a total volume of $3.2 billion can be called realistic, Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan said at a meeting with students of Yerevan State University.
In 2017, we can expect investments making $830 -840 million, PM added.
The programs will be funded from the state, municipal and private budgets of Armenia.
This does not mean that if we do not have 830 million in the end, it was a failure. It is rather a potential target that we have set. In addition to 3.2 billion, we are discussing more than 79 projects for $5.3 billion. There is an impression that it is impossible to invest money and earn profit in Armenia. We have specific programs that show the opposite, Prime Minister added.
The wife of the blogger Alexander Lapshin requires the Azerbaijani authorities to allow Lapshin to meet with the International Committee of the Red Cross. She told about the conversation with her husbands attorney on the Facebook and shared her opinion about the investigation.
"Are there any news about Sasha?
Yet nothing. There continues the Belarusian version of the investigation against him. "
Everyone read the news. On February 7, he was extradited to Azerbaijan and handed to the intelligence services. On February 8, as the Azerbaijani Prosecutors Office announced, Lapshin was provided with legal assistance and protection. The prosecutors office introduced Lapshin charges made against him and explained their nature in the presence of the attorney and interpreter.
The problem is that there passed at least 10 hours from the moment of his extradition and provision of legal assistance. Why they didnt provide Lapshin with an attorney and a translator immediately at the airport or in Azerbaijans state security detention center, where, as media reports, he was taken to after his arrival.
I talked Sashas attorney several times, but he could not answer to the question why Alexander is still not allowed to see the Red Cross personnel. Everyone saw Sasha's "arrival" video, and told, that he looked strange. As the international media reports, "the blogger is in a severe mental condition and did not respond to any questions or comments."
On the contrary, Safar Huseynov has only one answer. That is, Lapshin has no complaints. If everything goes well, what's the problem? The Red Cross, as an independent organization, can confirm it and all doubts will be scattered. I am afraid, that not everything is good, and they would not like us to know about it.
The issue concerns the lawyer as well. He insists, that none of the family members applied to him. I called him, talk to him on February 13 and 14 and of course today. What else can Huseynov tell? According to him, Alexander is doing well. Listing to him, I have an impression, that my husband is in Puerto resort.
He is happy and pleased with everything, told me Huseynov on the phone. He is probably happy with the detention condition and with his lawyer who speaks Russian poorly. Even every-day issues push him into a deadlock. Not to mention, how Huseynov can explain Sasha the legal aspects of the case.
Sasha confirmed, that he visited Karabakh and wrote those articles. He partially pleaded guilty to the charge. They operate in a group. Lapshine testified about the people, who helped him to visit Karabakh, said the attorney.
Sasha confirmed his illegal visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. He himself partially pleaded guilty. He is charged with crimes committed by a group of people. There was a group of people. He gave their names and said that they had organized his trip, but he did not know their names. "
Dont you see, what he says is strange. Someone organized something, but no one knows anyones name. Instead, his confession is consistent with the charge of the General Prosecutor's Office of Belarus, which became the cause for his extradition.
... making prior agreements with unknown persons and creating an organized criminal group, in April of 2011 and in October of 2012 he illegally crossed the border of Azerbaijan Republic without the necessary documents and ignoring the checkpoints.
It is noteworthy, the ruling of the Belarus Internal Affairs about the arrest as a preventive measure, does not involve June 7, 2016 decision of Narimanov District Court of Baku which qualifies Lapshin as a creator of a criminal group.
In other words, the attorneys task is to make Alexander confess what he has not done. However, Alexander will have a new attorney in the next two days. According to Huseynov, we can hire an attorney using our own means. Therefore, we can have a more objective attorney.
2016 Flight Cancellation, Mishandled Baggage, and Bumping Rates are Lowest in Decades
The numbers are the lowest in 22 years in once case
Carriers canceled 1.17 percent of schedule domestic flights according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released recently. That is an improvement over the 1.5 percent rate in 2015 and the lowest in 22 years according to the news release.
Carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 2.70 per 1,000 passengers, down from 2015s rate of 3.13 and the lowest since 1987. The bumping rate for 2016 was 0.62 per 10,000 passengers, an improvement over the 0.73 rate I n2015 and the lowest since 1995.
NATE UNITE 2017 Features Lots of Safety Topics for Wireless Infrastructure Professionals
Considered the industry's most comprehensive conference, the event taking place Feb. 27-March 2 at the Fort Worth Convention Center is heavy on safety topics.
The National Association of Tower Erectors recently released the second edition of the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Operations Around Vertical Communications Infrastructure resource document, and the association's leaders and member companies are getting ready for their annual conference -- NATE UNITE 2017, which is taking place Feb. 27 through March 2 in Texas at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
The event will bring together thousands of professionals from all parts of the wireless infrastructure industry, NATE Chairman Jim Tracy wrote in the event's program. The exhibit hall will be filled with companies offering fall protection equipment, training, electrical testing equipment, tools, aerial work platforms, and a plethora of products and services related to the tower industry.
The educational program for the conference includes sessions about guy anchor failure, new tower industry national consensus standards (including the ANSI/ASSE A10.48-2016 standard), the National Wireless Safety Alliance, dropped object prevention, safety equipment inspection, and insurance coverage.
The UAS resource comes from a collaboration between the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Committee and other prominent representatives from the commercial UAS industry; it is focused on drones' operations around wireless infrastructure, cellular towers, broadcast towers, and utility structures. The new edition also incorporates updates from the new guidelines and provisions in the Federal Aviation Administrations Rule 107 for the commercial utilization of UAS technologies.
"NATE is the industry leader in the integration and utilization of UAS around communications infrastructure," said Executive Director Todd Schlekeway. "The 2nd Edition of this safety document will serve as a go-to resource for all workers and stakeholders in the industry to use as a guide in order to expand the safe and efficient commercial operation of UAS."
It is available to the industry as a free resource and accessible to be downloaded on NATE's website.
NATE also announced that Art Pregler of AT&T, Christopher Desmond of Verizon Wireless, and Crown Castle's Robert McCoy have joined the association's UAS Committee, which monitors trends and the regulatory environment associated with UAS technologies and makes recommendations to NATE members and the wireless infrastructure community on best practices when it comes to UAS integration. "We are excited to welcome Art, Christopher, and Robert to the NATE UAS Committee," said Chairman Greg Emerick of Sentera. "These gentlemen represent some of the most prominent companies in the wireless industry and possess invaluable expertise to help move our committee efforts and initiatives forward."
This morning, the James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its 2017 awards. And Milwaukee has four reasons to be proud.
Among the semifinalists for the James Beard Assocation's Outstanding Restaurateurs award are Paul and Joe Bartolotta of The Bartolotta Restaurants.
Meanwhile, semi-finalists for Best Chef Midwest include Chef Karen Bell of Bavette La Boucherie, Justin Carlisle of Ardent and Thomas Hauck of c.1880.
Other Best Chef Midwest candidates from Wisconsin include Lisa Carlson of Chef Shack in Bay City; Dan Fox of Heritage Tavern in Madison, Jonny Hunter of Forequarter in Madison and Luke Zahm of Driftless Cafe in Viroqua. The complete list of semifinalists can be found online.
The semifinals process began in October 2016 with an open call, during which anyone could nominate up to two individuals online. The JBF Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee, composed of critics, writers, and editors, culled the semi-finalists from more than 24,000 entries.
Semifinalists will now move on to a voting body comprised of former Beard Award winners; Restaurant and Chef Award Committee members; and other regional panelists who will choose five finalists in each category.
Save the date
Winners of the 2017 James Beard Media Awards will be announced on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, at an exclusive event honoring the nation's top cookbook authors, culinary broadcast producers and hosts, and food journalists at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City.
On Wednesday, March 15, the Foundation will announce the final nominees for all award categories during a press conference at a.o.c. restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Nominations will also be announced live via the Foundation's Facebook Live video feed and in real time on Twitter.
The highly anticipated James Beard Awards ceremony and gala reception will follow on Monday, May 1, at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
There are key pieces of evidence that Netflixs riveting docuseries "Making a Murderer" didnt tell you about or skipped over. Of course, those things make Steven Avery look worse.
Its been fascinating watching the national interest in the Steven Avery case blow up. The wildly heated social media commentary seems to be breaking down into warring narratives. Ive lost count how many people have insisted Avery (and his nephew Brendan Dassey) are guilty because they watched news media coverage about the cases years ago (lots of us were guilty of that). Ive also lost count of how many people now insist outright that theyre innocent because they watched a Netflix documentary. Perhaps one of the shining lessons here is to scrutinize everything.
I fall somewhere in between now. Before I watched the 10-part docuseries, I thought they were guilty (admittedly also from scattered news accounts and then DA Ken Kratzs emotional and graphic press conference in which he outlined the Dassey "confession" details he never ended up using against Avery). At the time, the planting argument seemed ridiculous. The docuseries built on a mountain of video and audio altered my perceptions because it revealed new information I wasnt aware of before.
I dont know if Avery did or didnt do it. I still think he might have. Theres serious evidence pointing in his direction. However, I also think the documentary raises many troubling questions that remain unanswered, including about the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Departments continuing involvement in the case.
I also think the new video and audio of the cognitively slow teenager Dassey was shocking, and he probably deserves a new trial. That doesnt mean he didnt do it. It means everyone deserves fair representation, and his earlier team seemed far from it. Furthermore, his confession was contradicted in ways by forensic evidence (why wasnt Halbachs blood found in Averys trailer or garage?), and there was no forensic evidence in the form of his DNA, blood or fingerprints tying Dassey himself to the crime.
All of that being said, I was curious what evidence the documentary which was clearly told from a defense advocacy perspective left out or glossed over. Everyone should be interested in the same thing here: the pursuit of truth and justice for Teresa Halbach. Perhaps if we piece together more of the puzzle, as was done in court and in the documentary in different ways, we will find that the picture gets clearer. I wish a news station would rerun the trial from gavel-to-gavel, frankly. That would be even better yet.
Then-DA Ken Kratz has been fighting back hard in People Magazine this week claiming the documentary omitted key evidence. I didnt want to take his word for any of it, though (especially due to his later problems). Instead, I went back to news accounts and some court transcripts from the time. Those are not infallible, either, of course. But they are interesting. Its too bad the Netflix documentarians left things out or quickly passed over things. They would have created an even richer tapestry if they hadnt.
Earlier, I told you about the four alternative suspects the defense tried unsuccessfully to raise during the trial. Turns out there were a bunch of unsavory characters on the property that day or who had access to it.
Here are 14 other things that you also may not have heard yet:
1. Leg irons and handcuffs were found in Avery's residence and in Dassey's
The criminal complaint contended that authorities "located items of restraints within Steven Averys residence including hand cuffs and leg irons."
According to a lengthy Milwaukee Magazine story from May 1, 2006, Avery admitted they were his, stating of the handcuffs and leg irons, "I bought them. I wanted to try out something different with Jodi (his girlfriend)."
Of course, its also very curious that Halbachs DNA didnt turn up on these handcuffs and leg irons if they were used to restrain her.
Interestingly, according to the testimony of the Department of Justice investigator in Dasseys trial, thats not the only place such things were found. He testified that leg irons and handcuffs were found in both Averys and also Dasseys mothers residence, although on cross examination he stated that Brendan Dasseys prints and DNA werent on them. In otherwords, it was not proven at all that these belonged to Dassey. But they were there, according to court transcripts.
2. Avery and his girlfriend had a less than rosy relationship at times
The Netflix documentary paints the romance of Jodi and Steven as a positive one. It may have been in some ways, but there were also some problems.
According to the Milwaukee magazine story, "In September 2004, sheriff deputies arrested Avery for violating a disorderly conduct ordinance after an altercation with (Jodi) Stachowski. The court ordered him to stay away from the woman for 72 hours and pay a fine of $243."
3. The car key unearthed in Avery's residence had DNA from his sweat on it, the prosecutor says
The documentary makes tangential reference about perspiration but not in a way that its focused on or made particularly memorable. Rather, the documentary seemed to focus more on just saying his DNA was on the Halbach car key and focusing on a theory that law enforcement planted Averys blood in Halbachs car (which they deny).
From the Milwaukee magazine article, "A state analyst determined blood from the car and dried perspiration on the car key matched Steven Averys DNA." Kratz also detailed this contention in his opening statement in the Dassey trial, according to the transcript, saying the crime lab analyst recovered a full DNA profile of Avery from the sweat on this key. (update: the defense claims it was not proven that this was sweat or what is called "touch DNA").
The key, of course, is the key piece of evidence the defense claims law enforcement planted. There are very fishy things about the key. It was found by a Manitowoc law enforcement official days after others had already searched Averys residence repeatedly and had not found it and Manitowoc had already publicly handed over the case because of Averys pending wrongful conviction lawsuit against that agency. This same officer was deposed shortly before the murder in Averys civil suit for his previous wrongful conviction. Very weird.
However, its harder to envision officers getting their hands on Averys sweat or skin cells for what is called touch DNA. When it came to evidence planting allegations, the documentary talked more about a vial of his blood maintained from the previous wrongful conviction case (also curious because it had a hole poked in the top of it, of course). The DNA evidence was more complex.
4. Dassey's mother said Dassey helped Avery clean his garage floor
The Milwaukee Magazine article further stated that, "On February 27, Dasseys mother spoke with police investigators. Barbara Janda, 41, mentioned that her son had stained his pants while helping his uncle clean his garage floor around Halloween." Also, according to the Department of Justice investigators testimony in Dasseys trial, Dasseys pants had bleach stains that he said were from helping clean the garage, transcripts say.
5. Pornography was recovered in Avery's residence
The Wisconsin State Journal reported on Nov. 12, 2005 that officers recovered "pornographic material, according to the search warrants."
6. The previous animal cruelty case involved a bonfire
This animal abuse incident was mentioned in the documentary but not in great detail. According to an Associated Press story from Nov. 20, 2005, "Steven was convicted in 1981 of burglary. He got five years probation, which was revoked in 1982 after he was charged with animal cruelty for pouring gasoline on a cat and throwing it into a bonfire."
7. Avery had drawn a torture chamber while in prison and was violent to other women
According to an Appleton Post Crescent article from March 9, 2006, "While he was in prison, Steven Avery planned the torture and killing of a young woman, new documents released Wednesday indicate. The allegations are included in 22 pages of court documents accompanying additional charges filed by Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz. ... Kratz also included in Wednesday's filings statements from prisoners who served time with Avery at Green Bay Correctional Institution. They said Avery talked about and showed them diagrams of a torture chamber he planned to build when he was released."
Furthermore, reported the newspaper, "The filings also include statements from a woman, now 41, who said she was raped by Avery, who told her if she yelled or screamed there was going to be trouble. There also is an affidavit from a girl who said she was raped by Avery. The victim's mother indicated that the victim does not want to speak about the sexual assault between her and Steven Avery because Steven Avery told her if she 'told anyone about their activities together he would kill her family,'" the filing said. According to the newspaper article, "The affidavit said Avery admitted to his fiancee that he had sexually assaulted the girl."
8. Avery once opened his door "just wearing a towel" when Halbach went to his property previously
Theres evidence for this one, but it was never allowed in trial. This was one of Kratz claims to People Magazine. According to People Magazine, "He cites Halbach's Oct. 10, 2005 visit to the property owned by Avery's family for a photo shoot for AutoTrader magazine: According to Kratz, Avery allegedly opened his door just wearing a towel. She was creeped out [by him]. ... She [went to her employer and] said she would not go back because she was scared of him."
According to an Associated Press story from Feb. 14, 2007, the judge "would not allow Dawn Pliszka, an Auto Trader receptionist at the time, to testify about one of Halbachs previous encounters with Avery," said the story, continuing:
"She had stated to me that he had come out in a towel," Pliszka said while the jury was outside of the courtroom. "I just said, 'Really?' and then she said, 'Yeah,' and laughed and said kinda 'Ew.'"
The AP article said the judge would not allow the testimony to be heard by the jury "because the date wasnt clear and few details were known about the alleged encounter."
9. Avery called Auto Trader to specifically request Halbach the day she died
This is also contained in the same AP story. It said that the same woman, Pliszka, testified this time before the jury that Avery called her on Oct. 31, 2005 "to request the photographer who had been out to the property previously."
Angela Schuster, magazine operations supervisor, further testified that Halbach went to the Avery compound six times from June to Halloween to take pictures and also said, "She talked to Halbach by phone around 11 a.m. that day to tell her of the appointment at the Avery property," according to the AP.
10. Avery called Halbach's cell phone three times, twice using the Star-67 feature to hide his identity
According to a newspaper article in the River Falls Journal from Feb. 28, 2007, Luring Cellular company workers Bobbi Dohrwardt and Laura Schadrie testified that "Avery's cell phone made three calls to Halbach's cell, and he twice used the Star-67 feature that hid his identity." These calls came in about 2:30 p.m.
According to an Associated Press article from Feb. 28, 2007, "The third call was placed about two hours later." It "lasted 13 seconds," and the phone company worker "couldn't tell if it was answered or went into voice mail."
11. Avery gave a false name when he called Auto Trader
From the same AP story, "Prosecutors are trying to convince a jury that Avery lured Halbach to the family salvage yard by booking an appointment with the magazine, using the name of his sister Barb Janda, to take a picture of a red minivan that Janda wanted to sell."
Of course, this could be explained by the fact that it was his sisters car that Halbach was to photograph.
12. The burnt bone fragments were mixed with steel tire belts
According to the criminal complaint, "Officers also located remnants of steel belts of tires that appear to have been utilized as fire accelerants."
A Nov. 15, 2005 Wisconsin State Journal article reported that, "Investigators also said in the court documents that they found steel belts of about six tires that were used as fire accelerants. They also found a number of 5-gallon buckets that appeared to have been used to distribute burned remains." Kratz told People Magazine the bone fragments "were 'intertwined' with the steel belts."
13. Avery's blood was found in six places in the Halbach vehicle, and DNA from his sweat was found on a hood latch, the prosecutor says
I found this in Kratz opening statement in the Dassey trial transcript. He told the jury that the Avery blood was found on the ignition of the vehicle, on a CD case and on seats. He also said that Avery had a cut on his finger. And he stated that the state crime lab analyst had found DNA from Averys sweat on the hood latch of the Halbach vehicle. He also stated that Dassey had said in his confession that Avery opened the cars hood.
14. Avery's rifle matched the bullet with the Halbach DNA on it
This is also in the opening statement. It says that Dassey said the bullet in the garage came from a specific gun of Averys that hung on Averys wall and that forensic testing matched the bullet with the Halbach DNA to this specific gun. This bullet was found months later by a Manitowoc law enforcement officer after others missed it during repeated searches.
Between ruling Britain and helping the Allies win World War II, Winston Churchill was among the first to theorise about other regions of the Universe in which conditions may be conducive to harbouring life, it has been revealed
War correspondent, statesman, astronomer. Stargazing may not be what Winston Churchill is best remembered for, but a treatise he wrote on extraterrestrial life has revealed his scientific acumen six decades later.
Between ruling Britain and helping the Allies win World War II, the British Bulldog was among the first to theorise about other regions of the Universe in which conditions may be conducive to harbouring life, it has been revealed.
Excerpts from his essay "Are We Alone in the Universe?" were brought to light Wednesday in the science journal Nature.
"I am not sufficiently conceited to think that my sun is the only one with a family of planets," Churchill wrote in the document which astrophysicist Mario Livio laid hands upon last year at the US National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri.
There must be many other planets, he concluded, of "the right size to keep... water and possibly an atmosphere", and "at the proper distance from their parent sun to maintain a suitable temperature."
This later became known as a star's "habitable zone".
To qualify, a planet has to orbit its star at a distance far enough so that water does not evaporate in the solar heat, and near enough that it does not freeze beyond the rays' reach.
Water is considered an essential requirement for life, however primitive.
Churchill first drafted the paper in 1939, when Europe was on the brink of war, and revised it in the late 1950s while visiting his publisher in a village in the south of France, said Livio.
As far as could be determined, the work has never been published or subjected to scientific or academic scrutiny.
"What is extraordinary is his train of thought, he thinks about the problem like a scientist," Livio told AFP of the find.
'Goldilocks' zone
The concept of habitable zones originated in the 1950s, the same decade in which Churchill finished his essay.
A war correspondent and soldier turned politician, Churchill was also known for his love of science.
He wrote essays and articles in the 1920s and 1930s on topics including evolution, cell biology and fusion power.
Later as a politician, he regularly consulted scientists and was the first British prime minister to employ a science adviser, according to Livio.
The government under Churchill funded laboratories, telescopes and technology development that spawned many discoveries.
Until now, astrophysics was not known to have been one of his fields of scientific interest.
"At a time when a number of today's politicians shun science, I find it moving to recall a leader who engaged with it so profoundly," Livio wrote in Nature.
The hunt for potentially habitable planets elsewhere in the Universe began decades after Churchill's musings on the topic.
In 2015, researchers calculated that our Milky Way galaxy alone may be home to billions of planets orbiting in their host stars' so-called "Goldilocks" zone.
The Paris-based Extrasolar Planets Encylopaedia has so far compiled a database of over 3,500 planets around other stars, a few dozen in the habitable sweet spot.
More information: Mario Livio. Winston Churchill's essay on alien life found, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/542289a Journal information: Nature
2017 AFP
The gene-editing tool called CRISPR that can quickly and cleanly remove specific pieces of DNA has revolutionized biotechnology. Many researchers believe the technique could end thousands of ailments. So what's needed to realize CRISPR's potential? Another breakthrough. The cover story in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, runs down the latest attempts to find it.
Ryan Cross, a correspondent for C&EN, notes that CRISPR has led to thousands of scientific papers and a slew of biotech start-ups since its conception in 2012. The appeal of the technique is that it has the potential not just to treat but to cure intractable conditions scientists have long struggled to address, including sickle cell disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cancer. Researchers in China say they have already conducted a human clinical trial that involves removing cells from patients, editing them using CRISPR outside the body, and putting the modified cells back in the body. A team in Pennsylvania is gearing up for a similar clinical trial in the U.S.
However, the technique's greatest promise lies in injecting the editing tool directly into patients. But sneaking the system past the body's defenses and into the cells where it is needed has been difficult. To overcome this challenge, scientists are taking multiple approaches, each of which has its own subset of additional hurdles. Despite the headwinds, researchers say that because the potential payoff would be huge, the pursuit for solutions will undoubtedly continue.
For years, minorities have been disproportionately placed in special education classes, and figures available indicate the complexity of this issue for one group. National estimates reveal that English-language learners may be over-represented in the learning disabilities category due to the fact that neither a method for accurate identification nor a consistent definition of learning disabilities across states exists. This underscores the need for better tools and methods for accurate identification of those with special needs.
A new study co-authored by a University of Kansas professor shows the development of accurate and stable assessment tools for the identification of learning disabilities in English-language learner children and documentation of the rate of cognitive, language and reading growth as a function of instructional practice.
Researchers in the study conducted bilingual assessments (English/Spanish) with 450 English-language learners in the southwest United States. They administered a series of bilingual tests with students in first, second and third grades to determine who were at risk of reading disability. The tests were repeated one and two years later, with the findings showing a connection between important executive functions related to working memory, language and reading comprehension.
Michael Orosco, associate professor of special education, said the findings are important, as they can help schools differentiate English-language learners with reading disabilities from those who are simply struggling with learning in a second language. Misdiagnosis commonly happens when students start learning to read in the first and second grades, and as English-language learners continue through the grade levels, the demand for the application of such executive control processes such as working memory and language increases as reading comprehension requirements become more complex. By the time they reach third grade, English-language learners may begin to struggle with a more challenging reading curriculum, and because of this, their school may examine them more closely for comprehension challenges and may eventually refer them to the school's special education team for a learning disability diagnosis in their second language without fully assessing them in their native language.
As with English-speaking peers, distinguishing between learners with limited English proficiency and those who also have a learning disability is critical because special education law requires the distinction. Identification of a specific learning disability is based on determination of the following Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA): The child does not achieve commensurate with his/her age and ability levels in one or more of the seven areas (oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculations or mathematical reasoning) when provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child's age and ability levels. In addition, learning difficulties must not be explained by environmental variables, such as limited English proficiency or cultural differences. This underscores the need for better tools and methods for accurate identification of English language learners with learning disabilities.
The seminal study, authored by H. Lee Swanson and Milagros Kudo of the University of California-Riverside, and Orosco, examined working memory, part of executive function in the brain. The findings were published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities. The journal is internationally recognized as the oldest and most authoritative journal in the area of learning disabilities. Working memory is part of executive function and has three major components: phonological awareness, visual/spatial and central executive function:
Phonological awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate sounds using oral language. It gives a student the ability to look at a word such as "cat" and sound it out, a vital key in learning to read. Students learning to read in a second language are presented with challenges, however, when they encounter certain words. For example, with the word "shoes," the "sh" sound doesn't exist in Spanish. That can lead to challenges in understanding how a child is developing in a second language and conclusions that the child is pronouncing the word wrong due to a language processing deficit, which in turn can be a precursor to a disability diagnosis.
Visual/spatial is the ability to hear or read a word and capture how you see it through sensory to remember it. With the word "shoes," students can picture those they are wearing, going to a store to buy them and similar examples.
Central executive function is processing the information from the first two and coordinating them into comprehensible words and visual imagery into long-term memory.
Students with reading disabilities struggle with phonological and visual/spatial processing. School assessment teams rarely consider bilingual cognitive functioning such as working memory into their diagnostic procedures.
"In addition, we're finding that diagnosing reading difficulties with these kids is challenging because we're trying to pinpoint how much impact instruction has on them," Orosco said. "Instead of just teaching to fit the curriculum, we need to look at how instruction is impacting they're cognitive development."
Seeing that a student is not reading at the same level as his or her peers and automatically assuming they have reading difficulties is akin to a doctor taking a patient's blood pressure and telling them they have cancer, Orosco said. Without thorough assessments, such as blood tests or cancer screenings, such a diagnosis would be premature and would likely be wrong. Similarly, many reading difficulty diagnoses for students learning in a second language don't go far enough to determine if a student simply hasn't received quality instruction.
The findings suggest that growth in English-language reading was tied to growth in the executive system of working memory. In addition, bilingual students who displayed a growth in the components of working memory also showed growth in language and reading comprehension. That supports the notion that improved instruction and assessment that takes bilingual cognitive function into account, not just curricular data, is important.
"What we learned is the measurements in schools aren't doing rigorous enough assessments in bilingual learners," Orosco said. "We also need to be able to correctly interpret the results of assessments. And a key implication is the reading instruction these students received may not have been of high quality."
A further understanding of cognitive development in young students, Orosco said, both by researchers and educators working with English-language learners, could ultimately lead to better reading instruction for all students, improved measurement processes and fewer students unnecessarily being placed in special education classes. The research builds a cognitive bridge between the practical and applied in addressing minority disproportionality in public education by improving the learning disabilities definition for culturally and linguistically diverse students.
Patterns and trends in racial and ethnic inequality over recent decades is the focus of a new publication published by John Iceland, professor and department head of sociology and criminology and Population Research Institute associate at Penn State.
In "Race and Ethnicity in America", published by University of California Press, Iceland demonstrates how color lines have generally softened when considered over a long period of time in the U.S. but deep-seated inequalities remain. "In general, I found that blacks, American Indians and some groups of Hispanics fare less well than others due to various reasons," said Iceland.
According to the book, the underlying causes of the disadvantages vary, and Iceland points to the legacy of racism and current discrimination, as well as the unfolding process of immigrant incorporation, among others. Throughout the book, Iceland also demonstrates the ways Americans define racial and ethnic groups, along with changing patterns of identification in the U.S. population, and how they influence our understanding of patterns and trends in racial and ethnic inequality.
The book includes chapters on causes of inequality, multiracial populations, patterns of socioeconomic well-being among specific ethnic groups, and international comparisons and policy debates. The last chapter summarizes the main themes of the book and also discusses the trajectory of American color lines.
Iceland's research focuses on social demography, poverty, residential segregation, and immigration; he is the author of three previous books on these issues. He also is the vice president-elect of the Population Association of America and co-editor of the journal Demography.
The extremely thin, electrically conducting layer between the materials lanthanum-aluminate (LaAlO2) and strontium-titanate (SrTiO3) transports spin-information from the point of injection to a detector. Credit: Christoph Hohmann / Nanosystems Initiative Munich
Modern computer technology is based on the transport of electric charge in semiconductors. But this technology's potential will be reaching its limits in the near future, since the components deployed cannot be miniaturized further. But, there is another option: using an electron's spin, instead of its charge, to transmit information. A team of scientists from Munich and Kyoto is now demonstrating how this works.
Computers and mobile devices continue providing ever more functionality. The basis for this surge in performance has been progressively extended miniaturization. However, there are fundamental limits to the degree of miniaturization possible, meaning that arbitrary size reductions will not be possible with semiconductor technology.
Researchers around the world are thus working on alternatives. A particularly promising approach involves so-called spin electronics. This takes advantage of the fact that electrons possess, in addition to charge, angular momentum - the spin. The experts hope to use this property to increase the information density and at the same time the functionality of future electronics.
Together with colleagues at the Kyoto University in Japan scientists at the Walther-Meiner-Institute (WMI) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Garching have now demonstrated the transport of spin information at room temperature in a remarkable material system.
A unique boundary layer
In their experiment, they demonstrated the production, transport and detection of electronic spins in the boundary layer between the materials lanthanum-aluminate (LaAlO2) and strontium-titanate (SrTiO3). What makes this material system unique is that an extremely thin, electrically conducting layer forms at the interface between the two non-conducting materials: a so-called two-dimensional electron gas.
The extremely thin, electrically conducting layer between the materials lanthanum-aluminate (LaAlO2) and strontium-titanate (SrTiO3) transports spin-information from the point of injection to a detector. Credit: Christoph Hohmann / Nanosystems Initiative Munich
The German-Japanese team has now shown that this two-dimensional electron gas transports not only charge, but also spin. "To achieve this we first had to surmount several technical hurdles," says Dr Hans Hubl, scientist at the Chair for Technical Physics at TUM and Deputy Director of the Walther-Meiner-Institute. "The two key questions were: How can spin be transferred to the two-dimensional electron gas and how can the transport be proven?"
Information transport via spin
The scientists solved the problem of spin transfer using a magnetic contact. Microwave radiation forces its electrons into a precession movement, analogous to the wobbling motion of a top. Just as in a top, this motion does not last forever, but rather, weakens in time - in this case by imparting its spin onto the two-dimensional electron gas.
The electron gas then transports the spin information to a non-magnetic contact located one micrometer next to the contact. The non-magnetic contact detects the spin transport by absorbing the spin, building up an electric potential in the process. Measuring this potential allowed the researchers to systematically investigate the transport of spin and demonstrate the feasibility of bridging distances up to one hundred times larger than the distance of today's transistors.
Based on these results, the team of scientists is now researching to what extent spin electronic components with novel functionality can be implemented using this system of materials.
More information: Ryo Ohshima et al, Strong evidence for d-electron spin transport at room temperature at a LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface, Nature Materials (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nmat4857 Journal information: Nature Materials
A fragmented rainforest landscape in India's Western Ghats. Credit: ETH Zurich / Sascha Ismail
If degraded and logged areas of tropical forests are left to nature, the populations of certain endangered tree species are not able to recover. This applies in particular to trees with large fruit where the seeds are distributed by birds, as ETH Zurich scientists have shown in a rainforest in India.
In order to restore tropical rainforests, it is not enough to simply set up protected areas and leave them to their own devices. In particular, tree species with large fruit and seeds distributed by birds will have to be actively planted. This is one of the conclusions of a large-scale study by scientists from ETH Zurich in the Western Ghats, the mountain range running along the western coast of India. Today, the rainforest that exists there is highly fragmented. In the late 20th century in particular, large areas fell victim to intensive logging and commercial agriculture such as coffee and tea plantations.
Working with Indian colleagues, the ETH researchers investigated how well trees from rainforest fragments could spread to areas that had previously been cleared or logged but are now back under forest cover. At the heart of their study was the white cedar (Dysoxylum malabaricum), a tropical species belonging to the mahogany family. "These rainforest giants tower above the other trees and therefore occupy an important ecological niche," says Chris Kettle, a scientist at ETH Zurich's Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, who led the study.
The seeds don't fall far from the tree
The tree's seeds are distributed primarily by a specific species of hornbill, the Malabar grey hornbill, which eats the fleshy, fig-sized fruit and then excretes the seeds. Until now, it was not known how far the hornbills carry the seeds in their bodies. Theoretically, as the birds cover long distances, they could contribute to a rapid distribution of the tree species over a large area.
This is not the case, however, as the ETH researchers have now discovered. Through genetic maternity testing of seedlings and adult trees, they were able to show that generally the seedlings grow no more than 200 metres from the mother tree, and in many cases at a distance of just 40 to 100 metres. "We suspect that the hornbills regurgitate the seeds relatively close to the tree from which they fed, so that they don't have to fly with their stomachs full of heavy seeds," says ETH doctoral student Sascha Ismail, first author of the study published in the journal New Phytologist.
Trees must be actively planted
The results of the research have implications for the restoration of rainforests: "It is highly unlikely that the tree species we studied is able to recolonise cleared patches in a fragmented habitat by natural seed dispersal alone," says Kettle. He adds that the same applies to other endangered species of tropical tree with large fruit and seeds dispersed by birds, as evidence from other fragmented tropical forests around the world shows that seeds of this kind are dispersed only locally.
"For rainforest restoration projects to be successful, you have to give special attention to these trees," says Kettle. "If you want to encourage them to spread, the only option is to collect their seeds, set up tree nurseries and then actively plant out the saplings at a later stage."
For the parentage analysis, the researchers surveyed exhaustively an area covering 216 km2 (considerably larger than the area of the Swiss National Park). They analysed the DNA of all 235 adult trees found there, as well as of 448 seedlings. "This is the largest study of its kind ever carried out in a fragmented tropical ecosystem," says Kettle.
More information: Sascha A. Ismail et al, Evaluating realized seed dispersal across fragmented tropical landscapes: a two-fold approach using parentage analysis and the neighbourhood model, New Phytologist (2017). DOI: 10.1111/nph.14427 Journal information: New Phytologist
Several upcoming NASA missions will use lasers to increase data transmission from space. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Amber Jacobson, producer
Thought your Internet speeds were slow? Try being a space scientist for a day.
The vast distances involved will throttle data rates to a trickle. You're lucky if a spacecraft can send more than a few megabits per second (Mbps)a pittance even by dial-up standards.
But we might be on the cusp of a change. Just as going from dial-up to broadband revolutionized the Internet and made high-resolution photos and streaming video a given, NASA may be ready to undergo a similar "broadband" moment in coming years.
The key to that data revolution will be lasers. For almost 60 years, the standard way to "talk" to spacecraft has been with radio waves, which are ideal for long distances. But optical communications, in which data is beamed over laser light, can increase that rate by as much as 10 to 100 times.
High data rates will allow researchers to gather science faster, study sudden events like dust storms or spacecraft landings, and even send video from the surface of other planets. The pinpoint precision of laser communications is also well suited to the goals of NASA mission planners, who are looking to send spacecraft farther out into the solar system.
"Laser technology is ideal for boosting downlink communications from deep space," said Abi Biswas, the supervisor of the Optical Communications Systems group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "It will eventually allow for applications like giving each astronaut his or her own video feed, or sending back higher-resolution, data-rich images faster."
Science at the speed of light
Both radio and lasers travel at the speed of light, but lasers travel in a higher-frequency bandwidth. That allows them to carry more information than radio waves, which is crucial when you're collecting massive amounts of data and have narrow windows of time to send it back to Earth.
A good example is NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which sends science data at a blazing maximum of 6 Mbps. Biswas estimated that if the orbiter used laser comms technology with a mass and power usage comparable to its current radio system, it could probably increase the maximum data rate to 250 Mbps.
That might still sound stunningly slow to Internet users. But on Earth, data is sent over far shorter distances and through infrastructure that doesn't exist yet in space, so it travels even faster.
Increasing data rates would allow scientists to spend more of their time on analysis than on spacecraft operations.
"It's perfect when things are happening fast and you want a dense data set," said Dave Pieri, a JPL research scientist and volcanologist. Pieri has led past research on how laser comms could be used to study volcanic eruptions and wildfires in near real-time. "If you have a volcano exploding in front of you, you want to assess its activity level and propensity to keep erupting. The sooner you get and process that data, the better."
That same technology could apply to erupting cryovolcanoes on icy moons around other planets. Pieri noted that compared to radio transmission of events like these, "laser comms would up the ante by an order of magnitude."
Clouding the future of lasers
That's not to say the technology is perfect for every scenario. Lasers are subject to more interference from clouds and other atmospheric conditions than radio waves; pointing and timing are also challenges.
Lasers also require ground infrastructure that doesn't yet exist. NASA's Deep Space Network, a system of antenna arrays located across the globe, is based entirely on radio technology. Ground stations would have to be developed that could receive lasers in locations where skies are reliably clear.
Radio technology won't be going away. It works in rain or shine, and will continue to be effective for low-data uses like providing commands to spacecraft.
Next steps
Two upcoming NASA missions will help engineers understand the technical challenges involved in conducting laser communications in space. What they'll learn will advance lasers toward becoming a common form of space communication in the future.
The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is due to launch in 2019. LCRD will demonstrate the relay of data using laser and radio frequency technology. It will beam laser signals almost 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) from a ground station in California to a satellite in geostationary orbit, then relay that signal to another ground station. JPL is developing one of the ground stations at Table Mountain in southern California. Testing laser communications in geostationary orbit, as LCRD will do, has practical applications for data transfer on Earth.
Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC), led by JPL, is scheduled to launch in 2023 as part of an upcoming NASA Discovery mission. That mission, Psyche, will fly to a metallic asteroid, testing laser comms from a much greater distance than LCRD.
The Psyche mission has been planned to carry the DSOC laser device onboard the spacecraft. Effectively, the DSOC mission will try to hit a bullseye using a deep space laserand because of the planet's rotation, it will hit a moving target, as well.
Past and future NASA projects involving laser communications:
Name: Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD)
Led by: Goddard Space Flight Center
Year: 2013
Objective: Was NASA's first system for two-way communication using a laser instead of radio waves. An error-free uplink data rate of 20 Mbps transmitted from a primary ground station in New Mexico to NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), a spacecraft orbiting the moon. Demonstrated an error-free downlink rate of 622 Mbpsthe equivalent of streaming 30 channels of HDTV from the moon.
Name: Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS)
Led by: JPL
Year: 2014
Objective: Testing laser communications from the International Space Station. Beamed a video file every 3.5 seconds for a total of 148 seconds. With traditional downlink methods, sending the 175-megabit video just once would have taken 10 minutes.
Name: Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)
Led by: Goddard Space Flight Center
Year: 2019
Objective: Will relay laser signals between telescopes at Table Mountain, California, and in Hawaii through a relay satellite in geostationary orbit during a two-year demonstration period. The system is designed to operate for up to five years to prove the everyday reliability of laser communications for future NASA missions.
Name: Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)
Led by JPL
Year: 2023
Objective: To test laser communications from deep space. An upcoming NASA Discovery mission called Psyche will fly to a metallic asteroid starting in 2023. Psyche is planned to host a laser device called DSOC, which would beam data down to a telescope at Palomar Mountain Observatory in California.
Provided by NASA
Anchovy, sardine, and hake scale deposition rate from AD 1000 1500 derived from a recent, age-calibrated sediment core from Santa Barbara Basin, California. Representative fish scales and the respective fishes are shown on the right. Credit: I.L. Hendy, University of Michigan; S. McClatchie, NOAA Fisheries; NMFS image library
California sardine stocks famously crashed in John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row." New research, building on previous since the late 1960s, shows in greater detail that such forage fish stocks have undergone boom-bust cycles for centuries, with at least three species off the U.S. West Coast repeatedly experiencing steep population increases followed by declines long before commercial fishing began.
Natural population fluctuations in Pacific sardine, northern anchovy and Pacific hake off California have been so common that the species were in collapsed condition 29 to 40 percent of the time over the 500-year period from A.D. 1000 to 1500, according to the study published online Feb. 9 in Geophysical Research Letters.
Using a long time series of fish scales deposited in low-oxygen, offshore sedimentary environments off Southern California, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Michigan described such collapses as "an intrinsic property of some forage fish populations that should be expected, just as droughts are expected in an arid climate."
The findings have implications for the ecosystem, as well as fishermen and fisheries managers, who have witnessed several booms, followed by crashes every one to two decades on average and lasting a decade or more, the scientists wrote. Collapses in forage fishsmall fish that are preyed on by larger predators for foodcan reverberate through the marine food web, causing prey limitation among predators such as sea lions and sea birds.
"Forage fish populations are resilient over the long term, which is how they come back from such steep collapses over and over again," said Sam McClatchie, supervisory oceanographer at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., and first author of the paper.
"That doesn't change the fact that these species may remain at very low levels for periods long enough to have very real consequences for the people and wildlife who count on them," he said.
Former University of Michigan graduate student Karla Knudsen, left, and former U-M undergraduate Athena Eyster sample deep-sea sediment collected in 2009 with a coring device beneath the Santa Barbara Channel in California. The sediments were used in a fish-scale analysis. Credit: Ingrid Hendy
Downturns in sardine and anchovy linked to changing ocean conditions have contributed to the localized stranding of thousands of California sea lion pups in recent years.
Scientists traced the historic abundance of sardine, anchovy and hake by examining deposits of their scales collected on the floor of the Santa Barbara Channel from A.D. 1000 to 1500. While previous studies had shown that forage fish exhibited collapses prior to commercial fishing, the new research used methods developed by climatologists to examine the frequency and duration of the fluctuation in finer detail.
"The Mediterranean climate of California, with wet winters and dry summers, produces a sediment layer we can pull apart like pages in a book," said U-M paleoceanographer and study co-author Ingrid Hendy. "Although these sediments have been studied before, we are using new technology to examine them in unprecedented detail."
Hendy and members of her lab collected the California sediments in 2009 using a coring device that allowed them to sample large portions of the sea floor beneath the Santa Barbara Channel. Hendy is an associate professor in the U-M Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
In the lab, fish scales from the core were identified under a binocular dissecting microscope by comparing them to reference specimens from the U-M Museum of Zoology collection. Anchovies in the collection were bought at the San Pedro Fish Market, near Long Beach, Calif., in 1922. The sardines came from Barkley Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and were collected in 1933.
The fish-scale analysis was performed by former U-M undergraduate Alexandra Skrivanek, who is now a graduate student at the University of Florida. Hendy's lab has also helped to advance techniques used to date the layers within marine sediment cores. Those advances involve improved radiocarbon dating of organic materials in the sediments and better ways to count the annual layers, Hendy said.
From left to right: Former University of Michigan undergraduate Athena Eyster, former U-M graduate student Karla Knudsen, Ingrid Hendy and former U-M graduate student Meghan Wagner examine a sediment core collected in the Santa Barbara Channel, California, in 2009. Credit: Arndt Schimmelmann
The scientists described a collapse as a drop below 10 percent of the average peak in fish populations, as estimated from the paleorecord. Anchovy took an average of eight years to recover from a collapse, while sardine and hake took an average of 22 years.
The record also showed that sardine and anchovy fluctuated synchronously over the 500-year study period. Combined collapses may compound the impact on predators and the fishery, the scientists said. The finding runs counter to suggestions that the two species' cycles alternate.
Sardine and anchovy have at times been the most heavily harvested fish off Southern California in terms of volume. Hake, also known as Pacific whiting, spawn off California but are harvested in large volumes off the Pacific Northwest and Canada.
The new study concludes these forage fish are well-suited to variable fishing rates that target the species in times of abundance, "while recognizing that mean persistence of fishable populations is one to two decades, and that switching to other target species will become a necessity."
Collapses last, on average, "too long for the industry to simply wait out the return of the forage fish."
The study authors concluded that "well-designed reserve thresholds" and adjustable harvest rates help protect the forage species, the fishery and nonhuman predators for the long term. However, they added that "reserve thresholds only protect the seed stock for recovery, and cannot prevent collapses from occurring."
More information: S. McClatchie et al. Collapse and recovery of forage fish populations prior to commercial exploitation, Geophysical Research Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2016GL071751 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
Plants are capable of producing powerful movement that is initiated at the molecular level. This fast motion is often supported by helix-based architectures, for example in vetches or orchids that spread seeds by explosive opening of their pods. Researchers now demonstrate in the journal Angewandte Chemie that these biological strategies can be re-engineered by interfacing molecular switches with man-made materials.
Inspired by the evolutionary strategies that support the movement of plants, the team headed by Stephen P. Fletcher at the University of Oxford (UK) and Nathalie Katsonis at the University of Twente (Enschede, Netherlands) joined together two strips of liquid-crystal elastomers into a pod-like casing. Light-triggered re-arrangement (isomerization) of a "molecular switch" incorporated in the material drives the twisting of the two valves in opposing directions, until the casing bursts open from strain.
"This is a man-made material in which the collective action of molecular switches produces powerful movement at the macroscale", says Katsonis. "A slow and continuous movement will produce work over a large period of time, hence it offers low power density. If you confine work over a short period of time, you get more power." With this plant-like molecular device the scientists demonstrate that it is possible to program molecular materials to perform complex tasks. Says Katsonis: "Ultimately and in the long term we hope that life-like materials could promote a transition towards adaptive, energy efficient, and sustainable materials."
The design of the pods involves cross-linked liquid crystals, because they are capable of directional (anisotropic) shape transformation. Using a two-step photo-polymerization process, the researchers created a thin film of liquid-crystal elastomer consisting of bars with alternating low and high ordered liquid-crystalline states. Then, strips are cut out of this film. When irradiated with UV light, the molecular switches integrated in the elastomer isomerize from their straight to their bent form. This causes the highly ordered bars to shrink along their long axismuch more than the disordered bars do, resulting in a difference in length between the bars.
The angle at which the film is cut determines what happens macroscopically: strips cut at 0 or 90 to the long axis bend without a twist when irradiated. Cuts at 45 or 135 result in helical strips that wind under illuminationwith opposite directions of twist. The researchers brought two mirror-image strips together. Under irradiation, the pod bends along its long axis, then forms a tube along its transverse axis, in which the mirror-image helices work against each other and strain accumulates, until the pod pops open from stress. "The accumulation of strain in tubular architectures is an elegant engineering strategy that is common in nature, and here it allows to amplify the action of a few dynamic molecules, and transforms it into powerful movement."
Provided by Wiley
This artist's concept illustrates a close-up view of a cool brown dwarf. Objects like this, drifting just beyond our solar system, have been imaged by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and could be discovered by Backyard Worlds: Planet 9. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA is inviting the public to help search for possible undiscovered worlds in the outer reaches of our solar system and in neighboring interstellar space. A new website, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, lets everyone participate in the search by viewing brief movies made from images captured by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. The movies highlight objects that have gradually moved across the sky.
"There are just over four light-years between Neptune and Proxima Centauri, the nearest star, and much of this vast territory is unexplored," said lead researcher Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Because there's so little sunlight, even large objects in that region barely shine in visible light. But by looking in the infrared, WISE may have imaged objects we otherwise would have missed."
WISE scanned the entire sky between 2010 and 2011, producing the most comprehensive survey at mid-infrared wavelengths currently available. With the completion of its primary mission, WISE was shut down in 2011. It was then reactivated in 2013 and given a new mission assisting NASA's efforts to identify potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs), which are asteroids and comets on orbits that bring them into the vicinity of Earth's orbit. The mission was renamed the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE).
The new website uses the data to search for unknown objects in and beyond our own solar system. In 2016, astronomers at Caltech in Pasadena, California, showed that several distant solar system objects possessed orbital features indicating they were affected by the gravity of an as-yet-undetected planet, which the researchers nicknamed "Planet Nine." If Planet Ninealso known as Planet Xexists and is as bright as some predictions, it could show up in WISE data.
Join the search for new worlds in the outer reaches of our solar system and in nearby interstellar space at Backyard Worlds: Planet 9. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab/Krystofer D.J. Kim
The search also may discover more distant objects like brown dwarfs, sometimes called failed stars, in nearby interstellar space.
"Brown dwarfs form like stars but evolve like planets, and the coldest ones are much like Jupiter," said team member Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "By using Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, the public can help us discover more of these strange rogue worlds."
Unlike more distant objects, those in or closer to the solar system appear to move across the sky at different rates. The best way to discover them is through a systematic search of moving objects in WISE images. While parts of this search can be done by computers, machines are often overwhelmed by image artifacts, especially in crowded parts of the sky. These include brightness spikes associated with star images and blurry blobs caused by light scattered inside WISE's instruments.
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 relies on human eyes because we easily recognize the important moving objects while ignoring the artifacts. It's a 21st-century version of the technique astronomer Clyde Tombaugh used to find Pluto in 1930, a discovery made 87 years ago this week.
A previously cataloged brown dwarf named WISE 0855?0714 shows up as a moving orange dot (upper left) in this loop of WISE images spanning five years. By viewing movies like this, anyone can help discover more of these objects. Credit: NASA/WISE
On the website, people around the world can work their way through millions of "flipbooks," which are brief animations showing how small patches of the sky changed over several years. Moving objects flagged by participants will be prioritized by the science team for follow-up observations by professional astronomers. Participants will share credit for their discoveries in any scientific publications that result from the project.
"Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 has the potential to unlock once-in-a-century discoveries, and it's exciting to think they could be spotted first by a citizen scientist," said team member Aaron Meisner, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in analyzing WISE images.
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is a collaboration between NASA, UC Berkeley, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Arizona State University, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and Zooniverse, a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who collectively develop and manage citizen science projects on the internet.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages and operates WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The WISE mission was selected competitively under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah. The spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA.
A view of the crevasse field downstream of the section of the firn aquifer that Kristin Poinar studied. Water is not visible in the crevasses, because meltwater doesn't enter them until about 40 feet below the surface, where the firn aquifer lies. Credit: Clement Miege, University of Utah
Cracks in the Greenland Ice Sheet let one of its aquifers drain to the ocean, new NASA research finds. The aquifers, discovered only recently, are unusual in that they trap large amounts of liquid water within the ice sheet. Until now, scientists did not know what happened to the water stored away in this reservoirthe discovery will help fine tune computer models of Greenland's contribution to sea level rise.
"This paper illuminates the fate of the aquifer's water," said Kristin Poinar, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Before, we didn't know if the water froze inside the ice sheet or reemerged onto the ice surface. In either of those scenarios, the meltwater would not contribute to sea level rise."
Now, using a new computer model that tests whether certain meltwater-filled cracks can fracture to the base of the ice sheet, Poinar and her colleagues have shown that the meltwater does reach the ocean.
Greenland contributes water to the sea mainly through surface melt and ice flow. Studies have shown that surface melt has increased in recent decades. In western Greenland, so much surface melts forms that it creates a network of rivers and lakes, which drain through the ice to the underlying bedrock, from where water flows to the ocean.
But southeast Greenland is very different - lakes and rivers do not form, although the ice does melt. Instead, vast reservoirs of water become trapped within the firn layer (a band of compacted snow). In 2011, scientists discovered these aquifers around 40 feet (12 meters) beneath the surface of the ice. Researchers calculated that these firn aquifers cover around 8,455 square miles (21,900 square kilometers) of Greenland and hold a Lake Tahoe-sized volume of water. The aquifer remains liquid year-round because the region's heavy snow fall creates a thick blanket that insulates the aquifer from the freezing air temperatures above.
New NASA research found that large crevasses in Greenlands Helheim Glacier provide aquifer water with a clear escape to the ocean. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Kathryn Mersmann
"These firn aquifers are the analogs to the surface water that we can see in western Greenland," Poinar said. "Southeast Greenland is perpetually covered in snow and has hardly any bare ice, so in the summer water doesn't pool up like it does on bare ice in western Greenland, forming lakes and rivers; instead, it percolates downward and disappears into places where we can't see it."
Poinar studied a segment of the aquifer located in the Helheim Glacier area in southeast Greenland, where ground-penetrating radar measurements collected by Operation IceBridge, NASA's aerial survey of changes in polar ice, showed that a 2-mile long section of the aquifer had drained a large volume of water between the spring of 2012 and the spring of 2013.
Directly downstream of this section of the aquifer, the researchers identified a field of crevasses (cracks in the ice); due to gravity, they thought, the aquifer water should flow into these openings. To find out whether the water refroze within the crevasses or fractured all the way to the bedrock, Poinar built a computer model of how water from the firn aquifer widens, deepens, and refreezes within the cracks. The model demonstrated that the water makes the crevasses crack faster than the water can refreeze, thus allowing the meltwater to reach the bedrock in a matter of weeks to months.
"There's a limit to how much water the crevasses can hold; once they reach that limit, they fracture to the base of the ice sheet and deliver that water to the bed, from where it can travel relatively quickly to the ocean," Poinar said. "We found that the volume of meltwater drained through this particular aquifer-crevasse field system is comparable to what comes out of a western Greenland supraglacial lake or river system."
Helheim Glacier in southeast Greenland is visible during an Operation IceBridge flight on Sept. 11, 2016. Credit: NASA/John Sonntag
Poinar said that although her study is focused on a specific section of the aquifer, there are other areas in southeast Greenland that are likely to host similar combinations of firn aquifers and nearby crevasse fields. She said that her future work will focus on how this newly discovered drainage system integrates over the entire Greenland ice sheet, and also on measuring how the water drained from the aquifer lubricates the bedrock and impacts the flow of the ice sheet.
"Kristin's finding is a key component in understanding the importance of the firn aquifer system," said Rick Forster, a glaciologist at the University of Utah who was part of the field team that discovered the aquifer in 2011. "Her model shows that water is getting to the bed, and that adds a whole different level of significance to how that storage of water might affect changes in sea level rise in the future."
More information: Kristin Poinar et al. Drainage of Southeast Greenland Firn Aquifer Water through Crevasses to the Bed, Frontiers in Earth Science (2017). DOI: 10.3389/feart.2017.00005
Penguins at a California aquarium got more than their daily helping of fish to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Biologist Piper Dwight handed out red hearts to 14 African penguins at the California Academy of Sciences during a feeding Monday.
Visitors took photos of the animals grabbing the hearts in their beaks and waddling around their enclosure. Some even fought over the thick felt hearts that can withstand water and are adorned with messages such as "You are the water beneath my wings."
The penguins will use them to decorate their nests. Vikki McCloskey, assistant curator of the museum's Steinhart Aquarium, says it will encourage breeding and bonding by penguin couples.
She says male penguins in the wild attract a mate by making nests "look pretty nice."
The annual Valentine's event promotes conservation efforts for endangered African penguins.
2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
University of Toronto physics researchers Edwin (Weng Kian) Tham and Hugo Ferretti prepare to run a test in their quest to beat Rayleigh's Curse, by tapping into previously neglected properties of light. Credit: Diana Tyszko/University of Toronto
University of Toronto (U of T) researchers have demonstrated a way to increase the resolution of microscopes and telescopes beyond long-accepted limitations by tapping into previously neglected properties of light. The method allows observers to distinguish very small or distant objects that are so close together they normally meld into a single blur.
Telescopes and microscopes are great for observing lone subjects. Scientists can precisely detect and measure a single distant star. The longer they observe, the more refined their data becomes.
But objects like binary stars don't work the same way.
That's because even the best telescopes are subject to laws of physics that cause light to spread out or "diffract." A sharp pinpoint becomes an ever-so-slightly blurry dot. If two stars are so close together that their blurs overlap, no amount of observation can separate them out. Their individual information is irrevocably lost.
More than 100 years ago, British physicist John William Strutt - better known as Lord Rayleigh - established the minimum distance between objects necessary for a telescope to pick out each individually. The "Rayleigh Criterion" has stood as an inherent limitation of the field of optics ever since.
Telescopes, though, only register light's "intensity" or brightness. Light has other properties that now appear to allow one to circumvent the Rayleigh Criterion.
"To beat Rayleigh's curse, you have to do something clever," says Professor Aephraim Steinberg, a physicist at U of T's Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, and Senior Fellow in the Quantum Information Science program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He's the lead author of a paper published today in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Some of these clever ideas were recognized with the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, notes Steinberg, but those methods all still rely on intensity only, limiting the situations in which they can be applied. "We measured another property of light called 'phase.' And phase gives you just as much information about sources that are very close together as it does those with large separations."
Light travels in waves, and all waves have a phase. Phase refers to the location of a wave's crests and troughs. Even when a pair of close-together light sources blurs into a single blob, information about their individual wave phases remains intact. You just have to know how to look for it. This realization was published by National University of Singapore researchers Mankei Tsang, Ranjith Nair, and Xiao-Ming Lu last year in Physical Review X, and Steinberg's and three other experimental groups immediately set about devising a variety of ways to put it into practice.
"We tried to come up with the simplest thing you could possibly do," Steinberg says. "To play with the phase, you have to slow a wave down, and light is actually easy to slow down."
His team, including PhD students Edwin (Weng Kian) Tham and Huge Ferretti, split test images in half. Light from each half passes through glass of a different thickness, which slows the waves for different amounts of time, changing their respective phases. When the beams recombine, they create distinct interference patterns that tell the researchers whether the original image contained one object or two - at resolutions well beyond the Rayleigh Criterion.
So far, Steinberg's team has tested the method only in artificial situations involving highly restrictive parameters.
"I want to be cautious - these are early stages," he says. "In our laboratory experiments, we knew we just had one spot or two, and we could assume they had the same intensity. That's not necessarily the case in the real world. But people are already taking these ideas and looking at what happens when you relax those assumptions."
The advance has potential applications both in observing the cosmos, and also in microscopy, where the method can be used to study bonded molecules and other tiny, tight-packed structures.
Regardless of how much phase measurements ultimately improve imaging resolution, Steinberg says the experiment's true value is in shaking up physicists' concept of "where information actually is."
Steinberg's "day job" is in quantum physics - this experiment was a departure for him. He says work in the quantum realm provided key philosophical insights about information itself that helped him beat Rayleigh's Curse.
"When we measure quantum states, you have something called the Uncertainty Principle, which says you can look at position or velocity, but not both. You have to choose what you measure. Now we're learning that imaging is more like quantum mechanics than we realized," he says. "When you only measure intensity, you've made a choice and you've thrown out information. What you learn depends on where you look."
A dingo pup on Evelyn Downs station, South Australia. Credit: Arian Wallach
A unique study into the impact of predator-friendly farming practices on an Australian cattle station gives an inside view into the causes of livestock mortality over a two-year period. The UTS-led research team found that husbandry practices, not dingoes, were most likely the primary cause of preventable deaths for cattle on Evelyn Downs, an extensive landholding in the north of South Australia.
The study concludes that protecting dingoes and improving husbandry practices, such as dam maintenance, is likely to increase survival and welfare of cattle significantly, as well as improve economic outcomes on large stations.
UTS researcher Dr Arian Wallach and Adam O'Neill from the Dingo for Biodiversity Project spent two years managing Evelyn Downs as a predator-friendly property where the killing of wildlife and carrying of guns was banned. Dingoes were also proactively protected through the maintenance of bores which gave the animals uninterrupted access to water.
"Stopping dingo deaths on Evelyn Downs did not result in high or increasing predation rates the main cause of deaths was the drying of silted dams," Dr Wallach, a Chancellor's postdoctoral research fellow in the UTS Centre for Compassionate Conservation, said.
"Our results are in line with other studies from around the world that show killing predators for livestock protection is generally unnecessary and counterproductive."
Dr Wallach said the dingo (Canis dingo), Australia's apex predator, lives in extended families led by a single breeding pair.
"When you kill socially complex species like dingoes you disrupt their social groups which increases reproductive rates and movement between territories. Our research shows that when you end lethal control, particularly on the vast stations of the Australian arid zone, it's possible to reduce livestock losses as the predator's social structure stabilises," she said.
The research is published in a special edition on predator control in the Journal of Mammalogy where an interdisciplinary group of wildlife biologists and social scientists present new evidence on the impact of predator-friendly farming practices. As well as the research on dingoes, the feature edition includes and analysis of a seven-year program that successfully minimised wolf-sheep conflict in America using non-lethal methods, and a study providing evidence of the growing intolerance among Americans for lethal control of predators.
"Large predators are declining worldwide primarily due to hunting and persecution by humans, driven in large part by the livestock industry," Dr Wallach said.
"We hope this research provides a platform for more informed debate around dingo eradication programs and ways to improve the environmental and ethical standards of meat production."
More information: Abstracts of the six papers in the Special Feature can be read at the journal website: academic.oup.com/jmammal/issue/98/1 Journal information: Journal of Mammalogy
The shell of the new species, Gastrocopta sharae, seen under a light microscope (left) and under a scanning electron microscope (right). Credit: Dr. Rodrigo B. Salvador
Focused on terrestrial gastropods, more commonly known as land snails, a joint team of biologists from the Natural History Museum of Stuttgart, Germany and the Zoology Museum of Sao Paulo, Brazil, have been researching the Brazilian caves. In their latest paper, published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, the scientists describe the fauna from several caves in central Brazil, including a new tiny species named after a character from the popular fantasy tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
The team of Dr. Rodrigo Salvador, Daniel Cavallari and Dr. Luiz Simone encountered a rich assembly of species, several of which measured as much as a few millimetres. However, apart from filling important gaps in the knowledge of these tropical animals, they went even further, having discovered a land snail new to science. While it is not uncommon for studies dealing with the invertebrate fauna to end up describing new species, this minute mollusc (nearly 2 mm in length) attracted extra attention. The team which discovered the mollusc has named it Gastrocopta sharae, after Shar, the goddess of darkness, caverns and secrets in Dungeons & Dragons.
"It's a fitting name for a tiny snail that lives hidden in the dark recesses of a cavern," explain the authors. "If your knowledge of mythological beings seems to have failed you, do not fret. Usually biologists tend to honour Greek and Roman deities when naming species, but the goddess Shar has a more colourful background. She is from Dungeons & Dragons, the most famous role-playing game in the world, currently in its 5th edition and a staple of geek culture."
Nevertheless, this is not the first time that Dungeons & Dragons has been immortalised in a species' scientific name. In 2014, the very same team described another tiny snail, this time, one with a taste for deep waters, specifically those of the Atlantic Ocean. The scientists named it Halystina umberlee, after another Dungeons & Dragons goddess - Umberlee, who commands the harshness and perils of the sea.
The tropical snails are still poorly understood, although they are one of the most threatened animal groups - both by human activities and environmental changes. Moreover, since cave-dwelling invertebrates, in general, receive scarce attention from researchers, it should come as no surprise that cave-dwelling snails are even less known.
"Getting to know the fauna inhabiting each cavern is a demanding task, but a much-needed one," note the researchers. "Caverns are known to have very fragile ecosystems and several lack proper protection, so works like ours are an important step for conservation efforts."
More information: RODRIGO B. SALVADOR et al, Seguenziidae (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda) from SE Brazil collected by the Marion Dufresne (MD55) expedition, Zootaxa (2014). DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3878.6.2 Journal information: Zootaxa
A composite image shows the Gaia spacecraft against a backdrop of the Milky Way Galaxy. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab; background image: ESO/S. Brunier
Using a novel method and data from the Gaia space telescope, astronomers from the University of Toronto have estimated that the speed of the Sun as it orbits the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy is approximately 240 kilometres per second.
In turn, they have used that result to calculate that the Sun is approximately 7.9 kiloparsecs from the Galaxy's centreor almost twenty-six thousand light-years.
Using data from the Gaia space telescope and the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey, Jason Hunt and his colleagues determined the velocities of over 200,000 stars relative to the Sun. Hunt is a Dunlap Fellow at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto.
The collaborators found an unsurprising distribution of relative velocities: there were stars moving slower, faster and at the same rate as the Sun.
But they also found a shortage of stars with a Galactic orbital velocity of approximately 240 kilometres per second slower than the Sun's. The astronomers concluded that the missing stars had been stars with zero angular momentum; i.e. they had not been circling the Galaxy like the Sun and the other stars in the Milky Way Galaxy;
"Stars with very close to zero angular momentum would have plunged towards the Galactic centre where they would be strongly affected by the extreme gravitational forces present there," says Hunt. "This would scatter them into chaotic orbits taking them far above the Galactic plane and away from the Solar neighbourhood."
"By measuring the velocity with which nearby stars rotate around our Galaxy with respect to the Sun," says Hunt, "we can observe a lack of stars with a specific negative relative velocity. And because we know this dip corresponds to 0 km/sec, it tells us, in turn, how fast we are moving."
Hunt and his colleagues then combined this finding with the proper motion of the supermassive blackhole known as Sagittarius A* ("A-star") that lies at the centre of the Galaxy to calculate the 7.9 kiloparsec distance.
Proper motion is the motion of an object across the sky relative to distant background objects. They calculated the distance in the same way a cartographer triangulates the distance to a terrestrial landmark by observing it from two different positions a known distance apart.
The result was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters in December 2016.
The method was first used by Hunt's co-author, current chair of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, Prof. Ray Calberg, and Carlberg's collaborator, Prof. Kimmo Innanen. But the result Carlberg and Innanen arrived at was based on less than 400 stars.
Gaia is creating a dynamic, three-dimensional map of the Milky Way Galaxy by measuring the distances, positions and proper motion of stars. Hunt and his colleagues based their work on the initial data release from Gaia which included hundreds of thousands of stars. By the end of its 5 year mission, the space mission will have mapped well over 1 billion stars.
The velocity and distance results are not significantly more accurate than other measurements. But according to Hunt, "Gaia's final release in late 2017 should enable us to increase the precision of our measurement of the Sun's velocity to within approximately one km/sec, which in turn will significantly increase the accuracy of our measurement of our distance from the Galactic centre."
More information: Jason A. S. Hunt et al. DETECTION OF A DEARTH OF STARS WITH ZERO ANGULAR MOMENTUM IN THE SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD, The Astrophysical Journal (2016). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/832/2/L25 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters , Astrophysical Journal
- Governor Nyesom Wike berates APC leaders for allegedly straining the peace in Rivers state
- Wike accuses the APC leaders of desperately playing anti-Rivers politics with the visit of Yemi Osinbajo to Rivers state
Governor Nyesom Wike accuses APC leaders in Rivers state of trying to derail the Visit of Yemi Osinbajo.
Governor Nyesom Wike of River state has blasted the minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state for organising another stakeholders meeting with acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, a day after the town hall meeting held in government house.
READ ALSO: Federal government promises to employ Niger Delta youths involved in illegal oil refinig
Wike in an address to former APC members who defected to PDP in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, February 14, said the meeting which was organised by the leaders of the APC in the state was aimed at straining the peace in the state.
The governor, in a statement by his special assistant on electronic media, Simeon Nwakaudu, accused the APC leaders of desperately playing anti-Rivers politics with the visit of Yemi Osinbajo.
He said: "Satan will never sleep. Satan will always be at work. Satan always wants to turn light into darkness.
When we held the stakeholders meeting, even the Minister of Transportation was there. But as a you know, a chameleon will always be a chameleon. When you see agents of Lucifer you will know.
Just because the Acting President slept in Rivers State and went round our projects, then confirmed that this man is Mr Projects, they suddenly became troubled."
READ ALSO: CAN confers Governor Wike with 'Apostle of Peace' award (PHOTOS)
"Agents of Lucifer in trying to cause confusion, persuaded the Acting President that there will be need for him to talk to APC Members. I have no problems with that. Mr Acting President is a member of the APC. But governance is governance. When they got there, they renamed the APC meeting as stakeholders meeting. Shame , shame."
Wike asked the APC leaders in the state to go for psychiatric test.
The governor said that he will continue to play mature politics, unlike the era of Rotimi Amaechi when he repeatedly desecrated the office of the president, refusing to accord Goodluck Jonathan the respect due his office.
In other news, the Rivers state government has traced the black soot polluting the atmosphere of Port Harcourt and its environs to a Chinese construction company, named CGC.
According to a statement Commissioner of Information, Dr Austin Tam-George, the company has been shutdown by the Rivers State Task Force on the Black Soot.
A statement by Tam-George on Saturday, February 11 read: "This is to inform the public that a Chinese construction company, named CGC, located on the Obirikwere-Airport Link Road has been shut down on Friday, the 10th of February, 2017, by the Rivers State Task Force on the Black Soot."
The government said all the directors of the company will be prosecuted according to the law.
Source: Legit.ng
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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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Monday he stood firm against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's "crimes", at an event marking the anniversary of his father's assassination that he has blamed on Damascus. Hariri, whose father Rafiq Hariri was killed along with 22 other people in a February 14, 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront, was appointed prime minister in November for a second time, under an arrangement struck with the pro-Syrian Shiite group Hezbollah. "We negotiated and we made compromises to preserve stability" in Lebanon, he said in an address to a packed hall in Beirut. "We have not made, and will not make, any compromise on principles such as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, on our point of view on Assad's regime, our stand on illegitimate arms and on Hezbollah's implication in Syria," he said to loud applause. The Hague-based tribunal is responsible for trying Rafiq Hariri's assassination. Saad Hariri and his allies demand the disarmament of Hezbollah and its withdrawal from Syria where the Shiite group that also forms part of the Lebanese government has been battling alongside Assad's forces. Hezbollah, the only group not to have disarmed in the aftermath of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, insists its arsenal is essential to defend the country against Israel, with which it fought a devastating 2006 summer war. Five Hezbollah members have been accused by the international court of involvement in the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri, himself a former Lebanese premier. Both the Syrian government and Hezbollah have repeatedly denied involvement.
Sgt. Kim Riley of the Indiana State police announces that two bodies have been found next to Deer Creek Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, east of Delphi, Ind. Riley said foul play is suspected, however, he would not say if the bodies were that of missing Delphi teens Liberty German and Abigail Williams, both 13. (John Terhune/Journal & Courier via AP)
DELPHI, Ind. (AP) In a story Feb. 14 about the search for two missing girls, The Associated Press, relying on information from police, incorrectly reported that Liberty German was 13 years old. She was 14.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Bodies found amid search for 2 missing Indiana teens
Police say foul play is suspected after two bodies were found along a northern Indiana creek during a search for two missing Carroll County teenagers
DELPHI, Ind. (AP) Authorities suspect foul play after two bodies were found along a northern Indiana creek amid a search for two missing teenage girls, police said Tuesday.
The bodies were found along Deer Creek about 1 mile east of Delphi, Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley told a news conference.
"We are investigating this as a crime scene," Riley said. "We suspect foul play."
Riley said authorities haven't yet positively identified the bodies. He declined to comment on any injuries they might have suffered or to discuss the ages of the victims, but he said the search for the two missing girls had been scaled back significantly.
Riley says the bodies were found Tuesday on the edge of the creek about three-quarters of a mile from an abandoned railroad bridge where the two girls, 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams, had been dropped off to go hiking Monday. They were reported missing hours later after they did not appear at a predetermined meeting place.
Search parties scoured the base of the bridge, known locally as the Monon High Bridge, and surrounding trails Monday night, but darkness made it nearly impossible, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby said.
Riley declined to disclose who found the bodies.
Delphi Police Chief Steve Mullins said the discovery of the bodies and search for the girls has shocked the community about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
"I know it's had a terrible effect on our people and we are grieved this sort of thing would happen here in our community," Mullins told the news conference.
Burundi's government affirmed Tuesday it will shun peace talks with opposition figures planned for later this week in Tanzania, dragging out a political crisis that has stretched for over a year. The talks are intended to resolve deadly political violence that has rocked the tiny central Africa nation for over a year, killing at least 500 people. Violence erupted when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office in April 2015. At least 300,000 people have fled the country. Mediator Benjamin Mkapa, a former Tanzanian president, has invited "a group of 33 key figures" comprising on one side the government and its allies, and on the other side, their opponents, an African diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. The talks are scheduled to take place Thursday through Saturday in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha. Mkapa is hoping to finally tackle "substantive issues" at the core of the conflict, notably Nkurunziza's third term, and the "creation of a national unity government", the diplomat said. But the government refuses to sit down with members of the umbrella opposition group -- the National Council for the Restoration of Arusha Agreement and Rule of Law (CNARED) -- and a major civil society movement. "The CNARED is an organisation not recognised by Burundian law and which includes individuals sought by Burundian justice," Willy Nyamitwe, presidential spokesman and also a member of the government delegation, told AFP. "It is therefore clear that inviting them to take part in any process of dialogue is an insult that cannot be accepted by the government," he said. Nyamitwe added that the government peace delegation would refuse to engage with CNARED or UN mediator Jamal Benomar. It is not clear however whether the government intends to skip the talks altogether. The Burundi regime has previously described CNARED as a "terrorist organisation". The CNARED said it would also not participate. However, it added that it would "send a delegation to Arusha to see Mkapa and go over one or two details before reaching a final decision on the matter," one of its leaders told AFP on condition of anonymity. The so-called inter-Burundi dialogue has repeatedly run into snags and Tuesday's statement by the government is only the latest glitch. In December, the opposition accused Mkapa of siding with the government by accepting it as "legitimate". "I am in no position to determine the legitimacy of the government of Burundi. Elections were held, court cases were raised ... and they all said this is a legitimate process which has come to a legitimate conclusion," he said.
A critically endangered species of antelope is dying by the thousands from a deadly infectious disease outbreak in Mongolia, and scientists fear there could be "catastrophic consequences" for the threatened animals and their ecosystem.
Since December 2016, about 2,500 Mongolian saiga (Saiga tatarica mongolica) a unique subspecies of saiga antelope have died from a livestock virus. Scientists estimate the Mongolian saiga population to be about 10,000, meaning the deadly outbreak has killed about 25 percent of the endangered steppe-dwelling antelope. The virus, known as PPR or peste des petits ruminants, was introduced to the Mongolian saiga population in September, from infected goats and sheep, scientists said.
Though the die-off rate has slowed, it could have repercussions throughout the local environment, said Amanda Fine, a veterinarian and associate director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Wildlife Health Program in Asia. [Photos: A 2015 Mass Die-Off of the Endangered Saiga Antelope]
"The situation is tragic and widespread," Fine said in a statement. "Along with the impact to the saiga population, this event has the potential to produce cascading catastrophic consequences on the ecosystem. For example, ibex and argali may be affected, and rare snow leopards may suffer the effects of a diminished prey base."
PPR, which is also known as sheep and goat plague, is highly contagious and can infect up to 90 percent of an animal herd once introduced, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The disease is spread via body fluids, feces and close proximity, and symptoms include fever, anorexia, diffuclty breathing and more. After just a few days affected animals become depressed, very weak, and severely dehydrated, according to the FAO. The FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health are working to eradicate PPR by 2030, but the disease is known to have infected animal populations in more than 70 countries.
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In Mongolia, a rapid-response team has begun collecting samples from the dead and diseased saiga in an effort to stop the spread of infection and determine how to support the species' recovery.
"The best way to prevent PPR is through further immunization of livestock in not only saiga range areas, but [also] other affected-species range areas," Fine said. "Stress-free conditions for recovering saiga and access to food and water resources should be provided in order to save the last population of Mongolian saiga from extinction."
The saiga face other threats aside from illness. People use the antelope's horns in traditional medicine, making the animals vulnerable to poaching. More than 90 percent of the saiga population has been lost in recent decades, according to WCS officials.
Original article on Live Science.
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SOLOLA, Guatemala (AP) The law works as it has for centuries in the Guatemalan indigenous community of Solola: Townsfolk bring grievances and local authorities make rulings, usually with a speed unheard of in a country where justice is often delayed, if it comes at all.
At one recent weekly court session, Maria Micaela Panjoc, baby in arms, came with a request for paternity payments. Others sought help with land disputes. Andres Xelp wanted the judges to force his son to move back home.
The generally non-partisan leaders of local Mayan communities hear the cases, trying to find quick resolutions when they can and sometimes passing cases over to formal prosecutors when they cannot as in the case of a young woman speaking the Kaqchikel language who said she'd been raped.
The Solola court alone handled 3,000 cases last year.
For generations, outsiders have looked down on indigenous law courts, as they have on the native cultures themselves. Some 40 percent of Guatemala's 17 million people identify themselves as indigenous and they are pushing for wider respect for the traditional ways in which their cultures deal with their differences, though opposition remains strong within the country's non-indigenous communities.
Guatemala's Constitutional Court already has accepted some rulings by indigenous courts and there's a move to formally amend the country's constitution to recognize them. An earlier measure to do that came two votes short in congress, with opposition coming from conservatives and from business interests that said they feared legal confusion if different systems co-exist.
Members of congress were scheduled to discuss the proposed constitutional amendment to recognize indigenous justice as part of the country's judicial system, but on Wednesday they put off the debate for a week after no consensus emerged among the political parties. At least 105 of 158 legislators must approve the proposal for it to pass.
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The idea has gained support from national Attorney General Thelma Aldana, as well as Ivan Velaszuqez, who heads the U.N. Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala that has been assisting in corruption investigations in the country.
"Guatemala has to be a place where all its inhabitants belong," said Velazquez, who visited Solola to view the court process.
The formal legal system has often exploited or ignored indigenous Guatemalans, who were legally required to perform forced labor well into the 20th century and who generally found it nearly impossible to pay for lawyers. Even now, only 10 percent of the country's townships have prosecutors' offices.
In Solola, Mayor Tomas Saloj presided over hearings in a town hall decorated with the 20 figures representing the Mayan calendar 20 days per month, 18 months per year. On the table that served as the judge's bench were a candle and a glass of water, an invitation for the wisdom of dead ancestors to enter.
Punishments can include restitution, community labor, banishment or whippings: Two braided leather whips hang in the Solola town hall as a reminder.
Agustin Bocel, a town spokesman, recalled a case of attempted rape in which the attacker was sentenced to nine lashes of a whip at the insistence of his own mother, one for each month she carried him, to remind him of the shame he caused her. Bocel said the man has never caused problems again.
Tomas Guarcas, the mayor of nearby Pixabaj, defended the practice.
"Whipping is a punishment that is like educating children, without violating human rights," he said, adding that the punishment is usually applied by "by one of the offender's relatives, the mother, father or in-laws."
Indigenous Congressman Amilcar Pop said the use of floggings is increasingly discouraged, however.
"This type of mechanism is something that has to be controlled and avoided," Pop said.
Aldana, the attorney general, said she sees no contradiction between the indigenous system and the formal courts. The indigenous courts, she said, "have helped maintain the peace" and helped "reduce pressure on the regular justice system and its budget."
Victoria Chuj is one of just three women among the 71 mayors in the province of Solola, of which the town of Solola is part. She carries her wooden staff the badge of her authority, decorated with four tokens representing the four directions with pride.
"The staff has to be good and straight so that, like justice, it cannot be bent," Chuj said.
BEIRUT (AP) The U.N. envoy to Syria says negotiating a political transition for the war-torn country will be the sole item on the agenda for upcoming talks between the government and opposition in Geneva.
Staffan De Mistura emphatically rejected any change to the agenda, saying it would open a "Pandora's box" of stalling and time-wasting.
"Geneva will not be about the procedure, but about the future," he told reporters in joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, in Rome.
The envoy said the agenda is fixed in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254, which mandates a new form of governance for Syria, a new constitution, and new elections. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the Security Council in 2015.
The Syrian government has previously rejected such formulations, complicating efforts aimed at ending the conflict. The government holds the upper hand in Syria more than a year after a sweeping Russian intervention turned the tide of the nearly six-year war in its favor.
The envoy urged the opposition to present a unified front at Geneva, in order to deprive the government of the "alibi" that it doesn't know who the opposition is.
The Geneva talks, slated for Feb. 23, are expected to bring together representatives from President Bashar Assad's government with exiled opposition figures and rebels fighting inside Syria.
But some of Syria's rebels say they won't begin negotiating a political settlement with the government until measures are taken to bolster a flagging cease-fire and address urgent humanitarian concerns.
Mohammad Alloush, a rebel leader who is representing the opposition at talks this week in Kazakhstan, said he will insist on discussing the Dec. 30 cease-fire. The talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, are intended to pave the way for next week's revival of the Geneva process, which has been on hold since last April.
The Kazakhstan talks are brokered by Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in the war and have taken the lead with peace efforts since December. The Syrian government delegation met with the Russian delegation in Astana on Wednesday, Syrian state TV reported.
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Russia and Iran, close allies of President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, which backs the rebels, previously pledged to enforce the cease-fire, but both sides have alleged repeated violations. A round of talks in Astana last month ended inconclusively.
The rebels say they are awaiting a reply from Russia to a list of requests concerning the observation and enforcement of the cease-fire.
"The paper we presented on 23 January is the basis for talks today," Alloush told the AP by phone on his way to Astana.
The Kazakhstan talks were supposed to begin Wednesday but were postponed by one day. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry did not give a reason for the delay. The Geneva talks are scheduled for Feb. 23.
Syria's Foreign Ministry meanwhile rejected a Human Rights Watch report accusing government forces of mounting at least eight chemical attacks using chlorine gas on opposition-held residential areas during the final months in last year's battle for the northern city of Aleppo. The report was published on Monday.
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Associated Press cameraman Gianfranco Stara in Rome and AP writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.
AFP News
Pope Francis warned in Bahrain on Friday that "opposing blocs" and global divisions have put humanity on a "delicate precipice", a veiled reference to the Ukraine war. "We are living at a time when humanity, connected as never before, appears much more divided than united," he said during a speech to religious leaders in the Gulf kingdom. "We continue to find ourselves on the brink of a delicate precipice and we do not want to fall." Francis, who has made religious dialogue a pillar of his papacy, was speaking on the first full day of his trip to the tiny island state, where he arrived on Thursday afternoon. His visit comes with the Ukraine war in its ninth month, and tensions growing on the Korean Peninsula. In his speech on Friday, Francis warned that "a few potentates are caught up in a resolute struggle for partisan interests, reviving obsolete rhetoric, redesigning spheres of influence and opposing blocs." "Instead of cultivating our surroundings, we are playing instead with fire, missiles and bombs, weapons that bring sorrow and death, covering our common home with ashes and hatred," he said. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and centre of Sunni learning, also addressed the gathering. Tayeb warned that "market economics, monopolisation of resources, greed and arms sales to the Third World" were "manufacturing victims of war". Ahead of the pope's speech, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who met Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September, told journalists that there had been "a few small signs" of progress in negotiations with Moscow. "All peace initiatives are good. What's important is that we carry them out together and that they're not exploited for other goals," he said. The pontiff's 39th international trip since taking office comes three years after he signed a Muslim-Christian manifesto for peace in the United Arab Emirates during the first papal visit to the Gulf region, where Islam was born. The pope's visit to Bahrain has been shadowed by accusations of rights abuses, particularly against Shiites in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, allegations Manama rejects. On Thursday the pontiff criticised use of the death penalty and urged nations to respect human rights. cmk/par/ho/it
FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2017 file photo, Seema Verma, left, then President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, gets on an elevator in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. Verma, President Trump's pick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid consulted Vice President Mike Pence on health care issues while he was Indiana's governor, a post she maintained amid a web of business arrangements, including one that ethics experts say conflicted with her public duties. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci File)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) President Donald Trump's pick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid advised Vice President Mike Pence on health care issues while he was Indiana's governor, a post she maintained amid a web of business arrangements including one that ethics experts say conflicted with her public duties.
A review by The Associated Press found Seema Verma and her small Indianapolis-based firm made millions through consulting agreements with at least nine states while also working under contract for Hewlett Packard. The company holds a financial stake in the health care policies Verma's consulting work helped shape in Indiana and elsewhere.
Her firm, SVC Inc., collected more than $6.6 million in consulting fees from the state of Indiana since 2011, records show. At the same time, records indicate she also received more than $1 million through a contract with Hewlett, the nation's largest operator of state Medicaid claims processing systems.
Last year, her firm collected an additional $316,000 for work done for the state of Kentucky as a subcontractor for HP Enterprises, according to documents obtained by AP through public records requests.
In financial disclosures posted this week, Verma reported she has an agreement to sell SVC Inc. to Health Management Associates of Lansing, Michigan, within 90 days of her confirmation.
In a statement, a spokesman for Verma said there was no conflict of interest and added that she has the support of former officials who served with her under Pence.
Her firm was "completely transparent in regards to its relationship with HP and that there was never a conflict of interest," spokesman Marcus Barlow said in a statement.
A spokesman for Pence did not respond to a request for comment.
Verma faces a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday. Democrats in Washington are aware of many of her consulting arrangements, and have broader concerns about her philosophy about government entitlement programs, lack of background in Medicare and inexperience leading a large organization.
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As a trusted adviser to Pence, she had an office in the state government center and took on duties usually reserved for state administrators. Verma was also widely respected for her grasp on policy and designed a federal Medicaid waiver that allowed Pence to undertake his own conservative expansion of the program while still accepting money made available through the Affordable Care Act.
Verma did not specifically address how she would handle decisions related to HP in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services that was released this week. The letter outlined her plan for managing potential conflicts of interest should she be confirmed by the Senate to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Her relationship with HP was first reported by the Indianapolis Star in 2014.
Legal and ethics experts contacted by AP say Verma's work for Hewlett, and offshoot HP Enterprises, raised questions about where her loyalties lay to the company, or to state taxpayers.
Richard Painter, former President George W. Bush's chief ethics lawyer, called Verma's arrangement a "conflict of interest" that "clearly should not happen and is definitely improper."
Such arrangements are typically prohibited for rank-and-file state employees under Indiana's ethics rules and laws, but they're murkier when it comes to consulting work. Contractors have often replaced state employees in a GOP bid to drive down the number of public employees, distinctions between the two can be hard to discern.
"She was cloaked with so much responsibility and so much authority, people thought she was a state employee," said Debra Minot, a former head of Indiana's Family and Social Services Agency under Pence who worked with Verma.
Indiana University law professor David Orentlicher compared Verma's dual employment to an attorney who represents both the plaintiff and the defense in a lawsuit. It's also similar to federal contract negotiator with a side job for a company they regularly negotiate with, he said.
"If you have one person on both sides of the negotiating, they can't negotiate hard for both sides," said Orentlicher, a former Indiana Democratic state lawmaker.
There was at least one instance where Verma crossed the line in Indiana when she was dispatched by HP to help smooth over a billing dispute, said Minot.
"It was never clear to me until that moment that she, in essence, was representing both the agency and one of our very key contractors," said Minot, who was removed as head of the agency by Pence over her disagreements with Verma. "It was just shocking to me that she could play both sides."
State contracts show Verma's duties to Indiana and Hewlett have overlapped at times. One agreement she held with the state's social services agency required her to "provide technical assistance" to state contractors, as well as the governor's office. Another duty was "contract development and negotiation" with vendors, which included HP and HP Enterprises
Verma reported her salary with SVC is $480,000 and her business income from the company as nearly $2.2 million.
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Johnson reported from Chicago.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Voting was underway for governor of the Indonesian capital after a divisive campaign in which the monumental problems facing Jakarta took a backseat to religious intolerance and racial bigotry.
More than 13,000 polling places opened to accommodate the 7.1 million people eligible to vote. The election is one of dozens taking place Wednesday across Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Incumbent Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, a minority Christian and ethnic Chinese, is vying against Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who is the son of a former president, and Anies Rasyid Baswedan, a moderate now courting the votes of conservative and hard-line Muslims.
Religion and race, rather than the slew of problems that face a car-clogged and sinking Jakarta, have dominated the campaign and transformed the election into a high-stakes tussle between conservatives, who want Islam to be ascendant in politics and society, and moderates. Ahok's chances appeared dashed after accusations of blasphemy led to criminal charges and his ongoing blasphemy trial but he has recently rebounded in opinion polls. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
Hadiyul Umam, 40, a civil servant, said voting for Ahok would go against everything he believes in.
"As a Muslim, I believe that non-Muslims are not allowed to lead Muslims in this country, and personally, I do not like the way Ahok leads, which is not pro-poor people and his words were disrespectful and rude," he said.
Ahok's blasphemy trial and the ease with which hard-liners attracted several hundred thousand to protest against him in Jakarta have undermined Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam and shaken the centrist government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Calls for Ahok to be killed and anti-Chinese sentiment were disturbing elements of the protests, one of which turned violent, with dozens injured and one person dying from the effects of tear gas.
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Defeat for Ahok would also be a defeat for Indonesia's moderate political and religious leaders and further embolden hard-liners, who say a non-Muslim should not lead Muslims. The governorship is also seen as a launching pad into national politics and possibly the presidency.
Jokowi voted in a neighborhood of central Jakarta and called for unity.
"Differences of political choice should not to divide us," he said. "After this election, we want everything to be back as brothers, we all need to maintain our unity and integrity."
Ahok had been popular because of his drive to eliminate corruption from the Jakarta administration and his efforts to make the city more livable.
But brutal demolitions of some of the slum neighborhoods that are home to millions and ill-considered outspokenness proved to be his Achilles' heel. Opponents seized their moment last year when a video surfaced of Ahok telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader.
"I voted for Ahok because he is already showing results of real work and honesty," said Sriyana Dewi, as she left a polling booth with her 7-old-month son in a sling.
Quick-count results compiled by researchers at a sample of the 13,000 polling places will give a reliable indication of the election outcome within hours of the polls closing at 1 p.m.
There will be a runoff election in April if none of the candidates gets the 50 percent plus one vote required for an outright win. One scenario is that Ahok proceeds to the runoff but is defeated by anti-Ahok voters uniting behind the remaining Muslim candidate.
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Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this report.
FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic party attends a press conference in Bucharest, Romania. The chairman of Romania's ruling Social Democratic Party has denied, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, wrongdoing in a trial where he is charged with putting no-work jobs on the government payroll. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Hundreds of Romanians protested against the government for the 15th consecutive evening Tuesday after a court hearing in which one of the country's most powerful politicians denied putting no-work jobs on the public payroll.
The case against Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party, stems from his time as a regional party chief. Dragnea said after a hearing in his trial that he was innocent and that the testimony implicating him was false.
Prosecutors have alleged Dragnea intervened to keep two women who were working for the Social Democratic Party on the payroll of a family welfare agency. The women have pleaded guilty. The next hearing is March 28.
Romania's center-left government passed an emergency decree last month decriminalizing official misconduct, which would have helped Dragnea. But the decree sparked huge protests, with critics saying the government wanted to weaken efforts to crack down on official corruption.
Premier Sorin Grindeanu and his cabinet repealed the measure on Feb. 5, but protests have continued daily. On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside the government offices, yelling "Resign! Shame on you! Thieves!"
Dragnea is barred from being prime minister because of his conviction and two-year suspended sentence last year on vote-rigging charges. He calls the ban deeply unfair.
By Ju-min Park and A. Ananthalakshmi SEOUL/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police on Wednesday detained a woman holding Vietnam travel papers and said they were looking for a "few" other foreign suspects in connection with the apparent assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother. Lawmakers in South Korea earlier cited their spy agency as saying it suspected two female North Korean agents had murdered Kim Jong Nam, and U.S. government sources also said they believed North Korean assassins were responsible. North Korean officials spent hours on Wednesday trying to talk Malaysia out of conducting an autopsy on Kim Jong Nam, three Malaysian government sources familiar with the stand-off told Reuters. Malaysian authorities refused the request, the sources added, although no decision has been taken on whether the body will eventually be handed over to North Korea. The portly and gregarious Kim Jong Nam, eldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was assaulted on Monday morning in the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport and died on the way to hospital, Malaysian police said. The woman detained at Kuala Lumpur airport was identified from CCTV footage at the airport and was alone when she was apprehended, police said in a statement.Media had earlier published a grainy CCTV-captured image of a young woman wearing a white shirt with the letters "LOL" on the front. Documents she carried were in the name of Doan Thi Huong, showed a birth date of May 1998 and birthplace of Nam Dinh, Vietnam, police said. "Police are looking for a few others, all foreigners," Deputy Inspector-General Noor Rashid Ibrahim told Reuters, declining to give their nationalities or gender. "NOWHERE TO HIDE" South Korean intelligence believes Kim Jong Nam was poisoned, the lawmakers in South Korea's capital, Seoul, said. The spy agency told them that the young and unpredictable North Korean leader had issued a "standing order" for his half-brother's assassination, and that there had been a failed attempt in 2012. "The cause of death is strongly suspected to be a poisoning attack," said South Korean lawmaker Kim Byung-kee, who was briefed by the spy agency. Kim Jong Nam had long suspected he could be the target of an assassination attempt; five years ago, he pleaded with his younger sibling to spare his life, according to two lawmakers in South Korea. "We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. We are well aware that the only way to escape is suicide," Kim Jong Nam said in a letter to Kim Jong Un, one of the lawmakers said. Kim had been at the airport's budget terminal to catch a flight to Macau on Monday when someone grabbed or held his face from behind, after which he felt dizzy and sought help at an information desk, Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat said. Malaysian media reports said two female agents splashed Kim's face with a chemical. Reuters could not independently verify that detail. According to South Korea's spy agency, Kim Jong Nam had been living, under Beijing's protection, with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, lawmakers said. One of them said Kim Jong Nam also had a wife and son in Beijing. Kim had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state. "If the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime," South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is also acting president, told a security meeting. The meeting was called in response to Kim Jong Nam's death, news of which first emerged late on Tuesday. "SENSE OF DANGER" South Korea is acutely sensitive to any sign of instability in isolated North Korea, and is still technically in a state of war with its impoverished and nuclear-armed neighbour, which carried out its latest ballistic missile test on Sunday. Malaysian police said Kim held a passport under the name Kim Chol, with a birth date that made him 46. Kim Jong Nam was known to spend a significant amount of time outside North Korea, travelling in Macau and Hong Kong as well as mainland China, and has been caught in the past using forged travel documents. His body was taken on Wednesday to a second hospital, where an autopsy was being performed. There was no mention of Kim Jong Nam's death in North Korean media. In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman said China was aware of the reports and closely following developments. Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a 2012 book on Kim Jong Nam, said Kim's media appearances, which increased around the time South Korean intelligence said he was targeted for assassination, may have been an attempt to protect himself. "I now have the impression that even he may have had a sense of danger, so he began exposing himself in the media and stating his opinions to protect himself and counter North Korea," Gomi told a talk show on Japan's NTV. North Korean agents have killed rivals abroad before. "Kim Jong Un may have been worried about more and more North Korean elites turning against him after Thae Yong Ho defected to the South," said Koh Yu-hwan, an expert on the North Korean leadership at Dongguk University in Seoul, referring to last year's defection by North Korea's deputy ambassador in London. Numerous North Korean officials have been purged or killed since Kim Jong Un took power following his father's death in 2011. Those include his uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was considered the country's second most-powerful person and was believed to have been close to Kim Jong Nam. Jang was executed on Kim Jong Un's orders in 2013. (Reporting by Ju-min Park, Cynthia Kim, Hyunjoo Jin and Yun Hwan Chae in SEOUL, Joseph Sipalan, Praveen Menon and Emily Chow in KUALA LUMPUR, and Philip Wen in BEIJING; Writing by Tony Munroe and John Chalmers; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Mike Collett-White)
By Jutarat Skulpichetrat CHONBURI, Thailand (Reuters) - The most senior U.S. officer to visit Thailand since a 2014 coup emphasised the importance of restoring democracy on Tuesday as he launched the annual Cobra Gold military exercise. The United States scaled down its presence at Asia's largest annual multinational military exercise as one of the former U.S. administration's steps to pressure the junta. With ties improving even before President Donald Trump took office, activists had voiced concern that Washington would put less focus on democratic change in a region where it faces an increasingly forceful China. "We look forward to Thailand's re-emergence as a flourishing democracy because we need Thailand to be a strong and stable partner," said Admiral Harry Harris, head of U.S. Pacific Command, which covers about half the earth's surface. "We need Thailand to get back to being the regional and global leader that it always has been." Harris later met Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha in Bangkok. Speaking after the weekly cabinet meeting, the junta leader said the United States accepted Thailand's strategic plans and just wanted to see fair and honest elections. "Our politics is our business, and we must proceed towards our democracy. Today were marching towards reconciliation," Prayuth told reporters, referring to Thai political rivalry. Harris's attendance at Cobra Gold was planned before the inauguration of Trump, whose policy moves on Asia are closely watched after signals of potential confrontation with China over trade and territory. In the face of the U.S. measures to push for democracy, Thailand has strengthened military cooperation with China. New York-based Human Rights Watch said the change in relations with Thailand marked a worrisome shift given the military's grip on power and the arrests of activists and opponents of army rule. "It appears Pentagon policymakers are intent on using Cobra Gold as a way to reboot U.S. military engagement with their Thai counterparts," wrote John Sifton of the advocacy group in an opinion piece that first appeared in the Washington Post. The Thai junta held a referendum last year on a constitution to allow a general election. It is expected next year. The military government is also due to start meetings with political groups on national reconciliation ahead of the election. Parties have welcomed the idea, but questioned whether the generals can be fair. Thailand has hosted the Cobra Gold war games since they began in 1982. This year's event will be attended by more than 8,300 personnel from 29 countries. Among them will be about 3,600 from the United States. (Additional reporting by; Pracha Hariraksapitak; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
Valentine's Day returned Tuesday to the eastern sector of the Iraqi city of Mosul from where the Islamic State group was expelled last month, at least for a group of enthusiastic schoolchildren. "My feelings for you flow like a river, and will flow on for the rest of my life," young volunteers recited in front of the children at one school, as plastic roses, balloons and heart-stickered pens were handed around. In a celebration of "love for our liberated city", multi-coloured confetti was scattered across the floor and in the children's hair, as they awaited the arrival of a big cream cake. "This February 14 will be unforgettable!" was the verdict of schoolgirl Manal. "I knew there was an event that celebrates love but this is the first time I've had the chance to take part," said the girl with honey-coloured eyes lined with black kohl, framed by a traditional niqab covering the rest of her face and hair. Nour, aged 14, was equally enthralled. "To hold a feast with girls and boys in the same room, with music, simply to have fun, this was unthinkable just a few months ago," she said. Organisers of the Mosul-style Valentine's Day, however, remained on their guard, preventing children from venturing out into the courtyard of the Azzuhur school, whose name means flowers in Arabic. Drones operated by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group still overfly parts of eastern Mosul retaken by Iraqi forces. "Daesh has threatened to attack any schools which reopen. We're not safe here. They can still reach us from the western bank (of the Tigris River dividing the city) or with suicide bombers," warned Farid, a volunteer of the Nahdat Jeel (Rebirth Generation), using an Arabic acronym for IS. The group, made up of around 300 local young men and women aged between 15 and 30, was formed a month ago through contacts on social media, and it has set itself the task of cleaning up schools and hospitals, repainting public squares and planting trees. - 'Get rid of traces' of IS - "We must get rid of all trace of Daesh, whether visible or symbolic," said Rafal Muzaffar, 26. The many slogans splattered on the walls to glorify the "caliphate" proclaimed by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from a Mosul mosque in 2014 at the start of the group's two-year rule of the city have almost all disappeared. "We're trying to carry out symbolic actions that provide a sharp contrast with what life was like over the past two years," said Muzaffar, dressed in a long black tunic and yellow scarf. Last week, the all-Muslim group worked on cleaning up a huge church nicknamed "The Titanic" because of its ship-like shape, "to show that in Mosul our differences are our strength", she said. Mohamed Namoq, one of Nahdat Jil's founders, was jailed and tortured by IS for almost two months for having recited poems on the radio that the group deemed subversive. "Whatever the threats we face, nothing can stop us from carrying on and from shouting it out loud and clear, something we should have done long ago," said Namoq. Haneen, 17, is also determined to play a role in restoring life to Mosul. "All young people should take part, not only boys but girls as well," she said. As for celebrating Valentine's Day, that was "magical, because how can you live without love?" she asked, while pointing out shyly -- in deference to her conservative society -- that she does not have a boyfriend.
GDP grew slightly less than in 2015, mostly due to lower use of EU funds.
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After a drop in economic growth in the third quarter, the development in the final three months of 2016 exceeded some analysts expectations. Slovakia likely benefited from stronger domestic and foreign demand, though it struggled with investments which declined significantly after the boom caused by the need to use the rest of the EU funds allocated for the previous programming period.
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Observers hope the situation will improve in the coming quarters, though there are some external risks that may hinder economic growth.
The growth of Slovakias economy in the end of the year surprised us positively, Lubomir Korsnak, analyst with UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia wrote in a memo.
The gross domestic product at constant prices increased 3.1 percent year-on-year in the final quarter of 2016. After seasonal adjustment, it rose by 2.9 percent y/y and by 0.8 percent compared with the previous quarter, according to the flash estimate published by the Slovak Statistics Office on February 14.
Economic growth for 2016 thus amounted to 3.3 percent y/y, a decline of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. This was mostly the result of Slovakia drawing the remaining money from EU funds allocated for the 2007-2013 programming period. The lower amounts had the biggest impact on public investments, explained Slovenska Sporitelna analyst Katarina Muchova.
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Domestic and foreign demand a driving force
Though the Statistics Office will publish the detailed structure only on March 7, analysts already point to some factors that may have impacted the GDP growth. This concerns particularly an increase in both domestic and foreign demand.
Mostly the household consumption posts positive results, due to the favourable development in the labour market the drop in the unemployment rate; the increase in employment and real wages help increase the disposable income of households, Muchova wrote in a memo.
Slovakia also benefits from the growth among eurozone economies, which rose by 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter and 1.8 percent y/y in the final quarter of 2016, according to Korsnak.
On the other hand, the impact of investments was rather low, especially those in the public sector.
Data continue to show a decrease in construction, a retreat from an exceptionally good 2015, as a result of less EU funds, the Tatra Banka analysts wrote in a memo.
Korsnak, however, predicts that private investments may have grown in the 4Q compared with the previous quarter, which is indicated by bank loans.
Labour productivity growth slows
The level of employment continued increasing in the end of the last year, growing from 2.4 percent y/y in 3Q to 2.6 percent in the last three months. After seasonal adjustment, the total employment rose 2.5 percent in annual terms and 0.6 percent in quarterly comparison, according to the Statistics Office.
The numbers continue to be high compared to GDP growth, the Tatra Banka analysts claimed. This implies a slow-down in productivity growth, but could still be good news. It suggests that workers with lower marginal productivity, who were impacted most during the recession, are returning to the workforce.
As for the increase in wages, it certainly exceeded the increase in labour productivity in 4Q 2016. The real unit labour costs continued growing for the third year in a row and posted the longest uninterrupted growth period in at least the past 20 years," according to Korsnak.
Elections may endanger the growth
Analysts agree that the economic growth this year will exceed 3 percent. The economy will be positively impacted by domestic demand, particularly the consumption of households, but also the increase in net exports, according to Muchova.
Moreover, investments both in the public and the private sector are expected to restart, while also the restoration of European economies and the industrial sector will have a positive effect on growth, Korsnak added.
On the other hand, the growth may be threatened by several external risks, analysts agree.
Certain risks arise from the slow global growth, the Brexit referendum and its potential impact on the euro, as well as the fragile growth in the eurozone economies, Muchova wrote.
Also the political situation may endanger Slovakias growth as several important European economies, including Germany and France, will hold elections this year, Korsnak predicts.
Though we still expect that these elections will not change the direction of these countries significantly, the risk of the victory of political forces based on protectionism, which may contribute to further destabilisation of Europe, are not negligible, the analyst added.
The potential victory of these anti-systemic parties in any of the countries would immediately weaken the economic sentiment across the EU and hinder or even halt economic restoration in Europe, Korsnak concluded.
The verdict followed the testimony of three witnesses in the incident of burning an EU flag.
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The district court in Bratislava acquitted extremist Marian Misun of charges in the case of burning a flag of the European Union in front of the Bratislava Castle back in 2012, claiming he did not commit a crime.
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The deed can be qualified only as an offence, a single judge ruled. However, in this case the two-year limitation period (time within which legal proceedings may be initiated) has already passed, the SITA newswire reported.
The verdict is not valid yet, as the prosecutor can still appeal it.
Before issuing the verdict, the court invited three witnesses whose testimony was demanded by the defendant. One of them was Oskar Dobrovodsky, organiser of the 2012 march titled Together for a decent and safe life in Slovakia at which the flag was burnt. The witnesses confirmed Magats claim that they had stated their intention to burn the flag several times, and police had not interfered.
They became involved only after the flag was set on fire, according to them.
Magat and the witnesses said such a form of protest is common abroad and that it is an expression free speech, as reported by SITA.
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In the original verdict issued by the Bratislava I District Court, Misun and Stefan Potocky were fined 300 and 500, respectively. They were also banned from staying in the capital for two years. The Bratislava Regional Court, to which they appealed, changed the ruling only slightly in June 2014, abolishing the two-year punishment for Misun.
The Supreme Court, however, accepted Misuns appeal and returned the case to the lower-instance courts, saying the proceeding was one-sided. The courts used only the evidence provided by the criminal authorities, like police hearings and a recording of the incident made by the police officers. They did not want to hear from participants of the incident, SITA reported.
The court also claimed that the deed did not meet the requirements of the crime of disorderly conduct.
Misun currently works as an assistant to MP Martin Belusky of the far-right Peoples Party Our Slovakia (LSNS), while Potocky is fighting in Ukraine, SITA reported.
With the report, she pointed to several serious flaws in social custody facilities.
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Parliament has refused to take note of Ombudswoman Jana Dubovcovas report in which she pointed to the violation of childrens rights by methods used by social custody authorities.
Only 63 MPs of 140 present voted for the report. The report was rejected by deputies of Smer, the Slovak National Party (except for MP Radovan Balaz), three Most-Hid MPs, the whole caucus of the far-right Peoples Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) and three non-affiliated MPs, the TASR newswire reported.
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The ombudswoman surveyed the social custody facilities in 2016 based on several motions and media reports. The document deals with the protection of the rights of children who are placed in resocialisation centres or childrens homes based on court rulings or agreements between public authorities and parents.
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She revealed serious flaws in decisions when placing children into facilities, particularly if it is organised by the state. She criticised the courts, for example, for not asking for childrens opinions.
The authorities that should secure these childrens rights usually adopt steps to secure the problem-free operation of their institution, reads the report, as quoted by TASR.
It seems that these public authorities have not taken on their role in protecting children.
The system is set in a way that it protects them [the authorities], the ombudswoman added, as quoted by TASR.
Dubovcova also misses a system of independent control in the facilities and points to the insufficient representation of children in the proceedings. Moreover, she also points to dubious educational methods in the facilities for children which may in some cases seem humiliating, as reported by TASR.
The reports findings have systemic character, they are not failures of individuals, Dubovcova added.
They discussed the challenges of the 72nd UN General Assembly and mutual collaboration between Slovakia and South Korea.
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Slovak President Andrej Kiska unofficially met with former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon during his visit to Kenya.
Ki-moon appreciated Slovakia and its commitment on a multilateral level, which is proven also by the fact that the country will preside over the 72nd UN General Assembly, the SITA newswire reported.
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The main challenges for the next chair of the General Assembly include progress in global collaboration when solving problems with migration and refugees, and fulfillment of international commitments arising from the Paris climate deal, Ki-moon said.
Kiska stressed that it is a moral duty of Slovakia as a modern and prospering country to help others. He stated as an example the year-long development activities in Kenya carried out by various non-governmental organisations, volunteers and funds allocated within official development aid, SITA reported.
Kiska and Ki-moon also commented on the very good collaboration between Slovakia and South Korea, the latters home country, and the possibilities of developing it further.
Police detained five people and seized extensive evidence during house searches.
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Slovak and British authorities, supported by Europol and Eurojust, have dismantled an organised criminal group involved in trafficking Slovak victims for the purposes of sham marriages and sexual exploitation, Europol informed at its website.
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The Police in Scotland carried out house searches in Glasgow in early February, while Europol specialists were deployed on the spot to support the national authorities. They detained five suspects in police custody.
Moreover, 16 women, described as potential victims of trafficking, were identified and offered care and assistance by a specialised non-governmental organisation, Europol informed in a press release.
In addition, the police seized numerous travel documents, computer equipment, mobile phones and cash during the operation, which they plan to use for further investigation.
This joint action was preceded by extensive and complex investigations supported by Europol and Eurojust. Moreover, two days ago, the second phase of this operation took place in Trebisov (eastern Slovakia), where four search warrants and four arrests were executed.
The modus operandi of this organised criminal group was to recruit vulnerable women from challenging socio-economic backgrounds by deception, promising them attractive and well-paid jobs abroad, and then forcing them into sham marriages and prostitution, Europol informed.
The authority actively supported this operation against human trafficking and provided operational and analytical support to Slovakia and the United Kingdom throughout the investigation. Europol specialists in trafficking human beings delivered real-time cross-checks of the data gathered using a mobile office and data extraction device during the actions, the press release reads.
ANTOFAGASTA (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) , Chile Feb 15 (Reuters) - Renewed talks in Chile (Stuttgart: 704599.SG - news) to end a week-long strike at Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, have been delayed until likely at least Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) , the union said Wednesday.
Concerns over a prolonged stoppage at the BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) -owned mine, which produced around 1 million tonnes of copper last year, have driven the copper price up since last month, although news of the fresh talks has helped cool the rally.
The delay is due to pre-existing agenda commitments, with the company unable to meet Wednesday and union leaders planning to visit capital Santiago on Thursday to meet with government ministers.
"We are returning on Friday so that day is not possible, but we could do Saturday, Sunday, Monday," union leader Carlos Allendes told Reuters in Antofagasta.
BHP declined to comment but has said its "door is open" to fresh talks.
The organization of the government-mediated talks will be led by Chile's work directorate. It could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Frances Kerry)
donald trump executive order
Last year, the US Department of Labor announced a new fiduciary rule, which would require investment advisers to put client interests above their own when it comes to overseeing retirement accounts.
But that decree may never see the light of day. President Donald Trump signed an executive order February 3 giving the new White House time to review the rule, which administration officials have indicated they aim to rescind.
Though Trump's order has already received pushback, it's still in the works, with a status update slated for March 10, CNBC reports.
The White House move was met with mixed reviews. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren took aim at the executive order, saying it would "make it easier for investment advisers to cheat you out of your retirement savings."
However, finance industry executives say the fiduciary rule would have limited choices for investors. "We think it is a bad rule. It is a bad rule for consumers," Gary Cohn, the former COO of Goldman Sachs who is now Trump's chief economic adviser, told The Wall Street Journal. "This is like putting only healthy food on the menu, because unhealthy food tastes good but you still shouldn't eat it because you might die younger."
It's important to remember that regardless, the fiduciary rule would only affect retirement accounts. Which means that for any other investments, not every financial adviser is required to always act in your best interest. Those not working to the fiduciary standard are held only to a suitability standard, meaning their advice must be suitable for the clients' financial situation, but is not necessarily in their best interest. For instance, brokers operating under a suitability standard might let the commission attached to a product influence their recommendations.
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"When you think about it, it's amazing how much control financial advisers have over our lives," writes Liz Davidson in her book, "What Your Financial Advisor Isn't Telling You." "Choose one who is actually a criminal, and it is possible to lose your entire nest egg."
That being said, you shouldn't just write off financial advisers completely.
"To completely eschew using an adviser can be as big a mistake as picking the wrong one," Davidson says. "When you need financial advice, they can be a tremendous help it's just a matter of finding the best one for your situation (and being able to spot the Bernie Madoffs of the world before you hand over your life savings)."
To help you sniff out the good from the bad, we rounded up 15 questions to ask prospective advisers, from the Department of Labor's guide for consumers on how to tell if your adviser is working in your best interest:
Elizabeth Warren
Do you consider yourself a fiduciary?
A fiduciary has a legal duty to act in your best interest and can be sued for taking actions otherwise.
Those not working to the fiduciary standard are held only to a suitability standard, meaning their advice must be suitable for the clients' financial situation, but is not necessarily in their best interest.
"Very few financial advisers hold themselves out to be fiduciaries, and even fewer will sign an agreement that states, in no uncertain terms, that they are operating in a fiduciary capacity as your adviser," Davidson explains. "However, if you can find one who is willing to do this, you are automatically putting yourself in a safer position."
More specific questions you can ask:
If not (a fiduciary), why not?
Are you willing to act as a fiduciary with a duty to act solely on my behalf?
Are you willing to disclose to me any conflicts of interest that may interfere with your acting solely on my behalf?
Are you willing to put this commitment in writing?
It's important to be specific when asking about whether or not they're a fiduciary, since many advisers are dually registered as a broker (only subject to the suitability standard) and a fiduciary. Dually registered advisers can switch roles, thereby blurring the broker-fiduciary line.
As Harold Pollack and Helaine Olen explain in their book, "The Index Card," "You need to ask and ask quite specifically: Do you work to the fiduciary standard at all times? This last part, 'at all times,' is important. As the fine print on brokerage forms indicates, the fact that an adviser commits to a fiduciary standard for some of her dealings with you does not hold her to this standard in others."
How are you compensated?
This is one of the most important questions to have in your back pocket. Unbeknownst to many, a lot of advisers earn commissions by recommending certain financial products and services to you.
"The problem is that this system incentivizes advisers to sell high-fee investments, annuities, and insurance," Davidson explains. "High-fee mutual funds, annuities, and insurance policies typically perform worse than lower-fee options because the fees eat into your return."
You'll want to ask your adviser if they're allowed to sell investments outside of what their employer offers, Davidson says: "If the answer is no, chances are that you should decide not to limit your financial success by working with these advisers. If the answer is yes, find out exactly how selling outside investments affects each adviser." For example, will they get a lower commission for selling outside investments?
More specific questions you can ask:
Do you earn fees or commissions based on the number of products that I buy or the size of my investment?
Will you earn a higher fee or other type of compensation if I invest in certain products you recommend or will you receive fees for services related to specific investment products?
Will you provide a list of the fees and commissions you receive either directly from me or from other sources in writing?
Are you a licensed or registered investment adviser?
"Financial planning requires proper training," Davidson explains. "Like a surgeon who is not properly trained and prone to make mistakes, your financial adviser may simply not have the training, knowledge, or experience to deliver sound advice to you."
Davidson recommends looking for an adviser with at least 10 years of experience in financial planning and who has a CFP (certified financial planner) designation, which is considered the "gold standard" for financial planning. To give you an idea of the training required for this designation, "the pass rate for the exam to become a CFP certificant is about the same as the pass rate on the bar exam that law school grads are required to take in order to practice law," she explains.
Ask your adviser about their experience and certifications and then verify it. Davidson recommends using www.finra.org: "Type your adviser's name into the FINRA database and you'll learn what securities licenses this person actually has and, even more important, whether or not any complaints, disciplinary actions, suspensions, or very frequent changes of employment appear on his or her record ... You'll want to see a completely clean record ... Even a single complaint, and certainly any disciplinary action, is a major red flag."
More specific questions you can ask:
Are you registered with the State, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), or the CFP board?
For how long? What is your experience?
Who supervises you, or, are you a sole practitioner?
If a sole practitioner, do you have professional liability insurance?
Have you (or your firm) ever been disciplined? For what?
Read the DOL's full guide for consumers on how to tell if your adviser is working in your best interest.
This is an update of a story originally written by Kathleen Elkins.
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You dont have to tell a patient they may be having Botox for the wrong reasons. Photograph: Jutta Klee/Getty Images/fStop
Almost exactly a year ago I visited a Harley Street address, notebook in hand, to interview a plastic surgeon, a number of his staff and a few of his satisfied clients. The story was simple: business was good. The place was high-ceilinged and expensively decorated. In the UK the number of cosmetic surgical procedures had increased to record levels, by a whopping 13% year on year, in line with a decade-long upward trend.
What a difference a year makes. Figures just released by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) show that procedures actually dropped by 40% in 2016. A total of 31,000 cosmetic surgeries were performed in the UK last year, fewer than in 2007. Its one of those statistics that seems to indicate in contrast to all the other evidence that sometime last year people started to see sense.
In a press statement Baaps cited several possible explanations for the decline, from uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum to global fragility. Its also been suggested that larger cultural forces mainly Instagram have left us with less rigid ideas about beauty.
The thing about such a surprising reversal is that no one knows exactly whats behind it. It makes sense that in times of upheaval people are reluctant to make life-changing decisions or commit to big purchases, but there was no corresponding drop in first-time mortgages or foreign holidays. Its true that more people are opting for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which are cheaper and less invasive, but thats been the case for some time.
Id love to believe that the public has begun to seen the light regarding the often illusory benefits of cosmetic surgery, but if I had to guess Id say it was plastic surgeons themselves who are driving this shift. Non-surgical procedures are cheaper for them too, and they can do lots more of them. The practice I visited last year had already thoroughly diversified into Botox, thread-lifting, and proprietorial anti-ageing ointments.
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Non-surgical clients require no hospital stay, and they have to keep coming back because the treatments wear off. Plastic surgery remains risky, and comes with tiresome ethical obligations on the part of the surgeon. Its estimated that about half of plastic surgeons turn away 10% of all patients, and that one in five surgeons turns away a third. You dont have to tell a patient they may be having Botox for the wrong reasons.
I arrived to find that two freezer cabinets had been moved to the spot where the newspapers used to be. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Corner shop chaos
The other day I went to buy milk and a newspaper from the corner shop. Ive done the same thing every day, at roughly the same time, for about 15 years, more or less on autopilot.. On this occasion I arrived to find that two freezer cabinets had been moved to the spot where the newspapers used to be. I like to think of myself as a rational and perceptive being, quick to adapt to small adjustments in my immediate surroundings, but that doesnt quite square with my behaviour in this instance: I stared at the freezers in total incomprehension for about 20 seconds, my jaw hanging open.
The first conclusion I drew was that Id walked into the wrong shop, or maybe a different universe. It wasnt until another customer came in and experienced the same bafflement alongside me that I figured out what was going on. I found the newspapers on another shelf, bought one and left, forgetting the milk.
Dumb and dumberer
I spent the rest of that day appraising the world around me with renewed suspicion, which made me realise how important it is to have ones environment disrupted from time to time; if you dont notice something is amiss, chances are you wont notice anything. I wish I could say this heightened sense of awareness stayed with me, but I went back to the shop the next day and performed the whole dumbshow of stupidity all over again, although I did at least remember the milk. Its amazing were allowed to drive.
Yildirim, 7, left, sits on her father, Fatih, of Schaumburg, and Adin Bendat-Appell, 9, right, sits on his father, Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell, of Deerfield, during a protest at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago: Getty
A few weeks ago, Saturday night subway commuters in New York met with the sight of swastikas daubed onto their trains walls and set about collectively removing them, appropriately enough, with hand sanitisers.
It wasnt the first sighting of swastikas in New York since Donald Trump was elected President. But it came days after the White House intentionally omitted mention of Jewish victims in the Presidents Holocaust Remembrance Day message. On that same day, Trump issued his ban on refugees and anyone from seven majority-Muslim countries. Put together, as these things have been, the Trump administration has united Muslim and Jewish communities in a way that few could manage.
Jewish American solidarity over the Muslim ban is no surprise: the measure, and its devastating effects, were painfully evocative of Jewish stories of migration to the US or tragic accounts of family members denied entry to the US as refugees, only to be killed in the Holocaust.
Jewish organisations, as well as religious groups spanning liberal and Orthodox communities, were quick to condemn the ban and take part in protests. Dozens of rabbis were recently arrested while demonstrating against the ban outside Trump Tower in Manhattan. One of them, Jill Jacobs, told The New York Times: We know that some of the language thats being used now to stop Muslims from coming in is the same language that was used to stop Jewish refugees from coming.
This unity flows in both directions: the Council of American Islamic Relations (Cair), as well as fighting the Muslim ban, has come out in support of Jewish communities after incidents of hate vandalism echoing similar expressions of solidarity taking place in US neighbourhoods. Just after Trumps election, a new Muslim-Jewish advisory council was formed to tackle both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, while existing grassroots organisations premised on joint Muslim-Jewish action have reported a surge in interest.
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The solidarity has gained momentum because of the combination of the Muslim ban and the anti-Semitism unleashed as a result of Trumps election the bomb threats to Jewish community centres, the rise in anti-Semitic incidents, all those swastikas in the streets. The whole thing seems to spell out in bold what had previously been in the subtext: for the far right, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia go hand-in-hand.
This has already been tracked in Europe where, in the post-9/11 period, far-right parties opportunistically swapped one hatred for another in a rehabilitation exercise. A resurgent populist right clocked that scapegoating Muslims and scaremongering over Islamification could bring electoral gain where anti-Semitism had long become unacceptable.
By 2010, far-right figures such as the Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders were canvassing for Jewish endorsements (another image-scrubbing tactic) by talking up support for Israel as a vanguard in a broader Judeo-Christian battle against fundamentalist Islam. Welcomed by some of Israels hard-right government, Wilders described the country as a front-line fighter, warning: "If Jerusalem falls, Amsterdam and New York will be next." Last year, the leader of Austrias Freedom Party, founded by former Nazis, was unofficially welcomed in Israel by members of the coalition governments Likud party.
Trumps chief of staff Stephen Bannon, who previously ran the extreme right Breitbart website, which trades in white supremacy and anti-Semitism, has also talked of a Judeo-Christian war. And he has cast the American Jewish community (along with the media, universities and the left) as unwitting enablers of jihad. This gets to what one progressive Jewish American described to me as old school anti-Semitism, reloaded: once, American Jewry was blamed for communism; it now stands accused of facilitating violent Islamist extremism.
As with the far right in Europe, Team Trumps support for Israel is a fig leaf. Explaining why the presidents Holocaust Remembrance Day message removed references to anti-Semitism, White House press secretary Sean Spicer swiftly pivoted to this subject, noting: In respect to, you know, Israel and the Jewish people specifically, theres been no better friend than Donald Trump when it comes to protecting Israel.
But being pro-Israel, in this context, clearly does not preclude anti-Semitism. When some nativist far-rightists support Israel, thats because they are equal-opportunity ethno-nationalists promoting the ideology both domestically and globally. To put it bluntly, this sort of support for Israel creepily carries the sense that Jewish people are terrific in their own country. Just not so much when they presume to live elsewhere.
All of which has created clarity of purpose among those who may previously have been divided over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Cheerleading for a hard-right version of Israel, from the far-right end of the spectrum with its tones of anti-Semitism, can now be unequivocally named as a harmful convenience, a toxic roadblock thrown in the path of potentially powerful community alliances. If the past few weeks in the US are anything to go by, Jewish and Muslim communities are, now more than ever, inclined to jump over it.
Boys undergoing drug rehabilitation attend a lesson inside a government run drug rehabilitation centre in Bicutan, Metro Manila, in Philippines December 12, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Thomson Reuters
MANILA (Reuters) - Before Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs had even begun, allies of the Philippines president were quietly preparing for a wider offensive.
On June 30, as Duterte was sworn in, they introduced a bill into the Philippine Congress that could allow children as young as nine to be targeted in a crackdown that has since claimed more than 7,600 lives.
The bill proposes to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9 years old to prevent what it calls "the pampering of youthful offenders who commit crimes knowing they can get away with it."
"You can ask any policeman or anyone connected with the law enforcement: We produce a generation of criminals," Duterte said in a speech in Manila on December 12. Young children, he said, were becoming drug runners, thieves and rapists, and must be "taught to understand responsibility."
The move to target children signals Duterte's determination to intensify his drug war, which faces outrage abroad and growing unease at home. The president's allies say his support in Congress will ensure the bill passes the House of Representatives by June.
The House would approve the bill "within six months," said Fredenil Castro, who co-authored the legislation with the speaker of the House, Pantaleon Alvarez. It might face opposition in the Senate, but would prevail because of Duterte's allies there, added Castro.
Philippines children kids drug war victims killings
REUTERS/Czar Dancel
National police chief Ronald Dela Rosa recently announced that he was suspending anti-narcotics operations, which have killed more than 2,500 people, while the force rids itself of corrupt cops. The announcement came after it emerged last month that drug squad officers had killed a South Korean businessman at national police headquarters.
The killing of drug suspects has continued, albeit at a slower pace, with most following the pattern of killings that police have blamed on vigilantes. Human rights monitors believe vigilantes have killed several thousand people and operate in league with the police a charge the police deny.
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Duterte has signaled he intends to continue his drug war. In late January, he said the campaign would run until his presidency ends in 2022.
'In cahoots with drug users'
Lowering the age of criminality was justified, Castro told Reuters, because many children were "in cahoots with drug users, with drug pushers, and others who are related to the drug trade." He said he based his support for the bill on what he saw from his car and at churches children begging and pickpocketing. "For me, there isn't any evidence more convincing than what I see in every day of my life," he said.
Children kids Philippines drug war crime victims
Reuters
A controversial bill to restore the death penalty, another presidential priority, is also expected to pass the House of Representatives by mid-year, according to Duterte allies in Congress.
Supporters of the bill to lower the age of criminality say holding young children liable will discourage drug traffickers from exploiting them. Opponents, including opposition lawmakers and human rights groups, are appalled at a move they say will harm children without evidence it will reduce crime.
There is also resistance inside Duterte's administration. A member of Duterte's cabinet who heads the Department of Social Welfare and Development opposes the move. And a branch of the police responsible for protecting women and children disputes the claim that children are heavily involved in the drug trade a claim not supported by official data.
Opponents warn that lowering the age of criminality would further strain a juvenile justice system that is struggling to cope. At worst, they say, with a drug war raging nationwide, the bill could legitimize the killing of minors.
"What will stop them from targeting children?" said Karina Teh, a local politician and child rights advocate in Manila. "They are using the war on drugs to criminalize children."
In the firing line
The drug-war death toll includes at least 29 minors who were either shot by unidentified gunmen or accidentally killed during police operations from July to November 2016, according to the Children's Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC) and the Network Against Killings in the Philippines, both Manila-based advocacy groups.
Dela Rosa said the Philippine National Police "fully supports" the new bill. It is "true and supported by data" that minors are used by drug traffickers because they can't be held criminally liable, the police chief said in a submission to the House of Representatives.
Philippines children kids drug war victims jail killings
REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Some police officers working on the streets agree with Dela Rosa. In Manila's slums, children as young as six act as lookouts for dealers, shouting "The enemy is coming!" when police approach, said Cecilio Tomas, an anti-narcotics officer in the city. By their early teens, some become delivery boys and then dealers and users, said Tomas.
Salvador Panelo, Duterte's chief legal counsel, said the bill would protect children by stopping criminals from recruiting them. "They will not become targets simply because they will no longer be involved," he said.
Child rights experts say the legislation could put children in the firing line. They point to the deadly precedent set in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte pioneered his hard-line tactics as mayor. The Coalition Against Summary Execution, a Davao-based rights watchdog, documented 1,424 vigilante-style killings in the city between 1998 and 2015. Of those victims, 132 were 17 or younger.
For all but three years during that period, Duterte was either Davao's mayor or vice-mayor. He denied any involvement in the killings.
Contradictory evidence
Althea Barbon was one of the children killed in the current nationwide drug war. The four year old was fatally wounded in August when police in an anti-narcotics operation shot at her father, the two Manila-based advocacy groups said.
Philippines drug violence victims killings deaths Rodrigo Duterte
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
Unidentified gunmen shot dead Ericka Fernandez, 17, in a Manila alley on October 26, police said. Her bloody Barbie doll was collected as evidence.
And on December 28, three boys, aged 15 or 16, were killed in Manila by what police said were motorbike-riding gunmen.
If the bill passes, the Philippines won't be the only country where the age of criminality is low.
In countries including England, Northern Ireland and Switzerland it is 10, according to the website of the Child Rights International Network, a research and advocacy group.
In Scotland, children as young as eight can be held criminally responsible, but the government is in the process of raising the age limit to 12.
Critics of the Philippines' bill say lower age limits are largely found in countries where the legal systems, detention facilities and rehabilitation programs are more developed.
Statistics from the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the government's top anti-narcotics body, appear to contradict the Duterte camp's claim that there is a large number of young children deeply involved in the drug trade.
There were 24,000 minors among the 800,000 drug users and dealers who had registered with the authorities by November 30, according to police statistics.
Philippines drug war violence jails
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
But less than two percent of those minors, or about 400 children, were delivering or selling drugs. Only 12 percent, or 2,815, were aged 15 or younger. Most of the 24,000 minors were listed as drug users.
The number of minors involved in the drug trade is "just a small portion," said Noel Sandoval, deputy head of the Women and Children's Protection Center (WCPC), the police department that compiled the data.
The WCPC is not pushing to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility, said Sandoval, but if the age is to be lowered, his department recommends a minimum age of 12, not 9.
Between January 2011 and July 2016, 956 children aged six to 17 were "rescued nationwide from illegal drug activity," according to PDEA.
Philippines drug war deaths killings violence Rodrigo Duterte
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
They were mostly involved with marijuana and crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug also known as shabu, and were handed over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Of these, only 80 were under the age of 15.
More detentions
Asked for evidence that younger children are involved in the drug trade, Duterte's legal counsel Panelo said the president had data from "all intelligence agencies." Panelo declined to disclose those numbers.
Among the opponents of the bill is a member of Duterte's cabinet, Judy Taguiwalo, secretary of the DSWD. The legislation runs counter to scientific knowledge about child development and would result not in lower crime rates but in more children being detained, Taguiwalo wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives in October.
Hidden by a high wall topped with metal spikes, the Valenzuela youth detention center in northern Manila is already operating at twice its capacity. Its 89 boys eat meals in shifts the canteen can't hold them all at once and sleep on mats that spill out of the spartan dorms and into the hallways.
The government-run center, which currently houses boys aged 13 to 17 for up to a year, is considered a model facility in the Philippines. Even so, said Lourdes Gardoce, a social worker at the Valenzuela home, "It's a big adjustment on our part if we have to cater to kids as young as nine."
(Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Andrew R.C. Marshall. Edited by David Lague and Peter Hirschberg.)
NOW WATCH: 'I have done this before, why would I not do it again?': Philippines president says he once threw a man out of a helicopter
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By Michelle Price HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong is beefing up its anti-money laundering and corporate disclosure laws in a move that some financial crime specialists say could lead to the exodus of billions of dollars in assets from the territory as people seek to avoid increased scrutiny. The Chinese territory's government has been rattled by last year's Panama Papers scandal, which showed that Hong Kong was the most active centre in the world for the creation of shell companies. They have many legitimate purposes but can also be used to hide assets and evade taxes. Some of these entities were linked to powerful Chinese politicians, creating a potential embarrassment for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has been conducting an anti-corruption crusade in the past few years. The Chinese central governments Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment. Through legislative proposals published without any fanfare last month, Hong Kong's Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (FSTB) seeks to impose anti-money laundering laws on non-financial businesses and to require private companies to disclose who their true owners are. The new rules would introduce a direct licensing regime for agents that set up and manage the paperwork for thousands of trusts and "letter box" shell companies that have no real business operations. The FSTB says it is concerned that the system may be used by criminals to conceal and launder illicit proceeds. The trust and company agents, as well as lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents, will have a statutory obligation to perform a range of checks on clients and their source of funds under the proposals. They will have to report any suspicious transactions or face the threat of prosecution, and be required to keep records for six years. Hong Kong financial firms have been subject to strict anti-money laundering laws introduced in 2012 but the service sector has until now been operating under self-regulatory regimes without the force of law. CRIMINAL OFFENCE Private Hong Kong companies would be required for the first time to obtain and hold up-to-date information on their true owners and controlling parties, and provide this information to the authorities upon request. Failure to keep accurate records would be a criminal offence. The changes should be implemented "as a matter of priority" to meet requirements outlined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body that sets standards for combating money laundering, ahead of its review of Hong Kong next year, the FSTB said in the proposals. They also come as China, the largest source of the money channelled into offshore centres, according to the Panama Papers documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, battles to stem capital outflows. Nearly $1.4 trillion of illicit money, derived largely from corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering, flowed out of China between 2004 and 2013, according to think tank Global Financial Integrity. Much of that went through Hong Kong, say the financial crime experts. The nation's central bank, the People's Bank of China, which regulates money flows inside China and into and out of the country, did not respond to a request for comment. The leaked documents from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, which contained information on 214,000 offshore companies, showed that its Hong Kong offices were its busiest globally. It worked with more than 2,200 banks, accountants, law firms and other middlemen in the city to funnel money from China and elsewhere into nearly 37,700 entities registered in secretive locations such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI). DIRTY MONEY CLAIM The scandal also exposed the widespread practice among Hong Kong companies of creating offshore entities to act as shareholders, shielding the identity of real owners. Companies principally based in the BVI were the largest source of direct investment in Hong Kong resident enterprises and the largest source of annual investment inflows between 2013 and 2015 the latest government data shows. If you were afraid of Xi's corruption clampdown these measures may make you think twice about parking your assets in Hong Kong," and they will probably be moved elsewhere, said Jane Moir, director at Princedale Advisory, a Hong Kong corporate investigations firm. Mossack Fonseca's Hong Kong office did not respond to a request for comment, but the company has said it complies with a range of regulations and conducts due diligence on clients. Data from Hong Kong's Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) suggests dirty money is slipping through the net, say financial crime specialists. Last year, real-estate agents, accountants and trust and company service providers combined reported just 88 of the 76,590 suspicious transactions reports submitted to the JFIU, with lawyers submitting 969. Banks, brokers and other financial firms submitted 93 percent of all reports. Industry bodies representing lawyers, accountants, agents that set up trusts and companies, and real estate agents, said their members already operate under strict professional codes of conduct that include anti-money laundering procedures. The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants' CEO Raphael Ding said in a statement that the government's proposals on customer due diligence and record keeping will help it "to enhance its regulation of the profession" regarding anti-money laundering. Still, he said there were many legitimate reasons why companies and individuals wish to make use of offshore structures to hold assets. The Estate Agents Authority, which is responsible for regulating real estate professionals in Hong Kong, said that it "attaches great importance" to anti-money laundering measures by those with real estate sales licenses. And the Hong Kong Law Society said in a statement that there is no evidence that solicitors have failed in their obligation to make suspicious transaction reports. RACE AGAINST TIME The consultation on the proposed law closes on March 5 and the government hopes to table a bill in the legislature in the second quarter. Kenneth Leung, a lawmaker representing accountants, said the proposals may be opposed by some business interests but that the Legislative Council would likely be supportive. The government will have to move fast if it wants to implement and enforce the new rules by the time FATF visits Hong Kong next year, said Leung. FATF can put a jurisdiction on a blacklist if it is uncooperative in the battle against money laundering. While that doesn't trigger any formal sanctions, it can make banks, companies and other entities very wary about doing business with that place. (Reporting by Michelle Price; Additional reporting by Jess Yu in Hong Kong; Editing by Martin Howell)
Once research has shown it is safe to do so, human embryos, sperm and eggs could all be genetically manipulated to mend faulty genes which are known to cause serious disease or disability. Photograph: TEK image/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF
Powerful gene editing procedures could one day be allowed to prevent people from passing on serious medical conditions to their children, according to a major report from senior US researchers.
The cautious endorsement from two of the most prestigious US science institutions means that human embryos, sperm and eggs could all be genetically manipulated to mend faulty genes which are known to cause serious disease or disability, once research has shown it is safe to do so.
The report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine says the procedure is highly contentious because any genetic changes that are made are then inherited by the next generation. The technology would therefore cross a line many have viewed as ethically inviolable, it states.
Most scientists agree that far more work is needed before clinical trials of so-called germline therapies can begin in humans. But the report argues that if the procedure is found to be safe and effective in the years ahead, it should not be ruled out in exceptional cases.
We have identified a very strict set of criteria which, if satisfied, could make it permissible to start clinical trials, said Alta Charo, co-chair of the report committee and professor of law and bioethics at the University of WisconsinMadison. While gene editing is unlikely to affect the prevalence of diseases any time soon, it could provide some families with their best hope for having healthy children.
According to the report, human embryos, sperm and eggs should only be considered for gene editing to prevent serious conditions and when no other alternative is available. To go ahead, scientists would have to be confident they could stop a disorder by rewriting the DNA in a faulty gene to make it into a healthy version already found in the population.
The report stresses the need for a stringent oversight system for any such trials to make sure scientists, patients and the broader public understand the risks and benefits, and to come down hard on any clinics that offer treatment for less serious disorders or for human enhancement.
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There is an enormous amount of research that has to go into this, and then the question is what are the conditions where youd even consider it, and those are very tightly defined, said Rudolf Jaenisch, a member of the report committee and professor of biology at MIT. It would be conditions where no other options exist to have a healthy baby.
One scenario where germline editing could help is when an adult carries two copies of the gene that causes Huntingtons disease, a devastating condition that steadily damages nerves in the brain. If the person wanted to start a family, their children would all inherit at least one copy of the faulty gene and so develop the disease. With gene editing, any harmful copies of the gene could potentially be fixed in the persons sperm, eggs, or embryos created through IVF.
Under British law, gene edited embryos, or embryos made with genetically engineered sperm or eggs, cannot be implanted into a woman. The only exception, endorsed by parliament in 2015, is for a procedure called mitochondrial transfer, which aims to prevent women from passing on genetic diseases to their children. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration is currently not allowed to consider applications for germline therapy clinical trials, but the temporary restriction is only in place until April this year.
The national academies report comes at a time when scientists are making spectacular progress in genome editing. With the latest gene editing tool, named Crispr-cas9, scientists can alter single letters of the DNA code, or rewrite whole genes. The technique has given researchers unprecedented insights into the basic biology of development and cancer, but has also been tested in animals as a treatment for a wide range of diseases. Last year, a Chinese group became the first to launch a trial of Crispr-cas9 to treat patients with aggressive lung cancer for whom all other therapies had failed.
In separate research published in Nature Communications on Wednesday, scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle used gene editing to rewrite faulty genes responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in adult mice. Were a long way from clinical application but theres no doubt that the results of this study are exciting, said Darren Griffin, a geneticist at the University of Kent. Other studies reporting progress with different diseases emerge at least every month.
The national academies report goes on to back the use of genome editing to correct faulty genes in adult tissues, such as the liver, lungs and heart, where the changes will not be passed on to children. But while it recommends that the tool is used only to prevent and treat diseases and disabilities, the report points out that in the future, the same interventions could potentially enhance peoples natural abilities. For example, a gene editing therapy that boosts the muscles of patients with muscular dystrophy could perhaps be given to healthy people to give them superhuman strength. We need an ongoing public conversation about how much value we place on some of these so-called enhancements, said Charo. Until we know that, we cant know how to value them against the risks.
Even the academies heavily-caveated endorsement of gene editing will raise fears of a slippery slope that leads to a society of genetic haves and have-nots. But Richard Hynes, a report chair and cancer researcher at MIT, said that regulations could effectively block the use of the tools for enhancement. The slope is not very slippery. Friction is introduced by the regulatory system, he said.
Charo ruled out the use of gene editing to boost peoples intelligence, which is thought to be influenced by hundreds, if not thousands, of genes. We have no idea how to define intelligence, let alone how to manipulate it genetically, Charo said. Its one of the examples that is raised all the time, but its one of the least likely to be relevant, because we dont have a clue how wed do that.
By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it would not hand back Crimea to Ukraine or discuss the matter with foreign partners after the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump expected the annexed Black Sea peninsula to be returned. Moscow says an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted to become part of Russia in a 2014 referendum wanting protection from what the Kremlin cast as an illegal coup in Kiev. Ukraine says the referendum was a sham held at gunpoint after Russian troops illegally annexed the peninsula, that Russia-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by people power, and that Moscow should return Crimea. "We don't give back our own territory. Crimea is territory belonging to the Russian Federation," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told a news briefing on Wednesday. The 2014 annexation prompted the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia, plunging Western relations with the Kremlin to their worst level since the Cold War. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that Trump expected and wanted to get along with Russia, but was expecting Moscow to hand Crimea back. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked about Spicer's comments, said President Vladimir Putin had already explained why Crimeans had turned to Russia. "The theme of returning Crimea will not be discussed ... Russia does not discuss its territorial integrity with foreign partners," Peskov told a conference call with reporters. Trump had not raised the Crimean issue in a Jan. 28 phone call with Putin, Peskov noted, saying the Kremlin would try to make contacts with the Trump administration to try to improve ties which he said were in "a lamentable state." Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, told MPs any talk of Crimea's status amounted to a challenge to Russia's territorial integrity. Volodin, a close Putin ally, told the Interfax news agency Trump had promised in his election campaign to work to improve relations with Russia. "Let's wait for some first-hand words from the U.S. president," said Volodin. "When people get elected by voters it's not merely for warm words and the ability to speak, but for concrete promises ... that will be fulfilled." (Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova/ Alessandra Prentice; editing by John Stonestreet)
Two cadets from the General Tadeusz Kosciuszko Military Academy of Land Forces (MALF) in Poland are enrolled at the University of North Georgia (UNG) this spring and participating in the Corps of Cadets as the first cadets exchanged under a new agreement between the two institutions.
Artur Chrusciel and Wiktor Zapart, both fourth-year management majors at MALF, will become officers in the Polish army upon completion of their studies.
Artur Chrusciel, left, and Wiktor Zapart
"We are happy to be here and we just want to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve as much as we can," Zapart said. "If you do this right, you get benefits for yourself, and for your country, of course."
The agreement, signed in 2016 at the military academy in Wroclaw, Poland, marks the first time MALF has collaborated with a U.S. university to offer professional military education through direct enrollment. The military academy cooperates with more than 30 foreign institutions, as well as universities in Turkey, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus.
Chrusciel said they are mindful that they are ambassadors for their country in their first trip to the U.S.
"Am I going to be good? Because I am representing my country and my army," Chrusciel said. "The training is clearly similar between our nations' militaries and the tactics are very similar as well."
They will also have time for fun, with UNG-sponsored trips to Fort Benning and Atlanta. The pair also plans to visit New York City during spring break and attend the Corps of Cadets' spring military ball.
Their UNG counterparts, Morgan Greaves and Taylor Hardin, leave for Poland at the end of February. Greaves and Hardin, both pursuing majors in international affairs, will enroll in MALF courses.
Greaves, from Roswell, Georgia, has studied abroad previously, but looks forward to the challenge of a new environment.
UNG cadets Morgan Greaves, left, and Taylor Hardin will be studying in Poland this spring.
"As a leader you never know what situation you'll have to adapt to, and by consistently pushing yourself past what you're comfortable with, you grow," Greaves said. "I'm excited to better understand how European militaries work together and I hope the experience will positively impact my capabilities as a leader."
For Hardin, from Sandy Springs, the exchange marks the first time studying abroad.
"What I'm hoping to learn from the experience is a better understanding of an international culture and to develop my education," Hardin said.
Military exchanges allow UNG cadets to elevate their level of global and military knowledge, according to Tony Fritchle, associate director for the Center for Global Engagement at UNG.
"As a senior military college and the Military College of Georgia, we seek to partner with military academies that support UNG and Institute for Leadership and Strategic Studies strategic plans," Fritchle said. "Our primary objectives are to foster reciprocal agreements in the exchange and development of cadet global competencies, language and cultural immersion, and professional military education."
Polish army officials have similar goals for their future officers who find themselves increasingly in multinational situations, according to Maj. Marcin Bielewicz, vice dean for military affairs of MALF's Faculty of Management and a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.
"The platoon leader right now is a diplomat. It's not only a commander taking care of the purely combat military tasks, but it's a kind of diplomat or negotiator," said Bielewicz, who visited UNG in October 2016 with other MALF representatives. "The officer, who actually is representing the country, also needs to possess certain skills that are not purely military, such as social, psychological and interpersonal skills."
UNG offers global opportunities for students, faculty and staff through a variety of international partnerships, exchanges and study abroad programs. Specialized global opportunities for students in the Corps of Cadets at UNG include federally funded programs such as Project Global Officer, Chinese Language Flagship and the university's Language Training Center.
The green chile cheeseburger has inspired culinary challenges, a tourism campaign and conflicting tales of its origin.
Now a state representative wants to make the fiery flavored sandwich the official hamburger of New Mexico.
Its really something that we can build on. Lets highlight something we can do really well, lets highlight green chile cheeseburgers, said Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, sponsor of House Bill 118, an act relating to state symbols.
He got the inspiration during last years Legislative session when someone delivered plain burgers for a working lunch. He thought, Thats just wrong, they should be green chile cheeseburgers.
The bill is currently in the committee stage. If passed, the green chile cheeseburger would join the state bird (roadrunner), state aircraft (hot air balloon), state cookie (bizcochito) state question (red or green?) and many more things deemed emblematic of New Mexico (official nickname: The Land of Enchantment).
I think its a great idea. I fully support it, said Lucy Rosen, director of marketing for Blakes Lotaburger. The 65-year-old chain was winner of the 2016 Albuquerque Journal Readers Choice award for green chile cheeseburgers.
Bob Gontram, owner of Taos-based Five Star Burgers, the runner-up for the 2016 Readers Choice burger award, applauded McQueens bill.
The green chile cheeseburger is so iconic. It should be the state burger. We should
all be proud of that, Gontram said.
When hes traveled to places like St. Louis, Mo., Denver, Colo., and cities in California, hes noticed restaurants there have begun offering green chile cheeseburgers on their menus.
People are picking it up because its so good, Gontram said.
Its unclear where the concept of putting green chile on a cheeseburger originated. James Beard Award-winning food writer Jason Sheehan wrote The Birth of the Atomic Cheeseburger, an article for Gilt Taste that claimed it was Frank Chavezi who opened what is now the Owl Bar & Cafe in San Antonio, south of Socorro, in 1945. It said Chavez started making green chile cheeseburgers at the request of scientists from Los Alamos who were involved in the Manhattan Project to make the atomic bomb.
Rosen disputes this version. According to her, Blake Chanslor, who opened his first Blakes Lotaburger restaurant in 1952, was the green chile cheeseburger pioneer.
Patrons of Blakes used to bring their own green chile so Blake Chanslor began adding it. Blakes is the first place to add it to the menu.
Whatever the origin, restaurant menus statewide have their own version of the green chile cheeseburger, or, as food blogger Gil Garduno of Gils Thrilling (And Filling) Blog puts it, In the Land of Enchantment, the ubiquitous green chile cheeseburger can be found in restaurants, drive-ins, diners, dives, joints, cafes, roadside stands and bowling alleys. Its the centerpiece of many a party and social function. Its our favorite fast, casual food.
The New Mexico State Fair holds an annual Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge. The state Tourism Department promotes it saying the state didnt invent the hamburger but this is the place that made it hot. The Tourism Department even created a restaurant guide map called The Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail.
The prospect of an official state hamburger has the Tourism Department excited.
With the popularity of the New Mexico True Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, which USA Todays 10 Best Readers Choice Awards named the No. 1 food trail in the country in 2015, and the growing interest in cuisine that is unique to a specific destination, this bill opens the door for greater awareness of what makes New Mexico a destination worth craving, said spokeswoman Heather Briganti.
SANTA FE A Santa Fe city councilor is standing up against one of the worlds largest security companies.
Renee Villarreal has twice voted against approving a contract extension with G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc., to provide uniform security services at city facilities, including city hall, convention center, municipal court, libraries, parking lots and airport.
On Monday, Villarreal had the item pulled from the council Finance Committees consent agenda to express her opposition to the one-year, $487,000 contract. She said the company has participated in civil and human rights abuses around the world, has a poor track record managing prison facilities in such places as Israel and Palestine, had engaged in overbilling practices in Miami-Dade County, Fla., and was currently providing security for the Dakota Access Pipeline.
I shall not be supporting this, Villarreal said of the contract, drawing an ovation from an audience of more than 100 people, most of whom were in the councils chambers to support a separate measure, a resolution Villarreal co-sponsored defending the rights of undocumented immigrants.
G4S, a U.S.-based, British-owned company originally known as Wackenhut Corp., is contracted with the Department of Homeland Security to help with border protection operations and assist the Immigration and Customs Enforcement with transports.
The immigration resolution Villarreal is co-sponsoring calls for city officials to not cooperate in enforcement of federal immigration laws by refusing access to non-public city property to federal immigration agents and to not honor ICE detainer requests. It was endorsed by the Finance Committee Monday night.
G4S, which employs more than 600,000 people and has a presence in more than 100 countries, drew unwanted attention last summer when it came to light that the shooter in the massacre that killed 49 people and wounded dozens of others at an Orlando, Fla. nightclub had worked for G4S for nine years. Centerra Group, formerly G4S Government Solutions, has the Los Alamos National Laboratory security contract.
At Mondays meeting, councilors Michael Harris, Peter Ives and Signe Lindell voted to approve the G4S contract. Harris said he based his vote on a line in a staff memo that said a city site managers who oversee security operations at various locations around town gave the companys managers and security guards a solid B+ for performance.
Santa Fe city government has had issues with its security contracts in recent years. The city used to contract with Chavez Security, Inc., owned by former city councilor Peso Chavez.
That company was disqualified from the bidding process in 2015 by submitting what the deemed to be an unresponsive bid. Another company, AAA Security, provided the service to the city for a while, then abruptly backed out.
Blackstone Security Services ended up fulfilling the final two months of the contract with AAA before G4S was awarded the contract in December 2015.
JACKSON, Miss. A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Texas man to the maximum term of five years in prison for his role in bribing Mississippis former corrections commissioner.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate ordered Mark Longoria of Houston to forfeit $131,000 in profit he derived from the bribe, pay back $368,000 in restitution to the Mississippi Department of Corrections and serve three years of probation after his release.
Longoria, the CEO of Drug Testing Corp., pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit bribery in August. He admits paying nearly $230,000 to Mississippi businessman Cecil McCrory for his work helping to secure sales of drug testing cups in 2013 and 2014. Longoria has said he found out during the contract that McCrory was kicking back $60,000 to then-Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps but didnt stop it. Prosecutors say he may have known from the beginning.
Wingate earlier this month sentenced McCrory to 8 years in federal prison for one count of money laundering conspiracy. McCrory must also pay a $150,000 fine, forfeit $1.7 million in assets and serve two years of probation.
Epps pleaded guilty to money laundering and filing false tax returns in February 2015 and is set to be sentenced May 24. He could get up to 23 years in prison.
Longoria told the judge that he sought the Mississippi contract and ultimately agreed to bribe Epps because he was on the verge of losing his sales job with the manufacturer of the cups after a merger, meaning his only income would be from Drug Testing Corp., previously a sideline business.
I know that Im the sole provider for my wife and daughters, Longoria said.
Six character witnesses testified for Longoria on Monday.
I have never seen him more ashamed or embarrassed than I have now and that just kills me, said daughter Savanna Craig.
Defense lawyer Tom Fortner argued no restitution was due because the Corrections Department paid Longoria less per cup than a previous vendor. But Wingate sided with Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca, who said Longoria, through McCrory and Epps, improperly influenced the bid specifications, contributing to the disqualification of a lower bidder. Longoria testified the lower bidder should have been disqualified because its cups didnt meet federal requirements.
Prosecutors also played a tape that seemed to indicate that Longoria induced a third competitor to bid above him, although the competitor and the manufacturer of Longorias cups had merged.
Fortner tried unsuccessfully to lower the sentence by arguing that money that Longoria paid to McCrory, beyond the $60,000 in bribes passed to Epps, shouldnt counted in calculating Longorias sentence. Wingate again agreed with LaMarca, who argued the entire amount paid to McCrory was tainted.
Mr. Epps and Mr. McCrory were in it together to get money, LaMarca said.
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Follow Jeff Amy at: http://twitter.com/jeffamy . Read his work at https://www.apnews.com/search/JeffAmy .
As the gun show manager for the New Mexico Gun Collectors Association, I recently attended legislative committee hearings at the Roundhouse on Senate Bill 48 and House Bill 50, the controversial gun control proposals making their way through the Legislature. The branding of these bills by the media, the legislative sponsors and New York billionaire Michael Bloombergs national organization Everytown for Gun Safety has been misleading and downright deceptive.
They are falsely touting these measures as efforts to close the so-called gun show loophole. In reality, SB 48 and HB 50 are far more expansive. As introduced, these bills would criminalize the private sale of personal firearms to many relatives, friends, neighbors, business associates or members of your club without a trip to a licensed gun dealer. Every transaction would require federal paperwork, a background check and payment of an undetermined fee. But thats not all: the legislation would also mandate the same procedures for most temporary transfers of firearms between individuals, both when loaning your gun out and when it is returned.
People dont loan their firearms out to strangers. These bills require government permission for exchanges between people who know one another, such as a deployed military service member who wants to leave personal firearms with a trusted friend. A gun owner who loans his niece a pistol for protection after a rash of burglaries in her neighborhood would also be subject to this law. Even someone borrowing their co-workers rifle for a weekend hunting trip, or to shoot at the local range or on BLM land would face criminal charges if they didnt comply with these government mandates. Concerned gun owners testified to lawmakers about the intrusiveness of these provisions and their concerns went ignored as the measures advanced without any changes.
Even if the authors eventually bring the bills language in line with what they claim they are focusing on, they still fail to provide compelling evidence of a problem at New Mexico gun shows. Gun control advocates have had four years to build their case since they picked this fight in 2013 and they continue to fail to do so.
If they or the lawmakers who support SB 48 and HB 50 bothered to attend any of our shows in Albuquerque, they would notice a strong law enforcement presence at our events, both providing security and as consumers. They would see that 80 percent of our vendors are licensed dealers who already must conduct background checks on every firearm sale at a gun show under federal law, and that many of the remaining vendors offer non-firearm-related merchandise, such as knives, accessories and items of historical or cultural interest. They would witness a vastly different scene from the seedy underworld of criminal activity, which they almost maniacally portray gun shows to be.
These events are simply not a source of crime guns. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics studies show that less than one percent of criminals obtained firearms at a gun show. Targeting them for regulations above and beyond federal law will not reduce crime; it will only lead to calls for more far-reaching restrictions on law-abiding citizens like those we see in SB 48 and HB 50 in their current form. Law enforcement recognizes that these are ineffective crime control measures and that is why the New Mexico Sheriffs Association has taken an aggressive stance against the bills.
As New Mexicans learn more about this gun control scheme, opposition to it grows. Voters in Maine rejected nearly identical language on the ballot in that state last November. Nevadans approved a background-check measure at the polls in 2016 by less than one percent of the vote, despite Bloomberg spending nearly $20 million promoting it. Legislators should take note that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has refused to process these new Nevada records checks, asserting that a state cannot dictate how a federal agency allocates its resources. The Nevada Attorney General has declared the law unenforceable.
Before approving any version of SB 48 and HB 50, legislators should arm themselves with the facts and ignore the gun control rhetoric.
The health care industry is the bright spot in New Mexicos economy, adding jobs at a time when other sectors are shedding them, but it does even more by supporting the culture of our communities and providing hope to generations of New Mexicans.
As New Mexicos population grows older, it is more important than ever that our hospitals and clinics remain financially strong, and that our doctors, nurses and other health care providers remain able to give us the kind of first-rate and compassionate care that we all need and have come to expect. Potential changes at the federal level to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, threaten to disrupt the financial ability of many New Mexicans to pay for health care, which will affect how well the industry is able to provide services to the rest of us.
Providing a measure of stability at the state level will go a long way toward ensuring New Mexicans can get the health care they need from a successful industry.
Fully funding Medicaid, the joint state and federal program that helps more than one out of every three New Mexicans pay for health care, is an important step. While it is expensive costing more than 17 percent of the states General Fund budget Medicaid spending provides a great return on investment, attracting $4 in federal money for each $1 that the state spends, providing thousands of jobs throughout New Mexico and, of course, helping ensure that New Mexicans stay healthy.
Hospitals and other health care providers are willing to help the state fully fund Medicaid. Unlike many other industries, hospitals have actually suggested closing the tax loopholes that they benefit from in order to fully fund Medicaid. You read that correctly: Hospital administrators and executives know that quality health care costs money and that they can improve the care they provide their patients, properly compensate their doctors, nurses and other providers for the care they provide, and continue to contribute mightily to New Mexicos economy if the state has more tax revenue with which to fully fund Medicaid.
Of course, ensuring good health takes more than money.
Nutrition and education programs, including our farm-to-classroom efforts to get New Mexico-grown produce into schools; home-health visits; the dozens and dozens of clinics scattered throughout rural New Mexico; the numerous emergency medical services located across the state; and our nursing incentive programs all contribute to a healthy New Mexico, both clinically and economically.
New Mexicans benefit from a wonderfully diverse health care environment, ranging from first-class cancer research and treatment at the University of New Mexico to traditional healing methods that are still successfully practiced throughout the state.
We should remember what our wise grandparents and great-grandparents often told us: Well be fine as long as we have our health. Lets follow their example and make the best of what we have.
WASHINGTON At their post-Civil War apogee, 19th-century Republicans were the party of activist government, using protectionism to pick commercial winners and promising wondrous benefits from governments deft interventions in economic life. Today, a Republican administration promises that wisely wielded Washington power can rearrange commercial activities in ways superior to those produced by private-sector calculations in free market transactions.
According to the Financial Times, which interviewed him, Peter Navarro, head of the presidents National Trade Council, says an administration priority is unwinding and repatriating the international supply chains on which many U.S. multinational companies rely. This will make life interesting for, among many others, Americas third and 24th largest corporations, Apple and Boeing.
The tiny print on the back of iPhones accurately says it is assembled, not manufactured, in China. The American Enterprise Institutes James Pethokoukis notes that parts come from South Korea, Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Germany and the United States. Components of Boeing airliners wings come from Japan, South Korea and Australia; horizontal stabilizers and center fuselages from Italy; cargo access doors from Sweden; passenger entry doors from France; landing gear doors from Canada; engines and landing gear from Britain.
Navarros unwinding and repatriating is, to say no more, part of an improbable project: making American greater by making Apple, Boeing and many other corporations much less efficient and less competitive. This will further slow economic growth, making even more unattainable the 4 percent (more than double the economys average growth this century) or higher growth that the administration says will enable it to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure (including a $15 billion or so wall on the Mexican border, begun after nearly a decade of net negative immigration from Mexico), while substantially increasing military spending, leaving entitlements unreformed and delivering enormous tax cuts. Cuts that, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (co-chaired by Republican Mitch Daniels and Democrat Leon Panetta, both former directors of the Office of Management and Budget), will reduce revenues by $5.8 trillion over 10 years. This, as the Congressional Budget Office projects that even without any of the administrations proposed spending spree and tax cuts, under current law the national debt would increase by $9.4 trillion.
Speaking of supply chains: In her book The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, Georgetown Universitys Pietra Rivoli recounts a conversation with a man from Shanghai who said that if she would come to China he would help her see various places involved in producing the inexpensive T-shirts exported to America. She would see where the yarn is spun, the fabric is knit and the shirts are sewn. Asked if she could see where the cotton is grown, the man from China said he could not show her that because the cotton probably is grown in Teksa. Rivoli spun a globe around to China and asked him to point to Teksa. He took the globe and spun it back around the other way. Here, I think it is grown here. I followed his finger. Patrick was pointing at Texas.
Todays Republican administration promises protection against the destruction of American jobs by the Chinese, Mexicans and other foreigners. The really prolific destroyers are: Americans. As Reasons John Tamny says, Americans streaming movies from Netflix (based in Los Gatos, Calif.) erase American jobs in movie theaters and DVD rental stores. Americans buying books from Seattle-based Amazon have caused many American bookstores to do what Borders (400 stores, 11,000 employees) did: disappear. Americans using San Francisco-based Uber are destroying many taxi drivers jobs.
Evidently our protectors in the administration must believe this: The destruction of American jobs because Americans buy goods or services of some American companies rather than those of other American companies is benign. But the destruction of American jobs because Americans buy goods or services of foreign companies is intolerable.
As todays Republicans celebrate a protectionist administration that is confident that Washingtons superior wisdom can improve upon the markets allocation of economic resources, Democrats must resent Republican plagiarism. Who will protect Americans from their protectors?
Wills columns can be read at abqjournal.com/opinion look for the syndicated columnist link. E-mail: georgewill@washpost.com; copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.
New 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrezs strategy to combat what he calls out of control crime in Bernalillo County by focusing solely on career criminals and the most serious crimes likely isnt what residents want to hear. But it is realistic given the funding limitations imposed by the states dismal finances as well as the ongoing confusion over a two-year-old Supreme Court order aimed as speeding up the districts justice system.
Torrez, whose office typically handles about 18,000 misdemeanor and criminal cases a year, has said limited funding will force his office to prosecute fewer cases so his prosecutors will concentrate on the relatively small percentage of the criminal population that drives a disproportionate amount of crime. Because those prosecutions stand to have the greatest impact on the overall crime rate, delivering the most bang for the prosecution buck, that seems a sensible if far from ideal approach.
Torrez says his prosecutors will prioritize cases by considering how often a suspect has come into contact with police, his/her criminal history, the nature of the case and whether the suspect has a history of being a felon in possession of a firearm something he says is a major red flag.
What he doesnt say is that many less serious cases will, by necessity, go unprosecuted unless they can be routed to pre-prosecution and diversion programs.
Heres what hes up against: Torrez says his office would need $25 million a year to optimize its effectiveness. His predecessor, Kari Brandenburg, submitted a funding request to the Legislature for $18.5 million $1 million more than the office received in her final year as DA.
Despite spending cuts enacted last fall, Gov. Susana Martinez is recommending Torrezs office receive no increase for the coming fiscal year, and the House Appropriations and Finance Committee is backing the governor. The Legislative Finance Committee recommended a funding increase of less than 1 percent.
Meanwhile, the countys homicide rate is the highest its been in 20 years, and New Mexico had the third-highest violent crime rate and second-highest property crime rate in the nation in 2015, according to FBI stats.
The DAs severely overcrowded office is testament to the crime wave, with hundreds of boxes of records going back decades serving as room dividers or stacked along walls. Because theres not money to digitize those records, Torrez is hoping the county can find storage room in some of its unused buildings. And he says he cant even afford laptop computers for his prosecutors, let alone the additional 20 and 25 additional prosecutors he needs to keep up with the caseload.
But with the state scrambling to plug a multimillion-dollar hole in the coming fiscal year because of a precipitous drop in oil and gas revenues, theres no immediate relief in sight and thus the need to pick your prosecution battles.
Compounding the issue is a lack of clarity in the so-called Case Management Order, issued by the state Supreme Court in February 2015 and modified in November 2015. The order set strict deadlines for the exchange of evidence between investigators and prosecutors, and for defendants to be arraigned. The order, which applies only to the 2nd Judicial District, was designed to speed up adjudication of criminal cases, eliminate a backlog of cases and address jail overcrowding.
Under Brandenburgs watch, about 3,000 criminal cases were dismissed, including 2,500 primarily property crimes and 500 from other divisions, such as violent crime. Instead of trying such cases, Torrez says Brandenburgs team would often file nolle prosequi notices in court and abandon cases so charges could be refiled when more evidence was available. But most of those cases have never been refiled, Torrez says, and when those charges were dismissed, suspects were released from jail and, in some cases, committed additional crimes that also were dismissed.
The good news is Torrez is adamant that were not going to do that anymore. Were going to file these cases and were going to let the court make the decision on whether or not they want to impose these strict deadlines. Those decisions would be far easier to make if there were some uniformity in interpreting what the deadlines entail which would happen with some follow-up guidance from the Supreme Court that wrote them.
The dismissal of less serious crimes will no doubt be questioned, and understandably so, by victims of those crimes. But unless and until the chronic under-funding of the DAs Office changes, its prosecutors have to start somewhere.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
It was like waiting for New Mexicos summer monsoon rain.
Law enforcement here knew it was coming but didnt know when.
We are talking about fentanyl.
People were dying of fentanyl overdoses in New England, the Midwest, New York and California.
In March 2015, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Albuquerque seized 3 kilograms of fentanyl concealed in a false bottom compartment of a suitcase at a commercial bus transportation center. The trafficker was a Mexican national traveling from San Diego to New York City.
The question again: When would it hit New Mexico?
And then it did.
Last summer, there were at least 22 fentanyl overdoses in the state, and the DEA is still trying to find out who sold it and where.
Part of the problem is that the deaths occurred early in the summer, but it took the Office of the Medical Investigator months to determine the drug was the cause of death.
Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller for cancer patients and some people with chronic pain due to degenerative bone diseases.
On the legal market, it comes in time-release patches.
But it is deadly stuff, and 2 milligrams can lead to a fatal overdose.
The fentanyl on the illegal market is made in China, where manufacturers make variations of the drug called analogs. It is shipped directly to the United States, usually in a liquid form, when purchased on the dark internet.
But over the past few years, more of it is being shipped to Mexico in blocks of powder that are mixed with poor-quality heroin or heroin that has been cut with too much quinine.
Online recipes suggest mixing a teaspoon of fentanyl with 4 kilograms of quinine and 1 kilogram of heroin that will lead to a street-quality heroin that still has a kick.
Or it is made into pills that look like prescription painkillers in pill mills located in ports on Mexicos west coast and the Gulf of California. The powder fentanyl is mixed with inert substances, blue or tan dyes are added with some water, and then the mixture is pressed into pills with a pill press.
Some of the operations are quite primitive, and workers have died from inhaling the fentanyl powder.
DEA agents believe that the look-alike painkiller pills are what led to the deaths in New Mexico last summer. In many cases, the drug users dont realize they are getting a much more potent drug that can lead to their deaths.
The DEA has started training classes for law enforcement and Postal Service employees so they do not suffer an accidental overdose, because minute amounts of the drug are lethal and can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled.
FOURTH IN A SERIES: Once the drug of choice for outlaw motorcycle gangs, methamphetamine is now a major moneymaker for Mexican drug cartels. At one time, it was mostly cooked locally in seedy motel rooms or trailer parks using over-the-counter cold remedies. Now, law enforcement estimates that about 90 percent of the meth consumed in the United States comes across the border. The drug can be smoked, snorted, injected or taken orally. Were seeing meth dealers go after kids as young as 13 on social media, said APD Deputy Chief Eric Garcia. Thats who theyre marketing to.
Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal
Miguel Rangel-Arce, 36, and brother Luis Rangel-Arce, 44, set up shop west of Farmington on the Navajo reservation in 2015. They were there to make money selling methamphetamine supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel.
They rented a house and recruited locals, both Navajo and Anglo, to sell the drug on the reservation and in the neighborhoods of Farmington and Bloomfield. It was a tightly run ring with five retail dealers handling direct sales to users.
But the Rangel brothers, both from Mexico by way of Phoenix, came to the attention of federal investigators because of an increase in crime and use of methamphetamine in the Shiprock area on the Navajo nation.
In 2016, the two men and others were arrested for selling methamphetamine directly to undercover officers. Authorities seized more than 2 pounds of the drug worth a minimum of $150,000, along with 10 firearms, during the arrests.
Methamphetamine continues to have a devastating impact on Native American families and communities, said U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez.
Martinez said the same thing a year earlier when law enforcement in the southern part of the state arrested Carlos Tafoya and 34 others in December 2015 for trafficking methamphetamine on the Mescalero Apache Reservation near Ruidoso.
The Mescalero Apache arrests also followed an increase in violent crime attributed to methamphetamine use on the reservation, including a horrific assault on a young girl by two teenage boys who were high on meth.
Joseph Ray Mendiola, 35, of Roswell, was the focus of another investigation that led to federal and state charges against 41 people. The investigation involved the FBI, DEA, State Police and local law enforcement agencies.
Investigators seized more than 16 pounds of methamphetamine from Mendiola and his associates in Roswell.
Its the same story over and over. High-quality, inexpensive methamphetamine supplied by Mexican cartels is a problem from the reservations to the oil patch, from cities to rural New Mexico.
Meth is a highly addictive stimulant, and the crime that accompanies it is often violent from the shooting death of a police officer in Rio Rancho to the brutal assaults on young girls in Albuquerque and the Mescalero Reservation.
Transit point
Call it meth, crystal, ice, speed or crank.
A pound of it can sell for as low as $7,200, but the average price per pound in New Mexico is around $8,000. That translates into big profits as it is broken down for users into envelopes of $25, $50 or $100.
Dealers sell to users, or tweakers.
Whatever name you want to use for methamphetamine, the statistics point to serious problems. Among them:
In 2008, there were 23 overdose deaths in New Mexico attributed to methamphetamine. By 2014, there were 111 meth overdose deaths in the state.
In 2007, a gram of methamphetamine was selling for almost $300 and the purity was about 40 percent. By 2014, the price had dropped, on a national average, to around $70 a gram, and it had an average purity of more than 90 percent.
In 2010, federal agents seized just over 4,000 kilograms of methamphetamine along the Mexican border in the Southwest. By 2015, the amount seized increased to 16,282 kilograms. Meanwhile, the number of methamphetamine laboratories busted by law enforcement in the United States dropped more than 50 percent from 2010 to 2015, and most of those laboratories were capable of producing only 2 ounces or less.
The reason for the shift: About 90 percent of the methamphetamine consumed in the United States is made in Mexico.
They are controlling more of the distribution line, the entire line from the manufacture to the actual distribution, said Will Glaspy, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge, El Paso Division.
According to the DEA, traffickers employ various techniques in smuggling methamphetamine. They include human couriers, commercial flights, parcel services and commercial buses. But traffickers most commonly transport methamphetamine through U.S. border crossings in passenger vehicles with hidden compartments.
Several cartels are shipping methamphetamine in a liquid form to smuggle into the United States in soft drink cans and bottles. Once in the United States, the methamphetamine is transformed into a powder through standard chemical filtration methods.
Like other drugs, much of the meth that arrives in Albuquerque doesnt stay here. The city is a transit point for drugs going on to Denver, Chicago and elsewhere.
The compartmentalization of the cartel operations and the use of independent contractors make it difficult for law enforcement to track supply lines.
I dont see a lot of people on this side of the border that have complete knowledge of the whole distribution chain, Glaspy said.
One person picks up the methamphetamine in Culiacan, Sinaloa, and takes it to Juarez. Someone else smuggles it through the port of entry into El Paso to a stash house in Albuquerque. It then gets moved by another courier to a stash house in Denver or a city in the Midwest. Then a different person will pick it up and take it to a distributor.
And that is a lot of what were seeing in the United States is that the Mexicans are looking to, well, theyre controlling more of the market, Glaspy said.
Internal struggles
As with other illegal drugs, the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels are major players in the meth racket.
But competition for control of methamphetamine production in Mexico has always been heated and a new power player the New Generation Jalisco Cartel has emerged recently.
The first Mexican trafficking organization to start producing the drug on an industrial scale was based in the Mexican state of Colima and was called the Colima Cartel.
Founded by Jesus Amezcua Contreras in 1988, the Colima Cartel replaced outlaw motorcycle gangs in the United States in producing methamphetamine, then partnered with the biker gangs for distribution.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, the Colima Cartel controlled the importation of chemicals from Europe later China and India used to make methamphetamine. The Colima Cartel then sold its surplus to the Sinaloa Cartel.
But the rise of the New Generation Jalisco Cartel, in the bordering state of Jalisco, has led to fierce fighting in the state of Colima.
The New Generation Jalisco Cartel is the newest of the six major cartels operating in Mexico.
Nemesio El Mencho Oseguera Cervantes, who now heads the New Generation syndicate, was convicted in federal court in San Francisco in 1994 and sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin. He was deported to Mexico after his release from prison and worked as a police officer in the state of Jalisco, where the Milenio Cartel was active producing methamphetamine.
The Milenio Cartel and the Colima Cartel were then partners in the Sinaloa Cartel. But in 2010, one of the leaders of the Milenio Cartel died and another was arrested by Mexican federal law enforcement. That led to a fight over control of narcotics trafficking in the states of Jalisco and Michoacan.
El Mencho came out on top, heading what is now called the New Generation Jalisco Cartel.
He set about expanding the cartels operations and took on rivals like Los Zetas and the Knights Templar.
That expansion was noted for its violence, willingness to kill local and state government officials and taking on federal police in ambushes and gunfights, including shooting down helicopters.
In 2016, the Sinaloa Cartel began sending men and arms to aid the Colima Cartel in its fight with the New Generation Jalisco Cartel, which smuggles drugs into the United States through Tijuana, Juarez and Nuevo Laredo.
It is considered a major player in methamphetamine trafficking but also is involved in heroin, cocaine and marijuana smuggling.
The cartels import chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine from India, China and the Philippines. The chemicals are delivered to Mexicos western ports including Manzanillo in the state of Colima.
The Colima Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel and the remnants of the Beltran Leyva organization also manufacture and traffic methamphetamine, using ports like Guaymas to bring in the chemicals from overseas. The Juarez Cartel gets it supplies from other cartels, primarily New Generation Jalisco.
Manufactured
Unlike most other illegal drugs, methamphetamine is a synthetic, manufactured in a laboratory.
It does not rely on a plant as its main source of chemicals like heroin and cocaine, and production isnt affected by drought or floods.
And there are a lot of ways to make meth.
One way involves the use of the common cold remedy pseudoephedrine or ephedrine as a precursor chemical. Making methamphetamine using pseudoephedrine is fairly simple, and the U.S. government in the 1990s passed tough laws and regulations governing its production and distribution.
As a result, production began to head south in the 1990s to Mexico, where pseudoephedrine was easy to get. Around 2005, Mexico imported 80 metric tons of ephedrine from China when the countrys basic need was 4 metric tons.
Mexico, at the urging of the U.S., began restricting imports of pseudoephedrine, and China began restricting exports.
That caused the cartels to move to more complex manufacturing techniques that revolve around the chemical P-2-P, prompting the United States and United Nations to restrict production, exportation and importation of P-2-P around the world.
Unfortunately, there are lots of ways to make P-2-P, and most of those involve very common industrial chemicals and solvents a lot of them considered poisonous.
It is difficult to control international trade in these chemicals, because they are used to make everything from aspirin to pressure-treated wood.
In 2010, the Mexican government seized 110 methamphetamine laboratories, and most were using some form of the P-2-P method of making methamphetamine.
Since 2010, most of the methamphetamine tested by DEA laboratories has been made using the P-2-P method.
Video
As an extra bonus to our readers, Mike Gallagher provides additional background and insights about the New Generation Jalisco Cartel in a video interview.
https://abqjournal.com/946286/cartels.htm
The arrest of Angel Ibes Diaz-Rivera in March 2015 appeared to be a typical Drug Enforcement Administration bust at the Greyhound bus station in Albuquerque.
Agents boarded an eastbound bus and began talking with Diaz-Rivera, in what agents call a meet-and-greet.
Diaz-Rivera agreed to allow the agents to search his luggage.
They found a false bottom that revealed a clear, heat-sealed plastic bundle containing more than 6 pounds of white powder.
The amount wasnt unusual, and agents frequently find drugs on buses and Amtrak trains heading east through Albuquerque.
They figured the contraband was methamphetamine or possibly cocaine.
It wasnt.
It was fentanyl on its way to New York.
Defense attorneys accused agents of violating Diaz-Riveras civil rights in conducting the search, but it was ruled a legal search.
Diaz-Rivera, who said he was a truck driver in his hometown of Tijuana, said he was being paid $800 to transport the drugs to New York and claimed that he believed that he was transporting marijuana.
Diaz-Rivera pleaded guilty. Prosecutors sought a sentence of more than seven years.
U.S. District Judge Martha Vasquez sentenced Diaz-Rivera to 2 years.
SANTA FE Theyve tried it a half-dozen times before.
But supporters of a proposal to tap into the Land Grant Permanent Fund and boost money to pay for early-childhood services say theyre optimistic that this is the year it gets through the Legislature.
To that end, they rolled out a new study Tuesday that says the need for home visiting and similar programs is far more drastic than state analysts have previously estimated. New Mexico needs about $406 million more for those services, according to the study, not $115 million.
But the proposal still faces serious political obstacles.
Sen. John Arthur Smith a Deming Democrat and chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee said the Land Grant Permanent Fund is a vital source of revenue for New Mexicos general operating budget. In an interview, he suggested he isnt any more willing this year than he has been in the past to support diverting some money away from the fund.
Its not financially responsible, to my way of thinking, Smith said.
Supporters nevertheless sounded optimistic Tuesday about finally sending the proposal to voters. They won a recommendation of passage from a second House committee out of three needed before it would hit the floor on a party-line vote, Democrats in the majority.
Allen Sanchez, president of CHI St. Josephs Children, a faith-based nonprofit group, said supporters of the constitutional amendment have new evidence on their side. A 51-page report by a consultant estimates that theres unmeet need in New Mexico for about $406 million in early-childhood education services, such as home visiting programs that help young parents.
Thats far more than a similar estimate by the Legislative Finance Committee, which pegged the need at $115 million.
The difference is that the new study suggests more people need the services, that the programs should be of higher quality and that there should be money dedicated to evaluating the effectiveness of the work, according to the report by Catherine F. Kinney, a Santa Fe-based expert. She was hired by CHI St. Josephs Children, which supports the amendment.
House Joint Resolution 1, co-sponsored by Democrats Antonio Moe Maestas and Javier Martinez, both of Albuquerque, calls for disbursements from the Land Grant Permanent Fund to be increased by 1 percentage point, from 5 percent to 6 percent.
The goal is to generate an extra $112 million or so for early childhood programs.
WASHINGTON Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, frustrated by the cancellation of a planned meeting with the chief of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Tuesday, demanded more details about stepped-up deportation efforts the agency has initiated in recent days.
ICE reported Monday that officers in the Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio and New York City regions arrested more than 680 people who pose a threat to public safety, border security or the integrity of our nations immigration system.
The enhanced deportations at least so far have not been carried out in New Mexico.
Although ICE officials have said those arrested and deported have posed safety threats, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said ICE acting Director Thomas Homan told her Monday during a phone call that the deportations reflected a broader effort than just targeting felons or violent criminals.
He confirmed that unlike other actions in the past that this is a broader effort that can be aimed at anyone that has a criminal record or is suspected of criminal activity, which meets the language, of course, of broader discretion to Homeland Security, and Im very concerned about that because thats a shift, said Lujan Grisham, chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Lujan Grisham said she is requesting specific information about whom ICE is deporting, adding that she was more than disappointed Tuesdays meeting was canceled.
The request to have the meetings was to get real information data about who was apprehended, who were the targets, where and to confirm that information with our constituents to make sure were following the law and people are getting due process, she said.
Gillian M. Christensen, a spokeswoman for ICE in Washington, told the Journal that Tuesdays meeting was delayed until Thursday to allow for bipartisan participation after the initial list of just six Democrats expected to participate grew substantially.
Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican who represents the states border with Mexico, said the recent raids have been declared by Department of Homeland Security Secretary (John) Kelly as based on public safety threats of people who are not legally eligible to be in our country based on the laws we have.
Depending on the call volume at a given time, Albuquerque city officials say, it can take police several hours to respond to a low-priority property crime call.
But additional help could be on the way soon.
The City Council gave unanimous approval last week to hire 25 civilian crime scene investigators, who will respond to low-priority property crimes.
The pilot program is intended to allow for a more complete and timely investigation into crimes that sworn officers dont always have time for and free up those officers for more pressing 911 calls, said City Councilor Brad Winter, who sponsored the legislation with City Councilor Ken Sanchez.
Its a win-win, Winter said. Its definitely a win for the community.
The city has budgeted $300,000 for the program for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The civilian investigators will work initially in the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest area commands.
Rob Perry, the citys chief administrative officer, said officials hope to have the teams investigating crimes by April.
Albuquerques property crime rate has been increasing since hitting a 30-year low in 2010, according to FBI crime statistics. In 2015, the number of property crimes in the city jumped to 34,082, up from 30,437 in 2014, according to the FBI.
But the citys property crime rate remains far below the levels experienced in the late 1980s and 1990s, according to the FBIs website. For example, in 1998, there were 9,490 property crimes per 100,000 residents. In 2014, the FBI calculated that there were 5,446 property crimes per 100,000 people.
Still, Winter said, there is a sense of urgency to do something about the crimes.
I see people in the line at Smiths and they are upset because everybody is affected by property crimes, he said.
Winter said he envisioned the civilian investigators would include a mix of experienced police service aides who want to eventually become full-time Albuquerque police officers and retired law enforcement or military personnel who are seasoned investigators.
The investigators will not be armed and will only respond to Priority 3 calls, which are property crimes where there isnt an active suspect.
Perry told the council last week that the department usually takes about an hour to respond to those calls, but there have been cases where the police response took several hours.
The (civilian investigators) can go conduct a thorough and personal investigation, so the citizen has a good experience, not an encounter with an officer who has to jump to another call, Perry said. We think it will help us bring more solvability to property crimes as well.
The investigators will make about $17 an hour, depending on their experience and training, Winter said.
Police departments in Austin, Texas, Denver and Oklahoma City have similar programs, Perry said.
Mayor Richard Berry originally made a similar proposal for addressing property crime. He called on the city to contract with an outside firm that employed retired police officers. But the council-approved measure will make the investigators city employees.
Karina Leanos and Alan Valenzuela were going to take their kids to the circus on Saturday.
The couple had two children together, and Leanos had two more of her own in total three boys and a girl, ages 1, 3, 4 and 9.
Valenzuela said theyd been together for four years but had broken up last Tuesday, just three days before Leanos, 27, was killed in a wreck that police say was caused by a drunken driver.
We were still working things out, Valenzuela said.
Theyd planned to take the kids to the baby sitter Saturday night so they could go out dancing.
But all of that changed Friday morning.
Leanos was driving west on Lomas on her way to pick up her children after working a night shift at Genesis HealthCare at Las Palomas Center, where she worked as a certified nursing assistant.
Around 7:45 a.m., Elaine Sandoval, 33, was driving south at a high rate of speed on Pennsylvania in a Ford Explorer and struck Leanos Pontiac, according to court documents.
Sandoval, who police said smelled of alcohol, is charged with vehicular homicide. If a blood test reveals alcohol impairment, this will not have been Sandovals first experience with DWI; her drivers license had already been revoked because of a prior drunken driving case.
On Friday morning, Valenzuela saw on Facebook that a car that looked like Leanos was involved in a wreck.
Thats when I started calling her, he said. She never picked up.
He called the day care center to see whether the kids were still there and learned that they had never been picked up.
Thats when I went over there, he said, and an officer told me that she passed away.
So instead of spending the weekend at the circus and out dancing, Valenzuela stayed home with his children.
Trying to let it sink in, he said, his voice breaking. But I just cant. Im still waiting for her to call me or text me.
Hes watching his children, the 3-year-old and the 1-year-old. The older two children are staying with Leanos mother.
Valenzuela said he and Leanos used to talk about the day when they would tell each of their kids about the days they were born. His son was born in a car on the way to the hospital and his daughter was born in his kitchen.
Now hes trying to figure out what to say when his 3-year-old daughter asks for her mom. He tells her that shell be back tomorrow, that theyll go see her tomorrow.
She wants to go to her house, she keeps asking for her, he said. I dont know what I should tell her.
A small group of Leanos friends and family gathered at Phil Chacon Park in Southeast Albuquerque on Tuesday afternoon to release balloons in her memory. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with Siempre te recordaremos (We will always remember you) and an image of her emblazoned across the back. They played music and said a few words before letting the balloons, many of them heart-shaped, float into the sky.
Those who spoke about Leanos said she was a dedicated mother who worked hard to make sure her kids had everything. When the stress of balancing work and four children caught up to her, she never let it show.
She liked to make everybody smile even though she was going through a tough time, said Amanda Florez, her close friend and former sister-in-law. She never showed it. She was very strong. She didnt like to talk about her problems.
Leanos was close to her mother, who visits often but lives in Phoenix, Florez said. But she didnt have many family members in town, so she and Florez considered each other sisters.
Sometimes you dont have to be blood to be family, Florez said. I feel like a piece of me was taken because I was so close to her.
Leanos worked as a laundry attendant before going to school to become a certified nursing assistant. Her co-workers and patients are mourning her death, too.
It was a heavy loss for everyone. There was quite a bit of tears shed, said Jeremy Averella, executive director of Genesis HealthCare at Las Palomas Center. Karina was really someone who kind of lit up the unit.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Malaysian police have arrested two women in the death of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Koreas leader who was reportedly poisoned this week by a pair of female assassins as he waited for a flight in Malaysia, police said Thursday.
The women were picked up separately Wednesday and early Thursday and were identified using CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill Monday morning before he died on the way to the hospital.
The woman arrested Thursday was holding an Indonesian passport that identified her as 25-year-old Siti Aishah, a Malaysian police statement said.
The other suspect held Vietnamese travel documents bearing the name Doan Thi Huong, 28. Still photos of the CCTV video, confirmed as authentic by police, showed her in a skirt and long-sleeved white T-shirt with LOL emblazoned across the front.
There was no immediate way to determine if the IDs were genuine or if the women were believed to be the alleged assassins.
Investigators are trying to shed light on a death that set off set off waves of speculation over whether North Korea dispatched a hit squad to kill a man known for his drinking, gambling and complicated family life.
Medical workers completed an autopsy late Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear if or when Malaysia would release the findings publicly.
North Korea had objected to the autopsy but Malaysia went ahead with the procedure anyway as the North did not submit a formal protest, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official.
Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, was estranged from his younger brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and had been living abroad for years. He reportedly fell out of favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
According to two senior Malaysian government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves sensitive diplomacy, the elder Kim told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray at the airport. Multiple South Korean media reports, citing unidentified sources, said two women believed to be North Korean agents killed him with some kind of poison before fleeing in a taxi.
Since taking power in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has executed or purged a number of high-level government officials in what the South Korean government has described as a reign of terror.
South Koreas spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said Wednesday that North Korea had been trying for five years to kill Kim Jong Nam. The NIS did not definitively say that North Korea was behind the killing, just that it was presumed to be a North Korean operation, according to lawmakers who briefed reporters about the closed-door meeting with the spy officials.
The NIS also cited a genuine attempt by North Korea to kill Kim Jong Nam in 2012, the lawmakers said. The NIS told them that Kim Jong Nam sent a letter to Kim Jong Un in April 2012, after the assassination attempt, begging for the lives of himself and his family.
The letter said: I hope you cancel the order for the punishment of me and my family. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and we know that the only way to escape is committing suicide.
Although Kim Jong Nam had been originally tipped by some outsiders as a possible successor to his late dictator father, Kim Jong Il, others thought that was unlikely because he lived outside the country, including recently in Macau.
He also frequented casinos, five-star hotels and traveled around Asia, with little say in North Korean affairs.
But his attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland reportedly soured North Koreas leadership on his potential as a successor. Kim Jong Nam had said he had no political ambitions, although he was publicly critical of the North Korean regime and his half brothers legitimacy in the past. In 2010, he was quoted in Japanese media as saying he opposed dynastic succession in North Korea.
Among Kim Jong Uns executions and purges, the most spectacular was the 2013 execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the countrys second-most powerful man, for what the North alleged was treason.
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Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Tim Sullivan in New Delhi contributed to this report.
GOLDEN SHORES, Ariz. The Lake Havasu City Police Department has been asked to investigate a fatal shooting of an armed man by Mohave County Sheriffs deputies.
Sheriffs officials say they received a 911 call Monday from a woman who said she had just been shot at by a neighbor in Golden Shores.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they were confronted by Drey Krause, who was armed with a shotgun.
They say Krause refused repeated commands to drop the weapon and one of the deputies then shot Krause.
Krause was transported to a Fort Mohave hospital, where he later died.
Sheriffs officials say the deputies involved in the incident have been placed on administration leave.
They say its customary to have an outside law enforcement agency investigate any shooting incidents involving their deputies.
DENVER A number of domestic-violence deaths in 2016 pushed the number of homicides in Denver to a 10-year high.
The Denver Post reports (http://dpo.st/2lPhUWq ) that 56 people were killed in 2016, with 11 of those deaths attributed to domestic violence. Another six people were killing shootings by Denver police. In 2015, 50 people were killed in Denver, with another seven shot by police officers.
Despite the higher homicide numbers, Denver police say gang-related killings have dropped significantly and officers were able to solve more cases than in previous years.
The Denver Police Department has solved 38 of the 56 homicides reported in 2016.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
Silicon Valley is rightly focused on President Donald Trumps immigration order. But it should be gearing up for another fight thats vital to both tech companies and their customers.
Net neutrality is in the crosshairs again. Ajit Pai, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has made it clear that hes no fan. Hes already halted a net neutrality-related investigation launched by his predecessor and recently reaffirmed his belief that, one way or another, the days are numbered for the Open Internet rules.
Pai was not available for comment, but advocates on both sides of the net neutrality debate believe its only a matter of time before he tries to undo the rules.
If the courts or Congress dont overturn them, Pai will, said Berin Szoka, president of Tech Freedom, a group that advocates against regulations affecting the technology and telecom industries, at a forum in Menlo Park, Calif., on net neutrality last week.
Its no mystery what Ajit is going do, he said.
How exactly Pai will go after the rules is an open question, said Craig Aaron, CEO of Free Press, a consumer advocacy group that lobbied for them.
But he added, I think hes making it pretty clear that hes not interested in enforcing them and that he would welcome pretty much any opportunity to undermine or defang them.
The net neutrality rules say that internet service providers shouldnt unreasonably discriminate against particular internet sites or services. That has been spelled out in three big prohibitions: broadband providers are barred from blocking, throttling or prioritizing for a fee access to particular sites and services. Under the rules, providers are also required to disclose how they manage their networks.
The threat that those rules might be overturned should be of utmost concern to Silicon Valley and the broader tech industry. Tech companies including Google, Facebook, Netflix and Apple have thrived in an environment ruled by the principles of net neutrality, where they dont have to worry about whether theyll be able to reach their customers over the internet or whether broadband providers might slow down access to their sites, services or apps.
Without the net neutrality protections, larger companies likely will be forced to pay broadband providers to guarantee their customers will be able to access their sites and services. Not only could those fees be significant, they almost certainly will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher costs. Meanwhile, smaller companies could easily lose out by being unable to afford to pay such premiums. That could have obvious effects on competition and innovation.
There are lot of companies that benefit from having well-repaired roads, said John Bergmayer, a senior staff attorney at Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group that long pressed for strong net neutrality rules. Similarly, he added, broadband access is such basic infrastructure. Everyone needs it.
Right now, though, Silicon Valley doesnt seem particularly engaged on this issue, at least not publicly. The immigration fight is gobbling up a lot of attention. Many in the tech industry, particularly the big companies, have been hopeful that the Trump administration will push forward on a tax reform that would slash or eliminate the taxes they owe on their overseas profits. And like many Americans, many seem to be trying to get their bearings amid all the rapid changes.
I think a lot of them are stumbling a little bit, Aaron said. Like many people inside and outside Washington, theyre trying to figure out what it means to operate in the Trump administration.
But Pai isnt sitting still. Earlier this month, in one of his first actions as chairman, he shut down an inquiry his predecessor had launched into so-called zero-rating plans. Under those plans, broadband providers allow consumers to access particular sites and services without using any of their limited buckets of data bandwidth.
Consumer advocates have charged that such plans can violate the principles of net neutrality, because they can distort the market by allowing providers to give preferential treatment to their own sites and services or those of paid partners. The FCC under Tom Wheeler, Pais predecessor, found reason to believe that two such plans, one each from AT&T and Verizon, did fall afoul of the Open Internet rules. Instead of pursuing the investigation, which was launched toward the end of Wheelers tenure, Pai gave a green light to AT&T and Verizon to continue their plans and to other providers to create their own.
Other actions could be coming up. Last year, a federal appeals court panel upheld the Open Internet rules. But opponents of the rules are seeking to have the entire court rehear the case and will likely appeal to the Supreme Court if it doesnt. Under Pai, the FCC could choose to stop defending the rules.
Some congressional Republicans have been seeking to overturn the net neutrality rules and to strip the FCC of much of its authority. Pai could press them to go forward. Or he could simply launch a new rulemaking effort in the FCC itself to overturn the rules.
Those rules were the result of years worth of lobbying by advocates, companies and individual citizens. All three are going to be needed to defend them now that they are in place. Silicon Valley companies in particular could play an important role through public advocacy, private lobbying and the funding of opposition efforts.
Advocates think internet users who flooded the FCC with comments in support of net neutrality played the key part in getting the rules in place and will play a crucial role in defending them. But they are hopeful the tech industry will have their backs.
The tech companies have a responsibility, in my opinion, to not only stand up for their users, in terms of their policy positions, but to fight for them, said Evan Greer, a campaign director at Fight for the Future, a consumer advocacy group that focuses on internet issues.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Troy Wolverton is a technology columnist for The Mercury News. Reach him at twolverton@mercurynews.com or follow him on Twitter @troywolv.
2017 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)
Visit The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Spurred by reports of questionable White House security measures and contacts with the Russian government, New Mexicos U.S. senators are asking separately for an official Justice Department investigation and additional information.
After National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday, Sen. Tom Udall, a Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Tuesday for an independent investigation of Russian government influence on the Trump administration and the 2016 election. On Wednesday, Udall signed onto a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting that a Justice Department-appointed special counsel conduct the inquiry.
We are deeply concerned about credible allegations that the Trump campaign, transition team, and Administration have colluded with the Russian government, including most recently the events leading to the resignation of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor, the letter said. General Flynns conversations with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, and possibly other foreign envoys, may be violations of criminal law and ethical standards. Just as alarming as the legal or ethical wrongdoing is the strong likelihood that other members of President Trumps team were involved in similar conduct, and the apparent cover-up by General Flynn together with other officials in the Trump Administration.
An independent investigation is now necessary to determine what General Flynn did, who knew about it, and when, the letter continues. To maintain the confidence, credibility and impartiality of the Department of Justice, we urge you to immediately appoint an independent Special Counsel to investigate collusion with the Russian government by General Flynn and other Trump campaign, transition, and Administrative officials.
Meanwhile, Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been chastising the White House on Twitter for what he describes as lax security procedures. He seemed particularly concerned about Trumps discussion of a North Korean nuclear incident over the weekend in full view of guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
On Tuesday night, Heinrich took the matter a step further, asking Acting Director of National Intelligence Michael Dempsey about the process used to grant access to classified information for White House staff, including the National Security Council and the Office of the Vice President.
The safety and security of the United States and the lives of our citizens depend on the responsible handling of sensitive information, Heinrich wrote Dempsey in a letter. The policy of the United States Government has long been to restrict access to sensitive information to only those for whom access is truly necessary, and only so long as they are thoroughly vetted and have been determined to meet strict eligibility requirements. At the very least, these recent events have called into question whether the White House is taking adequate steps to protect classified information and to determine the suitability and eligibility of staff with access to sensitive national security information.
Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal
LAS CRUCES An immigration raid at a trailer park early Wednesday panicked immigrant families across southern New Mexico worried about tougher enforcement under the Trump administration.
Rumors of widespread raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Las Cruces proved unfounded.
But even one action was enough to ignite social networks, as mixed-status families and immigrant advocates reported supposed sightings of ICE or Border Patrol vans from the Dona Ana community to Chaparral.
At Los Arboles mobile home park tucked between the urban footprint and pecan orchards in Las Cruces residents said ICE officers wearing bullet-proof vests banged on their doors in the dark, starting around 6 a.m., looking for a man with a Hispanic last name. They spotted four ICE SUVs parked on the pocked dirt road that leads to their homes.
Its not clear whether officers found their target; an ICE spokeswoman declined to confirm the operation.
But ICE officers did find another man in the park, Concepcion Gomez, getting into his car on his way to a forklift job, according to Carlos Vareda, Gomezs brother-in-law.
Gomez, a Mexican father of two young children, had been living in the country for a decade, Vareda said. Officers asked for his papers and he admitted he did not have legal residency. They cuffed him and placed him in the back of an SUV.
Vareda broke down telling how he begged the officers to tell him where they were taking Gomez and got no answer. Vareda said his brother-in-law did not have a criminal record, and a state courts online database doesnt include Gomez name.
ICE has two detention centers in Chaparral and El Paso, but county detention facilities in southern New Mexico also have contracts to hold federal detainees.
ICE policy is not to confirm an operation prior to its completion, said spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa.
In a statement, she said, ICE regularly conducts targeted enforcement operations during which additional resources and personnel are dedicated to apprehending deportable foreign nationals.
That was true under the Obama administration, as well although ICE arrests were scaled back over the past two years after reaching record highs. Trump has promised to ramp up enforcement of immigration laws to include nonviolent offenders.
Last year, ICE administrative arrests the kind now leading to raids in which others are picked up when an officer executes a warrant on a single individual were down 9 percent compared with the prior year.
Total ICE removals plummeted 41 percent last year to 240,255 from a record of 409,849 in fiscal 2012 under Obama, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics. The drop was due in large measure to a 2014 Department of Justice memorandum advising ICE to restrict enforcement to priority groups, including violent criminals and recent border crossers.
Trump signed an executive order Jan. 25 that effectively removed those restrictions and broadened the enforcement priorities to include individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating federal or state law, including federal immigration law.
Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, said, The problem with Trump is that they have exactly said who they are looking for: not only convicted criminals but people with expired visas, people who returned after deportation. Who they are looking for right now, it is a lot of people.
Last week, ICE executed roundups in major U.S. cities from Los Angeles to New York, heightening fears. Many immigrant families have mixed status, with some U.S. citizen members or green-card holders, who are legal permanent residents, and others who are here without legal status.
Mexican Consul General Efren Leyva in Albuquerque told KOAT this week that his office is seeing five times as many visitors as usual, as immigrants seek to cement their citizenship or legal status.
The concerns reached the Roundhouse on Wednesday. Several Democratic lawmakers from Dona Ana County marched up to Gov. Susana Martinezs office and delivered a letter asking her to affirm that federal immigration agents wont go to schools, hospitals, courthouses and other sensitive locations. They said ICEs actions had created a culture of fear in southern New Mexico.
Anyone who crossed the border illegally even once could be targeted for deportation under Trumps order, according to immigrant advocates.
That means there are probably 8 million people eligible to be deported, said Ken Ferrone, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico. There is a lot of anxiety.
Journal Capitol Bureau reporter Dan McKay in Santa Fe contributed to this report.
Detectives have arrested the man they say shot and killed a man who was selling him drugs at the Sahara Motel earlier this month.
Jorge Correa-Reyes, 43, was arrested Wednesday morning after detectives got a tip he was in Southeast Albuquerque, according to officer Fred Duran, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. He said they searched from yard to yard until they found him.
Correa-Reyes is charged with murder in the shooting of Geovanis Garcia, 43, on Feb. 1.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Metropolitan Court, a witness told detectives Garcia had asked him to go to the motel on Gibson near San Pedro SE and sell drugs to Correa-Reyes, whom he knows as Chino. The witness was going to give Correa-Reyes a baggie of drugs in exchange for the money, which he would then give to Garcia.
But when he tried to approach the car where Correa-Reyes was waiting, he waved him away dismissively, according to the affidavit.
Correa-Reyes was known to be prejudicial and only wanted to deal with Cubans, the witness said. He has the words Cuba 100% tattooed on his abdomen, according to the warrant.
So Garcia, who is from Cuba, went to deliver the drugs himself, according to the affidavit.
(The witness) heard arguing from the area in Cuban and then heard gunfire, the detective wrote in the affidavit. (The witness) immediately drove away from the scene for fear of being struck by gunfire. (The witness) later received information that Mr. Garcia had been shot and killed.
When officers arrived at the scene in the back driveway of the motel, they saw Garcia with gunshot wounds to his head and torso and several bullet casings on the ground. He died at the scene.
London International Awards (LIA) has announced the addition of Health & Pharma as a new competition in the 2017 awards. The introduction of the new medium is a reaction from LIA to a large number of requests from creatives for the inclusion of a Health & Pharmaceuticals award.
Barbara Levy, President of London International Awards, explained, The inclusion of Health & Pharmaceuticals is a decision that stems from listening to those from across the creative industry who are so passionate about the work they create in this space. Theyre the ones who made us realise that we needed to take action. We continually work with, and listen to the opinions of, those in our industry to enhance LIA, with a desire to celebrate the very best creative work at the heart of every decision we make.
Jeremy Perrott, Chief Creative Officer at McCann Health has agreed to chair the inaugural juries. LIA will have two separate juries for this competition. Three days will be dedicated to judging Pharmaceuticals; followed by three days of judging for Health & Wellness. The work will be split so its being judged fairly based on the different criteria. Pharma has stricter, more complex rules and regulations to produce work, different from any consumer or wellness material. Understanding this will reinforce LIAs intent and commitment to celebrate the diligence and achievements of the pharma industry as a new powerful creative domain. In addition, the juries will have producers, designers and art directors, as well as creatives, so the real meaning and appreciation of craft is awarded and understood as an integral component of producing great work.
Perrott commented, The global health communications industry is evolving at an ever faster pace. Better talent. More sophisticated innovative solutions. Smarter clients, demanding and encouraging more from their partners. Work once confusing, lost and not exciting is now being recognised for incredible creativity, stunning integrated and interactive solutions. Connecting more consumers more often with messaging, information of life changing ideas. Ideas that come from the most significant and influential business today. Health. London International Awards not only recognises the outstanding work being achieved but the quality of the craft it takes to connect communities, governments, institutions, patients, doctors and the many others who rely now on health to be informed educated and connected. This new festival is what we need in our industry to continue raising the standards, expectations and goals so that we do not stagnate, or become mundane.
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Bern, 15.02.2017 - On 15 February 2017, the Federal Council approved Switzerlands fourth report on its implementation of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Several important advances have been made in recent years that benefit people belonging to national minorities. Protecting their rights must remain an ongoing commitment.
Switzerland ratified the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 1998. With the ratification, Switzerland recognised as national minorities the members of its minority linguistic groups, and the members of its Jewish and its traveller communities. The Federal Council took the opportunity presented by the fourth implementation report to reaffirm and make it clear to the public that the generic term travellers refers to all Swiss Jenish, and Sinti and Manouche people, regardless of whether they have nomadic or settled lifestyles.
The fourth report provides an account of the current situation of the various national minorities recognised by Switzerland. It describes measures taken by the Swiss federal government and cantonal and communal authorities in response to recommendations that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe made to Switzerland in 2014. Successful efforts in favour of national minorities include those of the working group launched in 2015 by the Federal Council to improve the conditions of the nomadic lifestyle and encourage the culture of the Jenish, Sinti and Roma in Switzerland, which allowed the various communities to voice their needs and positions on issues that affect them. In addition, amendments to the Ordinance on the National Languages and Understanding between the Linguistic Communities which seek to improve the representation of linguistic minorities at all levels of the Federal Administration came into force in 2014.
The fourth report responds to the areas of concern expressed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It notes that despite recent positive developments in some cantons, sites for Jenish and Sinti and Manouche travellers are still in short supply, which jeopardises an essential element of their traveller culture. However, the federal government is currently drawing up an action plan regarding the Jenish, Sinti and Roma communities which is expected to set out measures to improve this situation. The report also details measures taken by the federal government to combat anti-Semitism and describes developments in the current debate on the protection of Jewish people and institutions.
Furthermore, the fourth report examines the possibility of recognising additional Swiss national minorities under the framework convention. Some Swiss Roma organisations have submitted an application for recognition which is currently being assessed by the Federal Administration.
The fourth report was drawn up following consultations among the various federal offices, the cantons and conferences of cantonal ministers, communes and cities, and organisations of the relevant minorities. It has been published in French, German and Italian, and will be translated into Romansh at a later date.
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 1 February 1995. It is the only legally binding multilateral instrument devoted specifically to the protection of national minorities. It contains mostly programme-type provisions setting out objectives which the states parties to the convention undertake to pursue for the protection of their national minorities.
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South Korean authorities said theyve uncovered new evidence against Jay Y. Lee, Vice Chairman and heir of Samsung Group. On Wednesday, the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) said its expanding the list of charges against Lee as Samsung Groups executive is now also facing accusations of concealing the proceeds of a criminal act. Lee was already charged with bribery, embezzlement, hiding of assets, and perjury. The Seoul Central District Court will hold a hearing on a second arrest warrant for Lee on Thursday. The court will also use that opportunity to examine an arrest warrant request for Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin. Both arrest warrants are connected to an ongoing corruption and influence-peddling scandal in the Far Eastern country. Lee, Park, and Samsung Group denied all charges and have previously claimed the prosecutors are trying to use Samsung to attack the South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
The fact that the SPO is now claiming it uncovered new evidence against Lee isnt surprising in light of the fact that the Seoul-based agency already had one arrest warrant for Lee thrown out in court last month. On that occasion, the Seoul Central District Court refused to order Lees arrest due to a lack of evidence, so filing another request without new evidence would certainly yield identical results. However, it remains to be seen whether the newly uncovered evidence against Lee is solely related to the accusations of hiding the proceeds of a criminal act or whether the SPO is also ready to substantiate its older charges.
The corruption scandal that led to this moment revolves around President Park and her close associate Choi Soon-sil who allegedly colluded to strong-arm large companies in the country to donate to several organizations that have previously backed Parks policy initiatives. Choi is already in jail while her daughter whos also implicated by the prosecutors is currently under arrest in Denmark and is awaiting extradition to South Korea. The scandal could see Park become the first President of the Far Eastern country who has been forced out of the office. More details on the matter are bound to follow tomorrow after Lees hearing.
Philipp Schindler, Chief Business Officer at Google said that the Mountain View-based tech giant started fighting fake news using all tools at its disposal. While speaking at Code Media conference in Dana Point, California on Tuesday, the companys top executive said that Google is taking the issue of fake news very, very seriously, adding that the Alphabet-owned firm is still thinking about new methods of combating this problem. Schindler also reiterated how Google already took first steps towards completely preventing the dissemination of inaccurate and false information by banning websites which publish fake news from using its advertising platforms. The company is hoping that cutting such publications from an important source of revenue will have immediate effects. Furthermore, the Internet giant recently started labeling Google News listings that have been verified as accurate.
While the Alphabet-owned company is gradually committing more resources to combating fake news, Schindler noted how Google has to tread carefully seeing how that term recently popularized by President Trump doesnt carry the same meaning for everyone. Due to that state of affairs, Google is trying to do everything it can to differentiate between outright false stories and bad journalism, the companys Chief Business Officer explained. Schindler also added how Google is approaching the issue in a careful manner as it doesnt want to be accused of censorship. Finally, the companys executive said he has no advice on the matter for Facebook, another Internet giant that has recently been heavily criticized for not doing enough to combat the dissemination of fake news through its services. While Schindler wasnt willing to comment on Facebooks efforts to combat fake news, the two companies have identical goals regarding this issue, as evidenced by their recent activities in Canada.
Schindlers comments are mostly in line with those of Googles Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai who recently admitted that fake news could have influenced the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and promised to do more to combat that problem in the future. While light on details, Pichai and Schindlers statements suggest that the Mountain View-based tech giant will soon introduce more features designed to combat false news stories.
Google Chrome uses a huge number of measures to protect its users from malware and data thievery, but according to a Texas court, a few of those measures infringe on the patents of others, and that courts findings cost Google $20 million. The patent, held jointly by the late Allen Rozman, a former engineer for Lucent, and Alfonso J. Cioffi, centers around the protection of critical files and a web browser process meant to do just that. Cioffi filed suit against Google in 2013, alleging that an antimalware measure integrated into Chrome violated the patent that he still held, though Rozmans portion was now held by his survivors. Courts originally handed Google the win in 2014, but when Cioffi got together with Rozmans family to file an appeal, it was determined that the previous judges interpretation of the term, web browser process was erroneous, resulting in a ruling against Google for $20 million.
This is not where the story of this case ends. Google filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The surviving family of Rozman, however, could reportedly end up pocketing as much as $60 million, when its all said and done. While the parties on the other side have yet to file anything additional, it is speculated that a case could be built on just how close Googles implementation of the patent-violating code is to the original patent, and just how crucial said code is to Chromes security.
This occasion is not the first time that Google has gotten into a spot of legal trouble over something implemented in Chrome being too close for comfort to an existing patent, and given the open-source nature of the Chromium project, meaning almost anybody can contribute, its fairly unlikely to be the last. Chromium code is subject to review by Googlers before making it into Googles final Chrome and Chrome OS products, but patents that Google doesnt know exist and other things that can slip through the cracks can cause these types of complications, and others. Googles other current legal troubles include a possible resurrection of their ages-long battle against Oracle over Java, and ongoing antitrust investigations in various countries around the globe.
Google is offering a web page with Google Assistant commands if you arent sure what all the topics are that you can ask. While there is a vast pool of queries you can position to the digital assistant software that powers a few of Googles newest products, you might wonder about specific questions you can ask or tasks you can give to Google Assistant that will end up with desired results that it can actually process, and if thats the case this new web page will be able to help with that.
Appropriately titled, OK Google, the web page is set up in such a way thats ridiculously easy to navigate, complete with material design inspired style, and you can figure out commands for Google Assistant by either searching with the search bar at the very top of the page, or you can simply browse through the categories and things that are already listed. Whats more is that the commands are interactive. You can mouse over them and each time you do so the commands will change. For example, the first category is labeled as People & Relationships, and one of the first commands is a question asking How old is, followed up by a random person. Most of these seem to be celebrities or other well-known public figures, and when you mouse over another command the person in that first command will change. This happens with all of the commands. Its essentially Google Assistant in a web portal, minus the connectivity with smart home products and third party apps and such, and you cant actually click on anything to get the results because the page only serves as a means to figure out what you can say to Google Assistant that will work.
That being said, Google Assistant can do quite a few things and its able to answer a lot of different questions thanks to Googles knowledge graph and artificial intelligence technology thats powering it. This can make it challenging to figure out what it is that it can do if you have a product that has Google Assistant installed, and while you could simply just ask Google Assistant and go through trial and error, if youd rather know before hand, this is a way you can do just that.
After Googles new chat app, Allo, had an apparent failure to launch, Google is now seeking user opinions on it through surveys and study groups. Google is looking for users in the areas of Seattle, London, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, and New Delhi who would be interested in heading to a local Google office to be presented with a prototype version of the Allo app, which they can then give feedback on before the features make it into the version meant for mass use. While Google is currently only looking in those areas and does not appear to be running any remote surveys on the product, they may well expand the study area in the future by sending Google researchers out into the field to talk to users about Allo.
Googles seemingly intense effort to save Allo implies that they are far from willing to let their shot at competing with the likes of Facebook Messenger and iMessage just slip away. When Allo debuted, it was met with a lukewarm reception for a number of reasons, such as having no desktop counterpart or cross-OS chat abilities, not saving user profiles and chats to the cloud, and other such flaws that competitors and even Hangouts, the app that Google apparently wants Allo to supplant, all dont have to contend with. The fact that Google is looking for input is a positive sign, but its certainly no guarantee that they can pull Allo from the jaws of defeat.
Allo launched back in September of 2016 with a fairly barebones feature set outside of the headline feature, being Google Assistant integration, and has largely stagnated since then, with a new feature popping up here and there, and mostly being novelty features or things that competitors already have. The launch of the Lucky bot, which dispenses GIF images, was a promising show of support for the chatbot-centric future, but not much has happened with the app since then. By launching a user study, Google can hopefully gather some vital input on what the app needs, and perhaps drum up some interest in the app while theyre at it. If youre in any of the indicated areas and would like to participate, you can sign up for a chance to do so through the source link.
The Huawei P10 received certification from the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as revealed by a set of documents published by the FCC on Wednesday. Huaweis filings with the FCC refer to a device bearing the model number VTR-L29, which has previously been identified as the P10. The fact that Huawei requested the FCC to certify its upcoming Android smartphone confirms that the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer is planning to launch the device in the U.S. This turn of events isnt surprising seeing how Huawei repeatedly stated that its looking to put a larger focus on the U.S. in the future. As the P10 will almost certainly be a flagship device, it makes sense for the company to launch it in the largest market for high-end smartphones in the world.
The Huawei P10 is expected to ship with a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display panel and recent reports indicate the device will be powered by the Kirin 960 system-on-chip and 6GB of RAM, in addition to boasting up to 256GB of internal storage. Other rumors suggest that the P10 might feature some kind of an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, possibly Amazons Alexa thats already integrated into one variant of the Huawei Mate 9. Finally, the smartphone will likely boast a dual camera setup utilizing Leicas lenses. In addition to the P10, the Shenzhen-based phone maker is also expected to launch the P10 Lite and the P10 Plus in the near future. All three devices will be released as successors to the P9, P9 Pro, and the P9 Lite.
Earlier this week, Huawei released a short teaser implying that the P10 will be unveiled in the run-up to this years Mobile World Congress (MWC). More specifically, the tech giant is holding a press conference in Barcelona on February 26, which is when the company is expected to officially announce its latest Android flagship. Other than the P10, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer basically confirmed that it will unveil the Huawei Watch 2 at MWC. Time will tell whether Huaweis upcoming flagship will be able to rival the likes of LG G6 and the Galaxy S8, but the smartphone market is bound to get even more competitive in the coming months.
The LG K8 (2017) unveiled earlier this year at CES in Las Vegas appears to be heading for its US market debut. The smartphone was recently spotted in an FCC Class II Permissive Change certificate, and carries model number LG-VS501, indicating that the smartphone at hand is likely destined for a market release through Verizon Wireless.
LG Electronics seems to be taking care of the necessary formalities prior to the LG K8s market launch in the United States. With that in mind, the company recently applied for a Class II Permissive Change to its original FCC application for the LG K8, this time around specifying that the LG-VS501 is identical to the previously certified model, save for some hardware changes regarding antenna and PCB (printed circuit board) adjustments. As per usual, the FCC application doesnt reveal any details regarding the smartphones exact hardware specifications, but the good news is that LG already officially uncovered the global LG K8 earlier in the year, and apparently Verizons model should have similar components, as mentioned in the Class II Permissive Change application. As such we can assume that the LG-VS501 should accommodate a 5-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 and a pixel density of 294 pixels per inch, a Qualcomm MSM8971 Snapdragon 425 System-on-Chip housing a quad-core Cortex-A53-based CPU operating at frequencies of up to 1.4GHz per core, and 1.5GB of RAM. The device should also house 16GB of on-board storage expandable via microSD, and pack a 13-megapixel primary camera complemented by an LED flash and a front-facing 5-megapixel sensor. The smartphone is powered by a 2,500mAh battery, it runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and takes advantage of a rear-mounted fingerprint recognition sensor.
The new LG K8 is part of the companys K mid-range series, whose sequels including the LG K3 and LG K4 were unveiled at CES 2017. The original LG K8 was launched in April 2016, and needless to say the time for a follow-up model is closing in. As yet theres no telling when the LG K8 will hit Verizon Wireless shelves, but with one less formality standing in its way, it shouldnt take much longer before LG and/or Verizon spill the beans on the smartphones Stateside release.
Last year, Verizon had announced that they were going to purchase Yahoo for a cool $4.8 billion. However, in the time since the deal was announced, Yahoo has suffered a few major hacks have been uncovered, like a billion accounts being hacked a few years ago. This led to Verizon rethinking whether they should continue with this purchase of Yahoo. After all, Verizon isnt purchasing the company for their users, but for their ad and video businesses. However, users were a big reason why the price was so high. Now, according to a report out of Bloomberg, it appears that Verizon has been able to lower the cost by about $250 million. The new price is expected to be released fairly soon. Since the news hit, Yahoos shares have started surging a bit, signaling that shareholders are happy with this news.
Verizon has been after ad companies lately, and buying them up. That included AOL, which has become an integral part of Go90, their OTT video service. They purchased AOL for their vast video content (they also own a few publications like Engadget, TechCrunch and The Huffington Post), which gives them some exclusive video content for their Go90 service. They were also interested in their ad technology. Since Go90 is not a paid service, its ad-supported, these ad technologies are very important and its a big reason why they were looking to pick up Yahoo as well. Yahoo and AOL of course arent as big of an ad company as Google is, but they are a pretty good competitor, especially when you combine the two, which is what Verizon is looking to do.
We could see Yahoo and Verizon announce the new price for this deal any day now. Which should put it down to around $4.5 billion, that is still a pretty big number for a company that hasnt really been all that popular since around 2010. With most people not using their Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Messenger or any other Yahoo account in nearly a decade now. Verizon may also be looking to lower the amount a bit more, especially since Yahoo has lost quite a few users since these hacks surfaced.
Qualcomm seems to be working on a couple of new processors, as details for the Snapdragon 660, Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 635 have just surfaced. These are expected to be the companys mid-range processors, as their names are suggesting. The Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 635 SoCs are actually expected to be new iterations of the Snapdragon 625, its newer variants, while the Snapdragon 660 is expected to be somewhat more powerful than those two chips, read on.
This information comes from China, as it was leaked on Weibo (Chinese social network). The Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 635 will be equipped with eight Cortex-A53 cores, which means were looking at an octa-core processor here. These two SoCs will probably come with support for LPDDR3 RAM, while 4G LTE Category 7 is also expected to be included here. These two SoCs will have a clock frequency of 2.0-2.2GHz, if rumors are accurate, and the Adreno 506 GPU will be included here for graphics performance as well. These are actually all characteristics of the Snapdragon 625 SoC, so it is possible that the final specs of the Snapdragon 630 and 635 will be a bit different, a bit more powerful.
The Snapdragon 660, as already mentioned, is expected to be somewhat more powerful than the Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 635. This processor will, allegedly, be manufactured using Samsungs 14nm LPP processor, and will also be an octa-core processor which will combine Cortex-A73 and Cortex-A53 cores. The Adreno 512 GPU will be a part of this package, and will support dual-channel LPDDR4X-1866 RAM. As far as internal storage is concerned, this SoC will offer support for UFS 2.1 storage, and main cameras of up to 24 megapixels. 4G LTE Cat. 10 support will be included here as well, and the same can be said for three carrier integration. This processor is expected to hit the market in September, when manufacturers will be able to utilize it, while OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi are already rumored to be amongst those manufacturers. Please do take all this info with a grain of salt, as nothing has been confirmed just yet, and it is possible that the final spec sheet will look a bit different, its quite probable actually, but well see.
Lets talk engines first. The entry-level unit is a 240 PS (237 bhp) and 500 Nm turbo diesel, which is connected from the get-go to an eight-speed automatic developed by ZF. As for performance, 8.0 seconds to 60 mph and a maximum velocity of 121 mph will have to make do. 43.5 mpg combined is the best the Ingenium-series 2.0-liter turbo diesel engine has to offer in this application.Up next, the Ford-developed AJD V6 develops 258 PS (254 bhp) and 600 Nm of torque from 3.0 liters displacement. Pricing for the oil-chugging six-cylinder under the hood of the 2017 Land Rover Discovery starts from 50,995 OTR.Last, but certainly not least, the 3.0-liter Si6 supercharged engine is pretty much the same powerplant youll find in the Jaguar XE in 3.0 S/C flavor. With 340 PS (335 bhp) and 450 Nm, it can thrust the Discovery to 60 mph in just 6.9 seconds. Its quite a drinker, though: 26 mpg on the combined cycle.Five trim levels are available in total for the UK-spec Land Rover Discovery of the 2017 model year variety: S, SE, HSE, and HSE Luxury. In regard to standard features, the base model features cloth seats, 19-inch five-spoke Style 5021 alloy wheels, 8.0-inch touchscreen, halogen headlights, 6-speaker sound system, powered tailgate, autonomous emergency braking, and so on.If you want LED headlights and LED signature lighting, the SE (49,495 for the 2.0-liter turbo diesel engine) offers exactly that. For LED headlights with auto high beam assist, youre looking at the HSE Luxury, which costs 62,695 at the very least. As for the most expensive Discovery your pounds sterling can buy, thatd be 65,695 before ticking off any option from the list.In the United States, the all-new Discovery kicks off at $49,990 for the 3.0-liter LR-V6 Supercharged and $58,950 for the 3.0-liter LR-TD6 Diesel.
EV
For starters, Japan is a very disaster-prone country. So the PHV's battery can be used to power a home when the grid is down. It's also got a solar panel installed on the roof and the purerange is much larger than in the US at 68.2 kilometers (equivalent to 42.4 miles; US model promises 25 miles), but that's down to the driving cycle.Perhaps more interesting than the car itself is the way it's being promoted. Taking a page out of your favorite Final Fantasy game, the Prius PHV travels to the African savanna for its "next mission," whatever that means. You've got a posse of odd looking people, a lion sidekick and a stampede of wildebeest following the car through the brush. What the heck is going on here?It's about as weird as Toyota's ying-yang mountain gorilla commercials , so we're never going to get to the bottom of it. It's better just to have a quick look at the specs instead.The PHV still draws power from an inline four-cylinder 1.8-liter engine that produces 98 PS and 142 Nm on its own. Dual electric motors then come into play, one producing 72 PS plus 163 Nm and the other generating just 31 PS and 40 Nm of torque. One can push the car to 130 km/h in EV mode; the other makes electricity.Unlike the regular Prius, the Prime has an 11.6-inch portrait navigation system and a heat pump. The battery supply model of the EV can provide power for a 1500W house for about a day. And as if a solar charger wasn't enough, the PHV also boasts a cool carbon fiber trunk for added lightness.
Many cars with similar agendas failed badly, but it soon became apparent that the Evoque was the right car at the right time. It's by far the most popular model made by Land Rover and a huge source of revenue.Even after six years, it's still very desirable. But there might be one problem that could hurt it going forward - the Evoque is now less practical than some premium hatchbacks. Development has thus started on a Mk2 Evoque, which has just been spied for the first time in test mule form.Our pictures suggest the new Evoque will be built on a new platform with wider tracks. The car's wheelbase is unchanged, but they could play with the rear overhang later in the development cycle.Peaking under the prototypes skirts, we see that it's using a completely redesigned trailing arm suspension setup. Much like rival German manufacturers, Land Rover is also going to tuck the exhaust underneath the bumper rather than giving it visible tips. The "high voltage" sticker on the back suggests one of three things is happening. Either this prototype is a hybrid, it's got a 48V setup or is a fully electric vehicle, which is much more likely.So far, the Brits haven't said a single thing about the Evoque. However, we know that Jaguar is making the small E-Pace model right now, so the two might share a platform. Likewise, we assume the reboot of the entry-level Range Rover will incorporate JLRs latest four-cylinder gasoline and diesel Ingenium engines.Then again, if the current Evoque is built on a modified Freelander 2 platform then the successor will swap parts with the Discovery Sport . The crossover is expected to debut during the second half of next year, giving us plenty of time to figure things out.
First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.
Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.
And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.
If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.
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Import prices from China decrease 1.7 percent over the year ending January 2017
Prices for imports from China fell 0.1 percent in January, after recording no change in December and fell 1.7 percent over the past 12 months. The price index for imports from China has not recorded a monthly increase since the index rose 0.1 percent in December 2014.
Chart Image
Chart Data Percent change in U.S. import prices by locality of origin, January 2017 Locality of origin 12-month percent change 1-month percent change Canada 13.2% 1.8% European Union (1) -0.2 -0.1 France -0.4 -0.2 Germany -2.2 -0.8 United Kingdom -3.5 0.0 Latin America (2) 5.0 -0.1 Mexico -1.9 -1.3 Pacific Rim (3) -0.8 -0.1 China -1.7 -0.1 Japan 1.4 -0.3 Asian NICs (4) -0.2 0.0 ASEAN (5) 0.5 0.2 Asia Near East (6) 26.0 2.4 Other Countries (7) 2.6 -0.2
Import prices from Japan declined 0.3 percent in January, the first decrease for the index since a 0.1-percent drop in January 2016 and the largest decline since the index fell 0.3 percent in August 2015. Prices for imports from Mexico and the European Union also fell in January, declining 1.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. In contrast, import prices from Canada advanced 1.8 percent in January, driven by higher fuel prices.
These data are from the International Price program. Import and export prices are subject to revision. Regions are not mutually exclusive. To learn more, see U.S. Import and Export Prices January 2017 (HTML) (PDF). See more charts on import and export price trends in Charts related to the latest U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes news release.
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Update 11.05 The Government has just won a motion of confidence in itself in the Dail by 57 votes to 52, with Fianna Fail abstaining.
Update 9.30pm: The Government is on course to win a motion of confidence in the next hour in the Dail.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny led the debate tonight offering garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe a full apology for the way he was treated.
The debate came after the first signs of a leadership heave against Mr Kenny, with Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney calling at the Parliamentary Party meeting for Fine Gael to be 'prepared for an election'.
Mr Varadkar also went into the Dail and declared Maurice McCabe to be a hero.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe attacked Sinn Fein saying they'd debased the Dail, and see every problem as an advantage for political gain: "Your efforts here tonight, they are malicious, they are nakedly political and they are aimed at destabilising the Government that is doing its best on behalf of those who we are privilaged to serve."
Update 8pm: The Independent Alliance will vote confidence in the Government tonight after a meeting with the Taoiseach.
The group says they got a commitment to hire an international policing expert to investigate the matters of public concern about Garda ethos and culture.
Fianna Fail's to abstain in the vote, as part of the confidence and supply agreement, meaning the minority government will survive.
But party leader Micheal Martin says they are on their last chance: "The events of this last week, have put the agreement under serious strain.
"We do want a change of Government, but we also feel that this Dail has not fulfilled its obligations to the people who we are elected to serve."
Update 7pm: The Independence Alliance considered pulling out of Government over the way in which the Taoiseach and other Government Ministers have handled the Maurice McCabe scandal, writes Political reporter Elaine Loughlin.
While the five members of the Independent Alliance have announced they will be supporting the motion of confidence in the Government in the Dail tonight, when asked they failed to express confidence in Enda Kenny.
At a press briefing after their meeting with Mr Kenny, the Alliance said they still unsatisfied with his version of events.
Transport Minister Shane Ross said the group had told Mr Kenny that they "were very disappointed with a lot of confusion that had occurred in government in recent days and that we found it unacceptable and we hoped it wouldn't happen in the future".
Asked if a withdrawal from government was an option Mr Ross said: "We considered it".
When Mr Ross was asked if the Alliance have confidence in Mr Kenny he said it would "not be appropriate" to suggest anything.
"What we have said about that is this, we are upset and very distressed by what's has happened, both with the Taoiseach another members of Government in the past few days, we do not think it would be appropriate in this situation where we are putting down a motion of confidence in the Taoiseach to suggest that we have no confidence in the Taoiseach."
Update 5.55pm: The Independent Alliance has announced that it is to support a motion of confidence in the Government.
It comes after The Taoiseach met with the Alliance this afternoon to discuss their confidence in the Government over the handling of the Maurice McCabe affair.
Speaking in the past few minutes, the Transport Minister Shane Ross says the Alliance have secured a commitment to hire an international policing expert to investigate the matters of public concern about Garda ethos and culture.
Mr Ross says the group has serious concerns about the ongoing difficulties in the Garda sector, and wants them investigated.
He said: "We in the Independent Alliance have therefore secured a commitment from the minister for Justice today to appoint without delay an independent international policing expert to carry out a thorough investigation into the wider and more fundamental issues of public concern which have emerged relating to the administration, ethos and culture of An Garda Siochana."
Update 12.50pm: A leading Fine Gael backbencher has said the party needs to address the leadership issue within the next two months, writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor.
Speaking on his local radio station, KCLR live, Carlow/Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan today said Enda Kenny should depart as leader in the near future because an early General Election is likely.
Mr Phelan said that the Government is in a precarious position and that Fine Gael TDs need to act in order to avoid catastrophe.
KCLR Live presenter John Masterson asked when this should happen and Mr Phelan replied: "Within six to eight weeks. I do think there should be a new leader of Fine Gael in the near future because we will probably have another general election in the near future."
The remarks come ahead of tonights meeting of the parliamentary party.
There is speculation within Leinster House that Mr Kenny will be told to spell out his exit strategy and a timeframe for his departure.
Last Monday, Fine Gael Dublin North-West TD Noel Rock called on Mr Kenny to set out "a deadline for the future not only for himself but for the sake of Fine Gael party", saying the issue needed to be cleared up "sooner rather than later".
Senior ministers Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Simon Harris have been approached in recent days by concerned Fine Gael TDs and senators deeply concerned about Mr Kennys leadership.
The feeling is that the party must unite to overcome the McCabe crisis, but that the issue of the leadership must be addressed in the near future.
Update 12.30pm: The Independent Alliance is to hold a showdown meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny this afternoon at 4pm to address their concerns over the Sgt McCabe crisis writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor.
The Irish Examiner understands that the Alliance, which have been locked in an emergency meeting since early this morning, are dismayed at Mr Kenny's handling of the crisis since last week, particularly his admission that he made up a conversation with Childrens' Minister Katherine Zappone.
"What did Katherine Zappone tell you, and what did her officials tell your officials?" the Taoiseach is asked. pic.twitter.com/6qCZDyUSMU RTE News (@rtenews) February 12, 2017
Taoiseach says he is guilty of 'not giving accurate information' in relation to his contact with Katherine Zappone pic.twitter.com/i5OKcvqiy3 RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
Ministers Shane Ross, Finian McGrath, John Halligan and Sean Canney along with alliance whip Kevin 'Boxer' Moran have been holding talks as to whether they can express confidence in Mr Kenny and the Government when the Dail votes on the matter tonight.
The Dail debate is to commence at 7pm and conclude at 10.15pm with the vote to be taken at that point.
As it is to be a walk through vote, as opposed to an electronic vote, the result is expected about 10.45pm.
After a rocky day yesterday, Mr Kenny has been facing further questions in the Dail this afternoon ahead of a meeting of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meeting.
Fianna Fail health spokesperson Billy Kelleher described the Governments response to the whistleblower controversy as being incoherent and shambolic, but said that his party was committed to stability.
Mr Kelleher said Fianna Fail will not bring down the Government and said he did not believe that there was any malicious intent by the Taoiseach to mislead either the Dail or the public.
Martin asks how did Enda Kenny know terms of #MauriceMcCabe inquiry would cover Tusla file unless he knew what allegations were about #Dail Juno McEnroe (@Junomaco) February 15, 2017
Update 12.24pm: Speaking at a jobs announcement in Dublin this morning, the Taoiseach admitted: "It's a lot easier talk to you that some of the other people I've to talk to these days."
'It's a lot easier talk to you than talk to some of the other people I have to talk to these days,' Taoiseach says at jobs announcement. pic.twitter.com/CcnauYoVVf RTE News (@rtenews) February 15, 2017
Update 10.48am: Health Minister Simon Harris has called for cool heads among the Independent Alliance Ministers ahead of this evenings motion of confidence in the Government.
The Independent Alliance remaining in Government and as a part of Government is crucial to the Governments survival and I absolutely hope it happens, he said.
They have many excellent people playing a very important role, and I think its a time for cool heads, its a time for people to deliberate on the important issues, but ultimately its time for people to put the national interest first.
And the best thing we can do as a Government and as an Oireachtas is set up a full public inquiry to address these very, very serious allegations.
The group is understood to be unhappy with the Taoiseach's performance in the Dail last night.
They had hoped to raise their concerns at a Cabinet meeting this morning - but that has now been postponed until tomorrow.
The Independent Alliance are also seeking a meeting with the Taoiseach.
Earlier:
The crisis in Government has escalated this morning as an emergency meeting of the Independent Alliance has been called for 10am, writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor.
The Alliance are dismayed at what they see are the inconsistencies in the versions of events of the past week in the Governments handling of the Sgt Maurice McCabe saga.
Alliance Ministers have been told to clear their diaries for the day and have been requested to gather in Dublin to discuss their next step, but the Irish Examiner understands that several members of the Alliance would have grave difficulty in expressing confidence in Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.
The Dail is due to discuss a motion of confidence in Government at 7pm this evening, with voting set to take place at 10.15pm. A result is expected at around 10.45pm.
As of now, Independent Alliance ministers Shane Ross, Finian McGrath, John Halligan and Sean Canney along with Kevin 'Boxer' Moran appear unable to support that motion.
The Director of Food Drink Industry Ireland (FDII), Paul Kelly has warned that Irelands largest indigenous sector faces substantial challenges in the years ahead in a world that has changed radically in 12 months.
Mr Kelly was speaking at the launch of the first FDII Business Monitor report this morning. The report shows that food and drink is Irelands largest indigenous sector with 230,000 linked jobs and has seen exports grow to reach 11.15 billion in 2016.
It is estimated that half of exports are by indigenous Irish companies with destinations including the UK (40%), Rest of Europe (31%) and international markets (29%).
Furthermore, Ireland is the largest net exporter of dairy ingredients, beef and lamb in Europe and exports over 80% of its dairy and beef production.
Mr Kelly has called on the Government to urgently implement a range of policy measures to ensure that the Irish agri-food sector remains innovative, competitive and capable of meeting these challenges and to maximise the sectors ability to seek out new opportunities in existing and new markets.
Speaking at today's launch, Mr Kelly said, "On the international front, 2016 saw the risks from Brexit beginning to crystallise for Irish food and drink exporters. We witnessed a drop of 560m in UK exports, the formation of a new and uncertain global trade environment, and challenges to the integrity of the EU Single Market."
He added, "At home in the domestic grocery market, declining consumer sentiment has given way to a decrease in sales relative to volume growth and this is putting further pressure on business costs."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
Modified On May 24, 2017 09:12 AM By Rachit Shad for Toyota Camry 2015-2022
Comes loaded with a host of new features, both inside and outside the cabin
Toyota is one brand that surely strikes the mind whenever someone utters the words hybrid car. The Japanese auto giant recently celebrated an amazing achievement of surpassing the 1 crore sales mark for its cars with electrified powertrains. It seems like Toyota has chosen the moment wisely to launch a refreshed version of its Camry Hybrid in India. It is priced at Rs 31.98 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and thats Rs 1.08 lakh dearer to the outgoing model.
So what do you get for the extra money? Well, on the outside the car gets new LED fog lamps, bigger 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlamps with daytime running lights, auto folding and reverse linked ORVMs with memory functionality, and welcome lamps. Step inside the big roomy sedan and the newness includes a 12-speaker JBL music system, reworked navigation system with a better user interface, wireless smartphone charger (itll work only if your phone supports the tech), power recline on rear seats, tyre pressure monitoring system and nine SRS airbags including a knee bag. Gosh! That is some list!
Powering the Camry Hybrid is a 2.5-litre petrol mill, which on its own, produces 160PS of power and 213Nm of torque. Then comes the electric powerplant. It draws its juices from a nickel-metal hydride battery pack and, as a standalone, produces 143PS of power and 270Nm of torque. When working together, the total output figure goes up to 205PS. The powerplant is mated to an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission and, get this, a car which has gross weight of 2.1 tonnes, returns a mileage of 19.16 kmpl!
The only rival that the hybrid variant of the Toyota Camry has in India is the Honda Accord Hybrid. Even with the hiked price-tag, the Camry is over Rs 5 lakh cheaper than its Japanese counterpart. If you want to make your contribution towards a greener tomorrow and still roam around in a car that, frankly speaking, is all the car youll ever need, the Camry Hybrid is a steal!
Read More on : Toyota Camry price
With Betsy DeVos now helming the Department of Education, American parents and students will likely have access before long to a federally sponsored school-choice program. Thats great news, but the Trump administrations education policymakers shouldnt ignore the growing charter-school movement, which has dramatically improved access to high-quality education for many students whom the traditional public school system has left behind.
We should work to make traditional public schools as good as they can possibly bebut where layers of rules and regulations have made reform difficult, charters offer the chance of a clean slate. As taxpayer-funded public schools, charters are open to all students and subject to the same accountability systems as traditional public schools. What makes charters unique is their freedom from the unnecessary, outdated, and counterproductive work rules vigorously defended by the teachers unions.
Charters arent perfect; quality varies both within and across localities. Overall, suburban students do no better in charters than in local public schools and, often, they do worse. But students in many cities do better, on average, when they attend charters. Attending a charter school can be a difference-maker for kids in cities such as Boston, New Orleans, and Newark. Those who say that charters dont work tend to lump the urban and suburban schools together, treating the heterogeneous charter sector as if it were a homogenous phenomenon. Thats a mistake.
Charters are now succeeding on a large scale. Student achievement has improved dramatically in New Orleans since it became essentially an all-charter district. Schools in the popular Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) continue to produce staggering academic results. They now enroll 80,000 students in 200 schools around the country. If it were its own school district, KIPP would be the 41st-largest in the United States, just behind Milwaukees and just ahead of Nashvilles. Recent research finds that charters arent getting worse as they increase their market share; if anything, they may be improving. Perhaps the day will come when innovation in the charter sector produces diminishing returns. That hasnt happened yet.
Charters succeed using various strategies. The most successful schools adopt a mix of high expectations, more instructional time, and improved teacher effectiveness. This is hardly revolutionary. Recent research shows that these practices yield similar positive results when applied within traditional public schools. Resistance to reform is strong within traditional school systems, however, where teachers unions and entrenched education bureaucracies wield formidable political influence. The charter sectors innovations, which prioritize the education of children, often run counter to the interests of the adults running most public school districts.
Many critics argue that charters do not adequately serve students with disabilities. They frequently charge that charter operators counsel disabled students to leave their schools, leaving them for the traditional system to handle. The evidence doesnt support these claims. My analysis of student-enrollment and classification patterns in both New York City and Denver shows that a student with a disability is actually less likely to leave a charter than a traditional public school. In fact, attending a charter school can affect whether a child even needs special-education services. In a newly published paper, my coauthors and I found that students attending Denver charters were less likely than kids in traditional district schools to be placed into special education in the early elementary grades. Another recent study found that elementary-age students randomly offered a spot in a Boston charter school were less likely to be newly classified into special education in kindergarten than students randomly denied a seat in a charter.
Many regular-enrollment students in charters would have been placed into special education had they gone to a traditional public school. Charters are serving these kids; they just dont classify them as disabled. The most plausible explanation for why: students attending charters do better academically than they would have done otherwise, thus eliminating the need for extra services.
No, charter schools arent a silver bullet, but they have helped hundreds of thousands of kids escape lousy schools. The Trump administration should heed the findings of empirical research and push states to make it easier for charters to open, innovate, and expand.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
Audio Transcript
Aaron Renn: Hello, this is Aaron Renn, contributing editor at City Journal. As you know, we have been doing a lot of articles, both in recent issues and forthcoming, on the future of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. And to talk more on that topic, I'm pleased to be here today with Robert Poole. He is Director of Transportation Policy and Searle Freedom Trust Fellow at the Reason Foundation, actually cofounded the Reason Foundation, is one of America's most eminent and innovative transportation experts. So, Bob, thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it.
Robert Poole: Glad to be here, Aaron.
Aaron Renn: What is the Port Authority?
Robert Poole: Well, the Port Authority is almost a hundred years old, it's a big institution that was created to improve the ports of New York and New Jersey and the associated transportation. Over the years it evolved into running the three major airports, the building and running the bridges and tunnels across the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, a mass transit system that loses a ton of money, a Port Authority Bus Terminal that is apparently in very poor shape and miscellaneous so-called economic development projects that lose money and are done as political favors to the governors of the two states, so it's really kind of gotten out of control from what it was originally intended to be.
Aaron Renn: What do you think is the core problem with the Port Authority?
Robert Poole: Well, the core problem is what the Port Authority considers its strength, and that is that all the money that they raise from revenue-producing enterprises, whether they make profits or losses, the airports, the tunnels and bridges, the ports, all goes into a common pot and they issue revenue bonds based on - they call that system financing. What that has meant over the years is that the airports and the bridges and tunnels become cash cows and everything else sucks up the money and is available for politicians to play with. And that is, it turns out, this so-called strength turns out to be the Achilles heel of the Port Authority. It is the weakness that drives all sorts of uneconomic behavior that wastes money, and for which there is a big opportunity cost because New York's major airports are not world class - they should be - the ports are not competitive in the way that they should be, and the bridges and tunnels, or many of them, are nearing the end of their useful lives and there's no provisions to replace them or modernize them, so the core assets are being neglected in order for the politicians to spend all kinds of money on other things.
Aaron Renn: So that's primarily things like the PATH system, or the World Trade Center, and things like that.
Robert Poole: Right, right. Well, the World Trade Center, before it was destroyed by terrorists, actually was making money. But they should not have diversified into real estate. There was no good reason to do that. Commercial, the private sector could've done that. And they only got permission to do the World Trade Center by being willing to take over the money-losing rail transit system that became PATH between New Jersey and the tip of Manhattan.
Aaron Renn: So what should we do about the Port Authority?
Robert Poole: Basically we should take away their cash cow business. And that means, my recommendation would be to make each of the enterprises self-supporting. In other words, the tolls that toll payers pay would be used for the facilities that they use, to make them better and more capacious. The charges that airlines and passengers pay at the airports would be used to make better airports, and so forth. The seaports would be forced to be self-supporting instead of losing some money and you get rid of the ones that are hopeless basket cases, which is several of them. So you do that and you no longer have a huge pot of cash available for politicians to play games with. You force the system to be responsible by taking away, cutting off the water, basically.
Aaron Renn: What would you do with some of the money-losing assets like PATH?
Robert Poole: Yeah, well the PATH train is a good example of it's not subject to the same discipline that any other rail transit system in the country is because it gets all of the money, other than the small amount that comes from the fare box, comes from the people who pay tolls to cross the river in cars and it does not get federal transit grants like all other transit systems do, or state grants, or local taxpayer support of any kind. So one thought recommended in one of the reports that I have reviewed is that give it to New Jersey Transit. It serves New Jersey commuters. If New Jersey Transit took it over, they are already eligible, they get federal transit grants, state transit money, and they could even create local taxing districts around their stations because of potential benefits from people, from merchants having transit access. So there are solutions to that. I don't have any magic way to make it a profitable enterprise, but if it became a normal rail transit system, it wouldn't need to be sucking up huge amounts of money from people who pay tolls for lousy service on the highways.
Aaron Renn: Well that maybe highlights the key problem with reforming the Port Authority, because you've got a political challenge there.
Robert Poole: Absolutely.
Aaron Renn: New Jersey Transit already has huge problems.
Robert Poole: Right, right.
Aaron Renn: There are very high fares on their commuter rail system, underinvested in capital, New Jersey's highway trust fund is broke, the state's got big financial issues, so how could you possibly convince the State of New Jersey to take over this asset?
Robert Poole: That, you're right. That would be a tough sell given the reality of those problems. Another possibility would be to take a lesson from Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway is profitable because it is a combination of real estate and rail transit. There's huge value to being connected to a mass transit system that carries large numbers of people. So one possibility would be, as part of divesting the World Trade Center, to make whoever would buy a big chunk of that take over the transit system that feeds people to work there, to shop there, to be tourists there, and have that be part of the system. I haven't done numbers to see how that would work out, but a deal of that sort might be possible in order take over that four billion dollar station that is now part of the rebuilt World Trade Center. That's a plum asset for somebody but you'd have to take on the transit line itself in order to get it and the building that it's part of.
Aaron Renn: What role do you think privatization might play in this, especially in things like airports which have been privatized around the world?
Robert Poole: Yeah. Most of the major airports in the world, certainly in Europe and many of them in South America, have been privatized in the last 20 years and they've all been improved by privatization. The only one in the United States, really, is the San Juan Airport in Puerto Rico, which is undergoing a major refurbishment. If you make the airports self-supporting, they could be long-term leased, as was done with San Juan International in Puerto Rico, as is done in most of Latin America, and is becoming a world model. Most of the privatizations in Europe are not full ownership, they are long-term concessions. And you could raise a lot of money and pay off the amount of bonds that effectively have been used for the airports by leasing them out for 50, 75 years, at market values. Given what airports are going for these days, those airports are worth tens of, tens of - probably twenties - scores of billions of dollars, altogether, Newark, LaGuardia, and Kennedy.
Aaron Renn: One of the ideas might be, especially for these bridges and tunnels, to sell them to different people so that you have different agencies that are in competition with each other.
Robert Poole: That's an excellent suggestion, I think. And that's one of the things that, one of the problems that I have with the Port Authority. It was the progressive era concept that everything should be one giant enterprise that was centrally managed. And when Margaret Thatcher first started privatizing British infrastructure, she privatized the entire British Airports Authority, the three London airports and the two Scottish airports, because it had always been one system. Well, they found out after awhile that that really wasn't the best model, and so in the last decade, Stansted and Gatwick airports have been sold off, leaving just - the former BAA is now just Heathrow - and those airports now are forced to compete with one another, and they are making large investments in improving their facilities, and both Heathrow and Gatwick are pleading for permission to build a new runway to add capacity. Because they're - particularly Heathrow is woefully short. It's like at 98 percent of its capacity and has really no room for growth.
Aaron Renn: If we did split these up and, you know, create competition within bridges and tunnels, or within the airports, is there a danger that that might cause externalities or undermine other important policy goals? So maybe people are driving extra, causing extra congestion on the street, to get to the bridge that's a little cheaper than the other one, or maybe polluting the air a little more or something like that.
Robert Poole: Right, right.
Aaron Renn: Are there any tradeoffs that you make in that situation?
Robert Poole: There are certainly potential problems of the sort you are raising, but the beauty of these long-term concession agreements is that governments who have competing companies bid for the right to refurbish and run a particular enterprise can put in performance requirements. And if you want to have a certain level of policies on emissions, for example, those can be a standard condition for all the bridges and tunnels, so that there's not that kind of invidious competition to, as a race to the bottom, so to speak. But you would probably want to leave the pricing, be free, because the traffic characteristics may well be somewhat different among the different bridges and tunnels and it's best to let the market sort out what pricing scheme really works the best to manage the traffic. It's certainly in the interest of the concession company that gets a particular facility to maximize its revenue, consistent with providing good, reliable service. And so it's better not to have administered prices as opposed to market prices in those cases.
Aaron Renn: I want to make my last question about the Port Authority Bus Terminal. You mentioned the PATH station at World Trade Center. That's basically a subway station, not even in the top ten busiest in the City of New York, that was four billion dollars to redo.
Robert Poole: Right, outrageous.
Aaron Renn: The Port Authority has had a lot of challenges with cost overruns and extremely high budgets on projects. And a lot of what they've done is already baked. Okay, the bridges are built.
Robert Poole: Right.
Aaron Renn: That PATH station is built. But one that they need to figure out what to do with, potentially their next big project, is the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown. Apparently it's structurally deficient, it needs to be replaced, and their estimated cost right now, very preliminary estimate, ten billion dollars. Which seems beyond ludicrous.
Robert Poole: Yes.
Aaron Renn: Do you have any thoughts about what the future of that one ought to be? Because it seems like the one that's most in play right now.
Robert Poole: Yes, the future of that ought to be a public private partnership in which you go to the private sector, to real estate developers, basically. Port Authority owns quite a bit of land, property, right adjacent to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. There's real estate value capture there, so someone could have, get the rights to develop that real estate in exchange for building a modern, not a, you know, an extravaganza like the PATH station in the World Trade Center, but just a normal bus terminal with modern concessions. You know, restaurants and shops, dry cleaners and things that would serve people who use the buses. But that would not, could not conceivably be probably more than a billion dollars as a piece of the overall real estate development, which would be a plum for anybody to be able to develop in that particular spot on the West Side of Manhattan.
Aaron Renn: Robert Poole, thank you very much for joining us today.
Robert Poole: Glad to do it.
Last weekend, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, in what it described as a routine action, arrested and detained several hundred illegal aliens across the country. Forty-one such people were arrested in New York City. Advocates for the undocumented met the news with despair and anger. Now it seems like anyone could be arrested, said Shiu-Ming Cheer, attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. She added that ICE will facilitate racial profiling by local law enforcement. Deborah Axt of Make the Road New York spoke of the agencys effort to cast immigrants as criminals. Shame on ICE for putting New Yorks immigrant communitiesfour million strongin a state of panic, said Steven Choi of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Left-wing politicians also voiced outrage. Democratic New York State senator Jesse Hamilton called for the New York Police Department to stop arresting people for low-level offensesa practice, he says, that puts immigrants in danger under the Trump administration. Every arrest produces fingerprints that are sent to federal law enforcement officials. Among the activities . . . often used to police black & brown bodies that Hamilton wants decriminalized are disorderly conduct, trespassing, marijuana possession, and disturbing the peace.
Other New York City elected officials used the raids to make a broader point. From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go! shouted New York City Council members Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin at a rally in Tompkins Square Park. City councilmember Carlos Menchaca posted on Facebook that the Palestine/Mexico refrain is his fave new chant.
City comptroller Scott Stringer posted a picture on Twitter of thousands of Yemeni protestorsall menbowing in orderly ranks as they performed their evening devotions in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall. This is what our city and America is all about, commented Stringer. One could easily say that mixing religious observance with political speech, while taking over a public square in front of a municipal building in order to perform a mass act of prostration to a divinity, is precisely what America is not about. Stringer also strangely posted a picture of a massive Palestinian flag, fluttering above the assembled crowd, as another example of what America is all about.
In virtually any other country, the deportation of aliens who have overstayed their visas or who are working in the underground economy might merit a brief mention in the newspaper. Deporting aliens who have committed serious crimes is understood in most nations to be a necessary duty of the state, like sanitation or the licensing of medical professionals. Nobody thinks twice about deporting criminals in these countries, and immigration enforcement is an uncontroversial aspect of national life.
Canadaoften cited by progressives as a model of civilized multiculturalismdeports aliens at almost twice the rate that the U.S. does. Between 2006 and 2014, Canadian immigration authorities deported, on average, 35 people per day, or about 13,000 annually. The United States, with nine times the population of Canada, removed about 65,000 illegal aliens from within the borders of the country in 2016. Unofficially, Canada removes refugee applicants by paying them to withdraw their petitions and return to their countries of origin. Since 2012, thousands of Hungarian Roma have been offered one-way airfare to Budapest and $2,000 (Canadian) in reintegration assistance in exchange for leaving Canada voluntarily.
Australia deports 10,000 people annually, giving it one of the highest rates of deportation in the world. Australia also has a firm policy, originally called the Pacific Solution, of intercepting illegal boat migrants and processing them offshore, thus denying them any claims to refugee or asylum status they might obtain by reaching the Australian mainland. The migrants get sent to Papua New Guinea or Nauru to live in dismal detention camps, with no hope of ever going to Australia. The miserable nature of their existence is then advertised in countries such as Afghanistan to deter further migration.
Under the Obama administration, ICE oriented its pursuit of illegal aliens toward those with criminal records, and the agency performed periodic sweeps to apprehend the worst offenders. At the same time, the United States effectively opened the doors to unauthorized migration, a policy bound to ensure that such actions would continue to be necessary. The indignation of activists and progressive politicians about the enforcement of our immigration laws is perhaps predictable, but acquainting themselves with global norms regarding legal migration and deportation might help keep their blood pressure under control.
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company offers peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis, and additional dialysis therapies and services; intravenous therapies, infusion pumps, administration sets, and drug reconstitution devices; remixed and oncology drug platforms, inhaled anesthesia and critical care products and pharmacy compounding services; parenteral nutrition therapies and related products; biological products and medical devices used in surgical procedures for hemostasis, tissue sealing and adhesion prevention; and continuous renal replacement therapies and other organ support therapies focused in the intensive care unit. It also provides connected care solutions, including devices, software, communications, and integration technologies; integrated patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies to help diagnose, treat, and manage a various illness and diseases, including respiratory therapy, cardiology, vision screening, and physical assessment; surgical video technologies, tables, lights, pendants, precision positioning devices and other accessories. In addition, the company offers contracted services to various pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. Its products are used in hospitals, kidney dialysis centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, doctors' offices, and patients at home under physician supervision. The company sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through independent distributors, drug wholesalers, and specialty pharmacy or other alternate site providers in approximately 100 countries. It has an agreement with Celerity Pharmaceutical, LLC to develop acute care generic injectable premix and oncolytic molecules. Baxter International Inc. was incorporated in 1931 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois.
02/15/2017
Photo (c) AdobeStock Many telemarketing scams originate overseas but, as a recent case involving a Florida man shows, there are often U.S.-based accomplices who keep the cash spigot open.
The case involves Joel S. Treuhaft and his company, PHLG Enterprises, LLC. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged that they collected more than $1.5 million from about 3,000 consumers in a scheme that helped Indian call centers conduct IRS tax scams, government grant scams, and advance-fee loan scams, among others.
The scammers behind these call centers relied on PHLG and its runners to get consumers money, said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection. Stopping companies that assist and facilitate fraud remains a top FTC priority.
Bogus bills
The FTC said that telemarketers at Indian call centers conned consumers into paying hundreds or thousands of dollars each for taxes they did not owe, or fees for services they did not receive. They often pretended to be affiliated with government agencies, telling people they owed money to the IRS, or that they would get a government grant after they paid a fee.
The consumers paid via Western Union or MoneyGram cash money transfers, making it difficult for them to trace their payments or obtain refunds. The defendants paid runners to collect the money at retail stores that offer money transfer services.
Using text messaging, the Indian call centers dispatched runners to pick up the money as quickly as possible so that consumers would not have time to cancel or reverse the money transfer if they became suspicious.
Some runners lied to store employees to retrieve a consumers money, including saying they were the consumers friend or relative. The runners went to various stores every day, for eight to 10 hours per day, to collect consumers money, the agency said, keeping a portion of each payment as their share of the "take."
Under the FTC order, Treuhaft and his company are banned from working with telemarketers. The order imposes a $1.5 million judgment that will be suspended based on the defendants inability to pay. The full judgment will become due immediately if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
In celebration of the International Womens Day, Dream Cruises said it will ring in the month of March with a series of events inspired by the Golden Shanghai era in the 1920s, including the first-ever Cheongsam Catwalk at Sea, professional hair and makeup workshops, skincare talks as well as dancing parties to set the mood for everything Shanghai.
In collaboration with Linva Tailor, one of Hong Kongs top bespoke tailors, the first-ever Cheongsam fashion show at sea will be hosted onboard Genting Dream, featuring 21 handcrafted cheongsams as a tribute to this art form in Chinese fashion, to be modeled by the crew of the Genting Dream. Every cruise in March will declare one lucky passenger a winner; whoever can fit into the ideal measurements as envisioned by the Master Tailor Leung Ching Wah, will win a specially crafted cheongsam from Linva Tailor.
There is also a chance for guests to meet Ocean Jiang Tao, a make-up artist from Beijing and his team to learn the techniques and tips of classic Chinese make-up inspired by the Shanghai vintage look.
There will also be Shanghai Broadway music aboard as the dazzling Golden Shanghai era comes to life onboard Genting Dream, said the company in a prepared statement.
On the food and beverage side, the Silk Road and Dream Dining restaurants will showcase a signature Shanghai menu. This project will be spearheaded by Alvin Chan, Assistant Vice President Cuisine for Dream Cruises who has been a Chinese Chef for restaurants and hotels in Shanghai from Banyan Tree, Hakkasan Shanghai on the Bund and The Westin Shanghai. Shanghai nights at Silk Road feature the classics from Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, Four Happiness Kao Fu and Shanghainese Smoked Fish serving as a prelude to Sauteed Rives Shrimps, Braised Bean Curd and Sweet and Sour Baby Ribs. Dream Dining showcases a dinner menu highlighting Shanghai specialties such as the Braised Lion Meatballs to the Sweetened Fermented Rice Wine Mini Balls.
The new hip buzzword for our industry is collaboration.
The irony is when I started working for Consolidated Community Credit Union more than 20 years ago, collaboration between credit unions was a daily occurrence.
But with the advent of community charters and open fields of membership, the willingness for credit unions to share ideas has become less over time.
Consolidated Community has just $206 million in assets. Were almost large enough to dream big, but still small enough to know our place in the Portland, Ore., banking landscape.
As a result, we knew we had to be good at a few niches and that we would never be all things to all people.
Credit union leaders continue to highlight the movements pro-consumer attributes in the pages of local publications, most recently in Massachusetts, Michigan and Florida. The pieces reinforce the work of CUNAs Campaign for Common-Sense Regulation, a bipartisan, pro-consumer campaign to achieve regulatory relief through legislative and regulatory advocacy.
In MassLive, Cooperative Credit Union Association President/CEO Paul Gentile responded to bankers criticism of credit union growth. Gentile points out that consumers, even bank customers, benefit from the credit union presence in the marketplace.
Do consumers want to live in a financial world where their only option is a bank? Massachusetts credit unions are a terrific option for consumers and small businesses to consider and rather than the Massachusetts Bankers Association railing against unchecked credit union growth, they should focus on serving their customers, Gentile wrote. Credit unions do not want to put banks out of business. We believe in a strong banking system and also a strong credit union system.
Before dating sites became ubiquitous, most people found their partners at work or church, or through friends. There was likely some kind of common bond already there but remember what it was like on a first date? It begins with trying to find something of interest. What kind of music, movies, food do you like? Where did you grow up? Go to school. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Remember going through your boyfriend or girlfriends record collection? That was a clear indicator of their personality and if you had anything in common. Why was this so important? Because at our core we like being with people that are like us. Thats why the original credit unions worked so well. Teachers helping teachers. Welders helping welders. Military helping military.
Targeting v. Excluding
Credit unions are similar in nature to a grocery store. We offer products that every human needs. We have tons of competition offering the exact same products and our margins are very thin. Consequently credit unions start to focus on the product rather than the people buying the product. When a credit union hangs a banner outside their office that announces Car Loans or Free Checking its akin to a grocery store with a banner that says We Have Food!
Everyone knows you have food. But so does the guy across the street and its the same food, so why should I buy yours?
Trying to be all things to all people is a thing of the past. Michael Dell
One of the big fears among management in declaring a target audience is exclusion. If we target women, we may offend men. If we target the youth we might put off the old people. And so the shame of same sets in. This is why so many credit union marketers are using these horrifying diverse stock art photos in their advertising and on their websites. Lets try and include absolutely everyone so we appeal to no one.
Back to the grocery store analogy and a wonderful example of target audience not excluding but rather attracting. According to a FORBES article, Trader Joes is a perfect example of how to gain a competitive advantage in a crowded space by embracing the immigrant perspective. Their non-conventional culturally-tailored approach and attitude is one that is deeply embedded in the roots of their business model: from their packaging, product selection, store layout and graphics, to their vendors, employees and management. The Trader Joes brand is diversity on steroids.
Trader Joes was founded by an immigrant. Their target audience is the fastest growing consumer groups in America (i.e. Asians, Indians, Hispanics, etc.) Trader Joes knows these consumer groups are loyal and incredibly viral within their communities. Does Trader Joes have a guard at the door asking their customers to declare their ethnic origin before they can grab a shopping cart? No! Anyone can shop there, but they have a community of loyalists that are marketing for them.
Do you?
Democratic state attorneys general, two members of Congress and consumer groups are renewing their request to help defend the CFPB in court, contending that the Trump Administration is likely to abandon the agency.
The groups argue that while the Obama Administration was prepared to mount a vigorous defense of the agency in a suit challenging the constitutionality of the CFPBs structure, the Trump Administration opposes the existence of the agency.
The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia already has denied the request, but the groups are asking the court to reconsider.
The motion argued that intervention was warranted because there is a substantial probability that, due to changing political circumstances, the CFPB and/or the DOJ will drop their defense of the CFPBs constitutional structure and acquiesce in the panels holding, the consumer groups and the credit union argue.
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BEER-SHEVA, Israel...February 15, 2017 - "BGUSAT," the first nanosatellite for Israeli academic research, is being launched today as part of a collaboration between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Israel Ministry of Science, Technology and Space. It will provide researchers with data on climate change, agricultural developments and other scientific phenomena.
The nanosatellite is slightly larger than a milk carton (4x4x12 inches) and weighs only 11 pounds.
"BGUSAT is an important and affordable new tool to facilitate space engineering and research," says Prof. Dan Blumberg, BGU vice president and dean for research and development. "The reduced costs allow academia to assume a much more active role in the field, taking advantage of the innovation and initiative of researchers and students."
BGUSAT is outfitted with visual and short wavelength infrared cameras. Hovering at 300 miles above the surface of the earth, the nanosatellite's orbital path will enable BGU researchers to study a broad range of environmental phenomena. For example, they will be able to track atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and study Earth's airglow layer, which provides crucial information about climate change.
BGUSAT can change its angle and obtain views from multiple orbits and positions. Larger satellites orbit too high to accomplish this, while observation planes and balloons fly too low.
Seed funding to build the BGU satellite and its ground receiving station was provided by AABGU Boca Raton, Florida donors Max and Rachel Javit. "We're so pleased to have helped Israel soar to new horizons by providing eyes in the sky," says Rachel. "BGUSAT will provide valuable data for BGU and other Israeli academics that will benefit the scientific research community worldwide."
BGU partnered with IAI and the Israel Space Agency within the Science Ministry five years ago. Construction of the satellite began two years ago at IAI's space division. "Only a collaboration with government backing can preserve the Israeli space industry's global standing, promote research, create new jobs, and safeguard the essential interests of Israel," says Science Minister Ofir Akunis.
While developing BGUSAT, BGU students and researchers were challenged to conceive new methods of constructing a miniaturized satellite, working together to integrate knowledge from the software and electrical engineering, planetary sciences and industrial management fields.
"This is the first project to showcase the enhanced space engineering capability we are developing at BGU," Blumberg says.
BGU's Earth and Planetary Image Facility in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development is one of just five NASA Regional Planetary Image Facilities outside the U.S.
According to Avi Blasberger, director of the Israel Space Agency, "This is the first time Israeli researchers will have the opportunity to receive information directly from a blue and white [Israeli] satellite without having to go through other countries or research agencies."
"We are proud to be part of this innovative, technological project, which opens up the world of nanosatellites to new and varied scientific missions," says Col. (res.) Ofer Doron, head of IAI's MBT Space Division. "For the first time, the space division developed a dedicated computer specifically for nanosatellites that has computing power similar to that of larger satellites. This computer has already been integrated into the SpaceIL spacecraft and the three Samson satellites."
The BGUSAT nanosatellite will be launched from the Satish Dhawan launching pad in India.
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About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more.
AABGU, which is headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.aabgu.org.
WASHINGON, D.C. -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will release a new report Connecting Scientists to Policy Around the World: Landscape Analysis of Mechanisms Around the World Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Policy, that documents best practices for immersive science-policy connection mechanisms. A session on the report will be held at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, February 16, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, in Constitution Ballroom B (see program and list of speakers at end of this release).
AAAS conducted the landscape analysis in response to growing interest in establishing programs modeled on its successful Science & Technology Policy Fellowships. Sponsored by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the project affirmed global demand to strengthen connections between science and policy, highlighted factors for productive engagement of scientists in the policy sphere, identified more than 150 science-policy linkage mechanisms, and clarified criteria to support their success.
The need to engage and nurture a new generation of scientists globally to meet current and future demand at the science-policy interface emerged as a primary focal point. The report recommends critical actions to cultivate and network boundary-spanning STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) leaders and support them to engage successfully at the intersection of science and policy around the world, including:
Foster an ethos of civic engagement internationally by training STEM students on the ability and responsibility of science to help meet the needs of countries and citizens around the world.
Broaden the diversity of scientists and engineers engaging at the science-policy interface by expanding opportunities for and recruiting participants from underserved populations and geographic regions, as well as from a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, cultural perspectives, genders, and career stages.
Establish general core competencies and outline sets of skills that empower boundary-spanning expertise in the S&T policy arena to support shared understanding and aims across different political and cultural environments.
Foster incentive structures within academia that reward science-policy engagement, outreach, mentoring, and other avenues of service to society.
Strengthen science diplomacy and advance regional and global cooperation on science and technology policy by cultivating connections among national, regional, and international science and policy stakeholders.
"Successful boundary spanning is all about cultivating relationships, establishing connections, and developing collaborations to address complex problems," says Cynthia Robinson, senior policy advisor at AAAS, and former director of the Science & Technology Policy Fellowships. "Finding solutions to tough challenges won't happen by simply ensuring scientific information is available. It requires scientists actually engaging in problem-solving policy processes, and participating to implement solutions."
Since 1973, the AAAS S&T Policy Fellowships program has trained more than 3,000 scientists and engineers to successfully support evidence-based policymaking at the federal level through its model of embedding participants in government offices and the policymaking processes. The majority of STPF alumni continue in careers that build bridges between science and policy. Ten programs have been launched modeled on STPF, operating in the U.S. at the national and state levels, internationally in the ASEAN region, and in Canada, Israel, and Switzerland. New programs are planned for Argentina and Spain.
"We are now seeing a new generation of young scientists around the world eager to contribute their science to policy and diplomacy," notes Marga Gual Soler, project director in the AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy. "This report will serve as a guide for the scientific and policy communities to establish new science policy immersion programs and strengthen existing linkages between scientists and policymakers at all levels."
International collaboration to build science policy capacity is an emerging dimension of science diplomacy. The landscape analysis identified programs operating at binational and regional levels that present effective approaches for establishing relationships between countries as well as connecting the scientific and policy communities. This is especially important for addressing challenges that are transboundary in nature.
"This report captures what currently exists. The next step is to build on what we know and have learned from existing programs to develop new mechanisms that address the specific unmet needs of individual countries or regions," says Tom Wang, chief international officer of AAAS, and director of the Center for Science Diplomacy.
The report concludes with recommendations to foster a global network of boundary-spanning scientists empowered to share knowledge, collaborate, and expand their impact to address global challenges that no nation can solve alone.
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Following is the program for the report release event. Thursday, February 16, 2017
10:30am Opening remarks
Cynthia R. Robinson, Senior Policy Advisor, Center of Science, Policy and Society Programs; Principal Investigator, Science & Technology Policy Fellowships, AAAS
Tom C. Wang, Chief International Officer; Director, Center for Science Diplomacy, AAAS
10:40am Presentation of the "Connecting Scientists to Policy Around the World" report
Marga Gual Soler, Project Director, Center for Science Diplomacy, AAAS
11:00am Panel: Experiences and examples of mechanisms for science policy engagement
Frances Colon, Member of the External Advisory Committee, Immediate
Past Deputy Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State
Rachael Maxwell, Lead, Canadian Science Policy Fellowship
Atsushi Sunami, Member of the External Advisory Committee, Vice-
President and Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
(GRIPS), Japan
Agustin Campero, Secretary for Scientific and Technological Articulation,
Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, Argentina
11:40 Audience Q&A
11:50 Closing remarks: Importance of international cooperation in building science policy capacity
H.R.H. Princess Sumaya Bint El Hassan, President, Royal Scientific Society of Jordan
To download a copy of the full report and the executive summary please visit http://www.aaas.org/globalsciencepolicy. For more information email: globalsciencepolicy@aaas.org.
AAAS
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CHICAGO (February 15, 2017): Patients with a type of advanced malignant cancer of the arms or legs have typically faced amputation of the afflicted limb as the only treatment option. However, a technique that limits the application of chemotherapy to the cancerous region can preserve limbs in a high percentage of these patients, researchers from five cancer centers in the United States and Australia report in a study published online as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print publication.
The researchers used the treatment technique, known as regional chemotherapy with isolated limb perfusion (ILI), in 77 patients with treatment-resistant, locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas (STS), and were able to salvage limbs in 77.9 percent of the cases. "Isolated limb infusion is a safe and effective technique of treatment of patients with locally advanced soft tissue sarcoma who otherwise might require amputation," said lead study author John E. Mullinax, MD, from Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Fla.
The study, conducted over a 22-year period from 1994-2016, is the largest one to date of limb preservation using ILI for sarcoma. "Advocates for ILI in these patients would argue that, with similar long-term survival data and meaningful overall response rates, patients would much prefer a treatment that preserves the affected extremity to one that does not," Dr. Mullinax said. ILI has historically been used primarily for melanoma of the extremities and the use of this technique in sarcoma is a more novel approach. Sarcoma is a rare type of cancer in the extremities with several different subtypes; the study patients who underwent ILI had 17 different subtypes of sarcoma.
The rationale for amputation of soft tissue sarcoma of the arm or leg has been to prevent the cancer from spreading to, or metastasizing to, other parts of the body. Dr. Mullinax noted that one concern with the use of ILI in these cancers is that it does not address distant metastatic disease. "The reality is that those patients who develop metastatic disease after amputation or ILI likely may already have distant microscopic disease at the time of the procedure, but the radiographic staging studies are not sensitive enough to detect it," Dr. Mullinax said. "In this sense, the treatment of the extremity disease is not to the determinant of long-term survival."
In the study population, 19 patients had 21 procedures for upper-extremity disease and 58 patients had 63 infusions for lower-extremity disease. The results varied significantly for the two groups. The overall three-month response rate to ILI was 58 percent, but it was only 37 percent for those with upper-extremity disease vs. 66 percent for lower-extremity disease. Likewise, those who had upper-extremity sarcomas had a lower median overall survival than their lower-extremity counterparts, 27.9 months vs. 56.6 months. For the entire study population, the median overall survival was 44.3 months.
Entering the study, all the patients had sarcomas that could only be removed with an amputation, but afterward 30 percent had a complete response to ILI, many of these because patients were able to have a surgical procedure to remove the tumors without amputation. For those who eventually needed an amputation, the median time to do so was 4.5 months following ILI.
The ILI technique involves circulating the chemotherapy agents melphalan and actinomycin D in the blood vessels of the affected area of the arm or leg, and the use of a tourniquet to block the chemotherapy drugs from circulating through the rest of the body, thus creating a closed circuit. The drugs circulate in the target area for 30 minutes, and then are flushed out before the tourniquet is removed and full circulation is restored. ILI for soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities can be repeated, whereas another procedure to administer chemotherapy to the arms or legs, hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion, requires an incision to openly cannulate the vessels and generally cannot be repeated, Dr. Mullinax explained.
The ILI technique requires a team to help perform the procedure such as an interventional radiology team to place the catheter in the artery before the procedure, a perfusionist to oversee the circuit and an operating room staff familiar with chemotherapy precautions, Dr. Mullinax said.
"Most patients would prefer to have more time with their leg rather than face an amputation," Dr. Mullinax said. "It's known that for patients with soft-tissue sarcoma, the life-limiting disease is not in the extremity but it's actually in the metastatic disease. An inoperable sarcoma of the thigh does not affect survival to the degree that metastatic disease in the lung does."
Dr. Mullinax said one limitation of the study was that it did not randomize patients between ILI and amputation, so a head-to-head comparison of response to treatment and survival cannot be performed with this dataset. The study also did not evaluate quality of life or patient-related factors for those who had limb salvage vs. those who had amputation.
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Co-senior authors of the study are Ricardo J. Gonzalez, MD, FACS, and Jonathan S. Zager, MD, FACS, of the Moffitt Cancer Center; other coauthors are Hidde M. Kroon, MD, PhD, of the Melanoma Institute of Australia, University of Sydney; Neel Nath, BS, and Paul J. Mosca, MD, PhD, FACS, of Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Jeffrey M. Farma, MD, FACS, of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia; Rajendra Bhati, MD, FACS, of Marietta Memorial Hospital, Marietta, Ohio; Danielle Hardmann, BS, and Sean Sileno, BS, of Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa; and Christina O'Donoghue, MD, Matthew Perez, MD, Syeda Mahrukh Hussnain Naqvi, MD, and Y. Ann Chen, PhD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.
A video summary of study highlights can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR4zL-7tcm0
This study was presented at the 128th annual meeting of the Southern Surgical Association, in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 2016. This work was supported by a Cancer Center Support Grant to the H. Lee Moffitt Comprehensive Cancer Center and Research Institute.
NOTE: "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Citation: Isolated Limb Infusion as a Limb Salvage Strategy for Locally Advanced Extremity Sarcoma. Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit http://www.facs.org
A new Tel Aviv University study finds outdoor challenge-based interventions may be effective in reducing the overall severity of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms. The research found significant improvements in the social cognition, social motivation, and autistic mannerisms of the young subjects after outdoor adventure activities and describes a new path for enhancing the social and communication skills of children with ASD.
The study was published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology and led by Prof. Ditza Antebi-Zachor of the Pediatric Department at TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Director of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center's Autism Center, together with Prof. Esther Ben Itzchak of Ariel University.
One in 68 children in the US is diagnosed each year with ASD, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by socio-communicative impairments and restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests. The developmental disorder takes a deep social, emotional and economic toll on the child and his/her family. But research has also shown that the early diagnosis and early treatment of ASD can lead to vast improvements in the cognitive functioning and socio-communicative skills of children on the spectrum.
Getting out of the classroom
Fifty-one children from seven special-education kindergartens in Tel Aviv participated in the study, which was conducted in collaboration with ALUT, the National Israeli Association for Children with Autism, and ETGARIM, a nonprofit that sponsors outdoor activities for disabled people. The children, aged 3-7, all followed the same educational protocols, but the intervention group, comprising 30 students, also participated in an outdoor adventure program (OAP).
The intervention group underwent 13 weekly sessions of challenge-based activities with instructors. Each 30-minute session took place in urban parks near the participants' kindergartens and kicked off with a song. Afterward, the children used the outdoor fitness equipment, moving from one to another throughout the session. The activities required the children to communicate with the instructors and with their peers, to ask for assistance or be noticed, for example.
Prior to the adventure program, the children's cognitive and adaptive skills were assessed by the kindergarten instructors using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), a questionnaire that assesses autism severity in different domains, and the Teachers' Perceived Future Capabilities questionnaire. The information was obtained prior to and after completing the program.
Meeting goals and building trust
"Outdoor adventure programs are designed to improve intrapersonal skills and interpersonal relationships by using adventurous activities to provide individual and group problem-solving and challenge tasks," says Prof. Zachor. "The necessary tools for a successful OAP include establishing individual and group goals, building trust among participants, and providing activities that challenge and evoke stress but are nevertheless enjoyable.
"Our study shows that outdoor adventure activities benefit children with autism and improve their social communication skills. We suggest including these fun activities in special education kindergartens and in communication classrooms at school in addition to traditional treatments. Parents of children with ASD can also enroll their kids in afterschool activities based on the principles of our research. It will allow the children to have fun during their leisure time while improving their communication skills."
According to Prof. Zachor, future studies should examine the contribution of this type of intervention over longer periods of time and encourage other researchers to explore new treatments that improve social communication skills in an entertaining, engaging way. "We're interested in studying the long-term effect of this intervention, not just on ASD symptoms but on functioning in different domains, including behavioral problems, language skills, and attention span," she says.
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Tel Aviv University (TAU) is inherently linked to the cultural, scientific and entrepreneurial mecca it represents. It is one of the world's most dynamic research centers and Israel's most distinguished learning environment. Its unique-in-Israel multidisciplinary environment is highly coveted by young researchers and scholars returning to Israel from post-docs and junior faculty positions in the US.
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) enthusiastically and industriously pursues the advancement of TAU in the US, raising money, awareness and influence through international alliances that are vital to the future of this already impressive institution.
Arizona State University astronomer Adam Schneider and his colleagues are hunting for an elusive object lost in space between our Sun and the nearest stars. They are asking for your help in the search, using a new citizen-science website called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9.
Astronomers have found evidence for a ninth planet in our solar system. The evidence comes from studying the orbits of objects in the solar system's Kuiper Belt. This is a zone of comet-like bodies orbiting the Sun out beyond the orbit of Neptune. The Kuiper Belt is similar to the asteroid belt that circles the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, but it lies dozens of times farther out.
This hypothetical Planet 9 could be similar in size to Neptune, but it may orbit up to a thousand times farther away from the Sun than the Earth does. So while astronomers can see its effects on the Kuiper Belt objects, no one has yet observed Planet 9 directly.
"If it exists, Planet 9 could be large -- maybe 10 times the mass of Earth but orbiting far out beyond the Kuiper Belt," says Schneider. "Yet it must be extremely dim and hard to find." A postdoctoral researcher in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration, Schneider is particularly interested in studying objects smaller than fully fledged stars and ranging down in size to planets.
Hiding out in the neighborhood
In addition to searching for a distant planet orbiting the Sun, this new project will help astronomers identify the Sun's nearest neighbors outside of our solar system.
"There are just over four light-years between Neptune and Proxima Centauri, the nearest star, and much of this vast territory is unexplored," says the lead researcher for Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Astronomers expect the Sun's neighborhood will contain many low-mass objects called brown dwarfs. These emit very little light at visible wavelengths, but instead glow dimly with infrared -- heat -- radiation.
"Brown dwarfs are somewhat mysterious," says Schneider. "They have masses of less than 80 times that of Jupiter, because that's the point at which nuclear fusion begins and an object becomes by definition a star." But there's no real lower limit to how small a brown dwarf could be, he says.
"If we find one that's, say, five times the mass of Jupiter and it's orbiting a star, we'd call it a planet," Schneider explains. "But an identical object could also be floating freely in space, unattached to any star, and we'd call it a brown dwarf."
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9
So how do astronomers find such objects in space? That's where you can contribute using a website that enlists the help of citizen scientists. It's called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 and it uses images taken by NASA's WISE space telescope.
WISE, which stands for Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, was launched in late 2009 and it has mapped the entire sky several times during the last seven years. WISE detects infrared light, the kind of light emitted by objects at room temperature, like planets and brown dwarfs. This sensitivity to infrared light makes WISE uniquely suited for discovering Planet 9, if it exists.
But there's a snag: Images from WISE have captured nearly 750 million individual sources in the sky. Doubtlessly among these lurk the elusive brown dwarfs and possibly Planet 9. The question is how to sift through the data and identify them.
The trick to finding these needles in haystacks of WISE data is to look for something in motion. Planetary objects and brown dwarfs roaming near the Sun can appear to move across the sky, leaving other celestial objects such as background stars and galaxies, which lie immensely far away, apparently fixed in place.
So the best hope for discovering these worlds is to systematically scan infrared images of the sky, searching for objects that move.
Automated searches for moving objects in the WISE data have already proven successful, but computerized searches are often overwhelmed by image artifacts -- visual noise -- especially in crowded parts of the sky.
As Schneider explains, "People who join in the Backyard Worlds search bring a unique skill to the search: the human ability to recognize movement."
If it moves, check it out
The search method is a 21st-century version of the same technique used at Arizona's Lowell Observatory by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. He discovered dwarf planet Pluto 87 years ago this week, on February 18, 1930. Back then, Tombaugh compared two photographs taken a couple weeks apart, looking for a tiny dot of light that shifted position.
The Backyard Worlds search works similarly, but by electronically serving up flipbooks of WISE images taken at different times. As each flipbook plays, objects in the field move or change appearance, making it easy for volunteer observers to flag suspicious objects for later follow-up. Participants will share credit for their discoveries in any scientific publications that results from the project.
The discovery of a ninth planet in our solar system or a new nearest neighbor to the Sun would mark a major event in the history of astronomy. Such objects could already be present within the vast WISE dataset, just waiting to be found.
"This program offers an excellent opportunity for citizen scientists to help astronomers with an edge-of-discovery search," says Schneider.
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Besides Arizona State University, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is a collaboration between NASA, University of California Berkeley, American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and the Zooniverse, a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who collectively develop and manage citizen science projects on the internet.
One of the most promising new approaches to slowing the spread of HIV is pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a once-a-day medication that people who don't have HIV can take to prevent becoming infected. But that strategy only works if people at risk for contracting HIV become and remain fully engaged in preventive care and actually take the pills. In the real world of clinical practice, that has often proved tricky.
In a new article in the journal AIDS, a Brown University-based team of researchers draws on their experience in providing and carefully studying PrEP programs to propose a new system for understanding and evaluating how PrEP is implemented in clinical practice. By viewing the process as a continuum with nine specific steps, they write, researchers and clinical providers can properly assess where patients might fall out of preventive care that can help them remain HIV-negative.
"It's helpful to visualize PrEP care as a continuum, because patients can drop out at any point on this long continuum," said Dr. Philip Chan, co-author of the paper, assistant professor of medicine at Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School and an infectious disease physician at the Miriam Hospital, where he runs a PrEP program serving all of Rhode Island. "We are providing a framework for how we can identify and assist people who are at high risk for acquiring HIV to stay uninfected."
In these early days of PrEP programs, physicians nationwide have found that it's sometimes difficult to retain patients in care and ensure that they are keeping up with -- or "adhering" -- to their medicine, said lead author Amy Nunn, associate professor at the Brown University School of Public Health. In early academic trials of PrEP, adherence to the medication was promising, but outcomes in research studies are often different than in the grittier domain of real-world clinical settings.
"Important research trials and CDC-funded demonstration projects have proven PrEP was overwhelmingly effective in reducing HIV acquisition," Nunn said. "But it's time to move beyond research trials to implement and study how to scale PrEP in safety net and primary care settings, where it's needed most. We propose an approach based on our experiences providing PrEP to people in real-world clinical settings that helps us evaluate how to measure population progress."
In a study last year analyzing the progress of clinical programs in cities in Rhode Island, Mississippi and Missouri, Nunn, Chan and colleagues found that among patients who sign up to begin PrEP, only about 60 percent remained in care after six months.
In this study, their goal was to identify elements of the process where interventions could improve access to PrEP and the retention of patients in care.
Nine PrEP steps
The nine proposed steps are: (1) identifying individuals at highest risk for contracting HIV; (2) increasing HIV risk awareness among them; (3) enhancing PrEP awareness; (4) facilitating PrEP access; (5) linking to PrEP care; (6) prescribing PrEP; (7) initiating PrEP; (8) adhering to PrEP; and (9) retaining individuals in PrEP care.
In much of the nascent research literature of the field, scholars have looked at a looser progression of four steps (identifying those at risk, increasing PrEP knowledge, ensuring access to PrEP, ensuring medication adherence), but Chan and Nunn said that such a general process leaves too many gaps where problems can be missed.
"The process is more complicated and nuanced than many people think," Chan said.
For example, even when some patients have been identified as being at risk to contract HIV and have been well-informed about what PrEP is, they still might not appreciate their HIV risk enough to feel sufficiently motivated to take PrEP, Nunn and Chan said. PrEP does have side effects and can be expensive. That's why the steps of identifying patients who are suitable candidates for PrEP and making sure they understand their degree of HIV-infection risk are critical.
In another example, the researchers noted that adherence is not always the most accurate measure of success for evaluating the public health impact of PrEP. Retention in care may be more important, they said. On one hand, adherence to PrEP isn't the only measure that high-risk patients should take to protect themselves from HIV transmission -- routine testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, counseling about reducing sexual partners, using condoms and understanding community-level HIV risks can also be important, Nunn and Chan said. On the other hand, some patients may no longer require PrEP over time as they change their risk behaviors and sexual partnerships. A person who settles into a monogamous sexual relationship and practices safe sex might not need PrEP anymore, but that shouldn't be perceived as an HIV prevention failure requiring intervention.
In a future study, Nunn said, she and colleagues will focus on when people cease to be retained in care and why.
In some cases, she said, patients are lost to follow up and don't take their medications because they may lose their health insurance or not have sufficient support services to overcome other barriers to taking PrEP medications. For that reason, Nunn advocates for funding PrEP navigators who can help high-risk patients overcome barriers, such as insufficient insurance, to stay engaged in preventive care.
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Several sources from the National Institutes of Health helped to fund the research.
In addition to Nunn and Chan, the paper's other authors are Brown University School of Public Health Professor Matthew Mimiaga, as well as Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, Catherine Oldenburg, Kenneth Mayer and Rupa Patel.
A breakthrough by CSIRO-led scientists has made the world's strongest material more commercially viable, thanks to the humble soybean.
Graphene is a carbon material that is one atom thick.
Its thin composition and high conductivity means it is used in applications ranging from miniaturised electronics to biomedical devices.
These properties also enable thinner wire connections; providing extensive benefits for computers, solar panels, batteries, sensors and other devices.
Until now, the high cost of graphene production has been the major roadblock in its commercialisation.
Previously, graphene was grown in a highly-controlled environment with explosive compressed gases, requiring long hours of operation at high temperatures and extensive vacuum processing.
CSIRO scientists have developed a novel "GraphAir" technology which eliminates the need for such a highly-controlled environment.
The technology grows graphene film in ambient air with a natural precursor, making its production faster and simpler.
"This ambient-air process for graphene fabrication is fast, simple, safe, potentially scalable, and integration-friendly," CSIRO scientist Dr Zhao Jun Han, co-author of the paper published today in Nature Communications said.
"Our unique technology is expected to reduce the cost of graphene production and improve the uptake in new applications."
GraphAir transforms soybean oil - a renewable, natural material - into graphene films in a single step.
"Our GraphAir technology results in good and transformable graphene properties, comparable to graphene made by conventional methods," CSIRO scientist and co-author of the study Dr Dong Han Seo said.
With heat, soybean oil breaks down into a range of carbon building units that are essential for the synthesis of graphene.
The team also transformed other types of renewable and even waste oil, such as those leftover from barbecues or cooking, into graphene films.
"We can now recycle waste oils that would have otherwise been discarded and transform them into something useful," Dr Seo said.
The potential applications of graphene include water filtration and purification, renewable energy, sensors, personalised healthcare and medicine, to name a few.
Graphene has excellent electronic, mechanical, thermal and optical properties as well.
Its uses range from improving battery performance in energy devices, to cheaper solar panels.
CSIRO are looking to partner with industry to find new uses for graphene.
Researchers from The University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and The Queensland University of Technology also contributed to this work.
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Surfers aren't the only people trying to catch big waves. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are trying to do so, too, at least in wave climate forecasts.
Using decades of global climate data generated at a spatial resolution of about 25 kilometers squared, researchers were able to capture the formation of tropical cyclones, also referred to as hurricanes and typhoons, and the extreme waves that they generate. Those same models, when run at resolutions of about 100 kilometers, missed the tropical cyclones and the big waves up to 30 meters high.
Their findings, published in the Feb. 16 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, demonstrate the importance of running climate models at higher resolution. Better predictions of how often extreme waves will hit are important for coastal cities, the military, and industries that rely upon shipping and offshore oil platforms. And, of course, for surfers.
"It's well known that to study tropical cyclones using simulations, the models need to be run at high resolution," said study lead author and postdoctoral fellow Ben Timmermans. "The majority of existing models used to study the global climate are run at resolutions that are insufficient to predict tropical cyclones. The simulations in our study are the first long-duration global data sets to use a resolution of 25 kilometers. It's also the first time a study has specifically examined the impact of resolution increase for ocean waves at a global climatological scale."
The other authors on this study are Daith? Stone, Michael Wehner, and Harinarayan Krishnan. All authors are scientists in Berkeley Lab's Computational Research Division (CRD).
Zooming in to detect hurricanes
Climate models work by simulating the exchange of air, water, and energy between the grid "boxes." In today's state-of-the-art climate models, these boxes are typically 100 to 200 kilometers wide. That level of detail is good enough to catch the formation and movement of midlatitude storms, the researchers said, because such systems tend to be quite large.
In contrast, tropical cyclones tend to cover a smaller area. While the overall footprint of a hurricane can be broad, the eye of a hurricane can be very compact and well defined, the researchers noted.
"The problem with that 100-kilometer resolution is that it misses key details of the hurricanes and tropical cyclones, which are clearly relevant to the generation of extreme waves," said Stone. "But going to a 25-kilometer resolution data set is computationally challenging. It requires 64 times more computational resources than a 100-kilometer simulation."
The study relied upon the data-crunching power of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a scientific computing user facility funded by the DOE Office of Science and based at Berkeley Lab.
The researchers ran the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5) climate model with data collected in three-hour increments at a low resolution of 100 kilometers and at a high resolution of 25?kilometers. They found that the high-resolution simulations included tropical cyclones where the low-resolution ones did not.
Crunching data to catch big waves
To see if the cyclones had an effect on waves, they then ran global wave models at both resolutions. They saw extreme waves in the high-resolution model that did not appear in the low-resolution ones.
"Hurricanes are tricky things to model," said Stone. "We've shown the importance of using a high-resolution data set for producing hurricanes. But the characteristics of hurricanes could change with the climate. People are making projections of changes in ocean waves in a future, warmer world. It's not clear if the 25-kilometer resolution is sufficient for capturing all of the processes involved in the development of a hurricane. But we do know that it's better than 100 kilometers."
While additional high-resolution simulations of the future are on the way, the researchers were able to take a first look at possible conditions at the end of the 21st century. Wehner noted that the biggest waves in Hawaii are projected to be substantially larger in a much warmer future world.
The researchers added that this study only looked at averages of wind-generated waves. One-off "rogue" or "freak" waves cannot be reproduced in these kinds of models, and large waves such as tsunamis are very different since they are caused by seismological activity, not the wind.
The data from this study will be made freely available for use by the wider scientific community.
"In the same way that weather patterns are part of the climate, ocean wave patterns are also part of the 'wave' climate," said Timmermans. "Ocean waves are relevant to the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, which affects the planet's climate as a whole."
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This work was supported by DOE's Office of Science.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Sophia Antipolis, Feb. 15, 2017: Statin side effects are the strongest predictor of failure to meet low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol targets, according to research published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.1 Other predictors were statin non-adherence and use of weaker statins.
"The beneficial effect of reducing LDL cholesterol on slowing the progression of coronary heart disease is overwhelmingly documented today in epidemiologic and randomised controlled studies," said lead author Dr John Munkhaugen, a cardiology trainee and post-doctoral researcher at Drammen Hospital, Norway.
"European guidelines2 recommend a blood LDL cholesterol goal of less than 1.8 mmol/l but just one in five cardiac patients taking lipid-lowering drugs achieve this,"3 he added.
The NORwegian COR (NOR-COR) prevention project originates from the Department of Medicine at Drammen Hospital and is a collaboration between Drammen and Vestfold hospitals, and the Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo. It is investigating why patients fail to control risk factors including lipids and blood pressure after they have a cardiovascular event. This analysis examined the reasons why cardiac patients do not achieve the LDL cholesterol target.
The study included 1,095 patients hospitalised with a first or recurrent coronary event or treatment (heart attack, coronary artery bypass graft, or coronary stent) who were identified from medical records at two Norwegian hospitals (Drammen and Vestfold). Sociodemographic, medical and psychosocial information was collected from medical records, an interdisciplinary self-report questionnaire, clinical examinations, and blood samples while patients were in hospital and at follow-up after two to 36 months.
The impact of potential barriers on achieving the LDL cholesterol target was calculated with LDL as a dichotomous (above or below 1.8 mmol/l) and continuous variable.
The researchers found that 57% of patients were not meeting the LDL target of 1.8 mmol/l at follow-up. Statin specific side effects (mainly muscle complaints), low statin adherence, and moderate- or low-intensity statin therapy were the main reasons for failing to meet the target.
Patients with side effects were more than three times more likely to miss the cholesterol target than those without side effects. Those who did not take their statins were three times more likely to miss the target than patients who did take them. Patients prescribed moderate- or low-intensity statins were 62% more likely to miss the target than those prescribed high-intensity statins.
"We found the same three reasons for not meeting the target when LDL was analysed as a dichotomous or continous variable which confirms the strength of the associations," said Dr Munkhaugen. "Surprisingly, low socioeconomic status and psychosocial factors did not predict failure to control LDL cholesterol."
"The findings show that the focus for interventions to improve LDL cholesterol control are statin side effects, and adherence to and prescription of sufficiently potent statins," he continued.
Dr Munkhaugen said more research was needed on why side effects of statins had such a big effect on meeting cholesterol goals. "Patients who experience side effects are probably more likely to reduce or terminate statin use, or their doctor may prescribe a weaker drug or take them off statins altogether," he said. "Individual variations in how the body reacts to and uses the drug may also play a role."
The links between non-adherence and intensity of statin therapy on LDL cholesterol are likely explained by the pharmacological effects of the drug. "Not taking the prescribed amount of statins or being prescribed a weaker statin means there is less drug in the body to act and lower LDL," said Dr Munkhaugen.
"The reasons for statin non-adherence are a complex interaction between factors related to the patient and the healthcare system," he added. "Interventions aiming to improve statin adherence have been a priority in recent years, but the success has been modest and short-lived."
The study found that the use of high-intensity statins was significantly more frequent in patients who achieved the cholesterol target. But Dr Munkhaugen said: "The relationship with adherence and side effects needs to be clarified before advice can be given about the potency of statins that should be prescribed. Our findings point to the need for more research on ways to ensure adherence and prescription of sufficiently potent statins, while at the same time addressing side effects."
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University of Tubingen researchers in collaboration with the biotech company Sanaria Inc. have demonstrated in a clinical trial that a new vaccine for malaria called Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac has been up to 100 percent effective when assessed at 10 weeks after last dose of vaccine. For the trial, Pro-fessor Peter Kremsner and Dr. Benjamin Mordmuller of the Institute of Tropical Medicine and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) used malaria parasites provided by Sanaria. The vac-cine incorporated fully viable - not weakened or otherwise inactivated - malaria pathogens together with the medication to combat them. Their research results have been published in the latest edition of Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature21060
Malaria parasites are transmitted by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite is responsible for most malaria infections and almost all deaths caused by the disease worldwide. Most of the previous vaccines which have been tried involved the use of individual molecules found in the pathogen. However, they were unable to provide sufficient immunity to the disease. The Tuebingen study involved 67 healthy adult test persons, none of whom had previously had malaria. The best immune response was shown in a group of nine test persons who received the highest dose of the vaccine three times at four-week intervals. At the end of the trial, all nine of these individuals had 100 percent protection from the disease.
"That protection was probably caused by specific T-lymphocytes and antibody responses to the parasites in the liver," Professor Peter Kremsner explained. The researchers analyzed the bodies' immune reactions and identified protein patterns which will make it possible to further improve malaria vaccines, Kremsner added. The researchers injected live malaria parasites into the test subjects, at the same time preventing the development of the disease by adding chloroquine - which has been used to treat malaria for many years. This enabled the researchers to exploit the behavior of the parasites and the properties of chloroquine.
Once the person is infected, the Plasmodium falciparum parasite migrates to the liver to reproduce. During its incubation period there, the human immune system could respond; but at this stage, the pathogen does not make the person sick. On top of that, chloroquine does not take effect in the liver - so it is unable to prevent the parasite from reproducing. Malaria only breaks out when the pathogen leaves the liver, entering the bloodstream and going into the red corpuscles, where it continues to reproduce and spread. As soon as the pathogen enters the bloodstream, however, it can be killed by chloroquine - and the disease cannot break out.
"By vaccinating with a live, fully active pathogen, it seems clear that we were able to set of a very strong immune response," said study leader Benjamin Mordmueller, "Additionally, all the data we have so far indicate that what we have here is relatively stable, long-lasting protection." In the group of test persons who demonstrated 100 percent protection after receiving a high dose three times, Mordmueller said, the protection was reliably still in place after ten weeks - and remained measurable for even longer. He added that the new vaccine showed no adverse effects on the test persons. The next step is to further test the vaccine's effectiveness over several years in a clinical study in Gabon funded by DZIF. Malaria is one of the biggest health threats in the African nation. The University of Tuebingen has worked with the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Gabonese town of Lambarene and with the neighboring research institute, the Centre de Recherches Medicales de Lambarene, for many years.
Malaria is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. The World Health Organization reports that some 214 million people became infected with malaria in the year 2015 alone. Approximately 438,000 died of the disease. Around 90 percent of those malaria deaths were in Africa. Nearly three-quarters of those who succumb to the disease are children under five. The search for a vaccine has been going on for more than a century. An effective vaccine would make it easier to control malaria; vaccination campaigns could be conducted in severely affected areas to eliminate the pathogen. Such a vaccine could also help to stop the spread of resistance to the treatment, and to better protect travelers.
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Publication:
Benjamin Mordmueller, Guzin Surat, Heimo Lagler, Sumana Chakravarty, Andrew S. Ishizuka, Albert Lalremruata, Markus Gmeiner, Joseph J. Campo, Meral Esen, Adam J. Ruben, Jana Held, Carlos Lamsfus Calle, Juliana B. Mengue, Tamirat Gebru, Javier Ibanez, Eric R. James, Peter F. Billingsley, Natasha KC, Anita Manoj, Tooba Murshedkar, Anusha Gunasekera, Abraham G. Eappen, Tao Li, Richard E. Stafford, MingLin Li, Phil L. Felgner, Robert A. Seder, Thomas L. Richie, B. Kim Lee Sim, Stephen L. Hoffman & Peter G. Kremsner: Sterile protection against human malaria by chemoattenuated PfSPZ vaccine, Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature21060
Further information: http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/world-malaria-report-2016/report/en/
WASHINGTON -- In the first successful randomized trial of its kind, researchers have provided preliminary evidence that telephone-based smoking cessation counseling given to smokers shortly after undergoing lung cancer screening can be effective at helping people stop smoking.
"We found that at this teachable moment -- a time when smokers are thinking about their health and may be ready to make a change -- offering help makes a difference, and may help save lives," says the study's lead researcher, Kathryn L. Taylor, PhD, a behavioral scientist and a professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study, led by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi, was conducted with 92 participants at three centers -- MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, and Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Massachusetts.
"Millions of current smokers are now eligible for lung cancer screening, so this setting represents an important opportunity to exert a large public health impact on cessation among smokers who are at very high risk for multiple tobacco-related disorders," she says. "This is a great way to engage smokers who have not sought out cessation help."
These study findings were so promising that investigators have been funded through NIH to conduct a much larger study of telephone-based cessation counseling. It will enroll 1,300 patients at five medical centers nationwide.
Lung cancer screening recommendations issued in 2013 by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggest that adults aged 55-80 who have smoked long enough to have accumulated a minimum of 30 pack-years (i.e., one pack per day for 30 years, or two packs per day for 15 years, etc.) should have an annual low-dose CT lung cancer screening test. The idea is to intervene early enough that disease spotted on the screening can be effectively treated. In the U.S., lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women -- almost 160,000 Americans were expected to die from lung cancer in 2016, according to the American Lung Association.
Taylor points out that the NIH has said that effective smoking cessation programs should be a part of screening programs, and has funded several groups of researchers to develop effective strategies.
In this preliminary study, 92 people about to undergo lung cancer screening agreed to receive either telephone counseling or standard of care (a list of free and low-cost cessation resources). Once participants received their screening results, they were randomized to one of the two groups, each with 46 participants. Each group had an equal number of participants with abnormal screening findings, indicating possible precancerous lesions or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Each group also contained an equal number of participants with minor abnormalities on their screen, as well as those with normal results. None of the participants were diagnosed with lung cancer.
Participants in the telephone-counseling group were given their first session after finding out their screening results. Over the next three months, six 10-15 minute sessions were conducted. At the end of the study, a nicotine saliva test was given to participants who said they had quit in order to confirm their abstinence.
Researchers found that eight (17 percent) people in the telephone counseling group had verifiably quit, compared to two (4 percent) in the other group.
"If this preliminary study is replicated, telephone counseling has the potential to improve cessation in a setting that reaches a large number of hard-to-reach, long-term smokers who are at very high risk for multiple tobacco-related diseases," Taylor says.
Charlotte Hagerman, who along with Taylor, offered the telephone counseling to participants, describes the counseling as "a motivational intervention. Everyone acknowledged that smoking is very harmful to their health, but some people thought it was too late to change their fate. Counseling helped them understand that it is not too late."
Population-based studies have shown that older smokers who quit can have an increased life expectancy, Taylor says.
Hagerman says there were also a number of participants who "were ready to quit, and were very excited to receive the help we were offering. I found this very gratifying, and felt that what we were doing was important and mattered to people," says Hagerman, who was trained as a tobacco treatment specialist for the study.
"More than 50 percent of participants said in their first interview that they were not ready to quit, yet some of these people did quit. This finding indicates that it is important to offer the cessation intervention to everyone who undergoes lung cancer screening, and not only those who are already considering quitting. This is exactly what we hope for - to be able to reach the people who are not already planning to quit on their own," says Taylor.
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In addition to Taylor and Hagerman, co-authors from Georgetown University Medical Center include George Luta, PhD; Paula G. Bellini, MA; and Cassandra Stanton, PhD. David B. Abrams, PhD, and Ray Niaura, PhD, are Georgetown faculty and also affiliated with the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies. Jenna A. Kramer, NP and Eric D. Anderson, MD are from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC; Shawn Regis, PhD, Andrea McKee, MD, and Brady McKee, MD, are from Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, MA; and Harry Harper, MD and Michael Ramsaier, BS are from Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ.
The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study.
The study was supported by the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Georgetown Lombardi's NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA051008.
About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center -- the only cancer center of its kind in the Washington, DC area. A part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Georgetown Lombardi seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Connect with Georgetown Lombardi on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgetownLombardi) and Twitter (@LombardiCancer).
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate), Twitter (@gumedcenter) and Instagram (@gumedcenter).
Synchrotron beamlines and their instruments are built to harness the photon beam power of synchrotron radiation (SR), which has special properties - ideally suited to providing detailed and accurate structural information that is difficult to obtain from conventional sources. The common modus operandi for such facilities is that users are allocated a short duration of beamtime, typically a few hours to a few days, in which to perform their experiments.
With technological advances in instrumentation, detection, computing power, automation and remote access, SR facilities are developing new modes of access, designed to increase speed, efficiency and throughput of user experiments, such as on the macromolecular beamlines at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source in the US and at the Diamond Light Source in the UK.
However, there are a class of experiments that are increasingly excluded by these developments, which nevertheless could greatly benefit from the application of SR. For example, some materials undergo very slow transforming reactions, while others take time to exhibit the effects of curing, ageing or repeated use. These processes can be subtle or take weeks to months or even years to either show gross manifestation or run to completion.
At present off-line processing with before and after SR measurements is the norm, but valuable structural information on growth, change and intermediate phases can be missed or indeed lost. There is therefore a clear need for a facility that allows slow processes to be studied.
In a recently published paper [Murray et al. (2017), J. Appl. Cryst. 50. doi:10.1107/S1600576716019750] scientists report on a new purpose built LDE facility, which has been designed to address the needs of a wide and diverse range of scientific investigations. The new facility takes the form of an additional specially constructed end-station to the existing ultra-high-resolution and time-resolved powder diffraction beamline (I11) at Diamond. The new end-station is dedicated to hosting up to 20 long-term experiments (weeks to years), all running in parallel.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of this new facility, commissioning results from two contrasting science cases are presented. In the first, the slow in situ precipitation of the hydrated magnesium sulfate mineral meridianiite from an aqueous solution was followed. The hydrated phase is believed to be widespread on the surface of Mars and was formed inside a specifically designed low-temperature cell. In the second study, the long term stability of the metal-organic framework material NOTT-300 was investigated. This is a potential supramolecular material for greenhouse gas capture. Initial results show that the facility is capable of detecting phase evolution and detailed structural changes and is well suited for many applied systems and functional materials of interest. The emergence of new science from ongoing experiments is expected soon.
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A form of RNA released from fat cells into the blood may help to regulate other tissues.
BOSTON - (February 15, 2017) - Fat cells are not simply big blobs of lipid quietly standingby in the body--instead, they send out hormones and other signaling proteins that affect many types of tissues. Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have identified a route by which fat also can deliver a form of small RNAs called microRNAs that helps to regulate other organs.
"This mechanism may offer the potential to develop an entirely new therapeutic approach," says C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., Joslin's chief academic officer, Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and senior author of a paper on the research published today in the journal Nature.
The research suggests the possibility, Kahn explains, of developing gene therapy treatments using fat cells that aid in treating metabolic diseases, cancer or other conditions in the liver or other organs.
Working in mice and with human cells, he and his colleagues studied the role of microRNAs, a form of small RNAs that are not translated into proteins but can regulate other RNAS that produce protein. They are made by all cells in the body, and it is known that some of these microRNAs may be released from the originating cell into the blood. However, exactly what they do once they enter the bloodstream has been debated.
The Joslin scientists focused on microRNAs from fat cells that are released into the blood via tiny sacks called "exosomes". The researchers began with a mouse model that was genetically modified so that its fat cells could not create microRNAs. The Joslin researchers then showed that in these mice which do not make microRNAs in fat, the total population of microRNAs circulating in exosomes dropped significantly. This decrease in circulating miRNAs could be restored when the investigators transplanted normal fat into these mice, a result indicating that many of the microRNAs in circulation were coming from fat.
Next, the scientists studied people with two forms of lipodystrophy--a condition in which fat is lost or genetically not present. In both groups of people, they found that levels of microRNAs circulating in exosomes were lower than normal.
This suggested that these microRNAs generated by fat might aid in diagnostics for metabolic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, Kahn says.
But were these microRNAs also crossing into other tissues and regulating genes there, so that they might potentially be used for therapeutics?
The Joslin researchers followed up on this question by looking at a gene whose expression in the mouse liver increases in lipodystrophy. They discovered that this gene expression could be modified by microRNA in exosomes released by fat. They also showed that the mice that couldn't produce microRNAs in fat cells didn't produce that type of microRNA at all. "But if you put back that missing microRNA in exosomes, it does regulate the gene," Kahn says. "So fat is using this as a way to send a signal to the liver."
Next, the scientists made a mouse model with fat cells engineered to make a certain microRNA that is found in humans, but not mice, and showed that these human microRNAs could also regulate their target in the livers of the mice and that this was do to these circulating exosomal microRNAs.
"We showed in mice that these circulating microRNAs in exosomes can regulate gene expression, at least in liver and perhaps in other tissues," Kahn sums up. His team is now looking to see if this microRNA mechanism also works in other tissues such as muscle and brain cells.
Additionally, the scientists will investigate ways the mechanism might be applied in gene therapy.
Fat is easy to access, a major advantage for gene therapy, Kahn points out. "We could take out a patient's subcutaneous fat with a simple needle biopsy, modify the fat cells to make the microRNAs that we want, put the cells back into the patient, and then hope to get regulation of genes that the patient is not regulating normally," he suggests.
This approach for gene therapy to treat fatty liver disease, for example, might prove both safer and more effective than reengineering cells in the liver itself. "We think it also might be useful for non-metabolic diseases, such as cancer of the liver," Kahn says.
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Lead author on the Nature paper is Thomas Thomou. Other Joslin contributors include Jonathan Dreyfuss, Masahiro Konishi, Masaji Sakaguchi, Tata Nageswara Rao and Jonathon Winnay. Marcelo Mori of the Federal University of Sao Paolo in Sao Paolo, Brazil; Christian Wolfrum of ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland; Steven Grinspoon of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; and Phillip Gorden of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases also are co-authors. Lead funding was from the National Institutes of Health.
About Joslin Diabetes Center
Joslin Diabetes Center is world-renowned for its deep expertise in diabetes treatment and research. Joslin is dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes and ensuring that people with diabetes live long, healthy lives. We develop and disseminate innovative patient therapies and scientific discoveries throughout the world. Joslin is an independent, non-profit institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School, and one of only 11 NIH-designated Diabetes Research Centers in the U.S.
For more information, visit http://www.joslin.org or follow @joslindiabetes
Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) are developing the monitoring system for seniors: Upon registering a fall of a person, the system sends a notification to the carers
"When faced with problems of the elderly in our closest family, it is us who experience major stress, not them", says Egidijus Kazanavicius, Professor at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Director at the Centre of Real Time Computer Systems. Kazanavicius is heading the team of researchers from KTU and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), who are developing the monitoring system for seniors: upon registering a fall of a person, the system sends a notification to the carers. "Falls are the leading cause of death in the elderly population and are very common problem in geriatrics, symptomatic to a wide variety of health conditions. Besides causing physical injuries, falls lower person's self-confidence to move independently, and are often a reason of various psychological problems", says Dr Vita Lesauskaite, researcher at LSMU.
Collaborating, KTU and LSMU researchers created a prototype of a monitoring system for seniors GRIUTIS, consisting of a set of fixed sensors placed in premises, and of the software. When sensors register a change in a person's behaviour or in his or her position, the alert is being sent to their family and / or carers.
The next step for the researchers is patenting of technologies and product commercialisation. It is planned that the senior monitoring system GRIUTIS will be used in geriatrics clinics as soon as the next year. Lithuanian Research Council has allocated funds for the realisation of the project.
"I tested the prototype at home, myself. It works perfectly, and I feel more relaxed knowing how my elderly mother is doing, when I am not nearby. It is a great advantage to be able to work with a team of researchers with different competencies -- together we can create truly innovative products", says Kazanavicius.
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The project GRIUTIS is one of almost 10 joint projects of KTU and LSMU, which were funded by the institutional R&D funds of both Kaunas universities.
Jumpstarting Neurological Research through Open Science - MNI & McGill University
Friday, February 17, 2017, 1:30-2:30 PM/ Room 208
Neurological research is advancing too slowly according to Dr. Guy Rouleau, director of the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) of McGill University. To speed up discovery, MNI has become the first ever Open Science academic institution in the world. In a five-year experiment, MNI is opening its books and making itself transparent to an international group of social scientists, policymakers, industrial partners, and members of civil society. They hope, by doing so, to accelerate research and the discovery of new treatments for patients with neurological diseases, and to encourage other leading institutions around the world to consider a similar model. A team led by McGill Faculty of Law's Professor Richard Gold will monitor and evaluate how well the MNI Open Science experiment works and provide the scientific and policy worlds with insight into 21st century university-industry partnerships. At this workshop, Rouleau and Gold will discuss the benefits and challenges of this open-science initiative.
Genomic and Health Data: Global Sharing and Local Governance: Sharing genomic and health data - a human rights issue
Saturday, February 18, 2017, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM/ Room 309
Genomic and health-related data are collected and stored separately at the moment. But Professor Bartha Knoppers from McGill University and the other members of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) believe that if this information were shared it could lead both to targeted new therapies and better allocation and management of resources by governments. Given this context, they argue that global data sharing should be viewed as a human rights issue, and that citizens' groups should be able to hold their governments accountable for slowing down or impeding certain forms of data sharing that would be of benefit to all. The Alliance has developed a framework for responsible genomic and health-related data sharing that ensures that people's right to privacy will not be put at risk.
Assessing the Impact of Medical Marijuana: The Grass Could Be Greener
Sunday, February 19, 2017: 8:00 AM-9:30 AM/ Room 311
The legalization of marijuana remains a topic of intense debate. The majority of U.S. states have legalized some form of medical marijuana use, and nearly 2 million people are registered medical marijuana users. That number is rising rapidly because of both increased access to medical marijuana and promulgation of its potential therapeutic effects. This week, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, Dr. Mark Ware of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre will present an overview of the data generated from the Quebec Cannabis Registry. The innovative project, the first of its kind in the world, was established by the Research Institute of the MUHC and the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC), to help physicians manage medical cannabis use and generate a database for the use of the international scientific community.
Student poster competition
Key implications of data sharing in pediatric genomics and clinical care
Sunday, February 19, 2017/ Exhibit Hall
Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Background: Genomic testing using next generation sequencing technologies has revolutionized our ability to identify disease-causing mutations for many conditions. This holds particularly true for children, in whom many (rare) genetic diseases first appear during childhood and optimal clinical management requires early diagnosis and treatment. Interpreting the results of such tests requires genotypic and phenotypic comparisons to reference data that must be obtained from both healthy populations and other affected individuals. The sensitivity and specificity of genomic testing undergird ethical safeguards against informational risk. They furthermore outline how, and under what circumstances data may be shared. Current pediatric data sharing practices have until now subscribed to siloed ethics norms/guidelines that apply either to the research or clinical contexts separately. Appropriate sharing of linked genotypic and phenotypic data in pediatric populations has, in turn, received sparse empirical and policy attention.
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This follows concerns raised by some stakeholders that many religious leaders have abandoned their duty of speaking out against social injustices and dictatorship.
They claim that the religious leaders have now been compromised by gifts from the president and remained silent about critical issues affecting Ugandans.
Now the provincial secretary of the church of Uganda Rev Canon Amos Magezi says the church is supposed to condemn all evil in society and is truly living to its expectations.
This comes as the country prepares for the 40th memorial celebration tomorrow of archbishop Janan Luwum who was murdered for speaking against the tyranny of President Idi Amins regime.
California sardine stocks famously crashed in John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row." New research, building on the pioneering work of Soutar and Isaacs in the late 1960s and others, shows in greater detail that such forage fish stocks have undergone boom-bust cycles for centuries, with at least three species off the U.S. West Coast repeatedly experiencing steep population increases followed by declines long before commercial fishing began.
Natural population fluctuations in Pacific sardine, northern anchovy and Pacific hake off California have been so common that the species were in collapsed condition 29 to 40 percent of the time over the 500-year period from A.D. 1000 to 1500, according to the study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Using a long time series of fish-scales deposited in low-oxygen offshore sedimentary environments off southern California, the authors from NOAA Fisheries and the University of Michigan described such collapses as "an intrinsic property of some forage fish populations that should be expected, just as droughts are expected in an arid climate."
The findings have implications for the ecosystem, as well as fishermen and fisheries managers, who have witnessed several booms, followed by crashes every one to two decades on average and lasting a decade or more, the scientists wrote. Collapses in forage fish can reverberate through the marine food web, possibly causing prey limitation among predators such as sea lions and sea birds.
"Forage fish populations are resilient over the long term, which is how they come back from such steep collapses over and over again," said Sam McClatchie, supervisory oceanographer at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif. "That doesn't change the fact that these species may remain at very low levels for periods long enough to have very real consequences for the people and wildlife who count on them."
Downturns in sardine and anchovy linked to changing ocean conditions have contributed to the localized stranding of thousands of California sea lion pups in recent years.
Looking back in time
Scientists traced the historic abundance of sardine, anchovy and hake by examining deposits of their scales collected on the floor of the Santa Barbara Channel from A.D. 1000 to 1500. While previous studies had shown that forage fish exhibited collapses prior to commercial fishing, the new research used methods developed by climatologists to examine the frequency and duration of the fluctuations in finer detail.
"The Mediterranean climate of California with wet winters and dry summers produces a sediment layer we can pull apart like pages in a book" says Ingrid Hendy, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "Although these sediments have been studied before, we are using new technology to examine them in unprecedented detail."
The scientists described a collapse as a drop below 10 percent of the average peak in fish populations, as estimated from the paleorecord. Anchovy took an average of eight years to recover from a collapse, while sardine and hake took an average of 22 years.
The record also showed that sardines and anchovy fluctuated synchronously over the 500 year study period. Combined collapses may compound the impact on predators and the fishery, the scientists said. The finding runs counter to suggestions that the two species' cycles alternate.
Variable fishing responds to change
Sardines and anchovy have at times been the most heavily harvested fish off Southern California in terms of volume. Hake, also known as Pacific whiting, spawn off California but are harvested in large volumes off the Pacific Northwest and Canada. The new study concludes these forage fish are well-suited to variable fishing rates that target the species in times of abundance, "while recognizing that mean persistence of fishable populations is one to two decades, and that switching to other target species will become a necessity."
Collapses last, on average, "too long for the industry to simply wait out the return of the forage fish."
The study authors concluded that "well-designed reserve thresholds" and adjustable harvest rates help protect the forage species, the fishery and non-human predators for the long term. However, they added that "reserve thresholds only protect the seed stock for recovery, and cannot prevent collapses from occurring."
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2017 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced $1.7 million in funding to build research capacity at land-grant tribal colleges and universities. Funding is made through NIFA's Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program (TCRGP).
"1994 land-grant universities represent a critically important part of our nation's construct of academic institutions providing the leadership to address nutritional security amongst tribal populations while protecting our environment and natural resources, and at the same time ensuring young people are receiving education that prepares them for the workforce," said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy.
There are thirty-four federally recognized tribal colleges and universities, designated as land grants through the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act. For reservation communities, these 1994 land-grant institutions are often the primary institution of scientific inquiry and learning and they offer the distinctive land-grant approach of research, education, and extension. They frame education by drawing on the strength of their peoples' history, indigenous knowledge, and traditions.
NIFA's Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program RFA seeks proposals to enhance research capacity at 1994 land-grant institutions and develop research projects of tribal, state or national importance. All applications must include at least one research collaborator from an approved list of research institutions. This year's RFA offers new research options and funding levels to better target the individual research capabilities within the 1994 land-grant institutions. Categories include new discovery and capacity building research. Within the capacity building option, there are three choices: student research, applied faculty/community research, and pathways to research. The pathways to research choice is new and is designed to fund activities that will enhance the 1994s ability to compete more fully in NIFA's research opportunities.
Eligible applicants include tribal colleges or universities designated as 1994 institutions under the Equity Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994.
The deadline for applications is March 21, 2017.
See the request for applications for details.
Since 2000, NIFA has invested more than $20 million through the Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program. Among recent grants, a research partnership between Northwest Indian College and Oregon State University to pinpoint causes of declines in the Manila clam, an important food source for the Lummi people. To date, the project has trained Native scholars in the field and classroom, and has reached more than 40 Native middle and high school students through outreach events. Another project through Salish Kootenai College in Montana is supporting "Sowing Synergy," a graduate student exchange with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry to study sustainability through the lens of both scientific and indigenous knowledge.
NIFA invests in and advances innovative and transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA's integrated research, education and extension programs support the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel whose work results in user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that combat childhood obesity, improve and sustain rural economic growth, address water availability issues, increase food production, find new sources of energy, mitigate climate variability and ensure food safety. To learn more about NIFA's impact on agricultural science, visit http://www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates or follow us on Twitter @usda_NIFA, #NIFAimpacts.
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USDA is an equal opportunity lender, provider and employer.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have uncovered new clues to the link between Nodding syndrome, a devastating form of pediatric epilepsy found in specific areas of east Africa, and a parasitic worm that can cause river blindness. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that the mysterious neurological disease may be caused by an autoimmune response to the parasitic proteins.
"This study identifies a cause of Nodding syndrome. But more broadly, these findings provide a novel perspective on epilepsy and suggest that some forms of this neurological disorder may be autoimmune in nature," said Avindra Nath, M.D., clinical director of the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Nodding syndrome is a form of epilepsy that occurs in children between the ages of 5 and 16 who live in distinct regions of Tanzania, Uganda and the Republic of South Sudan. It is characterized by head nodding, seizures, severe cognitive deterioration and stunted growth. Nodding syndrome may lead to malnutrition and patients have died through seizure-associated traumas such as fatal burns and drowning.
Many studies have reported an association between Nodding syndrome and Onchocerca volvulus, a parasitic worm that can also cause river blindness. The worm is spread by black flies in specific geographic areas, where clusters of Nodding syndrome have been observed. However, it was unclear whether the worm caused this neurological disorder.
In this study, Nath and his colleagues compared serum samples from patients with Nodding syndrome and healthy controls who all lived in the same village in Uganda.
The results showed high levels of antibodies to leiomodin-1 in the samples obtained from patients. In addition, antibody to leiomodin-1 was also present in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Nodding syndrome. Previous studies have shown leiomodin-1 is found in muscles, but this was the first time researchers saw it in the nervous system.
To confirm that finding, Nath's team examined brain tissue and found leiomodin-1 inside brain cells, notably in regions associated with symptoms of Nodding syndrome. Furthermore, when healthy neurons in a dish were treated with serum from the patients and antibodies against leiomodin-1, they did not survive, but removing the antibodies increased brain cell survival.
"These results may ultimately provide a diagnostic test, which can help identify individuals at risk for developing Nodding syndrome," said Tory Johnson, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in Nath's lab who conducted many of the research experiments.
In addition, Nath and his group found that antibodies that bind to leiomodin-1 also attach to proteins from Onchocerca volvulus. Structurally, leiomodin-1 was shown to be very similar to specific proteins from that parasite.
The results of this study suggest that Nodding syndrome may be an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system incorrectly attacks the body's own proteins. According to the researchers, the immune system creates antibodies to fight off the parasite following infection with Onchocerca volvulus. However, those antibodies also bind to leiomodin-1, so the immune system-incorrectly-will attack brain cells that contain that protein, which can result in symptoms of Nodding syndrome.
"The findings also suggest that therapies targeting the immune system may be effective treatments against this disorder and possibly other forms of epilepsy," said Nath. "Another huge implication of this study is that exterminating black flies and getting rid of the parasite should stop the disorder from occurring."
More research is needed to learn about the role of leiomodin-1 in healthy people as well as in individuals with epilepsy. For example, one-third of controls also had leiomodin-1 antibodies, but it is unclear whether these individuals may eventually develop Nodding syndrome.
Nath's team is currently developing an animal model of Nodding syndrome to further study the disease and test potential therapies.
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This work was supported by the NIH Intramural Program.
Figure caption: New clues to Nodding syndrome. NIH scientists discovered leiomodin-1 (green) inside human brain cells. This study suggests that Nodding syndrome may be an autoimmune disease. Image courtesy of Avindra Nath, M.D., NIH/NINDS.
For more information:
References:
Johnson TP et al. Nodding syndrome as an autoimmune reaction to Onchocerca volvulus. Science Translational Medicine. February 15, 2017.
The NINDS (http://www.ninds.nih.gov) is the nation's leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
Cracks in the Greenland Ice Sheet let one of its aquifers drain to the ocean, new NASA research finds. The aquifers, discovered only recently, are unusual in that they trap large amounts of liquid water within the ice sheet. Until now, scientists did not know what happened to the water stored away in this reservoir -- the discovery will help fine tune computer models of Greenland's contribution to sea level rise.
"This paper illuminates the fate of the aquifer's water," said Kristin Poinar, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Before, we didn't know if the water froze inside the ice sheet or reemerged onto the ice surface. In either of those scenarios, the meltwater would not contribute to sea level rise."
Now, using a new computer model that tests whether certain meltwater-filled cracks can fracture to the base of the ice sheet, Poinar and her colleagues have shown that the meltwater does reach the ocean.
Greenland contributes water to the sea mainly through surface melt and ice flow. Studies have shown that surface melt has increased in recent decades. In western Greenland, so much surface melts forms that it creates a network of rivers and lakes, which drain through the ice to the underlying bedrock, from where water flows to the ocean.
But southeast Greenland is very different - lakes and rivers do not form, although the ice does melt. Instead, vast reservoirs of water become trapped within the firn layer (a band of compacted snow). In 2011, scientists discovered these aquifers around 40 feet (12 meters) beneath the surface of the ice. Researchers calculated that these firn aquifers cover around 8,455 square miles (21,900 square kilometers) of Greenland and hold a Lake Tahoe-sized volume of water. The aquifer remains liquid year-round because the region's heavy snow fall creates a thick blanket that insulates the aquifer from the freezing air temperatures above.
"These firn aquifers are the analogs to the surface water that we can see in western Greenland," Poinar said. "Southeast Greenland is perpetually covered in snow and has hardly any bare ice, so in the summer water doesn't pool up like it does on bare ice in western Greenland, forming lakes and rivers; instead, it percolates downward and disappears into places where we can't see it."
Poinar studied a segment of the aquifer located in the Helheim Glacier area in southeast Greenland, where ground-penetrating radar measurements collected by Operation IceBridge, NASA's aerial survey of changes in polar ice, showed that a 2-mile long section of the aquifer had drained a large volume of water between the spring of 2012 and the spring of 2013.
Directly downstream of this section of the aquifer, the researchers identified a field of crevasses (cracks in the ice); due to gravity, they thought, the aquifer water should flow into these openings. To find out whether the water refroze within the crevasses or fractured all the way to the bedrock, Poinar built a computer model of how water from the firn aquifer widens, deepens, and refreezes within the cracks. The model demonstrated that the water makes the crevasses crack faster than the water can refreeze, thus allowing the meltwater to reach the bedrock in a matter of weeks to months.
"There's a limit to how much water the crevasses can hold; once they reach that limit, they fracture to the base of the ice sheet and deliver that water to the bed, from where it can travel relatively quickly to the ocean," Poinar said. "We found that the volume of meltwater drained through this particular aquifer-crevasse field system is comparable to what comes out of a western Greenland supraglacial lake or river system."
Poinar said that although her study is focused on a specific section of the aquifer, there are other areas in southeast Greenland that are likely to host similar combinations of firn aquifers and nearby crevasse fields. She said that her future work will focus on how this newly discovered drainage system integrates over the entire Greenland ice sheet, and also on measuring how the water drained from the aquifer lubricates the bedrock and impacts the flow of the ice sheet.
"Kristin's finding is a key component in understanding the importance of the firn aquifer system," said Rick Forster, a glaciologist at the University of Utah who was part of the field team that discovered the aquifer in 2011. "Her model shows that water is getting to the bed, and that adds a whole different level of significance to how that storage of water might affect changes in sea level rise in the future."
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To read the paper, visit:
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00005/full
For more information about NASA Earth science research, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/earth
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Dineo in the Mozambique Channel on Feb. 15, the storm was centered just off the coast of Mozambique and moving toward landfall.
At 6:15 a.m. EST (1115 UTC) on Feb. 15, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed the center of Tropical Cyclone Dineo just off the coast of Mozambique. Visible light satellite imagery showed a well-defined storm with thick bands of thunderstorms wrapping around the low-level center. The MODIS image also showed a cloud-filled eye.
On Feb. 14, when the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Dineo at 0926 UTC (4:26 a.m. EST) and found very heavy precipitation in bands of thunderstorms on Dineo's northeastern side. The most intense rainfall was measured by GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) falling at a rate of over 132 mm (5.2 inches) per hour in the intense storms in the northeastern quadrant of the tropical cyclone.
On Feb. 15 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) Tropical Cyclone Dineo's maximum sustained winds were near 80.5 mph (70 knots/129.6 kph). Dineo appears to have reached its peak strength, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Dineo was located near 23.5 degrees south latitude and 35.8 degrees east longitude, about 235 nautical miles west-southwest of Europa Island, and just off the coast of Mozambique.
Dineo was moving to the west-southwest and the eye is expected to make landfall by 2100 UTC (4 p.m. EST).
After making landfall in southern Mozambique Dineo is forecast to move west and weaken quickly.
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NASA is inviting the public to help search for possible undiscovered worlds in the outer reaches of our solar system and in neighboring interstellar space. A new website, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, lets everyone participate in the search by viewing brief movies made from images captured by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. The movies highlight objects that have gradually moved across the sky.
"There are just over four light-years between Neptune and Proxima Centauri, the nearest star, and much of this vast territory is unexplored," said lead researcher Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Because there's so little sunlight, even large objects in that region barely shine in visible light. But by looking in the infrared, WISE may have imaged objects we otherwise would have missed."
WISE scanned the entire sky between 2010 and 2011, producing the most comprehensive survey at mid-infrared wavelengths currently available. With the completion of its primary mission, WISE was shut down in 2011. It was then reactivated in 2013 and given a new mission assisting NASA's efforts to identify potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs), which are asteroids and comets on orbits that bring them into the vicinity of Earth's orbit. The mission was renamed the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE).
The new website uses the data to search for unknown objects in and beyond our own solar system. In 2016, astronomers at Caltech in Pasadena, California, showed that several distant solar system objects possessed orbital features indicating they were affected by the gravity of an as-yet-undetected planet, which the researchers nicknamed "Planet Nine." If Planet Nine -- also known as Planet X -- exists and is as bright as some predictions, it could show up in WISE data.
The search also may discover more distant objects like brown dwarfs, sometimes called failed stars, in nearby interstellar space.
"Brown dwarfs form like stars but evolve like planets, and the coldest ones are much like Jupiter," said team member Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "By using Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, the public can help us discover more of these strange rogue worlds."
Unlike more distant objects, those in or closer to the solar system appear to move across the sky at different rates. The best way to discover them is through a systematic search of moving objects in WISE images. While parts of this search can be done by computers, machines are often overwhelmed by image artifacts, especially in crowded parts of the sky. These include brightness spikes associated with star images and blurry blobs caused by light scattered inside WISE's instruments.
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 relies on human eyes because we easily recognize the important moving objects while ignoring the artifacts. It's a 21st-century version of the technique astronomer Clyde Tombaugh used to find Pluto in 1930, a discovery made 87 years ago this week.
On the website, people around the world can work their way through millions of "flipbooks," which are brief animations showing how small patches of the sky changed over several years. Moving objects flagged by participants will be prioritized by the science team for follow-up observations by professional astronomers. Participants will share credit for their discoveries in any scientific publications that result from the project.
"Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 has the potential to unlock once-in-a-century discoveries, and it's exciting to think they could be spotted first by a citizen scientist," said team member Aaron Meisner, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in analyzing WISE images.
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 is a collaboration between NASA, UC Berkeley, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Arizona State University, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and Zooniverse, a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who collectively develop and manage citizen science projects on the internet.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages and operates WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The WISE mission was selected competitively under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah. The spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA.
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For more information about Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, visit:
http://backyardworlds.org
For more information about NASA's WISE mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/wise
Police and other emergency personnel train constantly for big disasters. But when the truly unthinkable happens this may not be enough
22 July 2011: A terrorist attack in the government quarter has crippled Oslo, and reports of shooting on the island of Utya are coming in. Desperate youths have already started swimming, and many of them are picked up by individuals in small boats.
The first police patrol arrives at the Utvika ferry dock opposite the island 44 minutes after the perpetrator landed on the island.
The patrol has been ordered to observe, and decides to wait for an emergency squad that they believe to be heading in by helicopter. The police officers only arrive on Utya 33 minutes later. At least 20 people are killed during the last quarter hour of the massacre on the island. It was the deadliest attack on Norwegian soil after WWII; in the end, 77 people died.
Should police have violated the order?
Police received sharp criticism in the 22 July Commission report, which came out a year after the terrorist attacks. According to the Commission, the police officers who first arrived at Utvika should have immediately acted on their own, despite the fact that they had been ordered to observe what was happening.
"Police were strongly criticized in the report, but according to their existing procedures they actually did everything correctly," says Endre Sjvold, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management.
"In retrospect," he says, "we can see that maybe the police should allow their operational units greater autonomy in complex situations like this."
Sjvold has studied team dynamics and group processes for several decades, and over the past three years he has led the Innovative Teams project, which deals with managing operational situations where uncertainty predominates, and where the consequences could be great if something fails. He stresses that he has not studied the police conduct in the 2011 Norway attacks, but those attacks are good examples of issues that the project concerns itself with.
One of the results of the project is Norway's - and Europe's - first ICT-based educational program for operational leadership that incorporates the automated collection of interaction data.
The program is geared to businesses where crises could have enormous social consequences - such as the Armed Forces and oil and power companies. The initiative's continuing education and training offerings at NTNU are being established in collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Digital Learning in Higher Education (Norgesuniversitetet), starting in 2017.
Unusual crises require different practices
Sjvold's research shows that traditional emergency work emphasizes fixed procedures and strong leadership, as is typically exemplified by the police force. People who do not know each other can form an effective crisis team since they know what to do and have their regular roles. The team leader has final authority.
"This may involve breaking certain procedures, if they get in the way of solving the task at hand."
This kind of emergency team can be trained, enabling each employee to know exactly what he or she will do when a situation arises. Team members follow orders and concentrate on their specific task, which reduces stress.
This approach works in most emergency situations - but not when the unthinkable happens, as in the 2011 Norway attacks, when chaos and unpredictability reigned and everything was turned upside down. That's when the rigidity of traditional crisis management needs to be set aside.
But how do you get police patrols to break an order or change a procedure and do something completely different than the team leader has instructed them to do?
"After 22 July, the police were criticized and the hospital received kudos," Sjvold said. "But the police had faced a new and quite foreign situation, whereas the hospital was operating under more familiar conditions. Although the scale [of events] was bigger for the hospital, too, procedures were the same. Seen this way, I would say police were criticized a bit unfairly."
Flexible protocols needed
He points out that as the international security paradigm has evolved in recent years, so have the views on what constitutes effective operational leadership. Traditional practices have focused on safety procedures and regulations on the one hand and teamwork and communication on the other. Despite disagreement about what is most important, it has become evident that neither rules nor communication training alone are sufficient, Sjvold says.
Evaluations of past events indicate that the scale of the disasters could have been reduced if the ability to make decisions locally had been greater.
Sjvold adds that the increased use of advanced technology and virtual communication reinforces the need for more integrated training and flexible protocols. Offshore oil installations and structures that are managed through computer systems by land-based personnel are one example where this is needed.
Local decision making can help limit the scale of disasters
Evaluations of past events show that the scale of many disasters could have been reduced if local decision-making power had been greater - that is, if the part of the team that was closest to the situation had been involved in a different way. For a response to be effective, team members and leaders need to be able to read the situation correctly and act in accordance with the intent of the assignment.
According to Sjvold, this may involve violating existing procedures, if they are a hindrance to solving the mission.
"If we believe that only one type of team dynamics works in all situations, we'll end up with teams that aren't able to solve the most critical tasks," he says.
Uncertainty in oil disaster
Gulf of Mexico, 20 April 2010: Everything was working as expected on Deepwater Horizon, the drilling rig that had recently been heralded for its safety systems.
Suddenly an oil and gas blowout caused a huge explosion and fire on the rig, killing 11 workers. Two days later, the rig sank and triggered the largest oil spill in American history.
The subsequent investigation revealed considerable uncertainty around crew authority and roles, although these were clearly defined in the written procedures.
One of the two rig officers was in the shower when the accident occurred, which delayed the emergency response efforts for several minutes. The procedures required that both officers take the decision on what should be done.
When a young bridge officer on board signaled MAYDAY because she noticed that this had not been done, she was reprimanded by the captain.
An emergency system to shut off the well was only triggered 12 minutes after the accident. The operation was delayed by a rule that said the highest-ranking officer present had to give the permission. On that day that officer was an onshore office employee who happened to be on a rare visit to the rig.
Mobilize the whole team
Kenneth Stalsett wrote his doctoral dissertation on teams and team dynamics in changing and uncertain settings, as part of NTNU's Innovative Teams project. His doctoral work included a study of the oil industry, where he looked at switching between routine and crisis operations. Stalsett has also conducted several studies on interactions, group dynamics and leadership in the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy operations.
Paradoxically, authoritarian leadership with centralized decision making is considered "military," even though the Norwegian Armed Forces introduced decentralized leadership in the early 1990s. So the military's approach, which bases leadership on operational context, is not anything new.
Stalsett points out that several other industries, like the oil industry, also practice this form of leadership to some degree, but they tend to revert to a "command and control" management style when a crisis situation arises.
"For example," he says, "we find that when the alarm goes off on an oil platform, employees are put under extreme mental and physical stress and instinctively follow what they're trained to do. In that case, it's drill and practice that prevails, and that in turn makes it difficult to adapt to new and changing situations."
Stalsett stresses that training in breaking out of routines is also needed for these kinds of operations.
"That's when something you've never trained for actually happens, and you have to mobilize the power of all the team members, not just the strong leader. You can't see the leader as an isolated entity. To have a good leader, all the team players need to assist and take on their share of leadership. This is exactly what the special forces and the Naval Academy do so well," he says.
Must challenge leadership
A good emergency response team therefore has to be able to change group dynamics when the situation demands it. A team that is just drilled in routines won't develop this capability.
"Most of the time we're used to being in groups with strong leaders, so this isn't necessarily easy to unlearn. In some cases it isn't the group leader who has the most influence. Influence sometimes coincides with social patterns rather than a formal title," Stalsett adds.
So how does one train for this more distributive leadership approach? It requires a team that works together to dare to ask questions and gives constructive criticism, according to Stalsett. This doesn't just apply to the oil industry and the military.
Imagine a regular meeting room with a project group or staff members. It's usually the people who speak the loudest who get their way.
"Expertise is highly valued, and as a rule one is expected to go along with the expert in a field. Experts tend to be right, but we can arrive at a better solution when we manage to add nuances. And experts aren't always right either, so we have to be able to challenge each other in an objective manner. Innovative solutions emerge when different areas of knowledge are brought together and combined," says Stalsett.
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Reference:
Kenneth Stalsett, Endre Sjvold and Trond Rikard Olsen (2016) From routine to uncertainty: Leading adaptable teams within integrated operations. Scandinavian Psychologist, 3, e20.
LA JOLLA--(Feb 14, 2017) FedEx, UPS, DHL--when it comes to sending packages, choices abound. But the most important delivery service you may not have heard of? mRNA. That's short for messenger RNA, which is how your DNA sends blueprints to the protein-assembly factories of your cells. When a protein is faulty, delivering synthetic mRNA to cells could trigger production of a functional version. And that's a message people with a variety of genetic diseases want to hear.
Now, scientists at the Salk Institute are reporting the successful treatment of hemophilia B in mice using mRNA to deliver instructions for the clotting protein that is defective in the debilitating bleeding disorder. The therapy, which is described the week of February 13, 2017, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, can be effective longer and likely has fewer side effects than existing treatments, and could be produced much more cheaply. The study is also a proof of concept that mRNA therapy could be applied to a range of other genetic diseases, especially where the therapeutic protein needs to be modified to have biological activity.
"We are really excited about this work because, short of correcting a faulty gene, protein-replacement therapy using mRNA is one of the most promising techniques we have at our disposal," says senior author Inder Verma, professor of genetics and holder of Salk's Irwin and Joan Jacobs Chair in Exemplary Life Science. "Now we have proof that we can successfully treat a disease--with virtually no side effects--at a lower cost than manufacturing the needed protein."
Hemophilia B is caused by defects in the gene for a protein called clotting factor IX (FIX). Hemophiliacs may make reduced amounts of the protein, or lack a functional version altogether, leading to life-threatening delays in blood clotting. Throughout history, there have been a number of well-known hemophiliacs among members of royal families. (Queen Victoria passed the mutation for hemophilia B on to her son Leopold.) Currently, standard treatments consist of receiving FIX made in animal cells (called recombinant), which is expensive to manufacture, must be administered several times per week and can trigger the development of immune antibodies, rendering it less effective over time. Protein-replacement therapy using mRNA offers a theoretically attractive alternative because mRNA is relatively easy and inexpensive to produce, and seems less likely to cause side effects or induce a problematic immune reaction because the proteins are made in a person's own body, and undergo the desired modifications, according to Verma.
The work is a collaboration between the Verma lab and Arcturus Therapeutics, a local biotech company that developed a system of encapsulating messenger RNA within lipid (fatty acid) nanoparticles. The researchers created an mRNA blueprint for human FIX nanoparticles and delivered them to mice with a faulty FIX gene via injection. Once in the bloodstream, the nanoparticles traveled to the liver where their fatty casing helped them ease into cells and deliver to the protein-making machinery the mRNA instructions to assemble clotting factor IX.
The hemophilic mice were given three injections over a five-month period, during which their coagulation and immune responses were carefully monitored. Normal clotting occurred in the mice within four hours of receiving the therapy, and the results lasted for up to six days. In addition, the mice had only a weak immune response to the treatment, which quickly returned to baseline.
"One of the issues with both nanoparticles and mRNA treatment is toxicity, and in our study we did not see much evidence of that," says Suvasini Ramaswamy, a research associate at Salk and the paper's first author. "We gave the treatment over a long span to give the immune system time to see it and react to it, but the immune response looked more like a mild allergic response and quickly returned to normal, so the technology seems pretty reliable and safe in our mouse model."
When the treatment used in humans (recombinant protein) was applied in mice and directly compared to the mRNA therapy, the mRNA therapy was more effective, maintaining 20 percent more clotting activity four days after injection.
"Conceptually, in vivo mRNA delivery has been around for a long time, but its therapeutic use has been limited by poor stability, immune-reactivity and problems with reproducible systemic delivery," says Pad Chivukula, CSO at Arcturus Therapeutics. "The results suggest that nanoparticle delivery technology overcomes these challenges and might allow for the development of novel, cost-effective mRNA therapeutics."
The scientists caution that because these experiments were conducted in mice, results may not be the same in humans. However, they say the work at least proves the potential for mRNA therapy to successfully treat not only hemophilia B but also other human disorders, such as hemophilia A (caused by faulty clotting factor VIII) or a variety of diseases of the liver, central nervous system, lung and eyes.
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Other authors included Nina Tonnu of Salk and Kiyoshi Tachikawa, Pattraranee Limphong, Jerel B. Vega, Priya P. Karmali and Pad Chivukula of Arcturus Therapeutics.
The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Ipsen Foundation, the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, the Glenn Center for Research on Aging, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The lipid nanoparticles were developed by biomedical company Arcturus Therapeutics.
About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:
Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu.
Patients whose surgeons had a history of higher numbers of patient complaints had an increased risk of surgical and medical complications, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery.
Patient complaints are associated with risk of medical malpractice claims. Because lawsuits may be triggered by an unexpected adverse outcome superimposed on a strained patient-physician relationship, a question remains as to whether behaviors that generate patient dissatisfaction might also contribute to the genesis of adverse outcomes themselves.
William O. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn., and colleagues used data from seven academic medical centers and included patients who underwent inpatient or outpatient operations, and examined unsolicited patient observations (patient complaints) provided to a patient reporting system for the patient's surgeon in the 24 months preceding the date of the operation. Some patient complaints described behaviors that might intimidate or deter communication; others included patients' observations of a physician's disrespectful or rude interaction with other health care team members that might distract focus.
Among the 32,125 patients in the study, 3,501 (11 percent) experienced a complication, including 5.5 percent surgical and 7.5 percent medical. The researchers found that prior patient complaints for a surgeon were significantly associated with the risk of a patient having any complication, any surgical complication, any medical complication, and being readmitted. The adjusted rate of complications was 14 percent higher for patients whose surgeon was in the highest quartile of patient complaints compared with patients whose surgeon was in the lowest quartile.
"If extrapolated to the entire United States, where 27,000,000 surgical procedures are performed annually, failures to model respect, communicate effectively, and be available to patients could contribute to more than 350,000 additional complications and more than $3 billion in additional costs to the U.S. health care system each year," the authors write.
"Efforts to promote patient safety and address risk of malpractice claims should continue to focus on surgeons' ability to communicate respectfully and effectively with patients and other medical professionals."
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(JAMA Surgery. Published online February 15, 2017.doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2016.5703. This study is available pre-embargo at the For The Media website.)
Editor's Note: This study presents independent research that was funded through the Vanderbilt Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy. No conflict of interest disclosures were reported.
Related material: The commentary, "Association of Unsolicited Patient Observations With the Quality of a Surgeon's Care," by Allen Kachalia, M.D., J.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues also is available at the For The Media website.
To place an electronic embedded link to this study in your story: This link will be live at the embargo time: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/10.1001/jamasurg.2016.5703
A team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has made a significant breakthrough in the search for the potential root causes of bipolar disorder.
The research team, led by Professor Pann-Ghill Suh of Life Sciences at UNIST conducted a study that suggests the cellular protein Phospholipase C1 (PLC1) could be a new promising candidate gene for bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness.
The research published by the journal Molecular Psychiatry outlines the findings on January 31, 2017. The findings provide evidence that PLC1 is critical for synaptic function and plasticity and that the loss of PLC1 from the forebrain results in manic-like behavior. This breakthrough is expected to be widely used in research for the treatment ofthe manic symptoms associated with bipolar disorder.
The PLC1 has once been proposed as a candidate gene for bipolar disorder in previous studies. However, it has been unclear that how the PLC1 plays a role in neron-to-neuron signaling and how it is related to mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder.
In the study, Professor Suh and his team created forebrain-specific PLC1-deficient mice and observed what happened in the brain synapse of this mouse. Synapse is the part of the neuron where the signal is transmitted from the end.
To test whether dysfunction of PLC1 in the brain contributes to development of neuropsychiatric disorders, the research team generated mouse models, lacking PLC1 in the forebrain and studied the synaptic and neuronal changes in mouse models.
The research team reported that mice with forebrain-selective deletion of PLC1 also exhibit manic-like behavior, as well as deficits in inhibitory transmission and BDNF-dependent synaptic plasticity.
This resulted in the imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission in forebrain circuits, leading to behavioral abnormalities and manic episodes of bipolar disorder. These symptoms were alleviated after the drug treatment for bipolar disorder was given.
"In the brain, excitatory synapses and inhibitory synapses work together to remain balanced for proper neurotransmission," says Professor Suh. "Our study demonstrated that the imbalance between these two is a major cause of various neuropsychiatric disorders and the GABAergic dysfunction observed in the hippocampi of bipolar disorder patients."
According to the research team, the inhibitory synapses that lacks PLC1 protein do not work properly in excitatory neurons. This is due to the improper signaling of BDNF, which is critical for the synapse formation. This leads to an imbalance of excitatory synapses and inhibitory synapses, and causes mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder.
"After 10 years of research, we have finally revealed PLC1 protein plays a major role in the onset of bipolar disorder," says Professor Suh. "Our findings, therefore, provide evidence that PLC1 is critical for synaptic function and plasticity and that the loss of PLC1 from the forebrain results in manic-like behavior."
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The research was carried out with the support of the future creation science department and the Korea Research Foundation.
Journal Reference
Y R Yang, et al.,"Forebrain-specific ablation of phospholipase C1 causes manic-like behavior," Molecular Psychiatry, (2017).
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When it comes to controversial science issues, scientists need to rethink their approach to engaging the public, according to the authors of a new study looking at women's attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) foods.
The results of focus groups conducted by University of Adelaide researchers, now published online ahead of print in the journal New Genetics and Society, show that if scientists continue to present "just the facts", most people won't engage or modify their thinking -- even if those people are highly educated.
The results have implications for public engagement across other controversial science issues, such as nuclear energy, climate change, vaccination and water fluoridation, the authors say.
"We were interested in previous surveys that showed women consistently were more opposed to GM foods than men, and so we set out to better understand the reasons why," says co-author Professor Rachel Ankeny, from the University of Adelaide's School of Humanities.
"GM foods are an important issue for the community, and with women still playing greater roles in the provision of home care and food preparation, we need to better understand how women are thinking and what their values are in relation to these issues."
The focus groups were conducted with Australian women from a range of educational backgrounds, including those involved in plant and agricultural science, and others in health science, as well as women with lower levels of education.
"All of the women with science backgrounds used evidence to support their stance, but the way they did so came as a surprise to us," says co-author Dr Heather Bray, also from the University's School of Humanities and Senior Research Associate in the Food Values Research Group.
"Women who had backgrounds in plant science said the lack of evidence of harm meant that GM food was safe to eat. But the women in health sciences said it was a lack of evidence of safety that made them cautious about consuming GM food. These perceptions are based on two very different concepts of risk, despite both groups being highly educated in science.
"For women without science backgrounds, GM food presented 'unknown' risks, and hence was to be avoided. There was a range of other issues apart from the science that arose in our study, a major one being a general lack of trust of science," Dr Bray says.
Professor Ankeny is in Boston, USA this week, where she will speak on a communicating science panel for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). These issues will form the basis of some of her discussion.
"It's important for scientists to realise that science has economic, social, and cultural impacts, and if people are presented with 'just the facts', the discussion leaves out critical topics and values," Professor Ankeny says.
"People -- including people highly educated in science -- come to these issues with their own ideas, experiences, and values, and they are not necessarily going to endorse particular scientific theories or applications based simply on facts being provided to them."
Dr Bray says: "Importantly, our work points to shared food values between those who eat and those who do and would not eat GM foods. Shared values are an important foundation for science communication, and we hope that our work can contribute to the development of better engagement strategies for both scientists and the public."
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Media Contacts:
Professor Rachel Ankeny
Department of History
School of Humanities
The University of Adelaide
rachel.ankeny@adelaide.edu.au
Dr Heather Bray
Senior Research Associate, Food Values Research Group
School of Humanities
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8313 5608
eather.bray@adelaide.edu.au
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 14, 2017 -- Ice loss from Canada's Arctic glaciers has transformed them into a major contributor to sea level change, new research by University of California, Irvine glaciologists has found.
From 2005 to 2015, surface melt off ice caps and glaciers of the Queen Elizabeth Islands grew by an astonishing 900 percent, from an average of three gigatons to 30 gigatons per year, according to results published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
"In the past decade, as air temperatures have warmed, surface melt has increased dramatically," said lead author Romain Millan, an Earth system science doctoral student.
The team found that in the past decade, overall ice mass declined markedly, turning the region into a major contributor to sea level change. Canada holds 25 percent of all Arctic ice, second only to Greenland.
The study provides the first long-term analysis of ice flow to the ocean, from 1991 to 2015.
The Canadian ice cap has glaciers on the move into the Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay and Nares Strait. The researchers used satellite data and a regional climate model to tally the "balance" of total gain and loss each year, and the reasons why. Because of the huge number of glaciers terminating in area marine basins, they expected that discharge into the sea caused by tide water hitting approaching glacier fronts would be the primary cause.
In fact, they determined that until 2005, the ice loss was caused about equally by two factors: calving icebergs from glacier fronts into the ocean accounted for 52 percent, and melting on glacier surfaces exposed to air contributed 48 percent. But since then, as atmospheric temperatures have steadily climbed, surface melt now accounts for 90 percent.
Millan said that in recent years ice discharge was only a major component in a few basins, and that even rapid, short term increases from these ice fields only had a minor impact on the long-term trend.
Millan added, "We identified meltwater runoff as the major contributor to these ice fields' mass loss in recent years. With the ongoing, sustained and rapid warming of the high Arctic, the mass loss of the Queen Elizabeth Islands area is likely to continue to increase significantly in coming decades."
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Fellow authors are UCI professor of Earth system science Eric Rignot and UCI assistant research scientist Jeremie Mouginot. NASA provided funding.
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu.
Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.
In August 2015, University of Delaware oceanographer Andreas Muenchow and colleagues deployed the first UD ocean sensors underneath Petermann Glacier in North Greenland, which connects the great Greenland ice sheet directly with the ocean.
Petermann Glacier is the second largest floating ice shelf in the northern hemisphere.
Located approximately 16 to 2,300 feet below the glacier, the five ocean sensors are connected to a weather station at the surface, creating the first cabled observatory on a floating, moving, and rapidly melting Greenland glacier.
The researchers recently reported in the journal Oceanography that sensor data from August 2015 to February 2016 confirms that that the floating ice shelf is strongly coupled, or tied, to the ocean below and to Nares Strait, and temperatures vary with the tides and seasons.
Specifically, the paper found that the same water that has been measured in the fjord is under the glacier, lending credence to the idea that the continuity of the glacier depends on the conditions outside the glacier in the fjord.
This water is warming an average of 0.03 degrees Celsius per year, with temperatures at the deepest ocean sensors sometimes exceeding 0.3 degrees Celsius or 33 degrees Fahrenheit, Muenchow said. These temperature values are consistent at various water depths, and match data from a 2003-09 study in adjacent Nares Strait, which connects to both the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
"This correlation tells us this is the same water and that this is what's causing the melting of the glacier, which could influence sea level rise," said Muenchow, an associate professor of oceanography in UD's School of Marine Science and Policy, which is housed in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (CEOE).
The scientists theorize that warmer Atlantic water will continue to arrive inside Petermann Fjord and below the ice shelf from Nares Strait in the next one-to-two years.
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Co-authors on the paper include Keith W. Nicholls, an oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey; Peter Washam, a UD doctoral student; and Laurie Padman, a senior scientist at Oregon State University.
Kent researchers have identified how few mutations it can take for Ebolaviruses to adapt to affect previously resistant species
Kent researchers have identified how few mutations it can take for Ebolaviruses to adapt to affect previously resistant species.
Ebola is one of the world's most virulent diseases, though rodent species such as guinea pigs, rats and mice are not normally susceptible to it. However, through repeated infection of a host animal, Ebola virus strains can be generated that replicate and cause disease within new host rodent species.
Scientists in the University of Kent's School of Biosciences examined the changes associated with Ebolavirus adaptation to rodents including guinea pigs and mice across four different studies. They found that only very few mutations, probably fewer than five, are required for the virus to adapt.
In particular, a change in the Ebolavirus protein VP24 seems to be critical for Ebola viruses to infect a new animal species. Ebolaviruses infecting domestic species, including pigs and dogs, may also result in virus changes that may increase the risk to humans. Reston viruses, Ebolaviruses that have not been shown to cause disease in humans, so far, are known to circulate in domestic pigs in Asia.
The research was performed by Dr Mark Wass (Senior Lecturer in Computational Biology), Professor Martin Michaelis (Professor of Molecular Medicine), and Dr Jeremy Rossman (Senior Lecturer in Virology) and members of their research groups.
The research, entitled Changes associated with Ebola virus adaptation to novel species, was published in the journal Bioinformatics. See here: https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/bioinformatics/btx065
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For further information or interview requests contact Sandy Fleming at the University of Kent Press Office.
Tel: 01227 823581/01634 888879
Email: S.Fleming@kent.ac.uk
News releases can also be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/news
University of Kent on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UniKent
Note to editors
The recent Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, which resulted in more than 28,000 confirmed cases and more than 11,000 deaths, raised concerns that similar (or even larger epidemics) may occur in the future.
Ebolaviruses are zoonotic viruses, transmitted between different animal species and humans are typically infected by animals. The species in which Ebolaviruses are continuously circulating remain to be identified, although some bats have been suspected to be carriers.
Zoonotic viruses that infect a novel species may adapt to this species and change their behaviour, meaning they can become more or less aggressive and/ or more or less transmissible. There is concern that Ebolaviruses may adapt to humans during human outbreaks, which may result in the emergence of novel virus types that can more easily spread between humans.
Established in 1965, the University of Kent - the UK's European university - now has almost 20,000 students across campuses or study centres at Canterbury, Medway, Tonbridge, Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome.
It has been ranked: third for overall student satisfaction in the 2014 National Student Survey; 16th in the Guardian University Guide 2016; 23rd in the Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2016; and 22nd in the Complete University Guide 2015.
In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2015-16, Kent is in the top 10% of the world's leading universities for international outlook.
Kent is ranked 17th in the UK for research intensity (REF 2014). It has world-leading research in all subjects and 97% of its research is deemed by the REF to be of international quality.
Along with the universities of East Anglia and Essex, Kent is a member of the Eastern Arc Research Consortium (http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/partnerships/eastern-arc.html).
The University is worth 0.7 billion to the economy of the south east and supports more than 7,800 jobs in the region. Student off-campus spend contributes 293.3m and 2,532 full-time-equivalent jobs to those totals.
In 2014, Kent received its second Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.
DURHAM, N.H. - Climigration refers to migration caused by climate change. The term was coined to describe the predicament of northern Alaska populations who live on the "front line of climate change," facing immediate threats from erosion and flooding associated with thawing permafrost, increasing river flows, and reduced sea ice protection of shorelines. Is climate-induced migration already occurring from these places? Lawrence Hamilton, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, will speak about this phenomenon at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting being held Feb. 16-20 in Boston.
What: "Climigration? Population and Climate in the North"
Who: Lawrence Hamilton, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, shares new findings about the growing risk of climigration.
When: Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, 3-4:30 p.m.
Where: Hynes Convention Center, Boston, Room 313
Why: The term climigration, referring to migration caused by climate change, originally was coined for Arctic Alaska towns forced to relocate. Some historical movements have been attributed to climate change, but closer study tends to find multiple causes, making it difficult to quantify the climate contribution. Clearer attribution might come from comparisons of migration rates among places that are similar in most respects, apart from known climatic impacts. Hamilton applies this approach using annual 1990-2015 migration time series on 43 Arctic Alaska towns and villages. Although climigration is not detectable to date, growing risks make either planned or unplanned movements unavoidable in the near future.
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Brown recluse spiders use a unique micro looping technique to make their threads stronger than that of any other spider, a newly published UK-US collaboration has discovered.
One of the most feared and venomous arachnids in the world, the American brown recluse spider has long been known for its signature necro-toxic venom, as well as its unusual silk. Now, new research offers an explanation for how the spider is able to make its silk uncommonly strong.
Researchers suggest that if applied to synthetic materials, the technique could inspire scientific developments and improve impact absorbing structures used in space travel.
The study, published today in the journal Material Horizons, was produced by scientists from Oxford University's Department of Zoology, together with a team from the Applied Science Department at Virginia's College of William & Mary. Their surveillance of the brown recluse spider's spinning behaviour shows how, and to what extent, the spider manages to strengthen the silk it makes.
From observing the arachnid, the team discovered that unlike other spiders, who produce round ribbons of thread, recluse silk is thin and flat. This structural difference is key to the thread's strength, providing the flexibility needed to prevent premature breakage and withstand the knots created during spinning which give each strand additional strength.
Professor Hannes Schniepp from William & Mary explains: "The theory of knots adding strength is well proven. But adding loops to synthetic filaments always seems to lead to premature fibre failure. Observation of the recluse spider provided the breakthrough solution; unlike all spiders its silk is not round, but a thin, nano-scale flat ribbon. The ribbon shape adds the flexibility needed to prevent premature failure, so that all the microloops can provide additional strength to the strand."
By using computer simulations to apply this technique to synthetic fibres, the team were able to test and prove that adding even a single loop significantly enhances the strength of the material.
William & Mary PhD student Sean Koebley adds: "We were able to prove that adding even a single loop significantly enhances the toughness of a simple synthetic sticky tape. Our observations open the door to new fibre technology inspired by the brown recluse."
Speaking on how the recluse's technique could be applied more broadly in the future, Professor Fritz Vollrath, of the Department of Zoology at Oxford University, expands: "Computer simulations demonstrate that fibres with many loops would be much, much tougher than those without loops. This right away suggests possible applications. For example carbon filaments could be looped to make them less brittle, and thus allow their use in novel impact absorbing structures. One example would be spider-like webs of carbon-filaments floating in outer space, to capture the drifting space debris that endangers astronaut lives' and satellite integrity."
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Notes to editors:
The full study "Toughness-enhancing metastructure in the recluse spider's looped ribbon silk" S. R. Koebley,a F. Vollrathb and H. C. Schniepp*a is available from the scientific journal Material Horizons: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/mh/c6mh00473c#!divAbstract
Images and high-speed video footage are available at https://nanomat.as.wm.edu/general/Toughness-Loops-19235719/
For further information please contact Lanisha Butterfield in the University of Oxford press office at Lanisha.butterfield@admin.ox.ac.uk or on+44 (0)1865 280531
The Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS) is one of four academic divisions at the University of Oxford, representing the non-medical sciences. Oxford is one of the world's leading universities for science, and MPLS is at the forefront of scientific research across a wide range of disciplines. Research in the mathematical, physical and life sciences at Oxford was rated the best in the UK in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. MPLS received 133m in research income in 2014/15.
PHILADELPHIA - More than six decades after Castleman disease (CD) was first described, a group of experts from Penn Medicine and other institutions around the world has established the first set of diagnostic criteria for a life-threatening subtype of the condition, idiopathic multicentric CD (iMCD), which is often misdiagnosed as other illnesses. The report was published online ahead of print in the journal Blood.
Accurate diagnosis of iMCD has been challenging, with no standard diagnostic criteria to guide physicians and significant overlap with cancer and autoimmune, or infectious disorders. About 1,200 patients are diagnosed with iMCD each year in the United States. It can occur in patients of any age, and about 35 percent of iMCD patients die within five years of diagnosis; 60 percent die within 10 years.
"The new criteria will accelerate time to diagnosis and, more importantly, administration of life-saving treatments for iMCD patients," said first author David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, an assistant professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and associate director of patient impact at the Penn Orphan Disease Center.
Many iMCD patients endure months without appropriate treatment, including Fajgenbaum, who is also an iMCD patient. It took over 11 weeks for Fajgenbaum to be correctly diagnosed, during which time he experienced two life-threatening episodes of the disease.
"Previously, patients had to hope their doctors were familiar with the Castleman disease medical literature in order for them to even consider an iMCD diagnosis," Fajgenbaum said. "Then, for the doctors considering the diagnosis, actually diagnosing it was very difficult. Now, with these criteria, doctors will know exactly what to look for and what to check off to feel confident about a diagnosis."
To establish the criteria, the international working group - led by Fajgenbaum and consisting of 34 pediatric and adult hematopathology, hematology/oncology, rheumatology, immunology, and infectious diseases experts in iMCD and related disorders representing eight countries on five continents, including two physicians that are also iMCD patients - reviewed 244 iMCD cases and 88 lymph node tissue biopsies over 15 months.
Other working group members from Penn include senior authors Kojo Elenitoba-Johnson, MD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of the Center for Personalized Diagnostics, and Megan Lim, MD, PhD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
The criteria require that for a diagnosis of iMCD to be made, two major criteria and at least two of 11 minor criteria be met, including at least one laboratory abnormality, such as anemia or elevated C-reactive protein in the blood. Additionally, several diseases with similar clinical presentation to iMCD must be excluded, such as another sub-type of CD called HHV-8-associated multicentric CD.
Several therapies have been used off-label to treat iMCD patients with varying success, including corticosteroids, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and immunosuppressants. In 2014, siltuximab, an anti-IL6 monoclonal antibody used to treat cancer, became the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved iMCD therapy based on results from an international, randomized controlled trial in which 34 percent of patients had a complete or partial response to the drug compared to zero percent on placebo.
"However, the lack of a defined diagnostic criteria has likely impeded the timely administration of treatment for many patients," Fajgenbaum said. "Such delays could lead to organ dysfunction and even death."
The working group retrospectively applied the diagnostic criteria to patients from the siltuximab clinical trial. They found that individuals presumed to have iMCD, but who did not meet the diagnostic criteria, had a significantly lower (0 percent) response rate to siltuximab compared to patients who met the diagnostic criteria (43 percent).
The working group will continue to improve upon the new diagnostic criteria, in part by relying on the ACCELERATE patient registry. ACCELERATE is a CD natural history registry based at Penn. The data collected from the registry will help researchers validate and potentially tweak the criteria.
"I feel so pleased and optimistic that we're finally turning the tide against this disease," Fajgenbaum said. "I've heard of too many patients diagnosed with the disease only after they died and underwent an autopsy, and hopefully this will help doctors to diagnose it before it is too late."
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Co-authors also include Elaine Jaffe, MD and Thomas S. Uldrick, MD, MS, from the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research.
The study was supported in part by the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, the Penn Orphan Disease Center, and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $5.3 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 18 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $373 million awarded in the 2015 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Chestnut Hill Hospital and Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2015, Penn Medicine provided $253.3 million to benefit our community.
A new study argues we should not count on deep coral reefs as a 'lifeline' for shallow reefs
Dr Pim Bongaerts, a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland's Global Change Institute (GCI) and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and lead author of the study, said deep reefs share coral species with the shallow reef, which has led to the idea that deep reefs could be an important source of larvae and help to 'reseed' shallow reefs.
"We argue that this concept of deep coral populations 'reseeding' their shallow-water counterparts may be relevant to some species, but is ultimately unlikely to aid more broadly in the recovery of shallow reefs," he said.
Given the impossibility of tracking the movements of individual coral larvae on the reef, understanding the 'connectivity' between shallow and deep coral populations relies on methods that assess the genetic similarity between coral populations.
The team focused on the relatively isolated reef system of Bermuda in the Western Atlantic where they screened the genomes of more than 200 individual coral colonies from shallow and deep water, belonging to two coral species with similar depth distributions on the reef.
The study demonstrates that the extent of 'connectivity' between shallow and deep populations can differ greatly between species on a reef, and can be strongly affected by natural selection processes that vary across shallow and deep reef environments.
Director of GCI, and co-author, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said deep coral reefs had been highlighted as holding hope for shallow reefs that were badly damaged by bleaching events.
"Our results, however, contribute to a growing body of evidence, that the role of deep reefs in shallow-reef recovery is likely to be very limited," he said.
According to Dr Bongaerts, the study once again highlights that under the increasing disturbances that coral reefs continue to face, they are unlikely to just 'sort themselves out'.
"Instead, the responsibility for their future lies with us. If we want to have any chance of preserving these unique and diverse ecosystems, it is crucial that we start curbing our emissions and divest from fossil fuels," he said.
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The research, published in Science Advances, was undertaken as part of the XL Catlin Seaview Survey, funded by XL Catlin in partnership with The Ocean Agency, GCI at The University of Queensland, and the ARC Centre for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies at the University of Queensland.
The research was carried out with the support of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo.
For media enquiries please contact:
Dr Pim Bongaerts
Research Fellow
GCI: pim@uq.edu.au / @pimbongaerts
Rachael Hazell
Communications Officer
GCI: r.hazell@uq.edu.au
+61-415-814-529
Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have created an atomic force microscope on a chip, dramatically shrinking the size -- and, hopefully, the price tag -- of a high-tech device commonly used to characterize material properties.
"A standard atomic force microscope is a large, bulky instrument, with multiple control loops, electronics and amplifiers," said Dr. Reza Moheimani, professor of mechanical engineering at UT Dallas. "We have managed to miniaturize all of the electromechanical components down onto a single small chip."
Moheimani and his colleagues describe their prototype device in this month's issue of the IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.
An atomic force microscope (AFM) is a scientific tool that is used to create detailed three-dimensional images of the surfaces of materials, down to the nanometer scale -- that's roughly on the scale of individual molecules.
The basic AFM design consists of a tiny cantilever, or arm, that has a sharp tip attached to one end. As the apparatus scans back and forth across the surface of a sample, or the sample moves under it, the interactive forces between the sample and the tip cause the cantilever to move up and down as the tip follows the contours of the surface. Those movements are then translated into an image.
"An AFM is a microscope that 'sees' a surface kind of the way a visually impaired person might, by touching. You can get a resolution that is well beyond what an optical microscope can achieve," said Moheimani, who holds the James Von Ehr Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. "It can capture features that are very, very small."
The UT Dallas team created its prototype on-chip AFM using a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) approach.
"A classic example of MEMS technology are the accelerometers and gyroscopes found in smartphones," said Dr. Anthony Fowler, a research scientist in Moheimani's Laboratory for Dynamics and Control of Nanosystems and one of the article's co-authors. "These used to be big, expensive, mechanical devices, but using MEMS technology, accelerometers have shrunk down onto a single chip, which can be manufactured for just a few dollars apiece."
The MEMS-based AFM is about 1 square centimeter in size, or a little smaller than a dime. It is attached to a small printed circuit board, about half the size of a credit card, which contains circuitry, sensors and other miniaturized components that control the movement and other aspects of the device.
Conventional AFMs operate in various modes. Some map out a sample's features by maintaining a constant force as the probe tip drags across the surface, while others do so by maintaining a constant distance between the two. "The problem with using a constant height approach is that the tip is applying varying forces on a sample all the time, which can damage a sample that is very soft," Fowler said. "Or, if you are scanning a very hard surface, you could wear down the tip,"
The MEMS-based AFM operates in "tapping mode," which means the cantilever and tip oscillate up and down perpendicular to the sample, and the tip alternately contacts then lifts off from the surface. As the probe moves back and forth across a sample material, a feedback loop maintains the height of that oscillation, ultimately creating an image.
"In tapping mode, as the oscillating cantilever moves across the surface topography, the amplitude of the oscillation wants to change as it interacts with sample," said Dr. Mohammad Maroufi, a research associate in mechanical engineering and co-author of the paper. "This device creates an image by maintaining the amplitude of oscillation."
Because conventional AFMs require lasers and other large components to operate, their use can be limited. They're also expensive.
"An educational version can cost about $30,000 or $40,000, and a laboratory-level AFM can run $500,000 or more," Moheimani said. "Our MEMS approach to AFM design has the potential to significantly reduce the complexity and cost of the instrument.
"One of the attractive aspects about MEMS is that you can mass produce them, building hundreds or thousands of them in one shot, so the price of each chip would only be a few dollars. As a result, you might be able to offer the whole miniature AFM system for a few thousand dollars."
A reduced size and price tag also could expand the AFMs' utility beyond current scientific applications.
"For example, the semiconductor industry might benefit from these small devices, in particular companies that manufacture the silicon wafers from which computer chips are made," Moheimani said. "With our technology, you might have an array of AFMs to characterize the wafer's surface to find micro-faults before the product is shipped out." The lab prototype is a first-generation device, Moheimani said, and the group is already working on ways to improve and streamline the fabrication of the device.
"This is one of those technologies where, as they say, 'If you build it, they will come.' We anticipate finding many applications as the technology matures," Moheimani said.
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In addition to the UT Dallas researchers, Michael Ruppert, a visiting graduate student from the University of Newcastle in Australia, was a co-author of the journal article. Moheimani was Ruppert's doctoral advisor.
Moheimani's research has been funded by UT Dallas startup funds, the Von Ehr Distinguished Chair and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
SALT LAKE CITY - Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, and colleagues at the John A. Moran Center and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, were looking for a way to tease apart the effects of preeclampsia on the risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disease found in premature infants. Their results, and the model they developed, were published February 14, 2017, in Scientific Reports.
In ROP, blood vessels in the retina grow outside of their normal space. This can lead to blindness. In addition, there is a strong link to premature birth--the more premature the infant, the more likely the infant is to develop ROP and the more severe the ROP may be. Previous research has also found an association between premature birth and preeclampsia. The linkage between premature birth and ROP, and between premature birth and preeclampsia, makes it difficult to tease apart the effect of preeclampsia on risk for ROP.
Preeclampsia is a high blood pressure condition in pregnant women that can lead to decreased blood flow to the placenta. Hence, both preeclampsia and ROP are linked to premature birth, and reports in the literature indicate either increased risk or apparent protective effects of preeclampsia on ROP. Therefore, researchers asked what the association between preeclampsia and ROP would be in the absence of premature birth.
In this report, researchers reduced blood flow to the placenta in some of the pregnant rats to create a condition called uteroplacental insufficiency (UPI), which is present in maternal preeclampsia. Other pregnant rats, the controls, underwent a sham procedure that did not cause UPI. UPI in the mother rats caused the offspring to have poor growth. All pregnant rats delivered full-term pups. Pups born to the mother rats with UPI and those born to the controls were exposed to variable oxygen, simulating a premature infant at risk for ROP.
Researchers then looked to see if the restricted blood flow caused by preeclampsia and changes in oxygen levels had any effect on weight gain or development of abnormal retinal blood vessel growth.
They anticipated that the pups born to mother rats with UPI would have more severe retinopathy. However, they found the opposite--these pups had less severe retinopathy and more normal retinal vascular development than pups born to control mother rats and placed into varying oxygen levels. The pups with less severe retinopathy also gained the same amount of weight compared to control pups in variable oxygen. Therefore, while they expected to see examples of retinopathy representative of more severe ROP, researchers found that the combination of preeclampsia and oxygen fluctuations actually reduced features of ROP in the retina.
Researchers also looked at whether growth factors needed for retina development came from the mother or if they were produced by the pups. Growth factor levels were the same in preeclampsia and control female rats and did not align with levels in pups. But the pups from the preeclampsia mothers produced greater amounts of certain growth factors, particularly erythropoietin.
These findings support the idea that those pups that are strong enough to survive induced preeclampsia may be stressed enough to induce growth factors necessary to increase normal retinal blood vessel development and reduce ROP severity.
"This model removes premature birth--which is highly linked to preeclampsia in mothers and to ROP in premature infants--from the equation and allows us to see the effect of preeclampsia on ROP," Hartnett explained. "The impact actually is that the oxygen fluctuations in the growth-restricted pups that survive lead to a growth advantage and reduced retinopathy.
Further research is needed to determine if growth factors transferred from the mother to the fetus affect retinal development in models without induced preeclampsia and to identify levels of circulating growth factors in premature infants to refine ROP treatment.
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Citation: Protective effect of maternal uteroplacental insufficiency on oxygen-induced retinopathy in offspring: removing bias of premature birth. Silke Becker, Haibo Wang, Baifeng Yu, Randy Brown, Xiaokun Han, Robert H. Lane, and M. Elizabeth Hartnett. Scientific Reports, February 14, 2017.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., New York, NY, to the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Utah, and the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to the University of Utah Study Design and Biostatistics Center.
Scalp cooling can lessen some chemotherapy-induced hair loss - one of the most devastating hallmarks of cancer - in certain breast cancer patients, according to a new multicenter study from UC San Francisco, Weill Cornell Medicine and three other medical centers.
A majority of the study's patients, all women with stage 1 or 2 breast cancer who underwent scalp cooling, retained more than half of their hair after completing chemotherapy, the investigators learned. The study, which tracks patients over five years, used standardized photographs to grade hair loss.
The study will be published Feb. 14 in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Hair loss is almost universal among breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and is one of the most distressing of adverse side effects," said first author Hope S. Rugo, MD, the corresponding author who led the study. Rugo is a UCSF professor of medicine specializing in breast cancer research and treatment, and director of the breast oncology and clinical trials education program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"We found that scalp cooling during commonly used chemotherapy regimens was well tolerated and was associated with significantly less hair loss, as well as improvement in several quality-of-life indicators," Rugo said. "While further research is needed, the data suggest that when scalp cooling is successful at decreasing hair loss, it could improve the treatment experience for women undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer."
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women around the world, both in developed countries and less developed ones, according to the World Health Organization.
Scalp cooling has been used in more than 30 countries as a way to potentially prevent hair loss in patients receiving chemotherapy; in Europe it's been used for several decades. Two types of cooling caps are typically used: frozen caps that need to be replaced every half hour, or cooling systems that continually circulate coolants into a cap during the entire chemotherapy session.
Scalp cooling is thought to reduce hair loss due to reduced delivery of chemotherapy to the scalp and hair follicle, Rugo said. The cold temperatures also are thought to slow the hair follicle cell division, making the cell less susceptible to the damaging effects of chemotherapy.
In the United States, scalp cooling has been limited because of factors including insufficient scientific data and concern about the theoretic risk of scalp metastases.
For the JAMA study, researchers investigated the effectiveness of one device: the DigniCap scalp cooling system manufactured by the Swedish public company Dignitana AB, which partly funded the research. In December 2015, based on preliminary results from the study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the DigniCap for use in the U.S., the first and only cooling cap to date to receive such clearance.
In the JAMA paper, 122 women with stage 1or stage 2 breast cancer were studied - all received non-anthracycline adjuvant chemotherapy, which generally causes severe hair loss. Of those women, 101 were enrolled in scalp cooling; 16 others, also undergoing chemotherapy but not scalp cooling, were in the control arm.
Scalp cooling began 30 minutes prior to each chemotherapy cycle and involved a close fitting of the silicone cap on the patient's head, followed by an insulating neoprene cap. The silicone cap was then gradually cooled. The DigniCap is set to cool at 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit) with a temperature variance of plus or minus 2 degrees.
Of 101 patients who underwent scalp cooling, 67 of them (66.3 percent) retained half or more of their hair, the authors wrote. In the parallel control group, all the patients lost their hair. Additionally, three of five quality-of-life measures were significantly better for the women who underwent scalp-cooling, including feeling more physically attractive.
"Enabling a woman to preserve her hair during chemotherapy is empowering," said senior author Tessa Cigler, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Weill Cornell Breast Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. "Scalp cooling allows patients to protect their privacy and maintain their self-esteem and sense of well-being. This study provides long-awaited evidence for an effective and practical scalp cooling method."
The mean age of the cold cap patients was 53 years. Some 77 percent of the patients were white, 9 percent were black and nearly 11 percent were Asian. The study was conducted between August 2013 and October 2014. The average duration of chemotherapy was 2.3 months.
Many of the patients reported mild headaches or scalp pain associated with the scalp cooling. Two patients discontinued scalp cooling due to feeling cold. There has been no evidence of scalp metastases in any patient after approximately 30 months of follow up. All patient follow up will continue for a total of five years.
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The study was funded partially by the Lazlo Tauber Family Foundation (awarded to UCSF); the Anne Moore Breast Cancer Research Fund (awarded to Weill Cornell Medicine); and the Friedman Family Foundation (awarded to Mount Sinai Beth Israel). Dignitana AB supported the design and conduct of the study, including collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data.
Study co-authors also included researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; Wake Forest Baptist Health Medical Center; and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. From UCSF, co-authors are Michelle E. Melisko, MD, and Laura Esserman, MD, MBA; from Weill Cornell Medicine, Anne Moore, MD, was also a co-author. A complete list of authors can be found in the paper.
About UCSF: UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland, and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area. Please visit http://www.ucsf.edu/news.
About Weill Cornell Medicine: Weill Cornell Medicine is committed to excellence in patient care, scientific discovery and the education of future physicians in New York City and around the world. The doctors and scientists of Weill Cornell Medicine - faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Weill Cornell Physician Organization - are engaged in world-class clinical care and cutting-edge research that connect patients to the latest treatment innovations and prevention strategies. Located in the heart of the Upper East Side's scientific corridor, Weill Cornell Medicine's powerful network of collaborators extends to its parent university Cornell University; to Qatar, where an international campus offers a U.S. medical degree; and to programs in Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Weill Cornell Medicine faculty provide comprehensive patient care at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital and New York-Presbyterian/Queens. Weill Cornell Medicine is also affiliated with Houston Methodist. For more information, visit Weill.Cornell.edu.
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A third of a farmer's sheep herd has been found dead as Police fear they were killed by a 'psychopathic' killer wielding a gun.
The attack happened on Coxtie Green Farm in Brentwood, Essex during the evening of Monday February 6 at around 7pm.
Owners Mike and Maria Pereira drove down the fields at 8.30pm, it is then the couple discovered four of the sheep had been killed, with another four severely injured.
The injuries sustained by the gunshot wounds were so severe that a professional marksmen had to humanely euthanise the survivors.
There was also evidence that at least one of the sheep had been mauled by either a dog or a fox.
'Psychopathic individual'
Mike, 57, told the EssexLive: "We are shocked and horrified. The fact that you have some psychopathic individual or individuals running around our farm shooting is a great concern.
"We think we disturbed whoever it was. We don't know if they wanted to cause more damage."
The murdered sheep, whose bodies had to be disposed of by specialists, have belonged to the farm, on Coxtie Green Road, for the past five years.
Police attended the farm shortly after the bodies were discovered and the force's Rural Crime Team are currently investigating.
A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Enquiries are ongoing but anyone with any information should contact investigating officers on 101."
The uncertainty about the impact of Brexit is unwelcome for the Scottish red meat industry, according to a report highlighting the challenges and opportunities for the Scottish red meat trade.
Industry surveys show that over the past three years more than 95% of Scotland's international trade is with members of the European Union particularly France and Italy.
"Losing duty free access to the European Union market would result in significant market destabilisation," the Quality Meat Scotland report said.
"The extreme position would be one where Scotland and the UK traded with the European Union as a non-member state and face the punitive tariff rates described above and the likelihood of significant reduction in export volumes unless there was significant price correction.
"While an agreed tariff rate quota would offer potential access at preferential terms they may not be tariff free and it would make it difficult, if not impossible, to grow exports to the EU beyond the limits of the quota."
'Considerable threat'
The Scottish red meat industry contributes around 2 billion to Scotlands economy each year and supports around 50,000 jobs, many of which are in more fragile parts of the country.
"The information contained in this report makes clear that losing the full and free access to this market that full membership of the EU brings is a considerable threat, with UK meat exporters potentially facing punitive tariffs and substantial market disruption," said Jim McLaren, Quality Meat Scotland Chairman.
"The document also makes it clear that opportunities to build and improve market access to capture recognised opportunities outside the EU will take time and significant resource," he added.
The report said leaving the European Union would open up the opportunity for the UK to negotiate its own terms of trade with target markets resulting in the potential to increase existing access or gain access to markets currently closed to the UK and Scotland.
"However, the time taken and resources required to reach agreement should not be underestimated, neither should the time and resource required to build a market in those countries where the UK currently has no trade or limited trade."
Welsh farmers have responded to the Government's 'better and fairer' approach to public access for outdoor recreation, saying it should not place any 'additional burden' on farmers.
Farming union NFU Cymru has reaffirmed that any changes to access legislation in Wales should not place any additional cost, burden or liability on farmers.
This is in response to yesterdays written statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, on Improving Opportunities to Access the Outdoors for Recreation.
NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chair, Hedd Pugh said: Welsh farmers are the key providers of a significant proportion of Wales access provision which includes 16,000 miles of footpaths, 3,000 miles of bridleways, 1,200 miles of cycle network, and 460,000 ha of open access land.
We recognise that public access to the countryside is an important mechanism to improve public health and we acknowledge the role that outdoor recreation can play in helping to address low levels of physical activity in Wales.
However, there is no evidence to show that this issue can be addressed by simply providing greater and greater amounts of public access.
Indeed, the evidence shows that despite a threefold increase in land accessible by right since devolution, usage numbers have not changed. Reforms to access legislation should not seek to facilitate this.
Achieving consistency
The written statement refers to achieving consistency in the opportunities available for participation in different activities.
Mr Pugh continued: This is concerning as any broadening of the range of activity through higher access rights will inevitably mean increased risks and impacts, with the burden and liability falling on farmers. The extent to which higher access rights will impact on existing recreation businesses also needs to be understood.
The issue of access and recreation is a key concern for our members and this was reflected in the high levels of interest in the 2015 consultation. Any changes to access legislation will inevitably impact disproportionately on the farming community.
NFU Cymru is clear that reforms to access legislation in Wales should focus on the modernisation of the public rights of way network.
The current system does not take into account modern day farming and the procedures to record, create, divert or close public rights of way must be made far easier and less expensive.
The Scottish government has been urged to take more action on the circular economy at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association's inaugural Scottish National Conference this morning in Glasgow.
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Maurice Golden MSP said that more work needed to be done to reap the full benefits of a circular economy strategy.
He also said that an improved understanding of the sources and streams of waste would make it easier to reduce levels of waste.
There are now over 40 operational AD plants spread across Scotland, from the Scottish Borders to the Western Isles, with more than half of these plants commissioned within the last three years.
Worth 66m
The Scottish AD market is now worth 66 million and set to grow further as farmers, businesses and government see first-hand the multiple benefits that biogas delivers.
The principal theme of the conference is getting the already growing Scottish AD industry ready for 2021, when Scottish councils will be banned from sending any biodegradable waste to landfill.
The conference features speakers from government, farmers, universities, water companies, AD operators and developers, equipment suppliers and manufacturers and others on the policies, regulations, financial support and innovations that are required to deliver a further step change in the industrys potential in Scotland.
In her welcome address, ADBA Chief Executive Charlotte Morton said: "Biogas in Scotland is starting to take off in a big way, and we at ADBA believe it is really important to support the Scottish AD industry to keep growing and providing the Scottish people with green gas, electricity, transport fuel and fertiliser.
"While 2021 might seem like a long way away, we all know how quickly four years can zoom by, and its important for the Scottish AD community to be fully prepared for the opportunities that 2021 and beyond will bring."
A three-year-old boy has been killed after being hit by a tractor in Fife, Scotland.
Police said they are investigating after the young boy died in a 'collision' at 5.10pm yesterday (14 February).
The boy, believed to be Stuart Nelson, was only three years old.
The Health and Safety Executive were called and are also investigating.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: Police in Fife are investigating after a child was killed during a collision on a farm in Fife.
The incident happened around 5.10 p.m. on Tuesday 14th February at a property in Crossgates.
A three-year-old boy sustained fatal injuries after he was involved in a collision with a farm vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Inquiries into the full circumstances surrounding this matter are continuing.
Marts to donate Scotch Lamb for St Andrew's Day campaign
Visa Inc (V 1.15%) investors certainly had reason to celebrate in the days following its 2017 first-quarter results. The stock price popped on the revenue and earnings beat and is now up 9% year to date. Underlying business fundamentals also look strong. Net operating revenue, adjusted net income, and earnings per share were all up more than 20% year over year. More importantly, its integration with Visa Europe appears to be moving along smoothly and efficiently.
While Visa continues to show signs of growth, management knows it cannot take this growth for granted. The competition in the payments industry is too fierce for any company not constantly innovating to flourish for long. During the conference call following the quarterly earnings release, new CEO Al Kelly identified six guiding pillars he believes are crucial to Visa's foundation and future growth. The last of these pillars is digital expansion, which Kelly believes is best represented by Visa's heavy investment in Visa Checkout. Kelly said:
E-commerce enabled by mobile and other form factors is a significant opportunity. And we are definitely investing behind it. As payments move from the physical to digital world, we're leading the way in developing solutions for our clients, our partners and consumers. One great example of this is Visa Checkout. We now have over 18 million consumer accounts in 23 countries and over 1,500 financial institutional partners participating around the world. More than 300,000 online merchants have signed on to accept Visa Checkout, representing $173 billion in addressable volume.
Visa Checkout is the company's payment platform that allows accountholders to store their credit card information and make purchases from third-party retail websites. This allows consumers to buy things online without having to enter their payment information, a cumbersome process especially difficult from mobile devices. Retailers love these types of solutions because it makes the checkout process smoother and quicker, leading to greater sales and less cart abandonment.
Visa Checkout's potent growth
The numbers Kelly cited for Visa Checkout's growth certainly look impressive. The platform has grown its consumer accounts 80%, its financial institution partners by 150%, and online merchants accepting the platform by 20% since last year's first-quarter earnings report. That's some pretty strong year-over-year growth.
Needless to say, the company invested a lot into Visa Checkout this past year, and it shows. In the 2016 fourth-quarter conference call, former CEO Charlie Scharf said Visa had rolled out a redesigned Visa Checkout experience to all worldwide merchants making it easier for customers to sign up and complete purchases with mobile devices. The company also opened the platform to its card-issuing partners, allowing them to integrate their own digital wallets into Visa Checkout. Judging by the numbers, these efforts have yielded decent results.
Is the growth enough to justify another digital wallet?
Despite the heady growth, though, there still seem to be some lingering questions in CEO Kelly's mind about whether the heavy investments in resources and effort are worth it. Later in the conference call, when answering a question from an analyst, he expressed some of these doubts:
My personal view is that there are too many wallets out there. Consumers are not going to ultimately want to have 50 wallets. And we're not necessarily anxious just to be in the wallet business per se, but we're anxious to be -- to take advantage of us being a trusted acceptance mark in the payments eco space and want to be able to make sure that we're taking a leading position in establishing Visa as a trusted mark and as an important partner to our issuers in terms of them trying to establish as much volume as they can get in the digital space.
These misgivings are probably justified. While Visa Checkout experienced significant growth to reach 18 million consumer accounts, PayPal Holdings Inc. currently has almost 200 million active accounts and accounted for more than 1.75 billion payment transactions last quarter.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc.'s Amazon Payments recently announced it had 33 million customers who used its platform to make a purchase, and that payment volume had doubled year over year. In September, Apple Inc. announced customers would be able to use Apple Pay to purchase products online when using a Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Apple Pay also experienced explosive annual growth, as CEO Tim Cook announced transaction volume had grown by more than 500% year over year in the company's 2017 first-quarter conference call.
Doubts or not, Kelly knows Visa cannot just walk away from hosting a digital wallet. In the quote above, he acknowledges that the company's card-issuing banking partners want "as much volume as they can get in the digital space." These banks are ultimately Visa's real customers, and Visa cannot afford to lose any simply because it doesn't want to invest in the space. For this reason alone, it is well worth Visa's time and resources to continue to innovate and market Visa Checkout. Whether the platform will ever really catch on with the end consumer is another matter entirely and is anybody's guess.
Refugee Ban Prompts Interest in new Vietnam War Books, Plays, Documentaries
New books about the Vietnam War, plus documentaries and theatrical productions offer fresh insight into the legal battle over President Donald Trump's refugee ban and current U.S. foreign policy and attitudes. Among the literary offerings are: 'The Sympathizer,' 'Tribe,' and 'Escape from Saigon - a Novel'. There are also documentaries by Rory Kennedy and Ken Burns and two theatrical productions: 'Miss Saigon' which returns to broadway in March and a new play, 'Children of the April Rain.'
February 15, 2017 (FPRC) --Americans are more than ever turning to books about the Vietnam War along with documentaries and even live theater for insight into contemporary foreign policy, veterans' issues, and U.S. treatment of today's refugeesthe most vulnerable victims of war.
Interest in a 40-year-old war that divided a nation back then accounts for the popularity of current literary offerings on Vietnamamong them 'The Sympathizer,' 'Tribe,' and the newly published, 'Escape from Saigon - a Novel'.
Recent films, TV documentaries and theatrical productions offer further understanding of the Vietnam War.
Vietnam War refugee Viet Nguyens 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, 'The Sympathizer,' shines a harsh light on conflicted allegiances and an America-centric view of foreign conflicts. The 'Sympathizer' stands out as an allegory for todays new nationalism and fear of the other. Nguyens companion book, 'The Refugees' further examines the complexities and conflicts of leaving ones native country for a new home in America.
Though not strictly a Vietnam War book, 'Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging,' by Sebastian Junger, explores the plight of returning combat veterans by likening the military to tribal societies where individuals share loyalty, a common purpose and depend on one another for survival.
Junger argues that post traumatic stress may stem partly from the loss of community veterans face as they try to adjust to civilian life. When a 22-year-old Army sergeant, who has made life-and-death decisions as leader of a four man-squad in combat, comes home to be surrounded by people who know nothing of his experience the loneliness sets in and becomes overwhelming.
Published in 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing, New York: Escape from Saigon - a Novel by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo looks at how the Vietnam War shaped contemporary American attitudes in a fast-paced fictional account that compresses the action into the final 30 days of that war. While the action takes place in a single month, the authorsboth Vietnam veteransput the endgame in context through flashbacks, old news accounts and barroom ramblings about the decisions and politics that set the stage for war.
As the novel recounts the events of April 1975, it focuses on lives of the ordinary people buffeted by the political bungling of the powerful they encounter. Among them are Vietnamese and American civilians, journalists, French expatriates, U.S. Embassy staffers and CIA operatives, all seeking escape by any means possible as the North Vietnamese Army tightens its stranglehold on Saigona city once known as the Paris of the Orient. Indeed, the final scenes recount the courage of hordes of Vietnamese refugees and the aviators and sailors who helped them in the biggest air-sea rescue in history, and an America that welcomed these refugees with open arms.
The story often centers on the journalists who covered what was dubbed Americas first television war. 'Correspondents back then devoted their youth to covering Vietnam, often for a decade or more and shaped public opinion through vivid TV pictures and newspaper exposes. The novel's strong female lead Lisette Vo is NBS-TVs first Vietnamese-American war correspondent who foreshadows the rise of women in journalism and the advent of 24/7 cable news. Her developing romance with the hard-hitting Sam Esposito of The Washington Legend evolves over the course of the novel,' observes coauthor Dick Pirozzolo, a former U.S. Air Force press officer in Saigonrenamed Ho Chi Minh City after the war.
Access to news and information was far more primitive In 1975 than it is today. 'There were only three networks, whose anchors were trusted, larger-than-life figures Americans invited into their living rooms. The evening news was appointment TV and America watched and read essentially the same newsa far cry from todays media environment with fragmented cable TV audiences and fake Internet news outlets. The technology has improved, but with it Americans lost its sense of community,' adds Pirozzolo.
Pirozzolo joined the Worcester Telegram & Gazette after Vietnam and later founded a communication consulting firm in Boston. In the mid-1990s he played a prominent role in Vietnam reconciliation and trade and remains active in foreign policy affairs as a member of the editorial board of Boston Global Forum, a think tank affiliated with Harvard University.
Coauthor Morris, an Army combat veteran, returned from Vietnam to earn a degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and went on to an illustrious career with USA Today and some of the nations leading magazines TIME, Sports Illustrated, Wired and Popular Science.
In addition to the latest literature on the Vietnam War, 'Miss Saigon' will be reprised at The Broadway in March and simulcast to local movie theaters in HD to reach a nationwide audience. Lana Noones new play, 'Children of the April Rain' about Operation Babylift, the ill-fated evacuation of mixed-heritage children during the last days of the Vietnam War is opening around the country.
Rory Kennedys film and Ken Burns latest PBS-TV documentary add to the contemporary offerings on the Vietnam War.
'Escape from Saigon - a Novel' was published in January of 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY, 264 pages and lists at $24.95.
Further information and an excerpt are available at: www.escapefromsaigon.com
Send an email to Anita Harris of r
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Mike From Maine Review Wizard 2017 Marketing Software Announced
Mike From Maine, a digital marketing expert, announced Review Wizard, a new review creation software. The software will be launched on February 15 and a complete marketing training will be available on the same date.
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Professional affiliate marketing expert Mike From Maine announced Review Wizard, a review creation and editing software.
More information is available at http://muncheye.com/mike-from-maine-et-al-review-wizard.
Internet marketing has seen a tremendous growth over the past years, with more and more businesses looking for ways to leverage the immense marketing potential of the internet. The business impact of online reviews and Google searches is extremely significant, as recent surveys show that more than 90% of all clients use them in making their customer decisions.
Affiliate marketing has gradually become an important digital marketing industry, with many website owners using their pages to promote partner products and services and earn a percentage of each sale. Online review websites have serious potential for marketers, as reviews are among the most trusted forms of digital marketing.
Review Wizard is a new review design software allowing users to add ratings, pros and cons, calls to action and other features to their online reviews.
Unlike similar software, Review Wizard incorporates professional SEO metadata automation feature, allowing review creators to integrate keywords, titles and meta descriptions into the corresponding html codes for increased SEO responsiveness.
The software is integrated into the WordPress post editor, and it allows for customized rating design and adjustment. Review Wizard enables the user to create rating tags for each reviewed product and assign individual ratings for each category. The overall rating is automatically calculated based on the rating for each category.
Call to actions can then be created, with a custom link to the desired affiliate page. All review features can be customized in terms of color schemes and rating categories, making Review Wizard one of the most flexible review software currently available.
The official launch comes with a training webinar to be held at 9am EST on Wednesday, February 15th. The marketing training session will be hosted by industry experts Mike From Maine and Brett Rutecky.
Interested parties can find more information on Review Wizard and the February 15 webinar by visiting http://letsgolook.at/ReviewWizard.
Contact Info:
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Organization: Muncheye
Address: 8 Hennessy Road, Wanchai,, Hong Kong Island 999077
For more information, please visit http://muncheye.com
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For more information visit r
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Haiti - Economy : Another success of the diaspora
This week, Justin Viard, Consul General of Haiti in Montreal, accompanied by representatives of the Commercial and Tourism Business Section and the Communication and Culture Section, welcomed a Haitian entrepreneur working in the food sector (Casse-Croute, Bakery, Delicatessen and Pastry) and owner of the restaurant "Andreamise" serving about 500 dishes of Haitian food daily for low-cost in Montreal North.
Recall that Mr. Noel was part of an economic mission that visited Haiti in June 2014 and that the benefits of this mission allowed him to export to Florida and Montreal containers of fruits and vegetables produced in Haiti in collaboration with peasant associations and local partners.
Currently, steps are underway to open a branch of the restaurant "Andreamise" in the department of Artibonite and export on a larger scale to the international market of fruits and vegetables grown in Haiti. Naud Noel is also planning a processing plant in Gonaives.
The Consul General of Haiti in Montreal applauded these successes and encouraged Naud Noel in his investment projects in Haiti.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - News : Zapping politics...
Pre-Carnival Exercise
1 death and 6 arrests, this is the balance of the pre-carnival exercise of Sunday, February 12 at the Champ-de-Mars in Port-au-Prince...
The Consortium writes to Donald Trump
Jeantel Joseph the President of the National Consortium of Political Parties Haitians announces for this Tuesday a sit-in in front of the American embassy to demand the return of elected Senator Guy Philippe, consortium candidate arrested on January 5 last and extradited to the United States on the same day https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19721-haiti-flash-senator-guy-philippe-extradited-to-the-usa.html , This sit-in will be followed by a letter to Donald Trump in front of the American Embassy.
See also :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20095-haiti-flash-accused-by-guy-philippe-youri-latortue-denies.html
First official visit of the First Lady
On Monday for her first official visit to the regions of the country, First Lady Martine Moise went to Chansolme, in the Northwest Department, her home town. At the "Ecole de source de Beauvoir", 2nd communal section of Chansolme, she declared ""I can promise these children that they will soon have a modern and adequate school for them to receive quality education. Education is the key to the success of our children."
President Moise has a recipe ?
Monday, in the Plain of Cul de Sac (commune of Croix-des-Bouquets), in the framework of the reinforcement of the agriculture promised during his campaign, President Jovenel Moise, visited partners (PLANTEH and ANAPAAAH) which are involved in the production and processing of tomatoes. "I have always said that I knew how to combine water, land, sun and people to improve production in Haiti, so that citizens' pockets and plates are no longer empty."
Validation of the 5 new senators
Monday the 5 newly elected senators https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20046-haiti-flash-final-results-2nd-round-elections-1-3-senate.html received their certificate at the offices of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), as well as a copy of the official newspaper "Le Moniteur" confirming their election. On Tuesday they will have to register as a senator at the General Secretariat of the Senate to participate in the ceremony of validation of their power, the same day in plenary session of the Senate.
Kazino confirms its presence
The Kazino Group has confirmed its participation in the 2017 National Carnival, which will take place in the City of Les Cayes on 26, 27 and 28 February.
HL/ HaitiLibre
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it would not get into the issue of Uniform Civil Code but described the triple talaq as a serious issue of human rights.
The court said that it would examine the legal aspect of the triple talaq, nikaah halaal and polygamy amongst the Muslims.
Saying that it would examine whether triple talaq was a valid way of divorce, a bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice N.V.Ramana and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud asked the senior counsel appearing for both the sides to frame question that would be addressed in the course of weeklong hearing commencing on May 11.
However, the court made it clear that the question whether divorce under Muslim Personal Law needs to be supervised by either courts or by a court-supervised institutional arbitration came under the legislative domain.
Directing the next hearing on February 16 for the framing of issues, the bench asked the senior counsel appearing for those opposed to triple talaq and those opposing any interference in it, to sit together and frame tentative issues for the consideration by the court.
The court also made that all the petitioner will have to give names of the three lawyers each who would be addressing the court from both the sides.
The Union government has already told the top court that triple talaq, nikaah halaal and polygamy as practised by the Muslims in India were not integral to the practices of Islam or essential religious practices.
The fact that Muslim countries where Islam is the state religion have undergone extensive reforms goes to establish that the practise in question cannot be regarded as integral to the practices of Islam or essential religious practices, it had told the top court earlier in its affidavit.
The government had cited the instances of changes in marriage laws in Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
However, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had earlier told the top court that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy were a social need and a blessing and not a curse for women.
Source : Zee News
JW Marriott Nashville to Open in 2018
Turnberry Associates today unveiled further plans for the new JW Marriott opening in downtown Nashville next year. Featuring a distinctive elliptical shape conceptualized by award-winning architecture firm, Arquitectonica, the impressive, 33-story property is poised to become one of the city's most iconic buildings. Nashville's newest luxury hotel is located in the heart of downtown and will rise to a staggering 386 feet once completed, offering sweeping views from one of the highest elevations in the city. The hotel is also conveniently located within a two-mile radius of Nashville's most treasured landmarks, including the Music City Center, The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Schermerhorn Symphony Center and The Ryman Auditorium.
"On behalf of Turnberry Associates, I would like to express our pride in taking part in the remarkable revitalization of one of the country's most thriving and vibrant cities," said Jeffrey Soffer, Co-Chairman and CEO at Turnberry Associates. "We are thrilled with the plans for JW Marriott Nashville, as we feel the design and public spaces of the hotel including the roof top bar, five star dining experience, Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina, meeting offerings and spa and fitness facilities will continue to position Nashville as a luxury destination for both leisure and business travelers."
International architecture firm Arquitectonica has designed the JW Marriott Nashville, drawing inspiration from the nearby Cumberland River and its symbolic place in the city's history. A circuitous watercourse, the ever changing nature of the river follows Tennessee's natural geography as it flows through the city. Likewise, JW Marriott Nashville will reflect a similar theme through its varied and curved facade. Standout design elements include an undulating glass frontage that incorporates sculpture, fountains and art as well as a covered terrace on the 33rd floor boasting expansive outdoor space and dramatic vistas of the southern capital city. The 33rd floor will also feature Nashville's first Bourbon Steak, offering guests a five-star dining experience from world renowned chef, Michael Mina.
"Arquitectonica is looking forward to making our debut in Nashville with the JW Marriott," said Bernardo Fort-Brescia, Principal Architect at Arquitectonica. "We are excited to work with Turnberry Associates and to leave a lasting contribution to the city's urban fabric. The elliptical form introduces the first aerodynamic curving tower to Nashville's high-rise vocabulary. Its projecting observation bar hovers over the corner to face the downtown skyline."
The 533-room hotel will welcome guests in a warm and elegant lobby, where visitors can indulge in over 1,000 wines or premium cigars. The 33rd floor will also feature a state-of-the-art spa with a lap pool, salon and fitness center.
Conveniently located just 10 miles from the airport, JW Marriott Nashville will be an ideal location for groups and business travelers, boasting 50,000 square feet of meeting and event space, two ballrooms, 16 meeting rooms and two boardrooms equipped with advanced audio visual and wireless technology.
Company culture continues to be a hot topic in todays business world. Search through every business-focused website or magazine, and youre sure to find at least one article discussing how company culture is imperative to retaining long-term talent. Regardless of the large number of business leaders who support this growing trend, the effects of investing in company culture on the bottom line have largely been based on personal opinionuntil now. Recently, IZA World of Labor conducted a study that proves happy employees are oftentimes more productive in the workplace. The study highlights that when companies create positive emotions for employees, it leads to an increase in their allocation of time to more creative tasks, which may be linked to greater productivity. When a worker is happy in their career, it is often positively correlated with higher overall productivity. Furthermore, a study from Surrey Business School points to the extreme influence the energy of surrounding co-workers has on the likelihood an employee will voluntarily leave their current job for another opportunity. The study, which was conducted over a four-year period with IT workers, shows us that relationships have a strong bearing on loyalty within an organizationand how a lack of personal connection makes it more likely that an employee will leave. The researchers point to a number of strategies managers can implement in order to retain their staff, like bring...
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Update 9.55pm:Keith Harrison's solicitor Trevor Collins has this evening confirmed his client wants to be part of any public inquiry into the whistleblower crisis.
Alleging a "common pattern of treatment" of whistleblowers within the Force, including unfounded allegations of child sex abuse against whistleblowers and the spreading of rumours against them, Mr Collins reiterated Keith Harrison's earlier statement that his case should also be included in the inquiry.
Children's Minister Katerine Zappone has said she will meet garda Harrison to discuss his demand.
Update 8.25pm: Enda Kenny has admitted for the first time that he was aware of false allegations of sex abuse against Maurice McCabe.
The Taoiseach has conceded that Katherine Zappone did tell him of the sexual nature of the false allegations against the whistleblower.
Both ministers insisted that further details were not discussed, though the Taoiseach declared that the matter fell within the scope of their inquiry into an alleged smear campaign.
The matter was discussed in some detail before last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
The Taoiseach said: "Minister Zappone said that she had met with the McCabes and that the question of false allegations of sexual abuse had been made to Tusla and discussed by her with the McCabes."
Update 7.50pm: Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has refused to answer questions set out by whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
The demand for explanations was turned down as the Government moved to open a potentially long-running tribunal to investigate an alleged smear campaign against the officer.
Sergeant McCabe sought answers on whether a superintendent held a meeting or had a phone call with health chiefs over the unfounded and false report of alleged sex abuse.
He also wanted the identity of an officer who took a call from the Health Service Executive about the untrue report of a rape allegation and who interviewed the alleged victim.
Sgt McCabe also asked for information about garda activity around the issue and whether a decision had been taken to keep the false claim from him.
Ms Fitzgerald said it would be "fraught" to set up a tribunal and immediately demand answers from people involved.
"Of course, I understand well the concerns which people have expressed about the treatment of Maurice McCabe. But it would be a great pity for people here to try to rectify one injustice by causing others," she said.
"Whatever anger people might feel, in this country we do not set up tribunals of inquiry simply to confirm what people already believe. We set them up to look at all the evidence, hear all sides, and establish what the truth is.
"We have to be careful not to rush to judgment. And above all everyone is entitled to basic, fair procedures enshrined in our Constitution. I am not prepared to ignore that and engage in a rush to judgment, which ignores anyone's fundamental human rights.
"We have to investigate matters fully, but it must be fairly too. I cannot uphold the integrity of the office to which I have been honoured to be appointed by setting at nought the rights of others."
Update 7.25pm: Ms Fitzgerald also referred to Sergeant Maurice McCabe's statement yesterday in which he asked for answers to six questions.
The Tanaiste says she does not have the information and is not certain she has the legal right to ask for it.
The Justice Minister said: "They are of course matters that will dealt with fully by any inquiry, and this gives rise to a difficulty with the suggestion it is simply a matter of asking the Garda Commissioner to ask the Gardai involved.
"I have not had a chance to get detailed formal advice from the Attorrney General, but there are clearly implications for the rights of people involved."
Update 7.15pm: The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has again admitted he gave an inaccurate account of his knowledge on the false Tusla allegations against Maurice McCabe.
For the second time he admitted he had not given an accurate account of what he knew and when.
Mr Kenny told the Dail: "I was aware of the meeting between Minister Zappone and Sergeant McCabe, but I was not aware of the details or of the very serious and disturbing issues that arose at the meeting.
"And in referring to this last Sunday, I mistakenly said that I had spoken to Minister Zappone before her meeting with Sergeant McCabe. That comment was inaccurate, alas Ceann Comhairle."
Update 6.30pm: Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has again denied misleading the Dail regarding any knowledge of Tusla records relating to false claims involving Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
Speaking in the Dail today, she said: "Suggestions have been made that I had knowledge of Tusla records at the time the matter was before Government, which would have required me to amend the terms of reference.
"As I have repeatedly stated that is not the case. And I was as taken aback at - and disturbed - at watching the revelations about Tusla that were aired last Thursday as anyone else. Clearly very serious issues have arisen.
She added: "My engagement with Deputy Jim OCallaghan last Wednesday was constructive throughout and entirely focussed on ensuring that a commission of investigation would establish the full truth.
"I accept that each of our positions on this aspect of the discussion are genuinely held. And I acknowledge very much that is this spirit in which Deputy O'Callaghan has worked.
O'Callaghan '100% certain' he mentioned Tusla file to Tanaiste https://t.co/9NSjzwxn4J pic.twitter.com/yvQF8D9DT9 RTE News (@rtenews) February 13, 2017
"I regret that differences have arisen between the two of us as to what exactly was said.
I have always found the Deputy honourable and I do know he made very helpful suggestions about changes that might be made to the terms of reference - which, indeed, I accepted in substance.
She added: "There is no question of me having misled the Dail in any way in what I had to say here last Thursday."
Update 5.38pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, Children's Minister Katherine Zappone and Health Minister Simon Harris will give detailed statements to the Dail this evening over their contradictory views of the Maurice McCabe smear campaign scandal, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith, Political Correspondent.
However, while a Government no confidence motion on the controversy is due to take place tomorrow, a high-profile debate on the scale of an imminent public tribunal into what happened may now be delayed until next week.
The decisions were made by the Dail's 11-TD cross-party business committee this evening as the garda smear campaign scandal continued to escalate.
Mr Kenny, Ms Fitzgerald, Ms Zappone and Mr Harris will each give 10-minute statements addressing a series of contradictions over responses given by them and agencies under their remit to the McCabe scandal between around 6pm and 8.30pm this evening.
In particular, the statements are intended to clear up disagreements between Mr Kenny and Ms Zappone's version of events, and when other ministers became aware of the entirely false and incorrect Tusla sex abuse reports.
"What did Katherine Zappone tell you, and what did her officials tell your officials?" the Taoiseach is asked. pic.twitter.com/6qCZDyUSMU RTE News (@rtenews) February 12, 2017
Taoiseach says he is guilty of 'not giving accurate information' in relation to his contact with Katherine Zappone pic.twitter.com/i5OKcvqiy3 RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
While opposition parties will be give limited opportunities to respond tonight, they will have greater scope to address the issues tomorrow during a Sinn Fein motion of no confidence in Government.
.@sinnfeinireland motion of no confidence in the govt will take place in the Dail tmw at 6.45pm-10.15pm Martina Fitzgerald (@MartinaFitzg) February 14, 2017
Although it has yet to be definitively agreed, the business committee has also discussed delaying the mooted debate on the scale and scope of a public tribunal into the McCabe scandal until next week instead of holding it either today, tomorrow or Thursday.
The delay, which has yet to be agreed, would be to allow Mr Kenny to meet with the leaders of other parties to discuss the likely terms of reference of the investigation.
Update 3.55pm: Doubts have emerged over whether Supreme Court judge Peter Charleton will be able to chair any investigation into the alleged smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith, Political Correspondent.
Mr Justice Charleton was named last week as the person who would chair the planned commission of inquiry into the case, which is now set to become a public tribunal.
However, while no decision has been made, it has emerged this afternoon that a serving Supreme Court judge may not be legally allowed to chair a public tribunal.
The situation, which will cause yet more problems for Government, was referred to in passing during Leaders Questions by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, when he said the investigation would be chaired properly by a person, "whoever that might be".
Update 3.47pm: A second Garda whistleblower has issued a public statement, demanding that his own case be included in an inquiry or tribunal.
Garda Keith Harrison, who was named in the Dail today, says the claims by Maurice McCabe are not isolated, but highlight "a common approach" to whistleblowers within senior management.
Breaking: statement in from another Garda whistleblower, Keith Harrison, demanding to be included in inquiry pic.twitter.com/P87EFjAYoO Aubrey Robinson (@andyazi) February 14, 2017
He says those tactics include an unjustified referral of his family to Tusla, as well as "malicious falsehoods" being spread to the media.
The Garda claims that restricting the new inquiry to only one case will allow Maurice McCabe's treatment to be presented as a once-off, when there is an orchestrated system led by senior gardai.
"I demand my case be included in any Inquiry/Commission of Investigation by the Government and political establishment," his statement concludes.
"We will not rest until this happens."
Mr Harrison claimed there is an "orchestrated system and culture" among senior management of the force that dictates the treatment of whistleblowers.
Mr Harrison said: "The efforts of this Government to restrict the inquiry/commission of investigation to the very traumatic story of Sergeant McCabe absolutely ensures we will not get to the bottom of the culture of management failures and ill-treatment of whistleblowers within An Garda Siochana."
Update 3.28pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has admitted that he is "guilty here of not giving accurate information" regarding his conversation with Children's Minister Katherine Zappone regarding her meeting with Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
I might say mea culpa - I am guilty here of not giving accurate information, he told the Dail.
Speaking on the 'On 'This Week' programme on RTE Radio last Sunday, Enda Kenny said: "Minister Zappone is doing a very good job, did tell me that she intended to meet with Sergeant McCabe in a private capacity and that's all I knew.
I said to her: 'Well if you do have a meeting make sure that you have a thorough account of it', so when we had our meeting on Tuesday I wouldn't have been aware of any of the details of her discussions with [Maurice McCabe]."
Mr Kenny today said that he regrets saying that the conversation happened and that communication took place between his officials and Ms Zappones office.
AAA-PBP TD Paul Murphy said that the Taoiseach gave "a completely inaccurate statement" during Sunday's interview on RTE Radio.
"If you had said that conversation did not take place, then how could you remember it in such detail if it didn't take place?," said Deputy Murphy.
"It means on Tuesday, you knew about Tusla and you consciously didn't include it in the terms of reference, and it means you misled the public on RTE."
Deputy Murphy also called for the removal of Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan.
AAA-PBP TD Paul Murphy asks how the Taoiseach can he allow Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan to remain in place during the inquiry pic.twitter.com/8tLn3hhclV RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
The Taoiseach also drew criticism from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
"While your Government remains in office, there will be no truth, there will be no justice for Maurice McCabe," said Deputy Adams.
"A criminal investigation is needed."
The Taoiseach responded by calling Deputy Adams "an absolute hypocrite".
In response to Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, Taoiseach said: 'You're an absolute hypocrite after what you said and did to Senator Mairia Cahill' pic.twitter.com/LARpdX7Or1 RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
Update 2.57pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has apologised and admitted his account last Sunday of his knowledge of events of a conversation with the Children's Minister was incorrect.
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin demanded that ministers come before the Dail and explain themselves regarding the recent Maurice McCabe controversy.
"I also want to put it to you that the establishement of a tribunal of inquiry, and it hasn't been established yet, is no basis for Ministers not coming into the House, to answer questions to the House, and to be accountable to the House, in relation to the Tusla file, which is over and above an additional to, the protective disclosures issues which gave rise to the inquiry in the first instance," he said.
'There was an attempt and a campaign to undermine the integrity of Maurice McCabe' - Micheal Martin pic.twitter.com/DDwweaVKZs RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
"Sergeant McCabe and his family deserve, as do others, the fairness and justice that will come from a tribunal of inquiry," Mr Kenny said.
The allegations to be investigated in the judge-led inquiry will be decided over the coming days.
Enda Kenny says the Govt agreed in principle to set up a tribunal of inquiry into McCabe smear allegations pic.twitter.com/NGTkUqDqUa RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
"The issue here is there is any issue of truth and justice that needs to determined. It's a very sensitive and serious public matter now, the way to do that is to have the cooperation of everybody," the Taoiseach said.
"There isn't any point in having some private investigation or commission if the McCabe family are not willing to participate in it."
Enda Kenny: 'An effective process to deal with' the alleged smear campaign is required pic.twitter.com/5g11J8zLEN RTE News (@rtenews) February 14, 2017
In a lengthy statement on Monday, Sgt McCabe accused Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan of privately discrediting him while publicly declaring her support over his horrific ordeal.
The officer claimed the police chief's lawyers set out to discredit him at the O'Higgins Commission which investigated and vindicated a series of allegations by Mr McCabe of negligence in policing in the Cavan-Monaghan district.
Ms O'Sullivan again insisted she played no role in the peddling of false rumours of child sex abuse against Mr McCabe in order to blacken his name for exposing wrongdoing in the force.
The McCabes set out a number of questions they want answers to.
They include a demand that the Taoiseach, Justice Minister and Children's Minister and other members of Government disclose if they were ever "briefed formally or informally" about the false abuse allegations.
Update 2.32pm: The Government has confirmed that it is holding a public inquiry into an alleged smear campaign against whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed the Cabinet has agreed in principle to set up a tribunal into the scandal of unfounded and false sex abuse claims being peddled against the respected officer.
The decision was taken after Mr McCabe and his wife Lorraine said they would not accept any investigation into the controversy being held behind closed doors.
"There's nothing worse in this country than to be called a sex abuser, nothing worse," the Taoiseach told the Dail.
The terms of reference of the tribunal have not been finalised but Mr Kenny said the primary function will be to establish if there had been an organised smear campaign targeting Mr McCabe by senior garda.
Update 2pm: The Cabinet has agreed to set up a public inquiry into allegations of a smear campaign against Maurice McCabe.
Ministers signed off on the idea after it was discussed between Enda Kenny and Micheal Martin earlier today.
However there is no agreement on the terms of reference for the inquiry, which will only be drafted after talks with opposition parties.
Meanwhile there is no agreement yet on when a motion of no confidence in the Dail will be debated - with no agenda agreed for this week.
The Dail's business committee is to meet again at 4pm to discuss a weekly timetable.
Update 1pm: It is understood that Fianna Fail compiled draft terms of reference for a public inquiry into the Maurice McCabe scandal overnight, which leader Micheal Martin presented to Taoiseach Enda Kenny today.
Enda Kenny then held the usual midday pre-meeting with Fine Gael ministers and told them he would recommend the Cabinet proceed with a public inquiry.
The Government is also proposing to the Dail business committee this afternoon that a motion of confidence in itself be taken tomorrow, and that would be voted on immediately after the debate.
Separately, childrens charity Barnardos welcomed the announcement that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will undertake an investigation into how Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, manages child abuse cases.
It is crucial this investigation is thorough and concludes quickly to ensure confidence in Tusla is maintained, said CEO Fergus Finlay.
Any failings must be addressed so it is important senior social work professionals play an active role in the investigation.
It is inexcusable to leave cases unallocated and ignored, thereby increasing the risk of harm to other children or damaging the reputation of innocent people.
Tusla has advanced the reform of Irelands child welfare and protection system since its establishment in 2014. But it has struggled from the start with inadequate resources.
He added: So the HIQA investigation will not achieve its objective unless the Government accept that our child protection system has the child at its heart and is resourced appropriately.
Update 11.55am: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has assured Fianna Fail that a public tribunal of inquiry into the Maurice McCabe scandal will replace the Commission of Inquiry proposed last week, writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor.
Mr Kenny met with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin this morning and it was agreed that a public inquiry would now proceed after Sgt McCabe and his wife said they could not support a Commission, which would conduct its work in private.
At a meeting with Micheal Martin this morning, the Fine Gael leader said he would discuss the potential terms of reference with the Cabinet today.
The decision to scrap the Commission eases the chances of an election which had been threatened in the past 48 hours.
Independent Alliance ministers Finian McGrath and Shane Ross have said they will represent the views of Sgt McCabe at Cabinet and will be asking hard questions of their colleagues.
The Cabinet will this morning discuss establishing a public inquiry.
Sgt McCabe issued a statement yesterday saying he strongly opposed an inquiry that would be held in private.
He and his wife Lorraine said there is now "no reason to have any secret or private inquiry".
Update 11.51am: Health Minister Simon Harris has said the McCabe family deserve a public inquiry after saying they have "gone to hell and back" for speaking out about Garda malpractice, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith, Political Correspondent.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Minister Harris said a full public tribunal is now needed and that Government must accept it is the only way to address what has happened.
A man and his family have gone to hell and back, and Government must and will respond in a manner which enables a platform of truth to be established, he said.
The culture of secrecy must end. Both human decency and the public good demand no less.
Update 11.50am: Childrens charity Barnardos has welcomed the Health Information and Quality Authoritys decision to undertake an investigation into how Tusla manages child abuse cases.
They say this scrutiny is necessary to ensure lessons are learnt and high standards are kept to the fore.
Barnardos CEO Fergus Finlay said, It is crucial this investigation is thorough and concludes quickly to ensure confidence in Tusla is maintained. Any failings must be addressed so it is important senior social work professionals play an active role in the investigation.
Reassurances must be given that any complaints received will be handled robustly, consistently and in a timely manner. It is inexcusable to leave cases unallocated and ignored, thereby increasing the risk of harm to other children or damaging the reputation of innocent people.
Update 11.10am: The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) has backed calls for a public inquiry that encompasses a broad and systemic review of how TUSLA deals with sexual abuse allegations.
The ISPCC has released a statement following calls from the McCabe family to hold a public inquiry into TUSLAs procedures and the alleged smear campaign against Maurice McCabe.
They welcomed the involvement of HIQA in setting the terms of reference, but has called for child protection professionals to be an integral part of the investigations.
ISPCC Chief Executive Grainia Long said: While we welcome the investigation into handling of child sex abuse allegations by TUSLA, and the involvement of HIQA we are urging Minister Katherine Zappone to ensure the terms of reference allows for a systemic look at TUSLA systems and operations in this area.
In their statement the ISPCC said the investigation should go beyond the examination of a single case to include child protection professionals.
The ISPCC has consistently called for greater resources for TUSLA in both 2015 and 2016 budgets and we continue to believe that in resource terms, we have established a child protection system with one hand tied behind its back.
The Irish child protection system is entirely dependent on the existence of trust between children and social workers, between parents and TUSLA, and between organisations who make referrals and the child and family agency.
A timely investigation and implementation of findings will hopefully enable trust in TUSLAs practices in investigating allegations of child sex abuse, to be restored, Ms Long concluded.
Update 9.45am: The Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader have been meeting this morning to discuss the next steps in the Garda whistleblower controversy.
They are expected to discuss the possibility of a public investigation, with Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and Labour all reportedly in favour of a tribunal of inquiry.
After the talks with Micheal Martin and Enda Kenny will be facing into what is expected to be a stormy cabinet meeting.
Special Correspondent with the Irish Examiner Mick Clifford says the statement issued by Sergeant Maurice McCabe yesterday evening released some pressure after a dramatic day: It looked like it would be quite possible that there could be an election,
This has given everyone an out, now they can all say this is it, we will have a public tribunal and the heat comes off.
Update 9am: The whistleblower saga has led to questions over Taoiseach Enda Kenny's leadership.
Sinn Fein is trying to pass a motion of no confidence I the Government.
But Fine Gael TD for Wexford, Michael D'arcy, has come to the defence of his party leader: I absolutely don't think we should be having this conversation this week, absolutely not.
I think it is a matter for the Taoiseach, for him to determine, what he is deciding to do, whenever that is going to be.
Earlier: The Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin later, to discuss the option of a full public inquiry into allegations of a smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
There is growing pressure on the government to scrap the planned Commission of Investigation into the affair, after Sergeant McCabe said he was opposed to it taking evidence in private.
The cabinet will also discuss the matter this morning, with tensions running high between Fine Gael and their Independent Alliance partners.
But Fianna Fail's playing down suggestions they could withdraw from their agreement with the minority government.
Fianna Fail's Justice spokesperson is Jim O'Callaghan: "It took us a long time to put that Government together, I was part of the team that negotiated with Fine Gael, it took a long time.
"The Government is in position for approximately nine months, if we have an election now the biggest problem is going to be, the entitlement that Srgt McCabe has to have a full inquiry, will not be vindicated."
Kendallville, IN (46755)
Today
Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 64F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..
Tonight
Clear. Low 39F. Winds light and variable.
Guest Column Peace and Trust in the Karen Hills
School children gesture at the Ei Thu Ta camp for displaced Karen along the Salween river, Nov. 17, 2014. / Reuters
The peace process in Burma may be in crisis, not least due to widespread fighting and serious human rights abuses committed mostly by the Burma Army in Kachin and Shan states. But across southeast Burma, ceasefires are holding and communities are beginning to recover from decades of armed conflict. There are huge needs for livelihoods and basic human security in these conflict-affected areas, which remain isolated from government-controlled Burma and feel like another country.
In mid-January, I spent three days walking through what the Karen call Lerdoh Township, in the Karen National Union (KNU)s Kler Lwee Htoo District. Officially, this area is designated Kyaukkyi Township, Bago Division by the central government. I was returning to this area after half a dozen visits between 2008 2015.
Before and After the Ceasefire
When I first visited these hills in 2008, I took part in a five-week trek with the KNU and Free Burma Rangers, a Christian humanitarian group. It was cold, beautiful, heavily forested in parts, and very isolated. During the first part of the trip, we traveled through KNU-controlled areas, staying in Karen villages. Later, we moved cautiously through jungle areas that had been cleared out during the previous decades by the Burma Armys four cuts counterinsurgency campaign.
I met with villagers who had fled from the lowlands a few years prior and were now living a precarious existence in hidingfrequently shifting location to avoid Burma Army hunt and kill patrols. They had previously been irrigated rice farmers, with enough crops to live year-round, and often a small surplus. Now, as upland swidden (slash and burn) farmers, they could rarely cultivate enough rice for six months each year.
In April 2012, following the confirmation of a ceasefire between the KNU and the government, I accompanied Charles Petrie to the Kyaukkyi area, to help initiate the first Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) pilot project. It operated under the mandate of Norwegian support to the peace process, as requested by the Burmese government, and the trip was undertaken at the invitation of the KNU central and district leadership.
We traveled with Burma government and army officials to the frontline, before being handed over to the KNU and walking into the Keh Der Village Tract. We spent two days talking to villagers and confirming the findings of a needs assessment undertaken in the area by the KNUs relief and development wing, the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People.
On the basis of this assessment, the MPSI facilitated a series of consultations which brought together conflict-affected communities, government and army officials, and KNU/KNLA leaders.
It was extraordinary to hear the Keh village tract leadera diminutive but tough IDP, who spoke only Sgaw Karensitting just a few yards from the Bago Division border affairs and security minister, and telling him how much the villagers appreciated the peace process, but also asking whether the minister (a Burma Army colonel) could guarantee that he would not burn down their villages again.
The minister was not pleased, and for a moment it seemed that this sensitive encounter would not turn out well. However, the minister said that he recognized the lack of trust, and that they would not burn down their villages again. He added that he knew the village tract leader wouldnt believe this, so they would have to continue meeting and learning to trust each other.
A few weeks later, once the project was underway, the MPSI facilitated another consultation, with another encounter between these two gentlemen.
At this point, Karen villagers had been walking down from Keh Der across the military frontline to collect supplies. Burma Army soldiers questioned them along the waynot particularly aggressively, but in a way that frightened villagers, who had only ever met government soldiers in the context of violent encounters, with the military trying to kill them (as suspected KNU supporters).
These encounters were intimidating for the project beneficiaries, as the village tract chairman explained. Again, the minister was unhappy, stating that the Burma Army was like a parent, and had the right to question wayward children. However, he again calmed down after a while, and issued instructions to the light infantry division operations commander not to bother the villagers with further questions, so as not to intimidate them.
Afterwards, the minister embraced the village tract leader, and told him it was brave to raise such issues, and they would learn to trust each other. I have been privileged to witness a few such moments, which have inspired me to see the possibilities of real transformation through the peace process. However, it remained a challenge to scale up from local peace-building, to achieve something which could be generalised in other areas. Of course, ongoing fighting the part of the country also undermines confidence in the peace process.
Five Years Later
When I first visited Keh Der, the village was abandoned. There was just one small hut a staging post on the journey up into the hills, where the original Keh Der villagers had fled nearly 40 years ago.
In the years since, they had been living in small settlements in KNU-controlled areas, moving frequently to avoid Burma Army patrols. I remember asking why villagers had not fled to refugee camps in Thailand, and was told that they wanted to stay close to their ancestral lands. I was struck by the dignity of these villagers, and their strong animist commitment to locality.
In 2013, some displaced villagers started returning to Keh Der and other villages in the area, testing the reality of the peace process. These pioneers were beginning to rebuild their communities. Most people in this area are Sgaw-speaking, and mostly animists with just a scattering of Christians. No one I spoke to would admit to speaking Burmese.
Villagers repeatedly stated their fear of the Burma Army. I was told several times that local people value landmines, which they perceive as defending their fields and communities from army incursions. Many returning villagers have access to potential farmland, but are unable to cultivate this due to security concerns (including Burma Army occupation of their lands), and a lack of tools necessary for rice cultivation.
One young man told me, If there is real peace, I can live in my own village and on my own land, and can be safe and secure. However, we still fear the army, and worry about the future.
These fears were exacerbated by a Burma Army incursion in the area in 2014, which resulted in a firefight that left one Karen soldier dead and one injured.
A middle-aged woman told me, We dream of peace, and the ceasefire is a good start, but we still fear the Burma Army.
Many people worried that the ceasefire would break down, or that the peace process would facilitate improved access to their communities for the Burma Army. Therefore, most villagers strongly opposed upgrading roads into the hills, which could be used by the army to access these remote areas.
As they do not speak Burmese or English, villagers have little access to news. Most expressed little knowledge of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement of October 2015. Only two among the many I asked knew the name of Burmas president.
Some were aware of the 2015 elections but none had participated, explaining that this was not their business, but something related to the distant and feared government. The widespread perception seemed to be that the elections took place in another countrygovernment-controlled Burmaand were therefore of little relevance to villagers. Many people said they had heard of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but didnt know much beyond that she was trying her best.
Several people expressed variations of a typical villager comment; the KNU and Burma governments should delineate positions, so that we know where we are safe in KNU-controlled areas and where we are not.
In an informal fireside discussion with village elders, I was told quite unambiguously, We support the KNU. We want the Burma Army to withdraw and their government to leave us alone. One should be cautious in generalizing these attitudes to other Karen communities, but they are striking nevertheless.
Before the ceasefire, very few villagers visited government-controlled areas. Such visits were dangerous, fearful and secret. Since the ceasefire, only a minority have ventured into government-controlled areas to visit markets or relatives, but numbers are increasing and less fear is reported.
In time, people in this area may learn to identify with the central government. However, trust and confidence will be built slowly, and will likely depend greatly on demilitarization and a reduced Burma Army presence.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2017) - Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX:AGI)(NYSE:AGI) ("Alamos" or the "Company") today reported results from the positive feasibility study conducted on its Kirazli gold project, located in the Canakkale Province in northwestern Turkey. The study is a continuation of the pre-feasibility study completed on the project in 2012.
Feasibility Study Highlights
Declaration of an initial Proven and Probable mineral reserve of 26.1 million tonnes grading 0.79 grams per tonne of gold ("g/t Au") and 12.0 grams per tonne of silver ("g/t Ag"), containing 0.67 million ounces of gold and 10.1 million ounces of silver
Average annual gold production of 104,000 ounces over five years with life of mine production of 540,000 ounces
Life of mine total cash costs of $339 per ounce of gold and mine-site all-in sustaining costs of $373 per ounce, among the lowest in the industry
Initial capital estimate of $152 million and total life of mine capital, including sustaining capital and closure costs, of $180 million
After-tax net present value ("NPV") of $187 million at an 8% discount rate ($223 million at a 5% discount rate) and an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 44%, representing a 1.4 year payback using base case gold and silver price assumptions of $1,250 and $16.00 per ounce, respectively
Applying the same base case gold and silver price assumptions to the 2012 pre- feasibility study, the after-tax NPV (8%) more than doubles from $82 million to $187 million and the after-tax IRR improves from 26% to 44%, highlighting a significant improvement in the project economics
"This further validates the overall attractiveness of the Kirazli project. Despite using a lower gold and silver price, Kirazli's economics have improved substantially. With its low capital and operating costs and quick payback, Kirazli is one of the highest return, undeveloped gold projects in any price environment. Kirazli represents our next phase of growth and will be a significant source of free cash flow in the coming years," said John A. McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Feasibility
Study - 2017 Pre-feasibility
Study - 2012 Difference Production Mine life (years) 5 5 - Total gold production (ounces) 540,000 495,300 9% Total silver production (ounces) 3,141,000 3,006,100 4% Average annual production (ounces)1 Gold 104,000 99,000 5% Silver 617,300 601,000 3% Total ore mined (tonnes) 26,100,000 25,600,000 2% Total waste mined (tonnes) 37,900,000 46,880,000 -19% Total material mined (tonnes) 64,000,000 72,480,000 -12% Waste-to-ore ratio2 1.45 1.83 -21% Average grade (grams per tonne) Gold 0.79 0.75 5% Silver 12.0 11.8 2% Recovery (%) Gold 81% 81% 0% Silver 31% 31% 0% Average throughput (tonnes per day ("tpd")) 15,000 15,000 0% Operating Costs Total cost per tonne of ore3 $ 8.49 $ 12.62 -33% Total cash cost (per ounce sold)4 $ 339 $ 515 -34% Mine-site all-in sustaining cost (per ounce sold)4 $ 373 $ 535 -30% Capital Costs (millions) Pre-production capital expenditure $ 151.9 $ 146.1 4% Sustaining capital expenditure $ 18.1 $ 9.7 87% Reclamation costs (net of salvage value) $ 9.9 $ 9.9 0% Total capital expenditure $ 179.8 $ 165.7 9% Economic Analysis IRR (after-tax) 44.3% 39.4% +4.9% NPV @ 0% discount rate (millions) $ 299.3 $ 214.2 40% NPV @ 5% discount rate (millions) $ 222.9 $ 154.1 45% Gold price assumption (average, per ounce sold) $ 1,250 $ 1,305 -4% Silver price assumption (average, per ounce sold) $ 16.00 $ 26.08 -39% Exchange Rate (Turkish Lira/US Dollar) 2.90:1 1.80:1 -38% Base Case Metal Price Comparison IRR (after-tax) 44.3% 26.3% +18.0% NPV @ 0% discount rate (millions) $ 299.3 $ 160.7 86% NPV @ 8% discount rate (millions) $ 186.5 $ 82.2 127% Gold price assumption (average, per ounce sold) $ 1,250 $ 1,250 0% Silver price assumption (average, per ounce sold) $ 16.00 $ 16.00 0%
Average annual production is based on five full years of production and excludes pre-commercial production Reported waste-to-ore ratio is over the life of mine. The waste-to-ore ratio during commercial production is 1.19:1 in the 2017 feasibility study and 1.56:1 in the 2012 pre-feasibility study Total unit cost per tonne of ore excludes silver as a by-product credit. Total unit costs of $9.56 per tonne of ore reported in the 2012 pre-feasibility study included a silver credit of $3.06 per tonne, or $12.62 excluding the by-product credit Total cash costs and mine-site all-in sustaining costs include silver as a by-product credit
Key Changes from 2012 Pre-Feasibility Study
Unit mining costs per tonne of ore and operating costs per ounce have decreased reflecting: Design of the pit slopes have been improved based on geotechnical work conducted since 2012, resulting in increased overall slope angles, less waste mined, and a lower waste-to-ore ratio Lower Turkish Lira/US dollar assumption of 2.90:1 compared with 1.80:1 used in the pre-feasibility study. This remains conservative relative to the current Turkish Lira/US Dollar exchange rate of 3.7:1. Approximately 60% of the project operating and capital costs are denominated in Turkish Lira Unit mining costs have decreased to $1.53 per tonne of material with the application of Turkish mining contractor rates. This compares to $2.97 per tonne assumed in the 2012 pre-feasibility study which reflected North American mining costs
A 2% corporate tax rate has been assumed with the Company expecting to qualify for tax investment incentives enacted by the Turkish government. A 4% corporate tax rate was assumed in the 2012 pre-feasibility study
A more conservative 8% discount rate has been assumed for the base case economic analysis compared with 5% in the pre-feasibility study
Lower gold and silver price assumptions of $1,250 and $16.00 per ounce respectively, down from $1,305 and $26.08 per ounce in the pre-feasibility study
Applying the same base case gold and silver price assumptions to the pre-feasibility study demonstrates the significant improvement in economics under the feasibility study with the after-tax NPV (8%) increasing to $187 million and after-tax IRR increasing to 44%, from $82 million and 26%, respectively
Mineral Reserves and Resources
A large portion of the Measured and Indicated mineral resource at Kirazli has been successfully converted to an initial Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve totaling 26.1 million tonnes, grading 0.79 g/t Au and 12.0 g/t Ag, containing 0.67 million ounces of gold and 10.1 million ounces of silver.
This initial mineral reserve represents an increase in terms of grade and contained ounces compared to the mine plan in the pre-feasibility study, which included Measured and Indicated mineral resources of 25.6 million tonnes grading 0.75 g/t Au and 11.8 g/t Ag, containing 0.61 million ounces of gold and 9.7 million ounces of silver. The Inferred mineral resource of 0.11 million ounces of gold and 1.6 million ounces of silver contained within the mineral reserve pit is treated as waste in the feasibility mine plan. This represents an opportunity to add to the mine plan with its conversion through additional infill drilling.
Mineral Reserves - Effective as of December 31, 2016 Contained Ounces Classification Ktonnes g/t Au g/t Ag Gold Silver Proven 700 1.25 15.9 28,132 357,843 Probable 25,404 0.78 11.9 637,081 9,719,564 Total 26,104 0.79 12.0 665,213 10,077,407
Mineral reserve estimates assume a gold price of $1,250 per ounce and a silver price of $16.00 per ounce The Mineral Reserve cut-off grade is determined as a net of process value of $0.10/t incorporating both the gold and silver grades, recoveries less process cost plus G&A costs for each model block The Mineral reserve pit has a waste:ore ratio of 1.45:1
Mineral Resources at a 0.2g/t gold cut-off grade - Effective as of December 31, 2016
Contained Ounces Classification Ktonnes g/t Au g/t Ag Gold Silver Measured 118 0.50 2.7 1,910 10,339 Indicated 5,848 0.43 2.2 79,920 408,583 Measured & Indicatd 5,966 0.43 2.2 81,830 418,922 Inferred 5,689 0.59 9.0 107,635 1,638,365
Mineral Resources are reported exclusive of Mineral Reserves Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources estimated will be converted into Mineral Reserves. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues The CIM definitions were followed for the classification of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred mineral resources. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource category Mineral resources are contained within pits optimized at a price of gold of US$1,400/oz and US$22/oz for silver, with pit slope angles ranging from 40 to 48
Economic Analysis
Kirazli's estimated base case after-tax IRR is 44.3% and after-tax NPV is $187 million, using an 8% discount rate based on an economic analysis conducted as part of the feasibility study. This represents a 1.4 year payback and assumes a gold price of $1,250 per ounce and silver price of $16.00 per ounce, and incorporates only Proven and Probable mineral reserves. The project's economics are sensitive to discount rates, metal price assumptions and input costs as detailed in the tables below.
Kirazli After-Tax NPV (8%) Sensitivity ($ Millions) -15% -10% -5% 100% 5% 10% 15% Gold and Silver Price $110.2 $135.6 $161.0 $186.5 $206.6 $231.7 $256.8 Turkish Lira $215.2 $206.5 $197.0 $186.5 $174.9 $162.0 $147.5 Capital Costs $210.9 $202.8 $194.6 $186.5 $178.3 $170.1 $162.0 Operating Costs $209.7 $201.9 $194.2 $186.5 $178.7 $171.0 $163.2
Kirazli After-Tax NPV (8%) and IRR Sensitivity to Gold Price Gold Price ($) After-Tax NPV 8% ($M) After-Tax IRR (%) 950 73.2 24.0 1,050 110.9 31.2 1,150 148.7 38.0 1,250 186.5 44.3 1,350 218.8 49.6 1,450 256.2 55.4
Kirazli After-Tax NPV Sensitivity to Discount Rate Discount Rate (%) After-Tax NPV ($M) 0 $299.3 5 $222.9 8 $186.5 10 $165.3
Permitting
With the Environmental Impact Study and Forestry Permits for Kirazli approved by the federal government, the Company is pursuing the GSM (Business Opening and Operation) permit which is granted by the Canakkale Governorship. The full 2017 development budget for Kirazli will be provided following receipt of the GSM permit. Following a construction decision, the Company expects a 24 month development timeline for Kirazli, including approximately three months of pre-commercial production.
Mining
Conventional open pit mining methods will be utilized at Kirazli with contract mining to be employed. The final pit designs are based on a 5 metre bench height. A traditional drill, blast, load and haul sequence will be used to deliver ore to the crushing circuit. Waste rock will be used as engineered fill for the leach pad foundation during the early years after which the majority will be sent to the waste rock dump and be used to backfill portions of the pit as the ultimate extents are achieved.
An opportunity to improve the design of the pit slopes at Kirazli was outlined in the 2012 pre-feasibility study and additional geotechnical work was subsequently undertaken. The geotechnical evaluation was based on core logging, point load testing and laboratory analysis of the geotechnical core holes. Based on the findings, the recommended inter-ramp/overall pit slope angles have been increased to a range of 40 to 48 depending on the sector of the pit. This has reduced the amount of waste to be mined, significantly lowering the life of mine waste-to-ore ratio to 1.45:1 from 1.83:1 in the 2012 pre-feasibility study. This has helped reduce the mining cost per tonne of ore and improved the overall economics of the project.
Processing, Metallurgy and Infrastructure
Kirazli has been designed as a 15,000 tonnes per day ("tpd") heap leach operation utilizing a multiple lift, single use leach pad. Ore will be processed by primary crushing and open circuit secondary crushing to a nominal size of 26 millimetres. The secondary crushed ore will be drum agglomerated, stacked on the leach pad by conveyor stacking and processed with conventional heap leaching methods.
The crushed ore will be stacked in 10 metre lifts with the leach pad facility sized with a capacity of 35 million tonnes. This is approximately 8.9 million tonnes larger than the current mineral reserve to accommodate additional ore beyond the current mineral reserves. A dilute cyanide solution will be applied to the crushed ore over a 90 day leaching cycle with the pregnant solution collected and processed through the adsorption-desorption-recovery ("ADR") plant where gold and silver dore bars will be produced.
Based on column tests conducted on the different alteration types at Kirazli, gold and silver recoveries are expected to average 81% and 31%, respectively.
Power will be supplied from the commercial electricity grid with a new dedicated 30 kilometre long overhead line connecting the Canakkale utility substation to the Kirazli mine substation. In the event of a power failure, a diesel-fired backup generator will be used to supply emergency power.
Operational water will be supplied via a pipeline from a planned reservoir to be constructed by Alamos. In conjunction with the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs - State Hydraulic Works ("DSI"), a water reservoir project has been designed to supply the process water requirements of the Kirazli mine and clean drinking water and irrigation for the nearby communities. The feasibility and design of the reservoir project has been approved by DSI.
Operating Costs
Total cash costs are expected to average $339 per ounce and mine-site all-in sustaining costs $373 per ounce, net of silver as a by-product credit, both among the lowest in the industry. Total unit costs per tonne of ore processed are expected to average $8.49 per tonne. This is down from $12.62 per tonne assumed in the pre-feasibility study reflecting the depreciation of the Turkish Lira, lower unit mining costs per tonne of material, and a lower waste-to-ore ratio.
Unit mining costs have decreased to $1.53 per tonne of material with the application of Turkish mining contractor rates. This compares to $2.97 per tonne assumed in the 2012 pre-feasibility study which reflected North American mining costs. Approximately 60% of Kirazli's operating and capital costs are denominated in the Turkish Lira. Of the remaining 40%, the majority is denominated in US dollars.
The breakdown of unit costs is summarized as follows.
Operating Cost1 $/t Processed LOM $M Mining2 $3.24 $83.1 Processing $3.54 $90.5 G&A $1.71 $43.9 TOTAL Operating Costs3 $8.49 $217.5
Operating costs exclude working capital and royalty payments Average mining cost during the production period is $1.53/t mined with a strip ratio of 1.19:1 (1.45:1 including pre- commercial production) Excludes silver as a by-product credit
Royalty
Kirazli is subject to a Mining State Right Royalty payable to the Turkish government. It is a top line sliding scale royalty based on the price of gold with a 50% deduction to the royalty for producing dore in country. Including certain other eligible deductions available for expenses related to transportation and processing costs, the Company expects the gross royalty of 4% would be reduced to a net payable royalty of approximately 1.5% (at a $1,250 per ounce gold price).
State Right Royalty
(Gross) Gold Price
($/oz) Silver Price
($/oz) 2% <800 <10 4% 801 - 1250 11-20 6% 1251 - 1500 21-25 8% 1501 - 1750 25-30 10% 1751 - 2000 31-35 14% 2001 - 2250 36-40 16% >2251 >41
Capital Costs
Initial capital cost of $152 million is consistent with the $146 million assumed in the 2012 pre-feasibility study. With good infrastructure and the ability to connect to the commercial electricity grid, the bulk of pre-production capital will be spent on construction of the leach pad, crushing circuit, process plant facilities, water management and the reservoir.
The construction workforce is expected to ramp up to a maximum of 735 personnel and average approximately 500 over the peak phase of construction. Following receipt of the GSM permit, the Company expects a 24 month development timeline, including approximately three months of pre-commercial production.
A breakdown of the capital requirements is detailed as follows.
Capital Cost ($ Millions) Mining (Pre-Production) $18.4 Process Plant $9.8 Leach Pads and Ponds $35.8 Water Supply and Management $20.0 Offsite Infrastructure $4.1 Onsite Infrastructure $13.4 Construction Indirect Costs $10.1 EPCM $7.8 Owner's Cost $21.8 Contingency $18.9 Pre-production revenue -$8.4 Total Pre-Production Capital $151.9 Sustaining Capital $18.1 Reclamation and Closure Costs $9.9 Total Capital $179.8
Taxes
The statutory corporate tax rate in Turkey is 20%; however, the Company expects to benefit from tax investment incentives that have been implemented by the Turkish Government to reduce the corporate tax rate on the Kirazli project to 2%. Effective June 19, 2012, the Turkish Government legislated certain tax investment incentives designed to promote investment in specific industries and regions of Turkey. The Company has evaluated these investment incentives in consultation with a recognized international accounting firm and the Turkish Government, and expects that the Kirazli project will qualify for the following incentives on successful application:
Reduce corporate tax rate from 20% to 2% on up to 50% of the initial capital investment;
Exemption from custom duties;
VAT exemption;
Support for interest payments; and
Social security premium employer share elimination.
Under the incentive program, the Company is expected to be eligible for a reduction to the corporate tax rate, resulting in an effective corporate tax rate of 2% over the current life of the project based on the gold and silver price assumptions used in the financial analysis.
For the purpose of the feasibility study, the Company has only incorporated the corporate tax rate reduction into the economic analysis.
Additional Opportunities
Infill Drilling - Additional infill drilling has the potential to increase the confidence in the mineral resource estimate of the deposit, with the possible conversion of the inferred mineral resources to higher confidence categories
Exploration Drilling - Favourable alteration extends up to 400 metres west of the pit with previous drilling in this area intersecting mineralization. Alamos plans to drill out this area in 2017. In addition, further exploration potential exists on the Catalkaya and Kale prospects that sit to the south of the Kirazli Main Zone. The Company has drilling planned for these prospects in 2017
Project Background
The Kirazli project consists of 1,541 hectares and is located in the Canakkale Province on the Biga Peninsula of northwestern Turkey. The project is located approximately 25 kilometres southeast of Canakkale, the largest centre on the Biga Peninsula with a population of approximately 100,000. There is excellent well-serviced infrastructure in close proximity to the project with paved roads, electricity, transmission lines, and electricity generating facilities, the most significant being a large coal-fired power plant adjacent to the nearby Town of Can, which has a population of approximately 30,000.
The Company also owns the Agi Dagi development project, located approximately 25 kilometres southeast of Kirazli. Both are standalone open pit heap leach projects. A feasibility study to update the economics for Agi Dagi, as outlined in the positive 2012 pre-feasibility study, is nearing completion. A preliminary economic assessment is also being conducted on the higher grade Camyurt project located approximately 4 kilometres away from Agi Dagi. As with Kirazli, a number of significant changes including weakness in the Turkish Lira are expected to positively impact both projects' economics.
The feasibility study for the Kirazli project was consolidated by JDS Energy & Mining Inc. ("JDS"), an international engineering firm with extensive experience in both the construction and operation of mining projects, in collaboration with third party consulting firms and Alamos Gold's technical team.
Technical Disclosure
Chris Bostwick, FAusIMM, Alamos Gold's Vice President, Technical Services, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Chris Bostwick is a Qualified Person within the meaning of Canadian Securities Administrator's National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). The Feasibility Study has been prepared by several independent Qualified Persons (QPs) along with Alamos' internal technical staff.
All geologic interpretations and grade estimation parameters were reviewed and defined from first principals in the 2013 mineral resource update. The interpretation and digitization of the alteration, reduced oxidation state, and lithology, was carried out by the geology team at site, while the estimation of grades into a mineral resource was carried out by Marc Jutras, P.Eng., Principal, Mineral Resources at Ginto Consulting Inc.
The Kirazli mine plan and mineral reserve was developed by Independent Mining Consultants, Inc. (IMC) with Herb Welhener, SME-RM, as the Qualified Person for this work. The mine plan and Mineral Reserve are based on the Mineral Resource presented in Section 14 of the NI 43-101 technical report, to be filed on SEDAR, combined with economic evaluation and detailed mine planning.
Mine geotechnical design and recommendations were provided by Jim Cremeens, P.E., P.G., of Knight Piesold.
Todd Minard, P.Eng., of Golder Associates (Reno) was responsible for the heap leach facility and waste rock dump design and site geotechnical design.
The water management plan was prepared by Paolo Chiaramello, P.Eng., of Golder Associates, (Vancouver).
The metallurgy and processing sections were prepared by J. Andrew Cormier, P.Eng., of Alamos Gold and the Environment section was prepared under his direction. The financial model and tax analysis was prepared by Alamos Gold.
With the exception of Mr. Cormier and Mr. Bostwick, each of the foregoing individuals are independent of Alamos Gold. They are all Qualified Persons within the meaning of NI 43-101.
The Company expects to file a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 on SEDAR at www.sedar.com within 45 days of the date of this release.
About Alamos
Alamos is a Canadian-based intermediate gold producer with diversified production from three operating mines in North America. This includes the Young-Davidson mine in northern Ontario, Canada and the Mulatos and El Chanate mines in Sonora State, Mexico. Additionally, the Company has a significant portfolio of development stage projects in Canada, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States. Alamos employs more than 1,300 people and is committed to the highest standards of sustainable development. The Company's shares are traded on the TSX and NYSE under the symbol "AGI".
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2017) - Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ANZ) ("Alianza" or the "Company") has arranged a financing by way of a private placement of 4,400,000 units at $0.125 per unit to raise $550,000.
These funds will be used to continue the execution of the Company's prospect generation business model. This includes additional work at existing projects in Nevada and Yukon and reconnaissance exploration of new acquisitions from Alianza's generative work in Peru. Recently completed exploration programs upgraded three gold projects in Nevada - BP, Belleview and Horsethief and all three are slated for 2017 programs to refine targets for drill testing. Results were also positive from a 2016 exploration program at the Isy silver-gold project in Peru. This grassroots property is also slated for further work in the coming year.
Recent visits have been arranged, and additional site visits are expected, for potential partners to the now 100%-owned Yanac copper project in Peru. Management has been actively marketing projects in Nevada, Peru and Yukon Territory and expects to see exploration funded by partners in addition to Alianza funded programs in 2017.
Under the terms of the financing, each unit is comprised of one common share and a half non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional common share for a period of 3 years at a price of $0.25. Securities issued in this offering will have a four month hold period. Certain current shareholders and insiders may be participating in this offering. Finder's fees may also be paid on portions of this offering.
About Alianza Minerals Ltd.
Alianza increases the chances of success in mineral exploration by using the "Prospect Generator" business model, focussing on gold and copper exploration in Latin America and Nevada.
The Company has 28.4 million shares issued and outstanding, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:ANZ). Mr. Jason Weber, BSc, P.Geo., Alianza's President and CEO is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Weber supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release.
To learn more visit: www.alianzaminerals.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2017) - White Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:WGO) (the "Company") is pleased to announce details of its 2017 Exploration Program on the Company's 297,000 hectare land package in the White Gold District of the Yukon Territory, Canada. The focus of the fully funded program is to drill test new and previously defined high priority gold-in-soil trends in the emerging White Gold District and to further define and advance its other targets to drill ready status. Drill testing of previously identified and similar scale gold-in-soil anomalies has led to the nearby gold discoveries currently owned by Goldcorp Inc. (The Coffee Project) and Kinross Gold Corporation (The Golden Saddle Project).
Highlights:
Extensive drill program starting May 2017 consisting of 200 drill holes (20,000m) to be conducted on multiple targets on the Loonie, IND, Dime, Nolan and Black Hills properties
Detailed soil sampling, geophysics and other exploration work will be performed to follow up on newly discovered targets in 2016 and to further prepare other properties for drilling
The Company's exploration program is fully financed, having recently completed an $18 million financing in December 2016 including a $14.5 million investment by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
Approximately $30 million in exploration expenditures have been incurred on the Company's properties to date
The Company is the largest land holder in the White Gold district with 14,648 claims (297,000 hectares)
Summary
White Gold Corp. has acquired the largest land package in the prolific White Gold District of the Yukon and assembled a board and management team with a combined 40+ years of experience working in the Yukon. This team has also been directly involved with every recent major gold discovery in the White Gold District. Previous exploration work on its properties has produced several highly prospective targets. Further to the historic work performed and the encouraging results from the 2016 work program (see Company News Release dated January 23, 2016), these strategically located properties will undergo an extensive and fully funded exploration program over the next 3 years.
White Gold Corp's 2017 Exploration Program
The 2017 exploration program will be conducted on 22 of White Gold's properties and include RAB Drilling, Soil Sampling, Probe Sampling, Drone/X-CAM Surveys, DC IP-Resistivity, Airborne Dighem Surveys and Geologic Mapping & Prospecting. The 2017 RAB Drilling will focus on the Company's high priority targets on the Nolan, IND, Loonie, Dime and Black Hills properties. The planned supplementary work will be performed to advance other targets, particularly on the Nolan, the Hunker, Bonanza, Brew, and Wolf properties, to drill-ready status for 2018. The work on the remainder of the projects is designed to follow up on known areas of interest and/or meet assessment requirements. A detailed summary of the work to be performed on each property will be provided in future press releases.
The 2017 program is scheduled to commence in May and conclude in October or later pending the scope of additional work performed pursuant to exploration success. White Gold will follow up on encouraging results with an expanded drill program as deemed appropriate. Supplementary airborne magnetic-radiometric surveys, soil sampling, geologic mapping and drone survey may also be performed to further test the Company's properties and as part of regional reconnaissance efforts.
Shareholders are encouraged to visit the Company's website (www.whitegoldcorp.ca) to further understand the size and scope of the Company's projects in the White Gold District and for a summary of exploration results, maps and other relevant information.
Jodie Gibson, PGeo, of GroundTruth Exploration Inc., has acted as the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.
About White Gold Corp.
White Gold Corp. owns a portfolio of 14,648 quartz claims across 23 properties covering approximately 297,000 hectares representing approximately 30% of the Yukon's White Gold District. Preliminary exploration work has produced several highly prospective targets. The claim packages are bordered by sizable gold discoveries owned by majors including Kinross, Goldcorp and Western Copper & Gold. The Company has outlined an aggressive exploration plan to further explore its properties. For more information, visit www.whitegoldcorp.ca.
Vancouver, B.C., Canada / TheNewswire / February 14, 2017 - Deep-South Resources Inc. ("Deep-South" or "the Company") (TSX-V: DSM) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire from Teck Namibia Ltd. ("Teck"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited, the remaining 70% of Haib Minerals (Pty) Ltd. ("Haib Minerals") that it does not own in exchange for, among other things, 13.6 million common shares of Deep-South.
Haib Minerals holds the Exclusive Prospecting Licence 3140 ("EPL 3140"), which hosts the Haib copper project ("Haib" or "the Property") situated in the south of Namibia. At closing, Deep-South will hold 100% of Haib Minerals. At closing, in addition to its current shareholding, Teck will hold 17,776,667 of the common shares of Deep-South, representing about 35% of the Company's share capital based on the common shares currently outstanding.
In addition to the Deep-South shares to be issued to Teck, Deep-South shall:
pay $400,000 to Teck in accordance with the following schedule:
First anniversary of the agreement: $200,000
Second anniversary of the agreement: $200,000
Teck shall hold a pre-emptive right to participate in any financing of Deep-South as long as Teck holds over 5% of Deep-South's outstanding common shares;
Teck shall be granted a 1.5% NSR. Deep-South shall have the option to buy back 1/3 of the NSR in consideration for $ 2 million;
If Deep-South sells or options the Property or a portion of the Property during the 36 months following closing, Teck shall receive 30% of the sale gross proceeds if the sales occurs during the first 24 months after the closing and shall receive 20% of the gross proceeds if the sale occurs between the 24th and 36th months after closing;
Teck shall be entitled to a production bonus payment that will be declared at the time the company takes the decision to start mine development. Half of the bonus shall be paid upon the decision to start mine development and the second half shall be paid upon commencement ofcommercial production. The bonus value is scaled with the value of the Capital expenditures as follows:
(All amounts C$ millions)
Development Expenditures Cash Payment $0 - $500 $5.0 $501 - $600 $6.7 $601 - $700 $8.3 $701 - $800 $10.0 $801 - $900 $11.7 $901 - $1,000 $13.3 $1,001 and over $15.0
Teck's shareholding will be topped-up post-closing (if necessary) so that Teck holds 35% of Deep-South's share capital based on the outstanding common shares as of the closing date.
The agreement and shares issuance are subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. This transaction constitute a fundamental change pursuing to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Mr. John Akwenye, Chairman of Deep-South stated, "We are delighted with this transaction. Haib is the largest known porphyry copper deposit in Africa and is situated in an ideal location adjacent to modern infrastructure and in one of the best mining countries in Africa. In becoming our largest shareholder, Teck is a strong shareholder to have in support of the Company. Haib has substantial exploration potential and is a quality asset that adds strong value for our shareholders."
About the Haib Copper Project:
The Haib project is a large copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit located in the Karas region of southern Namibia, 8 km from the Orange River and the South African border.
The deposit, discovered in the 1950's, has seen over 50,000 metres of drilling in the 1970's by companies such as Rio Tinto and Falconbridge Ltd.
Since 2010, Teck Namibia has completed over 14,000 metres of drilling with results such as: 121 m @ 0.5% Cu, 494 m @ 0.36% Cu and 30 m @ 0.81% Cu.
A report by Behre Dolbear, completed in 1996, has estimated a Historical Estimate at Haib in a range presented in the table below:
Haib Historical Estimate - Behre Dolbear / GSM Cut-off(%Cu) GFM Model Behre Dolbear's Model Kriging Inverse Distance Squared Nearest Neighbour Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu 0.1 1350 0.23 1353 0.23 1331 0.23 1184 0.25 0.2 730 0.28 739 0.29 726 0.29 630 0.34 0.3 230 0.37 244 0.37 262 0.38 292 0.46
(GFM and Behre Dolbear models used the Kriging method as the basis for their estimate calculations. Kriging is a statistical estimation technique widely used for porphyry deposits. The Inverse Distance Squared and Nearest Neighbour methods, were used by Behre Dolbear for validation of the Kriging method estimates. Behre Dolbear report was produced from a geostatistical block model completed in 1996 by Great Fitzroy Mineral NL ("GFM")).
The Historical Estimate comprised principally the compilation and verification of all the drillhole data incorporating all available data to the end of the Rio Tinto Zinc programme completed in 1975 and comprising over 50,000 metres of drilling, assays and survey data.
The estimates of tonnages and grades quoted in this report were prepared prior to publication of National Instrument 43-101 in 2001 and are considered as Historical Estimates. The historical grades and resources terminology from the original historical reports are to be used only as a reference and should not be considered as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101 but are to be considered as Historical Estimates as per the NI 43-101 Rules and Policies.
P & E Walker Consultancy ("The consultant"), were engaged to prepare a technical review of all the historical data and reports and to act as Qualified Person. The Consultant did not have the mandate to classify the Historical Estimate as current mineral resource under NI 43-101. Deep-South is not treating the Historical Resource as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101.
P & E Walker Consultancy has prepared a technical review of all the historical data and reports. The NI 43-101 qualification report can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Peter Walker B.Sc. (Hons.) MBA Pr.Sci.Nat. is the author of the 43-101 qualifying report and is responsible for the technical part of this press release, and is the designated Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101.
About Deep-South Resources Inc.
Deep-South Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a large Namibian shareholding, actively involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of major mineral properties in Namibia and Canada. Deep-South growth strategy is to focus on the exploration and development of quality assets, in significant mineralized trends, close to infrastructure, in stable countries.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - February 15, 2017) - CB Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE: CBJ) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a strategic block of six exploitation mining concessions totalling 126 hectares in the prolific California-Vetas Gold District located in Santander, Colombia.
The six properties, which collectively comprise the California Gold Project, are adjacent to and along strike from concessions which contain La Bodega gold deposit currently being developed by Mubadala Development. The last public NI 43-101 Technical Report for La Bodega was issued by Ventana Gold dated effective November 8, 2010 and reported an Inferred resource of 3.47M ounces of gold.1
One of the acquired concessions was previously optioned by Calvista Gold which conducted a nine hole diamond drill program during 2011 and 2012. These results were incorporated in a NI 43-101 Technical Report on the California Gold Project dated effective October 11, 2012 and included intercepts:2
Table 1: California Gold Project Drill Intersections
Hole From (m) To (m) Width (m) Au (g/t) DDH-31 144.78 146.30 1.52 12.29 DDH-31 182.88 184.40 1.52 10.36 DDH-34 377.95 381.00 3.05 12.08 DDH-35 28.95 36.57 7.61 9.85 DDH-36 35.05 48.76 13.71 5.93 DDH-37 425.19 426.72 1.53 10.58
CB Gold plans to advance the California Gold Project toward economic feasibility by the delineation of high-grade vein resources exploitable by modern underground mining methods. This work will initially involve compiling existing data, detailed underground mapping of existing mine workings, detailed underground channel sampling, and prioritizing targets for subsequent drifting along with surface and underground diamond drilling as soon as possible.
The California Gold Project is located approximately ten kilometres from CB Gold's existing Vetas Gold Project, potentially resulting in operational synergies including processing at a central mill.
Transaction
CB Gold has an option to purchase 100% of six exploitation mining concessions from local miners for consideration of US $5,683,764 and US $7,561,746 which is payable in shares of CB Gold. Initial payments of US $345,127 and $501,626 payable in shares of CB Gold are due upon closing. The balance of the payments are due over a two year period subsequent to title transfer. An additional payment is due three years from the date of title transfer equivalent to 1.5% of the value of gold and silver Measured and Indicated resources included in a NI 43-101 Technical Report.
About the California Gold Project
The California Gold Project comprises 126 hectares within the prolific California-Vetas Gold District, which also contains the multi-million ounce La Bodega and Angostura gold deposits. The property is located approximately 55 kilometres northeast of Bucaramanga, which is the capital of the Department of Santander in Colombia. Elevation ranges from 2,400 to 2,700 metres above sea level, far below the Paramo boundaries.
California is situated in the Santander Massif of the eastern cordillera of the Andes Mountains. The massif is comprised of Precambrian gneisses, schists, quartzites and migmatites of the Guyana Shield. Intermediate to granitic instrusives of the Santander Plutonic Group were emplaced during a period of uplift in the Jurassic/Triassic era. Porphyry instrusive stocks and dikes in the immediate areas of mineralization may be as young as Tertiary in age. Regional faulting parallels the topographic fabric with the crustal-scale northwest trending Bucaramanga-Santa Marta wrench fault and the northeast trending Rio Cucutilla fault zone defining the principal structural trends.
The gold-silver-copper mineralization in the California Gold Project is part of the same, large mineralizing system localized along a regional northeast-trending fault zone that also hosts the adjacent La Bodega deposit. Mineralization occurs in northeast, northwest and east-west striking, generally steeply north-dipping faulted structures containing high grade veins up to two metres in width. Vein mineralogy includes pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and copper sulphides, with traces of silver minerals and sometimes visible gold.
Vetas Gold Project
CB Gold has amended the acquisition agreement for the San Bartolo and San Antonio properties, which together with other properties collectively comprise the Vetas Gold Project. A portion of the properties were affected by the delineation of the Paramo boundaries and the outstanding amount payable has been adjusted accordingly. As final payment, CB Gold has agreed to issue 3,450,000 common shares and pay US $500,000 in cash with respect to the San Bartolo Property and issue 116,700 common shares with respect to the San Antonio property.
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Red Eagle Mining's Vice President of Exploration, Jeff Toohey P.Eng., who is a "Qualified Person" as defined under NI 43-101.
The transactions are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
About CB Gold
CB Gold is a well-financed precious metals exploration and development corporation majority owned by gold producer Red Eagle Mining Corporation. CB Gold has an experienced exploration and mine development team focused on building shareholder value through acquiring and developing high grade gold and silver projects with low costs and low technical risks in Colombia, a jurisdiction with prolific historic production but until recently limited modern exploration. CB Gold owns 100% of the California Gold, Vetas Gold and Santa Ana Silver Projects, which consist of numerous historic and existing mines and where exploration is currently underway to delineate high-grade vein resources exploitable by modern underground mining methods.
1 See the Technical Report titled "Preliminary Assessment La Bodega Project" dated effective November 8, 2010 available under Ventana Gold Corp.'s SEDAR profile.
2 See the Technical Report titled "Updated technical Report on the California Gold Project" dated effective October 11, 2012 available under AUX Canada Acquisition 3 Sarl.'s SEDAR profile.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - February 15, 2017) - Imperial Metals Corporation (the "Company") (TSX: III) reports that Sterling Gold Mining Corporation ("SGMC"), a wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with Northern Empire Resources Corp. ("NM") to sell its interest in the Sterling gold mine property located in Nevada, United States.
The purchase price for the assets includes US$10 million cash (including a US$250,000 non-refundable deposit due within 5 days of the execution of the LOI) and 5 million shares of NM. SGMC will retain a two percent (2.0%) Net Smelter Returns royalty ("NSR") on the portions of the Sterling gold mine property not currently burdened by a pre-existing NSR.
The closing is planned for the second quarter of 2017 and is subject to completion of a formal Property Purchase Agreement, board and regulatory approvals as necessary, completion of due diligence and conventional conditions for such a transaction.
About Imperial
Imperial is a Vancouver-based exploration, mine development and operating company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns the Red Chris and Mount Polley copper/gold mines in British Columbia, and the Sterling gold mine in Nevada. Imperial also holds a 50% interest in Huckleberry Mines Ltd. and in the Ruddock Creek lead/zinc property, both in British Columbia.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2017) - Northern Empire Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE:NM) (the "Company" or "Northern Empire") today announced that the Company has entered into a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with Sterling Gold Mining Corporation ("SGMC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Imperial Metals Corporation ("Imperial Metals")(TSX:III) to acquire a 100% interest in the Sterling property, located in Nye County, Nevada, and certain royalty rights for claims located in Nevada and California (the "Proposed Transaction").
Michael G. Allen, President, CEO and Director of Northern Empire commented, "Acquiring the Sterling property represents a company changing opportunity for the shareholders of Northern Empire. The next phase of open pit mining has been permitted at Sterling, and the properties have not seen significant exploration in 20 years. The Sterling land package consists of two claim blocks, Sterling and Daisy. Combined, the land package represents the acquisition of a gold district within Nevada, hosting 3 past producing open pit mines. The Sterling mine has previously operated as a high grade open pit and underground operation as recently as 2015, and is known for it's excellent run of mine heap leach recoveries. The site is staffed, with leach rinsing operations continuing. The Daisy claim block has indications of a large Carlin system, which has seen very little exploration since the late 1990s."
Acquisition Highlights
High Grade Gold in Nevada. The Sterling mine has operated as both an open pit and underground operation. Historical records show that from 1980 to 2000 mining on the Sterling orebodies produced 194,996 oz gold ("Au") at an average grade of 7.44 g/t Au. Recoveries have averaged 88% without milling;
The Sterling mine has operated as both an open pit and underground operation. Historical records show that from 1980 to 2000 mining on the Sterling orebodies produced 194,996 oz gold ("Au") at an average grade of 7.44 g/t Au. Recoveries have averaged 88% without milling; Location. The Sterling property is located approximately 100 miles NW of Las Vegas on the eastern flank of the Bare Mountains. The mine is accessed via highway I-95 and gravel roads;
The Sterling property is located approximately 100 miles NW of Las Vegas on the eastern flank of the Bare Mountains. The mine is accessed via highway I-95 and gravel roads; Permitted to begin operations. The Bureau of Land Management has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact ("FONSI") and approved the next phase of mining at Sterling. This permit was issued on May 12, 2016 and has an indefinite term. Northern Empire will immediately undertake a resource estimate, on all deposits on the properties;
The Bureau of Land Management has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact ("FONSI") and approved the next phase of mining at Sterling. This permit was issued on May 12, 2016 and has an indefinite term. Northern Empire will immediately undertake a resource estimate, on all deposits on the properties; Significant Engineering Completed by Imperial Metals. To achieve the FONSI, Imperial Metals created designs for the new pits and heap leach facilities that Northern Empire will be able to use going forward;
To achieve the FONSI, Imperial Metals created designs for the new pits and heap leach facilities that Northern Empire will be able to use going forward; Significant infrastructure in place. Imperial Metals ceased underground mining of a separate orebody in 2015. Processing facilities, mine offices and generators are on site and are currently being used to rinse heaps from prior operations.
Imperial Metals ceased underground mining of a separate orebody in 2015. Processing facilities, mine offices and generators are on site and are currently being used to rinse heaps from prior operations. Near Mine - Exploration Potential. The complete Sterling property land package contains 3 past producing open pit mines, Sterling, Daisy West and Secret Pass. Significant exploration potential, based on historic drilling and known structural controls, exists along strike and adjacent to the permitted Sterling deposit. In the 1995 Annual Mineral Industry Survey by the Nevada Bureau of Mines Daisy West was reported to have a pre-mining, gold resource of 1.45 million tons grading 0.021 opt Au (1.3 million tonnes grading 0.72 g/t Au), in the same report, Secret Pass had a pre-mining gold resource of 36.6 million tons grading 0.018 opt (32.94 million tonnes grading 0.62 g/t Au). SGMC has permitted the next phase of open pit mining on the Sterling Site. After reviewing the available data, it is thought that potentially significant resources remain at Secret Pass, while Daisy West is largely mined out. The stratigraphy that hosted the Daisy West mine remains largely untested. Northern Empire reports these pre-mining historical resources for illustrative purposes only. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and the Company is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Northern Empire will be initiating an independent review of the data and resources on the Sterling property, the results of which will be released prior to the closing of the transaction.
The complete Sterling property land package contains 3 past producing open pit mines, Sterling, Daisy West and Secret Pass. Significant exploration potential, based on historic drilling and known structural controls, exists along strike and adjacent to the permitted Sterling deposit. In the 1995 Annual Mineral Industry Survey by the Nevada Bureau of Mines Daisy West was reported to have a pre-mining, gold resource of 1.45 million tons grading 0.021 opt Au (1.3 million tonnes grading 0.72 g/t Au), in the same report, Secret Pass had a pre-mining gold resource of 36.6 million tons grading 0.018 opt (32.94 million tonnes grading 0.62 g/t Au). SGMC has permitted the next phase of open pit mining on the Sterling Site. After reviewing the available data, it is thought that potentially significant resources remain at Secret Pass, while Daisy West is largely mined out. The stratigraphy that hosted the Daisy West mine remains largely untested. The following table summarizes significant drill results from the portion of the Sterling deposit yet to be developed
STERLING MINE SELECT IN GROUND DRILLHOLES METERS HOLE# From To Length Au g/t ST-23 48.77 59.44 10.67 5.49 ST-38 48.77 62.48 13.72 6.80 SV8139 7.62 16.76 9.14 5.01 SV88053 41.15 50.29 9.14 2.05 SV89146 88.39 121.92 33.53 1.80 SV89148 126.49 149.35 22.86 2.14
The following table summarizes significant drill results from the portion of the Secret Pass deposit yet to be developed
SECRET PASS SELECT IN THE GROUND DRILLHOLES METERS HOLE# FROM -TO- LENGTH Au g/t D-204 85.34 150.88 65.53 0.79 D-206 85.34 178.31 92.96 1.36 D-313 80.77 163.07 82.30 0.90 D-314 91.44 158.50 67.06 0.90 D-320 96.01 173.74 77.72 1.02 D-164 44.20 100.58 56.39 3.13
Historic Resources - Exploration Potential. In addition to the unmined portion of Secret Pass, two additional unmined deposits are located in the northern portion of the property Daisy South and SNA. In the 1995 Annual Mineral Industry Survey by the Nevada Bureau of Mines, Daisy South was reported to have in a resource of 0.76 million tons grading 0.097 opt Au (0.68 million tonnes grading 3.33 g/t) and in the same report, the SNA deposit was reported to have a historic resource of 2.87 million tons at 0.039 opt Au (2.58 million tons at 1.34 g/t Au). Northern Empire reports these historical estimates for illustrative purposes only. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and the Company is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Northern Empire will be initiating an independent review of the data and resources on the Sterling Property, the results of which will be released prior to the closing of the transaction.
In addition to the unmined portion of Secret Pass, two additional unmined deposits are located in the northern portion of the property Daisy South and SNA. In the 1995 Annual Mineral Industry Survey by the Nevada Bureau of Mines, Daisy South was reported to have in a resource of 0.76 million tons grading 0.097 opt Au (0.68 million tonnes grading 3.33 g/t) and in the same report, the SNA deposit was reported to have a historic resource of 2.87 million tons at 0.039 opt Au (2.58 million tons at 1.34 g/t Au). The following table summarizes significant drill results from the portion of the Daisy South deposit yet to be developed
DAISY SOUTH SELECT IN THE GROUND DRILLHOLES METERS HOLE# FROM -TO- LENGTH Au g/t D-81 121.92 156.97 35.05 4.63 including 126.49 146.30 19.81 7.37 D-97 126.49 196.60 70.10 2.16 including 179.83 190.50 10.67 4.97 D-135 111.25 192.02 80.77 2.10 including 152.40 167.64 15.24 5.87 D-145 129.54 198.12 68.58 2.02 including 161.54 169.16 7.62 8.35
The following table summarizes significant drill results from the portion of the SNA deposit yet to be developed
SNA SELECT IN THE GROUND DRILLHOLES METERS HOLE# FROM -TO- LENGTH Au g/t ML165 70.10 85.34 15.24 1.60 ML261 22.86 38.10 15.24 0.71 MR008 25.91 32.00 6.10 1.39 and 41.15 65.53 24.38 1.12 SN09-087 46.82 74.68 27.86 0.87
District Scale - Exploration Potential. Surface mapping and sampling by previous workers on the property suggests that the historic deposits are open and there is a high potential for significant new discoveries on the property. In addition, significant drilling has been done on the "Shear Zone" which appears to be the upper levels of a zoned epithermal system.
Surface mapping and sampling by previous workers on the property suggests that the historic deposits are open and there is a high potential for significant new discoveries on the property. In addition, significant drilling has been done on the "Shear Zone" which appears to be the upper levels of a zoned epithermal system. The following table summarizes significant drill results from the portion of the Shear Zone deposit yet to be developed
SHEAR ZONE SELECT IN THE GROUND DRILLHOLES METERS HOLE# FROM -TO- LENGTH Au g/t ML007 44.21 54.88 10.67 1.98 ML010 42.68 50.30 7.62 2.24 ML016 33.54 48.78 15.24 0.27 ML020 53.35 56.40 3.05 0.36 ML026 77.74 97.56 19.82 1.06 INCL 77.74 88.41 10.67 1.73 ML027A 85.37 99.09 13.72 0.48 ML031 83.84 92.99 9.15 1.66 and 97.56 100.61 3.05 0.48 ML049 39.63 44.21 4.57 1.58
Data rich property. The history of Sterling can be traced back to the early 1970s. Significant underground workings, surface mining, metallurgical work and drilling have been completed on the properties to date. The Sterling block features in excess of 10,000 drillholes and underground channel samples while the Daisy block features 716 drillholes totaling over 10,000 meters.
Summary of Proposed Transaction
Under the terms of the Proposed Transaction with SGMC, the Company will acquire:
A 100% interest in the Sterling Mine Property (the "Sterling Property") located in Nye County, Nevada being comprised of 707 unpatented mining claims encompassing approximately 14,605 acres.
A four percent (4%) Net Smelter Return Royalty on the Hoodoo Canyon Property (the "Hoodoo Property") located in Nye County, Nevada, being comprised of 209 unpatented mining claims encompassing approximately 4,318 acres. Newmont Mining Corporation through Fronteer Development Inc. have assumed the lease and the obligations for an annual advance royalty payment.
A three percent (3%) Net Smelter Return Royalty up to a limit of US$1,250,000 on the Tenabo (Robertson) Property located on Lander County, Nevada. By agreement dated June 20, 2016, the subject property was purchased by Barrick Cortez Inc. from Coral Gold Resources Ltd.
A ten percent (10%) Net Profits Royalty Interest ("NPR Interest") on the Blue Moon Property located in Mariposa County, California.
The purchase price for the assets will consist of:
US$10 million cash, including a US$250,000 non-refundable deposit due within 5 days of the execution of the LOI;
5 million shares of Northern Empire. Northern Empire will also issue additional shares to SGMC to allow SGMC to maintain its pro-rata percentage interest in Northern Empire post transaction if, at any time prior to a construction financing, Northern Empire issues additional shares pursuant to an equity financing, subject to a maximum of 5 million additional shares;
Northern Empire shall grant SGMC a two percent (2.0%) Net Smelter Returns royalty ("NSR") on the portions of the Sterling Property not currently burdened by a pre-existing NSR. Northern Empire has the right to purchase 50% of the NSR for US$7.5 million, and has a right of first refusal on any sale of the NSR.
If Northern Empire elects to utilize the specific bioleaching technology developed by SGMC on the existing leach pads on the Sterling Property, then Northern Empire agrees to immediately reimburse SGMC for all expenses incurred by SGMC up to closing. In addition, SGMC shall be entitled to receive fifty percent (50%) of Net Operating Profits ("NOP") on the bioleaching production from these existing leach pads. SGMC shall be entitled to receive a ten percent (10%) NOP on revenue from bioleaching, associated with rinsing/reclaiming of any pads built to treat ores mined by Northern Empire subsequent to closing.
Conditions of Closing
The completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions to closing including, but not limited to Northern Empire's satisfactory completion of legal, title and environmental due diligence with respect to the Sterling Property, completion of various financings to raise adequate funds to make the purchase, board and regulatory approvals, and other customary conditions in the mining industry for similar asset purchase and sales.
Related Financings
In relation to the Proposed Transaction, the Company will be arranging a bridge financing of convertible debentures. The proceeds of the bridge financing will be used to pay the US$250,000 deposit due to SGMC, complete an updated NI 43-101 technical report on the Sterling property and for due diligence and working capital purposes. The interest free convertible debenture will convert into a unit of the Company consisting of a share and a half warrant (each full warrant, a "Warrant") upon the closing of the Proposed Transaction, or, if the Proposed Transaction doesn't complete, upon resumption of trading of the Company's shares. The conversion price shall be equal to (a) the price for which the Company completes the Subsequent Financing, as set out below, or (b) if the Proposed Transaction doesn't complete, $0.175. Each Warrant shall be exercisable into a common share of Northern Empire at a price of 33 1/3% premium to the conversion price for a period of 2 years following the closing of the convertible debenture financing.
In the event that the Company files a prospectus in connection with the Acquisition Financing, it will use reasonable commercial efforts to qualify the issuance of the Units under the prospectus.
In addition, the Company intends to complete a subsequent financing (the "Acquisition Financing") to complete the Proposed Transaction, the proceeds of which will be used to fund the purchase price for the proposed Acquisition, for ongoing exploration work on the Sterling Property and for general working capital. Further details regarding the Acquisition Financing will be released in due course.
Advisors
The Company has engaged Cormark Securities Inc. as its financial advisor in connection with the proposed transaction and Acquisition Financing.
McCullough O'Connor Irwin LLP and Parsons Behle and Latimer are acting as legal advisors on the transaction.
The Company has engaged JDS Energy and Mining and Norwest Corporation as technical advisors.
About Northern Empire
Northern Empire is an aggressive, Vancouver based, gold explorer working to take advantage of the current improving market conditions by assembling a value driven portfolio of properties.
Qualified Persons
Michael G. Allen, President of Northern Empire, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed the information contained in this news release. He is the non-independent qualified person for this new release and has verified the data.
Reunion Gold Corporation ( TSX.V: RGD ) ("Reunion") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement dated December 1, 2016 with Union Miniere de Saul ("UMS"), an arm's length private company. Pursuant to the option agreement Reunion has the right to acquire an 80% interest in... Read More
Why did it take Congress nearly a decade to pass the Every Student Succeeds Act? In the following excerpt from their new book The Every Student Succeeds Act: What It Means for Schools, Systems, and States, Frederick M. Hess and Max Eden explain how what might appear to be a story of Congress not working can actually be seen as a story of Congress working exactly as it is supposed to, finding agreement on a major issue in a big, diverse, and complicated nation.
When President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law on December 10, 2015, he joked that it was a Christmas miracle. Miracle or not, it was striking to see majorities in both political parties support a major piece of legislation in an era marked by gridlock and government shutdowns. Most experts thought that ESSA was a long shot, even just a few months before it passed.
For our part, we recall walking out of a meeting with Republican Senate Education Committee staffers, convinced that there wasnt a chance. We were both struck by their exasperation with the Obama administrations education agenda. Substance aside, they thought that the administration had played fast and loose with the traditional policymaking process. Rather than press Congress to pass a law to replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Obama administration used federal stimulus money to encourage states to accept its policy preferences and waivers from NCLBs penalties to ensure those policies were implemented. This wasnt the way separation of powers was supposed to work. Republicans had little faith that the Obama administration would abandon its strong-arm tactics and let Congress settle these questions by legislation.
Staffers at the Department of Education, however, saw things quite differently. They insisted that theyd love to see Congress replace NCLB but believed that unprecedented Republican obstructionism made that a distant prospect. So, until then, they had a duty to use the levers they had to try to improve American education.
While this level of polarization has become increasingly common in Washington, DC, until recently education had always been a bipartisan issue, in part because it was traditionally the preserve of the states. But in an effort to rectify long-standing inequalities, federal involvement expanded slowly during the second half of the twentieth century, culminating in 2001 with the bipartisan passage of NCLB.
In the years after NCLB, the center of gravity in education policy shifted from the states to Washington. This made education more of a national political issue and hence a more polarizing one. The divisions were stark, but they didnt quite hew to traditional partisan lines. An alliance between civil rights groups on the left and the business community on the right pushed for aggressive federal involvement to drive policies designed to aid disadvantaged students. But under the Obama administration, another left-right alliancebetween teachers unions and small-government conservativesbecame ascendant. The unions argued that high-stakes standardized testing and teacher evaluation were harming teacher morale and undermining the quality of public education; conservatives argued that the administration had far exceeded its authority and was pushing policies without the consent of the governed. The latter alliance held sway in Congress, and the Every Student Succeeds Act was deemed by the Wall Street Journal as the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter century. These political trends had real consequences for schools, teachers, and students, and ESSA was a response to all of that.
So, what exactly is ESSA and what does it do? ESSA is the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), passed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. ESSA has ten Titles dealing with matters ranging from teacher quality to Native American education. The most important of these is Title I, which is devoted to improving basic programs operated by state and local education agencies. Today, Title I distributes about $16 billion annually to schools with high concentrations of low-income students. The question at the heart of federal education policy is what the federal government ought to require to ensure that the money is well spent.
In the 2001 reauthorization of ESEA as the No Child Left Behind Act, states were required to test students in grades 38 and disaggregate results based on student characteristics to make achievement gaps visible. Schools that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress toward mandated proficiency levels would face a standard set of school interventions. Under the Obama administration, the federal government used carrots and sticks to encourage states to adopt new academic standards and test-based teacher evaluation systems.
ESSA maintained the broad contours of NCLB but gave states more flexibility within them. It maintained the basic federal testing requirement but gave states leeway to help address concerns about overtesting. ESSA removed NCLBs across-the-board school accountability system, allowing states the flexibility to identify and remedy low performing schools. ESSA also gave state leaders significantly more autonomy to set policy on other questions, such as teacher evaluation, diminishing the federal governments influence over state policy.
The Tension Between Local Control and Equal Protection
All the talk about federal versus state power in education strikes a lot of people as beside the point. After all, shouldnt education policy just be about the kids? At best, debates about the federal role can sound like abstruse technical arguments among Washington insiders. At worst, they can sound like politicians using thinly veiled partisan rhetoric to jockey for more power. But the truth is that this debate actually gets to the core of who we are as a nation. An easy shorthand is to think of this debate as the tension between the Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution.
There is no mention of public schooling in the Constitution. But its not as though the Founding Fathers didnt think an educated citizenry was essential. In fact, they saw it as a foundational responsibility of any government and determined that it was best left to the states under the Tenth Amendment, which says, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The Tenth Amendment intuition is that education cannot be exclusively provided by the government; it must begin with families and spread outward to neighborhoods, religious communities, civic associations, schools, and towns. Adherents of the Tenth Amendment are skeptical that the federal government, so far removed from the fundamental acts of teaching and learning, is well suited to write laws and regulations governing how one hundred thousand schools educate more than fifty million students. More to the point, they worry that well-intentioned policies may, in practice, crowd out and erode the fundamental elements of a quality school.
At the same time, there is the very real concern that, left to their own devices, districts and states might not serve all students equally well. In fact, for generations states did little to rectify palpable, basic inequalities in education. Many people believe that the federal government ought to play a strong role to make good on the promise of the Fourteenth Amendment, that the government shall not deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Adherents of the Fourteenth Amendment believe that the federal government has a duty to ensure fairness by directing funds to underresourced communities and holding states accountable for the performance of all students.
Though they are often in tension, both intuitions are deeply rooted in the American experience. The balance between liberty and opportunity is at the core of who we are as a nation and comes up in many, if not all, political issues. In education policy, its been at the forefront of debates for the past half-century.
From ESEA to NCLB
In 1965, nearly one hundred years after the conclusion of the Civil War, Congress passed ESEA in an effort to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by directing federal funds to schools that served high concentrations of low-income children. President Johnson had high hopes, declaring that by passing this bill, we bridge the gap between helplessness and hope.
Unfortunately, it wasnt that easy. ESEA faced an extraordinary challenge: attempting to reform a system that had been carefully designed to impede centralized power. The tradition of local governance was deeply rooted, and pumping federal funding into the system was no guarantee that anything would change. Indeed, four years after ESEA was passed, a landmark study found that Title I had often not reached the eligible [students], and has been little used to meet their needs. Federal policymakers were disappointed that districts often used Title I funds for their own purposes rather than for the betterment of low-income students. However, they had few useful levers to change that.
In response, policymakers attached more strings to Title I money to try to ensure effective implementation. But those rules and regulations came at a cost. They inhibited district and school flexibility and increasingly trans- formed local school governance into a compliance exercise. The financial and educational costs were difficult to gauge, but stories bubbled up about teachers who were afraid to use Title I staplers on essays by nonTitle I students and Title I staff who wouldnt break up playground fights between Title I and nonTitle I students due to liability concerns. Perhaps the most significant consequence of ESEA in the latter half of the twentieth century was the bureaucratization and centralization of education policy.
Meanwhile, one glaring problem lingered for decades. It was first raised publicly not by a conservative, but by liberal firebrand Robert F. Kennedy, then a Democratic senator from New York: how could we know whether the federal funding was making a difference? By and large, the state-level testing not only failed to report results disaggregated by race and class but often wasnt even administered to low performing students. State testing reports often resembled dispatches from Garrison Keillors fabled Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
While it wasnt clear where federal efforts were making significant headway, a handful of states launched initiatives to try to raise achievement and address inequities. In what became known as the excellence movement, states like Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Virginia took steps to raise and refine academic standards and introduce more reliable standardized testing. One of the most notable laboratories of democracy was Texas, where governors on both sides of the aisle pursued a reform agenda, starting in the early 1980s, centered on higher academic standards, standardized testing, school accountability, competition, and choice. One Republican governor, George W. Bush, went on to run for president in 2001 while promising to be an education president and take the Texas model national. His signature domestic policy initiative would have made LBJ smile, as NCLB extended ESEA and infused it with an even grander ambition.
No Child Left Behind put the federal government firmly in the drivers seat to expand and enforce state education reform. As mentioned previously, it mandated that states test students in grades 38 in reading and math and report disaggregated results. It also required that all schools make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to 100 percent proficiency in reading and math by 2014 and prescribed specific interventions for schools that failed to make AYP.
NCLBs aspirations made for good politics, and the law passed by overwhelming bipartisan margins. After all, no one wanted to argue that some children should be left behind. But its complex reality proved to be less appealing. The emphasis on reporting disaggregated data and closing racial achievement gaps earned plaudits from the civil rights and business communities, but the school accountability system fostered friction and discontent. Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the gold standard in measuring educational achievement, inched up slightly through the Bush administration, but NCLB was far from a magic bullet.
In fact, the more parents learned about NCLB, the less they liked it. In 2003, about a third of Americans said that they knew enough to form an opinion of NCLB, and almost two-thirds expressed a favorable opinion. By 2007, three-quarters of Americans said that they knew enough to form an opinion, but only about 40 percent approved of the law. Parents worried that the drive to increase performance on state tests came at the cost of an ever-narrowing curriculum and that the focus on getting the bubble kids from slightly below proficient to slightly above proficient came at the cost of teaching kids who were way behind or ahead. By the time Bush left office in January 2009, NCLB had turned from a shining bipartisan achievement to a tarnished bipartisan albatross; Republicans and Democrats were both discontented, but they couldnt agree on how to fix it.
The Path to ESSA
Bushs successor, former Illinois senator Barack Obama, campaigned for president on the promise to be a pragmatic postpartisan who would change business as usual and focus on doing what works. The Obama administration earmarked a portion of money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for an initiative called Race to the Top. States submitted policy plans to the Department of Education, promising to adopt the priorities set by the secretary of education around college- and career-ready standards, test-based teacher evaluation, charter schooling, and more. At first, this approach received bipartisan approbation. David Brooks, a right-leaning columnist at the New York Times, wrote, Obamas activism isnt overbearing. Its catalytic. The administration hasnt defeated the forces of the status quo, but in state after state, youre seeing reformers moving forward.
But the applause eventually gave way to grumbling. The stimulus money ran out and, as 2014 drew closer, more and more schools became subject to federal sanctions for failing to meet NCLBs goal of 100 percent proficiency. So the Obama administration offered states a deal: it would grant states waiver relief from NCLB sanctions if they stuck with the program on education policy.
Supporters credited Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with advancing good policies in the face of congressional inaction. But detractors saw NCLB waivers as an executive overreach without any statutory basis. For example, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Education Committee and a former secretary of education himself, decried the transformation of the Department of Education into a national school board. On the right, the Common Core, or Obamacore as it was often called, became a bete noire to conservative activists. On the left, teacher unions fretted that the teacher evaluation systems the federal government was pushing werent ready for primetime and would lead to perverse consequences in the classroom.
This bipartisan backlash created a window of opportunity for major legislation. For all the noble aspirations that fueled the decades-long drive toward greater federal involvement, the friction and frustration created as Fourteenth Amendment hopes crashed into Tenth Amendment realities paved the way for the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Some critics worried that ESSA was an unfortunate retreat from the ideals of equal protection and educational equity. Others fretted that it didnt go far enough in returning authority to states and communities. But ultimately, American education will always be a balancing act between the principles of the Tenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, and ESSAs supporters argued that it struck a healthy and stable balance. Senator Alexander declared, Weve got a law that will govern the federal role in K12 education for ten or twenty years and unleash a whole flood of innovation and ingenuity, classroom by classroom, state by state, that will benefit children.
What Does ESSA Mean For Schools And States?
Does ESSA get the federal role right? It will take years before the dust settles and we can get a handle on its impact, and its highly unlikely that everyone will be satisfied for long. But, for now, we feel prepared to offer three takeaways to help educators and policymakers navigate the law.
First, you dont have to dive into ESSAs fine print to understand it. The text itself is confusing and sprawling, and people working in schools and systems generally have better things to do than read federal statute. But you should have an understanding of the basicsof whats settled and whats open for input. There will be plenty of enthusiastic policy wonks saying that ESSA means you have to do this or that. If you come to the table with the basics in mind, youll be prepared to engage in the conversation rather than be overwhelmed by it.
Second, what you as a teacher, administrator, or policymaker bring to that conversation should be of a distinctly different character than what you might be accustomed to. More often than not, in the era of No Child Left Behind and its waivers, education policy became an exercise in compliance. You did what you were told; if you wanted to try something new, you had to ask, May I? The theory behind ESSA is that schools and systems can be better governed from the bottom up than from the top down. So the sooner you shift your mentality from asking, May I? to asking, How can we? the sooner youll stop being shaped by your environment and start actually shaping it.
Third, much is up in the air and nothing is guaranteed. ESSA has the potential to foster significant improvements in schooling, but only where and when educators and administrators take advantage of it. Some states and schools will leap forward; others will lag behind. Ultimately, it will work only as well as the people in schools, communities, and states manage to make it work.
Concluding Thoughts
We began by talking about politics rather than educationand frustrating, gridlocked politics, at that. NCLB was supposed to be reauthorized in 2007, but it took almost another decade for Congress to pass ESSA. Its easy to think that Congress was doing nothing and that partisan posturing and bickering was preventing real policy change, but beneath the surface there was a whole lot more going on. Schools, districts, and states were wrestling with conflicting policies and priorities; the right path forward wasnt always clear. But over time, a bottom-up consensus emerged that federal policy should move toward a more restrained approach, and that approach was eventually enacted into law as ESSA.
What might appear to be a story of Congress not working can actually be seen as a story of Congress working exactly as it is supposed to, finding agreement on a major issue in a big, diverse, and complicated nation.
The tension that Congress was trying to navigate was no small issue. Its easy for those who view the federal role as indispensable to protecting disadvantaged students to dismiss the concerns of those who think education should be a local endeavor, and vice versa. But both views have their virtues and drawbacks. The intuition that schools are best governed as close as possible to the students they serve is well grounded. So, too, is the fear that without strong federal oversight, local communities will leave the most vulnerable students behind. Both principles are essential, even if they are often in tension.
The Every Student Succeeds Act is the latest attempt to find a balance between the principles of the Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments. We hope that this book will help relate how these lofty, abstract arguments will play out as this new federal law filters its way down through states and districts to the schoolhouse. And its our humble hope that by helping to equip educators, school leaders, and students of education policy with a firm under- standing of whats possible under ESSA, we might be doing our small part to help make good on its promise.
This piece originally appeared on Education Next
Adapted with permission from The Every Student Succeeds Act: What It Means for Schools, Systems, and States, edited by Frederick M. Hess and Max Eden, 2017, published by Harvard Education Press. For more information, please visit http://hepg.org/hep-home/books/the-every-student-succeeds-act
______________________
Max Eden is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Frederick M. Hess is the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
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Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.5 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,555 customers in parts of Manhattan. The company also supplies electricity to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey; and gas to approximately 0.1 million customers in southeastern New York. In addition, it operates 533 circuit miles of transmission lines; 15 transmission substations; 64 distribution substations; 87,564 in-service line transformers; 3,924 pole miles of overhead distribution lines; and 2,291 miles of underground distribution lines, as well as 4,350 miles of mains and 377,971 service lines for natural gas distribution. Further, the company owns, operates, and develops renewable and energy infrastructure projects; and provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers, as well as invests in electric and gas transmission projects. It primarily sells electricity to industrial, commercial, residential, and government customers. The company was founded in 1823 and is based in New York, New York.
Ghanaian actress, Yvonne Nelson has revealed that she will tie the knot this year.
Speaking to BBCs Veronique Edwards, the 31-year-old said, This year, Ill be getting married this year.
The If Tomorrow Never Comes actress, however, did not give out many details about her wedding plans or her fiance.
Miss Nelson also talked about her career, dumsor, charity and revealed the touch on the relationship between herself and her mother.
Yvonne Nelson lost her dad in January 2017. Yvonne revealed that she has snapped only two photos with her father and the last one was taken on January 6, 2017.
The actress and producer expressed how she longed to share some quality alone time with her father just like old days in her Instagram post.
Counsel for 3 accused persons Osarfo Anthony, Ekow Micah, and Sarah Kwablah, Dr. Maurice Ampaw, is calling on Madam Gloria Akufo, the new Attorney General, to return the docket of the ongoing trial against his clients who are facing trial for allegedly conspiring to extort money from Ghanas Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan.
The case, which started since 18th September, 2015, has faced dragging of feet and seeming apathy on the part of the prosecution.
According to Ghanacreativearts.com When it was the turn for Asamoah Gyans lawyer, Kissi Agyabeng, to appear before the court and testify, he failed to do so.
The prosecutor told the court the docket of the case has been referred to the Attorney Generals office without giving the court any reason. Though the court has patiently given the prosecution over 2 months to tell the court why the Attorney General has called back the case, the prosecution has not done so making the judge, issue a threat to discharge the suspects in the next hearing.
Lawyer Maurice Ampaw, who wants the case to be determined to clear the name of his 3 clients acquitted and discharged and not only discharged, is therefore calling on the Attorney General, to return the docket for trial to continue.
Lawyer Maurice Ampaw
On behalf of my clients, especially, Osarfo Anthony, I am calling on the Attorney Generals office to return Asamoah Gyans rape/sodomy and extortion case to court for trial. I dont want to believe the Attorney General is there to protect Asamoah Gyan or work in his interest.
I say so because, Sarah is saying on authority that Asamoah Gyan raped and sodomised her and she is ready to prove that beyond all reasonable doubt for the whole world to know she is not blackmailing Gyan. She wont get anything for blackmailing Gyan its the truth that she wants the world to know.
When she reported the case to DOVVSU, the police never arrested or invited Gyan to write his statement, yet, a complete docket was sent to the AG for the AG to say, Gyan has been cleared. Cleared of what? Is that how suspects are cleared in this country? The law must deal with Gyan just like any Ghanaian. None of us is above the law. Not even the president of Ghana.
Meanwhile, when the Gyans took a case to the Attorney General that Osarfo Anthony is extorting money from him, quickly the Attorney General processed it and took the case to court. Now that the truth is unfolding in court that Osarfo did not extort any money from Gyan, they have gone to hide behind the same Attorney General to call the docket so that this one too, the truth will not come out.
What interest has the AG in Asamoah Gyan, that in all of this issue, when it is going in favour of the Gyans, the AG pursues it, but when its against Gyan, the AG shields him? Cant the public see justice is being denied? Cant people discern to know the state is twisting the hands of justice?
And when I preach for justice for an innocent journalist like Osarfo Anthony and others, they try to make the public dislike me by saying I hate Asamoah Gyan; I want cheap hype or publicity. To all those, I tell you if a rich or popular person bully you with his money and connections to big people, to deny you justice, that will be the day you will understand the plight of Osarfo and others.
Im calling on Madam Gloria Akufo, a woman who believes in justice, a character who stands for the poor and who is working in a government, Nana Addos government, that prides itself of freedom and justice, accountability and transparency, to return the docket for trial to continue.
Osarfo Anthony
The Gyans made the whole world believe I extorted money from Asamoah Gyan and subsequently dragged me to court for the law to take its course. For over a year now, the other accused and myself go to court ready to face trial yet, they, who made the whole world believe Im an extortionist, do not show up in court.
I have lost a lot and still losing more due to this trial, but I long to see this case go through its full stretch. Even if it will drag for the next 5 years, so be it because nature knows my hands are clean. A good name is better than riches so I want my name to be cleared in this case for now and for my future. The villain is happy today, I will be happier tomorrow as the protagonist.
Ekow Micah
Any ordinary citizen would have been jailed concerning rape allegation but the state did not even invite Asamoah Gyan and he is using his money to bully poor people. I dont have Asamoah Gyans phone number and he is not my friend, so where and how did I extort money from him?
When they saw that I was the one helping Sarah to report the rape and sodomy case to the police, then someone planted weed in my house so that when Im jailed, the girl will not have a strong force behind her to expose Gyan. That did not work now extortion. Now that the truth is hitting them in the face in court, they are running away. We are ready for them. They should come!
Background Of Case
First witness in the case, Samuel Annim Addo, Asamoah Gyans manager, told the court that Osarfo Anthony was doing publications on the Gyan and Sarah Kwablah rape and sodomy allegations on online portal, GHBase.com.
A witness in the case, Nii Amarh Armateifio, a worker at 3 FM at TV3, approached Osarfo and asked him to stop the publication and that whatever money the latters media house will lose, Asamoah Gyan is prepared to pay the publishing cost to kill the story.
Osarfo insisted the whole proposal be put on paper and signed; something both parties agreed. On the day Asamoah Gyans manager met Osarfo and gave part of the agreed sum, the police arrested Osarfo and later Sarah Kwablah, Ekow Micah, and Chris Handler, and charged them with conspiracy to extort money from Gyan.
According to Asamoah Gyans manager, its Gyans lawyer, Kissi Agyabeng, who directed him on the whole scheme to get Osarfo arrested. To achieve what, Lawyer Kissi could not be in court to explain testify however, the case has been referred to the AG.
Next Hearing
The case continues on 16th March, 2017.
Dark Suburb, a band that has been creating waves over the past few years in Ghana and beyond, will on Friday, February 17 launch their latest album 'The Start Looks Like the End' with a magnetic concert at the Alliance Francaise in Accra.
Noted for wearing masks on stage, the band has since bursting onto the music scene in Ghana has received nominations for several awards, including VGMAs, 4syte MVAs and AFRIMMA.
The band which has adopted and refined a culture of masquerades in Africa as their image wears skeleton masks to highlight the point of their shared humanity and to remind the world of the fact that they are one people, thereby, giving new impetus to a costume art form that is prevalent in many African societies.
They fuse all styles of music, especially African rhythms, with rock. Prior to the release of the album, the band made a courtesy visit to the residence of the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, to deliver the first copy of their yet-to-be released debut album.
Consequently, Jon Benjamin posted on his official Twitter page to express his profound gratitude for being the first to receive a copy of the album.
The band has shared stage with some of Africas renowned bands, including Diamond Platnumz from Tanzania at the just-ended AFRIMMA 2016 in Nigeria.
The album features a number of stars, including of Edem, Wiyaala, E.L and Black Snake Mona from the United States.
The DAkpabli Readathon gathers momentum as Ghanaian author Elizabeth-Irene Baitie, joins the national reading campaign.
Coming on as a guest author, Baitie is expected to feature alongside the main stars Nana Awere Damoah and Kofi Akpabli in their book reading and public engagements during the first quarter of this year.
Elizabeth-Irene Baitie is a Medical Laboratory Director as well as a writer of contemporary children's and Young Adult fiction. She lives in Accra with husband Rami and their three children.
Her first book, A Saint in Brown Sandals , was published by Macmillan in 2006 for junior readers and received the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa that year.
Her other novels - The Twelfth Heart, The Dorm Challenge and Rattling in the Closet - have all been awarded the Burt Award for African Literature.
Getting that phone call to come on board was such a thrill. Its a fine opportunity, joining a laudable initiative to bring reading and writing closer to our people. I just cant wait to start working with the team.
Baitie will be out-doored at the next Dakpabli Readathon reading event to be held in Accra on March 25.
During her guest reader tenure, the team is expected to undertake at least one road show outside the Greater Accra region.
She becomes the third guest reader in the row, having taken over from Dr. Ruby Goka, a celebrated author, and dentist. The first DAkpabli guest was Alba Sumprim, author and film producer.
Asked why the campaign has so far featured an all-females guest list, Nana Awere Damoah pointed out that though that seemed to be the pattern, it is not at all the plan. He assured fans that an illustrious male guest reader is in the offing. Just keep supporting us and we shall keep exciting you, said Damoah.
Between them, the two Ghanaian authors have published 12 books. Nana Damoah has recently been voted Author of the Month by KWEE, a Liberian Literary magazine, while Kofi Akpablis latest work Made In Nima has won a place in an African anthology featuring writers from 14 countries which was published by the Commonwealth in London.
Besides holding public reading events within Accra, the team has also gone to Kumasi, Ho, and Tema.
The Readathon campaign by the two authors has received local and international press coverage with ChinAfrican magazine doing a special feature on them in their January edition for 2017.
In their readings so far, the two have received sponsorship from THREADEX, Aky3de3, MTN, Unicorn Rentals, WearGhana, Norte Sobolo, Lincar, Sasa Clothing, Falis Fruit Bay and AJ's Housekeeping Services.
We are excited by the way this movement is growing a life of its own, said Akpabli. Irene is going to connect wonderfully with our younger fans. Were glad to have her.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
President Akufo-Addo has assured that a solid relationship between Ghana and Togo is one he would seek to advance over the course of his tenure of office.
He revealed that at the just ended 28th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, he agreed with President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo to meet on a regular basis to discuss issues pertaining to the advancement of the two countries.
He was speaking to the President of the National House of Chiefs of Togo and Paramount Chief of Notsie, Togbe Agorkoli IV who paid a historic visit to the presidency Tuesday.
This is the first time a chief from Togo has paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic.
Togbe Agorkoli IV, who was accompanied by the President of Ghanas House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV and 9 other Paramount Chiefs from Togo and the Volta Region, noted that his visit to President Akufo-Addo was to extend fraternal greetings from the people of Notsie, the ancestral home of Ewes, and the people of Togo, to Ghanaians.
Togbe Afede XIV and 9 other Paramount Chiefs from Togo and the Volta Region
He observed that the decision by President Akufo-Addo to accept his request for a meeting is indicative of the respect the President has for the institution of chieftaincy.
As Chiefs, Togbe Agorkoli indicated that their responsibility is to adhere to the vision of their respective Heads of State and thus, admonished all Ghanaian traditional rulers to extend their full support and co-operation to the government.
He also used the opportunity to invite the President to the well-known Hogbetsotso festival on September 9, celebrated by the people of Notsie.
The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, indicated that one of the reasons for the courtesy call was because he was inspired by your pledge and commitment to the Ghanaian people to be a Father for all.
The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV
He added that the boldness of vision already espoused by President Akufo-Addo is one which will ensure that all ethnic and religious groupings are united with the common goal of developing the country.
The President thanked Togbe Agorkoli for the courtesy of his visit and reciprocated the goodwill messages extended to him by the King of Notsie.
He further stressed that the relations existing between political and traditional rulers are essential for the well-being of the citizenry.
Togbe Agorkoli IV and President Akufo-Addo exchanging pleasantries
President Akufo-Addo indicated that his government will do all within its power to ensure relations between these vital bodies remain cordial for the forward movement of the country.
He also assured that unless something dramatic happens, I, together with Togbe Afede XIV and the Chiefs from the Volta Region, am going to be in Notsie for the celebration of the festival on September 9.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A confidential UN report is warning that the war in South Sudan has reached "catastrophic proportions for civilians" and the rise of militias risks spinning out of control, fueling fighting for years to come.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report obtained by AFP on Tuesday that civilians were fleeing villages and towns "in record numbers" and that the danger of mass atrocities "is real".
The stark warning followed a series of meetings that Guterres held with regional leaders and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir last month to push for an end to the three-year war.
"The security situation continues to deteriorate in parts of the country and the consequent impact of this ongoing conflict and violence, has reached catastrophic proportions for civilians," Guterres wrote.
Heavy-handed military operations by all parties, but especially by government forces loyal to Kiir, were "daily destroying homes and livelihoods," said the report sent to the Security Council on Monday.
"The rise of militias under the loose command of the SPLA or rebel commanders is spreading the fragmentation and dislocation of its territories, which risk, if this trend continues, remaining out of any government control for years to come," said the report.
Guterres has been pushing regional leaders like Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who is close to Kiir, to put pressure on the South Sudanese leader to rein in his forces and pull back from the brink.
The UN chief urged the Security Council to take action to revive political talks to convince rebels to stop fighting and give the government legitimacy to seek international financial aid.
Rwanda to deploy first wave in new force
Makeshift graves are seen at the UN House for internally displaced persons in Juba on July 22, 2016
The United Nations has 13,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan, but they have repeatedly been blocked by government soldiers and rebels from areas where fighting has flared.
Last week, a peacekeeper on patrol in Eastern Equatoria was stopped by four soldiers, dragged out of his car and beaten, the report said.
Following his meeting with Kiir, Guterres reported progress on deploying a regional force under UN command to bolster security in the capital Juba.
Rwanda is poised to send troops and helicopters in a first wave of deployment expected in March or April while Ethiopia is also preparing to contribute forces.
But Kenya has yet to schedule talks on their contribution to the 4,000-strong force and a dispute over the force's presence at the Juba airport is unresolved, the report said.
South Sudan remains a divisive issue at the Security Council after the United States failed in December to win support for an arms embargo and sanctions.
Russia, China, Japan and Egypt were among the countries that voted against a US-drafted resolution, arguing that punitive action would antagonize South Sudan's leaders and further dampen prospects for peace.
Council diplomats point to the success by West African leaders in pushing Gambia's leader Yahya Jammeh to abide by election results and cede power as proof that regional pressure can achieve results.
After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than three million people displaced.
There is growing alarm over the humanitarian crisis in the country where more than six million people -- half of South Sudan's population -- are in need of urgent aid.
Abidjan (AFP) - The United States is increasingly worried about pirate attacks off West Africa and is committed to helping countries bolster security in the region, a US diplomat said Tuesday.
At least 27 attacks on boats, including robberies, kidnappings or failed attempts, have occurred off the West Africa coast since April, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Off Africa's east coast however -- a former hotbed of pirate activity notably based in Somalia -- only two attacks have been reported in the period.
"Creating .. national strategies for maritime security is an essential first step," said Andrew Haviland, charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan.
He was speaking at the opening of a US-organised conference on sea security attended by officials from 15 African countries that runs through Friday.
Countries along the Gulf of Guinea stretching from Senegal to Angola have been trying to cooperate on improving maritime security, but they have limited resources for pursuing pirates.
"So we need legal frameworks in our own countries and with our neighbours... in order to bring criminals to justice," Haviland said.
More than 40 African countries pledged to step up the fight against piracy at a summit meeting in Lome, Togo, in October.
The United States will support these efforts through its Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, financed by the US Defense Department.
World piracy has been on the decline since 2012 after international naval patrols were launched off East Africa in response to a spate of violent assaults by Somali-based pirates and others.
The number of pirate attacks off Nigeria rose from 14 in 2015 to 36 last year, the International Maritime Bureau said last month.
Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited The Gambia on Tuesday, where he hailed the arrival of a new government and its bid to rejoin the Commonwealth group of former British colonies.
Johnson met President Adama Barrow and Interior Minister Mai Fatty to reset ties with the impoverished West African nation after years of tension with former president Yahya Jammeh.
The visit was his first to Africa as Britain's top diplomat, becoming the first British foreign minister to visit The Gambia since it gained independence in 1965.
His talks with Barrow cemented moves by The Gambia to rejoin the Commonwealth, Johnson told journalists.
"President Barrow is determined to take Gambia back to the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth is ready to welcome Gambia back," Johnson said, vowing to do whatever possible to "speed up" the process.
In a video message posted on Johnson's Twitter account after the meeting, he celebrated the British embassy soon becoming a High Commission to reflect The Gambia's return to the Commonwealth fold.
Jammeh frequently railed against Britain's colonial rule of the tiny nation and withdrew his nation from the Commonwealth in 2013, calling it "an extension of colonialism".
By contrast, Barrow worked as a security guard in Britain when he was younger and has made no secret of his wish to rekindle ties.
The foreign secretary has hailed the December elections that saw Barrow unseat Jammeh from 22 years in power, saying they "highlight the continuing strengthening of democracy in West Africa".
In his video message, Johnson praised the arrival of the Barrow administration: "They got rid of a guy who was really holding things up, and they will take the country forward."
Britain to support justice reform
During his visit the foreign secretary also said tackling the migration crisis was "something that is absolutely vital for Europe as much as Africa," in a nation that accounts for more citizens per capita taking boats across the Mediterreanan to Italy than any other.
A video grab made from The Block Tv Gambia footage shows British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (C) arriving for a meeting in Banjul on February 14, 2017
Johnson additionally promised support for justice reform in The Gambia, after the new government declared it would overhaul its prisons after shocking footage was released of conditions inside.
A British special advisor will be appointed to aid the justice ministry and attorney-general as The Gambia reforms a sector tarred by allegations of rights abuses, a diplomatic source told AFP.
Fatty led a tour of The Gambia's Mile Two prison on Monday for local journalists that revealed concrete cells in almost complete darkness where prisoners were living in squalor, and apologised on camera for the conditions.
The Gambia has just notified the United Nations it will rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), reversing another controversial Jammeh move from last year.
Controversial comments
Johnson's trip to The Gambia followed his history of controversy with Britain's former territories in Africa.
In a news column published in 2002, Johnson characterised the Commonwealth as having "crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies," to welcome Queen Elizabeth II, using a derogatory term for black people that caused outrage.
He also parodied reaction to Tony Blair's arrival in Congo saying that "the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down".
The comments came back to haunt him when he ran for London mayor in 2008, and then again when he was named foreign secretary last year after Britain's shock Brexit vote.
Gambian journalists had questions vetted for a brief press conference with Barrow in The Gambia and could not question him about the comments, they told AFP.
In a show of confidence in the Gambian tourist industry, which is dominated by British sunseekers, Johnson took a commercial flight to Banjul, and also met with Tourism Minister Hamat Bah.
Britain could help develop the tourism sector to help give Gambians greater economic security with Britain's help, Johnson said.
Tourists were flown out of the country en masse in January after Jammeh declared a state of emergency when he lost the election to Barrow but refused to stand down.
On Wednesday morning, Johnson will head to Ghana to meet President Nana Akufo-Addo and visit the Blue Skies company, a juice-maker which has received financial support from Britain.
15.02.2017 LISTEN
In this day and age many Ghanaian children study under trees where they are constantly exposed to the elements.
Many a child who is just fortunate to study in brick-and-mortar classrooms does so in deathtrap.
Those six unfortunate children who died recently, those several others who unfortunately died yesteryear, just yesterday, all did sosadlyin what seemed like rejected ectopic pregnancies of cold deathtraps and sweltering slave ships that also pass for authentic brick-and-mortar classrooms.
Yet we know who the slimy perpetrators of these heinous crimes are, these shameless and hypocritical moirologists called politicians.
Leadership crises, gross mismanagement of the public purse, institutional corruption, and political wickedness are the grand ghost authors of the mournful, harmful obituaries of these innocent children.
These wicked politicians have taken to writing the obituaries of innocent Ghanaian children even before they are born, burying the future of these children in the ashes of bitterness.
And yet these shameless, wicked politicians build strings of castles and mansions to the tune of tens of millions of dollarsfor themselves.
And yet these shameless, wicked politicians buy a fleet of expensive cars for themselves.
They even steal some of these expensive cars for their private use.
Yes, the taxpayers money, that is itthe secret to the material success of political mortician.
The wicked politicians growing fat at the expense of the taxpayer. This is to say, the taxpayers hard-earned money foots the humongous bills of his childrens premature and preventable deaths, such as happened in the case of the six childrentheir angelic souls should rest in peace rather than in piecesand others orchestrated obituaries at the hands of the politician, and the like.
The wicked politician is indeed a bloodsucker, a scheming leech with an effective scolex. The alleged discerning taxpayer, we are consistently told, knows the politician inside out and yet he goes all the way to vote the same politician into officeyear in, year out.
For instance, maintenance cost for the fleet of cars kept at the presidency and the fuel for this fleet of cars, Oh Ghana, are borne by the poor hardworking taxpayer.
While the taxpayer grows anorexic on account of his political immaturity and ignorance, while expectant mothers cry out for medications and beds, while the nations networks of rutty and rusty and unmotorable roads continue to remain highly accessible burial grounds for citizens, while open defecation elevates Ghana to the seventh dirtiest country on the planet, while unemployment and institutional corruption gnaw at the soul of the nation, these wicked sybaritic politicians continue to live extravagantly while feeding the citizenry on fact lies.
In fact the taxpayer is totally lost in the misty dustiness of abject ignorance. The wicked politician, on the other hand, is a dead wood in the thick of absolute coldness and, as well, floating in the limbo of stupidity and, once again, this, as far as his lack of scientific and technocratic grasp of the intricacies of nation-building building is concerned.
Why wont both then be caught up in the quagmire of accelerated arrested development? The taxpayer is afraid of, and thus stands in absolute awe of the redoubtable political superstition built around the all-powerful politician, the ruling class.
Now, we are being told that the descendants of those who vigorously yet avowedly resisted or campaigned against independence for the Gold Coast are going to spend millions to celebrate Ghanas sixtieth anniversary.
The [email protected] logo which Akufo-Addo unveiled recently is being linked to another shameful act of international plagiarismallegedly, and this, coming after the infamous international plagiarism vis-a-vis his inaugural speech.
Scheming, clueless Akufo-Addo says corporate Ghana in particular will provide the funds for the anniversary.
Oh yes, the man is not clueless after all. He actually knows what he is doing.
Payback time to party loyalists and financiers, we guess! The National Democratic Party (NDC) did it. Vicious circle! Politics of equalization! And so the New Patriotic Party must also do it.
And when two elephants fight, the grass-taxpayer suffers dearly and bears the brunt of the elephantine tussle.
Why corporate Ghana in particular?
What terms define this quid pro quo? In other words what does corporate Ghana stand to gain?
Which specific entities within corporate Ghana are going to foot the bill for the anniversary?
Are their names going to be made accessible to the public?
And the issue of conflict of interest: Are these entities affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in any way?
Did they contribute to Akufo-Addos campaign?
Will the government award them sole-source or no-bid contracts in exchange for footing the bill for the anniversary?
Transparency and accountability and probity should guide this controversial decision of asking corporate Ghana to provide the funds for the anniversary.
For this is not the time to turn our fragile open-defecation democracy into or entrench the politics of the belly, prebendalism, crony capitalism, and kleptomaniacal corruption.
Do we know that in our beloved country, as in hell, corporate Ghana is the insensitive politicians partner-in-crime, an underground economy that deals in and warehouses reprobate public corruptocrats, political criminals and murderous thieves?
In Ghana more particularly, thus, the Orwellian doublespeak of the political or ruling class threatens to contaminate the moral fabric of society, for better or for worse.
You look up, when the politician decrees otherwise. Such is the trendy character of political realism in Ghanaian politics.
Property-owning democracy for social democracy!
Social democracy for property-owning democracy!
Political thieves and criminals are celebrities and saints and angels.
Celebrities and saints and criminals are political thieves and criminals.
In Ghanaian politics the end always justifies the means.
In Ghanaian politics correlation does always imply causation.
Mahama for Akufo-Addo.
Akufo-Addo for Mahama.
The same nauseating local stench, nothing changes.
Though the political and ideological colors are in plain white and black, there exist no nuances between our pied open-democracy, there exist no subtleties in the stale sandwich we call schadenfreude duopoly.
The Ghanaian politician who feels he is invisible and untouchable and redoubtable, and is over the moon so long as he succeeds in wrecking havoc on his country, is also an epitome of mediocrity, stupidity and shame, and a disgrace to human intelligence.
The Ghanaian politician is undeserving of human society, a threat to human civilization and moral decency, and thus he must be banished from any civilized society. His political mind falls outside the responsible profile of moral quantum, a fixture of his mental landscape antithetical to the progressive profile of transparency, accountability and probity.
The Ghanaian politician is therefore an endangered species that must be forced into extinction, into perpetual retirement, just so he will no longer pose a threat to himself and his society.
The national flag:
He has reduced green to a desert.
He has turned yellow, the gold, to foreign interests on the cheap.
He has turned the black star over to internal colonialism and economic slavery.
He has turned red into tears of blood for those citizens perpetually trapped in a vicious circle of social-economic hardship.
The national flag he has turned into a used toilet paper!
REFERENCES
Ghanaweb. [email protected] Celebration To Cost GHC20m. February 10, 2016.
UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, will land in Accra on Wednesday February 15, 2017 for talks with President Nana Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House.
A statement by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, says the two leaders will hold discussions aimed at boosting the already strong bilateral relations that exist between Ghana and the United Kingdom, and other matters of mutual interest.
While in Ghana, Mr. Johnson will visit some notable companies, including fruit processing company, Blue Skies.
He will also meet business leaders and young entrepreneurs in Ghana, supported by the Department for International Developments ENGINE project, and meet with Rising Black Stars highlighting both countries extensive cultural ties, said a statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.
The UK Foreign Secretary will also meet with The Gambias new President Adama Barrow as part of moves to ensure that the "Global Britain and its partnerships are growing and not shrinking, around the world as demonstrated by the Commonwealths strength, said the statement from the Commonwealth Office.
Ahead of the visit, the UK Foreign Secretary is quoted as saying he is "delighted to be the first Foreign Secretary to visit Gambia this week and delighted to have a chance to meet the newly elected President Barrow and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana. Their elections highlight the continuing strengthening of democracy in West Africa.
I am also very pleased that Gambia wants to rejoin the Commonwealth and we will ensure this happens in the coming months. The strength of our partnerships show that Global Britain is growing in influence and activity around the world, the statement quoted Mr Johnson.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | [email protected]
This piece of writing is dedicated to Dorcas Blutty, an avid reader of my works. A cursory glance at the education system of Ghana brings about many questions to memory.
As the first African country to the south of the Sahara to gain political independence from colonial rule in 1957, one will be tempted to believe that the education system of Ghana is one of the best in the continent of Africa.
The education system of Ghana is in a sorry state. I dare say that Ghanas education system is backward looking, primitive and still responding to colonial needs.
Ghana is said to be independent but many things and systems in Ghana are still dependent and responding to colonial needs. Our education system is still tied to the apron-strings of the colonial masters.
The school of the British nearby Cape Coast and the Danish school at the Christiansburg castle at Accra at the colonial era aimed at training children in what is commonly known as the 3Rs (reading, arithmetic and writing) and also to inculcate religion in the indigenous people.
The primary purpose of this type of education was to prepare them for employment in the European commercial enterprises on the coast.
It was solely to prepare them to occupy and be able to carry out
official duties while students learned how to read and write.
Long after our colonial leaders have left the shores and borders of
Africa, there has not been any significant improvement either than learning how to read and write.
After a man is been taught how to fish, does he then fishes all day without catching any fish? Nkrumah foresaw this in 1961 and decided to establish the University of Science and technology.
But as I write this piece, the school is nothing good to write home about in terms of science and technology.
Its students in the field of Engineering cant even boast of a bicycle. One cannot even tell if it was built solely for science and
technology or for humanities.
The education system of Ghana to a large extent, teaches one what to think and not how to think says Allan K. Buah. The school system in Ghana imposes an archaic and regimented lifestyle on its students thereby not allowing them to be innovative.
They are not allowed to explore their immediate surroundings. Formulae that were formulated by some ancient people like Archimedes in the field of science and Adams smith in the field of economics are still used in teaching meanwhile, new events are happening around us every blessed second.
Martin Luther king jnr. once retorted that the aim of education is to teach one to think critically and extensively The education system in Ghana can be compared to students in a frantic
race who are learning with a frantic haste.
The average student has acquired the habit of always searching for answers to questions but funnily enough, they turn out to
forget the questions when the answers to the questions are found.
This is due to the unnecessary pressure the system gives to its
students.
The excellent student in Ghana is therefore left with no other choice but to resort to the C.P.F method of learning thus chew, pour and forget.
For years, students have been victimized by the type of education system in Ghana. The student is therefore blamed at the
long run if he is not able to perform in his respective field of work.
There are tentacles of fear closed around the education system of Ghana. Unlike the Spartans system of education, the education system of Ghana has no clear philosophy.
The Spartans had a clear philosophy when it comes to education. The Spartans believed in a life of discipline, simplicity and self-
denial.
The purpose of education in ancient Sparta was to produce an army. This clear philosophy saw the segregation of strong and healthy babies from the unhealthy babies.
This practice was done right at birth. The healthy and strong babies were then assigned to a brotherhood or a sisterhood where they were been forged into fierce soldiers
The Spartans had a clear philosophy which stated that their education should be based on training children to acquire basic skills for battle.
They believed that healthy women were capable of producing
healthy babies. So their women were taught basic battle skills, gymnastics and physical education.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Without mincing words, Myles Munroe once stated that where purpose is not known abuse is inevitable. For there to be reformation in the educational system of Ghana, the following should be noted.
1. The education system in Ghana should have a clear philosophy. This philosophy will state the calibre and breed of people we want to produce as a nation.
2. The educational Act of 1966 should be amended to make
education autonomous. I am of the view that our economy can do well if the necessary steps are taken to eradicate the problems plaguing our educational system.
Education in Ghana should not wholly be entrusted to the care of government since some policy makers are not able to make
informed choices. They may be in such offices by virtue of their
political affiliation so most of their choices will be for them to gain cheap political popularity.
3. The students who are major stakeholders of education should be made to have a say in our system of education. It should not
always be controller-robot relationship.
By this, I do no mean to promote disdainful manners on the part of the students. There is always a clear difference between respect and fear.
Unfortunately, most instructors in the Ghana, create
an avenue for them to look fearful instead of been respected by the students.
4. We should improve upon the 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic). The question we should ask ourselves is what is next after a student is able to read and write? we should live above just learning how to read and write.
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana.
The Writer Is A Student Of The
University Of Cape Coast
The Director, Water, Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH) Mr. Emmanuel Addae, has called on all actors in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector in Ghana to reposition themselves in order to surmount the funding challenges in the sector as well as partner with the Government to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water and sanitation by 2030.
Mr. Addae said the theme: Repositioning CSOs towards achieving the WASH SDGs: The Role of Sector Partners was apt and appropriate for this years Mole Conference, especially the challenging times the sector finds itself now.
According to Mr. Addae, realizing the need to reposition the WASH sector means that, there was an admission that the sector was not well positioned now and that there was the urgent need for actors in the WASH sector to strategize effectively to ensure that they put their feet in firm ground and to do that, required the sector to forge stronger relationships with the Government. We have to find out whether our relationship with Government is good enough, are we transparent? Are we accountable? Are we diligent in what we do? and do we provide data even for our own parent organization and for that matter the Government, I believe these are some of the questions we need to ask ourselves as we reposition the ourselves, Mr. Addae emphasized.
Mr. Addae who was speaking at the 27TH Edition of the Mole Conference on 22ND November, 2016 at Big Ada in Greater Accra Region, explained that, Ghana is currently implementing the SDGs and the success of its implementation required the collective efforts of all sector actors including CONIWAS. Our dear country achieved was able to achieve the SDG on water and I can say, we were among a few in sub-Saharan Africa that achieved this feet, we therefore that we can rely on CONIWAS to help the Government to achieve the SDGs on water come 2030, Mr. Addae added.
On dwindling funding for the WASH sector, the Director, Water, charged sector actors to make cost benefit allowance for every funding they received from donors as well as ensure that their projects are of great use to the people they serve.
He said resource allocation for the WASH sector has been dwindling for several reasons, one of which he cited is Ghanas current status as a lower middle income country and as a result of that donors are now turning their attention to other least developed countries and that Mr. Addae added posed a great challenge to the sector.
In view of that, Mr. Emmanuel Addae urged stakeholders at this years Mole Conference to make cogent suggestions and strategies that would effectively mitigate the challenges in the short term and combat the challenges in the longer term.
On the Water Sector Strategic Plan, the Director, Water, of the MWRWH indicated the plan was being rolled out and it was proper for stakeholders in the sector to actively partake in its implementation as well as enable them to consort as they plan for water activities in the coming years.
Mr. Emmanuel Addae, however, expressed disquiet about Ghanas poor performance in the SDGs on sanitation, despite the strong showing the country put up in the area of water and said water and sanitation was intertwine and therefore appealed to stakeholders to put their wheels to the shoulders to ensure that Ghana achieved its objectives in sanitation by the year 2030.
Mr. Emmanuel Addae, who officially declared the conference opened called on participants to deliberate and work towards issues that will ensure that, Ghana does not only achieve its water for all policy, but improve sanitation and hygiene by 2025.
The President of the National Association of Graduate Teacher, Christian Addae-Poku has lauded President Akufo-Addo's drive to fully implement the free Senior High School Policy in September this year and described it as long overdue.
According to him, the initiative will give more underprivileged students who hitherto couldn't afford the cost of Senior High School education a new lease of life and propel them to become better persons in society.
"As a teacher, l know the trauma students go through when they are sacked out of the classroom for nonpayment of fees. I know how students are destructed and psychological affected when they come to school on empty stomach. This policy will take these burdens off and motivate students to be more focused," Mr. Addai-Poku posited.
Oh his part, every student anywhere in Ghana irrespective of their background whether rich or poor should have equal access to quality education.
Speaking on 'State of Affairs' on GhOne TV, the President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, King Ali Awudu also added that the free SHS policy if successfully implemented will make education a right to all and change the public misconception that education is the preserve of the elite in society.
"Admission fees doubled every year, school fees increases and cost of education materials keeps shoring up every now and then. Many students have become school dropouts because of their parents are unable to patronize these things. I'm happy because this going to be giant step to a great change in our educational system," Mr. Ali Awudu stated.
However, his co-panelist, the Head for Centre for Economic, Governance and Political Affairs - IMANI Ghana, Mr. Patrick Stephen expressed worry that though the free SHS policy is good, there is no full policy detail on the program by government to allow for a comprehensive evaluation of the entire scheme.
He also expressed dissatisfaction on how the entire free SHS program has been generalized and wholesaled.
"This policy is good but there ought to have been a proper criteria of identifying underprivileged students who are having challenges of fee payment for them to be catered for. Because obviously there are parents who are not having difficulties at all paying the fees of their wards in school. There should have been a criteria in which parents can demonstrate that they are having difficulty paying their fees before they are sanctioned for this policy package. But the way the system has been cluttered, if we are not careful the rich who will be benefiting from this policy will end up denying the deprived the opportunity to benefit immensely from this fine policy," Mr. Stephenson noted.
For the program to be successful, Mr. Stephenson recommended that previous instances where teachers had to hit the street in demonstration before their salaries are paid ought to be addressed urgently so that teachers will be encouraged to deliver quality tuition.
He also called from a shift in the education model in which students are only taught how to pass examination to a more creative and problem solving approach.
Mr. Addae- Poku emphasized that quality education is important and should be a topmost priority to the government while expanding the infrastructure base to increase enrollment and reward systems to motivate teachers to be more efficient.
He also advised government to ensure timely release of funds for all the things stipulated in the free SHS policy for a smooth takeoff and onward facilitation.
The president of the Coalition for Concerned Techers, Mr. King Ali Awudu recommended a 3-4 year revision of the policy to correct all defaults that might have arisen in the execution of the policy and said his association will keep the government in check to ensure that it does not renege on it promises.
15.02.2017 LISTEN
The DVLA cannot escape the tiger eye lens of the writer. The DVLA is the major contributor and facilitator of road accidents in Ghana. Testing of applicants for driving licenses, can at best be described as non-existent. Car driving tests are done on a quite road somewhere between the 37 DVLA offices in Accra and the Kotoka International Airport. This is the norm across DVLA offices throughout Ghana. Are the applicants going to drive on secluded roads after being issued with their driving licenses?
Ghanaians should count themselves lucky for having a something else kind of car driving test, because there is practically no driving test for applicants wishing to obtain categories C, D, E, and F driving licenses (trucks, articulators and buses). Just apply that you have driven a car for a few years and murdered a few Ghanaians with an AK 47 as a result of the fault of the DVLA in granting you a car license without going through a proper test, and now you feel confident to kill some more, and therefore, you need a sub-machine gun in the form of a truck or a bus license, and hurray, the DVLA is more than happy to issue it upon the payment of an official fee and maybe some unofficial fee on the sidelines! What a travesty of justice!
It is a common sight in the UK to see learners on UK roads being taught the art of driving trucks, articulators and buses, and being practically examined by the UK DVLA for 45 minutes or more on busy streets in town centres and on the highways. But what do we see in Ghana? It is no wonder that, in the UK, Ghanaians who apply to exchange their Ghana drivers licenses for UK drivers licenses, are turned down, and asked to undergo the UK driving test before any drivers license is issued.
This is because, the authorities over there knows that, we have no proper testing regime in Ghana. However, South African drivers licenses, are automatically exchanged for UK drivers license. I dont have to tell you why this is the position.
Another method by which the DVLA contributes extensively to the carnage on our roads, has to do with the examination of vehicles, popularly referred to as roadworthiness examination. The least said about the testing regime of the Ghana DVLA, the better. More than 75% of the vehicles on Ghanas roads, would not pass a UK Ministry of Transport (MoT) vehicle Test.
This is the home of newer vehicles and the testing regime is one of the toughest. Cracked windscreen, tyres with a thread depth below 2mm, defective steering, defective breaks, high exhaust emissions are among the major faults that will lead to a vehicles MoT test failure in the UK.
Applying the exhaust emissions test alone, no Metro Mass Transport (MMT) bus will qualify to be on Ghanas roads. To compound the problem, Metro Mass Bus drivers take delight in depressing the accelerator when meeting oncoming traffic, just to spray the occupants of the oncoming vehicle with exhaust smoke.
All Metro Mass Buses emits their smoke on the offside of the vehicle, popularly called driver side in Ghana. If a public transport operator fails to keep its vehicles in a roadworthy condition, and is allowed to operate with impunity by all the stakeholders, then what right has the state got to properly supervise private transport operators?
It appears the managers at the DVLA have no clue as to how to make our roads safer. Under normal circumstances, the DVLA managers would have resigned long time ago. It is clear that, the DVLA managers cannot do the job assigned them.
There is no day in Ghana today, that there is no report of an accident resulting in needless deaths, and it is mostly head-on-collision, resulting from wrongful overtaking (inappropriately referred to by a section of the media as failed overtaking) or a failed breaking system, a burst tyre, or oncoming vehicle ramming into stationary traffic. These are some of the major causes of accidents on our roads, and what is the DVLA doing to solve these problems?
Absolutely nothing! And they are allowed to keep their jobs! What an insult to a majority of Ghanaians! Has deaths and injuries arising from accidents increased or decreased since the current head of the DVLA assumed office? Just this Saturday the 11th of February 2017, about ten (10) people lost their lives in the Western Region arising from an accident, and no one is being held responsible! Does a Ghanaian life really matter?
To be continued, Insha Allah!!
Alhassan Salifu Bawah (Lecturer)
School of Administration
University of Education, Winneba
[email protected]
15.02.2017 LISTEN
We the above group extend our warmest greetings to the leadership of the new patriotic party.
Today is a day of love and its our prayers that our love for everyone increases just as our love for our dear party shall increase always even in the midst of disappointment just as we find ourselves.
We are appealing to the President of the republic to appoint Dr NSIAH ASARE as NHIA boss to thank the grassroots in the Ashanti region.
We are very certain about Dr NSIAH ASARE simply because of his time and understanding for TESCON duties and his constant presence at our meetings, says volumes about his love for grassroot works notwithstanding his financial commitment towards our programs and projects.
His role in the mammoth pre-election demonstrations organised in the region as well as rural campaign leading to our maximizing of votes from the remote areas as compared to previous years shows his commitment and loyalty towards party works.
The appointment of Dr NSIAH ASARE as NHIA boss will be a major morale booster for grassroot works, the teaming supporters, youth in the region and ultimately, Ghana as a whole due to his in-depth knowledge and experience in the health sector.
We pray our petition fall on good soil and yield fruits.
....Signed...
John Kwaku Odoom,
0245172697
Francis Oppong
.0249347220
Richard Sarpong
O240431289
15.02.2017 LISTEN
Why do politicians in Ghana keep passing laws when the existing ones can not even be implemented and enforced? do people in the legislature want us to feel that they are working and as such deserve their fat remunerations and side kicks. just now, the president has appointed a new minister of environment and if nothing is accomplished at all, I expect this new minister to achieve two things that are bothering me and a lot of young Ghanaians. These two important issues are: 1. The indiscriminate construction of buildings in streets and on water ways in our cities especially Accra. 2. Recovery of our water bodies and our lost forests.
I really do not know if it is laziness, incompetence, corruption, fear to do their job or a combination of these factors that allow people who are paid to make sure that Accra is properly planned and developed to standard sit and watch whilst people build in earmarked streets and on water ways. What the heck is going on in Ghana? people who think they have money can just do anything and everything they want with impunity. what kind of cities are we developing? cities where some residents can not even drive a simple car to their homes. this is insane.
Recently I was in Ghana, Janaury this year to be precise, my previous visit was in May of last year and within the seven months period, somebody who thinks he has all the money in this world had put up a building in the middle of the street leading to my house in Kwabenya( behind the ICGC chapel at Dromo Plaza) such that a big 20 feet road has been reduced to about 8 feet at the point where the building stands. when I asked why that insanity was allowed to go on, I was told soldiers were standing by wacthing and giving cover whiles that illegality was going on day and night until the building was roofed. I do not know whether I should call this insanity or militalism or "monetocracy" where those with money rule and do what they want. I pray that people living around that strecht or road will organise and set the house ablaze even if that will make all its inhabitants homeless. There is too much lawlessness in Ghana and the sooner something is done about it the better it would be for all of us.
It is my humble appeal to authorities responsible for Accra's development that all buildings found in streets and on water ways be pulled down at their owners expense. This will deter others from doing same. There must also be a complete ban on the activities of illegal minning called galamsey in order to bring sanity into our environment so that our dried up rivers and all the polluted ones could regain their past glories for that poor village dweller to have his/her livelihood back. why do we sit and watch the destruction of our environment in the name of mining? Are the few millions of dollars we get now more important than the billions of dollars we could save with healthy environment? where are our leaders and what are they doing in this whole saga?
Now the water table is sinking lower and lower and boreholes have to be deeper and deeper to supply perenial water, however, if we do not stop and reverse the degradation of our environment, sooner than later, we should not be surprised if we spend hard earned currency to import drinking water into Ghana. The youth of Ghana must rise to defend the land if the grown ups would not do it. after all posterity belongs to the youth and they should not sit unconcerned whiles the greedy adults of today destroy their future.
Ghana must sit up and begin to correct some of these wrongs that are going on in the country otherwise the next uprising would be worst than the Arab spring. God save Ghana and May God save the poor and vunerable people who can not seek reddress in courts. A country that can not protect its poor and weak citizens is not worth living in.
Benjamin Opoku Agyepong
15.02.2017 LISTEN
The mention of Rapture often sends shivers down the spine of many Christians. But I think its related names ---Apocalypse, End time, Last Judgement and Armageddon evoke more fear. When I was a kid I dreaded the word Armageddon. I dont know whats in that name, it sounds too frightening.
Anyway, I thought I was the only one but a friend told me he used to have similar phobia. His was Last Judgement.
I used to be upset anytime I heard Last Judgment, he said.
Its like waiting for ones HIV test result or DNA of your kids. Indeed, end time predictions have been of old. But perhaps to say theyve been driving many believers to nut is an understatement.
Like before those seeking prophetic answers havent stopped and those prophesying wouldnt stop either, as long as their services continue to attract huge numbers and interests. Im not a preacher you already know that. I dont preach to the choir or the congregation youre aware of that too. That gives you the sense that I have no sheep on my own. And I tender no flocks.
Rather I help to propagate the good news given by the preachers, teachers, pastors and evangelists to their flocks. The Bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge. Of course we need His word to live, but some prophets are using the same word as a sword to kill the sheep per their predictions.
So just like any other caring person I inform the flocks to be warry when they are out there. I help them to know what to expect when theyre in the wilderness pasturing or looking for their daily bread. And I also try to allay the fear being preached to them across the world today.
Over the weekend a pastor in Ghana weighed into the subject. Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams had a piece of advice for the world especially Christians. He literally told them something like this:
Why open your doors to any prophets to speak unto your lives? Why are you desperate looking for times and seasons for the rapture when the Son of Man himself says hes no idea except the father? Why find solutions when there are no problems to begin with? Why are you running like a camel on heat in the desert ---chasing prophets for answers they dont have?
Dont allow people to confuse you with their Shebrew (sounding witty), Hebrew and Latin. Dont allow any prophet to prophesy unto you and tell you that you will make it or not make it. That prophet/prophetess may or may not make it himself so dont let anybody fool you, he charged.
The tough talking pastor used his pulpit to drill down the message to a large congregation at the Charismatic Action Chapel International Ministry in Accra. The Founder and Overseer of the mega Church advised Christians never to allow prophets to prophesy unto their lives on whether they will make it or not during rapture.
He was speaking about the Second Coming of Christ also known as the Rapture.
The Bishop warned the congregation to be wary of the prophets who give their own interpretations of the rapture. You are going to meet lots of teachers, prophets, evangelists and archbishops who will give you their own view of the rapture and the second coming.
According to him Christians can be deceived: I dont care how long you have been a born again you can be deceived and Satan can fool you.
So what is Rapture?
In Christian eschatology the Rapture refers to the predicted and end time event when all Christians, believersliving and deadwill rise into the sky and join Christ for eternity.
Thered been predictions and claims in the past and now--- for the Second Coming of Christ. And there are some predictions given by notable groups or individuals, including Pope Sylvester II of when Jesus was or is expected to return.
As far back as AD 66-70 the Essene sect of Jewish ascetics saw the Jewish revolt against the Romans in Judea as the final end-time battle before the arrival of the Messiah. The claim was made by Simon Bar Giora.
Also a French Bishop Hilary of Poitiers announced that the world would end in AD 365 or before AD 400. Hilary wrote: Theres no doubt that the Antichrist has already been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will after reaching maturity achieve supreme power. His claim was backed by another French Martin of Tour.
In 1370 Jean Roquetaillade made this claim: The Antichrist was predicted in 1366 and the millennium would begin in 1368 or 1370. Ove five hundred years on, we are still live.
Harold Camping an American preacher on May 21 2011 claimed the rapture or the end time would occur followed by the end of the world on October 21 of the same year. Camping wrote Adam when? and claimed the Biblical calendar meshes with the secular and is accurate from 110o13 BC-2011 AD. But that never happened.
On September 28 2015, there was yet another prediction. This one by Mark Bilz who began teaching that Christs return would correspond with the September 28, 2015 lunar eclipse. Thank Goodness s we are still here.
So now you know this rapture thing just didnt start today. Thered been many signs. Thered been wars, thered been floods, thered been famine, and thered been wild fires. Thered been killer diseases like the bubonic plague (aka the black disease) which almost wiped the entire population of Europe. Indeed the world had seen worse things before.
And humanity has lived with prophesies for ages. We have had prophets prophesied in our lives both in a good or bad way.
Lets have a quick look at the following two biblical examples where prophets prophesied unto the lives of some individuals:
As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army. Every man to his town: Every man to his land, (1 king 22: 36). Ahab had been killed the king of Israel is dead. And the people ran helter skelter. His death followed a prophecy given by Prophet Micaiah.
Micaiah had told King Ahab that he would die in a battle against his enemies Ramoth Gilead, The prophecy was made after nearly four hundred prophets of the king had said he would be victorious. But Ahabs brother Jehoshaphat king of Judah asked: Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?
Did you catch that line neighbour? Who are you seeing, the Lords prophet or the self-styled prophet?
So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsnumbering about 400 and asked them: shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?
Go they answered, for the Lord will give it into the kings hand.
Ahab died in the war. He couldnt make it back home. Remember 400 prophets prophesied that he would return home as a victor.
Youre going to meet lots of teachers, prophets, evangelists and Archbishops who will give you their own view of the rapture and the second coming, said Duncan-Williams.
Another prophecy is told in the Old Testament. The Shunamite woman in the Bible had a prophecy from Prophet Elisha (2 kings 4:8) At this season about this time next year you shall embrace a son.
No my Lord, O man of God do not lie to your servant, the woman said.
But she conceived and bore a son about that time the following spring as Elisha had said that she would have a child after many years of being barren and she did have a child.
Keep in mind no one knows the date for the Rapture or the End time except the God.
The Susanna Wesley Mission Auxiliary (SUWMA), a ladies association of the Ghana United Wesley Methodist church in Woodbridge, Virginia, has donated assorted items to the Bridgepoint hospital on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
BridgePoint Hospital is a facility which provides care for patients requiring longer hospitalizations in post-acute care settings.
As part of their social responsibility to the community the group donated toiletries and sanitary cleaning materials and socks to the hospital.
Mrs. Florence Agyemang the president of the group said one of the main aims of the group, is to take good care of the poor and needy in society. it is part of our aim to embark on visitations to prisons, the sick, and the aged as such SUWMA branches all over the world have been involved in similar gestures to their various communities
Rev. Emmanuel Nkrumah who accompanied the group offered prayers for the sick and encouraged them to be of good hope . The presentation was made by Rev. Emmanuel Nkrumah with the Executives, patrons and members of SUWMA.
A Hospital Representative at Bridgepoint Hospital who received the items expressed the Hospitals appreciation for such a loving and kind gesture by the Womens group.
The Ghana United Wesley Methodist Church is located on 1400 G Street in Woodbridge. Virginia. In 2013 a local branch of The Susanna Wesley Mission Auxiliary (SUWMA) was inaugurated with the following aims and objectives
To endeavor to enlist all those women who are not members of any women's organization. To instill in the members the spirit of Holiness and Godly living both at home and in the Church and Society. To enable members to most attention to nurture of children in the Church. To assist in the Decoration of Chapel or Church premises and Mission House To embark on visitations to prisons, the sick, the aged. To assist in the training and welfare of Ministers in the Church. To embark upon literacy education among women who can neither read nor write.
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Suwma
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Ab05389f-1483-4d60-b4e3-bcea2ea5ced6
The Chairman of the 60th Independence Anniversary Planning Committee, Mr Ken Amankwah, has unveiled the 'I Pledge' campaign to Ghanaians in support of the country's Diamond Jubilee celebration and mobilising for the nation's future.
The rationale for the campaign, Mr Amankwah explained, was to rally all Ghanaians to play a role in nation building.
Before we can work together, we first need to commit to something that we all believe in. The pledge campaign encourages all Ghanaians to be supportive of the government and the country, he explained when he addressed a news conference at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
He also unveiled a detailed programme of activities for the first phase of the year-long celebration, which started from February 9, 2017 with an evening with the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during which he hosted Corporate Ghana and also unveiled the logo for the anniversary.
The first phase is expected to end on March 12, 2017 with a festival by the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).
Key activities
Throwing light on some key activities for the period, Lord Commey, the Chairman of the Sub-committee on Events, said there would be the launch of a Jubilee Technology Start-up Challenge for the many talented young Ghanaians whose innovations never saw the light of day because of lack of funding.
He said the competition would unveil innovations that boosted governance, business, health, education and other areas.
This will be a competition to unearth talented innovators whose innovations will accelerate some strand of Ghana's development, he said.
Tales from yesteryears, a documentary featuring older people recounting their experiences and memories of the pre-independence struggle, independence and the post-independence era, would also be running on television.
Entrepreneur challenge
Lord Commey said a Jubilee Youth Entrepreneur Challenge would also be launched, predicated on the difficulty young people faced in raising capital and which prevented them from fully realising their potential.
The challenge would solicit business ideas from young people across the country and reward the most-likely-to-be- profitable ideas, he said.
There would also be a lecture on the theme: Mobilising for Ghana's future, to herald a series of nationwide lectures outlined for the year-long programme.
Appeal to businesses
Lord Commey announced that there would be a national flag-draping campaign and appealed to businesses, as part of their corporate responsibility, to adopt the major roads near their offices and decorate them with flags, buntings, balloons and lights.
There would be a night of choral music, the highlight of which would be the launch by the National Symphony Orchestra of a rendition of the National Anthem using only local instruments, he added.
He said the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) would mount a photo exhibition depicting the colonial times, in view of which the board would transform parts of the Christianborg Castle, the former seat of government at Osu, into a museum space.
Legacy Project
Lord Commey said Ghana had had nine Presidents since independence but not much was displayed anywhere about them, except the country's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
As part of the celebration, he said, there would be the inauguration of a Presidential Museum which would be a legacy project to celebrate the country's former leaders and also the 60th anniversary of the GMMB, which falls on February 5.
There would also be the 'Know Your Ghana' campaign, a domestic tourism campaign spearheaded by the Presidency, which would be launched at the photo exhibition, he added.
He explained that when the perpetual flame was lit on Independence Day, a torch would also be lit using the flame.
Relay torch for all regions
This torch will embark on a relay throughout the whole of Ghana, region by region, and return to its starting point on March 6, 2018. Chiefs, opinion leaders, local celebrities and Ghanaians from all walks of life will be part of this relay, he said.
He said the President would, within the period, cut the sod for the Presidential Legacy Project, while there would be the Masqueraders' Festival and the National Festival on Culture where each region would be given an opportunity to showcase a part of its culture that was unique.
The Chairman of the Media Sub-committee, Mr Jefferson Sackey, throwing more light on the 'I Pledge' Campaign, said it would create awareness of the many things that Ghanaians could do differently to help raise the flag of the country higher.
The campaign, he said, aimed at spreading a broad change in attitude or mindset in all parts of the country with the view to getting the citizenry to pledge their support to help build a desirable nation.
ANGOLA The Steuben County Economic Development Corp. has announced that its Tuesday, Feb. 21, board meeting will be open to the public.
Tuesdays board meeting will be held at 3 p.m. at the Steuben County Enterprise Center, 907 S. Wayne St.
The SCEDC had intended to hold a public meeting in January but canceled due to conflicts among board members.
It is the first public meeting of the SCEDC in some 5-6 years when the board changed its bylaws to keep its meetings private.
On Dec. 27, the Indiana Public Access Counselor, a state office, issued an opinion that SCEDC board meetings should be open to the public and its documents be public, unless otherwise provided by statute.
The decision made public on Jan. 4 by Public Access Counselor Luke Britt says due to certain levels of public and governmental funds received by the organization, it could be audited by the State Board of Accounts and therefore falls under the Indiana public access laws. That would include the Open Door Law mandating that meetings of the board of directors be public and the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
The agenda issued by the SCEDC lists a variety of topics to cover, including committee reports, a directors report, an annual meeting update and training update.
There also is a provision for an executive session, To discuss strategy on pending litigation and legal matters, the agenda says.
Under the Indiana Open Door Law, agencies can hold executive sessions to discuss initiation of litigation or litigation that is either pending or has been threatened specifically in writing.
Once again, the Fulani conflict is here with us. This is one annual ritual, which we have failed to deal with in years past. Every year, Fulanis clash with indigenes of some farming communities over the formers inability to control their livestock from wreaking havoc on the latters source of livelihood. For as long as this problem has existed, no permanent solutions have been offered. Not even the usual joint police and military task forces with such hilarious code names as Operation Cow Leg and Operation Drive Cattle from Farms have been able to see a successful elucidation to the menace.
Indeed, the Fulani have been mostly identified to be nomadic. Up until this time, history of their origin is still unknown. Although the Fulani have no recognizable history as an indigenous Ghanaian ethnic group, there are numerous of their kind existing either legally or illegally in our country with some involved in legitimate businesses whiles others are busy soiling the name of the Fulanis. Besides, this is the civilized world of the twenty-first century and not the first century.
And in as much as the human right of Fulani cattle herders to a decent livelihood cannot be either gainsaid or rebutted, nonetheless, such eking out of their existence must not, under any circumstances, be carried out at the expense of the sedentary farmers of the Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Northern, Brong Ahafo and Volta region areas of Ghana which are predominantly the target of assault by these intruders. Whereas interested parties in this canker are voluminous and the long-tailed nature of this menace, a permanent solution is still farfetched.
There are many documented instances, in which our farmwomen with their female ward both adolescents and children are raped brutally with impunity by Fulani cattle herdsmen. There is also the gruesome murder of those men who either protest the raping of their women or the destruction of their crops. At other times, this social misfits set fire to bushes just to allow the grass to sprout for their herd only for the fire to destroy many aches of an underprivileged farmers livelihood. This is prominent during the dry season when pasture becomes a scarce commodity. Anytime one recalls these wanton acts of depravity by the Fulani herdsmen who have gradually acquired the title of a Primitive Predator, there is a violent eruption a desire to retaliate. This is what has been fuelling the conflict between our people and the Fulani cattle herders for the past decade or more.
In time of the belligerence and bellicose posture of the Fulanis, we hear such beautiful statements from the authorities like, the activities of the herdsmen have impacted negatively on the social and economic development of the area and only stringent measures would avert disastrous consequences. But nothing happens afterwards. The glaring lukewarm attitude that authorities have adopted so far, is also not helping matters and if care is not taken, worse than what we have already heard and seen would be perpetuated on innocent farmers and their livelihood. Just like the menace of illegal mining popularly referred to as Galamsey, it has been alleged that some stakeholders such as chiefs, Police and Military commanders and even MMDCEs have acquired the services of these nomads. It is therefore making meting out punishment to offending Fulani cattle herders more twisted than it looks. Could this be the reason why a permanent solution is still farfetched?
Whereas this headache continues to worry our head, there some people who are giving out several perspectives to the menace saying, the Fulanis are Ghanaians and therefore, it would be an illegality to expel them from the country for their unscrupulous activities. Accurate or not, should they use that as a basis to trample upon the economic right of fellow Ghanaians by marauding their cattle on peoples farms?
The Fulanis are traditionally nomads whose activities are largely influenced by such natural forces as water and pasture. Despite they not having any permanent place of habitation, anywhere they step their foot, regardless of wherever it is, they become the Lords instead of subjects and does whatever pleases them. The Ghanaian hand of hospitality extended to these herders is without doubt beyond the reach of where their activities have reached now.
In the heat of the political campaign in 2016, almost all the aspirants pledged a lot of devotion in getting rid of the menace when given the nod. The then aspirant of the NPP and currently the president of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Akuffo Addo gave a strong assurance to the people of Agogo to solve the age-old menace, for the last time. As the days go by, we hope the words of honour would not only be suitable for an election ambience. As His Excellency rightly puts it on the campaign platform, Brazil has a population of 200 million inhabitants and 213 million cattle but is never been heard of to have a problem relating to cattle rearing. It is awful how we are struggling with just the little cattle we have in the country.
The required solutions should include the creation of a grazing/cattle community with requisite needs such as source of water or even the creation of a drought sustainable pond in the community and making sure all herders stay within the perimeters of the community with their cattle in ranches in the same community. This would compel the herdsmen to cultivate hay for serving their animals and completely curtail indiscriminate grazing. If the herders themselves cannot grow the hay, it presents another avenue for other farmers to grow hay for sale.
Additionally, there should be a system for the registration and subsequent licensing of Fulani cattle herders and their cattle. The license, which would be renewable within a reasonable period, would guarantee the tracking of each Fulani herder and also the population of the cattle in the country. Those who would fail deserve nothing but total seizure of their entire cattle and immediate deportation to wherever they came from. As well, the long-standing proposition of a Cattle Ranching Law should be high on the agenda of our Legislators. The mere absence of regulatory legal framework exposes the herders menace to much impunity.
We have had enough from these nomads. It is time to pull out the rotten tooth.
Kpedator Elorm
Teacher, Tokuroano D/A Primary A, Krachi East District
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on numerousoccasions, assured the good people of Northern Region of his commitment to continuous peace under his leadership. Indeed,the latest of such promises was on December 23, 2016, as captured by Paul Achonga Kwode in a Ghana News Agency Report, under the caption Nana Akufo-Addo assures Dagbon of peace and reconciliation.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, then President-elect, assured the chiefs and people of the Dagbon traditional area of totalpeace and reconciliation during his tenure. He said he was not interested in chieftaincy issues, but would work in truth, openness and honesty for the right things to be done. He expressed gratitude to the people of Dagbon for sustaining the peace in the region despite serious fears of turmoil during the 2016 elections. These statements from President Akufo-Addo echoed across the Northern Region of Ghana.
It is devastating to note that, less than two months after he took over as President of the nation, Bimbilla is in crisis. A number of people have lost their lives as a result of the disturbances which took place on the 9th of February, 2017. This is totally unacceptable!
Contrary to the fears expressed by many that the 2016 elections could trigger violence in parts of Northern Region, the elections ended peacefully in the region. One is therefore at loss why less than two months into his administration, there are renewed chieftaincy related crises in the Northern Region, specifically in Bimbilla.
What is even more troubling is the fact that the new Defence Minister, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul, who doubles as Member of Parliament for Bimbilla Constituency, hails from that area. As a representative of the good people of Bimbilla, Hon. Nitiwul has a responsibility and duty, not only to represent them in the decision-making process in Parliament, but also to seek their welfare, which includes their safety.
Moreover, by virtue of being the Defence Minister in the current Government, he is a member of the National Security Council under article 83(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Among others, the functions of the National Security Council include considering and taking appropriate measures to safeguard the internal and external security of Ghana and by extension Ghanaians, as well as ensuring the collection of information relating to the security of Ghana.
Many people are asking the following questions:
i. Did Government pick up any intelligence information onthe sporadic shooting in Bimbilla, which eyewitnessessay lasted for almost 24 hours?
ii. If Government did, what measures did it put in place to prevent the killing of innocent persons?
iii. Can the good people of Bimbilla, and for that matter Northern Region, have confidence and trust in thepronouncements of President Akufo Addo and his Government?
Many people in Bimbilla and parts of the Northern Region are living in fear and insecurity. Since President Akufo-Addo disclosed to Ghanaians that Hon. Dominic Nitiwul would fill the position of Defence Minister, many have questioned his choicegiven the historical conflicts in the region.
As a son of Dagbon and the Northern Region, I am deeply troubled by the unfortunate situation in Bimbilla. I am even more devastated at the loss of lives. Contrary to reports that suggest that three (3) people lost their lives through sporadic shooting, sources on the ground put the number of lives lost at ten (10). Whether three or ten, it is unacceptable! These lives must be properly accounted for. Thorough investigations must be conducted by the security agencies to bring all the perpetrators of these dastardly and barbaric acts to book to serve as deterrents to other trouble causers, under the guise of politics or chieftaincy.
The new Government has a great burden on its shoulders. Many were afraid that an Akufo-Addo led Government would be characterized by conflict in northern Ghana given certain historical antecedents. After all, he who has been bitten by a snake screams when he sees an earthworm. Some say that the current situation in Bimbilla vindicates their fears. I do not seek to bring to remembrance the unfortunate and gruesome acts that took place some time ago, but we cannot pretend to be oblivious of history since history essential guides us from the known to the unknown.
Nana Akufo-Addo has a huge responsibility to ensure the safety, security and protection of every law-abiding Ghanaian no matter the ethnic, religious or political group. Citizens under the same Constitution cannot be governed by different sets of rules and laws. Perpetrators of crime, whether in political, religious orchieftaincy contexts, must be treated as criminals. This is the only way to safeguard and sustain the peace and tranquility bequeathed to the current Government by the Government ofPresident John Dramani Mahama.
As a citizen of Ghana, not a spectator or subject, it is my humble expectation that, the Interior Minister (Hon. Ambrose Dery), National Security Minister (Hon. Kan Dapaah), Minister for Defence and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla (Hon. Dominic Nitiwul) and the Minister for Chieftaincy, together with all the appropriate state security agencies will attach utmost importance to the current situation in Bimbilla the loss of innocent lives and the destruction of property.
Ghanaians were made to believe that the creation of the position of National Security Minister, in addition to the traditional Interior and Defence Ministers, would ensure efficiency in delivery. However, if the reports on Bimbilla are anything to go by, then one can only ponder over the use of the tax-payers money and the safety of Ghanaians under the current administration.
It is not enough for President Akufo-Addo to keep repeating the same rhetoric while hitherto stable situations are now in turmoil. As a Government that holds itself out as the doyens of and believers in the rule of law we, the citizens, expect nothing less than total peace and stability.
by
Baba Musah
Citizen of Ghana
Thank you editor
One of the key reasons for the inauguration of the Ayalolo Transport System late last year was to supplement the efforts of Ghanas commercial transport industry as well as provide time-bound transport services to commuters in Accra.
But four months after its inauguration it appears most commuters in the city are not patronising the services despite the perks that come with riding the Ayalolo buses.
Former President Mahama during the inauguration of the transport system said he believes it is a good initiative that will help Ghanas transport system.
Because we haven't had a good public transport system, a lot of people are forced to use their private vehicles and thats causing a lot of traffic. But if we have neat buses which are nice with air conditions, a lot of people will be tempted to leave their cars at home and ride their buses to work.
A passenger who spoke to Citi Business News on her preference for trotro to the Aayalolo buses attributed her choice to the inconveniences associated with the BRT system.
I do not always use the route the buses use. In addition, the card system is complicated for me considering the kind of work I do and the inconveniences I am likely to face if my credit gets exhausted, she stated.
Listen to full audio report below
Citi Business News' checks reveal that a trip on the Ayalolo bus from Achimota to Circle costs 1 cedi 15 pesewas, Achimota to Ofankor 1 cedi 92 pesewas which is cheaper than the cost of boarding a trotro.
From Achimota to Circle for example, it will cost you 1 cedi 80 pesewas and Achimota to Ofankor 2 cedis 70 pesewas.
Another passenger also explained that his reason for not using the Aayalolo buses is the challenges associated with the validator.
I do not want to use the Aayalolo because it stops at every bus stop and I see it as a waste of time, secondly, I tried to use it once and when I got to my destination and showed the card to the validator, I got a feedback indicating an error.
Apart from being cheaper the ayalolo buses have air condition, free WIFI and a USB charging portal for phones as well as a special lane to avoid traffic.
But Citi Business News' checks into why the buses are not being patronized despite all the advantages show that most people are not conversant with how the bus operates and its routes are very limited.
Also majority of Ayalolo ticketing booths are unattended to making it difficult to purchase tickets.
Public Relation Officer for Aayaolo Fred Chidi tells Citi Business News that they are hopeful patronage will pick up.
Certainly, it's a business venture and you certainly will know that you do not start a business all of a sudden and start to make profits so we are running at a huge cost but eventually we will meet our target. The trend we have established now is if we are able to do toe ridership will increase by sixty passengers per bus so it is encouraging and something that we are determined to make work, so it is just a matter of time.
By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana.
PETITION:
Your Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, the Coalition of Volunteer Groups respectfully and humbly petition your high office to bring to your notice a reminder and also to draw your attention to some concerns raised by volunteers.
The Coalition of Volunteer Groups is a composition of all volunteer groups which are largely made up of those in Greater Accra and other regions across the country. There are more than 145 volunteer groups in Greater Accra which played significant role during the 2016 electioneering period to get the New Patriotic Party elected into power. The overwhelming victory of the NPP in Greater Accra is through the hard work of the committed and loyal volunteers.
Mr. President, the immense work of the various volunteer groups across the country cannot be overemphasized; hence our overwhelming victory in the 2016 general elections across the country is the result of the hard work done by the various volunteer groups. This is an open secret.
Mr. President, this petition is filed in good faith by the group; Coalition of Volunteer Groups (CVG) to communicate to you their concerns. After the elections, the volunteer groups have not seen a comprehensive plan which seeks to offer them job opportunities.
A greater number of us who worked in the various volunteer groups to campaign for the party across the length and breadth of the country which in no doubt, you are a beneficiary of our efforts have not seen any plan which seeks to provide us with jobs, hence the need to petition you to make known to you our genuine concerns to find lasting solution to the concerns raised.
The hearts of many volunteers bleed simply because they put our jobs on line which they lost them in the course of the electioneering process. Those who joined the campaign openly were dismissed from their jobs, but this did not perturb them from campaigning until the Party secured power. As we speak, they are languishing at home without jobs.
Mr. President, it is disheartening to see individuals who openly campaigned against our bid to win power to rule the country, working in the various MDAs. It is indeed disheartening. It is in no doubt that, in 2008 when the NPP lost power for the first time, persons who were tagged to be associated with our noble Party were all dismissed without any compensation or reason or explanation offered, simply because the NDC has won power.
Today the story has changed under your watch. More than a now, NDC Members are still occupying top government positions across the length and breadth of the country. This has created a situation where our own party members cannot find jobs to do. Most of these NDC members who are still occupying positions in the MDAs are without proper qualification and doing everything humanly possible to thwart your efforts to develop the country.
Your Excellency, the work of the volunteer groups need to be recognized since their role will be needed in the 2020 electioneering period to seek a second bid to enable the Party fully deliver on all its promises.
Finally Mr. President, the volunteer groups have confidence in you and trust that you will soon come out with a comprehensive plan to create jobs to enable them have work to do.
Thank you.
Signed on behalf of the group
Teacher Danquah (T.D)
(0508121418)
Spokesperson for the group.
Mawuli Marcel
(0249970097)
Director Of Operations for the group.
15.02.2017 LISTEN
Leading education and technology organizations from Finland and Ghana will come together this month to run creative coding workshops for local students in Accra. The collaboration is part of the CodeBus Africa project, a 100-day tour connecting Finnish and African innovators as part of Finland's official 100th anniversary celebrations.
CodeBus Africa will be launched in Ghana in partnership with the Finnish Aalto University as well as Accra-based technology hubs Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and STEMbees. The project, which has the strong support of Nokia, will place special emphasis on involving girls who still remain underrepresented among the users and creators of technology.
With its focus firmly on the young, this innovative activity will consist of creative coding work-shops. Students will pair up to learn coding and to produce their own song with the free open-source platform Sonic Pi. Peer support, creative self-expression and a tangible final product are all elements designed to make the learning experience positive and rewarding. At least half of the participants in the workshops will be girls. The aim of the project is to boost grassroots level teaching of computer programming and to contribute to long-term efforts to promote quality edu-cation, youth empowerment and employment.
Ghana will be the first stop of the CodeBus Africa journey that will span another nine countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia between February and May 2017. "I am delighted that this continent-wide project is launched in Ghana, a country well-known for its talented coders," said Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, Ambas-sador of Finland to Ghana. I find it particularly important to reach out to the young, focusing on education and employment critical factors in successfully building the future of any country."
"We are very lucky to have such great local partners as MEST and STEMbees working with us. They have a critical role in planning and implementing the project, and have been absolutely in-valuable. Without them this project simply would not have been possible. I am also extremely grateful for the support of Nokia. As a global leader in innovation and technology worldwide, they have the capacity to transform lives through shaping the future of technology. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work together with them in putting this capacity into the use of the com-mon good."
The CodeBus Africa tour will be documented on the project website www.codebusafrica.com, as well as on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter between February and May 2017.
Today, I am hunched with sorrow, pain and anger. Anytime I try to write about internecine and tribal wars in the Northern Region, I feel like being my irreverent self. Sometimes, I feel ashamed of being a Northerner in the first place. Even though there have been some skirmishes in other areas of Ghana as far as chieftaincy issues are concerned, what is happening in the northern region is too much and the earlier something is done about it, the better.
What is most disheartening is that our leaders always treat the symptoms rather than the causes. In other jurisdictions, the services of psychologists are needed to fight the canker. During the PNDC era, the fight that broke out between Konkomas and Dagombas as well as the one between Nanumbas and Konkomas left behind death, pain and destruction of properties.
In fact, some military men who went there to control the situation ended up being killed by the warring factions. Then Chairman J.J Rawlings had to go there personally at the peril of his life to admonish the protagonists to lay down their arms and jaw jaw. He even went further to admonish them to act like human beings. When Rawlings made that statement, his enemies took him on, saying he insulted them and he must apologize as such.
The Kusasi and Mamprusi wars continue to hang in the air as any false move can trigger another crush. The uninitiated person living in Accra or any town in southern Ghana may think there is peace in Bawku but the truth is that the peace between the Kusasis and Mamprusis is like the one between the cat and the mouse. The two live in one house together and so any visitor to the house may think they live in peace. Let the mouse come out and there you will see that there is no peace in the house. Go to Bawku and you will see that the once vibrant market town is a pail town with people suspecting each other. Business men and women who used to patronize the market from across the boarders prefer to go to Hamile in Burkina Faso to trade because they do not know what will happen one day as they do their businesses.
Until the day that we will get a substantive Yaa Naa, Yendi the seat of the Dagbon Kingdom will continue to be volatile. The Abudus and Andanis are tactically at war yet Ghanaians particularly those who matter in the scheme of thing pretend everything is alright. Ever since the last clash which led to the unfortunate murder of the overlord of Dagbon, Yaa Naa Yacubu Andani, Dagbon has never been the same again. Every year when the Bugum festival is about to be celebrated, people in Yendi sit on tenterhooks because anything at all can happen. The Asanthene's Committee of Imminent Chiefs who were charged by the Kufour administration to see to it that peace returned to Dagbon was not allowed to work by the Mills/Mahama administration.
Here we are with a new regime which has created a ministry in charge of the zongos and inner cities headed by no mean a person than a zongo boy called Boniface Saddique and yet zongo is on fire at Bimbilla. This Bimbilla madness should be the last thing about violence that Ghanaians will hear coming from the north. People talk about poverty as a root cause of what is happening in Bimbilla. If you are poor and frustrated, does it mean you should kill women and children? If you hear of houses being burnt in such communal violence in the north, you may be misled into thinking that the houses look like the ones you see at East Legon or Trassaco. They are thatched houses covered with leaves. And whenever there is any trouble one can easily set the house ablaze with a scratch of a match stick. Instead of thinking of how to better their lot, these people prefer adding more fire to their already sorry and miserable state. The time has come for us to tell them in plain words that even as they continue to fight among themselves and spill the blood of innocent souls, Ghana and the world, for that matter, continue to move forward. Nobody is waiting for them since the world is on the move with new technologies being invented on daily basis.
What is most disturbing is that investors will never go up there to put their moneys into any business which may create jobs and prosperity for the teeming youth in the north. Because the devil finds work for the idle hands, the youth in these areas will jump into the fight if even they are not invited to do so. Before the recent violence which erupted in Bimbilla, I attended a friend's funeral in the town and what I saw was heart-racing. Able-bodied boys and girls were roaming the streets aimlessly, while unschooled urchins sit under tress with hunger boldly written on their faces, wondering where the next meal will come from. I became so angry that I nearly did what Madam Otiko Djaba did. In fact, I cursed all those who took part in the looting of the SADA moneys. How can people be so wicked? If you happen to visit some villages in the north and see the level of poverty, you will stand to pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe.
We all seem to agree that there is poverty in the north and the situation is so desperate that something needs to be done to safe the situation. So when the SADA was introduced, we all thought at last things will improve so that the people up there will smile. It is very unfortunate that those who were put in charge and who are also northerners condoned and connived with civil servants to dupe the people they are supposed to help. It has been nearly three years since the guinea fowls migrated to Burkina Faso and they are yet to return to the shores of Ghana. Oh, mother Ghana! Madam Gloria Akufo, the Attorney General, must, as a matter of urgency, start preparing the necessary legal documents and haul these people before court to face justice, else some other guys may cheat the people again and go free. If she starts doing that and anyone calls it witch-hunting, such a person would be called a witch.
In the run-up to the 2012 general elections, Nana Addo muted the idea of Savanna Development Fund which was hijacked by the NDC and renamed Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA). President Akufo-Addo must revisit the ADF and put a competent person to be in charge, irrespective of where the person comes from. If a northerner could be so callous to dupe his own people, President Akufo-Addo should look elsewhere to get an honest and competent person to do the job. It looks as if northerners are their own enemies. Look at Asongtaaba and DKM (Dele K. Martin)?
The time has also come for all members of parliament from the Northern Region and, of course, businessmen and women in the big cities who hail from the Northern Region to come together, irrespective of their political leanings to help turn things around for their people. Henry Ford once wrote that coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success. If the NPP government says the government will establish one factory in one district, it doesn't mean the government alone can do that. Strategic investors have a role to play here and I am aware we have resourceful businessmen and women from the Northern Region, both at home and abroad who can join the wagon. This is a national clarion call and everybody should get on board so that when the history of the success story is being written they would find their names written in gold.
Similarly, these businessmen and women and the MPs can also target one village each and construct a dam to encourage the youth to stay home and cultivate, tomatoes, onions, pepper, okra and other crops. If a desert country like Burkina Faso can construct several dams to cultivate vegetables all year round, I don't see the reason why Ghana cannot do same. The Nasia Rice field is lying fallow while the youth travel down south to find menial jobs. The government must revamp the Nasia Rice fields by importing combine harvesters, tractors, and fertilizers for the farmers there who undoubtedly will be happy to get involve like it used to happen during the Acheampong region. If this particular project is revamped and resourced I am sure the nation will reduce the importation of foreign produced rice which is weighing so much on the economy.
Do you know we used to have Tiger Pito Factory in the Tamale? In the early seventies when that factory was producing Tiger Pito, it was fashionable to order Tiger Pito when one patronized discotheques and beer bars as well as hotels and super markets. Apart from the fact that the drink was relatively cheap, it was also nutritious and as patriotic citizens we felt proud to drink Tiger Pito. Farmers who used to cultivate millet had a field day since the factory bought the millet at high price to produce Tiger Pito. I am looking forward to the day an investor will invest in the production of Tiger Pito.
Excuse me while I light my Havana.
Eric Bawah
The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday ordered the consolidation of the three separate suits challenging the constitutionality of former President Dramani Mahama granting amnesty to the Montie 3 radio panelists Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase aka Mugabe.
In the view of the seven-member panel of judges presided over by Justice Sophia Adinyira, the issues raised in the various cases are identical.
She stated that all the cases filed by the various plaintiffs were seeking an interpretation of Article 72 of the 1992 Constitution, a reason the court finds it expedient to consolidate the cases.
The judges stated that the parties should also file their agreed memorandum of issues. Asante
Nana Asante Bediatuo, Elekplem Agbameva and Alfred Tuah Yeboah had filed the suit at the apex court challenging the rightfulness of ex-president Mahama to free the three paddies.
The court further directed the parties to contact the Court Registrar for a date to be fixed for definite hearing.
The SC directive came after all the lawyers for the Plaintiffs, had agreed with the court to consolidate the cases.
On January 12, this year, Justice Yaw Appau, a sole judge who sat over the case, revealed that there were three different suits challenging the constitutionality of the former president's decision.
The court noted that the Plaintiffs in the matter had filed similar suits.
The Attorney General (AG), represented by Grace Oppong, Principal State Attorney, entered appearance and the court gave the AG seven days to file its statement of case in response to the matter.
Jail
It may be recalled that the apex court in July 2016 jailed Salifu Maase aka Mugabe, host of 'Pampaso' a political programme on an Accra-based radio station, Montie FM, and two other panelists who threatened the judges with death. They were sentenced to an imprisonment term of 4 months each for contempt of court.
The five-member panel of judges presided over by Justice Sophia Akuffo, had also ordered Mugabe and the other contemnors Godwin Ako Gunn, 39 and Alistair Tairo Nelson 41, both National Democratic Congress (NDC) activists, to pay a GH10,000 fine each or in default serve another one month in jail.
Mugabe had told his panelists to open fire on the justices by attacking them with threats of death in addition to allowing a certain Nash of Mataheko in Accra to marry Chief Justice Georgina Wood.
Pressure
Even before the trio could serve a month in jail, a desk to gather signatures intended to mount pressure on President Mahama to invoke the Pardon Clause in (Article 72) of the 1992 Constitution had been mounted at the premises of Radio Gold a sister station to Montie FM, by key figures of the NDC.
President Mahama eventually succumbed to the pressure, some of which came from government appointees and ministers, to free the three contemnors, popularly called Montie 3.
In the case of Nana Badiatuo, the Plaintiffs, amongst other reliefs, are seeking a declaration that the presidents action at the time was unconstitutional and also a further order to have the Montie 3 serve their sentences in full.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
[email protected]
The National Planning Committee for Ghana's 60th anniversary celebrations on Monday denied plagiarising the anniversary logo, saying that the insignia was an original work commissioned by the committee.
It said the logo, inspired by two adinkra symbols, 'Mate Masie' and 'Tikor nnk agyina,' was designed by one Emmanuel Addo, a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
At a press conference at the Flagstaff House in Accra on Monday, Jefferson Sackey, Chairman of the Media Sub-Committee of the Anniversary Planning Committee, said the committee went through a deliberate and thorough process to arrive at the logo that was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Thursday.
Mr Sackey claimed that the committee invited and had over 50 proposals from artists and designers, out of which 20 designs were shortlisted.
He said the committee, with the help of some experts, further scaled down the designs to five before settling on the logo which was unveiled last week, adding that the selection process would not lend itself to a plagiarised work.
Over the weekend, social media were awash with news that the logo for the year-long 60th anniversary celebrations that start from the month of March had been copied from an Indian youth association emblem.
Various radio stations also took to discussing the issue, with discussants querying the commission without a lead from it.
Mr Sackey told the media that that accusation was unfounded because the issue of plagiarism is something that comes to us as a surprise.
He said the committee's investigation had revealed that certain interest hurriedly put together a website over the weekend with the same logo, ostensibly to paint us in a bad light, to upset the plans of the committee.
Explaining the processes for selecting the design and logo for the year-long anniversary, he said after the president constituted the National Planning Committee, many designers across the country showed interest in designing the logo for the anniversary, therefore, the designers were asked to make presentations to the Media & Branding Sub-Committee.
He said that after intensive deliberations and scrutiny of the designs presented by the various designers, the committee shortlisted five out of the 20 entries, and subsequently Mr Addo's designed was selected after consultations with experts in the creative arts industry.
The design, Mr Sackey said, captured the essence of the theme for the celebration. It comprises two Adinkra symbols and people holding hands with heads together in a circle, symbolising togetherness, duality of the essence of life, diversity in democracy and inter-dependency.
He said the elements in the design complemented the theme for the anniversary: ''Ghana, 60 years on, mobilising for Ghana's future.'
Mr Sackey presented the committee's nationalism project dubbed 'The Pledge Campaign' aimed at rejuvenating the Ghanaian spirit of patriotism, ingenuity and self-belief for sustained national development.
The campaign is intended to change the attitudes and mindset of Ghanaians and geared towards building a desirable nation for accelerated national development.
In view of this, he encouraged Ghanaians to share short videos or pictures through the social or print media on how to support the campaign.
This, he said, could be demonstrated through social activities such as volunteering to donate blood, paying taxes to the authorities and keeping the environment clean, as well as eschewing bribes and corruption in society.
He, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to show interest and support the campaign in order to achieve a national ideological agenda.
The List of Candidates
15.02.2017 LISTEN
There was much eagerness in political campaigns in the Ashanti Region over the weekend, with some candidates pushing just a little harder, as polling day for the Council of State election draws near.
The Ashanti Regional poll, which is slated for Thursday, February 16, 2017 at the Conference Room of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), has 17 candidates gunning for the one slot.
Among the candidates are traditional rulers, teachers, businessmen, an agriculturalist and a journalist who yesterday went through the briefing exercise at the regional office of the Electoral Commission (EC) to be educated about the process of the election before they finally face the 60 delegates who are expected to elect one person to represent the region.
The aspirants are Nana Owusu Achiaw Brempong, 63-year-old registered professional nurse and chief of Akrofoso; Baafour Ossei Hyeaman Brentuo VI, a 63-year-old medical practitioner and Maawerehene of the Asantehene; Sampson Amofa-Kra, 69, educationist; Wilberforce Nana Kwame Obeng, 39, media consultant; Clinton Awuni Eshun, 30, businessman and Dr Ekow Akyeampong, 65, agriculturalist.
Others are Robert Owusu Amankwah, 71, business executive and former Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman; Alex Asare, 35, journalist; Prince Nicholas Nkrumah, 51, quantity surveyor; Nana Kusi-Obodum, 81; Francis Kwaw Archer, 68; Dennis Kwakwa; Michael Afreh-Gyimah, 55 and Yaw Boadi Appiah, 49, are all educationists.
The rest are Mubashir Iddrisu, 31, secretary; William Grant, 67, electrician and Abraham Boadi, 42-year-old trader.
With just a day until the 60-member electoral college of the region vote, the candidates are expected to wrap up their campaigns.
EC Regional Director, Serebour Quaicoe, told DAILY GUIDE that 19 people filed their nominations, but two of them later withdrew from the race.
According to him, his outfit had received the list of delegates from all the 30 district assemblies with the exception of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the Asante-Akim North and South District Assemblies.
The EC boss said each candidate would be given some time to make a presentation to the delegates on the day of poll as the final opportunity for them to make a case for their electability.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi
Onderstepoort (South Africa) (AFP) - Peeling back the maize plant's leaves reveals a small brown caterpillar -- an armyworm that writhes as it burrows into the heart of the crop, producing a sticky dark paste.
Eighty percent of the Prinsloo family's maize plants are under attack, as are those of other farmers in Haakdoringboom, a farming community 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of South Africa's capital Pretoria.
"These worms are eating everything that they touch," said farmer Jacques Prinsloo, who held up a damaged leaf to demonstrate the alarming speed at which the fall armyworms devour the crop.
Leaves are shredded and residue speckles the inside of the plants -- a tell-tale sign of trouble.
The recently-arrived pests, which are proving immune to existing pesticides, are devastating crops and threatening southern Africa's fragile food supply having spread through Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as South Africa.
Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia are also reported to be affected by the worms.
They originate from South America and are thought to have arrived in Africa in shipments of plants or on commercial airliners, with the first fall armyworms in Africa seen in Nigeria and Togo last year.
"I tried everything on the market. I spent 45,000 rand ($3,400) on pesticides alone," said Jacques, 24, who has been battling the pests for six weeks.
"Last year the drought, this year the worms, what next year? Everyone thinks it's easy to farm. It seems easy until you start doing it."
Jacques estimates that as many as four in five of his maize plants are affected.
'We're fighting'
Armyworm caterpillars eat the kernels of a cob of corn
If the crop fails entirely, he estimates it will cost his family up to 700,000 rand ($53,000) this year alone.
Crops in neighbouring farmers' fields are also being ravaged by the pests, according to Adele who, along with her son Jacques, employs six staff on their roughly 100 hectare farm.
"We're fighting. The farm next door to us is fighting," said Adele.
Across southern Africa, fall armyworms are wreaking havoc with staple crops for the first time.
Key food sources like maize, wheat, millet and rice have all come under attack, raising fears of imminent mass food shortages.
Nearly 40 million people in southern Africa have been affected a two-year-long drought caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon reducing food availability by 15 percent, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
David Phiri, the FAO's coordinator for southern Africa, warned experts at a crisis summit in Harare this week that the armyworm poses "a huge threat to food security".
'Hopeless, angry, heartbroken'
South African farmers are desperate for help to fight the armyworm pest
Despite their proximity to South Africa's seat of power, the Prinsloos feel that their plight, and that of hundreds of other farmers, is being ignored by the government.
"I'm feeling hopeless, angry, heartbroken -- it feels like I could go and sit and cry myself to death," said 50-year-old Adele who has been involved in farming for nearly half her life.
"All the money and effort that's been put in there and I'm getting no help.
"We were promised a visit by the farming minister on Sunday but they cancelled. Nobody is doing anything. They said they would import a poison from abroad but we've heard nothing."
The region around the Prinsloo farm had only just begun to recover from one of the worst dry spells in recent history when the armyworms struck.
"A year ago we had the drought but then we had good rains. Now the worms are destroying the crop," said Adele.
In one badly affected field, nearly every plant is showing signs of damage.
Looking out over his family's fields, bordered by tracks of rich red earth and criss-crossed with mechanical irrigation systems, Jacques is doubtful there will be a quick solution to the crisis.
"(The plants) are not going to make corn because of the damage," he said of this year's crop. "The larvae is making new worms and you must fight them again. Burning it might be the only option."
ANGOLA An Angola man who stabbed his fiance multiple times and killed her brother last April was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday.
The sentencing hearing for Edwin Garcia, 33, spanned five hours, lasting through the morning and cutting into the Steuben Circuit Courts afternoon calendar. Judge Allen Wheat noted that a sentencing hearing of such depth is unusual, but would not allow testimony to be cut short.
After hearing from the family members of Garcia and his victims the late Jonathan Abuja, 30, and Amber Lynn Abuja, 29 Wheat sentenced Garcia to the maximum under his plea agreement: 20 years on each count, to be served consecutively. He received credit for 311 days served in Steuben County Jail and will be remanded to the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Garcia, represented by Angola attorney Allen Stout, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted voluntary manslaughter, both Level 2 felonies, at a hearing in late December. The plea agreement, accepted by Wheat at the outset of Tuesdays sentencing hearing, called for the dismissal of the original charges, murder and attempted murder, and a cap of time served on each charge of 20 years.
While Garcias family members described an intelligent and kind man, the Abujas family expressed fear.
Garcia stabbed Jonathan 27 times in the home they shared with Amber in the 300 block of North Washington Street on April 9, 2016. The killing occurred in a fracas that started between Amber and Garcia. She was stabbed nine times and spent four days in the hospital, but said Tuesday on the stand she may never emotionally recover.
I have flashbacks every day, she said. Every time her feet touch a cold floor, she said, she remembers running through the ice and snow as Garcia chased her down the sidewalk during the dark, early morning hours.
Garcia, wearing only his boxer shorts and covered in his victims blood, was found by police in an unoccupied house in the 300 block of East Gilmore Street. Amber, after running two blocks, was given shelter by a resident in the 400 block of East Gilmore. Nineteen people called 911 after hearing Ambers screams or witnessing the pursuit.
He was somehow keeping up with me He probably fell three times, said Amber, who was stabbed through her back and shoulder. She bled so much from a head wound that when she got to a hospital in Fort Wayne, medics put 10 staples into the gash before taking time to give her a pain killer.
I truly believe that Mr. Garcia did in fact just snap, said Steuben County Prosecutor Travis Musser, who presented the states case in a contentious hearing. Stout said Garcia acted in self defense. When he took the stand in the last short testimony of the hearing, Garcia told Wheat that if he had not killed Jonathan, I know for a fact I would be the one dead.
Garcia apologized to the court and the Abuja family, and thanked those involved in a case that he admitted will continue to reverberate in this community for years to come.
Garcia and Amber moved to Angola in September 2015 after deciding to marry while living together in California. They started dating in late 2012 and began living together in the summer of 2013.
Members of Garcias family traveled from California to testify at the sentencing, including his mother; his brother, Lindley Hupp, who has served the past 28 years as a police officer in Torrance, California; and his stepfather, Keith Hupp, who retired in December 2014 after 32 years in law enforcement.
Garcia had numerous brushes with the law, starting with a car theft as a juvenile in 1998, said Musser. His record included vandalism, driving without a license and driving under the influence. Musser said Garcia was under a probation order in California when he committed the manslaughter.
Wheat recognized Garcias criminal past as an aggravating factor. He also noted the fact that when it came to the attempted manslaughter charge, it was committed against his fiance, making a formal determination of domestic violence.
If you were a friend of one of my kids, you were a part of our family, said the Abujas mother, Mary Hixon, who lives in rural Steuben County with her husband, staring with contempt into the eyes of Garcia from the witness stand.
Hixon described Jonathan as a gentle teddy bear of a man, despite his imposing size of 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 350 pounds. She said Jonathan has always protected his sister, and feels that is what happened the night of his killing.
According to Ambers testimony, she and Garcia argued after he returned late from a night of drinking. The fight escalated, with Garcia pushing Amber to the couch by her throat, she said. Jonathan responded to her screams and after pulling Garcia from his sister, the tussle moved to the kitchen area, where a knife became involved. Ambers and Garcias renditions of the incident were different.
Amber said she and Garcia were struggling in the kitchen when her brother pushed her out of the way. Jonathan was facing her, she said.
I saw Edwin just take the knife and stab it deep into his back, she said. As Jonathan fell to his knees, she said she could tell he would not survive the wounds that punctured his lungs and abdomen. No words were spoken during the bloody crime, she said.
After a long day in court, some sparring between Musser and Stout, and emotional testimony on both sides, those in the courtroom also left with little chatter and solemn faces as the legal portion of a familys lifelong trauma came to a close.
15th February 2017 - The BBC has begun the search for Africa's next journalism star - launching the 2017 BBC World News Komla Dumor Award in Blantyre, Malawi. Journalists from across the continent are invited to apply for the prestigious prize - which aims to uncover and promote fresh journalism talent from Africa.
The award was set up to honour the memory of Komla Dumor, an exceptional Ghanaian broadcaster who died unexpectedly at the age of 41 in 2014. In his short life Komla made an extraordinary impact in Ghana, in Africa and across the world on Joy FM and at the BBC. Through his tenacious journalism and compelling storytelling, he worked tirelessly to bring a more sophisticated African narrative to the world. The BBC is committed to continuing Komlas legacy and, through this award, aims to empower a new generation of journalists from Africa to tell African stories to global audiences.
Previous winners of the BBC World News Komla Dumor Award are Nancy Kacungira who worked as a prime time news presenter for KTN in Kenya - in 2015 and Didi Akinyelure - a Nigerian journalist who started out as an investment banker - in 2016. Both winners used their time at the BBC to hone their journalism skills through training, workshops and mentorship. Working closely with leading talent within the BBC, the winners undertake a final project, travelling to Africa to report on a story they have researched.
During her placement, Nancy Kacungira travelled to Ghana to report on diaspora Ghanaians who had decided to return to their roots. The following year, Didi Akinyelure went to the Ivory Coast to investigate new opportunities for the local chocolate manufacturing industry.
Didi said: I very much admired Komla Dumor, as did many people across Africa. He was, and continues to be, such an inspiration to journalists from across the continent, so it was an honour to be selected as last years award winner to continue his remarkable work. What was truly great about my placement at the BBC was how I was given the opportunity and freedom to tell African stories in the way Komla did; with integrity, impartiality and impact.
Didi Akinyelure will take part in the launch event for the 2017 prize, which will take place in Blantyre, Malawi, alongside Francesca Unsworth, Director, BBC World Service Group and Deputy Director of News and Current Affairs.
Francesca said: The BBC is committed to continuing Komlas legacy of reporting on Africa by launching his award for the third year. We have already awarded and hosted two exceptionally talented journalists, who were given the opportunity to train with us and report from Africa for our audiences across the BBC. It has been a pleasure getting to know both Nancy and Didi. It has also been great to learn from both our award winners, improving our engagement with local audiences. Were looking forward to finding the next rising star in African journalism and welcoming them as the next BBC World News Komla Dumor Award winner.
Now open for applications, entrants have until 23.59GMT on 15th March 2017 to submit. The winner will spend three months at the BBC headquarters in New Broadcasting House in London, gaining skills and experience.
For more information on how to apply, entry criteria, and terms and conditions visit http://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/komlaaward/19947 and use hashtag #BBCKomlaAward.
Parliament will today [Wednesday, 15th February, 2017], begin investigations into a bribery allegation raised by some members of the minority who are serving on the Appointments Committee.
Three members of the minority on that committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Alhassan Suhuyini and Mahama Ayariga alleged that some monies were paid to them after the vetting of Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko to help facilitate his [Boakye Agyarkos] approval.
The allegations were dismissed by the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joe Osei Owusu and Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed, whose names were mentioned as conduits of the alleged payment.
The three MPs subsequently petitioned the speaker of the House, Prof. Mike Oquaye to investigate the allegations.
A five-member committee chaired by a former Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Ghartey, was constituted to investigate the allegations and presents its report within 30 days.
The Acting Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Kate Addo, told Citi News that the proceedings will be held in public.
It starts at 11:00 and and it will be opened to the public. Chairman of the committee, Joe Osei Owusu, made it clear that due to the interest that the matter has generated, evidence will be taken in public, so the committee has already started its work; but when it comes to taking evidence, the committee decided that it should be done in public so that Ghanaians can follow the matter as it goes on. We have the assurance that GTV will be showing it live and the media is invited.
Members of the committee
The committee charged the investigate the matter is made up of the MP for Offinso South, Mr Ben Abdallah Banda; the MP for Juaben, Madam Ama Pomaah Boateng; the MP for Yilo Krobo, Mr Magnus Kofi Amoateng, and the MP for Talensi, Mr Benson Tongo Baba. It has Joe Ghartey, who is also the Member of Parliament for Essikado-Kentan as chairman.
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor
Crystal Capital & Investments Limited (CCI), a fast growing markets investment firm, has announced the launch of two new mutual funds that will offer opportunities to investors to earn higher returns in order to plan appropriately to attain their entrepreneurial goals.
The Mutual Funds- Crystal Entrepreneur Fund (E-Fund) and Crystal Wealth Fund (W-Fund)- will be launched at an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at 5:00pm on Tuesday, 21st February, 2017 at the atrium of the World Trade Center (WTC), Accra.
The E-Fund, according to Crystal Capital, has been designed primarily for entrepreneurs, young people with entrepreneurial ambitions, as well as organizations that support entrepreneurial initiatives and the fund protects the capital of investors by investing in a balanced portfolio that provides very good yield.
Through the E-Fund, Crystal Capital hopes to help entrepreneurs to achieve their business dreams quickly with just their savings.
The Wealth Fund, on the other hand, has been designed for individuals and corporations who would like to make regular income on their investments at rates of return that are higher than those of savings.
The Wealth Fund provides security and opportunities to create wealth at one's own pace. It is ideal for investors looking to invest towards particular short to medium term goals or looking for regular income.
Martin Ofori, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Crystal Capital, said in a news release that the E-Fund and the Wealth Fund have been designed to serve a current need in the market for innovative and flexible investment products that will give every Ghanaian real value.
He said with markets in a near state of tumult and the fear that volatility might destroy returns in many parts of the market, running one Fund with a mandate to find value in one particular market or sliver of a market is not quite strategic.
Mr. Ofori said that Crystal Capital has the dexterity to diversify investment funds to deliver optimum yield.
He explained that at CCI, we identify value or the potential for value where others do not. We do not merely sell products and financial services we form the right partnership with each and every client.
This is important to us to create value for our clients through ingenious value-add services like complimentary advisory sessions for asset owners and users.
John Arkorful, the Executive Director of Finance at Crystal Capital said, This is a good time to invest in collective investment products like the Crystal E-Fund and the Wealth Fund, they are low risk but provide higher returns.
They are also managed by experienced Fund Managers to assure investors the safety of their investments. The returns on the investment are also tax exempt, which is an added advantage for investors. We encourage the general public, especially upcoming entrepreneurs, to attend the launch of these two Funds, learn more about investments and also take the needed steps to earn extra income.
By William Yaw Owusu
The chief of Bantama, Baffuor Owusu Amankwatia VI being assisted by officials of Shell to reopen the station
Vivo Energy Ghana, the award-winning company behind the Shell brand in Ghana, has reopened its Sunyani Bekwae Station, with additional exciting offerings in its ever-expanding network in Kumasi.
This is the second Shell station to bring the global fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to Kumasi.
Speaking at the inauguration, Executive Vice-President of West Africa Region for Vivo Energy, Bernard LeGoff, indicated that the motive for the add-on was to enhance the customer experience.
As part of our strategy to provide a superior customer experience, the management of Vivo Energy took the decision to refurbish the Sunyani Bekwae Service Station to make refuelling more convenient for our customers and to enhance the look and feel of our site.
We will continue to invest in our business to meet world-class standards and ensure that our service stations are accessible, clean, efficient, customer-friendly and designed to meet and exceed expectations, said Mr. LeGoff.
Chief of Bantama, Baffour Owusu Amankwatia VI, Chairman for the occasion, praised Vivo Energy, stating the positive effect that this would have on employment in the region.
This investment by Vivo Energy will lead to more jobs for our people and boost our local economy. For this we are most grateful, he said.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama, Daniel Okyem Aboagye, was also very pleased with the development.
I am very happy to witness this event. In addition to enjoying more of Shell's quality service, the introduction of a global brand such as KFC is big news for us, as this will ultimately attract more global brands to the region, he said.
Project Director of KFC, Mohan Monusamy, expressed appreciation for the partnership with Vivo Energy.
We started our journey with Shell in 2014 at Dansoman in Accra. Since then, we have opened three more stores with Shell. We are committed to building more stores going forward as well, he said.
Shell service stations offer an array of services, including fuelling, oil changing, car washing, tyre servicing, shop services, quick service restaurant services, among others.
The Police in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, have impounded a Toyota Hillux pickup suspected to be part of the stolen government vehicles.
The vehicle was parked in a certain house in Kumasi so the residents who suspected something fishy alerted the police.
The police towed the vehicle to the police station because the owner of the vehicle was nowhere to be found.
Supt. David Amoako, the Tafo District Police Commander, said the police are waiting for the owner to produce documents to retrieve his property.
The owner, whose identity is not known, usually brought people to inspect the car, an indication that he wanted to sell the car so the residents became suspicious. We left a message for the owner to report at the police station for questioning, he said.
Supt. Amoako told Nhyira FM that the car had been at the police station for some days but the owner had refused to come for it.
He said the car does not have number plates, but an insurance sticker on the windscreen captured GW 7551-16 as the registration number.
Supt. Amoako said he would soon contact the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to check the details of the car in order to make a definite statement.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
Twenty-one drug peddlers were arrested by the Tema Regional Police Command in a dawn swoop on Saturday.
The operation, which took place at Old-Tulaku, a suburb of Ashaiman and Community 25 in Tema in the Greater Accra Region, also led to the retrieval of about 21 motorbikes suspected to have been stolen.
The operation was led by the Deputy Regional Police Commander, ACP Kwaku Boadu Preprah.
The suspects were said to be between the ages of 18 and 51.
A statement issued by the Tema Regional Police Command and signed by the spokeswoman of the police, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng indicated that the operation was part of routine swoops by the command to rid the metropolis off bad nuts and miscreants, who do not allow law-abiding citizens to go about their lawful duties.
Meanwhile, 10 suspects were released after screening, while 11 others are still in custody assisting in police investigations.
The motorbikes have been impounded while investigations are ongoing.
The Police reiterated their readiness to continue to tackle crime and make the metropolis a safe haven for the citizens.
The police warned that criminals in the region would be dealt with according to law.
The Regional Command also appealed to the general public to provide it with timely and accurate information to help reduce crime in the region.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema
Abraham Boadi aka 'Opooman,' has been elected as the Presiding Member (PM) of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) after polling 110 'Yes' votes as against 20 yesterday.
The outspoken Ridge/Nhyiaeso Assembly member would succeed the immediate-past PM, Nana Adu Mensah Asare, the Amakomhene, an ex-government appointee, who has left the assembly.
Opooman was the only member of the assembly that picked nomination forms to contest for the position.
The election of Opooman as the new PM was greeted with joy in the TUC Conference Room.
Elated colleagues of Opooman chanted his name with joy at the venue.
In his acceptance speech, Opooman, who is very popular in the assembly and Kumasi in general due to his candidness, gave assurance that he would unite the Assembly members to ensure the rapid and effective development of Kumasi.
According to him, Kumasi's development had retarded in recent times and appealed to elected members and government appointees to unite and champion the growth of the city.
Opooman expressed his readiness to diligently carry out his duties as PM to help achieve the objectives of the city.
I can do the job, the Ridge/Nhyiaeso Assembly member declared, drawing applause from the happy Assembly members.
He added that he would help restore Kumasi to its glory.
Swearing In
Prior to the polls, Supervising High Court Judge, Nicholas Abodakpi, inaugurated 40 out of the 44 government appointees, which included five prominent chiefs nominated by Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
The chiefs include Oheneba Owusu Afriyie, the Apagyahene, Nana Agyenim Boateng, the Amoamanhene, Baffuor Agyei Fosu Twitwiakwa, the Anantahene, Nana Mensah Bonsu, Asakyirihene and Nana Kwame Bonsu, Otumfuo's linguist.
Council of State Polls
Meanwhile, the KMA has successfully selected two members of the assembly- Opooman and Kwabena Owusu Dwomoh, a government appointee, to cast their ballot in Thursday's Council of State election.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
From left: Otiko Djaba, Domnic Nitiwul and Ambrose Dery being welcomed by the security personnel
Dominic Nitiwul, Ambrose Dery, David Asante Apeatu, the Ministers of Defence, Interior and Inspector General of Police (IGP) respectively have led a government delegation to Bimbilla in the Nanumba North District of the Northern Region to assess the security situation.
The high-powered government delegation, led by Mr Dery, was in Bimbilla to obtain first-hand information after the conflict in the area.
Some members of the delegation, who accompanied them, included Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, Northern Regional Police Commander DCOP Ken Yeboah, Northern Regional Minister-designate Salifu Saeed and some members of the Northern Regional Security Council.
Speaking to the media at Bimbilla, Mr. Dery said government has taken steps to protect lives and property in Bimbilla.
According to him, government does not support any party in the conflict and would end the conflict in the area.
He disclosed that they had deployed 210 police personnel, 13 additional experts in investigations and 69 military personnel.
The Interior Minister warned residents of Bimbilla that anyone who disobeys the law in the area would be prosecuted.
The regent of Bimbilla, Naa Andani Dasana, in a brief speech, called on government to ensure justice in the area.
The regent said some people in the area committed atrocities with impunity.
The Nakpaa clan side also assured government that they would respect the Supreme Court's decision.
The delegation visited some affected victims and their families in the area.
They also travelled to the Bimbilla Hospital to interact with the injured persons to know their challenges.
The death toll in the renewed chieftaincy clashes in Bimbilla in the Nanumba North District of the Northern Region has reached 11.
The police have found nine bodies in addition to the previous two, increasing the number to 11, with some others sustaining various degrees of injury.
The dead include nine women and a four-year-old child.
The deceased have been buried in the area by their families.
The violence started when Naa Andani Dasana, the regent of Bimbilla Traditional Area, wanted to enskin a sub-chief called Kanbong Naa (chief warrior) in the area against the advice of the City Council and the police.
Bimbilla has now become a ghost town, as residents have fled the area in their large numbers to other communities.
From Eric Kombat, Bimbilla
For nearly nine months after its opening in the Kumasi Zongo suburb of Aboabo, the Aboabo Community Library resembled a ghost edifice, with its modest collection and furniture gathering dust due to low patronage. The library, built by the government with the help and direction of Honorable Muntaka Mubarak, the areas MP, was designed to accommodate 300 people, but as of December 2016, the facility was yet to record its 20th visitor. Yes, two, zero! It was at that time that Nolbed reached out to the Asawase MP for the opportunity to rectify this challenge.
NOLBED , acronym for No One Left Behind was established by a group of Zongo professionals across the globe. Their main objective is to uplift underprivileged communities, and they chose to start from Kumasi Zongo, where most of them come from. This public service impetus explains Nolbeds mission, which is to uplift underprivileged Ghanaian inner city communities by bridging the gap between their exceptionally-talented students and a quality education across the globe. Their program gives its Ambassadors the opportunity to attend top-tier colleges around the world on full scholarship through a rigorous pre-college training program.
As part of the year-long pre-college and leadership program Nolbeds Ambassadors undertake in Kumasi, each class is tasked with solving a critical community problem. So, when news about the poor patronage at the Aboabo Community Library got to Nolbed, the organization didnt waste any time in volunteering its services to the community.
On February 7th, Nolbed Ambassadors kicked off the implementation process with a goal of increasing the librarys patronage from a paltry 6.7% to at least 50% by May 2017. They started with both social media campaign and conducted speaking engagements at neighboring primary schools. The librarys Facebookpage they created has now generated more than 2,200 followers. This is a win-win for both parties, said Mr. Salia Daud, Nolbeds President, in a phone interview from his office in New York. It is an opportunity to boost traffic to the library and an opportunity for our Ambassadors to get their hands dirty in fields of community work and leadership.
Above the effort to increase the librarys patronage, Nolbed Ambassadors are offering homework help and tutorials in various academic subjects from Monday through Friday, between 7pm to 9pm. And just less than two weeks of implementation, utilization of the library is now above 20%. This is Giving Back at its best. And with the right guidance and partnerships between government and non-governmental organizations on initiatives such as this, our own youth could rescue our communities, added Mr. Daud.
The Ambassadors new challenge is to help stock the library with books and other relevant resources. They have started brainstorming on organizing a book drive and would need all the help they can get. Lets see how that pans out.
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The Center for Progressive Governance (CenProG) welcomes Parliament's decision to constitute an adhoc committee to investigate the attempted bribery of members of the Appointment's Committee by Hon Boakye Agyarko using the chairman of the committee as a conduit.
We had earlier made a call that for the sake of the integrity of the Appointment's Committee of Parliament, Hon. Joe Osei Owusu should have recused himself as chairman until such time an investigation is conducted to ascertain the authenticity or otherwise of the claims.
CenProG therefore welcomes Parliament's decision for a committee to ascertain the veracity of the allegations eventhough the Chairman of the Appointment's Committee refused to recuse himself.
We are however not enthused that the Ad hoc committee chaired by Hon. Joe Ghartey have decided to call just four witnesses eventhough there are several key actors in this allegation.
CenProG believes the composition of the witness list is seemingly biased against those making the allegations since three of them (Hon Joe Osei Owusu, Hon Muntaka Mubarak and Hon Boakye Agyarko) who are key actors and against whom the allegations have been made are on record to have claimed innocence. This therefore leaves only Hon. Mahama Ayariga as a lone voice on the witness list and this we believe is against the law of natural justice.
At the very least, two other Members of Parliament namely Hon. Alhassan Suhuyini and Hon. Okudjetu Ablakwa have been vocal in their defense of the fact that there was indeed an attempted bribery in which they rejected and these two MPs jointly signed the petition with Hon. Mahama Ayariga presented to the Rt. Hon. Speaker for the composition of the adhoc committee.
CenProG is of the firm belief that to ensure a balanced and fair hearing, the Hon. Joe Ghartey committee should invite the two other MPs as witnesses to aid the process. Having three witnesses from the side that is alleging and having same number from the side that is defending will purge the committee of bias, mindful of the burden placed on this adhoc committee as to restoration and/or upholding of the integrity of the Legislative arm of Government.
Bearing in mind the terms of reference and the timeline for the conclusion of this probe, we believe that calling an extra two witness will in no way derail the process or unnecessarily prolong its sittings but rather help to come to the bottom of the matter.
CenProG therefore calls on the Ad hoc committee to as a matter of urgency invite Hon. Alhassan Suhuyini and Hon. Okudjeto Ablakwa to ensure a fair hearing.
God Bless our homeland Ghana and make it GREAT and STRONG.
Signed
Sawadogo Mahmoud
Executive Secretary, CenProG
0504607005
Mallam Yahya Mohammed
Executive Director, CenProG
0243728659
sgarbacz@kpcmedia.com
ROME CITY Three Noble County groups pitched projects they hope will be funded with some of northeast Indianas Regional Cities money, although there isnt enough left to support all of the requests before the regional board.
The City of Kendallville, City of Ligonier, and Noble Trails Inc. made presentations before the Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority Tuesday afternoon, seeking a slice of the $42 million earmarked for Road to One Million development projects.
As of Tuesday, $34.3 million of the money had already been spoken for. And with $8.9 million in requests before the RDA board during their meeting at Sylvan Cellars, there isnt enough to go around.
Noble County hasnt received any of the Regional Cities money to date. The RDA has funded other projects to groups around the area including Trine University in Angola, the DeKalb County YMCA and the Michiana Event Center in LaGrange County.
Kendallville is seeking $400,000 for the second phase of its outdoor recreation center, Ligonier wants $254,000 to help establish the Strawberry Valley Cultural Trail and Noble Trails is asking for $175,000 to help build out the Fishing Line Trail connecting Rome City and Kendallville.
The regional board will take at least 30 days to consider the projects before making a decision on whether to fund them.
The three Noble County projects were the smallest dollar-wise of the seven presentations heard Tuesday. Three requests ranged from $861,000-$1 million and Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation was seeking $5.3 million for its proposed Riverfront Park.
Each of the presenters noted how their projects would hopefully attract more people to the area and improve quality of life for residents.
For Ligonier, the city had originally intended to build a new greenway trail, but decided to take advantage of Ligoniers rich history and natural resources with the nearby river, engineer Jonathon Moen said. The 5-mile loop would include both new paved walkways and take advantage of city sidewalks, connecting all four parks in the city.
By taking the trail through the downtown and around the citys 37 murals and bronze statues, the trail would help bring more people into the commercial business district, promoting growth, Moen said.
Mayor Patty Fisel joked that people generally only know Ligonier by relation in being close to Shipshewana and the cultural trail could help to make the city a destination in western Noble County.
Our project is to depict and to help share our history with everyone, to make us a destination ... and share the assets we already have. And we have a lot of assets in our city, Fisel said.
About two dozen supporters wearing red shirts came to show their support for Ligoniers proposal.
Kendallvilles proposal for Phase 2 of its outdoor recreation center would include adding another four baseball fields, one soccer field, paving the parking lot and adding connecting sidewalks.
Kendallville Park Board member Dr. Tom Jansen told the RDA board that the citys current facility is being used to capacity. Outside of city baseball leagues, Kendallville hosts several tournaments and has gotten to the point where it is turning away additional teams.
Kendallville would also purchase a mobile stage, which could be used for non-athletic events at the park.
We can bring other forms of entertainment to the complex, Jansen said.
The recreation facility would also be a trail head for the Fishing Line Trail, which aims to connect Kendallville and Rome City along the path of an old railroad line.
Jansen, who is also a board member for Noble Trails Inc., then presented that groups proposal to seek funding for construction of nearly 4 miles of trail on the system. That would connect with approximately 1.2 miles of the trail thats already been built on the south end of Rome City.
The leg taking the trail from Rome City from Kendallville would meander through some tremendous natural areas, Jansen said, and run behind multiple apartment complexes in the city. That trail could provide recreation and exercise opportunities to a lot of residents who would close to the path, Jansen said.
Dozens of supporters showed up to support both the recreation complex and Fishing Line trail projects.
Kendallville Mayor SuzAnne Handshoe said that was indicative of the support Noble County has for these quality of life projects.
This isnt just a city project. This is a community project, Handshoe said. Both of these projects were not something that was developed as part of the Road to One Million. These projects were being planned well before then.
After hearing all the proposals, members of the development board opted to suspend acceptance of any new proposals, since the group is out of funding. But board members expressed their pleasure that they were able to consider so many interesting projects aimed at improving the region.
Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership President and CEO John Sampson encouraged attendees to speak to their legislators and lobby for the state to find a way to generate more regional development funding in the future.
We cannot consider this as done. Its just on pause for now, Sampson said.
The projects
Strawberry Valley Cultural Trail
Who: City of Ligonier
Request: $254,000
What: Phase one of a 5-mile loop building on Elkhart Riverwalk and connecting downtown murals, statues and historical landmarks to the citys parks.
Outdoor Recreation Complex
Who: City of Kendallville
Request: $400,000
What: Phase 2 adding four youth ball fields complete with fencing, lights, a concession stand, restrooms and irrigation and one additional soccer field. Project also includes sidewalks, trails, an electronic sign and other features.
Fishing Line Trail
Who: Noble Trails Inc.
Request: $175,000
What: Construction of about 4 miles of the Fishing Line Trail connecting Rome City with Kendallville, primarily following the old GR&I Railroad corridor.
The management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital has rejected claims by a pro-NPP group, that mismanagement by the Hospitals CEO has led to patients being forced to purchase items such as cotton while on admission.
Addressing a news conference Monday, chairman of Young Patriots, Bashiru Baba blamed the leadership of Dr Prosper Akambon for what he calls his inability to provide patients with items covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said the hospital has been bedevilled by several problems that are of public knowledge and questions the running of the facility.
"Management of the Hospital has been very poor such that basic drugs and consumable needed for the day to day running of the facilty is seriously lacking.
"Patients are asked to buy basic items such as hand gloves, stringes and all items needed for their care, which are supposed to be catered for by the National Health Insurance Scheme," he said.
He noted that at the centre of the "mess" are the three nicknamed "the trinity" - Dr Akambon, Misbau Mohammed and Hamid Abdulai whom Baba said are running the Hospital into the ditch.
However, the authorities of the hospital have dismissed this claim describing it as false.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Misbau Mohammed, said no such thing is going on currently, he agreed stated that he has sighted a memo to the effect that the patients should buy their own drugs and consumable.
"But that has been cancelled," he insisted and also dismissed claims that the authorities have been inflating prices of drungs.
The Auditor General, Richard Quartei Quartey , in May last year cited the management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) for breach of the procurement law in the 2015 preliminary Audit Report.
According to him the hospital diverted more than GHC115,000 it received from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
This, Mr. Quartey believed could result in a shortage of essential drugs at the facility if not effectively addressed.
But Mohammed said what happened last year was dealt with by the security agencies challenging anyone doubtful of that fact to check with the Attorney General.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
The Western Regional Minister-designate has dismissed claims that children who work on cocoa farms are subjects of in child labour.
Dr Kwaku Afriyie at the vetting before Parliaments Appointment Committee put up a spirited defense about how such children who work on cocoa farms do so to support themselves and their families.
He argued that child labour has its own cultural dimension which Westerners do not understand and which makes label what happens all over Africa as child labour.
I am not denying that you will not get a case of child labour or for that matter child abuse in the societythe child labour stigmatisation has a cultural dimension which is ignored," he argued.
The use of children on cocoa farms is a contentious issue with many saying it is a perception while others admitting it is a hidden truth and a well-known fact.
In 2010, findings of a research commissioned by Tulane University showed that a staggering 1.8 million children aged 5 to 17 years work in cocoa farms of Ivory Coast and Ghana at the cost of their physical, emotional, cognitive and moral well-being.
The report further establishes that about 40 percent children working in cocoa fields of Ivory Coast are not enrolled in schools and that only 5 percent of Ivorian children are paid for their work.
The United States Department of State particularly the Department of Labour (DOL) has downgraded Ghana citing child labour in the agriculture sector and in particular the cocoa sector.
But Dr Afriyie said child labour is not a big issue in the cocoa industry in Ghana per se right now. We have to segregate the cultural dimensions the Ghanaian social set up- and what people label as child labour.
Narrating his own experience, he shared how as a child he worked on the farms to save money to write and pass his common entrance to make it to St Augustines College, one of the best schools in the country to study.
I dont know about other areas but in the cocoa industry, I am happy to report it is largely and grossly exaggerated in this country, the trained medical doctor with several acres of cocoa farms in Sefwi Wiaso said.
Answering questions from the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu on the issue, he said it is unfortunate many, especially those in the western world hold that perception.
There is nothing you can do about perception but educating those who are labeling us as such as I take strong exception to these perceptions, he stated.
He added that an NGO once came to him to help conduct a study with all these preconceived ideas and in almost four of the cocoa farms they visited in different areas of the region they found no incidence of child labour.
The former Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiaso, however, conceded that in the emerging galamsey industry, there are many children involved which a concerted effort is needed to solve the problem.
We have to do studies before tackling that problem because what they are doing is illegal.
He also downplayed what is termed to be the hazardous circumstances under which children on cocoa farms work and asked for evidence from those who claimed to have done research to that effect to show their methodology.
Dr Afriyie warns that if care is not taken, the dynamics of the arguments would dissuade parents from bequeathing cocoa farms to their children as any attempt to teach them about the farming would be labeled as child labour.
He added that since the West control the cocoa market, I suspect that they might be doing that deliberately to hold the price of cocoa down.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim |[email protected]
The establishment of the Ministry of Inner Cities and Zongo Development in fulfilment of the campaign pledge of the New Patriotic Party, in the run up to the last presidential polls, seems to have gone down well with the people especially the Zongo dwellers.
The move has generated a lot of excitement in and outside Ghana especially among Chiefs and Imams led by the National Chief Imam Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu who has been the center of spiritual and social development of Muslims in the Zongos.
It has been the case that many needy people especially the youth in the Zongos do call on him and the regional imams for support in times of difficulties. However, on getting to know that the right minister in the person of Hon. Alhaji Abubakar Sidik Boniface has been chosen to head the ministry, the Chief imam and Muslim chiefs across Ghana expressed delight over the choice of the right person.
Alhaji khuzaimah Osman the Personal Assistant of the National who has been involved in the affairs of the new ministry on behalf of Muslims has observed that the new minister Hon Boniface has hit the ground running by entering into discussions with stakeholders that include the zongo chiefs and intellectuals, for their views towards preparing an action plan for rapid development of the areas concerned.
According to Alhaji Khuzaimah there is the need for the ministry to help in the establishment of a Consultative Assembly or Council of Zongo Communities with branches in the regions and districts to work directly with the new ministry. He gave the breakdown of the proposed councils as follows;
National council of zongo chiefs Council of Ulemas and imams Council of Muslim youths Council of Muslim or zongo NGOS Council of Muslim or zongo entrepreneurs A body of Muslim or intellectuals
The first two councils are already in place pending the formation of the rest says Alhaji Khuzaimah
A MEETING ON YOUTH
To cap it all Alhaji Khuzaimah who is scheduled to meet with new minister has scheduled a meeting of experts to discuss an agenda for youth development in the Zongos. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the residence of the National Chief Imam at Fadama in the morning of Saturday February 18. It is important for all those concerned to attend this meeting to bring out views on the needs of Zongos in childhood training and up-bringing at home and schools and the needs of our youth in education, vocational training and on their general comportment and wellbeing.
This is a good move meant to help the youth in the Zongos out to be able to weave through life with little difficulties. Currently with the free SHS being rolled out, the time has come for the new ministry to roll out through the chiefs and Muslim NGOs, a program to help children from poor families and orphans to gain places in primary schools and vocational training. This will save the situation in which a large number of the you are seen loitering about or engaged in unproductive activities.
NGOS IN ZONGOS
One area that needs to be considered is the use of the services of NGOs in the Zongos to help in the development projects such as schools, orphanages and the like being pursued by them already. Among these are the Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services, Al Huda, Ghana Muslim Mission and many more. Apart from these there are Muslim entrepreneurs who can be of help to the ministry by embarking on development projects in the Zongos.
INNER CITIES
While working on the formation of bodies to work with the new ministry we must not lose sight on the need of on the inner cities. While working with zongo chiefs the ministry would have to collaborate with chiefs who have responsibility over areas like Chorkor, parts of James Town and some ghettoes throughout Ghana
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
eanfoworld for sustainable development
[email protected]/[email protected]
0244370345/0208844792/0274853710
Lawyer Robert Nii Arday Clegg, a managing partner at Clegg and Everett, has quit his job as host of Starr 103.5FM's flagship show Morning Starr in a rather abrupt style which raises eyebrows.
NEWS-ONE gathered that Nii Arday's exit was not part of his immediate plans, but he had to abandon ship over what was speculated to be a continuous internal friction between him and a few big toes over his 'no nonsense' style of asking hard-hitting questions and producing verifiable facts to put his guests on their toes as though he was cross-examining rather than interviewing them.
Management of Starr FM issued a short statement confirming Nii Arday's exit and announcing Francis Abban, formerly of Joy FM, as the new host of the morning show.
The statement did not say why Nii Arday left, but expressed best wishes to him and said, The Harvard-trained lawyer also became known for his trademark hard-hitting questions and engaging interviews since he took over the Morning Starr from Kafui Dey in September 2015.
Deep-throats from the station told NEWS-ONE that though Niii Arday was largely celebrated by listeners for his style, he had internal challenges from a few persons who were of the opinion he was hard and overly probing on his guests.
The source said Nii Arday had insisted there was the need to raise the journalism bar and use radio as a tool for holding people accountable rather than just providing a platform to air make statements even when those statements can be proven as not being factual.
In a previous interview, Nii Arday told NEWS-ONE his mindset on journalism, saying, If you have a global mindset, there may be a certain standard that would be higher than what pertains in your country You are listening to news on CNN and you know it comes at a certain quality; you are reading the Times Magazine and you realise it is written at a certain level. All these affect you to raise your bar than the status quo.
Nii Arday also made a few statements on journalism in Ghana, .if as media people we all leave ourselves at the level where all we can do is to paragraph or read and that is all you can do, you become easily replaceable and dispensable because your value is minimal.
He continued I think our media education should look at more content and detail. We should be able to teach some high level economics in journalism school so that you are not on the political or business desk simply because your boss wants to put you there but because you have what it takes to be there and you understand the issues. How can you be on the business desk when you dont know what shares and dividends are; when you dont even understand GDP, basic statistics and micro or macro economics at a global level yet you are expected to analyse a report by Transparency International? Lets get some content and value.
We are happy to watch CNN and enjoy their standard. Just run a Google search into the background of any face you see working on CNN and you would realise they have very high education and most have their masters in various fields. Some are lawyers; some are economists and they have very high self values and content. That is what is lacking in Ghana, Nii Arday added.
Francisca Oteng-Mensah, Ghana's youngest Member of Parliament (MP) in the 7th Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, has outlined her vision for the development of her constituency, Kwabre East.
She hinted that environment, gender issues, and education as the three main issues she will be focusing on in her constituency.
The MP who was massively endorsed by her people during the December 7, 2016 parliamentary elections had a total of 71,757 votes, representing 83.03 percent the highest in the history of presidential and parliamentary results.
She made this known in an interview with the media recently.
Asked where she would channel her energy when assigned to a committee in parliament, the law student said, Even though those committees are not yet formed, the issue of environment will be one area I will direct my attention to. Almost everything that we do has to do with the environment. I think that is one thing.
The MP for Kwabre East hinted that another matter of interest within the committee would be that of gender.
This is a biased group, but it is a positive discrimination group. Let me put it that way. We always have to speak for the vulnerable group and interest of women.
Francisca stated that the biggest asset every individual should have, specifically the youth, is quality education.
Ms Oteng-Mensah, a former student of Saint Rose's Senior High Girls' School, Akwatia, and presently a law student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, addressed the complex issue of balancing her focus between leading a successful constituency and being prominent in her role as a legislator in the August House, while keeping in touch with her loyal supporters.
''Your constituents will not take the excuse that 'I was not privy to most of the information', or 'everything is new to me so I could not perform', she stated.
You have to take it upon yourself to make an effort that you also want to learn something, because almost everyone in the House was once new and you have to force yourself to learn before you will be able to become masters of the whole proceedings. So, you also have to make an effort.
If you go for the orientation and don't make use of what you have been taught, you will be back to square one, Ms Oteng-Mensah continued.
BY Melvin Tarlue
The first witness in the MP bribery investigations Joe Osei Owusu says claims that MPs were paid monies to approve a ministerial nominee appeared to him initially as 'a joke'.
At a special hearing into the bribery claim, the Bekwai MP said when he attempted to tackle the issue of the bribery allegation, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa made a comment that got a room full of MPs to break into laughter suggesting the bribery claim was just politics.
Joe Osei Owusu who is chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament said this while testifying at the Special committee of parliament investigating bribery claims made by Bawku MP Mahama Ayariga.
The Bawku MP said on Accra-based Radio Gold that some NDC MPs returned 3,000 cedis to the Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak after they realised it was to buy their approval for an embattled minister-designate Boakye Agyarko.
The claim made public Friday 27 January has taken parliament by storm.
At a special hearing chaired by Joe Ghartey, the Chairman of the Committee that vets nominees told his side of the story.
He said on Friday 27, January 2017, just before he was to table a report requesting parliamentary approval for five ministerial nominees, the Minority leader called for a closed door meeting among Appointments Committee of parliament.
He described this meeting as a conclave meeting. It was to discuss the possibility of approving two embattled nominees without having to take a vote on them.
In the meeting, Boakye Agyarko was offered an opportunity to re-phrase comments he made at his vetting which had irked the Minority MPs now bent on resisting his approval.
After the matter was discussed, Joe Osei Owusu says he raised concerns about media publications suggesting that he was given monies which he gave to Minority Chief Whip to share among some MPs.
"We were going to leave and I said no there is this allegation in the public domian", he recalled.
"All the minority members said Mr. Speaker take your time, cool down, cool down" he reported efforts to appeal for calm after it was evident that he was angry with the allegations made.
It was at that moment that North Tongu MP Okudzeto Ablakwa intervened and explained that the allegation was made up because the NPP had characterised their former leader John Mahama as corrupt.
"We were spreading the corruption allegations", Joe Osei Owusu reported Okudzeto as saying.
This explanation had an effect on the meeting. "...the mood in the office changed...we were all laughing", he revealed his relief at what appeared to be typical political equalisation. This was a game he could live with, he thought to himself.
"I thought the matter was over because of what Okudzeto has said".
But by Friday 6pm, Mahama Ayariga was on air stressing the allegation of bribery is true. Media focus on the matter went into overdrive as political discussions over the weekend was stuck on the bribery saga.
He said he had since taken the matter seriously and would wish the committee will take every step possible to clear his name because he never took money or distribute same to anybody to have a nominee approved.
The issue remains whether Okudzeto's comment at that private meeting was a joke to calm tempers or a serious statement.
Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|[email protected]
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The Writer
15.02.2017 LISTEN
The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is a key document that defines the term refugee, outlines rights for refugees, and keeps States accountable for their actions. Important requirements to become a refugee include: facing a well-rounded fear of persecution, seeking asylum or refugee status in the first possible venue, and receiving a fair hearing from a person who is legally qualified (Lect, Nov.8). States have to uphold the non-refoulement principle-the practice of not forcing refugees to return to a country where they face serious persecution (UNHCR, 2010). The 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees form the legal framework. Although the legal framework provides a consistent set of requirements in determining who is a refugee and holds states liable for protecting the rights of refugees, violations occur.
How effective is the legal framework (and its enforcement) for refugees in protecting their human rights? It seems that the enforcement turns increasingly ineffective and inappropriate in safeguarding refugees rights. Lets examine it on a comparative example of countries such as Australia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, and China (to name but few) that repeatedly fail to uphold the principle of non-refoulement, commit human rights abuses, and find ways to refuse accepting refugees.
Down-under or upside-down
Despite being a signatory to the 1951 Convention, Australia defies the non-refoulement principle, which violates refugee law. For instance, the boat Tampa rescued Afghanistan asylum-seekers who were on board a sinking Indonesian fishing boat (Lect, Nov.8). Although the closest port of rescue was on Christmas Island in Australia, the Australian government refused to allow Tampa to land any of the asylum seekers (McKay, Thomas, Kneebone, 2011). Australian Prime Minister John Howard was determined to limit the uncontrollable number of illegal arrivals and unauthorized asylum seekers in the country (UN: Australia, 2001). Over half of Australias population viewed asylum seekers as a deviant social group coming for a better life rather than helpless people fleeing persecution. This is because refugees are seen as exploiters of Australias welfare system (McKay et.al., 2011). In the end, the passengers were taken to camps in Naura while others were sent back to Afghanistan, disregarding the risk of persecution if they are sent back (UNHCR, 2006). By initially refusing to accept refugees and sending them back to Afghanistan, Australia fails to uphold the non-refoulement principle. Non-refoulement states that no contracting state shall expel or return a refugee to a territory where his life is threatened (Note, 1977). Even though Australia has legal obligations under the UN Refugee Convention, the Tampa Affair demonstrates the weakness of the legal framework in failing to effectively enforce refugee law and punish countries when they commit violations.
In addition to violating the core principle of non-refoulement, Australian detention centers do not comply with human rights protection such as the right to access medical care and freedom from degrading treatment. Detention camps for refugees have horrible conditions that negatively impact mental and emotional health. At the Naura camp, more than 30 children report sexual assault, and 1200 refugees suffer severe abuse and inhumane treatment (Australia, 2016). They experience indoor temperatures over 113 degrees Fahrenheit, use filthy toilets, and are hampered by severe resource constraints (Holzer, 2012). Thus, the legal framework is functionally inefficient because it fails to guarantee basic human rights that refugees should have. The violations against both non-refoulement and human rights undermine the stronghold of the legal framework and its protections, which further impact the attitudes of other countries.
Near (the) East Nearer the Trouble
Similar to Australias case, Turkey faces international criticism because several Syrian refugees have been forcibly deported back to Syria by Turkish authorities in violation of the non-refoulement principle, putting them at risk of human rights abuses. About 80 Syrian refugees held at a detention center in the Turkish city of Erzurum were expelled (Letsch, 2015). In addition, they were tortured, beaten, locked in rooms, and forced to sign documents that state they were leaving Turkey out of their own free will (Ibid). These actions go against Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture, which states that any act by which severe pain is intentionally inflicted on a person for purposes such as intimidating or coercing something from a third person, is illegal (Grans, 2015). Refugees do not have access to interpreters who can translate the Turkish language on the document, and police officers forcibly use refugees fingerprints as signatures without permission. However, refugees cannot challenge their detention or deportation because they have no legal representation, and Turkey does not grant refugees a fair hearing. By forcibly deporting refugees, Turkey violates the provision that repatriation must be voluntary (Lect, Nov.8). Thus, the legal framework is unsuccessful in even giving refugees an opportunity to seek long-term, legitimate refugee status under fair means.
Polish the Czech or C(z)heck the Polish ?
In addition to Turkey, refugees flee the Syrian civil war to the EU, and of course within, to the Czech Republic, Poland and other Visegrad countries. However, the Czech Republic for instance intentionally violates human rights to deter them from coming in the first place. The refugees prefer Germany, but they are in no freedom to seek refugee status at a place they desire (Ibid). They must seek it at the first possible venue, forcing them to enter the Czech Republic (Lect, Nov.8). Refugees experience strip-searching and their money is confiscated to pay for their detention; additionally, the Czech Republic holds refugees in detention from 40 to 90 days in degrading conditions (Calamur, 2015). The Czech Justice Minister also describes the Bila-Jezovqa detention center as worse than a prison (Ibid). This example demonstrates the use of systematic mistreatment towards refugees- to the extent of abusing their human rights but not to the point of death-to discourage them from trying to seek refugee status. The Czech strategy in intentionally failing to protect human rights causes the deterrence of refugees. In this case, the legal framework plays a role in granting refugees a chance to seek refugee status, but is still weak in protecting refugees freedom from degrading treatment once in the country.
In general, when refugees are placed in refugee or detention camps, they lack freedom of movement and do not have economic rights. Refugees are forced to stay in the camps because they have nowhere else to go, which restricts their freedom to move. A majority of the refugees cannot make future plans because they are not given a timeline of how long they need to remain at the camp (Training, 2001). This uncertainty restricts their ability to make economic progress, find a way to make a living, or find a permanent job. In fact, the protection of human rights for refugees is drastically inferior to that of trafficking. A Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Person (SRTIP) is appointed to focus on the human rights aspect of the victims of trafficking (Gallagher & Ezeilo, 2015). The SRTIP has the authority to monitor, advise, and publicly report on a human rights situation in a specific country. However, there is no appointed person to report human rights abuses for refugees. Although the legal framework allows refugees to seek haven in another country to avoid persecution, they are still subject to human rights abuses, just not to the extent of death. The legal framework, including the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol, is inherently ineffective because it does not have monitoring bodies to reinforce the protection of refugees human rights and hold states accountable for violations.
Un/silky-smooth road
Although Syrian refugees going to the Czech Republic are at least given the opportunity to seek refugee status, the status of North Korean refugees crossing into China is highly debated, which affects their treatment and the benefits they are entitled to. The Chinese government insists that North Korean refugees are economic migrants seeking economic opportunity (Lect, Nov.8). The famine in North Korea causes too many North Koreans to cross over to China, which poses an economic strain on undeveloped border regions and disrupts Chinas demography (Cohen, 2007). The legal framework holds very little power in compelling China to prioritize accepting refugees over protecting their economy. China is able to find a loophole in the legal framework by stating that famine does not necessarily equal persecution; therefore, China is justified in not accepting people simply trying to take economic advantage. The legal framework fails to clearly delineate the forms of persecution, allowing China to label North Korea refugees as economic migrants and not accept them.
However, North Koreans leave their country at risk of arrest and death if they are forced to turn back, which should not be an issue in the first place since repatriation should be voluntary under the Convention and Protocol. When they are turned back, they are tortured and persecuted because defection is a crime of treachery against North Korea (Robertson, 2012). This goes against the 1951 Refugee Convention that states that no state shall expel a person to another state where there are substantial grounds that the person will face torture (UNHCR, 1977). Forcibly repatriating the North Koreans is the same as subjecting them to death. Along with the threat of death, North Koreans have no determination process to which China is legally liable for. In this sense, China fails to uphold its responsibility as a receiving country that gives refugees a fair hearing, proving the inadequacy of the legal framework to manage the countrys adherence to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol.
Furthermore, the politics of North Koreans refugee status overshadows the importance of abiding by the legal framework. The Chinese are motivated to avoid displeasing North Korea. China holds extreme power because it is the only country that has ties with North Korea and can address international concerns such as North Koreas possession over nuclear weapons (Lect, Nov.8). Therefore, China has a strong motive to maintain its connection with North Korea. Thus, although China is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees and has the obligation to not forcibly repatriate refugees, China cooperates with North Korea to find defectors. China justifies turning in defectors by claiming that defectors are not legally considered refugees (Lee, 2016). Chinese citizens are even paid for turning defectors in (Ibid). Overall, defectors lack access to schooling, health care, and citizenship. Women defectors are also vulnerable to abuse and sex trafficking. They are often forced into marriages and sold to Chinese men (Yun, 2016). These human rights abuses demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the legal framework in functioning to hold states accountable for protecting refugees rights. In Chinas case, the lack of clarity for persecution allows China to justify this mistreatment because defectors are not refugees, and China has no legal obligation to protect defectors rights. Thus, the legal framework is inadequate in its specificity.
Criminalize indifference and enforce acceptance
Faced with aging domestic populations and following the logics of corporate expansion, the Western markets need migrants, but the ordinary citizenry does not want them. What changed in the meantime is the societal capacity to absorb those immigrants and closely related to that the psychological state of domestic populations. Therefore, many European political parties extended their agendas with more restrictive immigration policies. noted professor Anis H. Bajrektarevic in his inspiring work JHA Diplomacy nearly ten years ago. Shortsighted and opportunistic as it might be it ignores the golden rule of migration: Once you cut off legal means, would-be immigrants just turn to smugglers. professor explained the phenomenon and predicted our currents nearly ten years ago.
In conclusion, the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, both of which form the legal framework for refugees, are ineffective in enforcing the acceptance of refugees with the option of voluntary repatriation and protecting their rights. Although Australia is generally accepting of refugees, the extreme influx of authorized asylum seekers has overwhelmed the country, causing Australians to view them as exploiters of Australias welfare system. Australia has violated the non-refoulement principle and subjected refugees to terrible conditions, which are violations of the legal framework. The bigger implication is that disobedience has a cascading effect - Turkey, the Czech Republic and Poland, and China have also violated the non-refoulement principle and committed human rights abuses.
While all three countries subject refugees to degrading treatment, Turkey forcibly deports refugees, the Czech Republic deliberately mistreats refugees to deter them from coming, and China outright rejects North Koreans as refugees. These examples indicate the weakness of the legal framework in granting refugee status in the long-term and protecting their rights. When looking at the bigger picture, installing monitoring bodies and regulatory agencies to supervise the adherence to the legal framework for refugees can strengthen the effectiveness of the legal framework.
About the author:
Attached to the US-based Berkeley University, Sooyoung Hu is a scholar at its Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies Department. Miss Hu focuses on international relations, international organizations and its instruments.
From left: Michel Sibide, Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Haile Girmey, UNAIDS Country Director for Ghana, after the meeting
The First Lady of Ghana, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has taken over the leadership of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) after a unanimous decision by members of the group.
Per her appointment, Mrs Akufo-Addo becomes the Chairperson of OAFLA and Premiere HIV-AIDS Ambassador for Ghana to champion the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and prevention of HIV among adolescent girls and young women.
Conferring the new position on the first lady during a courtesy call, Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of the UNAIDS, congratulated Mrs Akufo-Addo and assured her of the support of the UN agency as far as the execution of her functions are concerned.
I congratulate you for being the chairperson of OAFLA and I was in Addis Ababa and the first ladies wanted you to continue the leadership role, he said.
Mr Sidibe explained UNAIDS' desire to continue the HIV agenda with Mrs Akufo-Addo, especially in the area of prevention of adolescent and mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
He encouraged her to advocate the establishment of the new HIV fund in Ghana, as well as the commitment of leading women and the private sector to contribute towards its success.
The UNAIDs executive director indicated that the country has recorded tremendous improvements in HIV reduction and prevention of new infections, however, adolescent HIV continues to be a bane on the programme.
One of the challenging areas is adolescent HIV because of three factors; they are not tested so they do not know their status, when they know their status they are not put on treatment and those on treatment do not continue, he said.
Mr Sidibe further added that the programme recorded 56,000 adolescent deaths worldwide due to HIV/AIDS last year and 9,000 new adolescent HIV infections every week worldwide.
I think that is a major challenge for us and I will really ask you to become our voice for that one. I think that is an area where we don't have a lot of first ladies engaged in, he suggested.
He said the first lady leading the prevention of adolescent HIV and treatment would gunner great benefits to the country with regards to the overall advancement of women's health and empowerment.
We want to see you playing this role because it will help us solve other issue like violence against women, teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortions all those issues we can link it to HIV and cervical cancer which is also a major challenge because of low vaccine coverage, he added.
Mr Sidibe further asked the first lady to lead the advocacy for prevention, care and access to HIV/AIDS services for young women and girls in Africa, as well as use her influence to further the UNAIDS West African Emergency Catch Up Plan.
The first lady, on her part, expressed her gratitude for the honour done her and assured the delegation of her readiness and commitment to the new role in the light of the tremendous impact HIV/AIDS-related issues have on the socio-economic well-being of Africans.
The first lady also emphasized that she would continue her fight against malaria through her Infantile Malarial Prevention Foundation which has been growing for the past 12 years.
She expressed her keen interest in health of children and women and promised to help and do what is necessary to promote the agenda of UNAIDS.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
The Alliance For Economic Freedom Fighters - AEFF would like to state in plain language that mother Ghana and her children are suffering.
Our suffering stemmed from the fact that, corruption in Africa, and to be precise Ghana, is pervasive. Corruption in Ghana is undermining our institutions.
The AEFF, is very much aware of the team constituted by President Nana Addo to superintend over the celebration of Ghana @ 60.
Historic, antecedent reminds us that the, celebration of Ghana @ 50 under the erstwhile adminstration of former President Kuffour, of which President Nana Addo was part was a" Sham" and an eyesore.Million of Ghana cedis vanishes into thin air.
Same way under the tutelage of former President John Dramani Mahama , Ghana, celebrated it 59th years. For the AEFF this celebration has always been an avenue to milk and dry the nations coffer's. As, for this celebration the least talked about, the better. Almost half of the state coffers were drained at the expense of the helpless citizen.
Today if Dr.Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, and other host of African leaders who fought for her nations independence, were to be alive would they have been pleased with her citizenry and leaders? Magafuli, this is a president who had the" Balls" to tell the citizenry that, the over 18 million $ budgeted for Kenya's Independent celebration, was of no essence rather, be sent to the rural communities to help the needy and assist parent's who can't afford pay their wards school fees. I ask isn't this laudable and commendable?
He again asked all citizens to sit in their homes and enjoy. Bags of rice were disbursed to the poor folks to cook for their families, while enjoy some cultural display. This was a visionary leader.
To quote Patrick L.O. Lumumba a Kenyan anti corruption crusader he says" Africa is suffering because we elect thieves in public office, and sanctified and canonizing them"
The AEFF is calling on the President, to display a blissful leadership. One of the core campaign pledges of President, Nana Dankwah Akuffo Addo was the commitment to fighting corruption. The perpetrators of the act have no shame at all, corruption in Africa is now akin to what we termed as" Ashawo" in Twi.
President Nana Addo, should kindly learn and seek for guidance from the leaders, of the following countries. Botswana, Tanzania, Mauritania and Rewanda.
The academic high honor and honor lists (dean's lists) for the past fall semester at Minnesota State University, Mankato have been announced by Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marilyn Wells.
Among 3,282 students, a total of 812 students qualified for the high honor list by achieving a 4.0 straight "A" average, while 2,470 students earned a 3.5 to 3.99 average to qualify for the honor list.
To qualify for academic honors, undergraduate students must be enrolled for at least 12 credit hours for the semester.
Chaseburg
Hunter Pauloski, junior, honor list; Dena Schedivy, freshman, honor list.
Westby
Allyson Daines, senior, high honor list.
Tunis (AFP) - Traditional embroidery on modern dresses, men's robes turned into women's jackets -- Tunisian designers are making their mark with outfits inspired by their country's heritage.
Drawing on a diverse range of regional styles, designers like Zeineb Chiboub are adding modern touches to the North African country's traditional garb.
Wearing a hooded coat inspired by the kachabiya, a winter robe usually worn by men, Chiboub says the idea of reworking generations-old designs is catching on.
"Tunisians, especially young people, are increasingly fond of Tunisian heritage. They want to show their identity," she says.
Every week, Chiboub, a pharmacist by training, heads to a different region in search of old clothes.
She cuts them up and transforms them into "stylised" models in order to sell them at her shop in an upmarket suburb of Tunis.
Tunisia boasts a wide variety of clothes inspired by past rulers, with Carthaginian, Roman, Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian and Ottoman styles all leaving an imprint.
Each region has its own style of dress for weddings and religious ceremonies, using luxurious silk, lace and tulle fabrics richly ornamented with silver, gold and filigree threads.
But Chiboub says her clients are also looking for everyday clothes. Her most in-demand item is the Maryoul Fadhila, a traditional silk or cotton top worn over jeans or a short skirt.
Haifa Ifaa, a student in her 20s, says the clothes give her a feeling of pride.
"I love wearing the updated clothes of our grandmothers," she says, standing at the entrance of the shop of Faouzia Frad, another designer of reworked traditional clothing. "(They) show the beauty of our heritage."
'Warm and daring colours'
Veteran designer Frad says her designs combine traditional embroidery with "more sophisticated, more tailored dresses, adapted to the tastes of the modern woman."
Tunisian fashion designer Olfa Mhaoued, who is inspired by adding modern touches to the North African country's traditional garbs, is applauded at the end of a fashion show in Tunis on October 28, 2016
She says the concept is increasingly popular. Stylist Ilyes Ben Amor agrees.
"The ethnic trend is in vogue at haute couture houses and on international podiums," he says.
It is a celebration of the "warm and daring colours of traditional clothes, which spread joy and freshness, contrary to all that is dark, full of sadness, like the niqab," the face-covering Islamic veil, he adds.
Some designers see taking inspiration from the country's past as a statement against religious extremism. Tunisia has experienced an ongoing jihadist insurgency since a 2011 revolution toppled long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
"Our only weapon against fundamentalism is our identity, our culture, our craftsmanship," says Fatma Ben Abdallah, head of the jury of the annual Khomsa d'Or fashion show.
The show, set for May 18, will host both amateur and professional artisans and designers. Organised by the National Crafts Board, it aims to revive the traditional dress in Tunisia, with the dream of crossing borders.
Ben Abdallah has ambitions beyond that, hoping to organise international fashion events to showcase Tunisian designs. It will be a challenge -- to date, there is no official data on revenue from the clothing sector or its export potential.
"We have a very rich heritage, talent and taste," she says. "But we lack resources, and without the support of the government, this dream cannot be realised."
Three-time Khomsa d'Or prize winner Ilyes El Andari agrees.
"The traditional dress is the showcase of the country. It deserves to be more supported," he says.
The National Petroleum Authority(NPA) has assured that there is enough fuel in the country to meet domestic demand.
The Institute of Energy Security (IES) in a press release warned that the country could face severe fuel shortage in two weeks time due to low levels of fuel stock at the Tema Oil Refinery(TOR) and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST).
But speaking to Citi Business News, the Public Relations Officer of the National Patroleum Authority, Yaro Kasambata assured that the current stock position in the country indicates over 200 million litres of gas oil and more than 100 million litres of petrol at various depots throughout the country
These stocks are expected to last up to 6 weeks. Additionally, over 73 million litres of gas oil and 46 million litres of petrol are expected to be delivered into the country from the 13th to 18th February 2017, he said.
He maintained that the NPA continuously monitors the weekly schedule of fuel imports to ensure that there is constant supply of fuel for the country.
The Authority wishes to assure the general public that there are no challenges at the discharging terminals at the country's ports and ensures that there is fairness in the process leading up to the discharge of cargoes of all importers, he stressed.
We therefore encourage the media and the general public to disregard any projections being put out in the public domain as merely speculative without any empirical basis, he added.
By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Khartoum (AFP) - The UN children's agency on Wednesday launched a $110 million appeal to help two million acutely malnourished children across Sudan, including hundreds of thousands living in conflict areas.
UNICEF said Sudan is home to around 13 percent of all children suffering from acute malnutrition across Africa.
Their situation is exacerbated by conflict-related displacements, El Nino, epidemics, floods and droughts.
"The United Nations Children's Fund in Sudan launches an appeal in response to children's needs across the country, for a provisional total of $110 million," UNICEF said in a statement.
The agency said two million children under five in Sudan are acutely malnourished.
And two million children have been displaced due to violence in Darfur, the regions of South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei, with many separated from their relatives and affected by grave violations, it said.
Around three million children remain out of school, with half of them living in conflict affected areas.
Although Sudan has made progress across many life-saving sectors in recent years, around 24 million people still lack proper sanitation facilities while six million children have no access to clean drinking water, the agency said.
UNICEF has spent about $500 million in Sudan over the past five years, and the agency increasingly aims to tap funds from inside Sudan.
SOME Concern Youth of Akropong North Municipal in the Eastern Region are appealing to President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo to appoint Dr. William Adjei Twumasi who have been shortlisted among other three as the Municipal Chief Executive officer of the area.
According to the group the Deputy Chief Accountant of Akropong College of Education, Dr Twumasi is the right person to occupied the office, since he is going to be the representative of the President at the grassroot level hence he can possess the qualities of the President (Competent and Incorruptible).
The Akropong North Municipality, the group noted is endowed with numerous resources which need a visionary MCE to turn these resources to the betterment of the local people and not with any other person than Dr. Twumasi.
A vetting committee comprising of the the constituency executives, representatives from the Assembly members, representatives from the Council of Elders and Patrons (constituency level) and representatives from the traditional council was formed in last week to vetted the 16 persons vying for the race.
At end of the party internal polls, out of 16 aspiring nominees vying for the Akropong North MCE position, four persons namely, Dr. William Adjei Twumasi, Dennis Edward Aboagye, Emmanuel Bekoe and Philip Opare-Addo were shortlisted waiting for their names to be mentioned.
The residents and natives in the Akropong North Municipality as gathered are divided over who the next MCE for the area.
Reports gathered that, majority of residents want President Akufo Addo appoint, Dr. William Adjei Twumasi, the Deputy Chief Accountant of the Akropong Presbyterian College of Education also a Patron of the NPP who is the most influential candidate among the three others to ease the political tension in the Akropong North Municipality.
The residents who in the history of the local government administration of the area had not seen developments in the municipality suggested that, Dr Twumasi when appointed by the President will be able to initiated the government polices and construct schools, health centres among other projects for the villages.
The astute Patron Dr. William Twumasi parton of the NPP has been identified as one of the numbers with broad experience of the Local Government act, and in-depth knowledge about the area, could effectively contribute to the development of the, area if appointed as the next MCE, his supporters claim.
The group lead by the convenor, Seth Kwame Addo in a statement however noted that, Dr. Twumasi is competent, trustworthy and a unifier whom when appointed as the MCE will help bring unity, peace and development to the good people of Akropong.
They however, added that, the Akropong North Municipal Assembly needs a visionary Chief Executive formed effectively manage the resources of the area which will eventually bring development to the district and beyond.
-Daniel Bampoe
Bamako (AFP) - Clashes have forced 600 people to flee their homes in central Mali as traditional herding communities battle with farmers over accusations of jihadist infiltration and land use in areas hit by climate change.
Malian television said Tuesday night hundreds had fled villages close to the city of Macina after clashes between Fulani herders and Bambara farmers over the weekend.
The death toll from the armed confrontation had risen to 20 from 13, a security ministry communique said Wednesday, while 16 people were injured.
Four Malian ministers have visited the area and an enquiry has been announced into the causes of the dispute.
The clashes were allegedly triggered by the murder of a Bambara farmer on Saturday named as Cheickna Traore.
It was followed by retribution killings against Fulanis (known as Peuls in French) accused of being jihadists who had organised the assassination.
A report last month by Human Rights Watch described an "Islamist armed group presence and intimidation of the population" that has "steadily increased" in central Mali, as well as an uptick in banditry and criminality.
The South African-based Institute for Security Studies has highlighted drought driven by climate change as leaving herders unable to feed their animals in northern Mali, forcing them to move south.
They are then "forced into the valleys where conflicts often arise with farmers over land and water," according to a report released last year.
Fulani people are frequently accused of colluding with jihadists who have sowed chaos in Mali in recent years, especially in the north but more recently in the centre as well.
Since the overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi's regime in Libya, weapons have travelled freely from the chaotic state in an arc of unrest through Mali and Niger.
15.02.2017 LISTEN
A group calling itself National Youth Ambassadors (NYA) has commended ACP Edward Oduro Kwarteng, the Offinso Divisional Police commander and his men for exhibiting high sense of Professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
The group, led by Fred Appia and Prince Nana Kwaku Owusu are enthused about the Police Command's decision to escort market women and traders on market days and also to patrol the roads while the market is in session.
The strategy is part of the Offinso Divisional Police command's proactive measures to curb and eliminate criminal activities in the division.
The commendation follows the rescue of traders on February 2, this year, by the Patrol team when they were routinely escorting the first group of traders to a town called Kwapanin, about 10 kilometers from Abofour in Offinso municipality.
On their return, the police team unexpectedly bumped into eight armed robbers who had blocked the road with logs and two motor bikes.
On seeing the police, the armed robbers started firing at the Patrol team who also returned fire and managed to rescue Kofi Badu, 35 and Samuel, 39, whose motor bikes had earlier been taken by the robbers and ordered to lie down by the road.
ACP Edward Oduro Kwarteng, the divisional police commander has appealed to the public to volunteer information to the police to help combat crime by exposing unscrupulous elements in the society.
He cautioned criminals to revise their notes and vacate the area because his jurisdiction is very unfriendly to criminals.
From Ernest Best Anane, Kumasi.
15.02.2017 LISTEN
MTN, the Communication giant network in Ghana, has held the 2017 Springboard road show with a call on parents not to impose career development on their wards because children of school going age, especially SHS students are vulnerable to the dynamism of society and the world.
Mr. Eric Nsarkoh, Sales and Distribution Executive of MTN Ghana observed that children need to be guided but not to impose concepts since they have minds that interact, as the generation is becoming more of self-employed and must understand the dynamics.
He was addressing students from Yaa Asantewaa Senior High School, Kumasi, St. Louis Senior High School and Kumasi Academy at the Calvary Charismatic Church in Kumasi.
According to him, immediate challenges could discourage them from pursuing their dream and observed that, Ghana must stabilize the institutions that have sprung out of our common heritage to strengthen the institutional base.
Mr. Nsarkoh also challenged students to use opportunities wisely by bringing ideas and careers to all regions, as they have more opportunities and for that matter, students who choose to study must be guided.
Sales and Distribution Executive stressed the need to tap into the students' store of innovation and design a world that caters for their needs, adding that, its time to recognize both negative and positive peer pressure for a positive influence.
He reminded them that, to win a battle ahead they must prioritize their future generation and nurture them jealously and educate them thoroughly and anchor them in the value they treasured.
Mr. Nsarkoh charged the students to be innovative and creative as students, as they ask themselves questions on problems and would be able to solve it.
Pix 1: Female participating students
Pix 2: Male participants
From Ernest Best Anane Kumasi.
15.02.2017 LISTEN
The government's policy of 'one District one factory' has been embraced in the Ho Municipality by Reagvin Ventures Limited, a private company, which has decided to establish a factory at Atikpui to produce cassava on commercial bases, which would be processed into various products for both domestic and foreign consumption.
The company, which is a private business initiative, has already acquired five thousand hectares of farmland for cassava plantation at Atikpui to feed the processing plant to be established at Tokokoe, all in the Ho Municipality.
A memorandum of understanding between the company and the traditional authorities has been completed.
Addressing the Media on the preparations made so far towards the establishment of the factory, the Chief Executive Officer of Reagvin Ventures, Mr. Vincent Norgbordzi disclosed that the company had received GHC296,000 from the Exim Bank of Ghana as financial assistant to the company for the purchase of equipment as the first phase of the project.
Mr. Norgbordzi explained that when the project was fully in operation, it would help create 2,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs, which he noted would help in reducing the high youth unemployment in the Municipality.
It would also prevent the youth from seeking non existing white colour jobs in towns and cities.
He continued that the company, in collaboration with Africa Lead and Farm Serve Consults, have so far trained 500 out growers in modern farming techniques, particularly cassava cultivation, as well as other cash crops, stressing that the beneficiaries of the training programmes were also educated on accurate record keeping skills to enable them to manage their business activities more effectively when the factory starts its operation.
Mr. Norgbordzi therefore appealed to the youth to take advantage of available opportunities like the factory that would soon embark on commercial activities to generate income for themselves and improve their living conditions, rather than depending on non existing white colour jobs, saying the factory would bring hope to the people and all should embrace it.
The Public Affairs Director of the Company, Mr. Patrice Selormey said the factory would go into industrial starch production; ethanol and cassava flour production for export and local use and disclosed that market for the products exist in Europe and China, while local market is also encouraging.
Mr. Selormey, however, called for the construction of the AtikpuiHodzo road to pave way for easy transportation of goods and services, saying the current situation was not the best. According to him, good road networks are panacea for fruitful socioeconomic activities that would make it possible for the people to engage in businesses that would lead to wealth creation.
From Samuel Agbewode, Ho.
Ghanas ailing cotton industry is expected to be revived in the coming months, following the decision by the Chinese Government to acquire 500,000 hectares of lands for the cultivation of cotton to meet local needs.
The Asian Giants have also promised to establish an Agriculture Mechanization Plant in Ghana to assemble tractors and other farming equipment to enhance the countrys agriculture.
The Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ghana, HE Sun Baohung, disclosed this when she led a Chinese Economic Team to pay a courtesy call on the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, at his office.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana stated unequivocally that her country is ready to trade with Ghana in the area of Agriculture, pledging that China is ready to offer both financial and human resource services to the country.
Amongst other programmes, H.E. Sun Baohung also announced that her government will fly in experts from China to train Ghanaian farmers in the cultivation of cassava and other food crops in order to increase production.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana said a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) would be reached with Ghana through Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), for the development of the 500,000 hectares in the cultivation.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Dr. OwusuAfriyieAkoto, on his part, commended the government of China and the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana for the laudable pledge to support Ghanas Agriculture, particularly in the revival of the ailing cotton industry.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto, however, charged the Chinese Government to extend the SADA Program nationwide for the benefit of all citizens.
Freetown, Sierra Leone, February 15, 2017 The Government of Sierra Leone, with financial support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and UK Aid, also known as Department for International Development (DfID), launched on Monday, February 13, 2017 the rehabilitation and extension of the Bo-Kenema Electricity Distribution System in Sierra Leone.
In line with the Governments Post Ebola Recovery Program, which identified the project as a key deliverable, in the efforts to improve citizen access to energy services. The project will upgrade and construct a 33-kilovolt electricity line between Bo and Kenema. The project will also construct new primary substations to enhance the reliability and sustainability of electricity supply between the two cities. For the first time, 37,000 households located in Bo, Kenema and villages along the route of the distribution line, will benefit from a supply of electricity through the installation of pre-paid electricity meters connecting them to the line. The 17,500 households already connected will benefit from a more reliable supply of electricity. The project will also provide technical training for staff at the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) and other key stakeholders.
Unreliable energy services in urban areas, and limited energy services in rural areas, were cited as a major obstacle to a rapid response during the Ebola crisis. Improved energy services will not only strengthen Sierra Leones resilience to future outbreaks, but support economic growth and infrastructure development across the country.
While thanking its co-funding partners, the Minister of Energy, Henry Macauley, said,
Today marks a key milestone in Government of Sierra Leones commitment to provide affordable and reliable access to electricity across the country under the Agenda for Prosperity launched by His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. The Bo-Kenema rehabilitation project is an evidence of the fruitful cooperation between the Ministry of Energy, the African Development Bank and the UK Department for International Development. All parties are committed to a swift implementation that will lay the foundations for the economic rebirth of Bo and Kenema as we share the conviction electricity supply to small and medium enterprises and households is key to a sustainable development.
The project directly contributes to the AfDBs New Deal on Energy for Africa , which aims to secure universal energy access on the continent by 2025 and support efforts to mitigate climate change through reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the use of diesel and kerosene for lighting. The AfDB will invest US $13 million and oversee project delivery.
AfDB is committed to working with partners to catalyse economic development in post-conflict countries, such as Sierra Leone through projects that open up new markets and provide opportunities for local communities. The Bo-Kenema project is also exemplary in that the Bank was able to mobilize significant co-financing for the project in line with the Banks new business model to attract additional capital to the continent, said Amadou Hott, AfDBs Vice-President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth .
Speaking at the launch, Guy Warrington, British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, said, I am proud that UK Aid is able to support efforts to improve access to energy as part of our 240-million commitment to the Ebola recovery effort. The UK Government is a long-term supporter of the Government of Sierra Leones efforts to improve energy access across the country, and will invest 31.5 million (US $40 million) in the rehabilitation and extension of the Bo-Kenema Electricity Distribution System. We are also investing in off-grid electricity systems for rural communities and promoting household solar systems under the UKs Energy Africa compact, which was signed with Government of Sierra Leone in May 2016.
A federal court has ordered the Wisconsin legislature to redraw voting districts in time for the 2018 elections. This is a victory for voters, who have been voting in gerrymandered districts that were ruled unconstitutional in November.
Although the court did not specify how the Legislature should redraw the maps, the League of Women Voters urges lawmakers to choose a method that will minimize undue partisanship. The League filed a brief in the case offering possible ways to accomplish that.
The Wisconsin Constitution gives the Legislature the responsibility of redistricting, which takes place every 10 years after the census. Unfortunately, when you have one-party rule, as was the case in Wisconsin in 2011, the majority party is able to choose the voters by drawing meandering district boundaries designed to include some voters and exclude others.
Of the nonpartisan redistricting methods we proposed, the most practical is the procedure followed successfully in Iowa, which has a similar constitutional provision. There, a nonpartisan legislative agency drafts the district maps for the Legislature, which retains final responsibility for enacting (or rejecting) the proposed maps. The Wisconsin Legislature could direct its Legislative Reference Bureau, the nonpartisan service agency which drafts all legislation, to create new maps. The agency would have to follow the usual districting criteria mandated by state and federal law, such as compactness, contiguity, respect for existing municipal boundaries, and non-dilution of minority voting power.
The plan should also provide for public input. Iowas Legislative Services Agency is advised by a nonpartisan commission and must hold at least three public hearings about the plan in different regions of the state and report on the hearings to the legislature. The Legislature then brings the redistricting bill to a vote shortly after receiving the report. Only corrective amendments are allowed. If the initial plan is rejected, the agency must submit a second version within 35 days. Again, the Legislature votes, with only corrective amendments allowed. There is plenty of time for such a process to take place in Wisconsin before the court-ordered deadline of Nov. 1.
Since its creation in 1980, the Iowa process has operated smoothly and with the support of both parties. Each decade the Legislature has enacted the first or second proposed plan. No plan has been challenged in court, saving Iowa tax payers millions of dollars in litigation fees.
Iowas plan has resulted in some of the most competitive districts in the nation, offering voters a choice of two or more viable candidates. In Wisconsin, none of our eight congressional districts is considered competitive, and Common Cause in Wisconsin reported in 2016 that just one in 10 of our legislative districts could be considered competitive. That leads to uncontested elections and less choice for voters.
There are currently proposals before the Wisconsin Legislature to adopt the Iowa plan. Lawmakers should do so this session. They also should apply the plan now to redraw the current, unconstitutional districts in a way that will give voters confidence that they are not being manipulated by politicians seeking an unfair partisan advantage.
Maputo (AFP) - Mozambique braced for flooding, high winds, sea surges and evacuations on Wednesday as Cyclone Dineo neared the coast, with forecasters predicting widespread damage.
Dineo was set to make landfall in the southern province of Inhambane in the evening, packing winds of about 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) said.
Mozambique's meterological services upgraded the storm to a tropical cyclone on Wednesday afternoon as strong winds began to slam into coastal areas.
Torrential rain, flooding and a coastal storm surge were expected, with SAWS warning that Dineo was "a formidable storm system which has the potential to cause much damage to coastal and inland infrastructure".
The Mozambique Red Cross dispatched emergency relief supplies and 350 workers to areas likely to be in the impact zone, where rivers are already at flood level.
"Many of the districts likely to be hit have been inundated by above-normal rainfall since early January," Jamie Le Sueur, Red Cross disaster management coordinator for southern Africa, said.
The Red Cross warned that flooding could also contaminate water sources and spread sickness after the storm passes.
Seeking shelter
Mozambique's National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) issued an alert over the cyclone threat, advising people to prepare food and water supplies and urging vulnerable communities to seek shelter.
The INGC said it was also planning evacuation routes.
Local media reported that flooding was expected in the southern cities of Inhambane and Maxixe as well as in many villages, with houses, crops, roads and livestock at risk as well as human lives.
Officials advised people to turn off electricity and stay away from power cables to avoid shocks, and to protect windows with wood or plastic.
Heavy rains will spread into South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana on Thursday and Friday as the cyclone weakens, forecasters say.
Mozambique, one of the world's poorest countries, is often battered by deadly flooding and storms.
In 2000, floods claimed at least 800 lives, and more than 100 were killed in 2015.
Scores have already died in the current rainy season, which began in October.
The high death toll in 2000 triggered donor funding for relocations and improvements to water management infrastructure, early warning systems and emergency response resources.
Return on investment of Ghanas Heritage Fund recorded a decline in the second half of 2016 as compared to the first half of the same year.
A report released by the Bank of Ghana on the performance and activities of the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) and the Ghana Petroleum Funds (GPFs) for the Second half of 2016 -ended December 30, 2016 revealed that return on investment of the fund declined to 2.99 percent for that period.
In the first half of the same year (January to June) however return on investment was 4.93 percent.
The decline in return has been attributed to global developments.
Despite the decline the fund performed better in 2016 than in 2015.
In 2015 return of interest on the fund yielded 0.54 percent in the first half and 0.74 percent in the second quarter of that year.
Performance to pick up?
Despite the plunge the Bank of Ghana says it is confident yields on the investment funds will be positive in 2017.
The bank believes though past global trends had an impact on the funds investment performance, key current and future global developments will impact positively on the portfolios of the heritage fund and other funds.
Additional appreciation of the foreign exchange value of the US Dollar and financial vulnerabilities in some advanced and emerging market economies could impact negatively on global growth resulting in bond yields falling.
De-globalisation stemming from trade protectionist policies (under-currents exposed by Brexit and Trump's America first agenda) will exacerbate anaemic global trade and slow down growth considerably.
The terms of Britain's exit from the European Union have not been concluded. Upcoming elections in Germany, France, Italy and other European Union countries have potential for adverse economic consequences resulting in investors moving their funds from high-risk assets to investment safe havens.
This will cause safe haven bond yields to fall, which will impact positively on the portfolios of the GSF and GHF.
Fund Allocation
The heritage fund receives eight percent of revenue accrued from Ghanas crude oil proceeds.
In the second half of 2016 the Ghana Heritage Fund received US$6.85 million, while the Ghana Stabilization Fund received US$15.99 million.
While in the first half of that same year the Ghana Heritage Fund received US$5.79 million and the Stabilization fund received an amount of US$13.52 million.
The Heritage fund which was established in 2011, as at December, 2016 had accrued US$262.57 million making up 8 percent of total revenue from oil proceeds distributed to the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) and the Ghana Petroleum Funds (GPFs).
The Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) received a total of US$1,473.45 million representing 43 percent of the total revenue while Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) received a total amount of US$1,057.30 million equivalent to 31 percent of total revenue.
The Ghana Stabilization Fund (GSF) received an amount of US$633.87 million (18 percent).
Heritage fund to be used to fund free SHS?
The Heritage Fund has been in the news this week after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government hinted of reviewing the Petroleum Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance its ambitious Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, at a forum in Accra on Tuesday said the Heritage Fund, will be used to sustain the program. The fund was set up to support the country's future generations when the oil reserves are depleted.
Meanwhile the Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi believes using the Heritage Fund component in the Petroleum Management Act to fund some policies, only six years after it was set up, could compromise the fund.
By: Vivian Kai Lokko/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
What is cultism confraternity? Have you ever heard about female cultism in Nigeria? What about female cultism in Nigerian universities? You might get shocked after reading the article.
Female cultism in Nigerian universities, does it exist?
Each of us from childhood has heard the word "cult" or "cultism", but even many adults interpret the origin of cultism and the meaning of this word not quite right. In the view of the society the concept of "cultism" is associated with Satanism, Voodoo magic, occult practices. According to the history of cultism in Nigeria, people identify the meaning of cult as a glorification of any individual, for instance - the cult of the Pharaoh in ancient Egypt, the cult of Stalin in the Soviet Union and the cult of Hitler in the Third Reich in the twentieth century.
Female cultism in Nigerian universities, does it exist?
If you consider a cult in religion, then it will be a true statement that the cult is the service of the deity or deities, including religious rituals, traditions and worldview. Another meaning of the word cult in religion is religious worship of any material object, such an object is called a cult. Cult objects found in most religions of the world, including in the three major religions are the icons and relics in Christianity, Buddha in Buddhism, mosques of Mecca and Medina in Islam.
READ ALSO: 9 incidents of political violence in Nigeria in December
Types of Cultism
As in a broad sense, it is considered to be a kind of a worship. However, all cults can be divided into several groups depending on the object of admiration. Therefore, sociologists, historians and psychologists divide the cults that take place in the spiritual and social life of modern society, groups are the following:
Religious cultism
Religious veneration of deities, saints, fathers, prophets, apostles, and also of items which according to belief were given to men by God. Religious cults include not only the spiritual aspect of belief, but also all the rituals, traditions and ceremonies that have to be performed by the believers. By and large, any religion can be called a cult and every religion includes a certain number of more narrowly focused cults for example, cults of gods, cults of sacred animals, ancestor worship.
Personality cultism
Personality cults - these cults are the basis of the autocratic form of government, as their essence lies in the exaltation of the personality of the leader. In almost all states with authoritarian and totalitarian forms of government there is personality cult of the leader. This cult originated in ancient times, when the first kings appeared.
Youth and prosperity cultism
Cults associated with material goods or position in society in their relation to the meaning of the word cult should be interpreted in the widest sense, as cult of money, cult of beauty, cult of youth and so on, it means that a large part of society considers wealth as a priority over the spiritual development and "eternal values".
Female cultism
This type of cultism involves representatives of one gender (female) who gather together in order to achieve their sacrificed aims or for other special purposes. They may gather in the forests or in other remote places, make circles, singing songs and reading out some invocations and spells.
Female cultism in Nigerian universities, does it exist?
Speaking about cultism in Nigeria and, in particular, female cultism in Nigerian universities, it can be said that a great number of people claim to be witnesses of the gatherings of such female groupings and their involvement to its activities.
According to the stories of some Nigerian universities students, such phenomenon is widely spread in campuses of Lagos universities. Let me tell you how all this takes place.
Female cultism: shocking welcoming procedure
If you want to become one of the members of such group, you will need to go through a certain procedure for new-comers, which implies virginity loss (with the presence of other members of the clan), cutting of thumbs, cooking a kind of a soup with the blood from these parts of the body and then drinking such a beverage. After you have become a member of this group, you cant leave it unless you are dead or you come under protection of more stronger clan.
Female cultism in Nigerian universities, does it exist?
READ ALSO: Top 10 dangerous religious cults in the world
Speaking on the terms of membership in this clan, it is worth taking into consideration your main tasks in future you will have to work as a prostitute, offering your body and soul for big sums of money and presents from so-called Aristos. If you are lucky they may even give you a car as a present or something even more valuable.
Female cultism in Nigerian universities, does it exist?
One of the most unpleasant factors is that while the welcoming steps you may easily get HIV, as the majority of girls has already become its carriers. Some girls offer natural sex without condoms for the purpose of infecting other people with such unpleasant diseases.
Other cults in Nigerian universities
1. Ahoi-Seadog ( Ibadan college)
This confraternity is supposed to be pirate one, their main symbols are the skull and crossbones. According to them there shouldnt be a kind of an inequality which implies different clothes of affluent students and those who are much poorer who strive to look more smart so as to be accepted by other students.
2. Buccaneers Association of Nigeria (BAN) or AloraSealords
This is a part of the aforementioned grouping. This group consisted of those who couldnt manage to cope with all the restrictions and conditions of membership in Ahoi-Seadog.
3. Black Axe Confraternity or Aye-Axemen
Such confraternity is aimed at fighting against oppression against Black men. One of their beliefs and exclamations is - The Black man will be freed with an axe.
Got impressed?
Source: Legit.ng
- Staff of Delta state house of assembly on Tuesday shutdown the assembly complex over poor staff welfare
- They prevented lawmakers, political aides and other assembly commission staff from accessing their offices
- They complain of the house leaders insensitivity to their plight as they care only for themselves, neglecting the welfare of the staff
Workers at the Delta State House of Assembly under the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) on Tuesday resumed indefinite strike over poor staff welfare.
They shut the 29 lawmakers out of the assembly complex, accusing them of insensitivity and wickedness to their plights.
Accordingly, the entrance to the assembly complex in Asaba was sealed-off as the workers union prevented vehicular movement and human movements into the complex.
The sitting that was billed for Tuesday was disrupted as the lawmakers could not gain access into the chamber.
Delta state house of assembly
PASAN Chairman, Comrade Edozie Emmanuel said that the workers had to resume the suspended strike action because the Assembly leadership, including the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya, "failed to fulfill the promises made to the workers."
READ ALSO: Sheriff, Makarfi PDP faction clashed in Delta
He said: We say pay us our 2016 wardrobe allowance and appoint a deputy clerk for us. That position has been vacant since 2015. It has created a vacuum; we are being stagnated in our career in the Assembly Service commission.
The promises made were not fulfilled. None has been fulfilled. The clinic as we talk now is dead. This is despite the promises made.
"We had suspended the strike because we thought they were telling us the truth. But up till now, the money has not been paid; the issue of deputy clerk has not been resolved.
Governor Okowa with Monday Igbuya, Speaker of Delta state house of assembly
We have communicated our resolution to resume the suspended strike to the leadership of the Assembly.
He expressed surprise at the attitude of the leadership of the assembly, which he lamented saying they have refused to dialogue with the workers' union despite several efforts made to engage it.
They ignored us, saying that they are not responsible to us."
He said that while the legislators get their allowances and entitlements with ease, the entitlement of the workers is no importance to them.
"The Speaker is insensitive and adamant to our requests and plight of the workers. He does not pick the phone when calls are made to him, Comrade Emmanuel said, adding: All is not well in the Delta state House of Assembly.
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For minor work that the workers are employed to do, they prefer to bring in outsiders to come and do them. We are not calling off this strike until our demands are fully met, Comrade Emmanuel said.
But Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Henry Ebireri, rose in stout defense of the leadership of the house, saying the speaker has been defending the interest of workers of the assembly.
He said the assembly workers are antagonistic to the leadership of the house, insisting that their posture against the house leadership was not a good one.
He said: The issuance of warrant for outfit allowance is not the responsibility of the speaker nor the leadership of the house. In spite of the current financial crunch, the state is up to date in its obligation to the assembly workers.
It is appalling that the workers locked all the entrances to the assembly complex and the commission, thus barring commission members, political aides and others from entering their offices for normal work over outfit allowances, a matter that is receiving attention from the state government.
Source: Legit.ng
Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who visited former military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) in his Minna mansion in Niger state February 14 says only Nigerians can decide on restructuring
Nigerians should decide if they want restructuring Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Minna during his visit to ex-Military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello challenged Nigerians to decide if they want restructuring of the country.
It is up to Nigerians to decide on the restructuring of the country, Atiku told news men.
Going further, Atiku said the days of advising government publicly especially on the pages of Newspapers are gone. He said whenever he has something helpful, he would channel whatever he has to say confidentially to those in power.
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If I have to advise the government, I will do so in confidence and not on the pages of newspapers.
The meeting which was held at Babangidas home lasted about two hours according to The Nation
Atiku who arrived Minna Airport at 12:40p.m. yesterday February 14 was received by the governor. They went together to Babangidas home.
After the meeting, the former VP addressed reporters. I came to visit Gen. Babangida and wish him well.
He was accompanied by Cpt. Yahaya Gombe, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Alhaji Kwaironga Jada and Alhaji Jamilu Jibrin
Source: Legit.ng
The United States of America has finally confirmed that President Donald Trump did indeed speak with Nigerian leader President Muhammadu Buhari.
The US White House says Trump spoke with Buhari on Monday
The confirmation came on Tuesday, February 14 through White House Press Secretary and Communications Director, Sean Michael Spicer during his introduction of Tuesdays White House Press Briefing.
READ ALSO: Years of corruption, attack on oil facilities cause of Nigerias economic hardship - Osinbajo
Spicer told media men present that President Trump spoke with President Buhari of Nigeria and Jacob Zuma of South Africa and also received the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau on Monday, February 13.
Recall that US-owned international news media CNN had confirmed the conversation between the Nigerian leader and and his American counterpart amid insinuations in some quarters that President Buhari may have not had conversation with Trump because he was allegedly too sick to do so.
White House Press secretary Sean Michael Spicer confirmed Trump's call to President Buhari in Tuesday's press briefing.
The delay by the White House in its confirmation of the conversation between the two leaders on its official social media handles fueled speculation that all may not be well.
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However, the White Houses confirmation on Tuesday, about 24 hours after the phone call between the two presidents puts a full stop to speculations that President Buhari may not be feeling well.
The Presidency had confirmed the call on Monday after through presidential spokesman Femi Adesina.
Source: Legit.ng
In a conversation carried over from January, county engineer Brian Pogodzinski laid out the history of the 70-year-old highway department building to the Houston County Board of Commissioners.
The board had asked Pogodzinski to come to the Feb. 7 meeting to explain the function of the highway department and building.
He started with the basics. The highway department is split into administrative, engineering, equipment maintenance and maintenance. It has multiple locations within the county including Spring Grove, Houston, La Crescent, Hokah and the main officethe building in questionin Caledonia.
The Caledonia site sits on six acres of land and was built in 1947. The last additions were in 1966 and 1967. The board of commissioners began discussing the building in 1993 after it issued a study on the building. The building has now had multiple studies, the most recent was in 2009 and reviewed the air quality.
In 1994, the board went so far as to visit other highway department buildings in the state of Minnesota. It was then decided in 1996 that it would save $50,000 left over from another project towards a new building.
The building was not discussed or reviewed again by the county board until 2007.
In 2007, they started full steam ahead, Pogodzinski said. They set up a committee that had a county commissioner, the county engineer and five people of the public. They represented every district in the county. There were also township representatives.
Although there are multiple sites that are suggested for the highway department building, there are three that are the most contested: the six-acre lot it currently sits on, a 10-acre site in Spring Grove and the 22-acres owned by the county next to Caledonia High School.
As for funding, Pogodzinski gave multiple options.
In 2009, the committee tried to look into state and federal funding, but they didnt get very far, he said. The state came back and said, if we pay for your facility what would stop us from paying the other counties buildings?
Besides a county levy and local option sales tax, Pogodzinski gave different financial options: the county fund balance, state aid road funds and bonding.
I want you to be aware that there are other avenues to pursue, he said.
Pogodzinski will return to the Feb. 28 meeting with some of the highway departments staff per the request of the board.
While he addressed the board, Pogodzinski also brought forward a discussion about salt purchasing and penalties.
Cargill is our contractornormally when we order in the winter, we get the salt now; while in the summer we order it, but we dont get it for a while, he said.
This year Cargill was late on their salt delivery, a first in the countys relationship with the company.
As a penalty, the county could potentially charge Cargill up to 17 percent of the overall total. The county spent $180,000 on salt this year, so the amount could be as high as $30,600.
Let me jump in, Commissioner Justin Zmyewski said. This is a multi-billion dollar company, we are but a grain in their ocean. We really could stick it to them but then they might raise their prices the next year. On the flip side, if we dont, then we have set a precedence to not enforce the penalty.
The county has been using the state bid for salt since 2009, and Cargill is normally among one or two other bidders for Houston County.
The real cost of getting the salt later was probably only around $1,000 for waiting around, Pogodzinski said. But, if we would have gotten snow or ice in November we would have had a much bigger problem. Id say reduce it by half. When it happened I called them up right away and I let them know. They didnt warn us.
The discussion ended with county attorney Sam Jandts suggestion that an amended contract could possibly be sent to Cargill to ask for half of the penalty.
- Agatu is beginning to be seen as an unfortunate community following the constant attacks the local government area has witnessed over time
- This time, soldiers allegedly on a reprisal mission, attacked the six communities and killed a pregnant woman and five others
Some Nigerian soldiers have reportedly attacked six villages in Agatu local government area of Benue state, killing a pregnant woman and five others.
The communities that make up Agatu have been under constant attacks from herdsmen
The attack was allegedly a reprisal to the killing of a soldier at the weekend when youths in the local government clashed with army officers.
READ ALSO: Ceding of Agatu land to Fulanis, a betrayal of our trust and un-alloyed support for voting Ortom - Onoja
Agatu has been in the news for a while now following the constant attack on the local government by Fulani herdsmen. Such attacks have led to the killing of over 1,000 indigenes of the communities as well as the maiming of many others.
The Punch reports sources at the Egba community as saying a pregnant woman was hit by a stray bullet and that the villages are now deserted.
The report quoted one of such sources as saying: This is genocide on our people, as Im talking to you now, six villages have been sacked, children and women have moved out of the affected villages, while many people have been arrested by the invading soldiers.
It however also said the brigade commander of the 707 special force, Brig Clement Apere, denied that his men attacked the communities.
Apere, who spoke at a press conference, said: The operation we conducted in the area was carried out in a professional way.
The sole administrator of Agatu local government area, Mike Inalegwu, was also said to have denied any attack on his people, but admitted soldiers invaded the communities.
READ ALSO: There is nothing good about Buharis administration - Fayose
There is no iota of truth in that, no one was killed, the military were only on the mission to recover their arms and ammunition, he reportedly said.
Source: Legit.ng
No fewer than 163 Nigerians who have been stranded in Libya voluntarily returned to the country on Tuesday, February 14.
Nigerian returnees from Libya on arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos Photo credit: Daily Trust
Their return was facilitated by the International Oganisation for Migration (IOM), following the federal governments request for its assistance after confirming that some Nigerians were willing to return home.
Daily Trust reports that aircraft conveying the returnees landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) around 3:30pm.
READ ALSO: 92 immigrants deported from US to Africa
Three of the deportees require medical care Photo credit: Daily Trust
They were received at the Hajj terminal by the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA).
The returnees comprised of 92 adult females; 62 adult males; seven children, and two infants.
Addressing newsmen, the director general of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sidi, represented by the deputy director, Search and Rescue, Dr. Abdullahi Onimode, said the deportees would be given some token to go back to their respective destinations.
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They voluntarily returned from Libya Photo Credit: Daily Trust
Some of the deportees who appeared trumatised said they will never leave Nigeria again.
A month ago, 140 Nigerians were deported from Libya and were received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by the South-West coordinator of NEMA, Dr. Onimode Bamdele.
Three weeks ago, the Nigerian government warned citizens against going to Libya for now following the purported killing of black immigrants in the country.
See more photos below.
Their return was facilitated by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) Photo credit: Daily Trust
Elated Nigerian returnee in prayer mood on arrival Photo credit: Daily Trust
Another elated Nigerian giving praises on arrival Photo credit: Daily Trust
One of the deportees being assisted
The deported Nigerians assembled at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos
Source: Legit.ng
- The presidency and the Nigerian Senate might again clash on the confirmation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
- Sources said Ibrahim Magu might again face stumbling blocks in the confirmation of his position as substantive chairman of the EFCC
- The source said lawmakers have vowed never to confirm Magu as EFCC's chairman irrespective of his renomination by the president
Despite the re-submission of his name to the Senate, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu still faces stumbling blocks in his confirmation as substantive chair.
Daily Trust reports that the presidency and the Senate yet again clashed over Magu's confirmation.
Sources said some Nigerian lawmakers have vowed never to confirm Magu as EFCC's chairman irrespective of his renomination.
READ ALSO: Disqualify Saraki, Akpabio, other from Magus screening, activist tells court
Magu - having spend over one year as EFCC's acting chairman - faced the same challenge in December after the Senate cited allegations of corruption against him by the Department of State Security (DSS).
Some lawmakers claimed that the allegations against Magu have not been vacated and the investigation by the attorney general of the federation that cleared the EFCC acting chairman was yet to be made public.
Sources said resubmitting Magus name would again cause an uproar between the Senate and the presidency.
READ ALSO: EFCC boss Magu in BIG trouble for 'harassing' Governors' Forum over Paris Club loan refund saga
The source said President Muhammadu Buhari and the acting president Yemi Osinbajo are focused on having Magu lead the anti-corruption campaign of the current administration.
It was also gathered that some former governor and politician who are currently in the Senate and under various corrupt investigation may also be stalling Magu's confirmation.
However, speaking on the matter, the chairman of the Senate committee on media and public affairs Aliyu Sabi said the National Assembly would take a position on Magu after deliberation on the 2017 budget.
Source: Legit.ng
Editor's note: In this piece sent to Legit.ng, Ifeanyi Chijioke writes an open letter to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
Chijioke highlights the problems faced by the Nigerian nation most especially people from the South-East region.
He also calls for the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPBO) Nnamdi Kanu.
Dear President of Nigeria; I am very much aware and I know that few people would be groaning at this very letter; they (those cabals in Aso Rock) would question my position to addressing you to as - the President of Nigeria.
Let me make it clear to you that I am not writing this letter to you as your subject; I am doing so as a citizen of Biafra, Nigeria did not give me anything or did anything for me, I have never collected anything from Nigeria so it is obvious that nothing concerns me with Nigeria.
Muhammadu Buharis life is in a balance going by everything the Presidency has claimed; that is the price of not listening to God.
This will show Buhari that the God of Nnamdi Kanu is alive; that God that divided the red sea, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Joshua etc.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Finally, Biafra gets independence on March 15 - BZF leader declares
Should he eventually come back alive; let it be that God warned him for the last time but I strongly feel God is angry that he might not have a second chance.
The primary purpose of detaining Nnamdi Kanu is never to stop or address Biafra agitation but a satanic manipulation, Buhari is being used to arrange a bloody crisis that would sink every single one of us.
The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu is overdue; especially now that Islamic fundamentalists which Buhari represents are being used to cause that very crisis in Nigeria.
Let me make it clear once more; Nnamdi Kanu has become an institution or rather an ideology. Nnamdi Kanu is not a political leader and should anything happen to him; not only shall violence or war overwhelm us; over 70 million Biafrans would fight to death, your children might not be affected because you will take them out of this shore.
You might not as well die because you will have much to die before you do; but hence the blood of those that died will be upon you, God will not let the wicked have peace.
READ ALSO: SEE how pro-Biafran agitators used naira notes to campaign for Nnamdi Kanu and insult Buhari (photos)
But in the end; like the Mossad of Israel; Biafra shall hunt down the perpetrators of the genocide against her and those that killed her wards.
Should anything happen to Nnamdi Kanu as Lai Muhammed has disclosed that Islamic caliphate will mobilize Islamic Brotherhood to storm prisons; Biafra shall defend or avenge their ideology or institution.
This war of aggression will never end even though Biafra comes because the agitation will no longer be for Biafra but for vengeance through sovereignty. It is therefore time for Nnamdi Kanu to be released from prison and his peaceful agitation fairly addressed.
The court should be allowed to administer justice and you as the President of Nigeria either on acting or substantive capacity should direct the court to embrace justice.
I have not subscribed to the death of Muhammadu Buhari; but that is a thing he must pay with for neglecting God. God must not come down on earth and speak to him before he hears prophets or see the hand of God upon Nnamdi Kanu whose incarceration has destroyed Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Biafra in trouble as British High Commissioner visits Obi of Onitsha, IPOB cries out (photos)
I bet you; the more you try to fix Nigeria is the more it worsen, God is angry- showing Himself because of the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu.
As I have said; it is one thing to oppose Nnamdi Kanu but a different thing to detain him, if God is alive and He sent Nnamdi Kanu, peace and joy will never be upon Nigeria and without any atom of doubt, isnt that the case right now?
Whatsoever the case maybe; you are now the President of Nigeria and God took Buhari away to make a name for Himself. Buharis death cannot be a testimony to me; everything good or bad is working for the restoration of Biafra.
Without Buharis order for the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu; Biafra would have not come up to this point of certainty and his continued detention likely to ensure total destruction of Nigeria.
I wish Buhari long life but the wish of God almighty supersedes; I also thank Buhari for everything he has done, for God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and same goes to Buhari.
I write to you because you are also at the risk of same fate with Buhari unless Nnamdi Kanus agitation is approached with the right/Godly strategy.
Before God and before man; it is unholy to incarcerate Nnamdi Kanu for simply asking for self rule.
His demand can be addressed by various ways without involving detention and killing.
His call can be turned down wisely and lobbied with alternative solution to the foundation of Nigeria, illustratively, Restructure but we have all made mistake, Biafrans have died in thousands and thus cannot go back on total independence.
READ ALSO: There are plans to use Boko Haram members to assassinate Nnamdi Kanu - IPOB
Muhammadu Buharis bigotry blinded him that he made the unholy decision of incarcerating Nnamdi Kanu which God has paid back with destruction of Nigeria.
There is yet a golden opportunity to addressing this issue, release Nnamdi Kanu and campaign that people vote against Biafra in a referendum or debate him on why Biafra is not the right option and he would eventually succumb to superior reason.
Release Nnamdi Kanu and avert the wrath of God upon your life; you are taking the position of Muhammadu Buhari with every risk it carries.
What Buhari owes God is death; it is very unfortunate to him that he is not a Christian; to have neglected the words of many prophets warning him concerning Nnamdi Kanu.
A Christian would have seen the handwriting on the wall; Nnamdi Kanu is prepared by God and any standard against him will be absolutely obliterated from the face of the earth if proves too stubborn.
It is understandable to share opposing view to whatsoever Nnamdi Kanu was prepared for but to lock him up for his view is another thing.
You would understand me perfectly when I make some illustrations because you were once a pastor before politics proved more important than your heavenly call.
You might as well have been called to service in politics to enable you discharge that call through directly touching lives, it is left for you to understand where you are coming from and where you are going.
READ ALSO: We are disappointed with ECOWAS, Nigerian courts, IPOB reacts to adjournment of Nnamdi Kanu's case
If you quickly turn to the Bible and take a glance at the history of Moses; you would be well convinced that Egypt vs Israel is playing out in Nigeria. Nnamdi Kanu said let my people go and Buhari said I wont let your people go Buhari went even further to detain Nnamdi Kanu that he would not go because he delivered a simple message.
Osinbajo; I need not to start stating everything that supernaturally have been taking place since Nnamdi Kanu was detained.
There is famine; there is death, there is confusion, and everything that happened in Egypt when Moses was fighting with Pharaoh had taken place in Nigeria and the last thing left is the death of Muhammadu Buhari.
What is happening to Muhammadu Buhari today is nothing physical but spiritual and you of all people know this more than I do.
The biggest problem confronting Muhammadu Buhari is the fact that he is not a Christian; he doesnt believe in the prophets and neither does he believe that God of Abraham is real. He sees biblical Moses as a tale and Nnamdi Kanu as ordinary man; he doesnt believe in spiritual aspect of things.
If he does, he would have known that heaven is angry for the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu and everything happening in Nigeria today is spiritual implication of detaining a God-sent. You have the right to give it a spiritual check.
READ ALSO: I see Biafra as a new beginning - Nnamdi Kanu's wife
I strongly urge you to look beyond and know that this is a fragile time to continue to detain Nnamdi Kanu. The detention of Nnamdi Kanu has not stopped Biafra agitation and neither has it negatively affected the struggle but instead lifted the agitation.
Before Islam target Nnamdi Kanu and murder him to spark religious/ethnic violence that will generationally be sustained, let us wisely defeat the devil.
The cabals holding Nnamdi Kanu want nothing both religious/ethnic war and we must do everything possible to overcome the devil.
But should you be opposed to this letter; let heaven prevail and the will of God come to pass. God cant speak to you from heaven; he can use my pen and can use any man but in the end, a wise man knows when God speaks.
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Source: Legit.ng
A human rights and anti-corruption crusade group rebukes Babachir Lawal for supporting pro-government protests
- The group calls on the federal government to wake up and face the reality of governance as Nigerians are suffering under the administration
Lawal Babachir has been accused of diverting millions of naira meant for the feeding to IDPs in the northeast.
A group known as the Foundation for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade (FHRACC) has berated the secretary to the government of the federation, Lawal Babachir, for calling the Jonathan regime corrupt when he is equally been accused of corruption.
READ ALSO: CSOs, political group host 'mega rally' in solidarity with Buhari
The FHRACC rebuked Lawal Babachir for supporting those who staged pro-government protest on Tuesday, February 14.
The group in a statement by its president, Alaowei Cleric, said Lawals support for the pro government protesters is an indication that the APC Government is still playing opposition politics instead of addressing national issues, Daily Post reports.
It said Babachir Lawal who has been indicted of corruption in this government made a mockery of himself by calling Jonathan regime corrupt.
The group said Babachir Lawals case had shown that the Buharis anti-corruption crusade was selective.
It said: If anybody is to refer Jonathans Government as corrupt, it should not be from a man who is having weighty allegation of corrupt practices hanging on his neck.
At least Jonathan did not protect the ministers accused of corrupt practices in his Government unlike Babachir Lawals case who is not only been protected by the government but also provided platforms to further plunder the public resources.
READ ALSO: Pro-Buhari rally holds in Abuja on Valentine's Day
What baffles us most is when the government desperately hired some jobless miscreants to launder its bartered image, while Babachir Lawal played the ostrich game.
After spending two years to plunge the country into an unmitigated hardship by this APC Government of excuses, the solution Babachir Lawal can proffer to save Nigeria from the imminent collapse is to keep on blaming Jonathan for their woes?
The human rights group called on the federal government to wake up and face the reality of governance, adding that Nigerians are suffering under the administration.
Meanwhile, acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, has blamed corruption for the root cause of the current economic hardship faced by Nigerians.
Osinbajo said the economic challenges affecting Nigeria is a consequence of corruption, which had been in the country for many years.
The acting president made the statement on Tuesday, February 14, when he spoke at a town hall meeting with the members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Punch reports.
Osinbajo explained that the federal government was investigating a $15bn defence contract, stating that the disappearance of such an amount would lead any country into hardship.
Source: Legit.ng
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state on Tuesday, February 14, decried the alleged marginalization of the South-East.
According to him, there is nothing to show that the region is part of the Nigerian project, Vanguard reports.
Okorocha made this known during the one-day working visit of Acting President Yemi Osinbanjo on Tuesday, February 14.
Okorocha says there is nothing to show Igbo land is part of Nigeria
READ ALSO: Osinbajo, Amaechi, others storm Imo state
The governor noted that the Igbo region had been short-changed, especially in the areas of appointments and allocation of Federal projects.
Okorocha, who is the chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, said: No other group in Nigeria that had invested as much into our nationhood can sing the song of marginalisation as much as Ndigbo has been made to sing it.
We have nothing to show that we are part of the Nigerian project; neither do we have any sense of belonging in the present government at the national level.
We have been marginalised both in terms of projects and appointments. In Imo State, for instance, all we have is a Minister of State to show for all the efforts and extreme sacrifices we made to ensure that the All Progressive Congress (APC) had a good outing in the last general elections.
I know you are the Acting President and have the ears of the President. So, there is no better person to tell our painful story than you. You need to take a second look at what is happening in the South-East. No serious political appointment, no visible federal infrastructure so far, to show the presence of federal government in the South-East in general.
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He added: I beg that as the government gives subsequent appointments let the qualified sons and daughters of the state and region are considered.
Those in business should be considered for federal patronage.
Imo state played major role in bringing APC to power because if what had taken place in other states was allowed to happen in Imo State and other states in the South-East, probably we wouldnt have had the APC government today.
Given the roles that I personally played as a sacrificial lamb in the South- East during the elections, my state deserves a better deal.
There is no federal government presence in the oil-producing areas, and none of our youths benefitted from the federal governments Amnesty Programme.
I also use this opportunity to ask for the quick refund of the money spent by the state on Imo International Cargo Airport and on some federal roads in the state.
Meanwhile, the Ohaneze Ndigbo has warned that most Igbos may soon join Biafra agitation is the region continues to be marginalised and treated unfairly.
Source: Legit.ng
Houston Countys first Remembering When: Fire and Fall Prevention presentation garnered the interest of the countys elderly.
The presentationone in what will be a series of fourwas hosted by Sandy Graves, director of Neighbors in Action, and Cassie Buehler, a safety and training officer with the La Crescent Fire Department, on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the La Crescent Community Center.
Although the crowd was small, the interest was clear.
I have issues with my feet, Cathy Acevedo said. Falling is something I want to work on preventing.
Graves and Buehler spoke about the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)s conference they attended in San Antonio. They learned about different community outreach methods and the sixteen guidelines for falls and fires. As advocates for NFPA in Houston County, the pair are required to not only hold the presentations but also to have 25 home visits this year.
In an exercise that continued throughout the presentation, the attendees reminisced about childhood memories.
Howard Munson remembered the steam heater in his childhood home. His dad would have to stoke the coal in the basement while he sat in front of a wood burning oven for warmth.
Lois Quillin remembered her favorite shoes, a pair of Mary Janes. Buehler shared that her grandmother had a wood-burning furnace that sat in the middle of the family room.
Its amazing that we never ran into it, she said.
All of the memories shared centered on the main criteria for accidents involving the elderly: unstable shoes, unsafe fire practices and falls.
Graves and Buehler talked about some statistics with the group, like that the majority of home fire deaths are people aged 65 and older. Part of the reason is that its harder for elderly people to move fast enough, they said. Failed smoke detectors and turned off hearing aids also contribute to the problem.
I bet as we go through this, you guys probably already know some of this, Graves said. My hope is that this is a take-away.
They advised those who smoke to do so outside, and everyone to give space heaters space, stay in the kitchen when frying food and keep in mind the childhood favorite stop, drop and roll.
I have a horribly sad story, Graves said. One of my very best friends from high school, she had four children: two younger and two older. They were in their home, and she noticed a fire. Her smoke detectors didnt go off. After making sure that the older two were okay, she went back in to get the two younger kids. The windows were sealed. They tried to get out. The three of them passed away. This happened to a very good friend of mine, it can happen to anyone. So to have that plan, do it. Can you open your window?
The story prompted a discussion on the importance of smoke detectors to fire prevention.
I used to be a fire marshal where I used to work, Red Haines said. Folks like you need to be able to check the mechanism that detects smoke.
The new industry standard for smoke detectors is 10 years, while older models may need to be replaced after five.
Like many Americans, the group varied on how often they checked their smoke detectors. Ideally, it should be checked every month, but twice a year is also acceptable. Quillin has not changed the batteries in her smoke detector for the past 25 years.
Graves and Buehler have received industry standard smoke detectors from the American Red Cross that they will install at a home visit for free. They are trying to work out a way to install grab bars in homes too.
I cant tell you how many people Ive worked with who have fallen, Graves said. The saddest story is people who fall and lay there all night long for hours and hours. That shouldnt happen to anybody.
The group shared their own experiences falling. Diane Haines had fallen last June and now has a permanent injury. It was her second fall.
The biggest thing you can do is exercise regularly, Buehler said. That doesnt mean that you have to do anything outside the home.
The pair recommended chair exercises and light activities like tai chi.
Other pieces of advice were to take time getting up, invest in non-slip mats in the bathtub, install grab bars in the bathroom and have enough space to move around in the home.
I picked up a lot of little things here, Red Haines said. Ive been asking health professionals for over a decade to teach exercises to develop balance and teach people how to fall. This is only the beginning.
As an incentive to get more people to sign up for the free home visits, Graves and Buehler will draw a name out of a hat and give the winner a $25 gift card.
We hope to reach the major communities in Houston County, Graves said. We are learning, but the audience was fantastic. It was great that they were willing to participate. If anyone is interested in a home presentation or a home visit feel free to reach out to me.
Those interested can call Graves at 507-895-5155. They are also looking for volunteers to help install fire detectors and grab bars in homes. Anyone is welcome to attend the group presentations.
The leader of the Biafra Zionist Federation, Benjamin Onwuka, insists that the south-eastern part of Nigeria and it neighbours would be independent in March
He also replays what led to his detention in 2014 and denies killing a policeman as claimed by the authorities
The leader of the Biafra Zionist Federation (BZF), Barrister Benjamin Onwuka, who was recently released from detention, has said he has no regret over the action that led to his incarceration three years ago.
Biafran leader Onwuka says he was saved by Barack Obama
Onwuka, who relived what transpired on that day of 2014 when he was arrested, denied that the secessionist group killed a police officer.
READ ALSO: Finally, Biafran group declares self-defense under UN charter
At a press conference in Enugu, where he said he would declare the Republic of Biafra independent on March 15, Onwuka said contrary to claims, it was one of his members that was killed by the police.
He was arrested when he and his group tried to seize an Enugu Radio station. They clashed with policemen and other security operatives drafted to frustrate their plot.
Vanguard reports that he said he was released through the intervention of United States of America, under former President Barrack Obama.
He said the US endorsed the agitation for Biafra Republic while noting that 10 members of his group are still in detention at Owerri prison due to stringent bail conditions.
READ ALSO: Young boy builds 'Biafran truck' (photo)
He added that since Biafra was already in existence as a country, it no longer requires a referendum to pull out of Nigeria
Source: Legit.ng
- Two firms have signed an agreement to provide power to 25 communities across Nigeria using solar energy. The communities are in Bayelsa, Ondo, Ogun and Osun states
- The agreement would provide solar energy for the communities on pay-as- you-go basis
- The CESEL Managing Director, Patrick Tolani, said the benefitting communities were those that had no access to electricity for more than 10 years, including Brass in Bayelsa and Magboro in Ogun state
Two firms have signed an agreement to provide power to 25 communities across Nigeria using solar energy. The communities are in Bayelsa, Ondo, Ogun and Osun states.
Nigerian, U.S firm sealed solar power supply to 25 communities
Premium Times reports that a Nigerian firm, Community Energy Social Enterprises Limited, CESEL, and its American counterpart, Renewvia Energy Corporation, signed a $767,512 agreement to provide solar energy for the communities on pay-as- you-go basis.
READ ALSO: After Trump's call, US to pump $1 B into Nigeria's power sector
The CESEL Managing Director, Patrick Tolani, signed the agreement on behalf of his company while Clay Taber, Managing Director of Renewvia, signed for his firm, at the Power Africa office in Abuja.
The MoU signing was witnessed by Power Africa Coordinator, Andrew Herscowitz, and the United States Agency for International Development mission director in Nigeria, Michael Harvey.
Mr Tolani said the benefitting communities were those that had no access to electricity for more than 10 years, including Brass in Bayelsa and Magboro in Ogun state.
Others, he said, include Ilajera and Gbokoda in Ondo state and a community which was completely cut off the grid because of isolation in Osun state.
Mr Taber in his remarks said Renewvia would install and operate micro-grid systems with solar photo-voltaic generation capacity and battery storage in the 25 benefiting communities.
According to him, the design of the micro-grids for the project will include PV panels, string inverters, aluminium racking and energy storage backup power.
He said: Renewvia and CESEL would sell micro-grid customers electricity by Kilowatts through a pay as you go structure.
The competitiveness of the system helps to ensure payment, as the project would provide consistent and reliable power at a less expensive price than current rural power generation by diesel.
He added that Renewvia and CESEL also planned to facilitate the transaction through mobile payments, noting that the project would employ local and remote resources to support the needs of the power plant for each micro-grid.
The project was supported by Power Africa, a U.S. energy project initiated in 2013 to assist African countries in accessing energy.
It is expected that the project would provide up to 10 megawatts and connect over 10, 000 households, according to a study by Renewvia.
The project is also expected to be completed in one year.
CESEL is a private Nigerian company that has led the community engagement for six operational micro-grid projects in Nigeria. These micro-grids received funding through the Nigeria Bank of Industry and United Nations Development Programme.
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Renewvia is a private U.S renewable energy developer and solar power plant operator established in 2009. Renewvia specialises in providing mini-grid and solar energy solutions for residential, commercial and utility-scale applications.
Micro-grid is a small network of electricity users with a local source of supply that is usually attached to a centralised national grid but is able to function independently.
Source: Legit.ng
- After the raids that allegedly cost the lives of 6 Agatu residents, Nigerian Army has explained why soldiers attacked six communities in Benue
- Brig. Gen. Clement Apeere said the raid was necessary to flush out hoodlums from the affected communities
- The raid was conducted after a soldier was reportedly killed by some Agatu villagers
Following a raid by Nigerian soldiers on six Agatu communities, the Nigeria army has come out to defend the attack that reportedly cost the lives of five people.
Brigade commander 707 special forces, Brig. Gen. Clement Apeere, who spoke at a press conference in Markurdi, explained that the raid was necessary to flush out criminals that reportedly stay among the Agatu.
Army General explains why soldiers raided Agatu communities
READ ALSO: What happened on the day I was arrested - Biafran leader Onwuka
According to Tribune, Apeere said that troops of 72 special force battalion were deployed to the area to recover arms and ammunition and the body of a slain soldier that was attacked by some Agatu youths.
He said: On receiving the information, the troops of special forces battalion moved to Oweto to recover the body of the killed soldier, the troops conducted Condon and search operations to apprehend youth militias that committed the act and recover the soldiers rifle and ammunition they carried away.
The operation we conducted in the area was carried out in a professional way, adding, that his men were able to achieve their mission during the operation.
We got intelligence where the hoodlums were, we swooped on the areas but before we got there some of them have escaped but could not escape with the arms and ammunition.
Apeere said sophisticated weapons such as AK 47 rifles, two SLR rifles, two G3 rifles, fabricated pistol, two short barrel local revolver guns and 14 dane guns as well as police and military kits were found in the ransacked communities.
When questioned about the loss of lives during the operation, Apeere insisted that the operation was to secure lives and not to take lives. He did not however directly dispute that lives were lost during the raid.
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He said: Our aim is to protect law abiding citizen. When military conduct operation like that there are lot of stories, those who are peddling that rumor are the enemies of that area.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Tukur Buratai has announced Nigeria Army would recruit 12,000 men this year to boost its operations across the country.
Buratai, who was speaking during a budget defence session with the House of Representatives Committee on Army, said the recruitment exercise would take place after the approval of the armys 2017 budget proposal of N152.8 billion.
He said the recruitment exercise would be in two batches with 6,000 men first and another 6,000 later, Daily Trust reports.
Source: Legit.ng
The Senate president, Bukola Saraki and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have departed for London to meet President Muhammadu Buhari.
Former APC national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and Bola Tinubu, recently visited President Buhari in London.
Channels TV, citing a source at the National Assembly, reports that Saraki and Dogara traveled to London on Wednesday morning, February 15, to meet with President Buhari who is currently on holidays in the UK.
Yusuf Lasun who is the deputy speaker of of the House is also expected to join the group visiting the president.
Wole Oladimeji who is the spokesperson of Mr Lasun confirmed this but that he would be going later due to the fact that he had an ECOWAS meeting.
He said: The Deputy Speaker is part of the delegation but he is going to meet them in London tomorrow,."
A meeting of ECOWAS parliament is going on now in Abuja and he had to be there.
READ ALSO: President Buhari is home sick Presidency tells Nigerians
The president had on February 5,2017 written to the National Assembly informing the lawmakers of his desire to extend his leave in order to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by his doctors.
Buhari has also maintained that he would only return to Nigeria when his London doctors certify him well enough to do so.
Recall that the president had on January 18 written the National Assembly, notifying the legislature that he was proceeding on a 10-day leave and temporarily transferring presidential power to Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo.
READ ALSO: Why Nigerians should not believe presidency over Trumps phone call - Group
The leave was supposed to last 10 work days, between January 23 and February 6, according to the letter transmitted to both chambers of the National Assembly.
The president, whose real medical condition remained unknown, was expected to arrive the country on February 5 for resumption of work on February 6.
But the extension of his vacation means vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, will continue to exercise presidential powers until he returns to the country.
Source: Legit.ng
"My command is this: love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12
Peaceful protest is not equivalent to a child throwing a temper tantrum, as the Rev. Paul Ibisch wrote in the Feb. 2 edition of the "Houston County News." It is a constitutional right which has helped reform our nation in important ways. During the movements for womens suffrage and civil rights, peaceful protestwas the way free citizens voiced their opinion about unjust policies and mistreatment of others, just as many have done in recent weeks.
There indeed has been childish behavior recently, but it has been modeled by a leader who uses power to benefit himself and others like him. Our president was elected to serve the people of this country - all people without regard to race, religion, or sex. The protestors, for the most part, are not protesting that Donald Trump is our president; they are protesting the unjust changes he is making to this country. Barring refugees from war-torn countries from entering the U.S. is unprecedented and unjust. For reasons such as these, America is using its voice to protest.
I have read Jesus words. The greatest command He has given us is to love our neighbors as ourselves. It should be obvious that a neighbor is not just the person who lives next door, looks like you or talks like you. It is the Syrian child who wants to be safe. It is the Somalian who grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp and is waiting to start a life. This is a basic Christian tenet. It is very disturbing to me to hear people twisting Scripture to fit a xenophobic agenda.
I personally respect those who have the courage to be the voice for the voiceless and fight injustice, despite those who choose to belittle their actions.
-- Franki Smith
La Crescent
- A woman and her son decided to get married
- She is expecting his child
- They had to leave their village because the council did not approve of this union
A village in Zambia has encountered a stunning situation which made a mother and her son leave their hometown for an unknown location. It turns out they had decided to get married, and she is expecting his child her grandchild?
READ ALSO: Roda and Damien's magical medieval wedding
40-years old Mbereko, who widowed 12 years ago, and 23-year-old Farai Mbereko claim they are in love with each other, and when she got pregnant, they decided take their relationship to the next level.
Six months into her pregnancy, Mbereko decided it was better to marry her son because she does not want to marry her late husbands other brothers, who have been looking to get her as a wife.
The village court was completely stunned last week after hearing about Mberekos affair with her son, which began three years ago. She claims she spent a lot of money sending Farai to school, and that she now feels she has a right to his money, and not another woman.
Look, I struggled alone to send my son to school and no one helped me. Now you see that my son is working and you accuse me of doing something wrong. Let me enjoy the products of my sweat, she told the village court council.
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Farai was more than willing to marry his mother, and even told his mothers family he was going to pay off part of the lobola his father still owed them when he passed away. I know my father died before he finished paying the bride price and I am prepared to pay it off, he said.
The man adds that it is better to publicize what is happening because people should know that I am the one who made my mother pregnant. Otherwise they will accuse her of promiscuity.
READ ALSO: This is how your favourite celebrity couples celebrated this Valentine's day
Local headman Nathan Muputirwa was not that agreeable with this arrangement. We cannot allow this to happen in our village, mashura chaiwo aya, (This is a bad omen indeed). In the past they would have to be killed but today we cannot do it because we are afraid of the police, he said, warning the couple to immediately break off their marriage or leave his village, which they did.
Source: Legit.ng
Sani Bello, a House of Representatives member representing Mashi/Dvisi Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, is dead.
Bello died on Wednesday, February 15 morning. He was 51.
Bello Sani died after a protracted illness
Premium Times quoted Abubakar Adamu, an aide to the late lawmaker, as saying that he had been suffering from an unnamed illness for many months before he finally gave up the ghost.
READ ALSO: Youths hold prayer session at Emir Of Kano's palace for Buhari's recovery (photos)
Adamu said Bellos illness turned worse weeks ago and he was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Kaduna but eventually died Wednesday morning.
He died this morning few minutes after 11:00 and were now taking his body to Katsina, Adamu said.
Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara confirmed the passing of the lawmaker in a statement in which he also mourned the late politician.
"Our late colleague was humane, principled and a cosmopolitan who interacted freely with all members.
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Our heartfelt condolences goe to his immediate family, government and people of Katsina State and his colleagues and the government and people of Nigeria.
We pray God to give all of us the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, the Speaker said in the statement issued by his special adviser on media and public affairs Turaki Hassan.
Late Sani is the second lawmaker in the House of Representatives to die in office in a year.
His death comes months after another lawmaker, Adewale Oluwatayo, representing Ifako-Ijaiye constituency in Lagos state died in Abuja.
Source: Legit.ng
The President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ayuba Wabba, says the Federal Government and the organised Labour movement in the country have have agreed to review the National Minimum Wage
FG, Labour agree to review minimum wage
Wabba, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, the agreement was reached during the sitting of the Technical Committee on Palliative.
I think there is a consensus on the fact that nobody has said that the minimum wage should not be reviewed.
The palliative report is ready and it would be submitted before the end of the month.
At the last palliative meeting, labour leaders had requested that they needed to look at the main report of the committee before submission.
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So, the technical committee will have to submit its report to Mr President and not to the Minister of Labour and Employment, he said.
Going further, he noted that after the submission, the Presidency would set up the committee that would involve the government, private and public sector.
Wabba said that labour was hopeful that the minimum wage committee would be constituted soon.
According to him,the Nigeria labour union had received positive response from the National Assembly adding that the Senate had promised to pass the bill.
NAN recalls that the labour unions had submitted a proposal to the government demanding for N56, 000 as minimum wage.
Source: Legit.ng
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the Black River Falls common council approved an easement request totaling $2,900 for the Badger-Coulee transmission line, allowing a pole to be constructed on city land.
ATC [American Transmission Company] had the property appraised and made the offer based on that appraisal, said Brad Chown, the administrator for Black River Falls.
The Badger-Coulee transmission line will be a high-voltage power line between the Briggs Road Substation near Holmen and run to Dane county. The power line will go from Holmen and then north to Blair, cut across to Black River Falls and then follow the I-94 corridor south to Dane County.
The council also approved an access waiver for $500 and allowed herbicide application to the area in exchange for an additional $500.
The easement, access waiver and herbicide application are all one-time fees for the pole construction, with fees for this specific pole totaling $3,900.
The power line pole is expected to be constructed in early 2018 near the old landfill area, just north of I-94 and south of Vaudreuil Road.
On the site, the foundation holes for the pole will be drilled 30 to 60 feet deep and are usually eight to 12 feet wide.
There are a total of 202 poles planned to be constructed in Jackson County, with eight located within the Black River Falls city limits.
Once construction is completed, ATC plans to clean up and restore the site.
For more information about the project including an interactive map, go to www.BadgerCoulee.com. The pole that is being placed on Black River Falls city land is N-227 on the interactive map.
The Nokia 3310 is about to make what can only be called a magical comeback into the ever competitive phone market.
How the world's most loved phone is about to come back from the dead
According to Independent UK, the iconic mobile phone, which first debuted in September 2000, became known for its long lasting battery life and durable hardware.
In fact, the unbreakable build quality of the Nokia 3310 helped the best-selling mobile to achieve stardom as an online meme.
READ ALSO: Top 10 gadgets for your own success In 2017
Although, it is still possible to buy an original Nokia 3310 on Amazon, the handset is being sold on the marketplace not by the company itself.
According to the item listing, the features of the Nokia 3310 include a clock, calculator, the ability to store 10 reminders, and four pre-installed games.
How the world's most loved phone is about to come back from the dead
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Preinstalled on the Nokia 3310 were Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact and Bantumi.
The refreshed version of the Nokia 3310 (which we can only hope will ship with a copy of Snake II preinstalled) is expected to set customers back some 59 (roughly 50).
It's unclear whether the revamped mobile phone will include any new smart features or whether it will include the same low-res software that powered the original.
The budget mobile phone is rumoured to be announced at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona, which begins on February 26th.
Source: Legit.ng
- The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the leader of the Biafra Zionist Federation (BZF) Benjamin Onwuka of toying with a project ordained by God
- The IPOB in a statement released by its analyst Kosisochukwu Chibudo said Onwuka was recently released by the federal government to destabilize activities of Biafra agitators worldwide
- The group also accused Onwuka of being a liar
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the leader of the Biafra Zionist Federation (BZF) Benjamin Onwuka of toying with a project ordained by God.
The IPOB in a statement released by its analyst Kosisochukwu Chibudo said Onwuka was recently released by the federal government to destabilize activities of Biafra agitators worldwide.
Chibudo while describing BZF leader as a 'liar' said Onwuka is not a lawyer and only a 'self acclaimed' Biafra leader.
He also said that Onwuka had on three different occasions declared Biafra but has failed and has nothing to show for it.
READ ALSO: Nigeria has not given or done anything for me, pro-Biafra activist writes to Osinbajo
"If he is a leader of any meaningful group how come it was Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB only that campaigned for him to be released?" Chibudo asked.
He said: "He is working for Nigeria to attempt to destabilize IPOB but we are stronger than any stunt Nigeria Government can ever pull. They tried Uwazuruike and he failed, this ex-convict Onwuka will fail too."
Onwuka who recently regained his freedom on Tuesday, February 14, said the South-East region will become independent on Wednesday, March 15.
But Chibudo said: "When criminals come out to toy with a project ordained by the Most High, Chukwu Okike Abiama Himself, they set themselves up for a spectacular failure."
"Liars can never lead Biafra as another fake lawyer emerges with empty promises as before, to perform another Biafra declaration," Chibudo said.
READ ALSO: Biafra in trouble as British High Commissioner visits Obi of Onitsha, IPOB cries out (photos)
The IPOB also made available court processes showing an appeal made by Onwuka on the revocation of Legal Practice Course (LPC) application in London.
The document showed that the Law Society of London ordered that Onwuka cannot practice as a solicitor.
The document read in parts: "The tribunal was referred to the written outline submissions and the skeleton argument on behalf of the Law Society."
"The issue of the applicant's (Onwuka) inability to register a s student member and continue the LPC was not a statutory matter. There would be separate remedies available to him in respect of that decision," the order said.
READ ALSO: There are plans to use Boko Haram members to assassinate Nnamdi Kanu - IPOB
It added that: "The applicant never applied for consent to be a solicitor's clerk. In such employment he would be in a position to show the tribunal that he could practice safely.
It also read that: "An adjudication panel of the OSS had on October 16, 2001 found that the applicant had been convicted of harassment, unlawful eviction and common assault at Snaresbrook Crown Court and had been sentenced to six months imprisonment on September 11, 2000."
"Pursuant to Section 43(2) of the solicitor's Act 1974 (as amended), the panel resolved that with effect from October 16, 2001 no solicitor should, except in accordance with permission in writing given by the Society for such a period and subject to such conditions as the Society might think fit to specify in the permission, employ or remunerate Benjamin Onwuka in connection with his practice as a solicitor," it said.
Meanwhile, Chibudo said the IPOB deals with facts not conjecture.
"Here are the facts about this latest zoo clown and sell out," he said.
READ ALSO: An important warning to pro-Biafra agitators: Why Nigeria must never break-up
"Biafra is not for convicted felons who lied they are lawyers when clearly they are not. "Biafra is about purity and cleanliness not lies and deception. IPOB is a family ordained in heaven and no criminal liar can ever lead her.
"Tell those children of darkness fooling about with the sacred name of Biafra or those comfortable with bare faced lies that IPOB leadership are educated and do not need to lie about their qualifications and careers.
"How many times will Biafra be declared I ask? Ojukwu declared Biafra, Ifeajuna Uwazuruike declared Biafra two times, now this clown is about to declare the same Biafra for the fourth time having done so three times earlier. This is becoming a joke.
"Liars are not welcome in Biafraland!!!" he added.
See documents showing order made on Onwuka's appeal to the revocation of his status a Legal Practice Course (LPC) applicant below:
Source: Legit.ng
After what has been a very crucial day in terms of news, Legit.ng team has gathered the most important news that hit the headlines this Wednesday, February 15
1. Federal Government to sponsor Buhari's senior driver to 2017 Hajj
The federal government has announced plans to honour a driver to President Muhammadu Buhari.
On Tuesday, February 14, in Abuja, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said it will reward Saidu Afaka for returning items he recovered during the 2016 Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
2. Buhari meets with Saraki, Dogara, other lawmakers in Abuja House, London (PHOTOS)
Legit.ng Digest: 6 big stories that broke today
President Muhammadu Buhari had a meeting with Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, at Abuja House in London on Wednesday February 15.
3. Nigerian lawmaker Bello Sani is dead
Sani Bello, a House of Representatives member representing Mashi/Dvisi Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, is repotedly dead.
Bello died on Wednesday, February 15 morning. He was 51.
4. Almost 13 years after, Obasanjo apologises to human right activist, Joe Odumakin
Former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly apologized to human rights activist, Joe Odumakin, for the man-handling she suffered from security operatives back in May 2004.
5. Again, presidency, Senate clash over Magu
The presidency and the Nigerian Senate might again clash on the confirmation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Sources said Ibrahim Magu might again face stumbling blocks in the confirmation of his position as substantive chairman of the EFCC.
6. BREAKING: Naira falls to N510 per dollar at parallel market
The Nigerian Naira on Wednesday, February 15, dropped three points and crashed against the American dollar at the parallel market to N510 from the N507 recorded on Tuesday, February 14.
The local currency also depreciated to N625 against the Pound sterling from the N620 rate of yesterday.
Source: Legit.ng
President Muhammadu Buhari thanked all Nigerians after his meeting with Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representative, Yakubu Dogara.
The duo had travelled to London to meet the president who is at Abuja House in the UK on Wednesday, February 15.
READ ALSO: Buhari meets with Saraki, Dogara, other lawmakers in Abuja House, London
The president extended his vacation citing medical reasons and the third and fourth most powerful men in the country paid him a visit.
Buhari in a statement thanked Nigerians for the prayers and kind wishes.
He said: I thanked them for visiting. I'm also grateful to Nigerians, Christians and Muslims alike, for their prayers and kind wishes for my health.
President Buhari applauds Nigerians for prayers
President Buhari applauds Nigerians for prayers
Senator Saraki, President Buhari and Speaker Dogora
Source: Legit.ng
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Redistricting, education and transportation were among the state issues raised by constituents during a listening session Monday hosted by state Rep. Nancy VanderMeer, R-Tomah, and state Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point.
The lawmakers spent over 45 minutes listening and responding to constituents at Tomah City Hall.
Seventeen people attended the session, and five commented on the process in which legislative districts are drawn. All expressed frustration with the process and favored a nonpartisan commission to create the boundaries, which must be redrawn every 10 years to reflect updated census counts.
One speaker took aim at VanderMeers 70th Assembly District, an east-west district that extends 90 miles from west of Sparta to east of Stevens Point. Another asked if the two support a bill that makes redistricting a nonpartisan process.
Neither took a position on the bill, but Testin said, If theres a possibility for reform, Im open to it.
A federal court recently invalidated the maps that have been used since the 2012 election. Testin said there is little the legislature can do until the case works its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Testin and VanderMeer both support Gov. Scott Walkers proposal to boost public school spending by $200 per student. Testin said he was pleasantly surprised by the governors proposal.
During the course of the campaign talking to school administrators and talking to parents, they wanted to see more K-12 funding, and rightfully so, he said.
Testin said the funding is necessary to develop Wisconsins workforce, which he said has 80,000 job openings.
There is a huge need to train up our workforce, Testin said. You cant have a skilled workforce if youre not training your future workforce.
On transportation, both said roads need improvement and neither ruled out a tax increase. VanderMeer voted against the last biennial budget because she said it underfunded education and transportation.
I have been for all options on the table, VanderMeer said. I was encouraged by he governors commitment to local road aids. However, she questioned whether smaller towns can raise sufficient revenue to qualify for state matching funds.
Testin said there is a split in Republican caucus on transportation funding. The governor has said he wont accept a tax increase to play for transportation projects unless taxes are cut somewhere else.
Its no secret its going to be the most contentious issue we take up this budget cycle, Testin said. There are some of my colleagues from the southeastern part of the state who are under the impression that our roads are fine ... but some of our other colleagues, like myself and senators from rural areas of the state, we know otherwise.
Two people brought up issues of immigration and sanctuary cities. Testin and VanderMeer said those are federal issues and urged them to contact their federal representatives.
On other issues:
Both expressed a skepticism over moving to self-insurance for state employees. My concern is for the long-term financial exposure to the state, VanderMeer said. Im looking forward to more details.
On the race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Testin said hes leaning toward Lowell Holtz, while VanderMeer said shes undecided. Holtz and John Humphries are challenging incumbent Tony Evers, who is seeking a third term.
Testin said he opposed a bill to break up the Department of Natural Resources into separate wildlife management and environmental enforcement units. My concern is that the DNR is trying to find efficiencies and become more accountable, Testin said. We should give them the opportunity to do that.
(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING: It wasnt the very best night of my life, but the morning in my view was kind, because despite all of the difficulties in the process, we managed to agree on the main issues. By the way, speaking of why the agreement took so long, I think its connected with the fact that the Kiev authorities up until now refuse primary contact with Donetsk and Luhansk peoples republics. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: (It includes) pulling out all foreign troops from Ukraines territory, all mercenaries from Ukraines territory - they should be pulled out in the nearest future. It is very important that for the first time a detailed implementation of the Minsk agreements, of the Minsk memorandum, is spelled out in terms of securing the national border. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: Despite all strong pressure, we did not agree to any autonomy status (for Donbass). We have noted that we will do that within the framework of constitutional changes aimed at decentralisation that relates to the whole country. We did not agree to any single mention of federalisation either. There will be no autonomy and no federalisation. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: It was a long night, and a long morning too, but we have reached an agreement. An agreement for a ceasefire and for a global political settlement for the Ukrainian conflict. The ceasefire will come into effect on February 15 at 00.00 hours. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: This afternoon we will go to the European Council. We will give a briefing about the work weve done. And with (Ukrainian) President (Petro) Poroshenko we will work to ensure that Europe gives its support to this process. So I think there is real hope, even if were not there yet, there is real hope for Ukraine. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: The negotiations lasted for 16 hours during which we had to work hard and during which (Ukrainian) President Poroshenko has done everything he can to end the bloodshed for his country but also for the civilians and soldiers in the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk who suffer terribly there. We now have a glimmer of hope. We agreed on a comprehensive implementation of Minsk but concrete steps must of course be taken and big hurdles still lie ahead of us.
Granted, both were writers skeptical of traditional matrimony, but Wollstonecraft was a rowdy, noisy, ever-impoverished and always intrepid polemicist who came late (and hard) to love. She was a virgin until her early 30s, had her first child in her mid-30s and her first marriage five months before she died, at 38. Between those years she suffered, seduced, robustly challenged her lovers, ardently protected her progeny, got her feet bloody reporting on the French Revolution, and composed some of the most passionate and painful love letters ever exposed to the public eye. (Gordon, alas, quotes few.) Her marriage to a fellow philosopher, William Godwin, was amorous and idealistic as well as unconventional: The two maintained separate circles of friends and separate study quarters between which they passed love notes. Mary famously told him, I wish you, for my soul, to be riveted in my heart; but I do not desire to have you always at my elbow.
Mary Godwin was half her mothers first kiss age when Percy Shelley, then still married to a different teenage girl, whisked her from her home and impregnated her. Unlike Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley spoke quietly, wrote decorously, deferred to her man and often appeared feelingless. She is quoted, in Daisy Hays excellent 2010 biography, Young Romantics: The Tangled Lives of English Poetrys Greatest Generation, as upbraiding herself for thinking about her deceased daughter days after her death, when no book was around to divert her: This is foolish, she wrote in her journal. Onlookers exclaimed at her apparent coldness after Percy drowned. But perhaps such coldness was Mary Shelleys way to survive radical domestic experiments.
After all, we do know a number of things about Englands young Romantics. We know that by the time 24-year-old Mary Shelley learned of her husbands shipwreck, she was already alienated from him. As Gordon points out, they were sleeping apart in their Italian villa, and Mary silently blamed Percys narcissism for the deaths of at least two of their three deceased children from illnesses during their adventures through Europe.
The death and abandonment of children was a regular motif in the league of incest (as the Shelleys traveling band of poetic friends became known). In 1820, news arrived of the demise of a baby named Elena possibly his daughter with an Englishwoman in Italy. A few months before Percys drowning, news came of the death of 5-year-old Allegra, the child of Mary Shelleys stepsister and traveling companion, Claire, with Lord Byron. By this point, Gordon suggests, Claire may already have miscarried Percys baby. Claire had competed for her stepsisters beau from the start of their European peregrinations, but she soon retired to a remote rural retreat for some months perhaps to give birth to his child and avoid more scandal than Marys elopement with the married poet had already caused.
The adult body count was also steep. It included 22-year-old Fanny Imlay, Wollstonecrafts first daughter. The emotionally fragile Fanny had difficulty abiding the loneliness and rejection occasioned by Mary and Claires escape; when Percy Shelley found her poisoned body in a hotel room, all he did was scratch Fannys signature off her suicide note. Two months later, in December 1816, his own despairing first wife pregnant with his second child and caring for his first when he eloped with Mary threw herself to her death into the River Thames. Percy, the espouser of free love, accused his abandoned wife of immorality after her suicide, arguing that he, not her parents, should claim the motherless toddlers he had ignored thus far. The 19th-century court dismissed his demand.
With a $14.9 billion personal fortune, Mr. Son is ranked by Forbes as Japans second-richest man, behind Tadashi Yanai, the owner of Fast Retailing and its Uniqlo brand. But he spent his early life in poverty: His father started out as a bootlegger and small-time pig farmer before finding success in restaurants and pachinko, the Japanese offshoot of pinball. By the time he was a teenager, his family was wealthy enough that he was able to travel to the United States for college, eventually ending up at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Son founded SoftBank in 1981 as a distributor of computer software. For start-up money, he has told biographers, he sold a prototype electronic translation machine to Sharp, the Japanese electronics company, for about $1 million. Mr. Son, who trained in economics, not engineering, came up with the general idea for the machine while still in college, then recruited others to create it an approach he has followed throughout his career.
Takenobu Miki worked closely with Mr. Son for eight years before leaving SoftBank in 2006 to found an online language-training start-up. Initially, he was the only full-time employee at SoftBank, which, despite sounding like a tech start-up, operated like an investment fund, with a portfolio of holdings that Son would adjust based on changing growth rates, Mr. Miki said.
One item in the portfolio was Yahoo, an early investment that earned Mr. Son a fortune. The investment displayed Mr. Sons willingness to act on a general conviction: in this case, that web portals would be crucial to the early commercial development of the internet. He did relatively little research on Yahoo itself, Mr. Miki recalled. He asked some contacts in Silicon Valley which was the best web portal, and they said Yahoo. So he bought.
Mr. Miki also remembers working with Mr. Son to create a growth projection for SoftBank that extended 300 years into the future.
The goal was to become a 100 trillion-yen company, Mr. Miki said, an amount equal to about $1 trillion. Even at that time, Son wanted to become No. 1 in the world.
SoftBank declined to make Mr. Son available for an interview for this article.
Mr. Son revels in confrontation, a trait that sets him apart in harmony-obsessed Japan. Twice, he has threatened to set fire to himself or the offices of Japanese telecommunications regulators the first time in a dispute over access to fiber-optic cable, the second in a fight over internet censorship. He apologized in the second instance, in 2010, calling the threat an inappropriate joke.
He is the latest push by Mattel, which acquired the Wisconsin-based doll maker for $700 million in 1998, to create more contemporary figures and stories for American Girl, and to further diversify the line of the dolls in hopes of improving sales. Revenue was flat last year, at $570 million, after a long period of growth. Late last year, American Girl named its first limited-edition African American Girl of the Year, Gabriela McBride. Like most American Girl dolls, Gabriela costs $115.
Image Logan Everett, the first boy doll from American Girl. Credit... Mattel
But Mattel has come under criticism in recent years for losing much of what made the original American Girl Dolls distinctive. When the line was introduced in 1986, it became a huge hit for its historically accurate clothing and furniture, and stories told through the dolls eyes of escaping slavery or living through the Depression.
Pleasant Rowland, a former teacher and news anchor, imagined the line after visiting Colonial Williamsburg and coming up with the idea of teaching history through dolls. An early doll, Molly McIntire, wore braids and round glasses and was accompanied by a series of books that told of life during World War II. Another doll, Addy Walker, was a 9-year-old born into slavery who escapes with her mother.
A number of the historical dolls have been retired or archived in recent years as Mattel introduced more contemporary figures like Isabelle Palmer, who is studying ballet at a performing arts school, or Grace Thomas, a baker with a jaunty pink beret.
A spokeswoman for Mattel, in an email statement, said the company remained committed to its historical characters. She said the company had introduced more historical figures in the past decade than at any other time in the companys history, including, this week, Nanea, a 1940s Hawaiian growing up around the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The first such puzzle is our midweek challenge today, and its a lighthearted collaboration between the actor Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Rio, Now You See Me) and the constructor and man-about-town Patrick Blindauer. As you will read in their notes below, the two men have a few things in common (Mr. Blindauer is an actor as well), so this seems like a good match. Lets see how they did.
Todays Theme
Are you hungry? Im starving. Theres nothing like food talk in a puzzle to set off my cravings, and todays entire theme is devoted to building a snowman out of food. Why a snowman? Maybe because its winter here in New York. Maybe Mr. Eisenberg and Mr. Blindauer like snowmen. Who knows?
The point is, you can do a lot with a snowman if you think creatively. You can festoon him with vegan food items, for example, as our constructors have today. Yes, I know that Nestles BUTTERFINGERS candy bars are not vegan. They do, however, count as vegetarian and thats good enough for me. If thats not good enough for you, here is a recipe for a vegan version.
Anyway, our constructors have taken your basic snowman and made him more edible sorry, interesting by taking the collective names of certain foods and putting them in appropriate places. For example, at 17A, the clue is We used some food to make a snowman. Under his arms we put ___. The answer is CHERRY PITS, because under his arms would be arm pits. If you need help with the rest of the theme or are just not full yet, Ive filled in the answers for you here.
I happen to enjoy these conversational themes where you have to fill in the blanks, although they can be difficult, because you have to really be on the constructors wavelength to get them. Once I filled in CHERRY PITS, however, I saw where Mr. Eisenberg and Mr. Blindauer were going with their theme, and I liked it very much. For his first time out, I think Mr. Eisenberg did a very good job, offering a clean grid and a theme that made me smile. As always, Mr. Blindauers excellent work can be seen throughout the fill and cluing.
If trends spawn hashtags, call this beauty movement the #WomensSpring.
Inspired perhaps by the Womens March on Washington last month (not to mention the feminist groundswell seemingly building ever since), the more influential beauty looks at New York Fashion Week had a message: Theres a new power woman in town, and shes not afraid to manhandle beauty stereotypes to her liking.
At Alexander Wangs fall 2017 show, the angular black clothes were punctuated almost harshly by black eyeliner. The makeup artist Diane Kendal, using Nars cosmetics, created the look with multiple eyeliner types (pencil and liquid, and in different finishes). Colorful, smoky eyes have been hip lately (think: amethyst, emerald and shimmery browns), so the black eye makeup really sent a message, Ms. Kendal said. The goal was to look strong and powerful, and that the models look very sure of themselves.
Likewise, according to the collection notes at Jonathan Simkhai, the designer wanted to show women as a powerful force to be reckoned with. (If the clothes didnt broadcast that message, then the front row certainly did. Mr. Simkhai had placed Feminist AF tees on the benches and, for every seat at the show, donated $5 to Planned Parenthood.) The makeup artist Yadim, mixing a couple shades of Maybelline New York Color Sensational Lipstick, translated the designers idea into rich red lips, which he said, signify the power of a woman over a man.
Red, red lips and strong eye makeup, despite clever tweaks on those classics, may have felt like a 1980s redux had it not been for the accompanying hair. Forget the usual power hairstyles the helmet bobs, the impressive volume. Yadims crimson pout felt fresh when paired with an unfussy ponytail. Gently pulled together, left wavy and held low by a black elastic, the ponytail seemed to be lifted directly from the busy working womans playbook. (A similar hairstyle was spotted at Jason Wu.)
Insurers are complaining loudly about the uncertainty surrounding what will happen in the coming years, even though many states exchanges have showed some signs of stability. Several major insurers have said they cannot begin to decide whether to offer coverage next year until the government clarifies if and how it plans to change the rules.
Based in Louisville, Ky., Humana is not a major player in the individual exchanges and is among the national insurers, like Aetna and UnitedHealth Group, that have struggled to make money in the market. The company has steadily scaled back its presence, selling policies for 2017 in just 11 states. In early January, the company said the number of its customers buying coverage through the exchanges had dropped to about 150,000, a small fraction of the roughly 12 million individuals who initially signed up for coverage through the exchanges.
The companys main focus has been selling private insurance under Medicare. Humana released word of its withdrawal on Tuesday after it announced that it would no longer pursue a merger with Aetna, another large insurer. The Justice Department won a legal challenge against the combination last month.
The company cited an initial analysis of data about the type of customers who signed up for its plans this year, and it said that it saw no evidence that the market was improving but that it was seeing further signs of an unbalanced risk pool, as customers with expensive medical conditions continued to enroll as compared with healthy people.
Humanas move could be a harbinger of things to come, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University who studies the health insurance market and who has warned that the lack of clarity from Congress and the Trump administration could result an exodus by insurers.
David N. Dinkins sat in the front row of the Apollo Theater, his hands folded atop his cane, awaiting a State of the City address Monday night from his protege-turned-mayor, Bill de Blasio, that would tackle the thorniest issues before New York.
Homelessness is a big problem, Mr. Dinkins, a former New York mayor, said when asked what he expected from the address. Im sure hell talk about it.
He did not.
In a move that surprised many mayoral supporters in the theater, and still more in the citys political class, Mr. de Blasio avoided discussing areas of city governance over which he has some direct control homelessness policy, traffic, his struggling child welfare agency, the future of the Rikers Island jail in favor of a socioeconomic challenge that is, in many ways, beyond the control of any politician: the creation of good paying private-sector jobs.
On Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio promoted one of his few concrete proposals for how to generate such jobs. He visited a vacant industrial complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, that his administration has vowed to turn into a film studio and work space for garment businesses. The mayor said the project would create 1,500 permanent jobs and hundreds more temporary construction positions a small slice of the 100,000 jobs he promised to create with city money in the next 10 years.
As soon as Bill de Blasio was elected mayor, Wallace Cheatham figured that a cause he had long championed the creation of a permanent, prominent honor for the citys first black police commissioner would be quickly approved.
After all, Mr. de Blasio, in his previous job as the citys public advocate, had told Mr. Cheatham that he favored the idea of naming a public building for the commissioner, Benjamin Ward, who also ran the city jails and state prisons.
When he was elected mayor, I thought, This is a slam dunk, Mr. Cheatham said. I gave him six months and I wrote a letter. No response. Wrote another letter, no response.
Three years have passed, with two dozen letters, and Mr. Cheatham says he has not heard yes, no, or were thinking about it. Its at the point where the failure to respond is the issue, Mr. Cheatham said.
Since it opened in 1884, the Chelsea Hotel, the landmark Bohemian retreat in Manhattan, has welcomed many famous long-term residents, among them writers, musicians and artists, calling itself a rest stop for rare individuals.
Stanley Bard, who nurtured many talents as the manager and part-owner of the Chelsea for 40 years, died on Tuesday. Here is a look at some of the artists who have passed through its doors.
Thomas Wolfe
The writer spent the last years of his life at the Chelsea. In Room 829, he was known to have produced the manuscript for the novels You Cant Go Home Again and The Web and the Rock, which were published after he died in 1938.
He drew great inspiration from roaming the hallways, but in May 1938, he was looking for an excuse to leave as the summer heat grew so intense that he could smell all seven million inhabitants of New York, Sherill Tippins wrote in Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New Yorks Legendary Chelsea Hotel.
As soon as you walk into the building, the old brick and concrete walls start telling you a story, but high-end machinery and a Donkey Kong arcade machine provide new life for the Sand Creek Brewing Co. located in Black River Falls.
The Sand Creek Brewing Co. has turned into a local hotspot for Jackson County, operating out of the building that used to house the Oderbolz Brewing company in 1856, which is the site of the first large-scale brewery in Western Wisconsin.
Craft brewing has surged in popularity in the U.S. during the past few years, with the amount of breweries increasing exponentially.
According to statistics from the Brewers Association, the number of breweries has increased from 1,566 in 2000 to 4,269 in 2015, between 2012 to 2015 alone there was a 14.7 percent increase and thats not including people who have started brewing their own beer at home.
Founded in 1856, the Oderbolz brewing company was started by Swiss immigrant Ulrich Oderbolz who used to keep the beer fresh and cold with ice cut straight from Spaulding Pond.
No part of the building is wasted as the upper floor stores the grain and the lower floor holds all the kegs, bottles, bottling machine and product for shipment.
Jim Wiesender, the general manager of Sand Creek Brewing Co., says people have suggested other uses for the building, but those just wouldnt work.
People always tell me Oh you could use this upper space for dance halls or music events but then were would we go with all the grain and other stuff we have up here? Wiesender said.
Moving all of that product wouldnt be easy, plus he said they would have to upgrade their elevator since a freight elevator wouldnt be enough if they were to host events upstairs.
Parts of the building were lost in a fire back in 1932, but the building remains the same now as it was Oderbolz days, except for cutting ice to keep beer cold.
The only change weve made really is lowering the floor in our fermentation room and punching a few holes here and there through the walls to run everything, said brewmaster Todd Krueger.
Krueger has been in the building since it was previously owned by the Hellman brothers in 1995, who were at the time Miller wholesalers and wanted to get in on the trend of craft brewing and so started their company, Pioneer Brewing.
When Pioneer Brewing took the building over, the biggest expense was getting in new equipment as the building had essentially been storage for the past few decades with no brewery operating out of it since prohibition.
At the same time Pioneer Brewing was operating in 1999, a small brewery was started by Wiesender and named Sand Creek Brewing Co., making beer on a busy dairy farm in Downing out of converted pudding tanks.
In 2004, Wiesender was looking to expand and Pioneer Brewing was looking to sell their building, as craft brewing hadnt quite hit the mainstream yet and wasnt as good as the Hellmans had hoped, so Krueger, Wisender and other members of Sand Creek Brewing Co. took over the building and the brewery has thrived ever since.
Its always a risk I guess moving businesses, but we never really looked at it as a risk, Wiesender said. We were all just following our passions.
At the time it was hard for anyone to get funding for any sort of large-scale operations like they had wanted from a bank, so the partnership was formed.
For any newer and expanding business like Sand Creek Brewing Co., it cant hurt to partner with an award-winning brewmaster like Krueger who, in his time with Pioneer Brewing, took home two gold awards in the World Beer Cup in 2000 for the Oscars Chocolate Oatmeal Stout which won in the oatmeal stout category and the Pioneer Black River Red which won gold in the Oktoberfest/Marzen category. He also took home another gold award in 2002 for their Pioneer Oderbolz Bock which won the Bock category.
That is kind of crazy to think about, were just some small brewery going up against all these breweries across the globe and we won, Krueger said. Weve been doing this for a few years and we were beating out German brewers who had been doing this for like 500 years.
With the shift from Pioneer Brewing to Sand Creek Brewing Co., there was an increase in production of award-winning beer as well as going from about 1,600 barrels to anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 barrels of beer.
That was a big increase from Wiesenders days on his farm brewing from pudding tanks, I used to make maybe 125 barrels a year out there, now I make about 120-240 barrels a week.
The biggest challenge for Wiesender was mastering the learning curve of coming from a smaller operation to a much larger one.
[Wiesender] only bought a few bags of grain at a time and I bought a semi-load of 20,000. He would ask if we could only buy a little at a time and I told him no because we were going to go through all of that in less than 30 days, Krueger said.
The mix of Wiesenders knowledge on the sales and administrative side of the business meshed well with Kruegers brewing experience and know-how.
The Oscars Chocolate Oatmeal Stout is now Sand Creek Brewing Co.s best selling and most popular beer, which is one of nine types of beers they serve along with three other hard lemonade recipes.
Krueger says he and the other employees all contribute ideas for beer recipes and what to try, sometimes its even as simple as bringing in another beer and trying to make something similar to that flavor.
Im a traditionalist when it comes to making our beers, some people say Lets throw the weirdest hop we can find in there and a lot of it, but you cant sell that in this market, Krueger said. If we were in Milwaukee or Madison I could make those weird and funky beers because they have the people who are into that, but we have to get the guys who are hard-core, yellow-beer drinkers to try our beers.
Along with their own brands, the company also does contract work in brewing beers up for other companies and smaller brewers who might not have the money to start up their own brewery, but want to try out their brand and see if it will sell.
Krueger and Wiesender think of it as incubating and helping a small business out by doing contract work for other companies who might need the help at first like Fulton Brewing in Minneapolis and Half-Acre Brewing in Chicago, who both started brewing first out of Sand Creek Brewing Co.s operation.
You wont see the guys who make Miller or Budweiser drinking each others beers and talking smart with each other, but when you look at whats happening with the craft brewing industry, even with as much as it has grown, were more of a fraternal organization, Wiesender said.
Both Krueger and Wiesender stressed the importance of that community aspect in craft brewing and organizations are willing to pitch in and help out if needed for events or even just coming in to the taproom to share beers.
The great thing about this job, and its not even a job really because its just fun to do, is to see how our product touches everybodys lives whether it be the good times or the bad times, Wiesender said. Weve had receptions, graduation parties, weddings or just having a pint on a Friday night.
While people liking the beer is obviously important, its the way the community embraced them that has made all the difference and made everything worth while for Sand Creek Brewing Co.
Speaking for myself, when we moved from the original place in Downing to down here, we were really welcomed in with open arms, Wiesender said.
Still another learning curve for Sand Creek Brewing Co., they had to get people who had been used to drinking mass-produced beers to try out their brews, but thanks to the help from local taverns and grocery stores, their fame has grown.
Sand Creek also does what it can to give back to the community through the Downtown Association and the Chamber, as well as the local boost that brewery tours can provide to the area.
With an active downtown area, people might stop in to shop, tour the brewery and spend some money there, then tour one of the local wineries, and travel around the county and to different spots fueling local businesses and economies.
You cant take all the money you make and send it off somewhere else, you still have to be able to support whats coming in and out of the community, Krueger said.
Sand Creek Brewing Co. does that partially by buying as much of their product from inside the state of Wisconsin, especially grain and glass which they say is their biggest expense. Their grain comes from Chilton and their glass from Burlington. When something cant be found in Wisconsin, they at least try to keep it within the U.S.
If you want to sum up what this business is all about, at the end of the day its working together within a community, Wiesender said.
When a guilty verdict was read on Tuesday at the second trial in the Etan Patz murder case, two jurors from the first trial, which ended in a bitterly hung jury, were sitting in the gallery, holding hands with Etans father, Stanley Patz.
It was a very tough moment for all of us, Jennifer OConnor, a former juror, said. We were desperate for it to go the right way.
Ms. OConnor, 40, said her heart had skipped a beat when the jury foreman said the defendant, Pedro Hernandez, 56, was not guilty of intentional murder. But seconds later, the jury found Mr. Hernandez guilty of the second count murder during the commission of a felony and of kidnapping. Tears came to her eyes. It was a therapeutic moment, she said.
Another former juror, Cynthia Cueto, who attended nearly every day of the second trial, which lasted five months, said she had turned to Mr. Patz and saw raw relief in his expression. We had a moment, she said.
President Trump may have thought the departure of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, would end the controversy over his administrations involvement with Russia, but the damning revelations keep coming. The whole fiasco underscores the dysfunction and dishonesty of his White House and how ill prepared it is to protect the nation.
Its unlikely that Mr. Flynn would have been pushed out absent a revelation on Monday by The Washington Post: that the Justice Department told the White House in January that Mr. Flynn had misled senior officials about a phone call with the Russian ambassador. Justice told the White House that, contrary to his claims, Mr. Flynn had discussed American sanctions against Russia with the ambassador. The discrepancy between what Mr. Flynn had said publicly and what the Russians (and American intelligence officials) knew made Mr. Flynn vulnerable to Russian blackmail. But the White House evidently didnt feel the need to act on that danger as long as it was concealed from the public.
On Tuesday, the White House admitted that Mr. Trump was told more than two weeks ago about Mr. Flynns deception, even though the president told reporters on Friday that he was unaware of a news report to that effect. Mr. Flynn, a hothead and an ideologue, was not fit to be national security adviser in the first place. That Mr. Trump clung to such a compromised person in such a sensitive position is at best an abysmal failure of judgment. As late as Monday, Mr. Flynn was in security briefings and had access to the president.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Flynn said he had given senior officials incomplete information about the phone call. F.B.I. agents interviewed Mr. Flynn days after the inauguration on that same subject, The Times reported on Tuesday. That means he could be exposed to a felony charge if he lied to them as well. The Times also reported Tuesday that current and former American officials said other Trump associates and campaign officials had had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.
FRONT PAGE
An article on Tuesday about the problems at the Oroville Dam in California misstated the amount of water flowing over the dams main spillway. It is 100,000 cubic feet per second, not per minute.
INTERNATIONAL
Because of an editing error, a picture caption on Jan. 21 with an article about the Turkish Parliaments approval of a proposed Constitution after screaming matches and fistfights misidentified the lawmaker shown being shoved by her chin. She is Gokcen Ozdogan Enc, a member of the governing Justice and Development Party, not Aylin Nazliaka, an opposition lawmaker.
OBITUARIES
An obituary on Tuesday about the Soviet dissident Lev Navrozov referred incorrectly to a statement published in Commentary magazine regarding an accusation he had made against Golda Meir, the former prime minister of Israel. The statement said that the American Jewish Committee, which at the time published Commentary, believed Mrs. Meirs denial of the accusation not that the magazine itself did.
FOOD
A recipe accompanying a new column by the chef Yotam Ottolenghi last Wednesday, for a pomegranate and rose granita, omitted the final step, explaining how to use the pomegranate seeds and rose petals on the ingredients list. They should be sprinkled over the granita.
Max Ferra, a founder and the first artistic director of the Intar Hispanic American Arts Center, an innovative Off Broadway theater company that nurtures and produces the works of Latino playwrights in English, died on Feb. 4 in Miami. He was 79.
His life partner, Winston Gonzalez, said the cause was pneumonia.
Mr. Ferra, who left Cuba in 1958, had a sixth-grade education and little theatrical experience when he and seven colleagues started Intar, or International Arts Relations, in the mid-1960s. For about a decade, they produced plays in Spanish. But Mr. Ferra then had a change of heart that reflected shifts in American culture and demographics.
I realized there were a bunch of young Latino playwrights coming of age who were writing plays in English that had a Hispanic essence, he told The New York Times in 2004, but there was no arena for them.
The playwrights who have had their works produced at Intar include the Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, Manuel Puig, Jose Rivera, Luis Santeiro, Migdalia Cruz, Caridad Svich, Carmelita Tropicana, Eduardo Machado and Nilo Cruz, whose play Anna in the Tropics won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for drama. For many years, Intar has also had a laboratory to develop playwriting skills.
WASHINGTON Democrats failed to block an education secretary who had no experience in public schools. They have gotten little traction against a nominee to lead the Energy Department who once called for the agencys abolition, or a potential head of the Environmental Protection Agency who has made a career out of suing it.
But on Thursday, Democrats will have their best chance to topple one of President Trumps cabinet choices when Andrew F. Puzder testifies before the Senate to become the countrys next labor secretary.
And from a history of suppressing wages to an undocumented housekeeper to tales of marital strife that include a tape from the Oprah Winfrey Show of an incognito abuse victim, opponents will have their ammunition. Already, four Republican senators have declined to commit to backing Mr. Puzder, enough to block his confirmation if, as is likely, Democrats remain united in opposition.
They ought to withdraw the nomination of Puzder before he further embarrasses this administration and further exposes the hypocrisy of President Trump, said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.
WASHINGTON Attorney General Jeff Sessions faced growing pressure on Tuesday to remove himself from any role in investigating President Trumps aides and their relationship with Russia, but advisers to Mr. Sessions said he saw no need to do so.
The resignation of Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser over his conversations with the Russian ambassador gave new impetus to demands from Democrats and outside groups who say Mr. Sessions lacks the independence to oversee criminal investigations that might lead back to the White House. He and Mr. Flynn were both early and influential advisers in Mr. Trumps presidential campaign.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said Tuesday that under the Justice Departments guidelines on possible conflicts, that personal history should disqualify Mr. Sessions from overseeing any investigations.
And Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview Tuesday that if Mr. Sessions failed to ensure that there would be no political interference, then of course he has to have someone from the outside come in.
WASHINGTON When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel meets with President Trump on Wednesday, in their first face-to-face encounter since Mr. Trumps inauguration, the turmoil in the White House could complicate what many had expected would be a triumphant reception.
The resignation of Mr. Trumps national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, deprives Mr. Netanyahu of his strongest ally inside the White House for raising pressure on Iran. And the emergence of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trumps son-in-law, as an aspiring Middle East peacemaker has increased the presidents appetite for a peace initiative between the Israelis and Palestinians something Mr. Netanyahu is not especially eager to discuss.
Given the still-fluid nature of the Trump administration and its policies, Mr. Netanyahus visit is likely to be more symbolic than substantive. Mr. Trump, having presented himself as a steadfast defender of Israel during the presidential campaign, will project an image of solidarity with Mr. Netanyahu. But administration officials say he has already edged away from the Israeli leader.
On the eve of the visit, a White House official told reporters that Mr. Trump would push for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, but added that this did not have to take the form of a two-state solution. That would be a major step away from longstanding American policy on the Middle East, which is predicated on sovereign Israeli and Palestinian states, side by side.
For years, Justin Boyan worried about the effects of climate change but focused on his wife, his two daughters and his work as a computer scientist in Rhode Island. Then Donald J. Trump became president, and Mr. Boyan was jolted into political activism.
Within days of the election, Mr. Boyan began volunteering for the Working Families Party, a liberal political organization focused on income inequality, and attended almost weekly protests to voice his dismay. He traveled to the Womens March on Washington with his family the day after inauguration, protested Mr. Trumps travel ban at the Rhode Island state capital, and began studying criminal justice issues, which he connects to climate change as two issues where policy makers, he believes, have put the demands of big-money contributors over the needs of ordinary people.
The same energy motivating Mr. Boyan is bursting out at demonstrations and town hall meetings across the country. Protesters who had focused on issues like police shootings of black people, a $15 minimum wage and climate change are collaborating against a common foe, President Trump. In cities and states, activists are exchanging civil disobedience tactics, pooling financial resources and showing up to demonstrations about issues that they may not have previously focused on.
Call it Protest Nation: Activists across the country have been strengthening old partnerships and making new ones.
Its a daily mental practice to galvanize yourself and to remind yourself to not become acclimated to this barrage of executive orders and then people being stripped of their rights because that is not what this country was founded on, and we should be moving forward not backwards. And that is why we all have to get out onto the streets and act.
Tamika D. Mallory, 36, gun control activist and co-chairwoman of the Womens March on Washington.
I think it looks like a variety of things that all make people uncomfortable and not able to rest well and feel like what they are doing is O.K. And I think its important that white people particularly go on record and say we dont agree with the actions of this administration because there are some who will sit back and say, The majority population was O.K. with this. So its important that white people are on the record saying, We dont stand with you on what you are doing to these marginalized communities.
Aisha Dew, political and arts consultant living in Charlotte, N.C.
Resist means to stand for the people who already make America great. The United States is diverse because we are a country of immigrants who came to America for freedom and a better way of life. Although I am the descendant of slaves, I recognize that there are many who came here to escape starvation, death, persecution and war. And as a descendant of slaves, I know that America has been challenged throughout history to deliver on its promise of freedom for all, but has also been slowly moving toward justice for all.
Symone D. Sanders, 27, of Washington, former national press secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign.
The officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other associates of Mr. Trump. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the government outside of the intelligence services, they said. All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified.
The officials said that one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Mr. Trumps campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Ukraine. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls.
The call logs and intercepted communications are part of a larger trove of information that the F.B.I. is sifting through as it investigates the links between Mr. Trumps associates and the Russian government, as well as the hacking of the D.N.C., according to federal law enforcement officials. As part of its inquiry, the F.B.I. has obtained banking and travel records and conducted interviews, the officials said.
Mr. Manafort, who has not been charged with any crimes, dismissed the officials accounts in a telephone interview on Tuesday. This is absurd, he said. I have no idea what this is referring to. I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers, and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today.
A judge Wednesday sentenced a La Crosse man who was on community supervision when prosecutors charged him in a September shooting to four years in prison.
Jeremy Rigelsky, 30, was serving five years on probation for stealing drawings and a notepad in 2005 from the French Island home of Philip Schuth when he fired three shots into a vehicle Sept. 7, wounding a passenger.
The state Department of Corrections revoked his probation before La Crosse County Circuit Judge Gloria Doyle imposed the four-year prison sentence and four years on extended supervision. Rigelsky will serve the sentence consecutive to one he is currently serving for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
While his attorney fought for a two-year sentence, prosecutors asked he serve four years in prison, arguing Rigelskys failure at rehabilitation and escalating violence makes him a risk to the public.
A lot has happened in the more than 10 years since the charge that created his first felony conviction, Assistant District Attorney Emily Hynek said.
Rigelsky in April 2006 was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 4 years on extended supervision for stabbing a fellow Logan High School student seven times in a school stairwell. During that investigation, police learned he broke into the home of Schuth, who shot his neighbor and hid his mothers body in a basement freezer.
Rigelsky was placed on probation in 2010 for battery by prisoners, although it was revoked in 2012 and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2014 for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Sept. 7, less than three months after his release from prison, Rigelsky at close range fired three shots into the passenger side of a car while driving south in the 800 block of Copeland Avenue in a stolen car, according to court records. One shot struck a backseat passenger in the thigh.
Days earlier, he pointed a gun at a woman and threatened to kill her at gunpoint after they drove to near the Seventh Street boat landing and confronted three people walking on Mormon Coulee Road, showed a gun tucked in his waistband.
A longtime friend of one of the attackers in the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., has agreed to plead guilty to plotting two unrealized terrorist attacks in the state in 2011 and 2012 and to buying the weapons used in the massacre, federal officials said on Tuesday.
The man, Enrique Marquez Jr., was a friend of Syed Rizwan Farook, who, with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, carried out one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil, killing 14 people and wounding more than 20 others at a social services center. The couple were killed in a shootout with the authorities hours after the attack.
Mr. Marquez, 25, of Riverside, Calif., did not participate in the Dec. 2, 2015, attack on the center.
He has agreed to plead guilty in federal court on Thursday to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, including weapons, explosives and personnel, to attack Riverside City College and commuter traffic on a local freeway, the United States attorneys office for the Central District of California said in a statement.
LIMA, Peru President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela on Tuesday defended his second-in-command, who has been sanctioned by the United States over allegations that he is a narcotics trafficker, and said he would demand a public apology from the American government.
Vice President Tareck El Aissami was blacklisted on Monday by the Treasury Department, which said that Mr. El Aissami and an associate had moved drugs within Venezuela and had helped protect international kingpins.
The moves blocked Americans from doing business with Mr. El Aissami, 42, and froze his assets in the United States, which American officials said totaled in the tens of millions of dollars. Sanctions against such a high-ranking Venezuelan represented what analysts considered a first salvo against the Maduro government by the Trump administration at the urging of many in Congress.
On Tuesday, Mr. Maduro went on national television to express his anger.
Venezuela will respond, step by step, with balance and force, he said, adding that he had ordered his foreign minister to call the charge daffaires of the United States Embassy in Caracas to issue a formal complaint. They will retract and apologize publicly to our vice president, Mr. Maduro said. (The two countries have not had ambassadors in each others capitals for nearly a decade.)
KIWANA, India Villagers in the cane-growing region in Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state, helped sweep Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power nearly three years ago.
But this time, they say, his party cannot count on their votes.
All farmers had their eyes set on Modi with a lot of hope, said Dharam Pal Singh, 40, a father of three, sitting cross-legged on a string bed in the courtyard of his two-story concrete house in the village of Kiwana, in western Uttar Pradesh. Weve been disappointed.
Voters in Uttar Pradesh began going to the polls last weekend, at the start of monthlong voting in seven phases across the state, and the final tally will not be known for several weeks. But if the vote is a referendum on Mr. Modis first three years, it will also, to a great extent, determine whether he can follow through on the ambitious agenda with which he swept to power in 2014.
Farmers are hurting here in the fields of northern India, where the sugar mills are months behind in payments for the cane harvest. In village centers, the tea sellers, painters and day laborers we meet say they are suffering, too, after Mr. Modis anti-corruption initiative in November banned the largest currency notes. That caused a severe cash shortage that has choked business.
The Syrian civil war has left nearly a half-million people dead, displaced millions more, and turned one of its largest cities, Aleppo, into an open-air slaughterhouse.
The war is destroying antiquity too. For just under a year, from May 2015 to March 2016, the Islamic State held control of the ancient central city of Palmyra, a boomtown that became a Roman colony in the third century A.D. To their viciousness against the men and women of Syria and northern Iraq, the Islamic State added brutality to culture. In that year they destroyed several temples where Palmyrenes had worshiped a panoply of pre-Islamic gods. They beheaded the archaeologist Khaled al-Assad, the leading authority on Palmyras history, and broadcast his death online. The citys museum was ransacked. Several captives were tied to ancient columns and executed with explosives: crimes against the present and the past at once.
Last spring, the Russian-backed Syrian Army routed the jihadists but in December the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) retook Palmyra. Last month they blasted a Roman amphitheater, as well as a tetrapylon, an entranceway formed by a quartet of columns. On Monday, the Russian defense ministry released drone footage that purports to show new destruction to the theater, as well as numerous trucks circling the heritage site.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the funniest jokes and videos and the sharpest monologues and parodies from the comedy shows. Weve got your back: You need sleep, after all, and something to smile about, while were getting paid to watch late night, which is insane.
Do you like this feature? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.
Flaying Flynn
As you all know, President Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn has resigned after it was discovered he lied to Mike Pence. Yeah, evidently he told Pence, Of course people like you. CONAN OBRIEN
Mr. Flynns resignation was the go-to topic for the late-night hosts on Tuesday. But the jokes seemed to eventually land on President Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.
In the wake of the Flynn resignation, Democrats are asking what President Trump knew. What did he know? Its historic. Its the first time anyones ever accused Donald Trump of knowing too much. OBRIEN
Stephen Colbert had a bigger audience last week than at any point in the past 16 months, and many writers are saying he has President Trump to thank for it. The Late Show has been leaning on political humor more, a topic Mr. Colbert knows well. Last night, he said it was clear Mr. Pence was angry.
You can tell by his cold, hollow-eyed stare. Which is also how you can tell if hes happy, in love or just hungry. COLBERT
Mr. Colbert didnt get the visit from the White House adviser Stephen Miller that hed requested the day before, but he seemed content to pick apart Mr. Flynn instead.
HOMO DEUS
A Brief History of Tomorrow
By Yuval Noah Harari
Illustrated. 449 pages. Harper. $35.
In retrospect, some books seem tailor-made for the thought-leader industrial complex. Yuval Noah Hararis Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, which came out in the United States two years ago, was clearly one of them.
It earned Harari an invitation to speak at TEDGlobal in 2015. (Your book doesnt become the toast of the ruling class if you dont put in your time on the international yak-yak circuit.) Within a year, the countrys most influential people were reading it. Mark Zuckerberg made it a selection for his online book club. Barack Obama recommended it on television. Bill Gates told The New York Times it would be one of the 10 books hed bring to a desert island and why ever not? If youre going to be Tom Hanks, your volleyball might as well be a breezy history of your missing fellow humans.
What made Sapiens so appealing to the smart set was its ability to serve up big ideas about evolutions and revolutions in human cognition and civilization into a series of digestible courses, not unlike the playwright David Ivess condensation of David Mamets oeuvre into seven minutes in Speed the Play. (The second act of Oleanna: You molested me. Didnt. Did.) The most tantalizing part? Sapiens ended with a cliffhanger. After 70,000 years of earthly dominion, we Homo sapiens, Harari seemed to imply, may at last be vulnerable.
The future masters of the world will probably be more different from us than we are from Neanderthals, he wrote. Whereas we and the Neanderthals are at least human, our inheritors will be godlike.
DEAR FRIEND, FROM MY LIFE I WRITE TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE
By Yiyun Li
208 pp. Random House. $27.
Why write autobiographically? the Chinese-American author Yiyun Li asks in this new collection of essays, Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life, the closest thing to an autobiography she has ever published. It is a question Li takes seriously and explores tirelessly, not least because she professes an unease with the assertion of the pronoun I. It is a melodramatic word, Li writes. The moment that I enters my narrative my confidence crumbles. This a remarkable statement in a volume that is essentially memoir.
Such diffidence is difficult to detect in her fiction, where the first person has been deployed to devastating effect, albeit infrequently. But then the narrative I of a short story is perhaps best seen as a means of self-effacement, and its notable that Lis remarkable fiction two elegant novels and two story collections is all assiduously unautobiographical, from the forgotten granny living in China to the gay immigrant seeking asylum in the United States.
Yet the particulars of Lis life are scarcely less interesting than those of her characters. Li was born in Beijing, four years before the end of Maos fatally destructive Cultural Revolution. The daughter of a nuclear physicist and schoolteacher, she grew up with more access to literature, both foreign and Chinese, than most children of her generation. In 1996, after graduating from college and serving a year in the army, Li arrived in Iowa to study immunology, armed with an anthropologists fascination with America. It took one part-time writing class for Li to change her professional course irrevocably, but the decision is threaded through with a troubled and deeply equivocal relationship with the self: When I gave up science, I had a blind confidence that in writing I could will myself into a nonentity.
Lis transformation into a writer and her striking success (she is the winner of a MacArthur genius grant, among other prestigious awards) is nothing short of astonishing. But most of the essays here tend to center on the personal unraveling that accompanied this metamorphosis: two hospitalizations following suicide attempts and time spent at a recovery program for those whose lives have fallen apart.
Christopher is a rich, clever, charming Englishman, the author of a much-praised social history of music. For years since its publication, he has talked about writing a second book, this time about worldwide rituals of mourning, a subject that has recently seemed to grip him with a new urgency. It was a strange project for a man who had hitherto lost nothing of significance, his wife reflects. Not even a pet dog, a man who had no conception of what real loss must feel like. His mother has tracked Christopher down to the southern Peloponnese, where he has evidently gone to research the weepers, professional mourners who are still, according to local tradition, paid to ululate at funerals. You know how powerful my intuition is, his mother persists. I know something is wrong, its not like him not to return my calls.
The narrator doesnt share her mother-in-laws concern. Her husband, shes discovered, is a compulsive philanderer, and she has finally gotten sick of his infidelities, his fakeries. But because of her own deception-by-omission, her inability to say that she and her husband are separated, the young woman finds herself agreeing to fly to Greece to track him down in the out-of-season beach resort where he has apparently been holed up for the last few weeks. Its a long way to travel and shes never had any desire to see Greece, but, she tells herself, I supposed it would be my last dutiful act as a daughter-in-law. When she and Christopher come face-to-face, she intends to ask him for a divorce.
Kitamuras previous novel, Gone to the Forest, was set during a colonial revolt in a nameless country in an undefined era. The geographical setting of A Separation is Google Maps specific: The books action unfolds in the fishing village of Gerolimenas on the Mani Peninsula. Yet the same austere indeterminacy, the same allegorical quality that haunted Kitamuras earlier fiction is also at work here. In Gone to the Forest, the unspecified country was devastated by a volcanic eruption that smothered the land in a blizzard of ash. A Separation features forest fires that have similarly reduced the countryside to mounds of burnt charcoal, a lunar landscape that emits a stench so heavy you could barely breathe. While the earlier narrative took place on a white landowners farm, worked and surrounded by natives, A Separation depicts a postcolonial form of colonialism: a luxury resort planted in a poor traditional society thats been devastated by the Great Recession, a resort in which the only interaction of the guests with their host culture is service-based, and where, as the narrator soon discovers, a taxi driver or receptionists efforts at human kindness are regarded by their bigoted clientele merely as efforts to extract more money from them.
Much as the narrator might like to remove the strictures of these power relations and escape into something more spontaneous, shes trapped by her own inability to trust the people around her. Oddly, the most emotionally charged scene in the novel occurs when, having invited the young hotel receptionist (with whom she suspects Christopher has had a flirtation) to dinner, the narrator dissolves into seething resentment when her guest orders the most ostentatiously expensive items on the menu. Fuming, she watches as the other woman sucked the meat out of the lobsters claw, her chin growing slick with butter, then devours her steak with a carnal satisfaction. Of course, the narrator recognizes, I knew even then that it wasnt her order or the meal that I was going to pay for. This was all just a cipher for another infraction.
Lots of things in A Separation are just ciphers for other infractions, other codes that the novels outsiders its narrator included have unwittingly violated. In the hierarchical world of Kitamuras novel, there is little love or friendship between equals, only manipulation and control, guilt and obedience, humiliation and submission. And behind these power games, one detects an overriding fatalism about the possibility of human connection, a sense that wife and husband and marriage are only words that conceal much more unstable realities, more turbulent than perhaps can be contained in a handful of syllables, or any amount of writing.
And a 1958 poll showed that more than 80 percent of the population wanted a flag entirely different from any other countrys.
Tree references show up in other flags. Think of Lebanons cedar tree, or the popular use of the olive branch, as in the United Nations logo.
Canadas maple leaf was carefully designed. Its 11 points were chosen after a wind tunnel test to see how the leaf would look flapping in the breeze.
Charles McDermid contributed reporting.
_____
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2. Russia denied a New York Times report that senior Russian intelligence officials had repeated contact with Trump campaign staff members in the year before the U.S. election.
But the resignation of Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser underscores lingering uncertainty about the relationship between the Trump administration and Russia.
Seeking to shift the narrative, Mr. Trump focused on the leaks from American intelligence agencies to the news media. Very un-American! he wrote on Twitter.
Todays episode of The Daily podcast reviews what is known about Mr. Flynns contacts with Russia. Listen from a computer, an iOS device or an Android device.
La Crosse County Board members are considering giving municipalities a share of proceeds from a proposed new half-percent sales tax for road funding in an attempt to sway urban voters to support an April 4 advisory referendum.
But its a move that wont sway at least one prominent city dweller La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat.
In an attempt to bring in more funding for road projects, the county is pursuing a Premier Resort Area Tax, a special sales tax that applies to designated tourism-related businesses. Municipalities and counties can establish this tourism tax without state approval if tourism-related businesses make up at least 40 percent of the equalized property value.
The county falls far short of the 40 percent mark, so it needs approval from the Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker. As a first step in that approval process, the county has an advisory referendum on the April 4 ballot asking voters to weigh in on the tax. Resounding approval of the referendum would give the county a better chance of gaining state approval, which is far from a given.
The state Department of Revenue originally estimated that the county would take in about $5.6 million per year from the half-percent sales tax. County officials figure they could make significant progress on nearly $90 million in road rehabilitation needs without having to borrow money if they could come up with $5 million per year in new funding.
The county got an updated estimate of $6.6 million in annual proceeds, and at Mondays county board planning meeting, board Chairwoman Tara Johnson pitched the idea of sharing 20 to 25 percent of the special tax proceeds with the countys municipalities.
We, as a body, have been extraordinarily cooperative, Johnson said, pointing to neighborhood revitalization in La Crosse, support for the Fred Funk Landing on Lake Onalaska and a joint county/village tax increment financing district in West Salem. The idea is to demonstrate La Crosse Countys values put into action.
Johnson credited state Rep. Steve Doyle, also a county board member, with suggesting the idea, which had general support among county board members who spoke up Monday.
The residents of the city certainly would be very encouraged that there would be funding to help city of La Crosse taxpayers, said board member Andrea Richmond, who is also a member of the La Crosse Common Council. Were always looking for extra funding.
Another board member from La Crosse, Sharon Hampson, didnt oppose sharing, but she didnt think it would go very far in swaying voters. Im not sure how meaningful it would be in actuality, Hampson said. I dont think theres enough in this formula to help the city of La Crosse. I just dont think its going to be as good as it sounds.
Reached Tuesday, Kabat called the countys pursuit of the Premier Resort Area Tax an ill-conceived idea, even with municipalities getting a share.
Ive got some real reservations about looking at this type of tax to fund what the county is doing, said Kabat, adding that the county seems to be rushing into it in a way that would make it hard to revisit this funding mechanism if it doesnt pass. If its a no (in the referendum), youve taken that option for any kind of future discussion or analysis off the table.
Kabat said the city of La Crosse comes closer to meeting the 40 percent threshold than the county does and looked into trying the tourism-related tax about eight years ago, before he was elected mayor. City officials decided against the tax, and Kabat said he wouldnt be interested in pursuing it for the city now.
Its not something weve discussed in any detail or depth, he said.
Kabat noted that if the city did have the tourism-related tax, hed want to use the proceeds for things that actually promote tourism, such as improvements in the La Crosse Center, building a new bandstand in Riverside Park or other kinds of public park enhancements.
While Kabat's assertion that the city is closer than the county to meeting the 40 percent threshold is true, both city and county are far short, with the city at 6.1 percent and the county at 5.3 percent. The city has 40.3 percent in total equalized property value in commercial use, while the county has 26.3 percent, according to 2015 figures.
If the county were granted the authority to levy the tourism-related tax, no municipalities in the county would be allowed to do so.
With in-person absentee voting starting in less than five weeks, county officials are working on a strategy to get information out to the business community and to voters. A presentation on the sales tax is planned for Feb. 22 before a joint meeting of the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Mainstreet Inc. and the La Crosse County Convention Visitors Bureau, and its likely the county will offer several information meetings in March.
County officials hope to have a better handle on what businesses will be required to collect the tax before they conduct these meetings. State Revenue Department estimates indicate more than half of the countys businesses would be designated as tourism-related, but county officials want to have a specific list of businesses.
The county will likely spend between $15,000 and $20,000 to get information out to voters ahead of the referendum. Approval for the voter education spending is on the agenda for the county boards Thursday meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.
President Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and backed away from a two-state solution in the Middle East, a policy that has underpinned Americas role in peacemaking efforts there for decades.
Im looking at two states and one state, he said at a joint news conference with Mr. Netanyahu at the White House. I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.
Some Palestinians reacted with dismay, bafflement and alarm.
In Brussels, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis linked American support of NATO to allies picking up more of the costs.
STRASBOURG, France A landmark trade deal between the European Union and Canada cleared a crucial hurdle on Wednesday, a move that proponents said served as a counterweight to protectionist policies advocated by President Trump.
The ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement by the European Parliament comes after seven years of tortuous negotiations, aiming to cut many tariffs on industrial goods as well as on farm and food items, and open up the services sector in areas like cargo shipping, telecommunications and financial services.
But beyond the economics of the deal, the vote also carried, for its backers, an implicit message to the Trump administration.
We want to make clear in this vote that we dont want to build walls, we want to build bridges, said Manfred Weber, a prominent member of the European Parliament from Germany. Mr. Weber had urged completion of the deal, arguing that Europe needed to forge ahead as a commercial power in the face of headwinds from its longtime ally, the United States.
The founder of the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, is known for making ambitious, sometimes head-scratching moves.
But this could be his most unusual move yet: SoftBank is buying the private equity giant Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 billion.
Fortress oversees about $70 billion in assets, but how will that help SoftBanks $100 billion technology investment fund?
It will have to operate at an arms length from the SoftBank Vision Fund because it is a regulated entity, but it is expected that there will be opportunities to share intelligence.
A patchwork of state laws leaves many areas where drivers can choose not to buckle up, with little likelihood of being stopped. Only 18 states have laws requiring seatbelts for both front and rear occupants and categorize not wearing them as a primary offense meaning drivers can be pulled over for that alone. In 15 states, failure to wear a seatbelt in front seats is only a secondary offense drivers cannot be given tickets unless they are pulled over for other violations.
Its still the same things that are killing drivers belts, booze and speed, Mr. Adkins said.
About half of all traffic fatalities involve unbelted occupants, and almost a third involve drivers who were impaired by drugs or alcohol, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal governments main auto-safety agency.
In Alabama, steady budget cuts have resulted in a decline in the number of troopers patrolling the states 103,000 miles of highways. David Brown, a research associate at the University of Alabamas Center for Advanced Public Safety, studied the states 2016 traffic fatality reports and found an increase in fatalities involving high-speed crashes.
Total crashes were up less than 5 percent, but fatalities were up 25 percent, he said in an interview. I think speeding is the No. 1 problem. There are times of the day when we only have one or two troopers on duty in a county, so you can speed, and theres no one there to deter it.
In some states, highway speed limits are rising. In recent years, Texas has increased speed limits to 85 miles per hour in some rural areas. About 1,500 miles of roads have a limit of 75 miles per hour or higher.
In the fall, the N.H.T.S.A., the National Transportation Safety Board and several nongovernmental organizations, including the National Safety Council, began the Road to Zero initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities within 30 years. The effort places heavy emphasis on the promise of autonomous vehicles.
But others say that more needs to be done now on basic road safety issues. The way to bring down the rise in deaths is with a wide range of the nuts-and-bolts measures, not self-driving cars, the consumer advocate Ralph Nader said in an interview in October.
In Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, a rock opera on Broadway adapted from a section of Leo Tolstoys War and Peace, Amber Gray and Lucas Steele play Helene and Anatole Kuragin, a pair of self-absorbed aristocratic siblings who are impervious to consequence and impossibly chic in their punk romantic get-ups.
In other words, they were perfect casting for New York Fashion Week presuming they could get seats to a show.
A reporters initial plan was to take them to Raf Simonss debut at Calvin Klein, but with just 400 seats in the house and no Simons-era Calvin Klein available for them to wear, the request was declined.
They almost didnt get into Tory Burch either, until Ms. Burch and her team agreed to dress Ms. Gray and seat her with Mr. Steele in the front row at her show Tuesday morning, which took place at the Whitney Museum in Lower Manhattan. (The company doesnt have a mens line and therefore couldnt outfit Mr. Steele).
See Now, Buy Now
In this new world of faster fashion, you can shop many of the collections that just walked down the runways in New York (and Los Angeles) right now. Ralph Lauren has transformed his flagship with an immersive botanical installation inspired by the see now, buy now spring collection. It covers every wall of the stores first and second floors, where, through Monday, youll find a lame Lurex gown ($2,450) and beaded trousers ($5,990). At 888 Madison Avenue.
Michael Kors will continue his Ready-to-Wear, Ready to Go concept with an edited selection of pieces from the show, including a grommet pleated shirt ($2,150) and sarong skirt ($2,150) available immediately. At 790 Madison Avenue.
Tommy Hilfiger has a silk print maxi-dress ($375) and patchwork knit top and skirt ($249.50) from the Tommy x Gigi collection that was revealed on Venice Beach. Or make like a supermodel and rent the aforementioned looks from Armarium for your next selfie opt for $75 apiece. At 681 Fifth Avenue; armarium.com.
Image A top and skirt from the Tommy x Gigi collection, available now.
Following her own Los Angeles presentation, Rachel Zoe has a sequin minidress ($295) and other glitzy frocks available on her website. At shoprachelzoe.com.
Three candidates to become the next director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are likely to draw harsh scrutiny from the funds largest donor, the United States.
The nominating committee of the funds board on Monday produced a report naming the three finalists and its rationale for picking them. A copy of the report was made available to The New York Times.
While all might have been considered excellent candidates for the job in earlier years, global health officials are worried that their backgrounds could push the Trump administration away from historical commitments to the fund.
One candidate, in particular, has used Twitter posts to call Mr. Trump a fascist, saying he has much in common with ISIS for his anti-Muslim stance.
Some emergency room doctors are far more likely than others even within their own department to prescribe opioids to treat pain in older people, and their patients are at greater risk of using the powerful drugs chronically than those who saw doctors who prescribe them less frequently, according to a large new study.
The research was published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
As the opioid epidemic continues to devastate communities around the country, the study was the latest attempt to identify a starting point on the path to excessive use.
This is the analysis we have been looking for to show the risk of a single exposure of a patient in an emergency room to an opioid, said Dr. Lewis S. Nelson, the chairman of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital, who was not involved in the study.
The study tracked about 375,000 Medicare patients with a similar range of complaints in several thousand hospital emergency rooms from 2008 to 2011, as well as the frequency of opioid prescriptions written by the doctors who treated them. It found that the prescribing patterns of whichever physician they encountered were an important factor in their future opioid use.
In the 1800s as today, advances in medical science outpaced discussions of the social, cultural, legal and ethical implications of those advances. Just as Shelley and her contemporaries debated the issues, so do todays thinkers, and the study of bioethics is an international one.
The United Nations International Bioethics Committee and, in the United States, the 2009-17 Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues are just two governing bodies that have sought to develop principles and guidelines for safe and ethical medical research in areas such as stem cell therapies, organ donation and harvesting, genetic testing, cloning and animal to human transplants.
Before reading the novel, students can explore the Brocher Foundation, founded in 2006, an organization that hosts meetings of scientists and experts to discuss the ethical, legal and social implications of the development of medical research and biotechnologies. The foundation encourages multidisciplinary research in the areas of law, anthropology, history, bioethics and philosophy, and has backed the publication of hundreds of books and articles that have come out of its meetings. Stanford University also has a growing site devoted to Frankenstein and ethics in scientific research.
Then, pair the novel with Times coverage of experiments in bioethics.
For example, students might read about Chinas experimental attempts at human head transplant surgery in Doctors Plan for Full-Body Transplants Raises Doubts Even in Daring China. Or they might read about a Pew Research Center study on distrust of scientists in Building a Better Human With Science? The Public Says, No Thanks.
It has been said that a liberal is someone who wont take his own side in an argument. Yet part of whats valuable in marital love is honesty about the things that matter. Among those things is that your wife regards people with views like yours as simply contemptible, when they are not. For both of your sakes, take your side. You didnt marry a vitriolic zealot, but now you find that youre sharing a home with one. Ethics, in the end, is about living a good life. In that sense, your wifes behavior poses an ethical challenge. Let her know.
I have been seeing my boyfriend for two years and have known him for four. He was born in Saudi Arabia, attended college in the United States and has used the time away from his family to explore his own thoughts and beliefs. I have a great deal of respect for him, and I love him deeply.
My parents, brother and friends have all shared with me that hes a keeper and that Im a lucky girl, which I agree with. My boyfriend is estranged from his family after 15 years in the United States. He chooses not to communicate with them often to avoid discussing his atheism. But he still worries he is a disappointment to them, because of the pressure on him, as the oldest son, to be something he is not.
A few months ago, we attended a family members memorial service, and we saw my fathers brother and wife. I am not fond of my uncle and aunt. They hadnt met my boyfriend yet because I had chosen not to introduce him to them. When I introduced him to my aunt, she said, Im watching you. We were both confused; I asked her what that meant. She replied, He knows what Im talking about, and she walked away. We laughed it off as some kind of familial attempt to protect me from a broken heart.
A week later, I mentioned it on the phone to my dad. He paused, then told me he was hoping she wouldnt say anything. He said that he had gone to dinner with my aunt and uncle a year ago, and they began grilling him about my boyfriend. He said that they wanted to know what his citizenship status was. Upon learning he was not an American citizen, they went on a long rant about how he was playing me, that he was just trying to get a green card from me through marriage. My dad told me that he defended me and my boyfriend and asked that they keep their opinions to themselves.
An Onalaska woman has been charged with hiding a man who triggered a manhunt when he threatened to shoot her daughter last month.
According to police reports, 33-year-old Joshua Kletzke threatened his ex-girlfriend with a gun Jan. 17 when she refused to help him after he locked his keys in his car in the parking lot of Festival Foods in Onalaska.
When police arrived, Kletzke took off in the womans car, crashed into a snow bank and took off on foot. Officers found a 9mm handgun inside Kletzkes car.
Police activated Onalaskas Code Red system as officers from multiple agencies searched for Kletzke, warning the public he was dangerous and possibly armed.
The victims mother, Debra Kepler, told officers Kletzke was not in his right mind and all messed up on drugs, but said she and her daughter wanted to go home. According to a criminal complaint, when the officer asked if he could follow up once Kletzke was found, Kepler said she didnt want cops in her neighborhood.
Kletzke again eluded police on Jan. 23, running out the back door when they showed up at a home on La Crosses North Side.
State investigators determined Kletzkes phone was being used at Keplers Onalaska residence.
While police were watching the Fifth Avenue home, someone drove out of the driveway in a Pontiac Sunfire at a high rate of speed, losing police on the citys north side. Officers returned to the home, where Kepler said Kletzke had grabbed the keys and taken off in the car.
According to the complaint, Kepler eventually admitted to picking up Kletzke the previous night after he fled police and bringing him to her home.
Kletzke was arrested Jan. 26 in Houston County, Minn., where he is being held on drug charges pending extradition to Wisconsin on potential charges of possessing explosives, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and marijuana.
Kepler, 56, was charged Tuesday with one count of harboring a felon.
The last time Hugh Jackman played Wolverine, the comic-book superhero he has portrayed onscreen for 17 years, was not an especially decorous occasion. In the midst of his work on a coming movie musical, he had to return for two days of reshoots on Logan, the 10th film in Foxs X-Men franchise, to inflict some beatings and take some beatings, and he ended up shouting his voice hoarse.
I yelled and screamed so much, and then I had to go back to the musical the next day, a more restored Mr. Jackman recalled recently with a laugh. I actually said to someone, Not with a bang but a whimper.
His claw-popping alter ego fares no better in Logan, which opens March 3. Set in 2029, it finds the title character weary and weakened, unable to heal as rapidly as he used to. The X-Men are long gone, and hes reduced to driving a limousine while he tends an aged Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), whose psychic powers have become a dangerous liability.
From the moment Mr. Jackman became a movie star, with the original X-Men in 2000, he has been synonymous with Wolverine, a feral mutant with a metal skeleton and a tormented, decades-long past lived under the name Logan. It is his most visible and successful role, and one that, as recently as late January, he still wasnt finished with. Because there was always one more dialogue rerecording session or conversation to have with his director, Im uncomfortable saying goodbye, he said.
What does love look like 14 years later? Love Actually is getting a sequel of sorts: a short film by the originals writer-director, Richard Curtis, starring many of the original cast members.
Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Andrew Lincoln, Rowan Atkinson and many other actors will return to the roles they played in the 2003 Christmas favorite but the new stories will be set in 2017. The short film is being made for Comic Reliefs Red Nose Day, which raises money to combat poverty, and will be broadcast in Britain on BBC One on March 24 and in the United States on NBC on May 25.
I would never have dreamt of writing a sequel to Love Actually, but I thought it might be fun to do 10 minutes to see what everyone is now up to, Mr. Curtis said in a statement. Who has aged best? I guess thats the big question or is it so obviously Liam?
In 2015, Red Nose Day featured a musical comedy sketch with Coldplay and the cast of Game of Thrones. One of those actors Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who plays Jojen Reed played a young Sam in Love Actually, and will return to his role here.
Movies have always lived on the corner where art meets commerce. In Gimme Shelter: Hollywood North, a series running from Friday, Feb. 24, through March 8, Anthology Film Archives examines one such rendezvous, a Canadian tax-incentive program set up in 1974. The outcomes werent always good the term Canuxploitation was coined to describe the worst of the batch, and the program lasted only through the mid-1980s. But the retrospective includes curios like The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, a thriller starring a young Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen, as well as the indisputable gem Atlantic City from 1980. Written by John Guare and directed by Louis Malle, the offbeat story of Lou, an aging numbers runner (Burt Lancaster), and Sally (Susan Sarandon), the striving young waitress he romances, plays out as the resort town bets its future on becoming a gambling paradise. The movie is prescient in the ways that hope turns sour, even as its respectful of the memory of better days. (anthologyfilmarchives.org)
With all the political focus in New York City trained on the 2017 mayoral race, there is another important battle being quietly waged, for perhaps the second-most-powerful job in the city.
Yet the only votes that matter in this contest are not from constituents; this race, for City Council speaker, will be determined by other Council members and the citys Democratic county leaders, who are normally the deciding factor in efforts to wrangle the necessary votes.
The current speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is to deliver her State of the City address on Thursday, cannot run for re-election because of the term limits law; several other prominent Council members are also serving their last term.
Though the race will not be decided until January, the looming vacancy is already swathed in all the bare-knuckled, back-room intrigue of old-time New York: Promises are offered; deals are made. And a leading candidate suddenly emerges.
To the Editor:
Re Trump Aides Had Contact With Russian Intelligence (front page, Feb. 15):
Consider: Serious allegations about deep involvement by a hostile foreign power in the 2016 presidential election that may have tipped the result. Campaign officials of the winning candidate allegedly in repeated contact with Russian officials. An F.B.I. director accused of covering up an investigation of the matter during the campaign. An attorney general who refuses to recuse himself from any Russia inquiries.
If theres ever been a time for an independent counsel or special prosecutor, its now. The allegations go to the heart of American democracy.
If the charges are, as President Trump claims, nonsense, then an independent investigation will vindicate him and his campaign. If not, then not.
If the administration refuses to create an independent counsel, then Congress must accept its constitutional responsibility and act now.
This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox.
First, given the news, I want to remind people that the president has still refused to answer questions about contact between his campaign and Russia. Its an unacceptable silence. Now onto the bulk of todays newsletter:
Fake quotations are in the news this week, thanks to a Republican National Committee tweet that incorrectly cited Abraham Lincoln as saying And in the end, its not the years in your life that count, its the life in your years.
(The likely source of the quotation is a bit less inspiring than the 16th president: a 1947 advertisement for a book about aging.)
For all their dysfunction, the Republican Senate and House have managed to act with lightning speed in striking down a sensible Obama administration rule designed to stop people with severe mental problems from buying guns.
President Trump, who championed the National Rifle Association agenda as a candidate, is expected to sign the regressive measure. This, despite the Republican mantra that tighter control of mentally troubled individuals not stronger gun control is the better way to deal with the mass shootings and gun carnage that regularly afflict the nation.
The Senate voted Wednesday to join the House in revoking the rule. It would have required the Social Security Administration to add about 75,000 people, currently on disability support, to the national background check database and deny them gun purchases. These individuals suffer schizophrenia, psychotic disorders and other problems to such an extent that they are unable to manage their financial affairs and other basic tasks without help.
Allowing them to buy guns poses an inordinate and needless risk to public safety. An existing law bars gun purchases to people adjudicated as a mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution. But enforcement of that law has been spotty, because medical records often arent added to the federal databases thus prompting the Obama administration to create the Social Security rule. Congress struck down the rule with Republican majorities and some Democrats notably up for re-election next year contending that the Second Amendment rights of these troubled, disabled individuals have to be the prime concern.
CHICAGO Poor Venezuela, so far from God, so close to the Peoples Republic of China. Having bid farewell to tumultuous 2016, President Nicolas Maduros embattled government, hit hard by low oil prices, has again bucked market expectations, muddling through without defaulting on sovereign bonds or those of the state-owned oil company PDVSA. Paying off $10 billion to Wall Street last year required many sacrifices from Venezuela: selling off or mortgaging international assets and slashing imports by nearly 50 percent for the second year running, exacerbating harrowing nationwide shortages of vital medicines and food. Without a sudden recovery of oil prices, 2017 will be even harder.
Mr. Maduros near-superhuman willingness to continue paying creditors long after most countries would have capitulated can seem incongruous given his trademark anticapitalist bent, but it stems from a calculation. By averting major disasters defaults or massacres the administration hopes that mere incremental declines, however rapid, will not trigger a backlash capable of bringing it down. The government is boiling Venezuelans like frogs in the proverbial pot while buying time to survive until the 2018 presidential election.
Such tactics alone would never suffice, however, were it not for crucial support for Chavismo Hugo Chavezs brand of socialism by its Eastern benefactor, Beijing. Even as Mr. Maduros irresponsible policy making and growing authoritarianism have isolated Venezuela internationally and led to a humanitarian catastrophe, and even as reports expose lapses and delays in Venezuelan oil obligations to China, Beijings foreign ministry has remained publicly steadfast, casting new lifelines to Caracas. So what explains Chinas Zen-like patience with Mr. Maduro?
Chinas dalliance with Chavismo began under Mr. Maduros charismatic predecessor, Hugo Chavez. In 2001 Venezuela became the first Hispanic country to enter into a strategic development partnership with China a relationship upgraded to comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014.
The sensitive interests did not hold back a Federal District Court in Virginia. In an opinion issued on Monday, the court ruled that the president acted with animus against Muslims when he issued the travel ban. The court laid out the damning evidence: the campaign statement calling for a Muslim ban, which is still on the web; Rudolph Giulianis acknowledgment that the travel ban was really a Muslim ban; the failure of the lawyers who wrote the ban to consult national-security officials; and Mr. Trumps statements in interviews.
This is surely the first time in history that a court has found that a president acted out of bigotry. Yet the ruling contradicts the Supreme Courts admonition that courts may not look behind a facially legitimate reason here, the national security interest in stricter vetting when the president exercises immigration authority.
Does this mean President Trump is right to complain that the courts are political? Not exactly. The courts were playing politics, but of a valid constitutional kind.
Judges are human beings who read newspapers as well as briefs. They know about Mr. Trumps reckless and erratic behavior indeed, they have been on the receiving end of it. After losing the lower court case in Washington State, President Trump called the judge, James L. Robart, a so-called judge. The president later tweeted, If something happens blame him and court system. With hardly a pause, President Trump implied that the Ninth Circuit was biased (I wont call it biased, he said. But courts seem to be so political) before it decided the case. In another tweet, he blasted the judges for their disgraceful decision.
James Madison rooted the separation of powers in the personal motives of the officers in one branch to resist encroachments of the other branches. If one branch attacks another, the latter will attack back. Werent the Ninth Circuit panel and the Virginia court acting in good Madisonian fashion?
Mr. Trump warns that if the courts constantly look over his shoulder, he wont be able to protect us from security threats. The Virginia court, having established Mr. Trumps bigotry, has placed him on probation, preparing the way for challenges to any future executive actions against Muslim countries.
To the Editor:
Re Ignorance Is Strength (column, Feb. 13):
It is evident from Paul Krugmans column that President Trump has put in place a team that is unable to govern effectively. Every new administration needs experienced people who can develop constructive relationships with foreign leaders, the media, the business community and the other branches of government. For every incoming administration, the first few months are crucial.
Likewise, the presidency of Bill Clinton got off to a rocky start with a White House staff that was inexperienced. Eventually, Mr. Clinton asked David Gergen to serve as counselor to offer assistance. Even though Mr. Gergen had served in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations, Mr. Clinton valued his advice and expertise.
Undoubtedly, it is time for President Trump to follow Mr. Clintons example and seek help and guidance from experienced Washington hands to get his presidency on track. The campaign is over, and his tendency to even scores is having negative consequences on many fronts.
LARRY VIGON
Chicago
To the Editor:
President Trump, Stephen Bannon and others in Mr. Trumps inner circle suffer from a trait that wealthy individuals sometimes display. They equate wealth with knowledge. Although they may have considerable knowledge about the business that yielded great wealth for them, they assume that their business knowledge enlightens them about all aspects of government.
DE SOTO -- Gov. Scott Walker continued his tour of Wisconsin on Tueday, taking his proposed 2017-19 budget to the people with a stop in De Soto.
Walker visited Prairie View Elementary, cited for significantly exceeding expectations on the latest state report cards, where he congratulated the students and teachers on their hard work. Students filled the bleachers in the gym and some helped greet the governor when he arrived.
Prairie View fifth-grader Madison Kumlin introduced Walker to a standing ovation from her classmates and presented a De Soto Pirates mug to the state's chief executive. After chatting up the students about this year being the state Capitol's 100th anniversary, Walker went over his K-12 budget proposal.
"We're putting more money into education than the state has put into K-12 ever before," Walker said of the nearly $650 million increase in state funding he has proposed.
He also spoke about how his budget would focus more support in rural districts, estimating De Soto would benefit from about $600,000 more in sparsity aid. Rural districts struggle to serve students who are spread out over a larger area, he said, and sparsity aid helps those districts with additional resources for transportation and to help beef up staffing.
"I think every one of you students are so important," he said. "We took this reform dividend and put it right back into your schools."
Walker provided more details about an item in the proposal that would make teaching licenses in Wisconsin lifetime certifications, removing state requirements for continuing education. He said those discussions are best left to the individual school district to determine what is needed from teachers.
"What we're hearing at the local level is that school districts love this," Walker said. "It empowers them to put in place their own requirements locally."
Just the night before at the Holmen School Board meeting, board members Kate Mayer and Tom Kruse brought up concerns about the proposal. Mayer, a retired teacher, and Kruse, who runs a home inspection business, both said it is important teachers stay current and go through a re-certification process.
"In any industry, if you dont stay curious, you are going to have problems, Kruse said.
Walker has visited the Coulee Region three times in the past week and a half, touting various budget proposals. Some of the ideas, including his promise to hold the line on taxes in regard to transportation funding, have been met with some skepticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
He told his De Soto audience to tell their lawmakers to support his budget ideas. Walker has said he plans to spend most of his time outside of Madison this year, pitching his budget to the people.
De Soto Area Schools Superintendent Linzi Gronning said she was excited the governor was focusing on the issues facing smaller, rural districts. Her district has more than 570 students across about 400 square miles, and the bumps in aid will help the district absorb costs associated with the geography and fund new initiatives such as a gifted and talented program aimed at students with high academic or creative ability.
"I'm just so grateful the governor is putting education at the forefront of his budget," she said. "It is an essential investment for the state."
President Trumps plan to deport millions of people appears to be underway. Last week, federal immigration officials arrested more than 600 people at their homes and workplaces in at least 11 states, sending terror through immigrant communities.
The abruptness of the raids provoked criticism from local officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who vowed to stand with immigrant communities. But mass deportation under President Trump will also happen through a more routine policy that is in the mayors control: endless, unnecessary arrests for low-level offenses, which end up feeding immigrants into the federal governments deportation machine.
Its not enough for cities like New York to declare themselves sanctuaries, which simply means that the local police wont detain noncitizens on the federal governments behalf. If cities really want to protect immigrants, they must also end the quota-driven style of policing that makes immigrants the victims of unnecessary arrests and disproportionate punishment.
Many of these unnecessary arrests stem from the discredited idea that a draconian crackdown on the most minor offenses littering, selling loose cigarettes, biking on the sidewalk will prevent more serious crimes. This model of policing, known as broken windows or zero tolerance, helped to drive mass incarceration. Its next cost could be mass deportation.
Its early December, after Donald J. Trumps election but before his inauguration, and Washington is reeling because what has been rumor for months is now being confirmed by American intelligence agencies.
The cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee and the email account of Hillary Clintons campaign chairman was authorized by the Russian government in what federal officials are calling an extraordinary effort to influence the outcome of an American election.
The growing consensus at this point is that Russia chose sides in the election, and it chose Trump now the president-elect.
Amid all this, two men get on the phone. From Russia, its Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. And from the United States, its Michael T. Flynn.
Francesca Bellomusto grew up in Port Chester, N.Y. Her husband, Antonio Bellomusto, was born there. So when they decided to purchase their first home, they looked in Port Chester, but also in Harrison, White Plains and Greenwich, Conn. We werent sure where we wanted to be, Ms. Bellomusto said. But everything drew us back to Port Chester.
In August, they bought a home there: a 2,500-square-foot, four-bedroom cape, built in 1958 on a .23-acre lot. They paid $570,000.
Along with being close to family, value factored heavily in their choice. Ms. Bellomusto, 27, teaches Italian and Spanish at Westlake High School in Thornwood; Mr. Bellomusto, 35, is a key account manager for Nestle Waters North America, which is based in Stamford, Conn. We got a lot more for our money than what we were seeing in other towns, Ms. Bellomusto said.
Mr. Lightfoot spoke at a conference for companies working on the Space Launch System and Orion programs. Boeing is the main contractor for the rocket; Lockheed Martin is building Orion. Mr. Lightfoot also sent a memo to NASA employees.
I know the challenges associated with such a proposition, like reviewing the technical feasibility, additional resources needed, and clearly the extra work would require a different launch date, Mr. Lightfoot wrote in the memo. That said, I also want to hear about the opportunities it could present to accelerate the effort of the first crewed flight and what it would take to accomplish that first step of pushing humans farther into space.
Under the current plans for the first launch, a crewless Orion capsule would spend three weeks in space, flying to the moon and entering an orbit about 40,000 miles above the surface. With astronauts on board, the mission would most likely be shorter, perhaps similar to the trajectory taken by Apollo 8 in December 1968, when three NASA astronauts made 10 orbits around the moon in 20 hours and then returned to Earth.
To add astronauts would require significant work and rejiggering. Because no astronauts were planned, the Orion capsule planned for the first flight currently did not contain the full working life-support system. The first Space Launch System rocket also uses an upper stage that is derived from the Delta 4 rocket that has not been rated for crewed missions. NASA is developing a more powerful upper stage for the second flight.
The risks of flying people on the first launch of a rocket are much greater. In the Apollo program, NASA launched several crewless missions to gain confidence before adding astronauts on Apollo 7. Two commercial systems by Boeing and SpaceX to take astronauts to the International Space Station will also fly crewless test flights first. The first launch of the space shuttle in 1981 did carry astronauts.
I was 15 years old.
Not yet a proud immigrant to this country.
A young Muslim growing up in Nairobi with the very good fortune of having a dad who was an airline pilot.
It was 1993 when he took me on a trip to London for the first time. But it wasnt Big Ben or Buckingham Palace that caught my eye. It was a giant theater billboard with a name I knew: Craig McLachlan, a star of the Australian soap opera Neighbours (British spelling, thank you very much). The soap was hugely popular in Kenya, so I recognized him immediately. Also on the poster was a womans name I didnt know at the time: Debbie Gibson (or was she going by Deborah in those days?)
The poster was hot pink; silhouetted against the background was the face of a cool dude with sunglasses and a giant wave of jet black hair. It was advertising some show called Grease. I was intrigued. I persuaded my dad to give me enough pounds for a ticket. It was sold out, so all I could get was standing room, which was fine by me.
In Kenya, the only live performances I had seen were acting skits in my high school assembly hall and comedy shows on the government-sponsored television network. I didnt know what to expect. I was there so I could tell my friends that I saw Craig McLachlan in the flesh. Then the lights went down, and I was blown away.
With its grand thoroughfares and stately 19th-century buildings, Stockholms Ostermalm neighborhood, in the eastern part of the city about a 10-minute walk from the city center, is elegant and refined. Its also an upscale residential area thats dotted with unique specialty stores, many of which have been around for several decades or more. Stockholmers come here when theyre on the hunt for an eye-catching item, be it an antique, a rare book or a piece of vintage furniture.
Ronnells Antikvariat
Bibliophiles will be at home at this bookshop, which, with an inventory of 75,000 secondhand and rare tomes, is considered among the largest in the Nordic world. Around 40 percent of the diverse reads, including fiction and subjects like art and photography, are in English, and whats for sale is always a surprise. On a recent visit, a first edition of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess was a pick that the knowledgeable staff was most excited about.
Birger Jarlsgatan 32, ronnells.se, 46-8-5450-1560
Image Credit... Erika Gerdemark for The New York Times
Svenskt Tenn
When Stockholm residents are on the hunt for chic home goods such as napkins, glasses, pillows and furniture, they head to this spacious bi-level store on the waterfront. A local women named Estrid Ericson founded the company in 1924 and recruited the Austrian-born designer and architect Josef Frank to oversee the creative side. Today, a team of freelance designers maintain his legacy.
Strandvagen 5, 46-8-670-1600, svenskttenn.se
Craft cocktails those artful, mixologist-created drinks that are often a lure at chic bars and restaurants are now finding their way into the airline industry, too.
As of mid-January, for example, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class fliers departing from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey can head to the airlines Clubhouse, the lounge for Upper Class fliers, to imbibe cocktails courtesy of the popular Cuban-inspired Lower Manhattan bar BlackTail. Theres the Havana Night, a combination of gin, lime juice, cane syrup, mint and bitters; the BlackTail Daiquiri, made of white rum, lime juice and cane syrup; and four others on the menu.
The collaboration is part of Virgin Atlantics new program to showcase craft cocktails from trendsetting local bars in its Clubhouses. Besides the one at Newark, the airline has similar partnerships at four other Clubhouses including the one in San Francisco International Airport where travelers can sip clever combinations from the pirate-themed bar Smugglers Cove in the city.
Virgin Atlantic is paying attention to craft cocktails because they are having a moment, said Mark Murphy, the food and beverage manager for the Clubhouses. We try to be a brand associated with edginess and coolness, and craft cocktails are very cool, he said.
If you want to keep your health insurance status a secret from the I.R.S., the Trump administration just made it a little easier.
The policy change, confirmed by the I.R.S. on Wednesday after elements were reported by the libertarian magazine Reason, does not do away with the Affordable Care Acts requirement that all Americans who can afford it obtain health insurance or pay a fine. But it might make it a little harder for the I.R.S. to figure out who is breaking the rules.
The I.R.S. recently notified tax preparers that it will not reject tax returns that omit information about whether a filer had health insurance during the previous year. Thats actually a continuation of an informal Obama administration policy, but because of the way the decision was announced, it is likely to have broader effects on how many people report their insurance status to the government and how many people end up paying penalties for staying uninsured.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order on the day of his inauguration asking agencies to reduce burdens related to compliance with the health law. In its statement, the I.R.S. indicated that this policy was related to that instruction.
Even some prominent liberals like Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, seem open to conspiracy theories of the sort typically espoused by figures like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck. (After the recent violent demonstration at the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Reich raised the possibility that the far right was in cahoots with the agitators, writing a blog post titled A Yiannopoulos, Bannon, Trump Plot to Control American Universities?)
A simple explanation for this shift is that misperceptions often focus on the president and are most commonly held by members of the other party. Just as Republicans disproportionately endorsed prominent misperceptions during the Obama years (like the birther and death panel myths), Democrats are now the opposition partisans especially likely to fall victim to dubious claims about the Trump administration.
But the shift in vulnerability to conspiracy theories may have deeper psychological roots. Research suggests that people embrace conspiracy beliefs as a way to cope with perceived threats to control. In particular, Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent at the University of Miami have argued that conspiracy theory beliefs increase in response to group threats, including among losers of elections. These beliefs can help rally groups and coordinate action in response to a decline in status or power.
To evaluate this conjecture, the political scientists Christina Farhart, Joanne Miller and Kyle Saunders, who study conspiracy theory belief, compared how Democrats and Republicans changed in their responses to a conspiracy predispositions scale created by Mr. Uscinski and his co-authors.
The scale asks respondents to evaluate a series of statements:
Much of our lives are being controlled by plots hatched in secret places.
Even though we live in a democracy, a few people will always run things anyway.
It has been a difficult week for Ms. Vizguerra, 45, one of millions of undocumented immigrants contending with an uncertain future in the Trump administration. After she was convicted several years ago of using fake documents, Ms. Vizguerra, who has spent 20 years working in the United States, was ordered out of the country. But she was granted at least five postponements of deportation, and in December, her lawyer, Hans Meyer, asked for another.
Nothing happened. She was due for a regular check-in at the local office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, and as the day crept closer, Ms. Vizguerra realized the possibility that she could be whisked onto a plane and separated from her three American-born children: Zury, 6, Roberto, 10, and Luna, 12.
Their care would fall to her husband, Salvador, 45, who works long hours as a driver for a tile company, and an older daughter, Tania Baez, 26, a preschool teacher with three children of her own. Unlike her younger siblings, Ms. Baez is not a citizen by birth, but she has a work permit under the Obama administrations Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which President Trump criticized during the campaign but has not moved to end.
The last week or so has thrust the family into a state of extended emergency. On Feb. 5, Ms. Vizguerra called a family meeting over dinner, banning electronics from the table to convey the seriousness of the matter. The family cats, Miranda and Zayra, meowed as she explained the plan.
If officials were to come to the home in the days before the meeting at the I.C.E. office, no one should answer the door, she said. If they gained entry, Luna, a reedy middle schooler with braces, should use her phone to film the events. Roberto should open the emergency contact list in his phone and begin to call family friends and advocates. And Zury, the youngest, should go straight to her parents bedroom, close the door and stay there. I told them, I know its going to be difficult for you, Ms. Vizguerra said. I want you to be brave.
In the past, we hadnt really been like, O.K., heres where we stand, said Lacy Simons, the owner of Hello Hello Books in the seaside town of Rockland, Me. Ms. Simons said she was jolted into action the day after the election, when customers began drifting into the store, not to buy books, exactly, but in search of solace.
This is just one of the places where people went, she said. If they were gutted from the election, people just came in to pet the books.
Her plans to push back against Mr. Trumps policies are just beginning: Later this month, the stores new social justice reading and action group will meet for the first time (suggested reading: What We Do Now: Standing Up for Your Values in Trumps America). She also intends to distribute political leaflets and other materials to customers, on the model of bookstores that handed out mimeographed resistance newspapers during the Vietnam War.
Stephanie Valdez, an owner of Community Bookstore in Brooklyn, has already hosted a postcard-writing event, and lately she has paged through books on political organizing, looking for guidance for getting her store more involved.
I think bookstores are a place where people go to understand the world, she said. And I think were just one of many places that will become a center of activism.
Gayle Shanks, a co-owner of Changing Hands in Phoenix, said her stores Facebook page had gone political, as staff members filled it with articles about national politics and First Amendment issues. At the suggestion of one of her young employees, staff members began piecing together a display of books written by authors from the seven majority-Muslim countries from which Mr. Trump suspended immigration.
WASHINGTON The fast-food executive Andrew F. Puzder withdrew his nomination to be labor secretary on Wednesday as Republican senators turned sharply against him, the latest defeat for a White House besieged by infighting and struggling for traction even with a Republican-controlled Congress.
The toppling of one of President Trumps cabinet picks was a victory for Democrats, unions and liberal groups that had been attacking Mr. Puzders business record and his character since he was chosen in December. Conservative publications, including National Review and Breitbart, had also expressed resistance, zeroing in on Mr. Puzders employment of an undocumented immigrant as his housekeeper.
And records from his 1988 divorce, disseminated Tuesday night by opponents, resurfaced spousal abuse accusations that made some Republican senators uncomfortable. His ex-wife had recanted those accusations, but senators from both parties privately screened a videotape from The Oprah Winfrey Show that featured her laying out the charges while in disguise.
The opposition from Republicans was broad, and the reasons varied. Among the senators who expressed concerns were John Thune of South Dakota, Rob Portman of Ohio, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Tim Scott of South Carolina, more than enough to scuttle the nomination.
WASHINGTON It does most of its work in secret, can be highly partisan and its members consider it a thankless job with few political benefits. But the Senate Intelligence Committee is suddenly central to a capital increasingly rattled by Trump administration turmoil.
With House Republicans showing little appetite for pursuing an inquiry into links between Russia and the new White House and the chances remote of an independent investigative commission being created, the Senate panel has at least for the moment chief responsibility for getting to the bottom of events surrounding the resignation of Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser and any foreign meddling in the presidential election.
Whether members of the committee can succeed is a vexing question. The panel split bitterly over an investigation into George W. Bush-era torture of terror detainees, and Senate Republicans are leery of being lured into a Democratic effort to undermine a new Republican president who could help them achieve their long-sought legislative goals.
Senator Richard M. Burr, the North Carolina Republican who leads the committee, last month indicated some reluctance about pursuing contacts between the Trump team and Russia before he and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who has taken over the top Democratic spot on the panel, one day later issued a letter saying the committee would seek to have a full understanding of the scope of Russian intelligence activities impacting the United States. The clear sense on Capitol Hill was that Mr. Warner had dragged his Republican colleague into accepting an aggressive inquiry.
WASHINGTON President Trump lashed out at the nations intelligence agencies again on Wednesday, saying that his former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, was brought down by illegal leaks to the news media, on a day of new disclosures about the Trump camps dealings with Russia during and after the presidential campaign.
From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked, Mr. Trump said at a White House news conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. Its a criminal action, criminal act, and its been going on for a long time before me, but now its really going on. And people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton.
With his statement and a burst of early-morning posts he made on Twitter, Mr. Trump tried to shift attention from damaging questions about contacts with Russia by Mr. Flynn and others close to the president, arguing that the outrage is not those contacts, but the leaks about them. He revived his charge that the allegations of a Russian connection were nothing more than a Democratic conspiracy, fed to a receptive news media to distract from the mistakes made by Mrs. Clinton during the campaign.
Mr. Schumer and Democrats called on their former Senate colleague, Jeff Sessions, the new attorney general and a top Trump campaign supporter, to recuse himself from any review. (Advisers to Mr. Sessions have said he sees no need to do so.) They demanded that any relevant records from the administration, transition or campaign be preserved. And they asked that former campaign and transition associates testify in public, under oath, a request Republicans have not echoed.
Pressed on how he hoped to proceed if Republicans declined to join his calls, Mr. Schumer demurred. Let me just say, its the right thing to do, he said. Throughout his news conference, the tone seemed telling, signaling Democrats reliance on at least some Republican support for their efforts: Absent were any taunting attacks on Republicans as have been common in the fight over Mr. Trumps cabinet selections replaced by earnest-sounding pleas for collaboration.
At the same time, other Democrats seethed over what they saw as a double standard at the F.B.I. before the election, when the Trump campaigns possible ties to Russia first received attention.
Last summer, James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, broke with protocol and tradition when he held a news conference to discuss the agencys decision not to bring criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for keeping classified information on a private email server. Then, days before the election, he informed Congress and by extension the public that the F.B.I. was investigating newly discovered emails related to that case.
When President Trump is ready to let the world know that he is disappointed with the intelligence community, the United States judiciary, individual journalists, department stores or whatever else lands on his radar, he uses Twitter to blast his targets.
It was only a matter of time until his supporters adopted his style.
I voted for you but youre still acting like a baby, one supporter from North Carolina wrote on Sunday, the same day Mr. Trump insulted the billionaire Mark Cuban by saying that he was not smart enough to run for president.
When are you going to act Presidential??? wrote another supporter in Arizona that day. Not every thought needs tweeting.
I voted for you but this is embarrassing, someone else wrote last week, responding to the presidents tweet attacking the department store Nordstrom.
Getting a positive mammogram result, then learning on follow-up that nothing is really wrong, is good news. But a false positive mammogram has a dangerous downside: It may reduce the likelihood that a woman returns for later screenings, increasing her risk for a late-stage cancer.
Researchers looked at 90,918 false positive and 650,232 true negative mammograms from 261,767 women.
After controlling for age, ethnicity, family history of cancer and other factors, they found that women with a true negative screen were 36 percent more likely to return within three years for another screening than those who had a false positive. When women with false positives did return, they delayed an average of nine months longer than those with true negatives. The study is in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Over four years of follow-up, women who had a false positive were significantly more likely to be given diagnoses of late-stage malignancy. The longer the delay in returning to screening, the greater the risk, though the absolute risk remained small.
Aerobic exercise, in particular, affects telomeres. In past studies, masters athletes have been shown to have longer telomeres in their white blood cells than sedentary people of the same chronological years, suggesting that at a cellular level, the athletes are more youthful.
But while it is easy to obtain and look inside white blood cells, far less has been known about telomeres within cardiac cells.
So for the new study, which was published this month in Experimental Physiology, the Maryland researchers and their colleagues turned to young, healthy female mice. (They chose females because they tend to run more readily than males.)
The researchers wished to see what happens inside heart muscle cells after a single workout. So they taught some of the animals how to run comfortably on small treadmills and then returned them to their cages for several days so that their bodies would lose any aerobic conditioning. Other mice remained sedentary as a control group.
Then the runners were placed back on the treadmills, where they ran at a tolerable intensity (in mouse terms) for 30 minutes, a workout designed to simulate moderate exercise in people.
Researchers took tissue samples of the animals hearts either immediately after they had finished running or an hour later, and also gathered samples from sedentary mice.
The scientists looked for changes within the animals cardiac cells in the levels of certain proteins that are known to directly prevent telomeres from shortening. They also looked at the activity of other genes that help to keep DNA in good repair. These genes release proteins that are thought to help cells adapt to the physiological stress of exercise and, in the process, also indirectly maintain telomere health.
A national minimum wage would be more meaningful in a big economy like South Africas, experts say, because the formal work force is much larger, around 80 percent of all workers. Millions of people would be eligible.
Still, South Africa, sub-Saharan Africas most advanced economy, is enduring the same forces as the rest of the continent. It is not growing fast enough to absorb its rapidly growing population, which is leaving rural areas to look for work in places like Khayelitsha, one of the countrys biggest townships with about 400,000 people.
There is added urgency for the government to act: The African National Congress, which helped liberate black South Africans from white-minority rule and has governed the country since 1994, is still stinging from losing most of the nations biggest cities in elections last July.
The party could once bank on loyal support from the nations black majority. But corruption and economic stagnation for millions of people have steadily eroded that support over the years, resulting in the partys worst showing in elections since the end of apartheid in 1994.
The frustrations are evident in Khayelitsha. It is roughly situated between two of South Africas richest areas: the city of Cape Town and the famed wine country of Stellenbosch. Established in 1983 by the apartheid government, Khayelitsha, which means new home in Xhosa, still provides many of the workers for both communities.
On weekday mornings, soon after daybreak, the men and women of Khayelitsha leave their neighborhoods and walk to the nearest train or bus station. For many, the commute a legacy of apartheid-era urban planning to separate white and black areas takes up to a couple of hours each way.
Three men have been arrested in the Dominican Republic after two radio journalists were fatally shot during a Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday, according to local news reports.
Gunmen opened fire while one journalist, Luis Manuel Medina of Milenio Caliente, was reading the news at the FM radio station 103.5 in a shopping center in San Pedro de Macoris, east of Santo Domingo, the capital.
In a video uploaded to YouTube, shots can be heard in the background as Mr. Medina keeps reading. A woman is heard yelling off camera: Shots! Shots! Shots!
The day after President Trumps inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets for the Womens March on Washington. Among them were Lu Pin and more than 20 other Chinese feminists who live in the United States and belong to the Chinese Feminism Collective, a new nongovernmental organization to support feminist activities that are facing sustained political pressure in China. Using a WeChat account, they sent reports from the Washington march back to China.
Ms. Lu, 45, a former journalist at the state-run China Womens News and founder of the influential online platform Womens Voices, had come to New York from Beijing on March 5, 2015, to attend a meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Back in China, over the following two days, five women who would become known as the Feminist Five Wang Man, Wei Tingting, Zheng Churan, Li Tingting and Wu Rongrong were detained as they planned a public awareness campaign about sexual harassment on public transportation.
Ms. Lu had worked closely with the women, and when she heard that the police had visited her Beijing apartment, she decided to stay in the United States.
She helped set up a Facebook page, Free Chinese Feminists. Its initial purpose was to publicize the case of the Feminist Five and enlist international support, but since the release of the five women, it has continued to be a place to share news and organize political action.
JAKARTA, Indonesia The Christian governor of the capital of Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation, has been fighting for his political life in an election campaign charged with religious and ethnic undertones. After voters went to the polls Wednesday, it appeared that he would have to fight a little longer.
Unofficial results from the balloting in Jakarta, the capital, indicated that the governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, held a small lead over his nearest challenger but was unlikely to win more than half of the vote. If the official results confirm that, a runoff will be held April 18.
Mr. Basuki, who is ethnic Chinese, has been hobbled by a criminal trial on a charge of blasphemy against Islam, in connection with remarks about a Quran verse that he made last year.
Mr. Basuki and his supporters say the court case, which was preceded by mass protests in the capital by Islamists demanding that he be prosecuted or even lynched, was orchestrated by political opponents to sabotage his election campaign. Analysts also saw the furor over Mr. Basukis remarks as an attempt to weaken President Joko Widodo, a key ally of the governor who is expected to seek a second term in 2019.
SEOUL, South Korea When North Korea held a state funeral for its leader, Kim Jong-il, in 2011, one son was conspicuously absent.
The absence of Kim Jong-nam the eldest son of the family, who was bound by Korean tradition to preside over the funeral was all the evidence outside analysts needed to see how isolated he had become from the center of power in North Korea, the worlds most secretive regime.
Never fully accepted by his family, sidelined by his powerful stepmother and haunted by fears of assassins, Mr. Kim lived much of his life wandering abroad, in Moscow, Geneva, Beijing, Paris and Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave.
On Monday, Mr. Kim, 45, met his end at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. According to the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, he was poisoned by two women who appeared to be carrying out an assassination order from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Mr. Kim died on his way to the hospital. Two women have been detained in connection with the killing.
CHIANG MAI, Thailand A former military officer in Myanmar is suspected of ordering the killing of a prominent human rights lawyer who was a top adviser to the countrys leader, the office of Myanmars civilian president announced on Wednesday.
The lawyer, U Ko Ni, one of the most prominent Muslims in the majority Buddhist country, was fatally shot at Yangon International Airport on Jan. 29 in what appears to have been a rare political assassination in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
When he was killed, Mr. Ko Ni, who was 65, was returning to Yangon, Myanmar, from a trip to Indonesia. He had been cradling his young grandson in his arms when he was shot in the head.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, the presidents office said that Aung Win Khine, 45, a retired lieutenant colonel, was suspected of paying 100 million kyat, or about $71,500, to the person who killed Mr. Ko Ni.
HONG KONG After Kim Jong-uns half brother, Kim Jong-nam, was killed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, South Korean officials were quick to blame the North Korean leader. It would not be the first time that someone who has fallen out of favor with Kim Jong-un has been targeted in either a purge or an outright execution. A South Korean think tank, the Institute for National Security Strategy, released a report recently saying that Mr. Kim had ordered the executions of 340 people since coming to power in 2011. Some who fall out of favor are not killed but are abruptly stripped of power.
Ri Yong-ho, purged in 2012
As Mr. Kim consolidated his rule, he signaled that none of his top officials were safe by purging Mr. Ri, his army chief and trusted mentor, with the state news media saying Mr. Ri had left his posts because of illness.
Jang Song-thaek, executed in 2013
In late 2013, Mr. Jang, who was Mr. Kims uncle and the countrys second-most powerful official, was taken to witness the execution of his deputies, who were torn apart by antiaircraft machine guns before their bodies were incinerated with flamethrowers. He was said to have fainted during the ordeal. After he was convicted of treason, he was executed at the same place and in the same way as his deputies, South Koreas intelligence agency said.
The cruelties inside the police state, often reported by defectors, led to news reports speculating that the North Korean leader may have had his uncle torn apart by ravenous dogs. (We got to the bottom of that tale here.)
But the case wont go away. Last week, The Irish Examiner and the public broadcaster RTEs Prime Time program reported that Irelands child protection agency had created a file on Sergeant McCabe containing a false accusation of child sexual abuse a mistake that the agency has attributed to what it called a clerical error. The news organizations also reported that this wasnt the first time Sergeant McCabe had been wrongly accused of such a crime; an earlier complaint against him had been made, in 2006, and dismissed.
The disclosure that a whistle-blower could face such accusations in apparent retaliation has raised unsettling questions about Irelands culture of policing and the possible collusion of other agencies, including the child protection agency.
The case has affected the highest levels of the Irish government, bedeviling Mr. Kenny. He has been attacked by critics who charge that he missed opportunities to resolve the mess in 2014, and supported the police chief at the time and his justice minister for too long.
Mr. Kenny failed at first to give a complete account of when he learned of the false abuse allegations, and has insisted that he knew nothing of a broader smear campaign an assertion that his critics in Parliament have contested.
There were heated exchanges between Mr. Kenny and Gerry Adams, the leader of the opposition Sinn Fein party. At one point, Mr. Kenny called Mr. Adams an absolute hypocrite and attacked him for playing down, years earlier, the case of a former Sinn Fein member who said she was sexually abused by IRA members a charge that Mr. Adams denies.
For decades, the United States has exhorted its allies to put more money into their military budgets, arguing that if the alliance is called on to defend a member country, the United States would have to shoulder too much of the load. But European governments have different priorities when it comes to military spending than the United States. Iceland, for instance, has no military. And Germany, which since the end of World War II has rejected military force outside self-defense, spends only 1.2 percent of its G.D.P. on the military.
European Union budgetary rules also constrain some NATO countries from increasing their budget deficits.
Martin Stropnicky, the Czech Republics defense minister, said in an interview that Mr. Mattiss speech was not a surprise, and he did not view it as a threat. He was absolutely calm and humble and modest, Mr. Stropnicky said, adding that his government had increased its military spending. But the Czech Republic still spends just over 1 percent of its G.D.P. on its military, according to NATO.
Mr. Trump is expected to visit NATO headquarters in May when the alliance holds its leaders summit meeting.
This meeting in Brussels was a tough European debut for the Trump administration, as Mr. Mattis also sought to convince NATO allies that the United States still values the alliance despite the presidents persistent critiques.
The latest disclosures, that members of Mr. Trumps 2016 campaign and other confidants had communicated with Russia intelligence officers, and the resignation of Mr. Trumps national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, for misleading statements about his telephone conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak, raised allies anxiety.
Privately and publicly, a number of top NATO officials expressed concern about Russian meddling in elections in Europe and the United States. And they hung on Mr. Mattiss every word on Wednesday, listening for clues to understand what the complex entanglements between Trump administration officials and Russian intelligence officers might mean for the trans-Atlantic alliance as it tries to confront a menacing and more aggressive Moscow.
It is clear that people who are called as being part of his entourage, for the most part, are known to us, Mr. Rybakov said at the time. These are people who were always on display, who occupied important posts.
He continued, I wouldnt say that all of them, but quite a few of them, were in touch with the Russian representatives.
Mr. Flynn resigned as national security adviser Monday night after revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his Russia contacts.
In particular, the talks involved new sanctions that the Obama administration had imposed in retaliation for Russian meddling in the election. Trump administration officials, based on incomplete information from Mr. Flynn, had denied that the sanctions were discussed. (Mr. Peskov told journalists on Friday that some conversations between Mr. Flynn and Mr. Kislyak took place, but he did not provide details.)
What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process.
Mr. Peskov did not directly dispute the Times article or a CNN article that found that high-level advisers close to then-presidential nominee Donald Trump were in constant communication during the campaign with Russians known to U.S. intelligence but he suggested that the truth was hard to discern.
Lets not trust newspaper articles, because it is very difficult to differentiate between what is true and what is fake, Mr. Peskov was quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax as saying. There are references to five sources, but not a single is named.
The Times quoted four current or former intelligence officials, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information is classified.
LONDON Even as he was preparing for the biggest struggle of his life, leading Britain in its fight against Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill had something else on his mind: extraterrestrials.
In a newly unearthed essay sent to his publisher on Oct. 16, 1939 just weeks after Britain entered World War II and Churchill became part of the wartime cabinet and later revised, he was pondering the likelihood of life on other planets.
Churchill, who went on to become prime minister during much of World War II and again from 1951 to 1955, was so enthralled by the subject that he even ordered a suspected sighting of an unidentified flying object by the Royal Air Force to be kept a secret for 50 years to avoid mass panic.
In an 11-page essay titled Are We Alone in the Universe? the statesman showed powers of reason like a scientist, said Mario Livio, an astrophysicist who read the rarely seen draft and wrote about it in an article published on Wednesday in Nature magazine.
WASHINGTON President Trump jettisoned two decades of diplomatic orthodoxy on Wednesday by declaring that the United States would no longer insist on the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for the first time since becoming president, Mr. Trump promised a concerted effort to bring the two sides together, suggesting a regional effort involving an array of Arab nations. But he said that he was flexible about how an agreement would look and that he would not be bound by past assumptions.
Im looking at two-state and one-state formulations, Mr. Trump said during a White House news conference with Mr. Netanyahu. I like the one that both parties like. Im very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.
At the same time, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Netanyahu to temporarily stop new housing construction in the West Bank while he pursues a deal, echoing a position past presidents have taken. Id like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit, he told Mr. Netanyahu.
WASHINGTON The White House may be in chaos. But at least Congress is addressing the issue Americans care about most: making it easier for the finance industry to rip them off.
Last week, Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, circulated an outline of his latest plan to repeal Dodd-Frank. This law, you may recall, was put in place after the financial crisis to reduce our chances of having another one.
The law isnt perfect, but it did have at least one crucial, mostly popular component: It created an agency dedicated solely to helping consumers fight back when financial institutions cheat or mislead them.
This agency is called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It oversees large banks, thrifts and credit unions, along with lots of companies in the nonbank universe, such as mortgage brokers and servicers, payday lenders, debt collectors, private student lenders and credit bureaus.
While the CFPB may not have the same name recognition as, say, the Federal Reserve, many of its actions have generated big headlines.
Remember when Wells Fargo got caught creating millions of fake customer accounts? The bureau helped lead that investigation, which resulted in a $185 million settlement.
The bureau has also, among other things, sued pension-advance companies that fleece veterans, and it ordered the firms that left low-income users of prepaid RushCards unable to access their own money to pay $13 million in restitution and fines.
In its five years of existence, the bureau says it has recovered $11.7 billion for more than 27 million consumers.
The financial industry, understandably, is not super keen on this independent federal agency. And neither is Hensarling, who just coincidentally? has received generous campaign contributions from the finance industry.
Hensarlings leaked memo lays out updates to legislation he introduced last year (which, among other things, required that CFPB employees be paid less than their counterparts at other federal financial regulatory agencies).
Under the Orwellian section heading Empowering Americans to Achieve Financial Independence, the memo explains how Hensarling intends to further disempower this agency and by extension, American consumers.
For instance, the CFPB director would become an at-will political appointee. This means that unlike the officials who run the Fed, Federal Trade Commission or Securities and Exchange Commission the CFPB director could be fired without cause. The bureau would cease to be an independent agency and could be pressured at any time to drop investigations of, say, friends of the president.
According to the memo, Hensarling also plans to repeal the CFPBs supervisory powers. This is a fancy way of saying the bureau would no longer have the right to kick the tires and look under the hood that is, to regularly examine whats going on inside the institutions it regulates to make sure theyre following the law.
Even more disturbing, the bureau would no longer be allowed to punish firms that cheat their customers.
Yes, you heard that right. No more fines and no more penalties. Its not even clear from Hensarlings memo that the bureau could force firms to return any money theyve already pinched from consumers.
In such a world, why not grab as much as you can?
We dont know exactly how the bullet points in this memo will get translated into legislation. (A spokeswoman for the House Financial Services Committee declined to comment on the memo.) But it seems likely that consumer protections would wind up even weaker than they were before the crisis.
Thats because Dodd-Frank took the authority to enforce some consumer protection laws away from other regulators and gave them to the newly formed CFPB. Assuming those authorities arent being re-delegated to these other agencies and the memo does not indicate that will happen theyll remain with a bureau thats essentially powerless to enforce them.
Of course, many of these policy changes make sense if your worldview is that government should stay out of private transactions because consumers are smart enough to fend for themselves. Which brings me to the weirdest and least defensible parts of Hensarlings plan: an effort to make consumers dumber.
Hensarlings memo also eliminates the CFPBs research functions, its public database of consumer complaints (so much for transparency) and even its consumer education functions. Right now, the bureau publishes educational materials on its website and partners with libraries, veterans groups and other community organizations.
Its hard to imagine what legitimate public interest lies in killing efforts to promote financial literacy. But in the con-man economy, maybe public interest is no longer a consideration.
A large, upright stone on a terraced hillside on the edge of the settlement is revered as the one that Jacob slept on, then anointed with oil, after God appeared in the dream and promised all the land around to him and his progeny.
Archaeological excavations in the area have found signs of ancient life. The Palestinian village of Beitin sits on a nearby hill.
Mr. Netanyahu has said in the past that he would not evacuate Beit El under any agreement with the Palestinians, even though it lies outside the major settlement blocs that Israeli leaders have more generally insisted on keeping.
Founded in 1977 on private Palestinian land originally seized by Israel for military purposes, the settlement was later approved by the Israeli courts under the rubric of general security. Now it is home to about 6,500 people who mostly live in modest, low-rise two- or four-family buildings. There are plans in the pipeline for at least 300 new apartments in eight-story buildings to be constructed on a rise by the entrance to the settlement.
But the yeshiva complex has so far proven to be Beit Els main engine of growth.
Considered a prime institution of religious Zionism, the yeshiva is headed by Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, a hard-liner who has denounced homosexuality as a perversion and a severe mental illness and has ruled that it is forbidden for soldiers or police to participate in the evacuation of settlements.
GAZA CITY Palestinians reacted with anger and bafflement on Wednesday after the Trump administration apparently backed away from insisting that having two states one for Israelis, one for Palestinians was the only viable solution to the decades-long Middle East conflict.
Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestinians, raised the specter of apartheid and called for concrete measures in order to save the two-state solution.
A White House official, in remarks to reporters on the eve of President Trumps meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday, said the Trump administration would not push the two-state solution, an apparent retreat from decades of American policy.
In his news conference with Mr. Netanyahu in Washington on Wednesday, Mr. Trump directly broke with diplomatic tradition on the issue by saying his concern was the deal, not whether that included a state for Palestinians.
Its beginning to look a lot like August 2009 in reverse.
In that summer of the Tea Party, conservative activists packed the town-hall meetings of Democratic congressmen and peppered them with hostile questions. It was an early sign of the abiding opposition that Obamacare would encounter, and the prelude to Democratic defeats in 2010, 2014 and 2016.
Now, progressive activists are tearing a page from that playbook. The scenes are highly reminiscent of 2009, with Republican officeholders struggling to control unruly forums and leaving their town-hall meetings early or not holding them in the first place.
The partisan temptation in this circumstance is always to dismiss the passion of the other side, which is what Democrats did to their detriment in 2009 and Republicans are doing now.
Its not often that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sounds like his Obama predecessor Robert Gibbs, but on this, he might as well be reading leftover talking points. Gibbs dismissed the Tea Party town-hall agitation eight years ago as manufactured anger reflecting the Astro-turf nature of grassroots lobbying. Spicer says of the town-hall protests, Its not these organic uprisings that weve seen through the last several decades the Tea Party was a very organic movement this has become a very paid, Astro-turf-type movement.
What was true in 2009 is true today: In the normal course of things, its not easy even for a well-funded and -organized group to get people to spend an evening at a school auditorium hooting at their congressman. If these demonstrations are happening in districts around the country, attention must be paid.
This is not to condone the more rancid elements of the Lefts ferment (blocking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from entering a Washington, D.C., school was petty thuggishness), nor is it to consider what is happening as nearly as significant as the Tea Party yet.
To become the Lefts equivalent of the Tea Party, the protesters will have to persist despite the inevitable legislative defeats on the horizon; organize at the grass-roots level; play in Democratic primaries; make their own partys establishment miserable; and pick off a significant Republican seat in what seems like impossible territory the way Scott Brown did in the Massachusetts special election after the death of Ted Kennedy.
None of this is certain, or necessarily likely. But Democrats deluded themselves in 2009 by disregarding the early signs of fierce resistance to their agenda, and paid the price over and over again for their heedless high-handedness. Republicans shouldnt make the same mistake.
There is nothing to suggest that the Lefts town-hall protesters represent anything like a majority of the country. Even an impassioned plurality can make a big impact, though. And if we have learned anything from the Obamacare debate, it is that disturbing the status quo in American health care carries significant downside political risk. Democrats were in that position in 2009; Republicans are now.
The GOP cant and shouldnt back off their promise to repeal Obamacare. But the party should re-double its commitment to do as much as it can to replace the law simultaneously with its repeal. At the prodding of President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans have been moving in this direction. It behooves the party as a policy and political matter to show that its legislation wont lead to millions of people losing their insurance and wont return to the pre-Obamacare status quo for people with pre-existing conditions.
With a consensus on replacement, Republicans would be much better equipped to push back at contentious town halls, and to potentially defuse at least some of the fear and anger engendered by their health-care agenda. The alternative is to look the other way, avoid town halls, and hope that after the repeal passes everything calms down. This was essentially the Democratic tack in 2009, and how did that work out?
F.B.I. agents interview Mr. Flynn about his conversations with Mr. Kislyak. He says he did not ask Mr. Kislyak to refrain from responding to the sanctions. He also says he did not remember the conversation in which Mr. Kislyak said Russia moderated its response as a result of Mr. Flynns request.
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When Stephen Miller spoke to the Sunday shows on Feb. 12, he astounded the DC press with his full-throated defense of President Donald Trumps Muslim ban. The Presidents national security decisions will not be questioned, Miller said.
Millers comments were over the top. Yet, they shouldnt have been a surprise to anyone interviewing him. Even a cursory overview of Millers background would have revealed an article from a week and a half earlier detailing his connections with far-right, fascistic groups. Miller even has a connection with white supremacist guru Richard Spencer.
That Miller was not asked about these ties is unfortunate, but not surprising. Trump administration officials and spokespeople have been allowed to appear on media outlets across the country for almost a month without being substantively challenged on the administrations closeness to the white nationalist movement. That must change. Now.
More of Millers past was quickly dredged up after his disastrous appearances on Meet the Press, This Week, Fox News Sunday, and Face the Nation. In addition to Millers ties to Spencer, who isagain!an open and proud white supremacist, the White House Senior Advisor has a history of racial hatred.
In high school in Santa Monica, Millers views on his Hispanic classmates were well known. He wrote a letter to the Santa Monica Lookout in 2001 in which he made his antipathy to the population clear.
There are usually very few, if any, Hispanic students in my honors classes, despite the large number of Hispanic students that attend our school.
Fernando Peinado reported on Feb. 13 for Univision that in college, Miller was associated to radicals like Richard Spencer, creator of the term Alt-Right (although Miller has distanced himself from Spencer), anti-immigration activist David Horowitz and white nationalist Jared Taylor.
After college, Miller worked as an aide in then-Senator and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions office as Communications Director (he also worked in Michele Bachmanns office). He joined the Trump campaign in January 2016. Both men have histories of racist remarks.
Yet all of the above reportingas solid and informative as it isshould not have taken this long. Miller appeared frequently as a warm-up for Trumps rallies, unleashing his views on Islam and immigration on the crowds. Miller wrote many of Trumps most explosive and controversial speeches. He was well known and he should have been thoroughly vetted by the press, especially when he joined the White House. And when he appeared on the Sunday shows last weekend, he should have at the very least, been asked directly about his connections with Spencerwhich was first reported on all the way back in December and as recently as Feb. 1.
Of course, if it were only Miller this wouldnt be such a big deal. Sure, the young advisor would be at the center of a controversy and would be forced out of power, but if it were only Miller that would be the end of it. But of course it isnt.
The Trump administrations ties to white nationalists are deep. Its not only Miller. Its also Presidential Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Sessions, and the president himself. Those ties need to be addressed every time any one of these men or their representatives appear in the media.
Bannons ties with white supremacist movements is well known. The former executive of white nationalist website Breitbart believes that the world is in the fourth turning, a generational shift in which a great war between civilizations will reset the world. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer should be asked about Bannons views during every single press conference.
Sessions has a long history of racist statements and an affinity for hate groupshe famously said the KKK were alright with him until he discovered they smoked pot. He relies on far right European hate groups for information on immigration and refugees. He is in charge of civil rights law enforcement in the United States. No public appearance by this man should go by without questions on his racist views.
The Presidents father was involved with the KKK. His son, Donald Jr., has a history of sharing racist memes online decrying white genocide and the infiltration of non-whites into western nations. The President is never asked about these family connections to racial hatred. He must be. Every day.
And theres more of course. The White Houses statement to remember the Holocaust didnt mention the six million Jews who comprised the majority of the 11 million victims.
THEN WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST MENTION JEWS AS WELL AS THE OTHER VICTIMIZED GROUPS https://t.co/hxUfZXP9xK benny ? ??? (@bennykoval) January 29, 2017
Sebastian Gorka, a Deputy Assistant to Trump, has been spotted wearing a pin associated with Nazi collaborators from Hungary. Gorka has denied that his wearing of the Order of Vitek pin is associated with Nazismthough only indirectly and through Breitbart. And Kellyanne Conway, who has the ability to spin any bad news into a non sequitur, retweeted a white supremacist on Valentine's Day. All of these issues need to be addressed. Every. Day.
As Twitter user @_sunfloweremoji pointed out, the lack of combativeness in the US news media is symptomatic of the profession's recent technocratic impotence.
But that's the whole point! You HAVE to know how to be combative! You have to know how to challenge someone on their bullshit! a russian spy (@_sunfloweremoji) February 15, 2017
Were in uncharted territory today, and the way that the news media covers power in America needs to change. Permanently. We cannot allow the Trump administration to be the exception that proves the rulerather, this administration must be the turning point for the US media, when reporters stopped overlooking the ideological underpinnings for policy and power and started asking the difficult questions.
You can reach Eoin Higgins on Facebook and Twitter.
In our modern-day society, its hard to believe that child slavery still exists, and furthermore, that many people unintentionally help perpetuate this archaic and inhumane practice. Im certainly a culprit, along with anyone else whos indulged in a Hersheys bar or a gold foil-wrapped Ferrero Rocher chocolate in their lifetime.
The two biggest producers in the worldIvory Coast and Ghanaaccount for roughly 60-70 percent of the global cocoa supply. According to Tulane Universitys 2013/2014 survey of child labor in this area, over 2.3 million children were working in cocoa production and 2 million children were involved in hazardous work in cocoa production in Cote dIvoire and Ghana combined. Even more troubling is the fact that the total number of children subject to child labor saw a 21 percent increase over the previous survey from five years earlier. As of 2015, over 90 percent of the estimated 2.3 million children working in Ghana on the cocoa plantations are working as slaves.
In 2002, a chilling documentary titled Slavery: A Global Investigation, brought national attention to the chocolate industrys usage of child slaves, igniting outrage among consumers and activists alike. From routine beatings to inhumane living conditions, the film offers a rare look into the lives of former child slaves on the Ivory Coast.
After in-depth investigations on the conditions of child workers, the news made its way to Congress, which led to legislation asking the Federal Drug Administration to introduce slave-free labeling for chocolate products sold in the United States. However, just before the bill made it to a vote, the chocolate industryHershey, Nestle, and Mars includedmade a promise to self-regulate and implement voluntary standards to ensure chocolate produced without the worst forms of child labor, (defined according to the International Labor Organizations Convention) by July 2005. This agreement, known as the Engel-Harkin Protocol, was signed in September 2001.
Heres the real kicker: the chocolate industry has yet to make any significant strides to end child slavery, and the problem has arguably gotten worse. While the future of the chocolate industrys commitment to producing slave-free chocolate may seem bleak, there is hope. Amsterdam-based Tonys Chocolonely is on a mission to change the industry by making 100 percent slave-free the norm in the chocolate industry.
Photo by Tonys Chocolonely
Upon discovering that the worlds largest chocolate companies were buying cocoa from plantations using child slavery, Dutch journalist Teun van de Keuken (Tony) decided to take matters into his own hands. After eating 12 chocolate bars, he subsequently turned himself into the police as a chocolate criminal, citing that he had bought illegally manufactured chocolate products. After pushback from the courts and other key players in the industry, he sought out four boys who had worked as slaves on a cocoa farm in Ivory Coast to testify against him. Though Tony never got convicted, Tonys Chocolonely brand was born, and in 2005 the first 5,000 Fairtrade, 100 percent slave-free chocolate bars were produced.
When you unwrap the chunky six-ounce bars, you immediately notice something unique: an unequally divided slab of chocolate illustrating the inequality in the chocolate industry. With bright red wrapping bringing attention to Teuns (Tonys) lonely (Chocolonely) mission, this brand grew to be the largest Dutch chocolate company in less than ten years and recently entered the U.S. with the launch of their chocolate in Portland, Ore. in fall 2016.
Photo by Tonys Chocolonely
Despite being a chocolate company founded as a tool in the march towards slave-free chocolate, it has been met with widespread demand. It is proving that there is a way for large chocolate manufacturers to source ethicalslave-freecocoa, and run a commercially successful business. Tonys Chocolonley plans to build distribution across the U.S. further and expects to be available through distributors in all states by April.
As far as we know, we are the only company that uses fully traceable beans from Ghana and Ivory Coast, Explained Maudi Admiraal, Tonys Chocolonelys American Brand Builder, in response to the difficulties of producing slave-free chocolate bars. Most of the initiatives from other companies invest in programs that improve the productivity of farmers, but these farmers do not necessarily deliver beans to the companies that finance these programs. We think traceability is a very importantif not the most importantstep because it makes the company directly responsible for the farmers and their families. If you dont know who you buy your beans from, it becomes a black box instead of real people youre doing business with, which makes it more likely to feel less responsible for that part of the supply chain.
Tonys strives for a completely transparent and traceable bean-to-bar process through direct, long-term relationships with cocoa farmers and other supply chain partners. This is no easy feat. In addition to agreeing to better prices for the farmers and providing business and agricultural training to increase productivity on the cocoa farms, one percent of Tonys Chocolonely net revenue is donated to its Chocolonely Foundationsupporting projects to eradicate slavery in the cocoa chain.
One of the most difficult parts is to explain all that we do to consumers and to create awareness about the issues in the chocolate industry, while at the same time being a chocolate maker that wants to make incredibly tasty chocolate, said Admiraal. We do not claim to be 100 percent slave-free because we simply cannot guarantee that slavery does not happen at all at the plantations where we source our cacao from. That being said, we do everything within our power to make sure that theres no slavery involved our goal goes further than just our own chocolate; we want to make the whole chocolate industry slave-free.
Tonys takes pride in disrupting the industry and standing up for the less fortunate. First, we create awareness around the problem of inequality and slavery in the chocolate industry. Second, we lead by example and show that it is possible to make chocolate differently, continued Admiraal in regards to ways to positively influence larger companies like Hershey or Nestle to end using child slaves. And last but not least, we want to inspire other chocolate companies (like Nestle and Hershey) to take action, and we are actively looking for partners to follow our model.
Consumers must be knowledgeable of which companies use slaves and which ones dont. Though certification can help to make better choices, it doesnt provide any additional action or investment. Moreover, its not a guarantee against child labor, nor does it ensure that farmers will escape poverty. Its an accomplishment to be proud of, but its not the end goal, adds Admiraal. It does contribute to better conditions for farmers, but in addition to certification, a lot more has to happen. Companies need to accept accountability and not hide behind excuses and/or their certification.
Whelp: its looking more and more like the Trump campaign had repeated contact with Russia throughout the election.
An explosive new report in the New York Times claims that phone records and intercepted calls show members of Trumps 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the 12 months before the election, according to four current and former American officials.
And CNN reports that multiple current and former intelligence, law enforcement and administration officials claim that high-level advisors in Trumps team were in constant contact with Russians throughout the campaign.
It comes one day after National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigned amid controversy around his communication with Russia during the transition period before Trump was sworn in, leaving him open to blackmail.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer this afternoon denied that anyone including General Flynn had contact with Russia during the Trump campaign.
Sean Spicer TODAY: Nobody on the Trump campaign had contact with Russia before the election. pic.twitter.com/cXhpI3S5y0 Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 15, 2017
My understanding is that what General Flynn has now expressed is that during the transition period well, we were very clear that during the transition period, he did speak with the ambassador he began.
Im talking about the campaign, interrupted ABC News Jonathan Karl, who asked Spicer to clarify in the first place.
I dont have any theres nothing that would conclude me that anything different has changed with respect to that time period, Spicer replied.
Former Attorney-General Sally Yates had warned the administration a month ago that Flynn was susceptible to blackmail thanks to his communication with Russia yknow, before she was fired for opposing Trumps Muslim ban.
However, this only came to light per a Washington Post report earlier this week, meaning there is a possibility the White House comprised the security of the United States by not taking action.
Its prompted both Democrats and Republicans alike to demand answers .
I would think that we should talk to General Flynn very soon and that should answer a lot of questions, Republican Senator Roy Blunt told KTRS radio. What did he know? What did he do? And is there any reason to believe that anybody knew that and didnt take the kind of action they should have taken?
When did @WhiteHouse know that Flynn lied? What other contacts with Russia occurred during the campaign? Who knew what? Who approved what? Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
Congress must pull its head out of the sand and launch a real, bipartisan, transparent inquiry into Russia. Our natl security is at stake. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
Photo: Getty Pool.
Playground Winter Festival: Le Floch Wins Second Title
February 15, 2017 Anthony Charter
France's Nicolas Le Floch is having a great trip in Montreal.
Just days ago, Le Floch lifted a Playground Winter Festival Champions trophy for topping the field in the Omaha event. Le Floch, who won a package to the WPT Playground Main Event online through partypoker, then made a deep run in the WPT event, finishing in 29th. A day later, Le Floch captured the Winter Festival Second Chance title, bringing his total earnings at Playground this week to $62,355.
Day 2 of Event #13: $1,650 NL Holdem Second Chance resumed on Tuesday with 21 players left in the mix, just seven away from the money. Le Floch began the day among the leaders in a field that also included Daniel Dvoress, multiple Playground trophy winner Shawn Daigle, Thomas Lefort, Danny Le and chip leader Chad Coombs.
Play quickly moved down to the final two tables. Soon after, Le Floch busted the bubble by eliminating Scott Diver in 15th place. Lefort, Martin Szlavy and Matthew Wantman found the exit before Dvoress hit the rail, setting the final table.
Final Table Results:
*Place Name Prize 1 Nicolas Le Floch $47,140 2 Shawn Daigle $29,130 3 Alexandre Lavigne $17,440 4 Jeremy Lyons $11,390 5 Chad Coombs $8,790 6 Michael Garry Aron $7,220 7 Stephane Fournier $6,120 8 Lonnie Hallett $5,340 9 Daniel Le $4,710 10 Yann Prevost-Dumont $4,160
Daigle and Le Floch picked away at the field and Alexandre Lavigne scored a few knockouts. With the final three set, Lavigne and Le Floch tangled in a pot that would see the former hit the rail. Lavigne shoved preflop with pocket fours, racing against the ace-ten of Le Floch. An ace landed on the river and Lavignes day was done.
Le Floch had more than a 2-1 chip lead on Daigle when heads-up play began. Interestingly enough, according to the Playground live blog, Le Flochs heads-up opponent in his Omaha win, Andre Markovinovic, is a roommate of Daigles.
The two battled for the better part of three levels without much change in the chip counts before Le Floch was able to seal the deal. In a pot where both players hit the flop, the money went in on the turn with Daigle having ace-five and Le Floch holding ace-nine on an eight-ace-nine-seven board. Daigle needed a six to stay alive but the river bricked and Le Floch earned his second title of the Winter Festival.
The penultimate event of the Winter Festival got underway Tuesday evening. Event #15: $550 NL Holdem 6-Max attracted a field of 100 players. Bill Kontaratos took down the event and put himself on top of the Playground festival all-time cashes list.
Bill Kontaratos
Kontaratos made several deep runs this festival including a runner-up finish in Event #11 three days ago. Early Wednesday morning, Kontaratos busted his final opponent to claim the champions trophy and bank a score of $12,050.
Final Table Payouts:
*Place Name Prize 1 Bill Kontaratos $12,050 2 Patrick St-Onge $9,170 3 Charles La Boissonniere $7,000 4 Raphael Bernard $5,350 5 Alexander Mackenzie Fitzgerald $4,090 6 Patrick Braga $3,120
Kontaratos victory was no easy task given the field he topped en route. Jonathan Bussieries, Brian Morgan, David Valcourt-Dube, Rodney Ramalho, Michael Malm, Laurence Grondin and Ruben Perceval all took their shot but faded out before the money.
Just 12 players earned a cash in the event. Once Shu Pui Philip Tse fell in 13th place, the remaining players locked up a min-cash and play quickly accelerated to a final table. Raphael Bernard held the chip lead when the final table commenced but Kontaratos would score the first elimination.
Patrick Braga put his tournament life on the line with ace-queen and Kontaratos put him at risk, calling with pocket fives. Kontaratos won the race and Praga fell in sixth. Then Bernard took his turn at shortening the table. Bernard scored a cooler to send Alex Fitzgerald to the rail with both men turning a full house; Bernard had the best of it.
With just a 12 big blind average, play moved along quite quickly for the final four as Bernard and Charles La Boissonniere succumbed to the stack of Kontaratos. Patrick St-Onge was able to battle back from a chip deficit to even out the playing field.
Patrick St-Onge
With both players relatively short-stacked, they each picked up an ace preflop and the chips went into the middle. Kontaratos had St-Onge outkicked with his ace-queen to St-Onges ace-six. Though St-Onge picked up some extra outs on the turn, Kontaratoss kicker played and the victory was his.
With the WPT Playground Main Event finishing a day early, just a single lone event is on the schedule for Wednesday. The final event of the series, Event #16: $330 NL Holdem 8-Max Bounty, kicks off at 7 p.m. and boasts a guarantee of $35,000.
The Playground Winter Festival runs through Feb. 15 and PokerNews will bring you daily updates of all the happenings throughout the festival. For full coverage and details check out the Playground event blog here.
Sharelines The river bricked, ending Shawn Daigle's run. Nicolas Le Floch won the Second Chance event.
Poker & Pop Culture: Bluffing With Bombs During the Cold War
February 15, 2017 Martin Harris
Many poker players like to say how poker is more than just a game, it's a way of life. Even so, a lot of them probably wouldn't think to claim that poker might have had something to do with life continuing to exist on this planet.
Several years ago, shortly after the publication of James McManus's excellent history of poker, Cowboys Full (2009), I spoke with him about the book. Among the many topics we addressed was the argument his book persuasively puts forth that poker is, in fact, more than "just a game."
When I asked McManus about that, he referenced the significant role poker played during the Cold War when prolonged tension between the United States and the Soviet Union saw each side continuing to develop and build up nuclear arsenals capable of destroying civilization many times over.
"If nuclear stand-offs are resolved by one nuclear-armed leader bluffing another, and the logic of his advisors is based on game theory which is itself based on poker... there's absolutely no way you can think of poker as just a game," McManus explained.
"It has ramifications that go infinitely beyond what happens on the felt with the chips and the money," he continued. "There are tens of millions of lives at stake, and how that drama plays out and crisis is averted occurs as the result of the same logic and psychology that poker players use. And we use the same language 'bluff,' 'laydown,' and so on to describe both activities. So that, to me, is a knock-down argument for the idea that poker is not just a game."
Let's back up a little to look at the sequence of connections McManus was alluding to the ones linking poker, game theory and high-stakes negotiations during the Cold War and think a little further about this notion that poker (perhaps) might have already saved us all.
Poker and Game Theory
When McManus referred to advisors drawing on game theory in their recommendations to leaders, he was specifically alluding to Oskar Morgenstern, the German-born economist and mathematician who emigrated to the U.S. during the 1930s and would later serve as an advisor to President Dwight D. Eisenhower during the 1950s.
Morgenstern had been living and working as a professor in Vienna, and in fact it was during a visit to the United States in 1938 that Adolf Hitler took over Austria, prompting Morgenstern to remain in America where he'd eventually join the faculty at Princeton University.
At Princeton, Morgenstern would meet another academic emigre, the Hungarian-born mathematician John von Neumann. Back in 1928, von Neumann had published a study in German titled "Zur Theorie der Gesellschafsspiele" or "On the Theory of Parlor Games." Even before meeting von Neumann, his article had been recommended to Morgenstern thanks to the pair's overlapping interests. As the war played out, the pair would subsequently collaborate on a book-length study titled Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944).
The book became a landmark publication, often heralded as having helped establish game theory as a new and distinct scientific discipline. A chapter in the book titled "Poker and Bluffing," based in part on von Neumann's earlier article, helps demonstrate how the study of poker strategy played a role in the development of game theory.
In that chapter, heads-up stud poker is analyzed as one of several "zero-sum two-person games." The authors examine such games as possible models for other, similar kinds of decision-making made in situations where two rational entities oppose one another situations that come up, say, in social contexts or in political conflicts or in financial transactions...
Or in war.
You M.A.D., Bro?
Von Neumann also did some advising of presidents. During the war he'd been part of the Manhattan Project that had produced the atomic bombs used in Japan at the conclusion of the war, and was among those advising President Harry Truman about their usage and the choice of targets. In fact, while Morgenstern was later advising Eisenhower, von Neumann was there also providing guidance while serving as the chair of a top secret Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Committee before his death in 1957.
Not long after WWII ended the Cold War began, marked at the start by Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946 a speech that followed a poker game and Joseph Stalin's denunciation in response.
During the years that followed the idea of using mathematical models (including some derived from zero-sum games like poker) to describe various types of military conflict began to gain increasing influence. Thinkers like von Neumann Morgenstern were called upon by leaders like Eisenhower to share their knowledge.
One idea credited to von Neumann that often gets highlighted in discussions of these high-stakes Cold War "games" is the one popularly known as "mutual assured destruction" sometimes referred to by its darkly humorous acronym "M.A.D."
The theory was introduced to explain the behavior of two sides engaged in a type of conflict where neither can win without both losing so badly they cannot "play" again. An exchange of nuclear weapons between the two superpowers exemplified such a situation, where neither side could feasibly win in any real sense as both would be utterly destroyed should the "game" begin at all.
Should both sides recognize the reality of the situation (a key component of the theory), both would necessarily avoid engaging in such a conflict like a poker player tossing a hand away in a spot where the risk is too great to justify seeking any reward.
Americans Play Poker, Russians Play Chess
Moving into the 1960s and the start of John F. Kennedy's presidency, the Cold War continued to dominate headlines and op-ed pages.
On February 5, 1961 just a couple of weeks into JFK's tenure at the top Morgenstern wrote an article for The New York Times titled "The Cold War Is Cold Poker" that specifically highlighted the parallel between poker strategy and ongoing diplomatic conflict between America and the Soviet Union.
"The cold war is sometimes compared to a giant chess game between ourselves and the Soviet Union, and Russia's disturbingly frequent successes are sometimes attributed to the national preoccupation with chess," Morgenstern began. "The analogy, however, is quite false, for while chess is a formidable game of almost unbelievable complexity, it lacks salient features of the political and military struggles with which it is compared."
Morgenstern argued that since "chess is the Russian national pastime and poker is ours, we ought to be more skillful than they in applying its precepts to the cold-war struggle." Alas (in his view) that had not been the case by early 1961. Thus did he proceed explicitly to argue in favor of the country's leaders becoming more studious about poker strategy, particularly highlighting the need to learn how bluff effectively (and responsibly) and to learn how to recognize the Soviets' bluffs, too.
"The problem of how, on the one hand, to make a threat effective and, on the other, to recognize a genuine threat by your opponent is one of the most fundamental of the day," Morgenstern maintained.
It was an influential argument. By his later actions, Kennedy would get variously credited with having reaffirmed the "we play poker, they play chess" idea, further underscoring both cultural differences and the contrasting strategic approaches of the two superpowers toward each other. And further promoting the "poker provides a better approach" argument as well.
However, not everyone was agreeing with the view that poker was necessarily a better source of Cold War strategy for the U.S. than was chess. A letter to the NYT by Louis Wiznitzer dated three weeks later responded to Morgenstern's article by saying its pro-poker position "sums up pretty much the essential reasons why the United States has been steadily losing the cold war in the last twelve years."
"Whereas the Communists are waging a game of chess, with moves as scientifically planned as possible," noted Wiznitzer, "the Americans are improvising poker moves and bluffs, without a master plan or aim, and depending more or less on their last hand, or reacting to the enemy's bet." Since "politics is not a game nor simply an art" but rather a "science," he insisted, the long-range thinking of chess is actually preferable to the overly reactive game of poker.
"You cannot beat chess with poker," he concluded.
It's an interesting response, and the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion two-and-a-half months later soon recognized as a woefully shortsighted "play" with especially damaging consequences for the U.S. probably inspired further doubt regarding Morgenstern's argument.
Poker and Diplomacy: Partial Information Games
The later Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 is more often discussed as an application of poker strategy to what was the most tense of all moments during the Cold War. McManus does a nice job applying the poker analogy to that conflict in Cowboys Full, as had David Spanier in his 1977 book Total Poker. Rather than rehearse that complicated conflict and analysis, I'll point you to their discussions of how Kennedy managed to induce Nikita Khrushchev to "fold" and prevent a devasting "showdown."
Like Morgenstern (and others), Spanier noted that "in general, one might say the Russians play chess and the Americans play poker." In his analysis of the crisis, he also supported the idea that poker strategies especially the role of bluffing (and recognizing others' bluffs) are more obviously applicable to a Cold War staredown in which much that is relevant is hidden from view.
That was Morgenstern's point in his NYT piece. "Chess is, to begin with, a game of complete information," Morgenstern pointed out. "That is, the chess opponent has no unknown cards.... Every move is made in the open; consequently (and this is most important) there is no possibility of bluffing, no opportunity to deceive."
By contrast, he continued, poker "describes better what goes on in political reality where countries with opposing aims and ideals watch each other's every move with unveiled suspicion."
Did poker "save us" during the Cuban Missile Crisis and at other tense moments along the way as the Cold War played out? It most certainly played a role.
Then again, as in poker, luck had a little bit to do with the outcome, too.
From the forthcoming "Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America's Favorite Card Game." Martin Harris teaches a course in "Poker in American Film and Culture" in the American Studies program at UNC-Charlotte.
Image (top): "Back to Where It All Started," Michael Cummings, Daily Express, August 24, 1953.
A 36-year-old man convicted five years ago of raping several underage girls, as young as 9, will be deported to the Philippines, the governor's office announced today.
Carlo Alfred Tenorio Borja has been transferred from the custody of the Guam Department of Corrections to the federal immigration authorities for deportation proceedings.
Borja will be the 23rd convict to be removed from Guam since the governor last year began an effort to free up space in the island's prison by removing foreigner convicts through the commutation of their sentences or by handing them over to the federal immigration authorities for deportation.
Borja was sentenced to 15 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct as a first-degree felony.
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Borja was eligible for parole next year. His scheduled release was 2021.
U.S. immigration officials flagged Borja as having committed a deportable crime.
The victims were notified of the decision for Borja, a Filipino citizen, to be deported and they support the deportation, according to the governors office.
Life is Dulce
We call it the dolce far niente. It means the sweetness of doing nothing. You may have heard this while scrolling through Instagram or T Read moreThe benefits of doing nothing
Local author Billie Coleman will be available to sign copies of book
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--Cotton was once king throughout Georgia. Reconstruction investors and railroad tycoons saw this potential to open textile mills in the South instead of sending cotton up North. Towns across Central Georgia became a prime spot to locate textile mills because of the access to cotton from local farms, cheap labor, and nearby rivers to power the mills. Textile mills were operated in cities and towns across Central Georgia such as Macon, Columbus, Augusta, Tifton, Forsyth, Porterdale, and Hawkinsville, among others. The textile mills provided employment and sometimes a home in their villages to people across Georgia as the agrarian lifestyle gave way to industrial expansion. In these mills, photographer Lewis Hine captured iconic images of child labor. After the decline of production and closing of the mills, many have been revived into new usages that honor the legacy of the mill workers and their families who lived in the villages of the textile mills across Central Georgia.Author Billie Coleman is a historian and cultural preservationist of Southern history. She was inspired to write this book after moving to Payne City, a former textile mill village in Macon, Georgia.Barnes & Noble5080 Riverside DriveMacon, GA 31210Saturday, February 25th, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.The combination of Arcadia Publishing & The History Press creates the largest and most comprehensive publisher of local and regional content in the USA. By empowering local history and culture enthusiasts to write local stories for local audiences, we create exceptional books that are relevant on a local and personal level, enrich lives, and bring readers closer - to their community, their neighbors, and their past. Have we done a book on your town? Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com
Poland is continuing to establish itself as an investment destination for property investors. This has been true of the office segment for some time now; the residential segment is still in the early phase of development but shows great potential. There is a shortage in the Polish property market that
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Excavations in a cave on the cliffs west of Qumran, near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, prove that Dead Sea scrolls from the Second Temple period were hidden in the cave, and were looted by Bedouins in the middle of the last century. With the discovery of this cave, scholars now suggest that it should be numbered as Cave 12.
The surprising discovery, representing a milestone in Dead Sea Scroll research, was made by Dr. Oren Gutfeld and Ahiad Ovadia from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology, with the collaboration of Dr. Randall Price and students from Liberty University in Virginia, USA.
The excavators are the first in over 60 years to discover a new scroll cave and to properly excavate it.
The excavation was supported by the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria, by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and is a part of the new "Operation Scroll" launched at the IAA by its Director-General, Mr. Israel Hasson, to undertake systematic surveys and to excavate the caves in the Judean Desert.
Excavation of the cave revealed that at one time it contained Dead Sea scrolls. Numerous storage jars and lids from the Second Temple period were found hidden in niches along the walls of the cave and deep inside a long tunnel at its rear. The jars were all broken and their contents removed, and the discovery towards the end of the excavation of a pair of iron pickaxe heads from the 1950s (stored within the tunnel for later use) proves the cave was looted.
Until now, it was believed that only 11 caves had contained scrolls. With the discovery of this cave, scholars have now suggested that it would be numbered as Cave 12. Like Cave 8, in which scroll jars but no scrolls were found, this cave will receive the designation Q12 (the Q=Qumran standing in front of the number to indicate no scrolls were found).
"This exciting excavation is the closest we've come to discovering new Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years. Until now, it was accepted that Dead Sea scrolls were found only in 11 caves at Qumran, but now there is no doubt that this is the 12th cave," said Dr. Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology and director of the excavation. "Finding this additional scroll cave means we can no longer be certain that the original locations (Caves 1 through 11) assigned to the Dead Sea scrolls that reached the market via the Bedouins are accurate."
Dr. Gutfeld added: "Although at the end of the day no scroll was found, and instead we 'only' found a piece of parchment rolled up in a jug that was being processed for writing, the findings indicate beyond any doubt that the cave contained scrolls that were stolen. The findings include the jars in which the scrolls and their covering were hidden, a leather strap for binding the scroll, a cloth that wrapped the scrolls, tendons and pieces of skin connecting fragments, and more."
The finds from the excavation include not only the storage jars, which held the scrolls, but also fragments of scroll wrappings, a string that tied the scrolls, and a piece of worked leather that was a part of a scroll. The finding of pottery and of numerous flint blades, arrowheads, and a decorated stamp seal made of carnelian, a semi-precious stone, also revealed that this cave was used in the Chalcolithic and the Neolithic periods.
This first excavation to take place in the northern part of the Judean Desert as part of "Operation Scroll" will open the door to further understanding the function of the caves with respect to the scrolls, with the potential of finding new scroll material. The material, when published, will provide important new evidence for scholars of the archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea caves.
"The important discovery of another scroll cave attests to the fact that a lot of work remains to be done in the Judean Desert and finds of huge importance are still waiting to be discovered," said Israel Hasson, Director-General of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "We are in a race against time as antiquities thieves steal heritage assets worldwide for financial gain. The State of Israel needs to mobilize and allocate the necessary resources in order to launch a historic operation, together with the public, to carry out a systematic excavation of all the caves of the Judean Desert."
A new study of songbird dehydration and survival risk during heat waves in the United States desert Southwest suggests that some birds are at risk of lethal dehydration and mass die-offs when water is scarce, and the risk is expected to increase as climate change advances.
Using physiological data, hourly temperature maps and modeling, first author Tom Albright at the University of Nevada, Reno, with Blair Wolf at the University of New Mexico and Alexander Gerson at the University of Massachusetts Amherst investigated how rates of evaporative water loss varied in five bird species with varied body mass. They mapped potential effects of current and future heat waves on lethal dehydration risk for songbirds in the Southwest and how rapidly this can occur in each species. Details are in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Gerson brings expertise in avian heat tolerance physiology to these studies. One question he and colleagues addressed is whether some birds are more susceptible and at risk from heat exposure than others. They looked at the lesser goldfinch, house finch, cactus wren, Abert's towhee and curve-billed thrasher, representing "a wide range of body sizes," Gerson notes. They found the small species lose water faster than large, making them particularly susceptible to lethal dehydration.
The researchers state, "Our models reveal that increasing air temperatures and heat wave occurrence will potentially have important impacts on the water balance, daily activity and geographic distribution of arid-zone birds. Impacts may be exacerbated by chronic effects and interactions with other environmental changes. This work underscores the importance of acute risks of high temperatures, particularly for small-bodied species, and suggests conservation of thermal refugia and water sources."
Wolf explains, "Birds are susceptible to heat stress in two ways. When it's really hot, they simply can't evaporate enough water to stay cool, overheat and die of heat stroke. In other cases, the high rates of evaporative water loss needed to stay cool deplete their body water pools to lethal levels and birds die of dehydration. This is the stressor we focused on in this study."
He adds, "These estimates suggest that some regions of the desert will be uninhabitable for many species in the future and that future high temperature events could depopulate whole regions."
Gerson says he and the team measured water loss rates in response to temperature with a focus on air temperatures that exceed the animal's body temperature of 40 degrees C. (104 degrees F.) "At about 40 C, they start panting, which increases the rate of water loss very rapidly," he says.
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"Most animals can only tolerate water losses that result in 15 or 20 percent loss of body mass before they die," Gerson adds. "So an animal experiencing peak temperatures during a hot summer day, with no access to water, isn't going to make it more than a few hours. Once we have these types of profiles for a number of different species, we can determine differential survival rates which will then drive differences in the overall avian community structure."
Gerson points out, "What we were able to do here is to use individual level physiology data to inform biogeographic models so we can better understand the impact of high temperatures on these avian communities. This is a big step forward to understanding local extirpation. It will raise a lot of other questions, but our contribution will help others look at how community structure might change in the future."
The news does not look good for some species, the biologist acknowledges, "but this study will give us a new tool to try to inform our conservation efforts to try to save these species, or at least understand the impact better on the overall ecosystem. You have to understand the severity of the problem before you can do anything about it."
One message for conservation is that climate refugia may become increasingly important. Further understanding of microclimates will help: mountaintops, trees and washes with shade might be very important in management plans for certain vulnerable species. Birds with a wider range such as house finches and lesser goldfinches might fare better, Gerson notes, because they can survive in a number of ecosystems. But specialists such as the curve-billed thrasher and Abert's towhee have more specific habitat needs and face higher risk.
"Using this type of data, managers identifying the best refugia can have a better idea of the temperature profile that will be suitable for these birds," he says.
Albright says this work "shows that in these hot desert systems for these species, we have a potentially devastating mechanism that can lead to die-offs for some species."
The authors point out that this work is part of a larger effort by this team to look at the biology of birds in the hottest places on Earth related to a real, current threat of massive avian die-offs occurring now in Australia and South Africa, for example.
Telecommunication experts estimate the amount of data stored "in the cloud" or in remote data centers around the world, will quintuple in the next five years. Whether it's streaming video or business' database content drawn from distant servers, all of this data is -- and will continue in the foreseeable future to be -- accessed and transmitted by lasers sending pulses of light along long bundles of flexible optical fibers.
Traditionally, the rate information is transmitted does not consider the distance that data must travel, despite the fact that shorter distances can support higher rates. Yet as the traffic grows in volume and uses increasingly more of the available bandwidth, or capacity to transfer bits of data, researchers have become increasingly aware of some of the limitations of this mode of transmission.
New research from Nokia Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey may offer a way to capitalize on this notion and offer improved data transfer rates for cloud computing based traffic. The results of this work will be presented at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC), held 19-23 March in Los Angeles, California, USA.
"The challenge for legacy systems that rely on fixed-rate transmission is that they lack flexibility," said Dr. Kyle Guan, a research scientist at Nokia Bell Labs. "At shorter distances, it is possible to transmit data at much higher rates, but fixed-rate systems lack the capability to take advantage of that opportunity."
Guan worked with a newly emerged transmission technology called "distance-adaptive transmission," where the equipment that receives and transmits these light signals can change the rate of transmission depending on how far the data must travel. With this, he set about building a mathematical model to determine the optimal lay-out of network infrastructure for data transfer.
"The question that I wanted to answer was how to design a network that would allow for the most efficient flow of data traffic," said Guan. "Specifically, in a continent-wide system, what would be the most effective [set of] locations for data centers and how should bandwidth be apportioned? It quickly became apparent that my model would have to reflect not just the flow of traffic between data centers and end users, but also the flow of traffic between data centers."
External industry research suggests that this second type of traffic, between the data centers, represents about one-third of total cloud traffic. It includes activities such as data backup and load balancing, whereby tasks are completed by multiple servers to maximize application performance.
After accounting for these factors, Guan ran simulations with his model of how data traffic would flow most effectively in a network.
"My preliminary results showed that in a continental-scale network with optimized data center placement and bandwidth allocation, distance-adaptive transmission can use 50 percent less wavelength resources or light transmission, and reception equipment, compared to fixed-rate rate transmission," said Guan. "On a functional level, this could allow cloud service providers to significantly increase the volume of traffic supported on the existing fiber-optic network with the same wavelength resources."
Guan recognizes other important issues related to data center placement. "Other important factors that have to be considered include the proximity of data centers to renewable sources of energy that can power them, and latency -- the interval of time that passes from when an end user or data center initiates an action and when they receive a response," he said.
Guan's future research will involve integrating these types of factors into his model so that he can run simulations that even more closely mirror the complexity of real-world conditions.
A new, specially coated iron oxide nanoparticle developed by a team at MIT and elsewhere could provide an alternative to conventional gadolinium-based contrast agents used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures. In rare cases, the currently used gadolinium agents have been found to produce adverse effects in patients with impaired kidney function.
The advent of MRI technology, which is used to observe details of specific organs or blood vessels, has been an enormous boon to medical diagnostics over the last few decades. About a third of the 60 million MRI procedures done annually worldwide use contrast-enhancing agents, mostly containing the element gadolinium. While these contrast agents have mostly proven safe over many years of use, some rare but significant side effects have shown up in a very small subset of patients. There may soon be a safer substitute thanks to this new research.
In place of gadolinium-based contrast agents, the researchers have found that they can produce similar MRI contrast with tiny nanoparticles of iron oxide that have been treated with a zwitterion coating. (Zwitterions are molecules that have areas of both positive and negative electrical charges, which cancel out to make them neutral overall.) The findings are being published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a paper by Moungi Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry at MIT; He Wei, an MIT postdoc; Oliver Bruns, an MIT research scientist; Michael Kaul at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany; and 15 others.
Contrast agents, injected into the patient during an MRI procedure and designed to be quickly cleared from the body by the kidneys afterwards, are needed to make fine details of organ structures, blood vessels, and other specific tissues clearly visible in the images. Some agents produce dark areas in the resulting image, while others produce light areas. The primary agents for producing light areas contain gadolinium.
Iron oxide particles have been largely used as negative (dark) contrast agents, but radiologists vastly prefer positive (light) contrast agents such as gadolinium-based agents, as negative contrast can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from certain imaging artifacts and internal bleeding. But while the gadolinium-based agents have become the standard, evidence shows that in some very rare cases they can lead to an untreatable condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, which can be fatal. In addition, evidence now shows that the gadolinium can build up in the brain, and although no effects of this buildup have yet been demonstrated, the FDA is investigating it for potential harm.
"Over the last decade, more and more side effects have come to light" from the gadolinium agents, Bruns says, so that led the research team to search for alternatives. "None of these issues exist for iron oxide," at least none that have yet been detected, he says.
The key new finding by this team was to combine two existing techniques: making very tiny particles of iron oxide, and attaching certain molecules (called surface ligands) to the outsides of these particles to optimize their characteristics. The iron oxide inorganic core is small enough to produce a pronounced positive contrast in MRI, and the zwitterionic surface ligand, which was recently developed by Wei and coworkers in the Bawendi research group, makes the iron oxide particles water-soluble, compact, and biocompatible.
The combination of a very tiny iron oxide core and an ultrathin ligand shell leads to a total hydrodynamic diameter of 4.7 nanometers, below the 5.5-nanometer renal clearance threshold. This means that the coated iron oxide should quickly clear through the kidneys and not accumulate. This renal clearance property is an important feature where the particles perform comparably to gadolinium-based contrast agents.
Now that initial tests have demonstrated the particles' effectiveness as contrast agents, Wei and Bruns say the next step will be to do further toxicology testing to show the particles' safety, and to continue to improve the characteristics of the material. "It's not perfect. We have more work to do," Bruns says. But because iron oxide has been used for so long and in so many ways, even as an iron supplement, any negative effects could likely be treated by well-established protocols, the researchers say. If all goes well, the team is considering setting up a startup company to bring the material to production.
For some patients who are currently excluded from getting MRIs because of potential side effects of gadolinium, the new agents "could allow those patients to be eligible again" for the procedure, Bruns says. And, if it does turn out that the accumulation of gadolinium in the brain has negative effects, an overall phase-out of gadolinium for such uses could be needed. "If that turned out to be the case, this could potentially be a complete replacement," he says.
The research team included researchers in MIT's chemistry, biological engineering, nuclear science and engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, and materials science and engineering departments and its program in Health Sciences and Technology; and at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; Brown University; and the Massachusetts General Hospital. It was supported by the MIT-Harvard NIH Center for Cancer Nanotechnology, the Army Research Office through MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, the NIH-funded Laser Biomedical Research Center, the MIT Deshpande Center, and the European Union Seventh Framework Program.
A study led by SFU biology researcher Gerhard Gries found that the photoreceptors in the eyes of blow flies do more than just help them navigate around surrounding environments. They're also used in an elaborate sexual communication system to aid in their quest to find the perfect mate by filtering out incompatible candidates.
"We discovered that the immense processing speed of the blow flies' photoreceptors in their large sexually dimorphic eyes played a critical role in their visual mate recognition system," says Gries. "They use light flash frequency from their wings to communicate to their peers things like age, sex, and even mating status."
The study, published by BioMed Central, found that young single female blow flies shared their mating profiles by reflecting light off their wings at a frequency of 178, Hertz (Hz), light flashes per second to attract young single male blow flies, which communicate at 212 Hz. Blow flies are able to screen for age and sex of prospective mates by filtering out flash frequencies.
Gries says there are similarities between the blow flies' mate recognition system and Tinder, a dating app that matches approximately 10 million people a day. Tinder users similarly screen for age and sex of prospective matches by using the apps' filtration system.
Michael Hrabar, part of the SFU study research team, says anyone using a dating app like Tinder could learn a thing or two from blow flies.
"Like blow flies, humans are really good at filtering information. This means creating a good dating profile shouldn't be overlooked. Through a thoughtfully crafted profile you can attract potential partners through your interests, education and other attractive traits."
The researchers in this study used an LED pulsing light at 178 light flashes per second to mimic the sexual communication signals sent by females. They found that they were able to attract males even in the absence of real female flies.
"What was really surprising was that we noticed that female blow flies were most attractive to males on sunny days. On cloudy days, light flashes from the wings of flying females are absent, which explains the low mating propensity of these flies on cloudy days."
The results from this study suggest that the light flash frequency, rather than any morphological characteristics of female flies, is the mate signal.
"The next time you take a selfie for your dating profile make sure you have good lighting. What we've learned from blow flies is that good lighting can go a long way in helping you find the partner you've been looking for."
A new study led by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science links a long-term decline in Chesapeake Bay's eelgrass beds to both deteriorating water quality and rising summertime temperatures. It also shows that loss of the habitat and other benefits that eelgrass provides comes at a staggering ecological and economic cost.
Lead scientist Jonathan Lefcheck, a VIMS post-doctoral researcher, says "Not only have we lost a huge ecological resource, there have been real economic and recreational consequences for the Bay area's nearly 20 million residents. Blue crab fisheries, for example, have probably lost a year or more of catch based on the amount of eelgrass we've already lost. For silver perch, it's 10-20 years. In all, we estimate the potential economic cost to citizens at $1-2 billion."
The study -- based on a comparison of VIMS' 31-year record of seagrass abundance and the Chesapeake Bay Program's long-term record of Bay water quality -- appeared in the February 3, 2017 issue of Global Change Biology. Co-authors include Professor Robert "JJ" Orth and scientist David Wilcox of VIMS, Dr. Rebecca Murphy of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Scott Marion of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife.
The team's findings confirm a long-standing hypothesis that declines in Bay eelgrass stem from decreased water clarity, which in turn stems from increases in human activities that lead to nutrient pollution and sediment runoff.
Orth, who initiated VIMS' annual Seagrass Monitoring and Assessment program in 1984, says, "It's a classic case of 'habitat squeeze.' Declining water clarity has cut eelgrass cover in half within deeper beds during the last two decades, so that the mean depth of eelgrass beds is now almost 5 inches shallower."
That might not sound like much, but given Chesapeake Bay's gently sloping bottom, a 5-inch change means the Bay's fringing eelgrass beds have contracted shoreward by more than 500 feet since 1984. In fact, says Orth, it is now rare to find eelgrass growing in water deeper than about 3 feet in Chesapeake Bay.
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At the same time, the analysis reveals that more frequent heat waves are impacting eelgrass populations even in these shallow-water areas. The most extreme temperature-related losses were observed in 2006, when eelgrass declined 58% following the sweltering summer of 2005, and in 2011, when the VIMS team measured a 41% decline following the steamy summer of 2010.
One bright spot is that eelgrass is currently able to recover rapidly after these sharp declines. In the year following the 2005-6 dieback, eelgrass acreage increased by 55%, and by 2009 had reached total cover exceeding that observed just before the dieback took place. A similar rebound took place after 2010-11, with eelgrass returning to pre-dieback acreage in less than two years.
The scientists warn, however, that future recoveries are much less certain given current trends towards murkier, warmer water. They also stress that their analysis focuses on eelgrass. Other underwater baygrasses, widgeongrass in particular, have experienced recent increases in Bay coverage. But widgeongrass is known for boom-bust cycles that could quickly reverse these gains, and is unlikely to replace the ecosystem services provided by eelgrass due to its different growth habit and restriction to fresher waters.
A hot and cloudy future
"Our observations suggest eelgrass is responding to two main factors," says Orth. "Declining water clarity has gradually reduced eelgrass cover during the past two decades, primarily in deeper beds where lack of light already limits growth. In shallow beds, it's more that heat waves are stressing the plants, leading to the sharp drops we've seen in recent summers."
But it's the combined effect of these two factors that gives the researchers their greatest concern. Says Lefcheck, "Declining clarity plus these hot summers is a real double-whammy for eelgrass." That's because eelgrasses -- which already need more light to survive than related land plants -- require even more light as water temperatures rise.
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"In effect," says Orth, "any increase in water temperature subjects shallowly growing eelgrass plants to light conditions similar to those that have already largely eliminated their deeper-water cohorts."
The team's analysis shows the mean summertime water temperature in the lower Chesapeake Bay has already increased by more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1984 -- from 76.8 to 79.5F -- and that the frequency of extreme warm spells with water temperatures exceeding 82 has doubled in the last decade.
As global warming continues to raise the area's water temperatures -- a conservative estimate is a further 3.5 F increase by 2040 -- the team predicts a further 38% decline in eelgrass cover. And if water clarity follows its current downward trajectory during the next 30 years, eelgrass would decline an additional 84%. When both declining clarity and warming are considered, say the researchers, the predicted increases in temperature and turbidity would result in a loss of 95% of Bay eelgrass -- a near total eradication. To combat this downward trend, the researchers call on resource managers and policymakers to build recognition of global warming into their management strategies.
"We propose that managers must increase their water-quality targets at the local and regional levels to offset losses caused by global factors outside their immediate control," says Orth.
"Our analysis suggests that eelgrass could still persist in the face of moderate increases in temperature, if the water remains clear enough" adds Lefcheck. "But that will only happen if managers adopt an integrated perspective, and continue with their efforts to curb inputs into the Bay."
Life can thrive in some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Microbes flourish inside hot geothermal vents, beneath the frigid ice covering Antarctica and under immense pressures at the bottom of the ocean. For these organisms to survive and function, so must the enzymes that enable them to live and grow. Now, researchers from Georgetown University have homed in on what allows particular enzymes to function under extreme pressures. The team will present its work during the 61st Meeting of the Biophysical Society held Feb. 11-15, 2017 in New Orleans.
Enzymes are proteins that speed up critical biochemical reactions in an organism. For an enzyme to work, its molecular structure has to be stable and flexible. To facilitate a reaction, an enzyme might have to assume different shapes, known as conformations, such as an open or closed conformation -- a mechanical motion that would fail if its molecular structure were too loose or too tight.
"The overall shape of the protein has to be maintained, otherwise it will unfold and do nothing, but it also needs to be flexible enough so this shape can morph into different functional conformations," said Qi Huang, a graduate student in Toshiko Ichiye's lab at Georgetown University.
Higher temperatures would loosen the atomic interactions in an enzyme, making it less stable but more flexible. High pressures would compress the enzyme and force it to become more rigid, making it more stable but less flexible. So for an enzyme under extreme conditions to function, it must adapt to have the right level of stability and flexibility. An enzyme adapted to high pressures, for example, might be more flexible than if it were adapted to normal pressures.
To better understand the effect of pressure on an enzyme -- and, in particular, how it affects its flexibility -- researchers led by Ichiye used computers to simulate the behavior of an enzyme at the molecular level, under various pressures and temperatures.
The researchers wanted to know which aspect of an enzyme's flexibility enables it to function under high pressures. An enzyme could be more flexible overall, like a bowl of jelly, or more flexible only at joints, like a robot. More likely, it could be flexible in both ways.
The researchers focused on a well-studied enzyme called dihydrofolate reductase, which is found in the familiar E. coli, a bacterium that lives under normal conditions, called a mesophile. They also studied a high-pressure version of the enzyme found in M. profunda, a microbe found at the bottom of the Atlantic, making it both a piezophilic (pressure-loving) organism as well as a psychrophilic (cold-loving) organism.
By comparing the two microbes, the researchers discovered that it's the collective motion involving small groups of atoms that bear on the jellylike nature of the protein that was most important. A mesophilic enzyme should work best under normal pressures while a piezophilic enzyme should work best under high pressures. The researchers found that when these enzymes worked their best, their collective motions were similar and in order for a piezophilic enzyme to adapt to high pressures, it needed to adjust its collective motion to match a mesophile's motion under normal pressure.
Understanding how these so-called extremophiles thrive helps scientists gauge under what conditions life can exist -- whether it's in the ocean, deep underground, or even outer space, Huang said.
These kinds of studies could even help researchers engineer proteins from mesophilic organisms to work in extreme conditions. "We can change the DNA sequence or the amino acids of a mesophilic protein and make it function under high pressure, low or high temperatures, just like those extremophiles," Huang said. That could be useful in industrial settings, for example in making biofuels and other chemicals that require extreme conditions for optimal production. Knowing the limits of microbial life could also be useful for sterilizing and preserving food by high-pressure processing.
Ice loss from Canada's Arctic glaciers has transformed them into a major contributor to sea level change, new research by University of California, Irvine glaciologists has found.
From 2005 to 2015, surface melt off ice caps and glaciers of the Queen Elizabeth Islands grew by an astonishing 900 percent, from an average of three gigatons to 30 gigatons per year, according to results published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
"In the past decade, as air temperatures have warmed, surface melt has increased dramatically," said lead author Romain Millan, an Earth system science doctoral student.
The team found that in the past decade, overall ice mass declined markedly, turning the region into a major contributor to sea level change. Canada holds 25 percent of all Arctic ice, second only to Greenland.
The study provides the first long-term analysis of ice flow to the ocean, from 1991 to 2015.
The Canadian ice cap has glaciers on the move into the Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay and Nares Strait. The researchers used satellite data and a regional climate model to tally the "balance" of total gain and loss each year, and the reasons why. Because of the huge number of glaciers terminating in area marine basins, they expected that discharge into the sea caused by tide water hitting approaching glacier fronts would be the primary cause.
In fact, they determined that until 2005, the ice loss was caused about equally by two factors: calving icebergs from glacier fronts into the ocean accounted for 52 percent, and melting on glacier surfaces exposed to air contributed 48 percent. But since then, as atmospheric temperatures have steadily climbed, surface melt now accounts for 90 percent.
Millan said that in recent years ice discharge was only a major component in a few basins, and that even rapid, short term increases from these ice fields only had a minor impact on the long-term trend.
Millan added, "We identified meltwater runoff as the major contributor to these ice fields' mass loss in recent years. With the ongoing, sustained and rapid warming of the high Arctic, the mass loss of the Queen Elizabeth Islands area is likely to continue to increase significantly in coming decades."
Although it was known that the number of alien species increased during the last decades, it remained unclear whether or not the accumulation of alien species has already reached a point of slow-down. Dr Hanno Seebens from Senckenberg, Germany, first author a new study on the topic has an answer now: "For all groups of organisms on all continents, the number of alien species has increased continuously during the last 200 years. For most groups, even the rate of introduction is highest recently. Barring mammals and fishes, there are no signs of a slow-down and we have to expect more new invasions in the near future."
His outlook comes at the end of a large collaborative effort in which 45 scientists from all over the world established a database of the date an alien species was first detected in a region outside the species' native range. Using more than 45,000 of these first records of more than 16,000 alien species, they analysed the development of alien species accumulation during the last centuries.
They found that 37% of all recorded alien species have been introduced between 1970-2014 and thus recently. At its peak 585 new species were recorded within one year. This corresponds to more than 1.5 new alien species per day globally. "As the date of first record is not available for most alien species, these numbers are clearly underestimating the full extent of alien species introductions," says Dr. Franz Essl from the University of Vienna, Austria, senior author of the study.
The trends of increase vary among taxonomic groups, which can be attributed to human activities. "We observe a distinct increase in first record rates of vascular plants in the 19th century, probably as a result of the intensification of horticulture. The rates of new introductions of other organisms such as algae, molluscs or insects increased steeply after 1950. This is most likely a consequence of the ongoing globalisation of trade," explains Seebens.
The unprecedented increase in alien species numbers can lead to an increase in regional species richness. However, these come at the cost of a variety of negative impacts on native ecosystems, the global homogenisation of floras and faunas, and the global extinction of native biota. Therefore various legislations are currently in force globally attempting to mitigate the introduction of new alien species. "However our results show that the past efforts have not been effective enough to keep up with ongoing globalisation. There is an urgent need to implement more effective prevention policies at all scales," concludes Essl.
Cracks in the Greenland Ice Sheet let one of its aquifers drain to the ocean, new NASA research finds. The aquifers, discovered only recently, are unusual in that they trap large amounts of liquid water within the ice sheet. Until now, scientists did not know what happened to the water stored away in this reservoir -- the discovery will help fine tune computer models of Greenland's contribution to sea level rise.
"This paper illuminates the fate of the aquifer's water," said Kristin Poinar, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Before, we didn't know if the water froze inside the ice sheet or reemerged onto the ice surface. In either of those scenarios, the meltwater would not contribute to sea level rise."
Now, using a new computer model that tests whether certain meltwater-filled cracks can fracture to the base of the ice sheet, Poinar and her colleagues have shown that the meltwater does reach the ocean.
Greenland contributes water to the sea mainly through surface melt and ice flow. Studies have shown that surface melt has increased in recent decades. In western Greenland, so much surface melts forms that it creates a network of rivers and lakes, which drain through the ice to the underlying bedrock, from where water flows to the ocean.
But southeast Greenland is very different -- lakes and rivers do not form, although the ice does melt. Instead, vast reservoirs of water become trapped within the firn layer (a band of compacted snow). In 2011, scientists discovered these aquifers around 40 feet (12 meters) beneath the surface of the ice. Researchers calculated that these firn aquifers cover around 8,455 square miles (21,900 square kilometers) of Greenland and hold a Lake Tahoe-sized volume of water. The aquifer remains liquid year-round because the region's heavy snow fall creates a thick blanket that insulates the aquifer from the freezing air temperatures above.
"These firn aquifers are the analogs to the surface water that we can see in western Greenland," Poinar said. "Southeast Greenland is perpetually covered in snow and has hardly any bare ice, so in the summer water doesn't pool up like it does on bare ice in western Greenland, forming lakes and rivers; instead, it percolates downward and disappears into places where we can't see it."
Poinar studied a segment of the aquifer located in the Helheim Glacier area in southeast Greenland, where ground-penetrating radar measurements collected by Operation IceBridge, NASA's aerial survey of changes in polar ice, showed that a 2-mile long section of the aquifer had drained a large volume of water between the spring of 2012 and the spring of 2013.
Directly downstream of this section of the aquifer, the researchers identified a field of crevasses (cracks in the ice); due to gravity, they thought, the aquifer water should flow into these openings. To find out whether the water refroze within the crevasses or fractured all the way to the bedrock, Poinar built a computer model of how water from the firn aquifer widens, deepens, and refreezes within the cracks. The model demonstrated that the water makes the crevasses crack faster than the water can refreeze, thus allowing the meltwater to reach the bedrock in a matter of weeks to months.
"There's a limit to how much water the crevasses can hold; once they reach that limit, they fracture to the base of the ice sheet and deliver that water to the bed, from where it can travel relatively quickly to the ocean," Poinar said. "We found that the volume of meltwater drained through this particular aquifer-crevasse field system is comparable to what comes out of a western Greenland supraglacial lake or river system."
Poinar said that although her study is focused on a specific section of the aquifer, there are other areas in southeast Greenland that are likely to host similar combinations of firn aquifers and nearby crevasse fields. She said that her future work will focus on how this newly discovered drainage system integrates over the entire Greenland ice sheet, and also on measuring how the water drained from the aquifer lubricates the bedrock and impacts the flow of the ice sheet.
"Kristin's finding is a key component in understanding the importance of the firn aquifer system," said Rick Forster, a glaciologist at the University of Utah who was part of the field team that discovered the aquifer in 2011. "Her model shows that water is getting to the bed, and that adds a whole different level of significance to how that storage of water might affect changes in sea level rise in the future."
In August 2015, University of Delaware oceanographer Andreas Muenchow and colleagues deployed the first UD ocean sensors underneath Petermann Glacier in North Greenland, which connects the great Greenland ice sheet directly with the ocean.
Petermann Glacier is the second largest floating ice shelf in the northern hemisphere.
Located approximately 16 to 2,300 feet below the glacier, the five ocean sensors are connected to a weather station at the surface, creating the first cabled observatory on a floating, moving, and rapidly melting Greenland glacier.
The researchers recently reported in the journal Oceanography that sensor data from August 2015 to February 2016 confirms that that the floating ice shelf is strongly coupled, or tied, to the ocean below and to Nares Strait, and temperatures vary with the tides and seasons.
Specifically, the paper found that the same water that has been measured in the fjord is under the glacier, lending credence to the idea that the continuity of the glacier depends on the conditions outside the glacier in the fjord.
This water is warming an average of 0.03 degrees Celsius per year, with temperatures at the deepest ocean sensors sometimes exceeding 0.3 degrees Celsius or 33 degrees Fahrenheit, Muenchow said. These temperature values are consistent at various water depths, and match data from a 2003-09 study in adjacent Nares Strait, which connects to both the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
"This correlation tells us this is the same water and that this is what's causing the melting of the glacier, which could influence sea level rise," said Muenchow, an associate professor of oceanography in UD's School of Marine Science and Policy, which is housed in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (CEOE).
The scientists theorize that warmer Atlantic water will continue to arrive inside Petermann Fjord and below the ice shelf from Nares Strait in the next one-to-two years.
Less aggressive cancers are known to have an intact genome -- the complete set of genes in a cell -- while the genome of more aggressive cancers tends to have a great deal of abnormalities. Now, a new multi-year study of DNA patterns in tumor cells suggests that these aberrant genetic signatures are not random but reflect selective forces in tumor evolution. The findings also demonstrate that these changes drive glucose metabolism in cells, which improves the fitness of tumors and can lead to accelerated cancer growth.
The new study was led by senior author Dr. Thomas Graeber, professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center's Cancer Nanotechnology Program. The first authors are Dr. Nicholas Graham, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and Dr. Aspram Minasyan, postdoctoral fellow in the UCLA Crump Institute of Molecular Imaging.
Copy number alteration (CNA) measurements are used to profile tumors across a wide variety of cancer types by looking for recurring patterns in how genes are amplified or deleted in DNA. Modern research has focused largely on individual cancer genes as the primary targets for DNA mutations and copy number alternations, specifically oncogenes (that when mutated or amplified are like a stuck gas pedal and can turn healthy cells into tumor cells) and tumor suppressor genes (that when not working properly are like a broken or missing brake pedal, allowing cells to grow out of control). However, scientists continue to observe many recurrent CNA patterns in tumors that cannot be fully explained by these canonical cancer genes.
It has long been known that a fundamental difference between healthy cells and tumor-forming cells is reprogrammed cellular metabolism. An altered metabolism benefits a transformed cell in many ways, particularly in the ability to convert glucose into energy. This process, known as glycolysis, can fuel tumor growth and is also used to detect tumors through PET imaging. Research has further shown a strong correlation between higher levels of glycolytic activity and the most aggressive cancers. The findings tie these aspects to the disrupted genomes of cancer by demonstrating that the previously unexplained recurrent CNA patterns reflect glucose metabolism as a selective pressure for genomic changes in many cancer types, particularly aggressive forms of the disease.
In the five-year study, Graeber and his colleagues used a cross-cancer analysis of CNA data from human tumors, cancer cell lines, and mouse models of cancer. The team analyzed samples from 15 different cancer types. They found that CNA patterns of DNA amplification and deletion were predictive of both increased glycolytic activity and rapid growth of tumor cells. To understand how enzymes might play a role in this process, the scientists compared the CNA patterns of human tumors and mouse models. They discovered 26 DNA regions with consistent genetic alterations, containing 11 enzymes in the glycolysis pathway as well as known cancer-driving genes.
The researchers next used an experimental immortalization system and genetic engineering to directly demonstrate that glycolytic enzymes can impact the CNA signature. By sampling cells at different points in time, the researchers were able to show how these patterns evolve and thus shape the cancer genome.
The study is one of the first to use high-resolution genome-wide CNA signatures to identify and define new classes of tumors to further complement sub-classes defined by point mutations in oncogenes. With these findings, researchers can build improved cancer models and advance the development of therapeutics for all types of the disease.
"By focusing on such a large dataset and more than just known point mutations, we now better understand how subtle patterns of combined genetic alterations can affect glucose metabolism and are in sum key drivers of the most aggressive cancers," Graeber said. "Scientists now have a whole new sandbox where we can test and develop the tools that will lead to new treatments for people fighting this disease."
The Tlingit and Haida, indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast (NWC), have used carved wooden hooks to catch halibut for centuries. As modern fishing technology crept into use, however, the old hooks practically disappeared from the sea. But they thrived on land -- as decorative art.
The hook's evolution from utilitarian tool to expression of cultural heritage is the subject of a paper by Jonathan Malindine, a doctoral student in UC Santa Barbara's Department of Anthropology. In "Northwest Coast Halibut Hooks: an Evolving Tradition of Form, Function, and Fishing," published in the journal Human Ecology, he traces the arc of the hook's design and how its dimensions have changed over time.
"I used to be a commercial fisherman in Alaska, and also lived in a Tlingit and Haida community," Malindine said. "So, the intersection of fisheries and Alaska Native art has always fascinated me. These NWC hooks are really effective at catching halibut, and also are intricately carved with rich, figural designs. Between the technology and the mythological imagery, there's a lot going on."
Halibut hooks, often called wood hooks, are part of a sophisticated apparatus for catching the flat, bottom-dwelling fish that can weigh more than 500 pounds. Constructed in two pieces of different woods, they look something like an open fish mouth from the side, with a barb, facing backwards, lashed to the top piece. When the fish tries to spit out the hook, the barb sets in its jaw. Hooks were carefully carved to maximize their potential for catching fish, and their shape and size varied depending on the size of halibut they were used for.
But as modern fishing technology displaced traditional gear, wood hooks began to change, varying greatly in design and dimension from early versions. These "art hooks" were created as decorative objects, often depicting animals important to NWC traditions and using materials such as abalone inlay.
It was that transition in the hooks, from utility to art, that Malindine studied. To do so, he examined, photographed and took detailed measurements of every intact NWC hook -- 109 total -- in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian. He found that "in the case of NWC halibut hooks, shifting function drives the shift in materials, dimension, and meaning," he writes in the paper. "The NWC halibut hook has largely ceased to function to catch fish, and its dimensions are changing to favor decorative and symbolic content over utilitarian/functional requirements. Nowadays it is primarily designed to link Alaska Natives to their ancestral heritage, and the art buyer to a tangible representation of NWC mythological and artistic tradition."
In addition to its contributions to academia, the research will benefit NWC carvers of wood hooks. Malindine has shared his work with them, allowing them to see what the hooks looked like as many as 150 years ago. "The Alaska Native carvers and Tribal members with whom I've shared these images and dimensional measurements are just happy to see them," he said. "These hooks are part of their cultural heritage, and have basically been locked away in storage facilities -- sometimes for a hundred years.
"I've specifically given the images and measurements I produced to several Alaska Native artists and carving instructors, so they can use them in their classes when teaching students to carve halibut hooks," he continued. "Hopefully these images and measurements will be really useful in that type of classroom setting, especially for creating accurate reproductions."
Malindine's study of the hooks came through his participation in the Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) program, which is funded by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. He was one of 12 graduate students chosen from around the country to learn to use museum collections as field sites for research.
"There are vast numbers of important objects hidden away in museum collections facilities that are rarely studied," he said. "The SIMA program taught us how to approach studying museum objects -- from theory of material culture, collections management, conservation and object handling, to photography, research design, data collection, analysis and eventual publication of results."
As Malindine noted, wood hooks are still more than curiosities or museum pieces. "I was fortunate enough to interview two of the very few people who still fish with traditional wood hooks," he said. "One of them, Jon Rowan, claims he has as much, if not more, success using wood hooks to catch halibut than he does using modern fishing gear. These have stuck around for a reason: They're very good at catching halibut. Of course most people don't want to risk losing a valuable and beautiful carved NWC halibut hook, so almost everyone these days uses commercially produced circle hooks that cost a few dollars each."
Casey Walsh, an associate professor of anthropology and Malindine's graduate advisor, called the examination of wood hooks solid science that places it in a human context. "Jonathan's paper is a great example of the explanatory strength of a holistic approach to understanding humans," Walsh said. "He skillfully combined environmental, social and cultural elements to tell us why halibut hooks matter, not only for basic sustenance, but also for people's relationships with each other and their creative, artistic lives."
University of Tubingen researchers in collaboration with the biotech company Sanaria Inc. have demonstrated in a clinical trial that a new vaccine for malaria called Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac has been up to 100 percent effective when assessed at 10 weeks after last dose of vaccine. For the trial, Professor Peter Kremsner and Dr. Benjamin Mordmuller of the Institute of Tropical Medicine and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) used malaria parasites provided by Sanaria. The vac-cine incorporated fully viable -- not weakened or otherwise inactivated -- malaria pathogens together with the medication to combat them. Their research results have been published in the latest edition of Nature.
Malaria parasites are transmitted by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite is responsible for most malaria infections and almost all deaths caused by the disease worldwide. Most of the previous vaccines which have been tried involved the use of individual molecules found in the pathogen. However, they were unable to provide sufficient immunity to the disease. The Tuebingen study involved 67 healthy adult test persons, none of whom had previously had malaria. The best immune response was shown in a group of nine test persons who received the highest dose of the vaccine three times at four-week intervals. At the end of the trial, all nine of these individuals had 100 percent protection from the disease.
"That protection was probably caused by specific T-lymphocytes and antibody responses to the parasites in the liver," Professor Peter Kremsner explained. The researchers analyzed the bodies' immune reactions and identified protein patterns which will make it possible to further improve malaria vaccines, Kremsner added. The researchers injected live malaria parasites into the test subjects, at the same time preventing the development of the disease by adding chloroquine -- which has been used to treat malaria for many years. This enabled the researchers to exploit the behavior of the parasites and the properties of chloroquine.
Once the person is infected, the Plasmodium falciparum parasite migrates to the liver to reproduce. During its incubation period there, the human immune system could respond; but at this stage, the pathogen does not make the person sick. On top of that, chloroquine does not take effect in the liver -- so it is unable to prevent the parasite from reproducing. Malaria only breaks out when the pathogen leaves the liver, entering the bloodstream and going into the red corpuscles, where it continues to reproduce and spread. As soon as the pathogen enters the bloodstream, however, it can be killed by chloroquine -- and the disease cannot break out.
"By vaccinating with a live, fully active pathogen, it seems clear that we were able to set of a very strong immune response," said study leader Benjamin Mordmueller, "Additionally, all the data we have so far indicate that what we have here is relatively stable, long-lasting protection." In the group of test persons who demonstrated 100 percent protection after receiving a high dose three times, Mordmueller said, the protection was reliably still in place after ten weeks -- and remained measurable for even longer. He added that the new vaccine showed no adverse effects on the test persons. The next step is to further test the vaccine's effectiveness over several years in a clinical study in Gabon funded by DZIF. Malaria is one of the biggest health threats in the African nation. The University of Tuebingen has worked with the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Gabonese town of Lambarene and with the neighboring research institute, the Centre de Recherches Medicales de Lambarene, for many years.
Malaria is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. The World Health Organization reports that some 214 million people became infected with malaria in the year 2015 alone. Approximately 438,000 died of the disease. Around 90 percent of those malaria deaths were in Africa. Nearly three-quarters of those who succumb to the disease are children under five. The search for a vaccine has been going on for more than a century. An effective vaccine would make it easier to control malaria; vaccination campaigns could be conducted in severely affected areas to eliminate the pathogen. Such a vaccine could also help to stop the spread of resistance to the treatment, and to better protect travelers.
Recently the only Russian aircraft carrier (the Kuznetsov) completed its longest and busiest cruise yet, spending 117 days at sea and carrying out 420 aircraft takeoffs using its Su-33s and MiG-29Ks jets. Some of those flights were for combat missions in Syria. That level of activity comes out to 3.6 fixed wing aircraft operations per day. While doing that two jets were lost. Russia considered this a training cruise that cost less than $200 million. That was true but while it demonstrated the Russian carrier could carry out flight operations it did them at a lower level of intensity and with far more accidents than their U.S. Navy counterparts. An American carrier averages about 24 catapult assisted aircraft operations a day over careers that last more than 40 years. The accident rate is much lower than what the Russians experienced. While the Russians may not gain much from this achievement, the Chinese are paying attention because the Chinese, unlike the Russians, already have one carrier operational and another one under construction. The Chinese, in a way, are out to finish what the Kuznetsov started. Kuznetsov has an interesting history that started back in the 1970s and eventually involved China as well.
Only two ships of this class exist; the original Kuznetsov, which is in Russian service, and the Varyag, which was sold to China, by Ukraine, which inherited the unfinished ship then building in a Ukrainian shipyard when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. China rebuilt the Varyag as the Liaoning.
Kuznetsov entered service in 1995, after a decade of construction. The Kuznetsov was an experiment to see if Russia could build and operate a large carrier. Kuznetsov is a 65,000 ton (full load) ship that uses a ski jump type flight deck instead of a steam catapult. The ship normally carries a dozen navalized Su-27s (called Su-33s), 14 Ka-27PL anti-submarine helicopters, two electronic warfare helicopters and two search and rescue helicopters. Max capacity is 36 Su-33s and sixteen helicopters. The ship carries 2,500 tons of aviation fuel, allowing it to generate 500-1,000 aircraft and helicopter sorties. Crew size is 2,500 (or 3,000 with a full aircraft load.) The crew size for the recent trip to Syria was only 2,000.
Originally the Russians planned to build four or more large (similar to the American Nimitz class) nuclear powered carriers. But they soon realized (in the late 1970s) that this was beyond their capabilities or resources. By the time construction began in 1982 the design had been scaled back to what it now is and the number planned was only two. Nine years later the Soviet Union went bankrupt and dissolved. Construction of the Kuznetsov was completed by the mid-1990s but from 1995 to 2005 there was no money to send the carrier to sea much. A mockup of the flight deck was built on land so the Kuznetsov's air group could practice carrier landings. After 2000 the Russian Navy began to rebuild and again made plans to build five or more larger carriers but by 2010 it was clear the money was not there and would not be for a long time. So Kuznetsov, after nearly 40 years of effort, appears to be the end of the line for Russian carriers, at least for the next decade or so.
While the Kuznetsov was undergoing a 24 month refurbishment in 2005-7, the navy realized that the Su-33 was also in need of replacement and in 2009 ordered 24 MiG-29Ks to replace the Su-33s. In 2008 the carrier version of the Russian MiG-29, the MiG-29K, made its first flight, about fifteen years later than originally planned. The MiG-29K modifications included arrestor gear and stronger landing gear for carrier landings, folding wings and rust proofing to reduce corrosion from all that salt water. Anti-radar paint is also used, to reduce the radar signature. Fuel capacity was increased 50 percent and more modern electronics installed. A more powerful engine is used, which enabled the aircraft to carry over five tons of weapons (air-to-air and anti-ship missiles, smart bombs).
In 2007, after two years of refurbishment, returned to service. But the refurb, like the original construction, was sloppy. Ten years later the Kuznetsov finally got a chance to do what it was designed for (long cruises to distant waters) and demonstrated that it could go through the motions but not much more than that.
The famous "Potemkin Village" is named after Russian Prince Gregori Aleksandrovich Potemkin and 18th century general who erected false fronts on impoverished villages to cover up his shortcomings as a civil administrator during the reign of Catherine the Great, in the late eighteenth century. This impressed foreign visitors (who did not realize what was going on) as well as the empress Catherine (who did realize what was going on). Catherine and her favorite prince went on to become very close friends.
The war on drugs has been suspended so that the suddenly larger (or at least more visible) issue of police corruption can be addressed. While recent opinion surveys showed 85 percent of Filipinos approve of the violent crackdown on illegal drugs at the same time 78 percent were fearful they, or someone they know, may become a victim of the increased violence. This unease was based on the growing instances of corrupt cops using their new license to kill for personal gain. The fear became headline news when a group of corrupt cops were arrested in January for kidnapping and murdering a wealthy South Korean.
President Rodrigo Duterte took officer in mid-2016 and admitted that he got elected because he had demonstrated as a mayor of a large city that radical solutions can work. Duterte said he would eliminate drug crime (including addiction) and the related corruption. Most Filipinos know that complete eradication is unlikely but that other countries in the region have managed to greatly reduce drug use and related criminal activity. Nearby Singapore is the best example but Singapore has never been as ethnically and culturally diverse as the Philippines nor did it have a centurys long tradition of corruption and widespread criminality. Still, most other nations in the region have less crime and drug addiction and most Filipinos see progress as a possibility. Duterte is responding to the widespread feeling that some kind of radical solution is needed. Duterte apparently realizes that he has a short period of time to make some fundamental changes before public enthusiasm wanes and his powerful opponents (major drug gangs and corrupt senior politicians and bureaucrats) get organized. He apparently sees the recent police corruption revelations as an opportunity. Catching and punishing corrupt cops is popular but the corruption is a persistent and difficult problem to eliminate. For example back in 2008 the army and national police were cracking down on corruption and sloppiness. A lot more readiness inspections, and investigations were taking place. Dozens of corrupt police were being fired each month and soldiers of all ranks were charged with corruption or incompetence. That crackdown did not gain the expected momentum and only reduced the problems a bit. Despite that the anti-corruption investigations continued and even increased when the new president took power in mid-2016. Reformers have pushed for a massive and sustained effort and now they may have some momentum.
There are some underlying problems. The Philippines has only been united for a few centuries and always suffered from high levels of corruption. Currently the Philippines is not rated as one of the most corrupt nations on the planet. Instead the Philippines is seen as near the middle (101 out of 176 countries) for 2016. Somalia was rated the most corrupt nation in the world and has held that dubious distinction for a decade. Corruption in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The most corrupt nations (usually North Korea, Somalia or, since 2011, South Sudan) have a rating of under fifteen while of the least corrupt (usually Denmark) is often 90 or higher. The current Filipino score is 31 compared to 40 for China, 40 for India, 33 for Vietnam, 72 for Japan, 61 for Taiwan, 37 for Indonesia, 49 for Malaysia, 79 for Australia, 84 for Singapore, 53 for South Korea, 45 for South Africa, 17 for Iraq, 41 for Turkey, 46 for Saudi Arabia, 48 for Jordan, 28 for Lebanon, 29 for Iran, 66 for the UAE (United Arab Emirates), 64 for Israel, 25 for Afghanistan. 32 for Pakistan, 29 for Russia, 11 for South Sudan, 12 for North Korea, and 74 for the United States. A lower corruption score is common with nations in economic trouble. African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones. Fixing an existing culture of corruption has proved a most difficult challenge.
The problem with reducing corruption is that it takes a lot longer than going after the drug trade and related criminal organizations. But if a lot more progress can be made in reducing corruption in the security services that would make it a much more difficult for corrupt politicians and judges to survive. Already the publicity the recent South Korean victim has received has resulted in hundreds of new tips about the activities of corrupt cops and many of the informants are willing to provide details that can lead to quick arrests.
Islamic Terrorism
In the southeast (Sulu and Basilan) the search continues for Abu Sayyaf factions that are holding 28 kidnapping victims (a German, five Malaysians, seven Indonesians and six Vietnamese and nine Filipinos) for ransom. The search down there has been more energetic in the last year because of Abu Sayyaf has turned to piracy and kidnapping crews from ships belonging to neighboring countries. This has brought demands that this sort of thing cease or else there would be economic repercussions (there is a lot of trade between southern Philippines and neighboring nations). That got the attention of many Moslem leaders in the south. There were other incentives to help destroy Abu Sayyaf. ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is trying to establish a larger presence in the Philippines and so far has over 500 local followers, Most of them belong to Abu Sayyaf but about a hundred are from what is left of the Manute and BIFF groups. Since early 2016 the government and MILF have cooperated (mainly in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces) on destroying rouge MILF factions like BIFF and the Maute Group. Together these two factions have fewer than a hundred active members left. Abu Sayyaf by contrast may still have as many as 400 active members. Manute was founded in 2013 by dissident MILF members who did not want peace with the government and preferred to keep fighting. By 2015 Maute had made little progress and decided to proclaim itself part of ISIL. Since then Manute became more violent and threatening. At the start of 2016 Maute had nearly 200 members. Manute has suffered heavy losses this year in part because MILF got fed up with them and quietly helped the security forces with information on exactly who and where Manute was. Meanwhile Manute found that that behaving like ISIL did not help with recruiting and fundraising but just brought more pressure on them. Since November over 70 Manute members have been killed or captured. BIFF has tried to keep up but has not been as ruthless and reckless as Manute. The actions of Manute forced the larger Moslem separatist groups MNLF and MILF to crack down on Moslems who work with the Islamic terrorists. Now Abu Sayyaf is considered unworthy of local support by the Moslem community and the Abu Sayyaf leaders know that is the worst thing that could happen to them.
The Incredible Shrinking Communist Threat
Until February 4th the government kept the peace negotiations with the NPA (the illegal armed wing of the local Communist Party) going despite persistent NPA demands that hundreds of jailed NPA members be freed first. The third round of talks took place in early January and were not a success. The problem is that too many NPA factions refuse to make peace and by the end of January the ceasefire was over because of many attacks by these factions. Until the NPA can regain control over (or disown) disobedient factions the government will resume its efforts to destroy the leftist rebel group. The NPA accused the military of violating the August 21st ceasefire by arresting veteran NPA rebels. The military pointed out that these were men who surrendered and brought his weapons with them and that this is part of a trend. These surrenders played a role in persuading NPA leaders to consider a peace treaty. This led to peace talks in Norway in August 2016 and progress was made. But some NPA leaders oppose peace talks and cannot accept the fact that many, if not most, veteran NPA members are fed up with their career of banditry. Thus it is no surprise that NPA violence declined since the ceasefire began and in some areas there have been no incidents since the August 21 ceasefire began. But for a minority of NPA members peace is not seen as a solution.
The China Hustle
China continues to insist the South China Sea areas it has seized from the Philippines and others now belong to China and it is best to take whatever China offers than to try and fight back. Most Filipinos are willing to fight but president Duterte has gotten $33 billion in loan or aid pledges from China because of vague assurances that he would expel the Americans and support Chinese claims. The Chinese are becoming reluctant to deliver any of this promised aid because of the growing fear that Duterte is playing them and dares not go against the will of his people and military advisors. The poll numbers seem to show Filipinos appreciate whats going on here even if a lot of foreign critics dont. So despite all the nice things Duterte says to China his Defense Minister openly denounces the continued Chinese efforts to build artificial islands in Filipino waters so China can claim the new islands as part of China. Duterte is seen as trying to avoid having a war between China and the United States take place so close to the Philippines. Filipino military leaders point out that the U.S. would operate at a disadvantage against Chinese military moves without access to some Filipino bases and that the Philippines would probably be attacked by China no matter what. That happened to many neutral countries during World War II and for Chinese territorial expansion to work the Philippines is an obstacle with or without Americans involved. The eventual annexation of the Philippines by China is openly discussed in Chinese media. Despite all this Duterte believes China will pay well for a few kind words. Thats how Chinese diplomacy has been conducted since the 1990s.
February 14, 2017: Abu Sayyaf released a video threatening to kill a German hostage if a ransom of $600,000 were not paid by the 26th. Thats about 90 percent less than is usually demanded for foreigners but Abu Sayyaf is desperate and this particular German has not got a lot of popular support back in Germany (thats another story).
February 13, 2017: In the central Philippines (Masbate province) troops clashed with NPA rebels and killed four of them and captured eight.
In the south (Sarangani province) soldiers captured an NPA rebel.
February 9, 2017: In the south (Tawi-Tawi province) police killed Ninok Sappari, the wanted Abu Sayyaf leader of a kidnapping operation. Sappari and an associate were apparently at a beach resort looking for a foreign visitor they could kidnap. Arrests like this are reducing the Abu Sayyaf ability to raise cash.
February 7, 2017: In the south (Sulu Island) marines encountered a group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen and killed eight and captured another during a fire fight and pursuit.
In the central Philippines (Capiz province) soldiers searching for NPA rebels reported to be setting up roadside bombs and mines were ambushed by the rebels, losing one dead and two wounded. The leftist rebels escaped.
February 1, 2017: In the south (Davao Oriental province) one soldier was killed and another wounded during a clash with NPA rebels. Today marked the end of an NPA ceasefire that began in August 2016.
January 31, 2017: In the south (Sulu Island) several clashes with Abu Sayyaf left five of the Islamic terrorists dead and seven wounded. Two soldiers were also wounded. The troops were looking for an Abu Sayyaf faction led by Alhabsy Misaya. This faction is believed to be holding many of the kidnapping victims Abu Sayyaf holds for ransom.
January 30, 2017: Because of a growing investigation of police corruption, especially by police involved in anti-drug operations, the government has temporarily halted its crackdown on illegal drugs. Since the anti-drug campaign began in July 2016 some 2,600 suspects have been killed. During that time there were 53,000 arrests and some seven million locations were searched. Most of the dead were suspects who violently resisted arrest or searches but nearly 40 percent were the result of local vigilantes or drug gangs killing suspected informers or rivals. The extent and intensity of these efforts caused over 1.1 million people to turn themselves in. Since 93 percent of those surrendering were users nearly all were released, especially if they provided information about their suppliers. So far the police and military have suffered fewer than 120 casualties, mostly wounded but including 38 dead.
January 29, 2017: In the south (Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces) troops went looking for Abu Sayyaf and Manute Islamic terrorists over the last few days. Aerial reconnaissance spotted the enemy in several places and airstrikes and artillery fire were often used against them initially until troops could reach the location. Troops discovered that fifteen Abu Sayyaf and Manute members were killed. One of the dead was apparently Mohisen, a veteran Indonesian Islamic terrorist. The leader of the local Abu Sayyaf group was apparently wounded as were several of the other Islamic terrorists who escaped the air and ground search.
The airstrikes were carried out by the recently arrived FA-50 jets on their first combat mission. In late 2013 the government ordered a dozen of these advanced jet trainers from South Korea. These arrived recently configured to serve as fighters or ground attack aircraft.
January 23, 2017: The government agreed to not upgrade any of its military installations in the South China Sea. This is not a permanent thing and apparently in response to China committing to $3.7 billion for projects to address poverty reduction in the Philippines. China has pledged more deals like this, in return for some good will, or whatever, from the Philippines. At the same both Chinese and Filipino officials have to keep in mind that opinion polls in Philippines continue to show over 80 percent of the population backs opposition to Chinese claims in the South China Sea. China takes things like this as a victory and because China has managed to buy similar victories all over the region, and the world, the cumulative effort pays off.
January 21, 2017: In the south (North Cotabato province) an NPA rebel died and several were wounded during an effort to ambush soldiers looking for them. Eight soldiers were killed and the search for leftist rebels responsible continued. NPA claimed the troops were violating the NPA ceasefire by entering territory claimed by the NPA. The government never agreed with those NPA control claims and the troops were answering calls for help from local villagers, who were being threatened by local NPA gunmen.
January 18, 2017: The government admitted that corrupt police had been responsible for the recent kidnapping and murder of Ji Ick Joo a South Korean businessman operating in the Philippines. The dirty cops killed their victim rather than keep him alive and extorted $140,000 from his family before police investigators discovered corrupt police were responsible. Soon this investigation revealed far more police corruption related to the anti-drug effort.
Amy Jacksons iPhone hacked, hackers leak personal pictures stored on iCloud
Unknown hackers have hacked into British model and Indian actress, Amy Jacksons iPhone and leaked her private and explicit images online. The images leaked by the hackers are doing rounds on WhatsApp and Facebook posts in India.
Amy Jackson is a British-born Indian actress who is quite famous in Tollywood the portmanteau for Tamil film industry. Amy Jackson started as an actress in the 2010 Tamil period-drama Madrasapattinam. While further pursuing her modeling career in the UK, Jackson debuted in Bollywood romantic drama Ekk Deewana Tha, which flopped miserably. She later starred in Prabhudevas Singh Is Bling in 2015 opposite Akshay Kumar which was an average hit.
According to Jackson, he had given her iPhone for repair at a mobile store in London when she was not able to access her iCloud account. When Jackson returned to Chennai she found that her iPhone had been hacked and the hackers had released her personal and private images on the Internet. While she believes that her iPhone was hacked at the mobile store, should couldnt confirm it.
Speaking about the incident, Amy was quoted by mid-day as saying, I was shocked when this happened. This isnt a trivial matter and has to be taken up seriously. I will register a complaint with the cyber crime cell in London and ensure the hackers are taken to task. Cyber safety is the need of the hour.
The actress was performing at the Vanitha Awards in Kochi. Thanks Kerala! Next stop Chennai for Robot 2.0 shoot, she posted on her Twitter page.
Indian actresses from down under have been victims of such hacks. Earlier last year, hackers had hacked similarly into Hansika Motwani and Anushka Shettys social media accounts and leaked explicit images. In both cases, the images and videos went viral while the police were unable to apprehend the hackers.
A man taking a walk in Limerick, Ireland, had no idea he was about to encounter a wild local who needed a little help. The man, Jack McGrath, was crossing a bridge when he saw a rather large white swan standing there, looking a little lost, as cars rushed by.
Deirdre Power
"I was walking over the bridge on my way home from work and met two American tourists who were watching the swan in distress but didn't know how they could help it," McGrath told The Dodo. "So I stayed with it till it got comfortable with me and then rang Limerick Animal Welfare (LAW) to ask for advice."
Deirdre Power
Unfortunately, LAW was 25 miles away - and the swan needed help fast. It was rush hour and he was already a bit stunned by the traffic.
Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Rescued Animals Melt Into This Woman's Arms When She Sings To Them
Deirdre Power
"We took the call from Jack and after making sure the bird was not sick or injured, Jack kindly guided the swan back to the river," Marie Quirke, sanctuary manager at LAW, told The Dodo. Experts at LAW talked with Jack over the phone about the possibility of either lifting or guiding the swan back to the safety of the water. McGrath waited until the swan seemed a little calmer before he tried to walk with him. Finally, the swan seemed to trust McGrath to help him.
Deirdre Power
And so the man and swan set off for the river. The swan was a little fickle, darting out in front of traffic.
Deirdre Power
Naturally, McGrath jumped out in front of oncoming cars, too, to keep the swan safe. "I helped guide him across the bridge walking side by side with him to make sure he stayed safe," McGrath said. "Then walked him down he steps to the river and stayed until he jumped in to safety."
Deirdre Power
"I loved the experience as I've always had a soft spot for animals," McGrath said, "so there was no way I was leaving the poor fella there in distress."
Deirdre Power
McGrath's good deed didn't go unnoticed.
Deirdre Power
When asked how he celebrated a job well done, McGrath said he "celebrated like a normal young person on a Saturday night with a few drinks then woke up Sunday morning saw 35 notifications on my phone." People from all over the world were asking McGrath about the rescue.
Deirdre Power
Deirdre Power
"I could not believe what I was seeing," McGrath said. "I'm so humbled by the reaction this is getting - to me it's such a modest task to help an animal in need." "Now taking bookings for nightclub appearances," McGrath joked on Facebook. "PM for details."
Deirdre Power
Deirdre Power
"Our sincere thanks to you, Jack," LAW wrote. And ours, too.
Deirdre Power
Deirdre Power
For the past seven years On Valentine's Day, instead of sending ordinary flowers or candy, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue has been delivering what it calls "puppygrams."
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
Basically, people can place orders with the rescue, based in Asheville, North Carolina, to send their loved ones roses, a card and a cupcake - all delivered by an adorable, adoptable puppy. Those who are feeling extra generous can even upgrade to two puppies, who will deliver a cupcake, a dozen roses and four handmade truffles.
Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Rescued Animals Melt Into This Woman's Arms When She Sings To Them
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
"We first came across the idea on a fundraising message board back in 2011, and it just took off here in Asheville the first time we tried it," Jackie Teeple of Brother Wolf Animal Rescue told The Dodo. "We also use local bakeries, chocolatiers and florists for the supplies so it's a great way to support our local businesses as well."
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
All of the puppies who make the deliveries are adoptable, and this year, 10 of the puppies involved have an incredible rescue story, making their deliveries even sweeter. Morgan the pregnant dog was homeless and about to give birth, so she took shelter under a deserted home to have her puppies. Unfortunately, the little family ended up stuck under there in the freezing cold, until a construction crew working on the home heard tiny cries coming from underneath the floorboards.
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
The construction workers quickly got permission to pull up the floorboards, and were able to rescue Morgan and her 10 newborn puppies. The owners of the home reached out to Brother Wolf Animal Rescue to see if they could take the mom and her puppies, and they of course agreed.
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
Morgan and her family immediately went into foster care, where the puppies grew stronger and healthier every day. The puppies are around 8 weeks old now, and finally looking for their forever homes.
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
"All puppies are available for adoption, and are scheduled for spay/neuter tomorrow," Teeple said. "Folks can complete an application online or at our center, work with an adoption counselor to make sure it's a good fit, then take the pups home once they're back from surgery!"
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
Animals' Angels
Many Americans probably have no idea that over 100,000 U.S. horses are sent to other countries each year just to be slaughtered. And last year, many of the over 30,000 U.S. horses trucked to Canadian slaughterhouses suffered inhumane conditions as they were sold at auction and transported, a new report found. A horse with a broken front leg in a holding pen at auction | Animals' Angels Ever since the last horse slaughterhouses here in the U.S. closed in 2007, unwanted horses have been transported long distances to meet their sad end. Much of the horse meat is exported to the European Union (EU) for consumption. But in 2015, the EU banned the import of horse meat from Mexico because sick horses, or horses with dangerous drugs in their systems, were being slaughtered and it was almost impossible to trace whether the meat would be safe for consumption by people. Now, advocates are pushing for a full-fledged ban, citing what the latest investigation of horses sent to slaughter in Canada has revealed. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs Crowded pens where unwanted horses are kept before being sent to slaughter | Animals' Angels Maryland-based advocacy group Animals' Angels (AA) has spent the last two years investigating the horse slaughter pipeline to Canada. The group found blind, sick, emaciated and disabled horses with sores and infections packed into trucks, which drove them for up to 20 hours to their final destinations. Some were discovered dead on arrival. Horses bound for slaughter being loaded onto transport truck | Animals' Angels Through firsthand observation of livestock auctions and transport trucks, as well as information obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), AA concluded that inhumane and illegal treatment of horses bound for slaughter in Canada is rampant. An emaciated horse being sold for slaughter | Animals' Angels At the U.S. auctions where horses are sold to "kill buyers," people who buy horses at low prices to send them to Canada for slaughter, investigators found that the horses were cruelly handled and packed into dirty pens. After horses were purchased, investigators found that almost every single kill buyer "demonstrated a complete lack of concern for the well-being and the welfare" of horses in their care. "Horses are routinely kept in overcrowded, filthy conditions without shelter. Access to necessary veterinary care ... is virtually nonexistent and wounded or ill horses are often left to die alone." Unwanted horse with severe eye infection being sold at auction | Animals' Angels AA, along with a coalition of European animal welfare groups, supplied its findings to the EU Commission in hopes that it would issue a full ban on horse meat imports from Canada. "In the field, we continue to witness the inherent cruelty of the horse slaughter trade," a release from AA stated. "The complete indifference to the suffering of the animals is shocking." Stressed horses in crowded pens sometimes turn on each other | Animals' Angels But there are several ways people can help these horses, especially now. In January, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (H.R. 113), a bill aiming to stop horse slaughter, was introduced to Congress. "We encourage everyone to contact their representatives and urge them to support the SAFE Act," Sonja Meadows, director of AA, told The Dodo. "We believe that raising awareness is the key to promoting the long-term, positive changes our horses need." Valerie Pringle, equine protection specialist with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), added that people can have a real impact in protecting America's horses by supporting legislation that seeks to protect horses against the horse meat industry, and by making the right decisions when getting a horse. Unwanted horses and foals without shelter in frigid temperatures | Animals' Angels "The overpopulation of American horses needs to be addressed by the horse industry; [it] should focus on eliminating overbreeding and expanding and supporting adoption and horse rescues," Pringle told The Dodo. "Horse owners who can no longer keep their horse have many other options, and the HSUS has resources to help them find a humane option." She added that people interested in owning a horse "should adopt from a reputable horse rescue, whose horses deserve a second chance." Pringle's own horse, Braveheart, was saved when Pringle adopted him from an auction house. "I could not be happier with him!" she said. When Donald Trump met Justin Trudeau, the talk was of bridges instead of walls. The first meeting between the new U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister ended with a commitment to allow cargo trucks to more smoothly traverse the planned Gordie Howe International Bridge, which would cross the Detroit River to connect Michigan with Ontario. Despite the areas of agreement, including mutual co-operation between the two countries to advance free and fair trade, Americas neighbour to the north could still become a testing ground for Trumps brawny brand of economic policies. Read more: After Trump meeting, Canadian ambassador cautiously optimistic about NAFTA Donald Trump-Justin Trudeau meeting polite but inconclusive: Walkom Thats because Canada and its wealth of auto plants, steel works and iron smelters, risk bumping up against a key plank in the administrations plans to boost domestic production by promoting traditionally male-dominated industries including lumber mills, shipyards and metal manufacturing. Theres certainly a policy risk to the downside, said Randall Bartlett, chief economist at the Ottawa-based Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy. On a sector-specific basis, U.S. protectionism may help certain industries in the short run by reducing competition. Canada imports more from the U.S. than it exports when taking into account services, but that trade deficit morphs into a small surplus when only goods are included. And while that trade imbalance pales in comparison to the size of ones run by other countries, this is a case in which Canadas closeness to the U.S. long a boon could become a hindrance. Three industries stand out when it comes to Trumps plans to promote shipyards and iron smelters and in the words of Steve Bannon, senior presidential adviser get them all jacked up. Canada runs notable surpluses with the U.S. in primary metal manufacturing, wood products, and transportation equipment. Oil and gas, another area of surplus, appears less likely to come under scrutiny given the presidents enthusiasm for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would link Alberta to Nebraska. The risk is that trade imbalances in specific sectors set the stage for conflict between Trump and Trudeau, potentially fought through changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement or targeted tariffs. On Monday, in a joint press conference with Trudeau, Trump talked of tweaking NAFTA in order to make it better for both countries. What we should anticipate is incremental adjustments to certain sectors that are already sources of pressure, like softwood lumber for example, said Frances Donald, senior economist at Manulife Asset Management in Toronto. Moreover, if Trump views trade as a tactical zero-sum game, geographic proximity can become a weakness for his targets as companies seek to placate the president by shifting jobs and factories stateside. On that front, production decisions made in the Great Lakes region are of particular importance to the new U.S. administration. Four states in that area flipped in the Republicans favour in 2016, and were pivotal in delivering the victory to Trump. It wouldnt be the first time the U.S. poached factories from Canada, either. The Electro-Motive Diesel plant shifted operations from London, Ont. to Muncie, Ind. back in 2012. It may not be that simple for Trump to engineer a he-covery in the U.S. through protectionist trade policies that benefit specific sectors, according to a new report by the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management and the Ivey Business School. Due to NAFTA as well as auto deals stretching back to 1965, the Great Lakes region on both sides of the border has become an economic unit unto itself, with vertically integrated supply chains spanning the international boundary. Generally, its more efficient to produce parts stateside and assemble them in the north so Canada runs a trade deficit of more than $13 billion in auto parts, and a surplus of more than $31 billion in passenger cars with the U.S. Surgical measures to move Canadian auto assembly jobs to the U.S. would probably have a muted effect on the balance of trade in motor vehicles and parts as a whole, the report said. Meanwhile, producing these cars would also become more expensive, and either reduce the competitiveness of the U.S. automotive industry or crimp profit margins, it added. Theres a weird perverse incentive whereby thickening borders you promote exports coming into U.S. because it gives advantages to importing completed goods rather than shipping goods back and forth across North American borders, said Mike Moffatt, co-author of the report in his capacity as an assistant professor at Ivey Business School in Ontario. Whats going to happen is youre going to increase production costs, and those are costs that wont be borne by overseas manufacturers. Other Trump administration policy priorities might be more effective when it comes to encouraging manly industries, Moffatt said, pointing to deregulation as something that could bear fruit by improving the competitiveness of the Great Lakes region. Like the Gordie Howe Bridge, we need to find ways to lower costs, he said. Having trucks delayed for less time when crossing the border by cargo pre-clearance is an amazing idea. Read more about: SHARE: Canadian TV personality Jennifer Valentyne has joined Q107s Derringer in the Morning show. Veteran host John Derringer alluded big news was coming to Q107s morning show via Twitter on Saturday. He delivered the news right off the bat on his Valentines Day broadcast. Or in this case, Valentynes day broadcast. Former Live Eye veteran Valentyne is joining Derringer, Ryan Parker and John Garbutt, weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. I think Toronto listeners will be surprised to a see a whole new side of me, Valentyne said in a statement. On todays show, she pointed out that this is the only job I applied for, adding that she had to build a resume and apply for the position. Derringer said that since Valentyne got the job on Jan. 1 after interviewing in October, but the station decided it would be appropriate to have her first show on Valentines Day. The trick would not have worked as well if she had applied in August, Derringer joked. Derringer and Valentyne both expressed a deep appreciation for each others work. Jennifer is the perfect fit to round out our existing all-star team, said Blair Bartrem, senior brand director for Q107. Weve been searching for our very own Elaine to join our Seinfeld-like cast of characters and now weve found her. Valentyne left Breakfast Televisions Live Eye in April 2016, after 23 years on the City network show. She then went on to host The Bachelorette Canada After Show on the W Network. This is not the first time Valentyne has been on the radio. She was the Cash Car Girl on Key590 while attending the Centennial College Radio and Television Broadcasting program. SHARE: LONDONHere are words millions of readers have waited many years to hear: Lyra Belacqua, and her daemon, are back. The irrepressible young heroine of Philip Pullmans fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials returns in a new novel being published in Britain and North America on Oct. 19, the first part of a new three-book series collectively titled The Book of Dust. For readers and booksellers, this is news to rival the discovery of a new Harry Potter story. His Dark Materials has sold more than 17.5 million copies around the world. It spawned a Hollywood movie, The Golden Compass with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and a hit stage adaptation. Published between 1995 and 2000, the first three novels Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass took Lyra from her home at Oxford Universitys ancient Jordan College to the North Pole and into parallel worlds on a twisting, hazardous quest. (The first book was retitled The Golden Compass in North America). In Lyras intriguingly unfamiliar world, Victorian-style technology mixes with advanced science and society is overshadowed by an oppressive religious hierarchy known as the Magisterium. Humans live alongside witches and armoured polar bears, and every person is accompanied by an animal companion known as a daemon (pronounced demon) essentially their soul made flesh. Yet the 70-year-old Pullman hesitates to call his books fantasy. I prefer to think I am writing realism, he said. Im writing realism about a different place. Speaking from his home in Oxford, Pullman scrupulously guarded the secrets of the new book. Even its title has yet to be disclosed. The new book begins a decade before the start of the original trilogy, but Pullman said it is not a prequel. Nor is it a sequel. Pullman prefers to call it an equel, or companion story. The first part will deal with something that happened when Lyra was less than 1 year old, he said. So, in that sense, shes the centre of the story, but shes not actually an agent in the story. She is acted upon, so to speak, by other people who are very important. The second part, which will come out later, will deal with events when Lyra is about 20. Theres a new hero a boy readers have encountered before if we were paying attention and a terrifying adventure that takes him into a new world. Multiple worlds abound in Pullmans complex, philosophically rich fictional multiverse. And Pullman said we will learn a lot more about the nature of Dust, a mysterious substance loathed by the religious authorities in His Dark Materials. The Book of Dust, published by divisions of Random House, will probably be one of the autumns biggest sellers. James Daunt, managing director of Britains Waterstones book store chain, said Pullman ranks with J.K. Rowling in his impact on publishing and reading. Daunt said a generation of young readers read first Harry Potter, then the complex, gripping and provocative His Dark Materials. Other books, other authors make claims and bring huge rewards, but these two imprint on everyone who calls themselves a reader, Daunt said. For fans, the mischievous Lyra is one of fictions great child characters, up there with Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn and Scout Finch from Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird. Pullman called her this awkward, difficult, prying, nosy, lying, greedy, untrustworthy child. Shes not a special child, he said. Shes not divinely gifted or anything like that. But she does have certain characteristics that lead her into trouble and which help her get out of trouble. Some critics have ranked Pullmans trilogy alongside J.R.R. Tolkiens fantasy saga The Lord of the Rings, though Pullman said he doesnt particularly like the comparison. In Tolkiens Middle Earth, he said, whats good is good and whats bad is bad and there isnt very much discussion about it. Pullman prefers fantasy that wrestles with moral ambiguity and has one foot firmly in this world. He is also often contrasted with C.S. Lewis, whose saga The Chronicles of Narnia has large doses of Christian allegory. Pullman has called himself an atheist, and some Christian groups have objected to his negative depiction of organized religion. His Dark Materialshas been pulled from some Catholic school library shelves in Canada and the United States over the years. Pullman said he thinks most objections to his books come from people who havent read them. His Dark Materials took its title form John Miltons biblical epic poem Paradise Lost and Pullmans saga has a searching spirituality running alongside its mistrust of organized religion. He said The Book of Dust centres on the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organization, which wants to stifle speculation and inquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free. Global events make that a more pressing and urgent struggle than ever. Pullman said he doesnt try to draw overt parallels with the real world, but they are always present in my mind. Why do we vote into power people who seem to have the interests of themselves and other large, powerful people in mind rather than ours? he asked. Why do we vote to do something so obviously self-destructive as leaving the European Union? I might not be writing about Donald Trump or Brexit or Nigel Farage directly in The Book of Dust, he added, but the questions they pose and the situations they set up are very much part of the world that Im writing about. SHARE: Drake had a typically busy weekend he played two sold-out arena dates, won two Grammy Awards, and might have been caught up in a suicide bid. A newspaper in England reports that Torontos own rap superstar offered to help talk down a man who was standing on a Manchester overpass early Saturday in whats been described as a suicide attempt. The Manchester Evening News reported that Drakes tour bus was caught before 6 a.m. in a traffic jam caused by road closures as police tried to talk to the man standing on the Mancunian Way on the wrong side of the barriers. Insp. Phil Spurgeon told the newspaper: One officer was approached by a male from a tour van caught up in the traffic congestion, claiming to be part of Drakes entourage. He offered for Drake to speak to the male on the bridge, if that would help. The offer was declined with thanks. The man presence on the overpass was described by international media picking up the Evening News account as a suicide attempt, though the Evening News did not characterize it, one way or another. The man was eventually safely taken to hospital. Drake, currently on the Britain leg of his Boy Meets World tour, then went on to perform twice at the Manchester Arena to a total of more than 40,000 people, and win two Grammys in absentia on Sunday night for his single Hotline Bling. Read more about: SHARE: Accused serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer was fired from a Woodstock nursing home for a medication error that put the life of a resident at risk, according to documents obtained by the Star. The documents also reveal that her firing from the Caressant Care home on March 31, 2014, was reported to the College of Nurses of Ontario, which regulates the profession. Yet Wettlaufer, 49, continued to work as a registered nurse until October 2016, when she was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder of people in her care. Four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault were added later. Read more: Inside the troubled life of Elizabeth Wettlaufer, the nurse on the night shift Wettlaufer was fired from Woodstock home, documents show Even after murder charges, previous tragedy casts long shadow in Woodstock From caring nurse to accused serial killer: who is Elizabeth Wettlaufer? All registered nurses fired from their jobs must be reported to the college. But when the Star revealed that Wettlaufer was fired from Caressant, where seven of the alleged murders occurred, home officials and the college refused to say whether notification had occurred. A letter to the college makes clear that it did, and reveals for the first time the reason for Wettlaufers dismissal. We are reporting the termination of the above named individual (Elizabeth Wettlaufer) to the College of Nurses, says the Caressant Care letter, dated April 17, 2014. She was terminated due to a medication error which resulted in putting a resident at risk. The college acknowledged receipt of the termination notice in a letter to Caressant Care dated July 17, 2014. The College is considering the information you have brought forward to determine what further action should be taken, says the colleges letter, also obtained by the Star. The college asked Caressant to keep all documents relevant to Wettlaufers firing for up to two years pending investigation. It adds, however, that the matter will be treated as confidential, and Caressant will not be informed of any investigation into Wettlaufer the college might conduct. The college then thanks Caressant for the notification and adds: It is through actions of this kind that the College is able to fulfil its responsibility for governing the profession and protecting the public interest. Wettlaufer is accused of killing 75-year-old Arpad Horvath at a London nursing home five months after she was fired from Caressant. Police allege she then tried to kill a nursing home resident in Paris, Ont., in September 2015, and tried to kill again while providing in-home care in August 2016. Her dismissal from Caressant raises questions about whether her three alleged victims after leaving the nursing home could have been spared. Jane Meadus, staff lawyer at Torontos Advocacy Centre for the Elderly legal clinic, called on the college to reveal whether it investigated Wettlaufer once it was notified of her dismissal. Who are they protecting? Meadus said of the college. Are they protecting the public or are they protecting their members? Their job is to protect the public, and we need to know that they have done their job. Medication errors in nursing homes are unfortunately common, Meadus said, and nurses who commit them are rarely fired. That suggests Wettlaufers error must have been extremely serious or it came on the heels of a series of medication errors during her seven years at Caressant, Meadus added. What did the college do? Meadus asked. Did they get this (termination notice) and go, Oh, medication error, well just file that away. Whats clear is that there was no record of disciplinary action on Wettlaufers public status with the college until she resigned as a registered nurse shortly before being charged last October, Meadus notes. The college has said it is investigating Wettlaufers professional conduct, but refuses to say whether it investigated her at the time of the dismissal notice. Told about Caressants notification letter, the college refused to say what actions it took, if any. The College understands the publics desire for more information given the extremely serious nature of this case, the colleges director of communications, Deborah Jones, said in a statement to the Star. However, the ongoing criminal investigation, the colleges own investigation and confidentiality requirements limit what the college can say, the statement added. Jones said the college investigates all termination reports it receives and takes appropriate action based on the level of risk to the public. Friends of Wettlaufers have said she told them she got hooked on drugs from the medication cart she controlled at Caressant Care, and got fired when she gave a resident the wrong medicine while high. Meadus also wonders how much information about Wettlaufers dismissal Caressant gave to the college, and whether the family of the resident subjected to the medication error was informed. Contacted by the Star, a Caressant spokesperson, Lee Griffi, refused to comment on the letter to the college. After Wettlaufer was charged, inspectors with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care found 41 medication incidents at Caressant Care between early August and late December 2016. They include five cases where medication was given to the wrong residents, three cases where meds were given at the wrong time, six where the wrong dosage was given, 22 where prescribed meds were not given, and one where a medication was given with no prescription from a physician. On Jan. 25, the ministry suspended new admissions at Caressant because of safety concerns. The for-profit home has 193 beds. Wettlaufer appears via video link Wednesday in a Woodstock court. Read more about: SHARE: CALGARYThe judge in a triple-murder trial advised jurors Wednesday to use common sense and reminded them that the accuseds guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt if they wish to convict him. The charge to the jury is the last step before deliberations begin in the trial of Douglas Garland. The 57-year-old is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-year-old grandson Nathan OBrien. Read more: Man charged with first-degree murder of Calgary boy and his grandparents Father of triple murder suspect says son was angry over unpaid money Calgary murder trial told couple, 5-year-old grandson killed, burned on farm Justice David Gates told jurors they can use as much or as little of the evidence as they want from four weeks of testimony, but not to resort to speculation. Sympathy can have no place in your deliberations. Speculation is guessing or making things up, said Gates in his lengthy instructions. You may rely on the exhibits as much or as little as you see fit. Use your common sense or experience. If you are not sure Mr. Garland committed the offences ... then you must give the benefit of the doubt to him and find him not guilty, he said. It is not enough for you to believe an accused is probably or even likely guilty. Gates said the Crown doesnt have to prove guilt with an absolute certainty but it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Garland doesnt have to prove anything. Garland was charged after the couple and their grandson disappeared from the couples Calgary home on June 30, 2014. Their bodies were never recovered only bone fragments, burned flesh and teeth in the ash from a burning barrel on Garlands farm. There was also ample DNA evidence recovered at the property. You can come to the conclusion that these three individuals are dead, said Gates. The Crown argued during the trial that Garland stewed for years about a dispute with Alvin Liknes over a patent for an oilfield pump they had both worked on. The judge noted that motive is not an essential element the Crown must prove. Gates also warned the jury not to place too much weight on Internet searches found on a hidden hard drive from Garland computer or on books found that were found at the farm. The hard drive contained articles on how to do autopsies and dispose of the dead. There were also numerous photos of dead and dismembered bodies. The books were on poisons and ways of killing. You may not infer from the evidence, or how unpleasant you may find it, or however much you may disapprove of Mr. Garlands alleged Internet browsing choices that Mr. Garland is a person of bad character and likely would have committed the offences charged, Gates said. You are here to decide if the Crown has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, the offences charged in the indictment ... nothing more, nothing less. Read more about: SHARE: HALIFAXThe Nova Scotia Teachers Union will hold a one-day, province-wide strike on Friday its first ever to protest legislation imposing a four-year contract. Union president Liette Doucet said she understands parents will be inconvenienced, but the unions 9,300 members are tired of this government bullying them. Read more:Nova Scotia government to pass bill aimed at ending labour dispute with teachers Its been 122 years and there has never been a full-out strike. Its a historic moment in the history of the NSTU, Doucet said at the legislature Wednesday. Right now teachers feel very disrespected. They are tired of Premier McNeil and his anti-education sentiments and theyre tiring of hearing the rhetoric from this government. Members of the legislature spoke all night and day Wednesday in an effort to slow down passage of the law the Teachers Professional Agreement and Classroom Improvement Act which would end a 16-month-long contract dispute. Speaking at a Halifax Chamber of Commerce event Wednesday afternoon, McNeil said he has approached the labour dispute with an open mind and an open heart. I walked into a powder keg of 20 plus years of frustration, said McNeil, responding to a question from the audience at his annual state of the province address. We as a province for far too long ... have spent our growth before weve earned it. These contracts that were arguing about are actually talking about what I have today that I can invest today. Its not about what I might think Ill get two years from now or three years from now. That would be irresponsible of me. McNeil said the legislation will bring an end to disruptions caused by the teachers work-to-rule campaign, which began Dec. 5 and stipulates teachers should only report for work 20 minutes before class starts and leave 20 minutes after the school day ends. This was about trying to get some level of normalcy back to classrooms, he told reporters. The one-day strike comes at a time Nova Scotia parents are well-used to scrambling for child-care, following a series of snow days. Monday is also a provincial holiday. Tory Opposition Leader Jamie Baillie said Wednesday hed rather not see a strike, but teachers have reached the point where they are intensely frustrated by classroom conditions. When they (the government) keep appointing more committees, when they keep turning a blind eye to todays classrooms, this is what inevitably happens and I think its on the premiers shoulders that hes pushed teachers to the breaking point, he said. NDP Leader Gary Burrill said his party supports the strike action 115 per cent, adding that McNeil should have considered arbitration as a solution to the impasse. Now, he has refused to respect collective bargaining and is forcing a rejected contract on teachers, he said. The premier must take responsibility for the situation we are in. The new contract contains a three per cent salary increase and incorporates many of the elements contained in the first two tentative agreements rejected by NSTU members. The salary package includes zero per cent for the first two years, followed by increases of one per cent in the third year and 1.5 per cent in the fourth, with a 0.5 per cent increase on the last day of the agreement. The bill also establishes a council to improve classroom conditions and a commitment of $20 million over two years to address that issue. There will also be a three-person commission on inclusive education that will be launched 30 days after the bill is passed, with recommendations to be implemented by the beginning of the next school year. Liberal house leader Michel Samson noted in the legislature that a quick passage of the legislation would avert Fridays strike, but it would require unanimous support from all members. Samson said there is public support for the bill. I think Nova Scotians will look at the fact that we had three tentative agreements that the union executive accepted. They had the option to walk away each time from the table, to call a strike, refuse to recommend it to its membership. It didnt, Samson told reporters. He noted one Tory member said he received more phone calls telling him to support the legislation than phone calls telling him not to support it. We are hearing from teachers who are saying they are sick and tired of work-to-rule. They want an end to this and they are supporting the governments efforts to put an end to this. Doucet said teachers will spend Friday protesting the provinces tactics. We understand that parents have been inconvenienced and on Friday they will be as well, however it is time to take a stand, Doucet said Wednesday. Theyve been inconvenienced over the last two years and longer because their concerns for their children in the classroom have not been addressed by this government. The third tentative deal was rejected last week by a vote of 78.5 per cent. The public was to have an opportunity to speak about the bill at the governments law amendments committee Wednesday evening and Thursday. Read more about: SHARE: Canadians were furious last April over a decision by the countrys money laundering watchdog to impose an unprecedented $1.2-million fine against a Canadian bank and then refuse to name the bank, according to documents obtained by the National Observer and the Toronto Star. I am outraged that you would withhold the name of the bank you recently fined for failing to report suspicious transactions, reads one public comment received by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and obtained through an access to information request. The agency tracked public reaction to the decision internally and online and noted nearly unanimous criticism from experts, journalists and the public. I would want to know if the bank where I do my daily banking transactions is involved in criminal activities, reads another public response. FINTRAC should be held accountable in disclosing all of the facts of this investigation and penalty. The agencys online announcement drew 548 page views on the first day a 243-per-cent increase over traffic compared with typical penalty releases, the document says. Even within government, officials were quietly worrying about FINTRACs refusal to name the bank, fearing it would cause all banks facing penalties to expect anonymity and could taint the entire financial industry with the actions of one institution. Internal emails between officials in the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), which oversees more than 400 federally regulated institutions including the countrys banks, anticipated repercussions. As soon as the penalty is published with no name, all the banks will want the same treatment if they are penalized, reads one of the emails shared between OSFI staffers trying to get a handle on the move by their colleagues at the anti-money laundering watchdog FINTRAC last April. One OSFI staffer dug up FINTRACs guidelines and wrote to her colleagues: Looks like naming is not automatic . . . Does this imply that the (administrative monetary penalties) regime is even less effective/dissuasive because public naming is discretionary??? Its the same question journalists, financial experts, lawyers and many Canadians have asked since FINTRAC announced the massive fine last April. The name of the penalized bank has been conspicuous in its absence ever since. In December, the Star and the Vancouver-based National Observer published details of the events that triggered the fine, including 1,200 suspicious transactions involving a convicted fraudster named Andrew Strempler, a Winnipegger who made millions in the online drug market. Its unconscionable, says Kenneth Rijock, a financial crime consultant in the U.S. who regularly investigates Canadian cases and trains law enforcement agencies here. Theres no reason we shouldnt know. Its not just about Canadian banks. Its about the financial industry everywhere needing this information if theyre conducting business in Canada. We need to know this. The overemphasis on privacy that pervades Canadian regulatory systems is in stark difference between Canada and the U.S., he says. Canadians are always more enlightened and less brutal. But that doesnt mean you have to give criminals a pass. In the U.S. this exact set of facts would have resulted in tens of millions in fines and the bank itself would have been required to sign a deferred prosecution agreement, meaning if you dont clean up your act youre going to be charged with a felony or a number of felonies. OFSI officials confirmed in writing that the office discussed the fine with FINTRAC but said that it is prevented by legislation from discussing the nature of those discussions publicly. In response to interview requests, FINTRAC repeated its earlier statement that its decision to withhold the name was made, to send a timely message of deterrence and that the reaction of the financial industry shows, this message of deterrence was heard loud and clear. Based on FINTRAC statements, OSFI officials believed the secrecy would expire once the judicial process concluded and all appeals had been exhausted. No name and shame until the dust settles, i.e. the appeal process has been exercised and completed, reads a note from OSFI official Christine Ring. At this point, it is all a waiting game. In December, FINTRAC officials confirmed that the legal process was complete and that the fine had been paid. But the name of the bank is still being withheld. The reasons remain unclear. A decision like this and the Orwellian doublespeak . . . , said Bill Majcher, a former RCMP financial crimes inspector who trained FINTRAC personnel. FINTRAC is 100 per cent driven by bureaucrats with the bureaucrats mindset. It is not about functionality and its not about bottom line results . . . . The biggest joke is Canada is truly the soft underbelly of global financial crime and money movements. In documents obtained previously by the National Observer and the Star, FINTRAC lays out three criteria for public naming. The mystery bank meets two: It committed a very serious violation and its penalty was greater than $250,000. Nowhere in the emails was the public interest discussed, says Richard Leblanc, a professor of corporate governance at York and Harvard universities. Naming of the institution would cause media scrutiny, but the procedural rights of the bank would remain intact. If a person or firm is charged civilly or criminally, the name of the person or firm is almost always disclosed, as a matter of public interest and transparency, at the time the person or firm is charged, not after the sentence or appeal rights have been exhausted. In emails, OSFI officials lament that withholding the banks name casts suspicion across the entire industry. After the countrys major banks denied that they were the targets of the fine, pressure mounted on smaller banks. Many of our small banks have come under considerable pressure to confirm that they do not have a . . . fine pending, either verbally or through a formal press release, reads an April 16, 2016, email written by an OSFI staffer. The media is determined, through elimination, to find out which bank has the FINTRAC penalty pending. The mystery bank also avoided potential stock price decline, loss of customer trust, investor wrath, and potential civil prosecution. Directors and officers of the unnamed bank may serve on other boards, be hired by other firms, without full knowledge of what transpired by these other firms under their watch. The unnamed bank has essentially, with regulatory consent, transferred this loss to the entire industry as a result of nondisclosure, says Leblanc. The day following the release, the tone of media coverage became increasingly negative and critical, FINTRACs internal review concludes. The key quotes from public inquiries include this: There has been an inordinate amount of bragging since 2008 about how safe and well-regulated and Canadian banking system is. You have much to do if you expect to repair the damage your action has done to this reputation. Experts agree the case cries out for action from the federal government. I suspect that there will never be another case for many years to come with such an egregious compliance record by a bank, said Christine Duhaime, a legal expert on terrorism financing. A banking licence is a privilege in Canada, not a right. Such disregard for the rule of law when it comes to maintaining the integrity of the financial system suggests that perhaps the bank ought not to have the privilege of a banking licence. Legislation should remove FINTRACs discretion and clearly lay out the criteria for naming fined institutions, says James Cohen, interim executive director of Transparency International Canada. This is a case of gross negligence or wilfulness, Cohen says. There should have been no sympathy for the bank In this specific case, transparency would have been the one and only decision. Forensic accountant Charles Smedmor says its time now the mystery bank to be given a clear choice: Disclose, by an approved media release, the situation, or have your banks name disclosed by us. Your choice. With additional reporting from Mike De Souza, National Observer SHARE: If youre a young couple, Toronto Island wants you. Thats the message from Councillor Pam McConnell whos concerned about the islands aging and declining population. Theres a demographic change going on, she said. The tradition of the island has always been families, but now were seeing more seniors. Young couples, McConnell said, are actively being encouraged to join the waiting list for homes which are some of the few remaining bastions of affordable living in Toronto. Census numbers released last week illustrate her concerns. The island saw a 5.6 per cent population decline from 2011 to 2016, leaving only 620 residents. The mainland population, meanwhile, has continued to explode over the past five years. Cityplace and South Core two of the hottest neighbourhoods for young families and young professionals grew by 97.2 per cent and 38.6 per cent, respectively. The GTAs population increased by 5.8 per cent, overall. Pushing reset on the islands demographics would mean a lot of changes. Even if young couples join the waiting list for homes they wont be young when space is offered. A 2009 analysis by the local publication Torontoist estimated it takes 35 years between joining the waiting list which is opened up every two or three years and being offered a house. Thats in part because so few people move away and because there is a federally regulated cap on the number of island dwellings. For any of that to change, a provincial agreement which protects the homes that are there and prevents additional development would have to be reopened. And the terms, reached in 1993 in a bid to protect both the land and the cottage-in-the-city lifestyle of the people living there, are near and dear to lots of hearts. Until that agreement is renegotiated a politically fraught proposition in itself the trends proving themselves now appear are likely to continue. McConnell isnt holding out much hope for progress, noting its difficult for 23 councillors to agree on anything related to the island. Perhaps at some time people will be more reasonable, she said. SHARE: It was a rotten Valentines Day for many businesses near a blaze that devoured a building in midtown Toronto. Especially hard hit were the flower and card shops that rely on sales from the holiday. Yesterday was Valentines Day and Im a greeting card store, so you can only imagine that it definitely hit us hard, said The Papery owner Marla Freedland, whose business sells cards and stationery. The six-alarm blaze, which ignited Tuesday morning, tore through the historic Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto until firefighters contained it in the evening. They stayed on-scene all night, and the fire was under control as of 5:45 a.m., said Chief Matthew Pegg of Toronto Fire Services. The two days of Valentines Day take care of the month of February. Its not quite like Christmas, but for two days its like that, she said of February 13 and 14. Her business, at St. Clair and Yonge St. was closed at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, and didnt reopen until 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The area has been quiet since the fire, she said, adding people have avoided the area. Across the street, Eden Flower Shop was also feeling the pang of a Valentines Day gone awry. Owner Pam Cho was facing the pressure of selling unsold flowers off before she had to throw them out. Her business was open on Valentines Day, but customers werent able to come to the store due to the road closures. We opened, but no business, she said. Over at Paperboy Cards & Gifts, Valentines Day had proved similarly disappointing. Though the road closures hadnt affected them, and they were able to stay open, it wasnt business as usual. Id say business was probably half of what it should have been, said longtime employee Rebecca Griffith. It certainly wasnt like a normal Valentines. Still, there was an upside. Griffith said though their regulars werent able to make it to the store, many new faces showed up because pedestrians were directed their way after Yonge St. was closed. Despite poor business, many owners were feeling the love from the firefighters who battled the blaze. The fire department was fantastic and the police were great, they escorted us out, said Freedland. And on the bright side, she added, no one got hurt and the stores standing and kudos to (the firefighters) we have no smoke or water damage so I feel lucky. Deputy fire chief Jim Jessop praised the firefighters for their work battling the blaze. When you look at the voracity of this fire and how close it was to the surrounding buildings, the job that the women and men of Toronto fire did is nothing short of spectacular, he said. We had no thermal damage and no fire damage to the condominium literally a couple feet across from it and if it wasnt for the efforts of our crews this could have been a lot worse. The clubs parking lot was also flooded as water from the firefighters hoses poured from the buildings front doors. More than 120 firefighters helped douse the flames. Everybodys exhausted, Pegg said, praising crews for their tireless efforts. The cause of the fire wasnt clear Wednesday, nor was the location where the fire started and the cost of damage. SHARE: TTC customers riding outdated streetcars may sometimes feel like theyre stuck in a transit museum, but one city councillor is reviving the idea of creating an official one. Councillor Joe Mihevc, who sits on the TTC board, has added an item to next Tuesdays board meeting requesting that the agency look into creating a TTC transit museum. If you look at the big transportation authorities globally, they all have transportation museums, Mihevc said in an interview. He argued that showcasing the TTCs heritage would help the public connect with the citys history and develop an appreciation and a love for public transit. I think it helps build our brand, and building a good public transit brand helps frankly, at the end of the day, in making the TTC bigger and better. Mihevcs motion calls for the board to create a committee made up of commission staff and other interested parties to explore the feasibility of the project. The group would report back within a year. Mihevcs goal is to have the institution set up in time for the TTCs 100th anniversary in 2021. Mihevcs motion states that the endeavour should be modest and of little or no cost to the TTC. He suggested that the manufacturers of older vehicles could donate them, and the museum could be staffed by volunteers. Chris Prentice, president of the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation, called the idea of a TTC museum fantastic and long overdue. He said his organization would be willing to assist in gathering artifacts to stock it. Not everyone is a fan of the proposal, however. Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who also sits on the TTC board, said he wont support it. We have far more important things to deal with, he said. I think the riding public believes that we should focus our attention on service and improving and expanding our transit service rather than dealing with a nonpriority (like a museum). Councillor and TTC chair Josh Colle also expressed skepticism. My obvious concern is that with the current financial pressures we are facing I would be worried about anything that would shift staff attention or scarce dollars away from transit service, he said. Colle said he hadnt decided yet how he would vote. If the proposal were to go ahead, the TTC would have little trouble finding artifacts. The agency maintains three historic streetcars in working condition, and also owns two 30- to 40-year old buses that are being preserved. According to agency spokesperson Stuart Green, there is also a variety of uniforms and memorabilia in storage at various locations but nothing is formally catalogued. Other artifacts like maps, photos, and film footage have been housed at the Toronto Archives since the 1990s. Transit museums can be significant attractions for some cities. More than 150,000 people a year visit the New York Transit Museum, which is housed in a decommissioned subway station in Brooklyn. The London Transport Museum, which houses 450,000 artifacts spanning three centuries, attracts close to 400,000 annual visitors. The idea of a Toronto transit museum has been floated before. In 2010, the board endorsed a $5.5-million plan to create a transit visitor centre on the ground floor of a proposed new TTC headquarters at Yonge St. and York Mills Rd. It fell through when the transit agencys relocation plans were scuttled. SHARE: A Toronto judge who provided advice on defending against a First Nations land claim, in an area where his family owns a cottage, is now facing a public discipline hearing. However, because Superior Court Justice Frank Newbould had previously signalled he will retire June 1 for personal reasons, its unlikely his case will ever be heard. The Canadian Judicial Council, which handles complaints about federally-appointed judges, announced this week that a five-member review panel found the allegations surrounding Newboulds intervention . . . in the context of a court case so serious that if proven, they may warrant the judges removal from office. Newboulds lawyer, Brian Gover, said the complaints against his client had been dismissed by the council in 2015, and it was Newboulds position that the council does not have the jurisdiction to reconsider a closed complaint. The panel found it does have the power to reconsider, and said an inquiry committee should be struck in the case, including one or more members appointed by the minister of justice. But because the minister has 60 days to do so, with the possibility of an extension, its doubtful the committee would be up and running before Newbould retires. I suppose had the judge decided not to retire, then these issues could have been explored, and perhaps he would have had an opportunity to respond through the inquiry committee process, said council spokeswoman Johanna Laporte. But the judge has chosen to retire. She said the council was following protocol by making a public announcement of the review panels decision. Newbould, 73, is still presiding over cases as team leader of the Commercial List, which handles complex litigation relating to matters such as corporations and bankruptcy. Gover confirmed the judge still plans to retire June 1. The situation raised an issue involving perception, said a statement issued by Gover. It is one for which Justice Newbould apologized in 2014 due to the perception caused by the fact he is a judge. Throughout the entirety of his distinguished judicial career, Justice Newbould has carried out his duties effectively and without bias. Appointed to the bench in 2006, he is perhaps best known in legal circles for presiding over the cross-border Nortel case, which Canadian Lawyer magazine called the largest insolvency restructuring proceeding in Canadian history. The issue before the judicial council relates to a proposed land claim settlement involving the Saugeen First Nation that was discussed at a public meeting called by the mayor of Sauble Beach in 2014. Govers statement says Newboulds family has owned a cottage in the area for about 100 years, and he spoke briefly at the meeting. He then wrote a letter to council, which had requested feedback, in his personal capacity. In an eight-page 2014 letter addressed to the mayor and town council, which is posted on the website of a local radio station, Newbould indicates hes reviewed a great deal of evidence regarding the land claim and also that the lawyers for the federal and provincial governments have declined to discuss the case with him. (Gover said the letter was part of the material before the judicial council when it first dismissed the complaints.) In my view, there are strong defences to the claim of the Saugeen First Nation, Newbould wrote, going on to say: It is difficult to understand how the town could agree to the proposed settlement with all its weaknesses. He recommends, among other things, that there should be representation on any negotiating committee from Sauble Beach residents, and getting a legal opinion from another lawyer. If a satisfactory settlement cannot be made . . . the town should not shy away from defending the claim along with the Province of Ontario, he wrote. Newbould was notified of seven complaints filed against him at the judicial council. The complainants questioned whether a judge who owns property that may be affected is entitled to comment on such issues, said Govers statement. The statement says all the complaints against Newbould were dismissed in January 2015, but that the Indigenous Bar Association pushed for the matter to be reconsidered. Laporte, the judicial council spokeswoman, said the review panel received new information. The Indigenous Bar Associations president, Koren Lightning-Earle, said it would be disappointing if Newbould retires before a hearing can take place. When Canada talks about this reconciliation, are they actually going to put those things together and actually walk the talk? she told the Star. If he just retires, then the action has ended, there is no reconciliation, there is nothing. A trial date for the land claim case has yet to be set. SHARE: A York police officer has been sentenced to 16 months in jail following the sex assault of a 21-year-old woman in the back of his police cruiser. Young Min von Seefried, has now been suspended without pay and will be relieved of his duty, according to York Regional Police. The 34-year-old pulled over a young couple in January 2015, in Markham, after testifying he noticed the colour of the vehicle they were driving in, a gold Mercedes Benz, did not match the colour on the registration. Once at the side of the road, near Woodbine Avenue and Yorktech Drive, the court heard Const. von Seefried requested the woman accompany him to his cruiser. Seated partially inside the vehicle the Chinese foreign exchange student said the officer began kissing and groping her genitals before placing her hand on his penis. Const. von Seefried denied the womans account, 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. Const. von Seefried claimed in his testimony to have been concerned about impaired driving and the girls safety, worrying that she might have been involved in prostitution or domestic issues with the male driver. Justice Marquis Felix rejected his defence in its entirety at a hearing in November 2016 calling parts of it nonsensical. On top of the sentence Const. von Seefried will also be placed on the sex offender registry for 10 years and will be on probation for two years following his jail term. Police Chief Eric Jolliffe said the service does not tolerate this behaviour. We are committed to our value of accountability, he said, and we take any allegation against our members very seriously, he said. York police Const. Andy Pattenden said the service decided to release Const. von Seefrieds image because of a concern there are other victims. Todd Sepkowski, the president of the York Regional Police Association, said the union is currently discussing next steps with lawyers. I want to reassure that the actions of Young Min are not representative of the brave young men and women of York Regional Police who serve our community everyday, he said. Read more about: SHARE: Premier Kathleen Wynne is going on a charm offensive with U.S. governors to keep trade flowing stateside in the new protectionist Trump era. Wynne, who met with Canadas ambassador to Washington David MacNaughton on Wednesday at Queens Park, said relations with American states are on the front-burner. The premier said she would travel to the National Governors Association meeting in Rhode Island for that July 13-16 summit of state leaders. In October, she and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder will co-host a summit of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence governors and premiers in Detroit and Windsor. Ontario-U.S. trade is critical for our businesses and our workers, Wynne said, noting each day there is more than $1 billion of trade between the province and American states. Last month I sent letters to the 27 governors of states that rank Ontario as a top customer, underlining the positive impact our trade creates for U.S. and Canadian workers, she added. As I follow up by speaking directly with many of those governors this month, our government is taking several steps to ensure Ontario workers and businesses are well represented going forward. MacNaughton no stranger to Queens Park as he was principal secretary to former premier Dalton McGuinty more than a decade ago welcomed Wynnes help in promoting trade. I think weve fallen down a bit on the job in terms of convincing them about how their prosperity and their prosperity are so linked, said the ambassador, whose visit came after Mondays meeting at the White House between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and new President Donald Trump. Thats why the reaching out not just to Washington but to the governors and legislators right across the United States is so important. Read more about: SHARE: White House adviser Kellyanne Conways public endorsement of Ivanka Trumps product line appears to be a clear violation of the prohibition against misuse of position, and she should be disciplined, the U.S. governments chief ethics watchdog wrote this week in a letter to the White House. Although U.S. President Donald Trumps press secretary, Sean Spicer, said last week that Conway has been counseled about her statement, the White House has not clarified what that means. Experts in government ethics say that typically, offenses like Conways would result in a letter of reprimand, though it could be grounds for termination. It is up to the head of each agency in this case, the president to determine the punishment. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The Office of Government Ethics has not yet received notification of any disciplinary or other corrective action against Ms. Conway, Walter M. Shaub Jr., director of the office, wrote in a letter to Stefan C. Passantino, the deputy counsel to the president who is the designated ethics officer at the White House. There is strong reason to believe that Ms. Conway has violated the standards of conduct and that disciplinary action is warranted, the letter said. The ethics offices letter adds to the troubles piling up on Conway. On Monday, she was dispatched to the television cameras to say that Michael T. Flynn, the national security adviser, had the full confidence of Trump, just hours before he resigned. On Tuesday, she appeared to respond to criticism of her public performances, posting on Twitter that she serves at the pleasure of the president. His message is my message. His goals are my goals. Uninformed chatter doesnt matter, she wrote. Read more: Trump aide counselled after Ivanka pitch on Fox News, White House says Trump slams Nordstrom for treating daughter unfairly Ivankas dreary garments have no place at the Bay: Mallick Photos: A look at Ivanka Trump's fashion line Last week, Rep. Jason Chaffetz chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called Conways endorsement of Ivanka Trumps product line wrong, wrong, wrong, and he called on the ethics office to investigate. His response was all the more striking given that Chaffetz, a Republican, had brushed off previous calls to investigate Trump or those around him, despite his committees broad investigative powers. Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter, markets fashions under her name, and opponents of Donald Trump have called for a boycott of those and other products and services bearing the family name. Nordstrom, the department store chain, said recently that it would no longer carry her products, one of several retailers that have curtailed or ended their business with her line. Last week, Donald Trump used Twitter to accuse Nordstrom of treating Ivanka Trump unfairly. On Thursday, Conway, whose title is counselor to the president, gave an interview to Fox News from the White House briefing room, with the White House insignia visible behind her, defending the president and his daughter. Go buy Ivankas stuff is what I would say, she said. Im going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody; you can find it online. Federal ethics rules on conflicts of interest specifically exempt the president and vice president. But for any other executive branch employee, the rules prohibit using public office for personal gain, or for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity. Shaub, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013 to a five-year term to head the ethics office, has said that Trump has not gone nearly far enough in separating himself from his business interests. SHARE: On Feb. 6, Germanys most-read newspaper reported that dozens of Arab men, presumed to be refugees, had rampaged through the city of Frankfurt on New Years Eve. The men were said to have sexually assaulted women as they went through the streets; the newspaper dubbed them the Fressgass sex mob, referring to an upmarket shopping street in the city. Bilds report sparked widespread concern in Germany. The nation has taken in millions of migrants over the past few years and there had been reports of similar incidents in Cologne, Germany, and other cities the previous New Years Eve. But police investigating the crime now say that the allegations included in the article are without foundation. According to the Frankfurter Rundschau, the witnesses who spoke to reporters may be investigated themselves. Bild has now deleted the story from its website. The papers online-editor-in-chief on Tuesday said that the company apologized for our own work. There have been plenty of false stories about refugees and migrants in Germany over the past few years, in large part a reflection of divisive political views on the issue within the country and the increasingly fragmented world of online media. They include the story of the Allahu akbar-chanting mob that set Germanys oldest church alight (quickly proven false), for example, or the refugee who took a selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel accused of terrorism links (also false). But most of these stories have been social media-driven, or spread by ideological websites such as Breitbart. Bild, on the other hand, is a major newspaper founded in 1952 with a print circulation in the millions the highest of any European newspaper. While it traditionally takes a centre-right position ideologically, its views on refugees have fluctuated in 2015, Bloomberg wrote that the newspaper had surprised its critics by learning to love refugees. The Local reports that Bild had largely based its report on the accounts of Jan Mai, a well-known restaurateur in Frankfurt, and a 27-year-old woman named Irina. Mai had told the newspaper that 50 Arab men had come into his restaurant, where they caused chaos, stealing coats and assaulting women. The female witness had told the newspaper that the men had grabbed her between her legs and on her breast. Their hands were everywhere, Irina told Bild. Frankfurt police were taken aback by the article they had not heard of any large-scale assaults taking place in the area on New Years Eve but a number of news outlets published aggregated versions of the story, spreading it further. When local newspapers tried to report further on the story, local business owners said they had never seen any kind of sex mob or mass sexual assault on New Years Eve. It was absolutely peaceful, one staff member at a Fressgass bar, not far from Mais establishment, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. On Tuesday, police released a damning statement on the incident that suggested the reports published in Bild were without foundation. The interrogations of the witnesses, guests, and staff have created considerable doubts about the portrayal of events, the statement read, adding that a person allegedly affected by the actions was not in the city at all when the crime occurred. The Frankfurter Rundschau reports that since-deleted social media posts from Irina seemed to suggest she was abroad during the New Years period. Meanwhile, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Mai had published a number of posts on Facebook expressing support for far-right parties and criticizing Merkel on his Facebook pages. Prosecutors are now investigating the witnesses themselves. Reporting on alleged sexual assaults by refugees and migrants is a fraught subject in Germany. Shortly after New Years Eve 2015, rumours of alleged sexual assaults by large groups of men began to circulate on social media, but attracted little attention in the German press and from officials. It was only half a year later that the full extent of the situation became known, with a leaked police report suggesting that there were over 1,200 women assaulted by more than 2,000 men in a number of cities. SHARE: WASHINGTONPhone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former U.S. officials. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time that they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said. The intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election. The officials interviewed in recent weeks said that, so far, they had seen no evidence of such co-operation. Related: Trump's labour secretary built empire on ads of women eating burgers in bikinis: Wells But the intercepts alarmed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in part because of the amount of contact that was occurring while Trump was speaking glowingly about the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. At one point last summer, Trump said at a campaign event that he hoped Russian intelligence services had stolen Hillary Clintons emails and would make them public. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other associates of Trump. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the Russian government outside of the intelligence services, the officials said. All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified. The officials said one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Trumps campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Russia and Ukraine. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls. The call logs and intercepted communications are part of a larger trove of information that the FBI is sifting through as it investigates the links between Trumps associates and the Russian government, as well as the DNC hack, according to federal law enforcement officials. As part of its inquiry, the FBI has obtained banking and travel records and conducted interviews, the officials said. Manafort, who has not been charged with any crimes, dismissed the accounts of the U.S. officials on Tuesday. This is absurd, he said. I have no idea what this is referring to. I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers, and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today. Manafort added: Its not like these people wear badges that say, Im a Russian intelligence officer. Several of Trumps associates, like Manafort, have done business in Russia, and it is not unusual for U.S. businessmen to come in contact with foreign intelligence officials, sometimes unwittingly, in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where the spy services are deeply embedded in society. Law enforcement officials did not say to what extent the contacts may have been about business. Officials would not disclose many details, including what was discussed on the calls, which Russian intelligence officials were on the calls, and how many of Trumps advisers were talking to the Russians. It is also unclear whether the conversations had anything to do with Trump himself. A published report from U.S. intelligence agencies that was made public in January concluded that the Russian government had intervened in the election in part to help Trump, but did not address whether any members of the Trump campaign had participated in the effort. The intercepted calls are different from the wiretapped conversations last year between Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser, and Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. During those calls, which led to Flynns resignation on Monday night, the two men discussed sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia in December. But the cases are part of the routine electronic surveillance of communications of foreign officials by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment. Two days after the election in November, Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy Russian foreign minister, said there were contacts during the campaign between Russian officials and Trumps team. Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage, Ryabkov told Interfax, the Russian news agency. The Trump transition team denied Ryabkovs statement. This is not accurate, Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, said at the time. The National Security Agency, which monitors the communications of foreign intelligence services, initially captured the communications between Trumps associates and Russians as part of routine foreign surveillance. After that, the FBI asked the NSA to collect as much information as possible about the Russian operatives on the phone calls, and to search through previous intercepted communications that had not been analyzed. The FBI has closely examined at least four other people close to Trump, although it is unclear if their calls were intercepted. They are Carter Page, a businessman and former foreign policy adviser to the campaign; Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative; and Flynn. All of the men have strongly denied they had any improper contacts with Russian officials. As part of the inquiry, the FBI is also trying to assess the credibility of information contained in a dossier that was given to the bureau last year by a former British intelligence operative. The dossier contained a raft of salacious allegations about connections between Trump, his associates and the Russian government. It also included unsubstantiated claims that the Russians had embarrassing videos that could be used to blackmail Trump. The FBI has spent several months investigating the leads in the dossier, but has yet to confirm any of its most explosive allegations. Senior FBI officials believe that the former British intelligence officer who compiled the dossier, Christopher Steele, has a credible track record, and he briefed FBI investigators last year about how he obtained the information. One U.S. law enforcement official said that FBI agents had made contact with some of Steeles sources. The FBIs investigation into Manafort began last spring as an outgrowth of a criminal investigation into his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine and for the countrys former president, Viktor Yanukovych. The investigation has focused on why he was in such close contact with Russian and Ukrainian intelligence officials. The bureau did not have enough evidence to obtain a warrant for a wiretap of Manaforts communications, but it had the NSA closely scrutinize the communications of Ukrainian officials he had met. The FBI investigation is proceeding at the same time that separate investigations into Russian interference in the election are gaining momentum on Capitol Hill. Those investigations, by the House and Senate Intelligence committees, are examining not only the Russian hacking but also any contacts that Trumps team had with Russian officials during the campaign. On Tuesday, top Republican lawmakers said that Flynn should be one focus of the investigation, and that he should be called to testify before Congress. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said that the news surrounding Flynn in recent days underscored how many questions still remain unanswered to the American people more than three months after Election Day, including who was aware of what, and when. Warner said that Flynns resignation would not stop the committee from continuing to investigate Gen. Flynn, or any other campaign official who may have had inappropriate and improper contacts with Russian officials prior to the election. Read more about: SHARE: PESHAWAR, PAKISTANTwo suicide bombings in northwestern Pakistan killed at least six people on Wednesday following an almost three-month-long lull in the volatile region. A breakaway Taliban faction claimed responsibility for one of the attacks a bombing that targeted the areas administrative tribal headquarters. Three policemen and two passersby died in that attack, which took place in the Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, or Freedom Movement, claimed the attack in a text message sent to The Associated Press. The same militant faction had said it was behind a deadly suicide bombing earlier this week in Lahore. The explosion went off at the main gate of the tribal headquarters in Ghalanai in the Mohmand tribal region, just as the workday was about to start, said Hameedullah Khan, a local government official. Khan, whose office is inside the compound, said the grounds are home to residences, offices and training facilities for the local administration and police employees. Hundreds of local residents come daily on business to the tribal headquarters, located 45 kilometres outside Peshawar, the provincial capital. The bombing was followed by gunshots, Khan added. The Pakistani army said the bomber was accompanied by another militant, who tried to force his way into the compound after the explosion went off but that security guards opened fire and killed him. The army statement said there was a higher level of vigilance among the local security forces following intelligence that would-be attackers had infiltrated the area from neighbouring Afghanistan. Hours later, a suicide bomber struck a vehicle carrying local judges and judicial officials in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Police official Sajjad Khan said a driver was killed and five others were wounded in that explosion. Earlier, a would-be suicide bomber died when he prematurely detonated his explosives near a security convoy about 10 kilometres from the tribal headquarters, police officer Suhail Khalid said. No one was hurt in that explosion. The Lahore bombing on Monday targeted policemen who were escorting a protest march. That attack killed 13, including seven policemen. A former chief of the provinces counterterrorism department was also among those killed. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is based in the Mohmand area part of rugged, lawless regions along the Afghan border which have long served as safe havens for local and al-Qaida-linked foreign militants. Pakistan has waged several offensives against militants in recent years, including a major operation that started in mid-2014 in the last key insurgent sanctuary of North Waziristan. The authorities declared the offensive a success, saying it uprooted militants, killed hundreds and forced many to flee across the border into Afghanistan. Others went into hiding in Pakistani urban areas where they have a vast support network of seminaries and religious groups. A U.S. drone campaign also helped the offensive by targeting the Taliban. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar emerged in late 2014, when a leadership crisis fractured the Pakistani Taliban movement which is separate from the Afghan Taliban and splintered it into various groups. The groups most recent attacks came in late 2016, after Washington declared it a terrorist organization. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is led by militant known as Omar Khaled Khorasani, whose real name is Abdul Wali Khan. A former Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, is a key commander in the group, which also has links with several Pakistani militant and sectarian groups and has expressed support for Daesh, also known as ISIS. Read more about: SHARE: NEW YORKIn the hours since Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser late Monday, two narratives emerged. One, embraced by many in the traditional legacy media, centred on what Flynn had done that led to his resignation: discussed sanctions against Russia in a conversation with the Russian ambassador and then misled Vice President Mike Pence about it. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The other, which developed among the more right-leaning news media, focused on the leaks from Washington that had put pressure on Flynn to step aside and whether these leaks were intended to damage President Donald Trump. One narrative holds Flynn, and others who knew about his discussions, accountable. The other portrays Flynn more as a victim. Which narrative does Trump ascribe to? On Tuesday morning, he attributed Flynns resignation to illegal leaks. On Wednesday morning, Trump again denounced the leaks in a blizzard of tweets. It is not unusual for news media to promote different angles. And the division between left-leaning and right-leaning news organizations is certainly not new. But the rift between the mainstream media and more partisan news organizations has grown starker in the nearly four weeks since Trump took office, reflecting a widening political and ideological rift. The growing division means that some readers are getting their news through an ever-narrowing prism. Americans who get their information predominantly from Breitbart News, a right-wing news and opinion site, for instance, or from the conservative Fox News are getting a very different version of the news from Americans who read The Washington Post or watch CNN. Breitbart raises questions Late Monday, as the news broke that Flynn had resigned, news organizations rushed to publish articles. Not Breitbart. For roughly an hour after Flynns resignation letter began circulating, Breitbart did not change the main story on its home page, which was about immigration policy. When Breitbart made the Flynn resignation its main story, around midnight, the account hewed closely to the facts of Flynns resignation and quoted heavily from his resignation letter. The site also put up a more analytical article that raised questions about the motives behind the governments monitoring of communications between Flynn and the Russian ambassador. Democrats are clamoring for a deeper investigation of Russian ties to Trump, the article said. But the more serious question is whether our nations intelligence services were involved in what amounts to political espionage against the newly elected government. The article also raised questions about how the news media got its information, reinforcing a distrust of the press that Trump and his administration have assiduously tried to foster. The fact that the contents of Flynns phone conversation highly sensitive intelligence were leaked to the media suggests that someone with access to that information also has a political axe to grind, the article said. The emphasis on the leaks continued into Tuesday afternoon with an article at the top of Breitbarts site on the White House briefing and the assertion by Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, that the leaks were an overlooked part of the reporting on Flynn. The narrative gained more steam on Wednesday morning, after the damaging reports Tuesday night: An article on the Breitbart home page seized on Trumps early morning tweets attacking the coverage rather than the news about the Russian contacts. Foxs focus on leaks Fox News also advanced this leak-focused narrative Tuesday. Laura Ingraham, a conservative commentator and Fox News contributor, suggested on Fox & Friends that the leaks were politically motivated. The long knives were out for Flynn almost the moment that he was announced, she said. I think this really was the death by a thousand leaks, Ingraham added. The leaks that were coming out of this administration and the transition, before the administration, were at a level that I dont remember seeing for quite some time. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson also focused on the leaks during an appearance on the channel. Who tapped the phones, who was listening to it, who leaked it? I think those are legitimate questions to ask, he said. Lets face it, he said later, leaks of this nature are incredibly damaging to America, to our national security, and we need to look into it. Tuesday night ended on a predictably outraged note, with Sean Hannity, a Trump supporter, suggesting on his show that the left was willing to do anything to stop President Trump from draining the swamp and changing the status quo. Impeachment of the president is clearly the end goal for the left, Mr. Hannity added. Facts, truth, it doesnt really matter. Mike Flynn is just a small casualty of that bigger plan. On Wednesday, the main article on the Fox News home page highlighted the presidents condemnation of the leaks to the media. Praise for journalism Journalists at more centrist news organizations, including CNN and NPR, attributed Flynns resignation to the strong reporting and investigative journalism that had exposed details of Flynns talks with Russia. Scott Detrow of NPR tweeted: Evan Osnos of the New Yorker said, also in a tweet: Rather than casting aspersion on leaks about Flynn, these commentators praised their contributions to accountability journalism. Joe Scarborough, a host of MSNBCs Morning Joe, went so far as to call the person who had leaked information a patriot. The only reason were finding out about it now is because a patriot did leak this to The Washington Post, did get this information out there, or else we wouldnt have even known about it, said Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida. The Columbia Journalism Review, a publication that chronicles and analyzes the news media, was perhaps the most pointed. An article Tuesday with the headline Flynn resignation shows leaks under Trump are working. Keep em coming. described how several recent leaks had forced the Trump administration to reverse course or make changes. Some of these leaks have halted a Trump appointment and controversial policies in their tracks, the article said, and its a lesson showing how whistleblowers and leaks to the press are vital for democracy. Read more about: SHARE: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALANDHundreds of people in New Zealands second-largest city were evacuated from their homes Wednesday as wildfires burned down several houses and threatened to encroach further into some suburbs. A helicopter pilot who was a decorated soldier died in a crash while fighting the blaze on Tuesday. The mayors of Christchurch City and the adjacent Selwyn District declared a state of emergency. Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton said changing winds had made the fires unpredictable. He said the region had been unusually dry for three years and the grass in the hills had turned brown over the Southern Hemisphere summer. Smoke and ash were being blown across Christchurch. Broughton said displaced residents were staying at evacuation centres or with relatives. They need to look after one another, and make sure they have a place to go to tonight, he said. Phil Claude told Radio New Zealand he and his family ran down a grass track to escape the fire, which destroyed their home. I could see that the smoke and the flames were being blown right up toward our house, he said. And I just yelled Get out. Get out! The Christchurch City Council reported that two or three homes were destroyed Wednesday evening after authorities said a few others were destroyed earlier. New Zealands military has been deployed to provide water tankers and engineering equipment as well as firefighters and other personnel. The helicopter pilot who died while fighting the fire, Cpl. David Steven Askin, won one of the countrys top awards for bravery for his actions in Afghanistan. Askin was a member of the elite Special Air Service and his identity was kept secret when he won the Gallantry Star medal in 2014. He was cited for efforts that included helping save guests during the 2011 siege of the luxury Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul that left at least 20 people dead. Corporal Askin was wounded by grenade and rifle fire, yet carried on his mission and rescued guests from the hotel as fire broke out, the Defence Force said in a statement. More on thestar.com Death toll rises to 11 as more than 100 wildfires rage in Chile SHARE: NEW DELHIIndias space agency said it successfully launched more than 100 foreign nano satellites into orbit Wednesday aboard a single rocket. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said the nano satellites those weighing less than 10 kilograms were sent into orbit from southern India. It said the launching of the 104 satellites was a record, overtaking Russias feat of sending 37 satellites in a single launch in 2014. All 104 satellites were successfully placed in orbit, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar as saying. They included an Indian Earth observation satellite and two small technology demonstration satellites. The ISRO said in a statement that the other satellites were international customer satellites, including 96 from the United States and one each from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India has been striving to become a player in the multibillion-dollar space launch market, and has successfully placed light satellites into orbit in recent years. It hopes to eventually send astronauts into space. In September 2014, India successfully guided a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. Only the United States, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency had been able to previously do that. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States would no longer insist on a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, backing away from a policy that has underpinned the U.S. role in Middle East peacemaking since the Clinton administration. Im looking at two states and one state, Trump said, appearing in a joint news conference at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump Trumps comments were a striking departure from decades of diplomatic orthodoxy, and they raised a host of thorny questions about the viability of his position. The Palestinians are highly unlikely to accept anything short of a sovereign state, and a single Israeli state encompassing the Palestinians would either become undemocratic or no longer Jewish, given the faster growth rate of the Arab population. Trump did not address these dynamics, preferring to focus on his confidence that he could produce a breakthrough agreement. I think were going to make a deal, Trump said, describing that as personally important to him. It might be a better deal than people in this room understand. Netanyahu embraced Trumps words, saying he preferred to deal with substance rather than labels in negotiating with the Palestinians. He noted that the concept of the two-state solution meant different things to different people in the region. And he said the Palestinians had refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state. Trump did tell Netanyahu to hold back on settlement construction in the West Bank. As with any successful negotiation, both sides will have to make compromises, he said, turning to Netanyahu. You know that, right? Trump also used the news conference to again lash out at the nations intelligence agencies, saying that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had been brought down by illegal leaks to the media. His comments came on a day of new disclosures about Flynns dealings with Russia during and after the presidential campaign. Trump demanded his security advisers resignation, officials said. From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked, Trump said. Its a criminal action, criminal act, and its been going on for a long time before me, but now its really going on. And people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton. Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, have been exploring an approach called the outside-in strategy, enlisting Arab states in the region that already have found common cause with Israel against their mutual enemy Iran to help broker a settlement with the Palestinians. But it is not at all clear that Palestinians would ever accept an arrangement that did not leave them with a state of their own. Read more: Trump White House faces further investigation over Russia amid chaos from Flynn Trump renews media attacks as controversy over Russia deepens Champion of women? Trump's labour secretary built empire on ads of women eating burgers in bikinis: Wells Until now, Trumps team has largely avoided conversations with Palestinian leaders. But Mike Pompeo, CIA director, met with Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president, in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Bill Clinton was the first president to endorse a two-state solution, saying in a speech in January 2001, just two weeks before leaving office, that the conflict would never be settled without a sovereign, viable Palestinian state. His successor, George W. Bush, picked that up later that year, becoming the first president to make it official U.S. policy. Obama considered a two-state solution the unquestionable bedrock of Washingtons approach to the region. But momentum for the idea of side-by-side states has ebbed not just in Washington but also in the region, where many Israelis and Palestinians have given up hope or changed their minds about the concept. Netanyahu arrives at a tumultuous time at the White House, just two days after Trump forced out Flynn, for withholding the truth about a conversation with Russias ambassador. Netanyahu lost probably his most important ally against Iran with Flynns departure. During last years campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized Obamas nuclear agreement with Iran as a terrible deal, but his administration has indicated that it does not intend to rip it up, at least not immediately, even as it imposes new sanctions on Tehran over its recent ballistic missile tests. Netanyahu wants to ensure that if the deal is not scrapped, it is enforced rigorously, a goal he should find much sympathy for in the White House. But Flynns departure could mean that the conversations between Netanyahu and Trump focus more on making peace with the Palestinians than the prime minister would prefer. Netanyahu has looked forward to Trumps ascension, the first time in four terms as prime minister that he has had a Republican president as a partner. After years of tension with Obama, who pressed Israel to make more concessions for peace, Netanyahu anticipated vigorous support from the new president. But as Israel began announcing thousands of more houses in the West Bank in the weeks after Trumps inauguration, the new president modulated his posture. He told an Israeli newspaper last week that more Israeli settlements in the West Bank dont help the process and that he did not believe that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace. He also backed away from his campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, saying that it is not an easy decision and we will see what happens. The comments surprised some in Israel but could also be helpful to Netanyahu, who could use them to fend off pressure from pro-settlement leaders on his right who have been pushing him to take more assertive moves. Still, if Netanyahu viewed Trumps arrival as license to do as he pleased without U.S. interference, he may be surprised that the new president seems inclined to make a serious investment in forging a peace deal. Trumps assignment to Kushner to focus on the matter has been taken as a sign of determination. Although he has no experience as a diplomat, Kushner has what other negotiators in the past have not had: the complete trust of the president. Authority matters, said Dennis Ross, who served multiple presidents as a Middle East negotiator. People in the region can smell it when negotiators dont have it, and I think having the authority counts a lot. Read more about: SHARE: BRUSSELSIn an ultimatum to Americas allies, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told fellow NATO members Wednesday to increase military spending by years end or risk seeing the U.S. curtail its defence support a stark threat given Europes deep unease already over U.S.-Russian relations. Echoing President Donald Trumps demands for NATO countries to assume greater self-defence responsibility, Mattis said Washington will moderate its commitment to the alliance if countries fail to fall in line. He didnt offer details, but the pressure is sure to be felt, particularly by governments in Europes eastern reaches that feel threatened by Russian expansionism. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump Trumps Russia policy remains a mystery for many of Americas closest international partners. As a candidate, the Republican president steered clear of criticizing Moscow for its 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimea region and repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he wanted a new era of co-operation between the former Cold War foes. But that possibility grew murkier this week as Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over the retired Army lieutenant-generals communications with Russia before Trump took office. The departure of Flynn, who also promoted the idea of working with Moscow, has added to speculation about how the U.S.-Russian relationship might evolve. Amid the uncertainty from Washington, the Kremlin may be testing the Wests resolve. A U.S. defence official said this week that Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era nuclear arms control treaty. And violence has sporadically reignited in eastern Ukraine, where the U.S. and its partners say Moscow continues to back a separatist insurgency. No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defence of Western values, Mattis told the alliances 27 other defence ministers, according to a text of his remarks. Americans cannot care more for your childrens future security than you do. The entire alliance seemed to hang on Mattis every word Wednesday. Officials crowded around televisions at the NATO meeting in Brussels to watch the retired generals initial appearance with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Defence ministers clustered around Mattis as he entered the meeting room. Citing danger from Russia, Mattis told the closed meeting of ministers they must adopt a plan this year that sets dates for governments to meet a military funding goal of 2 per cent of gross domestic product. He called the funding increase a fair demand based on the political reality in Washington, an apparent reference to Trumps past criticism of NATO as obsolete and his much-touted America First mantra. Noting the threat posed by Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, in Iraq and Syria, Mattis said: Some in this alliance have looked away in denial of what is happening. We have failed to fill gaps in our NATO response force or to adapt, he added. Trump has challenged the alliance to take on a greater share of military costs, even rattling European nations by suggesting the U.S. might not defend allies unwilling to fulfil their financial obligations as NATO members. Mattis didnt go that far, and Wednesdays focus appeared to be on simply increasing military funding if not fully reaching the target. Many European governments face hostility to more military spending, especially as their slow economic recoveries force belt-tightening elsewhere. The United States is by far NATOs most powerful member, spending more on defence than all the others combined. It devoted 3.61 per cent of American GDP last year to military spending, according to NATO estimates a level that has somewhat tapered off in recent years. Germany, by contrast, spent 1.19 per cent of its overall budget on defence. Ten countries commit even less, and seven including Canada, Italy and Spain would have to virtually double military spending to reach the target. Luxembourg would require a fourfold increase to get close. Along with the U.S., the other countries that do reach NATOs benchmark for military spending are Britain, Estonia, Poland and debt-ridden Greece. Britishs defence chief, Michael Fallon, said Mattis appeared to welcome a British proposal to create a road map for increased spending. An annual increase that were asking them to commit to would at least demonstrate good faith, he said. Asked about Mattis ultimatum, NATO chief Stoltenberg said allies need time to develop plans. Many are already talking about increasing commitments, he said. This is not the U.S. telling Europe to increase defence spending, Stoltenberg said, noting that allies committed three years ago already to increase spending over the next decade. He said: I welcome all pressure, all support, to make sure that happens. Despite the sharpness of his demand, Mattis appeared to recognize Europes worries and its leaders desire for clarity on Americas commitment to NATO. In a brief public statement, made while standing alongside Stoltenberg, Mattis called the alliance a fundamental bedrock for the United States and for all the trans-Atlantic community. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed the media and illegally leaked intelligence information for bringing down his national security adviser Michael Flynn, one day after the White House said Trump fired Flynn because he misled Vice-President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia. Flynns ouster has sparked a new swirl of controversy over Trumps potential ties to Moscow. Flynn resigned Monday night at the behest of Trump, the White House later said after reports that he had discussed sanctions with Russias ambassador to the U.S. before the inauguration, despite previously denying those conversations to Pence and other top officials. A timeline of Trumps spiralling Michael Flynn-Russia scandal In his first public comments on Flynns firing, Trump said it was its really a sad thing that Flynn was treated so badly, and that hes planning to going after those who have leaked information to the fake news media. He spoke during a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump is said to favour Vice Admiral Robert Harward, a former Navy SEAL, as his next national security adviser, according to a White House official. Harward met with top White House officials last week and has the backing of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis. Flynns ouster was a blow to a White House struggling to find its footing in Trumps first weeks in office. The questions about Russia only deepened late Tuesday when The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trumps 2016 campaign team. Current and former U.S. officials who spoke to the Times anonymously said they found no evidence that the Trump campaign was working with the Russians on hacking or other efforts to influence the election. But the intercepts alarmed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in part because of the amount of contact that was occurring while Trump was speaking glowingly about the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. At one point last summer, Trump said at a campaign event that he hoped Russian intelligence services had stolen Hillary Clintons emails and would make them public. Trump didnt directly address the veracity of the report during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but lashed out at what he called the criminal act of leaking information. Earlier Wednesday, Trump tweeted that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. Very un-American! The president ignored shouted questions about whether his advisers were in touch with Russian officials. His spokesman Sean Spicer said he wasnt aware of any such contacts and panned the Times report for relying on unnamed sources. Democrats called for an independent investigation into Trumps Russia ties and urged Republicans to join them. This is a moment for Republicans to put country ahead of party, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said. Theres only one or two times like this in your political career where you face a moment like this where whats good for your country may not be good for your party. GOP lawmakers, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, resisted, saying that the existing congressional committees will continue their investigations into Russian interference in the presidential election. Flynn maintained for weeks that he had not discussed U.S. sanctions in his conversations with Russias ambassador. He later conceded that the topic may have come up. And Trump lashed out at the news media Wednesday morning, sending out a tweet berating some news organizations for focusing on This Russian connection nonsense. In a post on his verified Twitter account, Trump said, The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. He added that the news reporting was merely an attempt to coverup the many mistakes made in Hillary Clintons losing campaign. Trump also asserted in a tweet: Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia. Trump initially thought Flynn could survive the controversy, according to a person with direct knowledge of the presidents views, but a pair of explosive stories in The Washington Post in recent days made the situation untenable. As early as last week, he and aides began making contingency plans for Flynns dismissal, a senior administration official said. While the president was said to be upset with Flynn, he also expressed anger with other aides for losing control of the story and making his young administration look bad. The vice-president, who had vouched for Flynn in a televised interview, is said to have been angry and deeply frustrated. Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said Pence became aware that he had received incomplete information from Flynn only after the first Washington Post report Thursday night. At about the same time, Pence learned that the Justice Department had warned the White House last month regarding Flynns conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation, said Monday there were no lines crossed in his conversations with Kislyak. The officials and others with knowledge of the situation were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity. Ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration, Pence and other officials insisted publicly that Flynn had not discussed sanctions in his talks with the Russian ambassador. On Jan. 26, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates contacted White House counsel Don McGahn to raise concerns about discrepancies between the public accounting and what intelligence officials knew to be true about the contacts based on routine recordings of communications with foreign officials who are in the U.S. The Justice Department warned the White House that the inconsistencies would leave the presidents top national security aide vulnerable to blackmail from Russia, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. The president was informed of the warnings the same day, Spicer said. Flynn was interviewed by the FBI around the same time, according to a U.S. official who was briefed on the investigation. With files from the New York Times Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONU.S. intelligence agencies and Congress will continue to investigate Russias involvement in the 2016 presidential election, even after U.S. President Donald Trump fired his national security adviser for providing inaccurate accounts of his contacts with the Russian ambassador last year. Democrats said an independent investigation was the best way to answer questions about the Trump administrations ties to Russia. But Republican leaders continue to refuse to consider that option and said three congressional investigations underway were enough. Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was fired late Monday. The White House said he misled Vice-President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump This isnt the first time Trump has distanced himself from an adviser in light of relationships with Moscow. In late August, Paul Manafort resigned as Trumps campaign chairman after disclosures by The Associated Press about his firms covert lobbying on behalf of Ukraines former pro-Russia governing political party. Trump has long held a friendly posture toward the long-time U.S. adversary and has been reluctant to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin, even for Putins annexation of Ukraines Crimea region in 2014. This isnt simply about a change in policy toward Russia, as the administration would like to portray. Its whats behind that change in policy, said California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, one of the congressional bodies investigating. Under the Obama administration, U.S. intelligence agencies said Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of electing Trump. Trump has acknowledged that Russia hacked Democratic emails but denies it was to help him win. The New York Times reported late Tuesday that members of Trumps campaign, including Manafort, had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence officials during the year before the election. The U.S. knew about these contacts through phone records and intercepted calls, the Times said. Reached late Tuesday, Manafort told The Associated Press he has not been interviewed by the FBI about these alleged contacts. I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today, Manafort said. Officials who spoke with the Times anonymously said they had not yet seen any evidence of the Trump campaign co-operating with the Russians on hacking or other attempts to influence the election. The investigations and the unusual firing of the national security adviser just 24 days into his job have put Republicans in the awkward position of investigating the leader of their party. The congressional probes are ultimately in the hands of the Republican committee chairmen, and the executive branchs investigation is now overseen by Trump appointees. Read more: Trump renews media attacks as controversy over Russia deepens Trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence Trump knew for weeks that Flynn was not telling the truth on Russia, White House says Republican leaders focused on the idea that Flynn misled Pence about the nature of his contacts with the Russian ambassador not on any questioning of the relationship between Flynn and the ambassador. Democrats said a key issue is whether Flynn broke diplomatic protocol and potentially the law by discussing U.S. sanctions with Moscow before Trumps inauguration. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said the committee had not yet seen the transcripts of Flynns calls. The Justice Department had warned the White House late last month that Flynn could be at risk for blackmail because of contradictions between his public depictions of the calls with the Russian ambassador and what intelligence officials knew about the conversations. You cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice-president and others, said Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both Republicans, also said that more needs to be learned about Flynns discussions with the Russian ambassador and Russias involvement in U.S. politics. McCain said in a statement that Flynns White House exit raises further questions about the Trump administrations intentions toward Vladimir Putins Russia, including statements by the president suggesting moral equivalence between the United States and Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, threats to our NATO allies, and attempted interference in American elections. California Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House intelligence committee, said he was concerned Flynns rights were violated in the interception of his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Im just shocked that nobodys covering the real crime here, Nunes said. You have an American citizen who had his phone call recorded and then leaked to the media. The FBI has wide legal authority to eavesdrop on the conversations of foreign intelligence targets, including diplomats, inside the U.S. Flynn did not concede any wrongdoing in his resignation letter, saying merely that he inadvertently briefed the vice-president elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador. While North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said much of the panels investigation will occur behind closed doors, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said he planned to push to make the findings and hearings public. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump did not direct Flynn to discuss U.S. sanctions with the Russians. No, absolutely not, Spicer said. With files from Bloomberg Read more about: SHARE: SEOUL, KOREAIntelligence officials believe North Korean agents assassinated leader Kim Jong Uns exiled half brother, but if the whodunit seems settled, a very big question still looms: Why now? Kim Jong Nam, reportedly killed by two female agents in a cloak-and-dagger operation in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, had long been an embarrassment to North Koreas government humiliated during a failed attempt to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland and outspoken in opposing the rise to power of his brother, who had his uncle executed after taking over. Read more: North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns half-brother slain in Malaysia, official says Kim, who died on the way to a hospital, told medical workers that he had been attacked with a chemical spray, the official said. Malaysian officials have provided few other details. Police said an autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death. Malaysian police arrested a woman Wednesday in connection with his death. Police released a statement saying the woman was carrying Vietnamese travel documents when she was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. The overweight gambler and fading playboy had kept his head down in recent years from his base in Macau. Kim Jong Nam was seen by many outsiders as only a minor distraction for North Koreas leaders, and certainly not an existential threat worth the risk of a potentially embarrassing assassination caper on foreign soil. South Koreas spy service said Wednesday that North Korea had been trying for five years to kill Kim. But the National Intelligence Service did not definitively say that North Korea was behind the killing, just that it was presumed to be a North Korean operation, according to lawmakers who briefed reporters about the closed door meeting with the spy officials. The spotty South Korean intelligence community ascribed the Norths motivation in killing Kim Jong Nam, without any elaboration, simply to Kim Jong Uns paranoia. There is a more intriguing possibility floating around Seoul, however: The tipping point in North Koreas bloody calculations may have been a largely ignored South Korean news story from last week. A national daily, the Kyunghyang Shinmun, reported that Kim Jong Nam tried to defect to South Korea several years ago and had served, in the 2000s, as a middleman between disgraced current South Korean President Park Geun-hye and officials in North Korea. Kim Jong Un may have clenched his teeth and carried on when he heard reports of his half brothers exploits in Macau casinos, and even when Kim Jong Nam, often photographed in an expensive, untucked, button-down shirt and newsboy cap, questioned in 2010 the need for a third generation of the Kim family to rule in Pyongyang. But public reports in rival South Korea of alleged close dealings between a direct relative of North Koreas ruling dynasty and high officials in Seoul and possible attempts to defect to the South could have represented a serious challenge to a leader who portrays his family as the only legitimate power on the Korean Peninsula. If a person with the blood of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung flowing in his veins was considering defecting to prosperous, democratic South Korea, what message did that send to North Koreas elite, or to the millions of poor and dissatisfied? South Koreas spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, which has a spotty record in reading the goings-on in North Korea and often tries to paint the leadership as unbalanced, denied any defection attempt by Kim Jong Nam. But Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Koreas Sejong Institute, raised the possibility that the assassination was linked to the newspaper report, which cites interviews with anonymous officials from the Europe-Korea Foundation, where Park served as a board member for a decade before stepping down ahead of the presidential election in late 2012, and computer files and emails that showed exchanges between Kim Jong Nam and the foundations officials. The newspaper reported that Kim Jong Nam, who was then living in Beijing, delivered a letter that Park wrote to Kim Jong Il, North Koreas second leader and Kim Jong Uns father, in 2005. The letter, according to the newspaper, showed Park requesting help on cultural exchange programs pushed by the foundation. Jeong Joon-Hee, the spokesman of South Koreas Unification Ministry, previously said the government doesnt believe such a letter from Park, who has been impeached over a corruption scandal, was delivered to North Korea. The newspaper also cited anonymous sources to report that Kim Jong Nam explored the possibility of defecting to South Korea, and also to the United States and Europe, in 2012 before giving up. The sources said Kims talks with South Korea and the United States eventually fell through because of his excessive demands. While the South Korean news report is a fascinating potential explanation for Kim Jong Nams death, there are other possibilities including that Mondays killing was the culmination of years of effort by North Korea. Seouls spy service told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea had for five years tried to kill Kim Jong Nam, who had kept a low profile since his uncle and former protector, the Norths former No. 2, Jang Song Thaek, was executed by Kim Jong Un in 2013. The NIS, according to lawmakers, cited a genuine attempt by North Korea to kill Kim Jong Nam in 2012, but didnt elaborate. The lawmakers said the NIS told them Kim Jong Nam sent a letter to Kim Jong Un in April 2012, after the assassination attempt, begging for the lives of himself and his family. The letter said, I hope you cancel the order for the punishment of me and my family. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and we know that the only way to escape is committing suicide. Kim Jong Nams links with China may have also played a role. Beijing had long protected Kim Jong Nam, according to South Koreas intelligence service. China may have been interested in propping up Kim Jong Nam as a future North Korean leader should the current government in Pyongyang collapse. Kim Jong Un would not have been pleased by knowledge that his brother was being used by Beijing as a pawn and potential replacement. SHARE: Okay. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump have met. They did not get into a slanging match. They did agree that Canada and the U.S. are the best of pals. They issued a bland but not unimportant joint communique. Now what? The consensus in Canada seems to be that Trudeaus first face-to-face meeting with the new president Monday was a success. And I suppose it was. Trump didnt tweet out anything negative about Trudeau. So thats something. The U.S. president did abruptly cut off one of the Canadian female CEOs he and Trudeau honoured earlier in the day, when her remarks went on too long. But during the public sessions at least, Trump didnt do that to Trudeau. Prime ministers and presidents dont always get on. Richard Nixon, for instance, privately derided Pierre Trudeau as a pompous egghead after the then prime minister lectured him in 1971 on the virtues of open trade between Canada and the U.S. If Trump has similar views about Justin Trudeau, he is uncharacteristically keeping them to himself. So I can understand why Trudeaus staff would be tempted to pat one another on the back after Tuesdays get-together. Nothing awful happened. The joint communique with its references to Canadas importance as a U.S. export market could have been penned by the prime ministers office and probably was. Trump stuck to his teleprompter lines and, with a few exceptions, avoided his trademark hyperbole. Most of the time, it seemed his mind was somewhere else. Given that Michael Flynn, his top national security adviser, was about to resign in disgrace, that was not surprising. Indeed, it would have been surprising if Trump, a man who rarely mentions Canada, had shown a passion for discussing the softwood lumber dispute or the merits of the planned cross-border Gordie Howe bridge at Windsor. However, the one-on-one meeting leaves most of the big Canada-U.S. questions unanswered. On the North American Free Trade Agreement, Trump reiterated what we already knew: His big beef is with Mexico, which has used cheap wages to lure American (and Canadian) manufacturers. Still, as he told reporters Monday, his administration will be tweaking the very outstanding trade relationship with Canada, in a manner that benefits both of our countries. Its hard to know what any of this means. Trump has long said he favours bilateral over multilateral deals. In his press conference he talked of working toward reciprocal trade between Canada and the U.S. Both are hints that he would like to replace the three-nation NAFTA with two separate bilateral deals one between Canada and the U.S., the other between the U.S. and Mexico. As far as Canada is concerned, such a move would not be too difficult. The 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement still legally exists and could be reanimated if NAFTA were scrapped. On security, it is not clear what more the Trump administration wants. As Trudeau pointed out, Canada is already co-ordinating with our allies, the United States and around the world when deciding which Syrian and other refugees to admit. In effect, this allows U.S. security agencies to blackball from entry to Canada any individual refugee they consider a threat. Yet Trump suggested Canada could do more. He noted that he has some wonderful ideas on immigration and some very tough ideas on terrorism. When we put them all together, he went on, we will see some very, very obvious results. On defence, the joint communique refers glowingly to Canadas role in the fight against Daesh (ISIS) as well as Ottawas decision to send troops to Latvia as part of a NATO effort to confront Russia. It says nothing about United Nations peacekeeping. It is particularly silent on Canadas promise to send 600 soldiers somewhere in Africa under the auspices of the UN, suggesting that Ottawa has not yet received Washingtons stamp of approval for such a move. On climate change, neither leader said anything. Trudeau did not talk of his planned carbon tax. Trump did not mention that he has called climate change a Chinese-inspired hoax. Trudeau did refer fleetingly to a 1991 Canada-U.S. treaty to curb acid rain a reminder that the two countries have worked together on environmental issues before and a hint that they could do so again. But, as with so much of this polite but inconclusive summit, there was no indication of how to get there from here. Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Read more about: SHARE: Newly installed Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen is facing a dilemma. Each day, refugees risk their lives to cross into Canada from the United States in order to make refugee claims. They have done so at great risk to themselves; walking for days, some have already suffered severe frostbite. So great is their desperation to make it to Canada to make their claim for asylum that they are willing to take the chance. Refugees entering Canada through the United States are forced to cross in this way, avoiding detection of Canadian border officials, because the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States requires Canadian immigration officials to deny entry to Canada to most refugee claimants who come from the United States and who cross at an official land border crossing into Canada. Those who are denied entry are turned back to the United States. This agreement, which has been in place since 2004, has been the subject of much criticism by refugee and human rights groups since President Trump issued his executive orders. They have urged the Minister to suspend it because of the effect these orders have had on refugees in the United States. Certainly as the evidence mounts that the United States is not a safe country for refugees the pressure on Minister Hussen to act is increasing. A study released last week by Harvard University demonstrates the serious impact that Trumps executive orders have had on refugees increased detention; summary removal from the United States; long delays in determination of asylum claims. These measures are already in place and have not been affected by the temporary restraining order issued by the court in Washington, which suspended the ban on persons from seven Muslim countries. In response to the court orders, President Trump has promised other initiatives as early as this week, which will undoubtedly have an adverse impact on refugees. More importantly, Presidents Trumps message of hostility toward Muslims in particular and refugees in general, has made refugees feel unsafe in a country where they are viewed with suspicion and fear. Minister Hussen has so far been noncommittal on action about the Safe Third Country Agreement. Undoubtedly his inaction is caused by concern over how Canada would handle a large influx of refugees from the United States if the agreement were suspended. The Immigration and Refugee Board is already facing serious challenges. Large backlogs already exist and unless effective measures are taken to deal with this, the tribunal runs the risk of losing credibility if the delays get out of hand. But the minister can ill afford to wait much longer. The status quo is simply untenable. It is only a matter of time before further tragedy occurs and another refugee is seriously injured or dies while trying to make it into Canada. Moreover, by continuing to enforce the agreement the Canadian government is sending asylum seekers back to a country where we can have little confidence that their claims will be treated fairly. Short of suspending the agreement completely the minister does have other options. He could instruct officials that until such time as the panorama clarifies itself in the United States they should not apply the agreement and should exercise their discretion in a positive fashion in all cases. This would not be a formal suspension where the Canadian government would have to notify the government of the United States but it would still allow refugees safe-haven in Canada until the impact of the measures can be fully assessed. At the same time the minister could invite all stakeholders to a meeting to discuss measures that could be taken to deal with the growing backlog. Certainly the Immigration and Refugee Board is an independent tribunal and its independence must be respected. If the tribunal reaches out to experts to discuss how it can more efficiently process cases, this need not compromise its independence. A solution that combines additional resources with increased efficiency must be found. The minister should also respond to the vacuum created by the United States suspension of overseas refugee resettlement, and its cutting refugee resettlement target by 60,000 people in 2017. This leaves a shortfall in the worldwide resettlement quota that must be filled. Canada should take a leadership role and accept more refugees and encourage other states to do the same. Lorne Waldman is a Toronto lawyer and the Past-President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL). Erin Simpson is a Toronto lawyer and the advocacy co-chair of CARL. Read more about: SHARE: Over two decades starting in the early 1960s, as Ottawa began to phase out its Indian residential schools program, thousands of First Nations children were taken from their families, often without consent, and placed in non-indigenous care. To ensure the children would never return to their communities, death certificates were issued expunging any record of their indigenous existence. Like the residential schools, the Sixties Scoop was an attempt to forcibly assimilate indigenous children. The strategy was the same: dislocate them from their family, community and language and watch the culture atrophy. As with residential schools, the scoop has had a widespread and devastating intergenerational impact on survivors and their communities. But unlike residential school victims, survivors of the scoop received neither official acknowledgement of Ottawas wrongdoing nor any promise of compensation for their suffering. That is, until now. A Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday that the scoop constituted a violation of Ottawas duty of care to indigenous peoples. If the plaintiffs get the damages they were seeking, the bill for Ottawas failure will exceed $1 billion. Its a just result of a nearly decade-long battle, but it should never have come to this. Since the class-action suit was filed in 2009, successive governments contested the case, claiming the scoop was a product of a different era when policy-makers genuinely believed that adopting out indigenous children to white families improved their chances of escaping poverty, getting a good education and settling into a productive middle-class life. But in his decision, Justice Edward Belobaba said Canadas submissions missed the point. Governments of the day may well have been unaware of some of the particular harms the scoop would cause to individuals, but they surely should have known the damage to indigenous culture and community and, in turn, the human toll. The issue is not what was known in the 1960s about the harm of trans-racial adoption or the risk of abuse in the foster home, Belobaba wrote. The issue is what was known in the 1960s about the existential importance to the First Nations peoples of protecting and preserving their distinctive cultures and traditions, including their concept of the extended family. There can be no doubt that that was well understood by Canada at the time. The crux of the case was an agreement struck between Ottawa and Ontario in 1965, which allowed the province to extend child welfare services to indigenous people living on reserve. As part of the deal, Ottawa assured First Nations communities that they would be consulted before provincial officials intervened. That never happened. For their part, federal lawyers argued that community members, had they been consulted, likely wouldnt have had any better ideas about how to deal with the children anyway a claim Belobaba dismissed as odd and, frankly, insulting. Odder still, and arguably yet more insulting: the lawyers making this case were representing the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. That the Harper Tories fought the lawsuit was, if less than laudable, at least largely consistent with their adversarial approach to indigenous issues. But for the Trudeau government, which has been outspoken in its condemnation of residential schools and commitment to reconciliation, this looks a lot like hypocrisy. Trudeau has made much of his governments responsibility to repair its predecessors tragic mistakes on indigenous issues. But a new relationship requires an end to the adversarial one that preceded it. In fighting the lawsuit, he made worse what he promised to make better. He should accept the verdict and officially apologize for the Sixties Scoop, lest he give a future government yet more reason to say sorry. Read more about: SHARE: When nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer was charged last October with murdering eight elderly people in long-term care homes, it was only natural that the public would want reassurances that the system is safe. But four months later the College of Nurses of Ontario is keeping mum on the role it played or didnt play in protecting patients. That is unacceptable. How it does its job of regulating the profession is clearly a matter of public interest. As Jane Meadus, staff lawyer at Torontos Advocacy Centre for the Elderly legal clinic, says: Their job is to protect the public and we need to know that they have done their job. Disturbingly, right now that is unclear. As the Stars Sandro Contenta reported on Wednesday, the college was informed that Wettlaufer was fired from Caressant Care in Woodstock, Ont., on March 31, 2014, for a medication error that put the life of a resident at risk. Yet she continued to work as a registered nurse for another two and half years, until she was charged last October. So far the college will only acknowledge it is investigating Wettlaufer now. It wont say whether it investigated her back in 2014. That information is key, considering that Wettlaufer is accused of killing 75-year-old Arpad Horvath at a London nursing home, trying to kill a nursing home resident in Paris, Ont., and trying to kill again while providing in-home care after she was reported to the college in 2014. The public can only trust the system when it can clearly see it is working properly. Its time the college came clean and explained itself and its procedures. Read more about: SHARE: Editors' pick: Originally published Feb. 14. Starbucks (SBUX) is going to continue cashing in on your sweet tooth. The coffee giant is about to start selling Affogatos (a shot of espresso served over a scoop of ice cream) at 10 ten its elevated Reserve Bar locations in Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, D.C. according to BI. Even though Starbucks's latest U.S. same-store sales and guidance let investors down in late January, the Seattle-based Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room popped 18% during the holiday quarter, following up on a stellar 24% increase for the quarter ended October 2. The average transaction size at the store was four times that of a typical Starbucks store, executives told analysts on a Thursday evening conference call. Schultz is stepping down as CEO in April to focus on the Reserve concept, which means Reserve will get the attention it deserves. Of note: the Affogato has been on the menu of the Reserve Seattle Roastery since June and has been a top five menu item even in the winter, so this is telling of its assumably forthcoming popularity. Affogato prices will range from $6 to $8.50, starting with the Classic Affogato for $6 to the $8.50 Cold Brew Malt, made with small-lot cold brew, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate bitters. Starbucks is also testing a less expensive Affogato menu in 100 Orange County, Calif. locations that won't be made with small batch cold brew. The most expensive variation will be a $6.40 cold brew malt made with Starbucks' Narino 70 cold brew and chocolate bitters. Starbucks is no stranger to innovating its menu. They already serve happy hour offerings wine and beer with dinner food that our editors weren't in love with. They also tried out a brunch menu that doesn't include complementary brunch drinks like bloody mary's so that's effectively worthless to most #basic Millenials. However, this caffeinated Italian dessert should bring them in UGG clad droves. President Trump signed a resolution rolling back a rule requiring energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments aimed at curbing bribery. Put forth by Republicans Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan and Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma in late January, the joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act nullifies the Securities and Exchange Commission resource extraction rule, which was finalized in June. Trump touted the "very important signing" as a pro-jobs maneuver, telling reporters in the Oval Office that "a lot of people [are] going back to work now." The legislation, House Joint Resolution 41, scraps regulation mandated under section 1504 of Dodd-Frank in 2010. It swept quickly through both houses of Congress earlier this year, passing the House in a 235-187 vote and the Senate 52-47. "This is a big signing, very important signing," the president said on Tuesday. "This is one of many that we've signed and we have many more left." Trump said his administration is "bringing back jobs big league" at the "plant level" and at the "mine level" and cited energy jobs as well. He also touted the stock market. U.S. equities markets have rallied since his election and got a renewed boost of confidence last week when he promised a two to three-week timeframe on tax reform. "You see what's going on with the stock market. They know that we know what we're doing so it's going up," he said. The rule, which took effect in September 2016 and required compliance by September 2018, would have required extraction companies -- oil and gas, miners -- traded publicly in the U.S. to disclose payments to foreign governments. Similar rules have been enacted in the U.K., France, Norway and Canada. From the outset, the rule widely was opposed by American oil and gas companies, which argued it would put them at a disadvantage against private companies and companies not traded publicly in the United States. They said compliance would cost them millions of dollars. (SEC estimated compliance could cost $55 million to $575 million for the more than 400 companies affected.) The American Petroleum Institute successfully sued to overturn an original version of the rule in 2012, forcing an SEC rewrite. The lobbying group's membership includes ExxonMobil (XOM) , Chevron (CVX) , Phillips 66 (PSX) , ConocoPhillips (COP) and Apache (APA) . Nonprofit group Oxfam America subsequently sued the SEC over its delay in finalizing the rule. Huizenga, who appeared alongside Trump in the Oval office at the moment of the signing, said in a statement that the resolution "removes a burdensome regulation that puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage on the global stage." Isabel Munilla, senior policy adviser for extractive industries at Oxfam America, slammed Trump's signing of the bill in a statement as a maneuver aimed at making it "easier to get away with corruption." "President Trump is turning his back on people all around the world who have clamored for American leadership to stand up for democratic values, transparency and good governance. Signing this bill is a stain on America's reputation around the world," she said. Huizenga noted the legislation instructs the SEC to go back to the drawing board yet again on the rule to create one that "doesn't negatively impact American job creators and American workers." Six Republican senators -- Bob Corker, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Johnny Isakson and Todd Young -- in a February 2 letter to acting SEC Chairman Michael Piwowar explaining their opposition to the rule and encouraging it to consider "anti-competitiveness concerns" when it revisits the regulation for a rewrite. An SEC spokesman declined to comment on the matter. Repeats story published Feb. 14. Retail CEOs will descend on Washington on Wednesday to meet with lawmakers and President Trump to talk taxes, including the increasingly-contentious matter of border adjustability. Chief executives of AutoZone (AZO) , Tractor Supply (TSCO) , Jo-Ann Fabric, Target (TST) , Best Buy (BBY) , Gap (GPS) and J.C. Penney (JCP) will be in attendance, according to people familiar with the matter. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WAG) will join the group for a meeting at the White House but will not take part in meetings with Congress. While tax reform is the broad agenda, conversations will hone in on the border adjustment tax, a measure that essentially taxes imports and exempts exports. Retailers have voiced strong opposition to the tax, arguing it would put retail jobs at risk and raise consumer prices. The border adjustment tax has been pushed by House Republicans as part of the "Better Way" platform put forth by House Speaker Paul Ryan in the summer of 2016. Representative Kevin Brady, the Texas Republican at the helm of the Ways and Means Committee, is the leader of the initiative's tax reform efforts. The retail CEOs will meet with Brady on Wednesday to discuss how the GOP's "'Built for Growth' tax reform blueprint will benefit all sectors of our economy and create jobs across America," committee spokeswoman Emily Schillinger said in an email. Brady "looks forward to meeting them and hearing their feedback" on the plan, she said. The group will also meet with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The White House confirmed the meeting with the president would take place in the morning. "Given that retail is the largest private sector American employer, retailers support sound policies that spur economic growth and job creation," said Brian Dodge, spokesperson for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, in an email, adding that discussions will entail "pro-growth policies that will benefit both American consumers and job creators." As friendly as it all sounds, talks could get contentious. RILA has come out in fierce opposition to the border adjustment tax. Association president Sandy Kennedy slammed the tax as "harmful" and "untested" in a statement in February, warning it would "put American retail jobs at risk and force consumers to pay as much as 20% more for family essentials." RILA joined more than 120 other trade associations and businesses to launch Americans for Affordable Products, a campaign against the border adjustability tax. Border adjustability is among the primary issues Republicans have to come to a consensus on before passing comprehensive tax reform, which they've said is a high priority on the agenda. The Trump administration has yet to take a firm stance on the matter. Representative Devin Nunes, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, told CNBC on Tuesday that there will be no tax reform bill without border adjustment. "I don't know any other way to do it. We've long looked at this. We've had exhaustive hearing after hearing after hearing for eight years," the California Republican said. "The only way we can get our tax code into the 21st century and make America the most competitive place on the planet is to move to a full consumption-based system." Economic development officials in rural Wisconsin spurred Gov. Scott Walkers proposal to revive a troubled state loan program that was phased out two years ago after some loans were never repaid and the state lost millions, the governor said Tuesday. We heard from a lot of local economic development folks who, particularly in smaller areas, said we are needing assistance and this is a way of doing that without adding (state funding), Walker told reporters in Madison. The Wisconsin State Journal first reported that Walker is seeking to reinstate the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.s loan program two years after calling for it to be phased out this year amid several questionable deals and a scathing audit. Walker scrapped the program in 2015 as the State Journal was preparing to publish an investigation showing that the governors top secretary pressed WEDC to offer a failing construction company a $500,000 taxpayer loan that has not been repaid. The agency couldnt provide documentation of a proper financial review of the company, and a subsequent review prompted by the newspapers investigation found documentation missing for more than two dozen other awards totaling more than $124 million. The new loans, according to Walkers 2017-19 budget, would come with a few new stipulations they can be funded only with repayments of existing loans, they cant be forgivable and they must adhere to commonly accepted commercial lending practices. We think it makes sense, Walker said. During the 2015-17 state budget cycle, Republicans and Walker limited new loans to $10 million in 2015-16 and $5 million in 2016-17 with no new loans after June 30 of this year. One specific type of loan for technology startups was separately capped at $3 million a year and allowed to continue. The agency had 189 outstanding loans totaling $73.3 million as of last June 30, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The agency received about $9.2 million in loan repayments last year, forgave $6.7 million and wrote off $2.45 million worth of loans that could not be recouped. In his new budget proposal, Walker wants to increase a tax credit eligibility threshold for new business investment from $8 million to $12 million. Walkers budget also gives the Department of Revenue the ability to claw back tax credits from companies in violation of a contract that is more than 4 years old. Walker: Insurance plan wont cost jobs Walker also dismissed the idea that switching to a state self-insurance system could result in insurance companies having to cut a significant number jobs. I dont believe that, Walker said. We still have to have people be covered. The fact is people are still going to get their health care coverage from providers across the state. Were just going to do it in a way thats more cost-effective to the taxpayer. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said last week that switching to a self-insurance model could disrupt the health insurance industry, leading to job losses. Fitzgerald also predicted lawmakers may not go forward with Walkers plan to boost K-12 spending by $649 million, which Walker has tied to $60 million worth of savings from moving to self-insurance. But Walker said Tuesday that no matter what, lawmakers will have to come up with that share of the school funding. The Legislature can make alternatives, but theyre going to have to come up with the money, he said. Act 10 advice Walker on Tuesday said he told Iowa lawmakers considering a bill diminishing collective-bargaining power for public workers there to look at the facts, not the hype over a similar measure championed by the governor that passed in Wisconsin six years ago. I just told them ultimately they are going to face some of the things we faced in terms of attention and potentially protests but I told them to look at where we are in the last six years, he said. Walker tweeted Monday that he spoke with Republican lawmakers in Iowa, encouraging them to push forward with the legislation. The governor said Tuesday he told the lawmakers schools are the same or better and taxes are down dramatically six years after the passage of the law. Syrian refugees Walker on Tuesday also said he expects vetting of refugees seeking to travel to the United States will be altered after recent federal court rulings halting enforcement of President Donald Trumps executive order stopping travel to the U.S. by people living in seven Muslim-majority countries. The governor, who once said in a letter to then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that state officials would not aid any federal attempt to resettle Syrian refugees in Wisconsin, said Tuesday that he doesnt have a problem with safe refugees settling here. As long as theyre safe, Ive got no problem with refugees, Walker said. I just want to make sure the people already here are safe. Last month Hunter Harrison stepped down from his position as CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to join Mantle Ridge, a newly formed activist fund led by Paul Hilal. An ex-partner at activist fund Pershing Square Capital Management, Hilal mostly engineered a spectacularly successful insurgency in 2012 at CP that installed Harrison as CEO, orchestrating a turnaround there that led CP's Toronto-based shares to climb nearly 190% in his tenure. Together Hilal and Harrison are targeting CSX, which on Tuesday evening said it was calling a special shareholder meeting to seek guidance from investors about whether to support Mantle Ridge's proposals. The activist fund wants six seats on a reconstituted 14-person CSX board and Harrison in as CEO. Also, the activists want three incumbent directors to resign at the 2017 annual meeting and one more to step down in 2018. CSX's counteroffer: a job for Harrison as CEO and director, and board positions for Hilal and three other "mutually agreed" upon directors. The two sides appear to be squabbling over Harrison's compensation and how many board seats Mantle Ridge would have control over. Nevertheless, it looks increasingly likely that Harrison will become the next CEO at the Jacksonville, Fla.-based railroad. If a majority of shareholders back Mantle Ridge's proposals, look for CSX to abide or face a change-of-control proxy contest. Jeffrey Kauffman, an analyst at Aegis Capital and a 27-year-veteran of covering the rail sector, argues that CSX may not have a lot of leverage when it comes to negotiations with Harrison and Mantle Ridge, especially since all the railroad's directors are up for election annually. "If Mantle Ridge were to propose its own slate of directors to change the entire board then shareholders would most likely support them," Kauffman said. Donald Broughton, an analyst at Avondale Partners, said he doesn't expect Harrison and Mantle Ridge to accept any fewer than six director slots, in part because the activist team wants to give Harrison as much flexibility as possible. "They want a board that will let Hunter do what he does," said Broughton. "If he wants to fire everyone in the C-Suite or shut down a yard or weather a strike with unions, they want him to have that power. Hunter is a force of nature." With Harrison in charge, look for a focus first on operating improvements and buybacks, only later followed by M&A. Broughton said he believes that Harrison would take his first 18 months in charge and seek to improve CSX's record when it comes to picking up and delivering cargo on time. The Harrison method would focus on an approach he pioneered - and is famous for -- known as precision railroading, an operating strategy that allows the railroad company to schedule shipments in a precise way by knowing how trains move between customers and interchanges. "CSX isn't sweating the asset the way he would try to sweat them," Broughton said. Kauffman agrees that Harrison, should he get the CEO position, will take the next couple years to turnaround the railroad giant. Only after that would he likely consider M&A. "I don't see a deal proposed for two years. They have got to recreate CSX first," Kauffman said. Kauffman notes that CSX doesn't have a lot of leverage, when it comes to negotiations with Harrison and Mantle Ridge, especially since all of the railroad's directors are up for election annually. "If Mantle Ridge was to propose its own slate of directors to change the entire board then shareholders would support them," Kauffman said. Activists like Hilal's past employer, Pershing Square, often push for capital distributions. As a result Kauffman also expects about 18 to 25 cents a share in stock buybacks over the next four years if Harrison and Mantle Ridge succeed. However, most interested observers following the railroad industry agree that at some point Harrison will make a consolidation play, even if his effort doesn't ultimately succeed. Kauffman says he doesn't think it's about the money for Harrison. "It's more about legacy. He wants his legacy to be the guy that drove railroad consolidation. I expect him to try, but I don't know if he will succeed." A key goal for Harrison's M&A approach, observers say, is to expand his precision railroading approach to a broader set of railroads. "You can only apply precision railroading to your business. You can't apply it to other railroads you are connected to," Broughton said. It is a real possibility that Harrison would seek to combine CSX with Canadian Pacific down the road. Kauffman notes that both Hunter and Keith Creel, a Hunter protege who is currently CP's CEO, have similar mindsets when it comes to M&A. However, a standstill agreement signed by Hunter upon his departure from CP prohibits him from pursuing a combination with CP for three years. "It's very possible that Harrison and Creel each pursue separate deals," Kauffman said. Alternatively, Kaufman suggested that CSX could seek to combine with either the Burlington Northern or Union Pacific (UNP) railroads. "What I think they want to do is create an east-west transcontinental railroad," Kauffman said. If a deal can be done, the most likely acquisition candidate that would overcome regulatory objections would be Kansas City Southern (KSU) , a railroad whose stock was battered upon the Trump election over fears around its Mexico operations in the wake of speculation around the new administration's plan to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nevertheless, a major deal, such as a CSX-Union Pacific merger, could face significant regulatory hurdles, particularly with the Surface Transportation Board, which writes rules governing railroad mergers. Furthermore, because of the size of the deals, these transactions would likely be structured as equity combinations requiring shareholder approval, another hurdle. For now, however, Harrison and Hilal await the verdict of shareholders - a vote of confidence from could put CSX on a course for M&A in the years ahead. Walmart Stores (WMT) said Wednesday, Feb. 15, that it had paid $51 million for private equity-backed outdoor gear retailer New Moosejaw as the company continues to refine its e-commerce operations. Madison Heights, Mich.-based New Moosejaw operates 10 physical stores and a significant e-commerce presence. The deal closed on Monday, Feb. 13, Walmart said in a statement. Walmart's latest purchase comes about a month after the retail giant's announcement that it its Jet.com unit had acquired footwear e-commerce company Shoebuy.com Inc. from Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IAC) for $70 million. "Apparel and accessories is now the number one category for digital commerce, according to comScore, and we gain the experience of another well-established e-commerce player, this time in the active outdoor category," Walmart said. Further, the company's "expertise will help us further enhance our customer experience." Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said by phone that the company looks for "assortment or expertise" in assessing e-commerce acquisition opportunities, and noted that Moosejaw brings 25 years of experience and deep industry relationships in the sector. In turn, he said, Moosejaw's suppliers can access a "portfolio of e-commerce sites where they can figure out who they're trying to reach and where it makes more sense to sell." Jet itself was acquired by Walmart last summer for $3.3 billion, a jolt to the company's e-commerce business. Shortly after the Shoebuy purchase, on Jan. 13, Jet co-founder and former CEO Marc Lore, now the CEO of Walmart's U.S. e-commerce division, combined the company's e-commerce operations into a single organization. E-commerce is a priority for Walmart, which has lost ground to Amazon.com (AMZN) and other upstarts. Jariwala said that Walmart.com's assortment of items has risen from 8 million in the beginning of 2016 to over 30 million today. To further compete with Amazon, Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart on Jan. 31 unveiled free two-day shipping applicable to purchases of $35 or more of any of some 2 million offerings. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC analyst Christopher Horvers wrote Wednesday that the shipping move demonstrated Walmart's "unwilling[ness] to yield turf to AMZN." In Walmart's third-quarter earnings report, on Nov. 17, the company disclosed e-commerce sales growth of 20.6% year-over-year, compared to total sales growth of 2.5%. Lower middle market private equity firm Glencoe Capital LLC backed Moosejaw in late 2009 through its Michigan Opportunities Fund, which invested $10 million or more in companies with Ebitda above $3 million. Another lower middle market PE firm, Dallas' Parallel Investment Partners LP, backed Moosejaw in 2007. Glencoe and Parallel did not respond to requests for comment. Moosejaw representatives could not be reached for comment. Time Warner (TWX) shareholders voted on Wednesday to approve the media giant's planned $85.4 billion sale to AT&T (T) . Time Warner announced on Wednesday that 99% of votes cast were in approval of the merger. The New York City-based company said it expects the deal to close by year's end. Shares of AT&T and Time Warner were mostly flat in after-hours trading on Wednesday. "I'm pleased that the Company's shareholders have approved the proposal to combine with AT&T," said Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes in a statement. "By combining Time Warner's leading brands and video content with AT&T's distribution, we will accelerate our ability to innovate, develop and deliver the next generation of video services, making our content even more valuable to consumers and business partners." The blockbuster deal is now likely to face an extensive regulatory review process, since a merger would create a powerhouse in global telecommunications, television and film. President Donald Trump criticized the deal while on the campaign trail, saying he would oppose the merger because it would "consolidate too much power in the media industry." U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said Wednesday that a special federal prosecutor is needed to investigate possible illegal communications between Russian officials and President Donald Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Baldwin, D-Madison, joined 10 other Senate Democrats in making the call Wednesday. Flynn resigned Monday after news reports based on leaked intelligence showed he discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador in December, despite Flynns initial denials. In a letter to Trumps newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the senators said a special investigator is required to maintain the confidence, credibility and impartiality of the Department of Justice. An independent investigation is now necessary to determine what General Flynn did, who knew about it, and when, Baldwin and the other senators wrote. Late Tuesday, the New York Times reported that members of Trumps presidential campaign had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to communications intercepted by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election, with the partial goal of hurting the chances of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. An official website of the United States Government - A plane carrying 120 passengers has crash landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) - Among the passengers were 3 ministers, 10 MPs and 3 Senators - No one was harmed in the incident that was blamed on a faulty engine A Daallo plane has crash landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Passengers aboard a Daallo plane similar to the one that crash landed in Nairobi. READ ALSO: Raila Odinga ordered to speak to Anne Waiguru The Daallo plane from Mogadishu Somalia made an emergency landing at JKIA after it developed engine failure on Tuesday, February 14. The plane had 120 passengers including 3 ministers 10 MPs and 3 senators from Somalia. One of the Somali MP's said the plane had been denied permission to land at Wajir International Airport. Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE READ ALSO: Details why Donald Trump IGNORED Uhuru when he called African leaders The Daallo plane from Mogadishu Somalia made an emergency landing at JKIA after it developed engine failure. READ ALSO: Mudavadis CAMP send an anxious plea to NASA regarding the Presidential flag bearer Firefighters and JKIA security rushed to the plane to rescue the passengers. Wajir Airport did not allow our plane to land as it is required. We were directed to fly directly to Nairobi," Mohamed Jama a passenger is quoted by Radio Dalsan. Firefighters and JKIA security rushed to the plane to rescue the passengers. READ ALSO: Doctors MOCK Uhuru with an epic pose after their colleagues were released from jail (photo) One of the MP's blamed the management of the plane for the poor condition of the planes. "Its time the management of this airline look at the worthiness and safety of the flights," the MP said. Luckily no passengers was harmed in the incident that had caused panic and fear at the airport. Watch a video of JKIA below. Have something to add to this article or suggestions? send to news@tuko.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke - Nyatike MP Edick Anyanga wants the Kenya Navy stationed at the disputed Migingo Island - He asked president Uhuru Kenyatta to send them after Uganda President Museveni sent a new batch of military to the disputed island Nyatike MP Edick Anyanga has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to send the Kenya Navy at the disputed Migingo Island to subdue the rising tension in the area. Migingo island. Images: Courtesy READ ALSO: Workers in Nyandarua use FECES while NEGOTIATING WITH GOVERNMENT officials The request comes after Museveni deployed military forces in the small island. Anyanga asked the president to send the navy as a way of protecting the country's sovereignty. Kenyan and Uganda have had great interests in the rocky island which has an abundant supply of fish. While Kenya has maintained that the 0.5 acre is in its territory, its neighbour says the waters bordering the island is theirs. READ ALSO: Eric Omondi and his HOT GIRLFRIEND release their anticipated clip 'Adam and Eve' "We have complaints of harassment of Kenyans living along the border with Uganda in Western and Nyanza," Anyanga said. "We need a strong statement from Kenya in regard to soldiers crossing over into the country to met atrocities against citizens." Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE Uganda had announced withdrawing its military but news now have it that it plans to replace them with a new batch, a thing that has caused anxiety according to The Star which first reported the story. Uhuru Kenyatta. Image: Courtesy READ ALSO: Health CS Cleopa Mailu makes a HEART-WRENCHING confession about his PS Nicholus Muraguri "We need a strong statement from Kenya in regard to soldiers crossing over into the country to met atrocities against citizens," the MP said. "The request for the Navy is long overdue. We passed the motion during the 10th parliament to the effect. According to John Obunge who is the Migingo beach management unit chairman, bringing another batch of military has raised the tension making fish business difficult in the island. READ ALSO: You want Size 8 to get back to doing secular music? Heres why you might never see that happen Ugandan Monitor newspaper on Tuesday reported that Uganda security authorities have finalised plans to replace officers who have been stationed at Migingo. READ ALSO: KSh 100 wedding couple breaks into TEARS during the KSh 3.5 million grand wedding (photos) Migori police boss David Kirui, however, said Uganda has always been routinely changing police officers in the migingo and should not be a reason for panic. Watch: The Difficult Life At Migingo Island Source: TUKO.co.ke Sittings of three subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) to settle the situation in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, have begun in Minsk. The Foreign Ministry of Belarus wrote this on Twitter. Sittings of the working groups on security, political, humanitarian issues of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine are taking place in Minsk, reads a report. As Ukrinform earlier reported, the Trilateral Contact Group and its three subgroups at their meeting on February 1 managed to agree on some positions regarding the release of illegally detained persons. iy One Ukrainian soldier was wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the past day. Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Fortunately, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the last day. One serviceman was wounded, Motuzianyk said. As reported, Russian-backed terrorists over the past day launched attacks on the Ukrainian positions in all directions. iy The Lower House of the Federal Parliament of Canada supported the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine in the third and final reading by a majority of votes. This is reported by an Ukrinform correspondent. Now the agreement will be sent to the Upper House of the Parliament, the Senate, and then submitted for signature to Governor General, which is the final stage for a document to come into legal force. As a reminder, the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine was signed on July 11 last year during the visit of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau to Kyiv. Once the ratification procedures are completed by the parliaments of both countries, Canada is to immediately abolish tariffs for 99.9% of Ukrainian imports. In turn, Ukraine is to immediately cancel 86% of duties on imports from Canada, for 7 years. ol In 2016, the Polish Oil and Gas Company PGNiG signed an agreement with the Ukrainian Company ERU Traiding and sold 400 million cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine under this agreement. Maciej Wozniak, Vice-President of PGNiG Management Board stated this, Onet.pl reports. In 2016, we for the first time carried out significant gas exports: we sold almost half a billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine, particularly more than 400 million cubic meters, Wozniak said and added that it was sold on good terms. According to Maciej Wozniak, PGNiG wants to supply natural gas not only to the Polish consumer, but also to actively enter aregional level. iy The trade turnover between Ukraine and the Czech Republic increased by 18.6% in January-November 2016. This was discussed by Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze and Agriculture Minister of the Czech Republic Marian Jurecka, the Governmental portal reports. "The parties discussed cooperation between the two countries in the field of agriculture and welcomed the growth of trade turnover between Ukraine and the Czech Republic by 18.6% in January-November 2016 as compared to corresponding period in 2015. Jurecka said that the Czech Republic had already provided Ukraine with more than EUR 6 million in aid and assured of the intention of his state to continue to support Ukrainian reforms," the statement reads. Klympush-Tsyntsadze thanked the Minister for this support, noting the high hopes of Ukraine for the resumption of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic, industrial and scientific-technical cooperation. ol The Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry is planning to promote an increase in soybean production output by expanding the sowing areas of soybeans. Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Taras Kutovyi has stated this at the opening of the 'Soybeans and Their Derived Products' conference within the framework of the 7th International Exhibition 'Grain Technologies 2017', the ministry's press service reports. In fact, soybean production has increased by 20 times over 10 years, and last year we harvested the record yield of soybeans, which is more than 4 million tonnes. The Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry will expand the sowing areas for soybean growing, Kutovyi said. According to him, the introduction of advanced technologies in organic farming moved soybean production to the new level. In addition, the ministry's cooperation with leading soybean producers will enable Ukraine to enter the new markets of soybean exports. mk Administration of the White House, led by the US President Donald Trump expects Moscow to stop the violence in eastern Ukraine and return Crimea to the Ukrainian authorities. An appropriate statement was made by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to deescalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea. At the same time, he fully expects to and wants to be able to get along with Russia," the representative of the White House said. He called the situation in eastern Ukraine dire and the one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions. The Administrations official also confirmed that the current administration in Washington recognizes Crimea as part of Ukraine. ol Ukraine and Israel will establish a joint center for the rehabilitation of participants in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine. This was discussed during the meeting of Ukrainian Social Policy Minister Andriy Reva with Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine Eliav Belotserkovsky, the Government portal reports. "We intend to establish a medical and preventive treatment facility. The activity of future Israeli-Ukrainian center should be based on experiences and approaches of the Israeli experts as the country has advanced technologies for recovery and rehabilitation of combatants," the statement reads. According to Reva, first, the Israeli delegation will visit the Social Policy Ministrys division for physical rehabilitation of servicemen the Ukrainian Research Institute for Prosthetics, Prosthesis and Rehabilitation in Kharkiv. In addition, the inter-state agreement on employment is expected to be signed in short-term. According to Belotserkovsky, the Israeli side is very interested in the speedy signing of the agreement and start of work within the contract, which regulates official employment of Ukrainian experts in Israel. ol 02/14/2017 Media contacts: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu * M E D I A A D V I S O R Y * Wednesday, Feb. 15 12:30 to 2 p.m. WHAT: Human-rights leader John Prendergast, who works with actor George Clooney and other celebrity activists to expose crimes and war profiteering around the world, will lead a free program on the power of social activism for the campus and community. Prendergasts talk will draw on his 30 years of experience leading human-rights campaigns with actors Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and others, and will highlight how the public can become involved in fighting injustice wherever it occurs. Prendergast is a board member and adviser to Clooney, Pitt, Damon and Cheadles international advocacy and humanitarian aid organization, Not on Our Watch. In 2015, Clooney and Prendergast created The Sentry, an investigative group determined to follow the money in order to dismantle the financial networks that endanger lives and support human atrocities in South Sudan and other African countries. Both Not on Our Watch and The Sentry grew out of the Enough Project, founded by Prendergast to end genocide and crimes against humanity in Africa. Prendergast, who was UMass Lowells 2012 Greeley Scholar for Peace, previously served in the Clinton administration and the U.S. Department of State. He has worked for members of Congress, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, the National Intelligence Council, the International Crisis Group and the U.S. Institute of Peace. A New York Times best-selling author, he has received the United Nations Correspondents Associations Citizen of the World Award, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award and the U.S. State Department Distinguished Service Award. As a Greeley peace scholar, Prendergast was in residence at UMass Lowell in 2012 and led programs for students, faculty, staff and the public. UMass Lowells 2017 Greeley Scholar for Peace will be on campus in April to speak at programs including the annual Day Without Violence on Tuesday, April 4. The honor recognizes distinguished humanitarians who promote peace and conflict resolution locally, nationally and globally. WHERE: OLeary Library Learning Commons mezzanine, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell. Contact UMass Lowell media relations for directions and parking information. AIRLINE INDUSTRY Flight cancellations at lowest in 22 years Airlines canceled 1.17 percent of scheduled domestic flights last year, the best performance in the 22 years the government has been tracking the data, the U.S. Transportation Department said Tuesday. The cancellation rate was a big improvement over the 1.5 percent of flights canceled in 2015. Airlines fared well in other areas, too. In 2016, the carriers had a mishandled-baggage rate of 2.7 per 1,000 passengers, down from 3.13 per 1,000 in 2015. And carriers bumped 0.62 per 10,000 passengers in 2016, compared with a 0.73 rate in 2015. Airlines reported an on-time arrival rate of 81.4 percent, up from 79.9 percent in 2015. Hawaiian Airlines ranked first in on-time flights out of 12 carriers ranked, followed by Alaska Air, Delta, SkyWest and United. Travelers also made fewer complaints. The Transportation Department said it received 17,904 complaints last year, down 11.3 percent from 2015. Reuters RETAIL Trade show companies threaten to leave Utah A coalition of major outdoor companies on Tuesday ramped up a threat to get a lucrative outdoor trade show to leave Utah unless the governor and elected officials back away from policies they say threaten public lands. Leaders of Black Diamond Equipment, Osprey Packs and 28 other outdoor companies sent a letter to Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) that says Utah leaders are threatening the outdoor industry by pushing back against federal land control and management. We see all of these actions as an existential threat to the vibrancy of Utah and Americas outdoor industry as well as Utahs high quality of life, the letter said. The letter comes two days before Herbert is expected to meet with outdoor retailers to try to smooth the discord. Organizers of the semiannual Outdoor Retailer trade show said this year that theyre considering moving the event after two decades in Utah. Some companies said theyll boycott the show as long as it remains in the state. In the letter, the chief executives call on Herbert and Utah officials to stop pushing for the recent declaration of the Bears Ears National Monument to be rescinded and to stop pushing for state control of public lands owned by the federal government, among other actions. Associated Press Also in Business From news services Coming today What gutsy little girl wouldnt love to explore a ship on the high seas? And what audience wouldnt love to accompany her, if the reconnaissance turned up the surprises that abound in Constellation Theatre Companys irresistible Peter and the Starcatcher? At one point in this funny, rollicking fantasy-adventure tale, an intrepid young heroine named Molly prowls around a ship, peeking through doors. As she does so, vivid scenes spring to life: seamen playing cards, a chapel service, the punishment of a crew member. Also: a flying cat. A single plank represents all the doors, and a white muff depicts the cat. To signal each revelation, actors spring into position, through movement and posture conjuring up the door hinges, the sailors activities, the cats levitation. The fluid pacing and assured physical storytelling are typical of this intimate, playful staging, directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer and featuring a spirited 13-person cast, choreography by Kelly Maxner and Mollye Maxner, and delectable costumes by Kendra Rai. Written by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker, Peter and the Starcatcher is based on Dave Barry and Ridley Pearsons novel, a prequel to the tale of Peter Pan. (A Broadway production opened in 2012; a touring version landed at the Kennedy Center in 2014.) Filled with irreverent humor, including wordplay and impish anachronisms, the play tells how a nameless orphan the future Peter is rescued from shipboard imprisonment by Molly, a turn of events that plunges both youngsters into an escapade involving pirates, mermaids, bloodthirsty islanders, a shipwreck and magic starstuff. Unfurling around and above the wooden platforms of A.J. Gubans set, the Constellation production benefits hugely from Megan Gravess funny, endearing turn as Molly. Dallas Tolentino is suitably wary and callow as Peter, and Michael John Casey generally swashbuckles amusingly as the pirate Black Stache. Other notable performances include Alex Vernon as Mollys redoubtable father, Lord Aster; Ian Anthony Coleman as the mercenary Capt. Slank; and Keith Richards as a blithe, weathered, accordion-playing sailor. But many of the shows best moments feature actors meshing together in ensemble sequences, such as a shipboard battle or a line of warbling mermaids. Sometimes the performers animate, or transform into, physical objects, including island boulders and the shards of a shattered mirror. Impressively, the ensemble movement never looks busy or cluttered; it simply conjures up one clear, lively image after another. (The puppetry, which includes a wonderfully menacing crocodile, is designed by Matthew Aldwin McGee, also the props designer. Guban designed the colorful lighting.) As befits the spunky proto-feminist she is, Molly does some flying of her own. The stage business that effectuates this gravity-defying coup is so simple, yet so bold and dramatic, that Tinker Bell herself might look on with admiration. Peter and the Starcatcher, a play by Rick Elice, based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson; music by Wayne Barker. Directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer; music direction, Deborah Jacobson. With Jordan Campbell, Kevin M. Collins, Matt Dewberry, Kamau Mitchell, Christopher Michael Richardson, Matthew Schleigh and John Sygar. About 2 hours. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Tickets: $20-$45. Through March 12 at Source, 1835 14th Street NW. Call 202-204-7741 or visit constellationtheatre.org. Executive Chef Enrique Limardo in the dining room of Alma Cocina Latina in Baltimore. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) A crudo of sea bass is bordered by an emulsification of jalapeno and avocado. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) (Excellent/Superlative) The best ambassadors for Venezuela in the United States right now are Irena Stein and Enrique Limardo. Theyre the owner and chef, respectively, of Alma Cocina Latina in Southeast Baltimore, an alluring young restaurant that shines a light on a style of cooking that doesnt get much play in this country. If your only encounter with the cuisine has been arepas, Venezuelas answer to (stuffed) corn bread, prepare to have your horizons broadened. And if youve never had the pleasure of ravioli de chucho, expect to be dazzled. Back in Caracas, where the principals are from, the dish is known as pastel de chucho and looks like lasagna, with fish between its layers. Limardo takes the idea and runs with it. He adds plantains to the dough to make ravioli, which he stuffs with mashed skate and serves on brushstrokes of squid ink with spoonfuls of melted telita cheese, similar to mozzarella. Black and white, they create the most harmonic version of ebony and ivory since Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. To finish the dish, the chef dehydrates salad components spinach, cilantro, onions and dusts the ravioli with the resulting green powder. You may think you know crudo. Alma Cocina Latina teaches you otherwise. The fish, in this case sea bass glossed with cilantro oil, isnt immediately visible. Limardo carpets almost half the rectangular dish with microgreens, half with crisp silverfish before framing the appetizer in dark green borders of emulsified avocado and jalapeno. Not until your fork enters the picture do you see the dewy sea bass. The combination of subtle fish, fresh herbs, crisp garnish and creamy heat in every bite is irresistible. Which is precisely the sensation the chef wants you to experience. Ravioli de chucho is Limardos interpretation of the Venezuelan dish. His features skate and plantains. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Venezuelan food is an explosion on the palate, says Limardo, 41, who has cooked for more than half his life. The best of it is sweet, sour, savory and spicy . . . in every bite. To taste his food is to see how it borrows from elsewhere in the world Italy, Spain, West Africa and to learn how Limardo spent his time since he sold his two restaurants in Caracas a decade ago. Subsequently, as a private chef, he got to cook all over the world: Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris. The chucho and the crudo prompt a question: Is every dish on the menu as magical? My crush on the restaurant turns into deeper affection when the first of several arepas appear. Sitting at the wood counter of the front kitchen lets you see the process by which the Venezuelan staple shaped from white corn flour, water, salt and canola oil goes from a little ball of dough to a puffy hot pocket after a spell on a massive griddle and in a hot oven. The fillings run from traditional to terrific. Juicy shredded beef with caramelized plantains and inky black beans, or La Nacional, is very good. But the Korean-inspired arepa finds your taste buds dancing as they connect with smoked pork loin, green onion kimchi and wild sesame seeds. Neatniks, rejoice. Whatever your selection, its presented in a brown paper sleeve. Arepas are meant to be eaten soon after theyre made. Dont bother wrapping up leftovers. Stein mentally winces when she sees customers leaving with unfinished arepas, knowing that the snacks get tough in transport and reheating. Jorge Ortiz, foreground, fills an arepa while Yic Tam, Albani Caolo and Nacho Useche work at the arepas grill. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) The same cannot be said of the arroz con pollo y camaron, a rice dish swirled with sofrito and decked out with chicken thighs that have been stuffed with ground shrimp and deep-fried. Take it from someone who rewarmed the entree at home. The chicken remains succulent, and the rice infused with the flavors of red bell peppers, onion and tomatoes and dabbed with caper aioli stays sensational. The lush texture of the dish is explained by Carnaroli rice, the best for making risotto. Stein is a known commodity in Baltimore, where she has two other eating establishments at the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus, Alkimia and Cafe Azafran. Whenever she sold Venezuelan food at the latter, she says, People went crazy. Initially, her third restaurant was expected to serve just arepas. But the space she liked best was too large for the idea. Dreaming bigger, Stein found her chef after his plans to join a catering company in Washington fell through three years ago. Alma made its debut in Canton in April 2015. The food here is so compelling, I couldnt wait to return after my initial trip and came back the next night. The second round, beginning with a riff on a Hemingway daiquiri and embracing bison tongue and a fantasy in chocolate, proved as mouthwatering as the first. The tongue, cooked with cocoa powder and glossed with tamarind sauce, supports the chefs view of his country. Every tender bite is powerfully good. The dessert, starring Venezuelan chocolate, is a spectacle of ganache, cocoa-coconut crumble, cocoa syrup and red dots (bell pepper jam). Watch for flying spoons. One of the desserts features several expressions of chocolate on one plate. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Server Courtney Villarreal holds a Korean-inspired arepa featuring pork and green onion kimchi. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) The only thing stopping me from booking a table for the next night was a dark restaurant. Alma Cocina Latino isnt open on Sundays. Theres one dish whose charms I can resist. The Cubano is ordinary in comparison to its bewitching peers on the menu. The upside to the pressed meat-and-cheese sandwich is a small stack of some of the best yucca fries Ive ever had. Theyre lightly crisp on the outside, fluffy in the middle and seasoned with merken, a spice blend from Chile made from ground smoked chilies. Bet you cant stop at one piece. Frankly, Id visit Alma if the dining room were a box and the staff were robots. But theyre not. The interior, an inviting jungle of plants in a setting made playful with a hammock separating bar from tables, comes courtesy of Steins husband, Mark Demshak, an architect. Yes, the room can get loud, but food this exciting brings out the whoops in some of us. Every server Ive met is a stand-in for Stein, fussing over patrons and explaining the food as if they grew up with it. Indeed, no detail appears to have been overlooked. Desserts show the same thought as what preceded them (and if you like meringue, youre going to fall hard for the tres leches). Even the website is impressive. Alma is Spanish for soul. Its a fitting name for a fantastic restaurant that gets to the very essence of hospitality. For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com. Omarosa Manigault, aide to President Trump, watches during a meeting with parents and teachers at the White House on Tuesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) The bad blood between a veteran reporter and a White House communications official has taken a reality-TV show turn. The official former Apprentice star Omarosa Manigault, now a top aide to President Trump said she has a recording of her dispute with journalist April Ryan. For her part, Ryan said Wednesday that she was never told she was being recorded and is considering suing Manigault for slander. Manigault and Ryan engaged in a heated exchange steps from the Oval Office last week. A reporter with the American Urban Radio Networks, Ryan said she felt physically intimidated by Manigault and that Manigault had told her that Ryan was among a handful of journalists on whom the White House was keeping dossiers of negative information. The encounter was recorded by an unidentified White House media employee, according to Manigault, who said the tape backs up her claim that Ryans account is false. 1 of 19 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Who is Omarosa Manigault? View Photos A look at the career of President Trumps director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. Caption A look at the career of President Trumps director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. Jan. 8, 2004 Omarosa Manigault, then a contestant on The Apprentice, attends a party for the shows premiere. Rebecca D'Angelo/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. She came in [to the White House press-staff area] hot, hurling insults at her, Manigault said. She came in with an attitude. For her to characterize me as the bully Im so glad we have this tape . . . because its liar, liar, pants on fire in Ryans case, Manigault said. Ryan said she was not aware that the run-in was being recorded and never consented to it. I didnt know she was taping it, she said. This is about her trying to smear my name. This is freaking Nixonian. Making such a recording is legal under D.C. law; the city has a one-party consent law, which makes it legal to record a phone call or conversation if one person in the conversation consents. It is illegal, however, to record both parties if neither has consented. Manigault, who earned a villainous reputation while a contestant on Trumps reality shows The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, asserted that White House media staff regularly records interviews between reporters and officials. We do it all the time, she said. When you come into [the press staffs offices], youre on the record. Several veteran White House reporters said interviews are sometimes recorded by officials but that it was unheard of to do so without a reporters prior knowledge. Fox News White House reporter John Roberts was among a handful of reporters who heard the recording Tuesday. He said via email that he heard a discussion between the two women in which some terse words and accusations were exchanged, but it didnt amount to a confrontation. He said that some portions of the recording were difficult to hear clearly or understand fully, but he did not hear the word dossier mentioned. Ryan stood by her account and charged that Manigault selected pieces of their exchange to play to journalists. She wants to spin it like its a catfight, but she edited that tape, she said. You dont hear her screaming. This is about her smearing me. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) She said Wednesday that she is considering suing Manigault. My lawyers are looking at several things [including] slander, she said. But I am waiting to see what is the right thing to do. Manigault and Ryan were formerly friends; Manigault had even asked Ryan last summer to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. But their relationship soured in the fall when Manigault, then working on Trumps presidential campaign, suggested in emails to Ryan that the journalist was accepting money from Hillary Clintons campaign for favorable coverage. Ryan vigorously denied it. Protect your legacy!! Manigault wrote to Ryan in October. You have worked too hard to have people question your ethics as a journalist. She cited a story that mentioned the Clinton campaigns efforts to woo journalists and added, This story suggests that as a reporter, you are (or were) a paid Clinton surrogate. I pray this is not true! This could be hurtful to your legacy and the integrity of your work. International visitors to Argentina should go out on their hotel balconies and belt out the good news: The government is waiving the value added tax on lodgings. This means more money to spend on tango lessons, Malbec wine and flank steak. The executive order, which went into effect Jan. 2, offers tourists a direct and automatic refund of the 21 percent tax, one of the highest in the world. It removes the tax on all lodgings throughout the countrys 23 provinces, from upscale city hotels to rugged estancias in the countryside. It also applies to breakfast services associated with overnight stays. The decision to remove the charge is part of the governments larger plan to open up Argentina after decades of insularity and political turmoil. Its a sign of good things to come, said Gonzalo Robredo, executive director of the tourism office of Buenos Aires. We are working toward strong tourism development and facilitating travel for international visitors. [There goes tradition: Las Vegas Strip casinos start charging for parking] Travelers have several other reasons to rejoice, as well. In August, Americans received an exemption from paying the $160 reciprocity fee. They can now enter the country at no charge. (No such luck for Canadians and Australians.) In 2015, the new president, Mauricio Macri, lifted controls over the Argentine peso, allowing the local currency to float freely with the U.S. dollar. The black market is out; ATMs are in. The rebate is only available to visitors who can prove, with a valid passport or identification card, that they live abroad. They must also pay with a non-Argentine credit card or bank transfer from another country. The hotel will remove the charge at the time of billing. The savings are significant. On average, midlevel properties cost $100 to $200. For example, rates at Home, a boutique hotel in the Palermo Hollywood neighborhood of Buenos Aires, start at $115; about $24 will go back into your wallet. Higher-end properties charge twice as much. A night at Faena Hotel Buenos Aires, a luxury hotel near Puerto Madero, starts at $459. What to do with the spare cash? Throw the VAT a farewell party with a tango show at Esquina Carlos Gardel or a dinner for two at La Cabrera, a popular steakhouse in BA. More from Travel: Youre Going Where? Columbus Still finding kicks on Route 66 Zapposs CEO is helping revitalize downtown Las Vegas. He took me on a whirlwind tour. A homeless man carries his possessions as he watches authorities clear out a tent encampment beneath the Whitehurst Freeway in Washington. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) First the garbage trucks arrived, then the front-end loader, then teams of D.C. sanitation workers armed with shovels and rakes. Within three hours, the small neighborhood of tents and barbecue pits that had become a mainstay this winter for homeless men and women and a nuisance for neighbors was gone. Left dangling on a tree near the end of Whitehurst Freeway, north of the Kennedy Center, were two broken Christmas ornaments. The bulldozing of the encampment took place where at least 12 people had been staying one night last month during a city count of the homeless. In the first few months after Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) took office in 2015, Department of Public Works employees repeatedly demolished encampments in Foggy Bottom and around the citys quickly gentrifying NoMa neighborhood, drawing criticism from some religious leaders and advocates for the poor. Christmas ornaments remain on a tree as authorities clear out a homeless encampment beneath the Whitehurst Freeway. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) Bowser had entered office promising to end chronic homelessness by 2020, but critics accused her of mainly trying to keep the problem out of view. Last year, as Bowser focused on winning legislative approval to construct a new network of shelters for homeless families, her administration seemed to back away from removing encampments. But Bowser spokesman Kevin Harris said the encampment along the mazelike intersection of Whitehurst, K Street NW and Rock Creek Parkway had become particularly problematic, with mounds of trash and rodents. The health and well-being of all District residents, including individuals experiencing homelessness as well as those who access the public space, is an important principle, Harris said in an email. Given the continual growing mound of trash at this location and the number of rats that were present, this site posed a health concern. Additionally, its proximity to the off-ramp also raised safety concerns, he said. Harris said six people from the site had been moved into permanent housing over the past several months. An additional 10 or so milled about Tuesday, some speaking with city workers who tried to help them sort their belongings into piles to keep. None of those present when the cleanup began at 10 a.m. took up city employees on offers of rides to shelters. Two outreach coordinators from nearby Miriams Kitchen, which feeds hundreds of homeless men and women daily in the Foggy Bottom area, watched as the demolition unfolded and said those displaced probably had simply moved elsewhere in the neighborhood. A dog named Snoop, in foreground, watches as authorities clear out a homeless tent encampment. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) Everything was amicable today, said Lara Pukatch, Miriams director of advocacy, noting that the city gave advance warning of the cleanup. But it was Valentines Day, if anyone was thinking about that. We had actually just launched a campaign to call the mayors office and ask her to spread the love and to make additional investments this year in chronic homelessness. Indeed, an hour before cleanup crews arrived at the encampment, church leaders in nearby Georgetown had emailed parishioners with the subject line, Call-in to Mayor Bowsers Office TODAY! Part of the email called for a new $17 million investment in homelessness in the mayors next budget, saying nobody should live or die on the streets of DC. According to a nightly census on Feb. 2, there were 1,079 single men, 332 single women, and 2,979 parents and children in D.C. homeless shelters and motel rooms. About 250 were in recreation centers, which open only when there is a high danger of hypothermia. Kate Coventry, who tracks homelessness spending by the city for the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, said there are many reasons some homeless people prefer to brave the elements rather than go to the citys shelters for single adults. Couples of the opposite sex cannot go into shelters together; family members cant either, such as a man and his mother who lived under the Whitehurst. In addition, the shelters often are infested with bedbugs, and those who frequent them describe unsafe conditions where theft is common and restful sleep is scarce. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who represents the area around Tuesdays cleanup, said he supported the mayors action. Encampments are illegal. You cannot camp on public land, Evans said, and its not a victimless crime. I get lots of complaints from residents in that area. . . . There are no bathroom facilities. We get instances of people defecating in yards, going out and panhandling and creating a chaotic situation. Evans said he knows city shelters have a bad reputation, but thats where they should go. We have places for folks. Thats the answer at this point in time. Pukatch said it is not a lasting solution. We have some who live in shelters, some staying in the street, and some in encampments, she said. [Removing one encampment] its not that simple to say its a good or bad thing. The solution is to connect people with housing. Thats what they deserve and what they need. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Wednesday that the handful of protesters who briefly blocked her from entering a D.C. middle school last week demonstrated hostility to change in education. The protesters behavior is a reflection of the way some seek to treat our education system by keeping kids in and new thinking out, DeVos said during brief remarks to a conference of magnet-school leaders and advocates in Washington. DeVos, a billionaire who advocates for private-school vouchers and has no professional experience in public education, has been one of President Trumps most controversial Cabinet nominees. She was barely confirmed after an outpouring of opposition from teachers, parents and others who feared she would undermine public schools. [Protesters briefly block DeVos from entering D.C. public school] On Wednesday, DeVos praised public magnet schools as the oldest form of school choice and said she was committed to supporting their success. You may not be tooting your horns enough, she said. But she declined to commit to provide more federal funding for magnet schools, saying it would be premature to do so. I think all great schools should be highlighted and should be supported, she said. That said, I dont think we should be as focused necessarily on funding school buildings as much as we should be having a conversation about funding students. Magnet schools are public schools with instructional themes such as math and science, the fine arts or international studies that set them apart from traditional schools and often make them more attractive to families. Like traditional public schools, they are run by school districts. They were established after the Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education as a way to speed racial integration by encouraging parents to choose schools outside their neighborhoods. Now, nearly 3.5 million students attend thousands of magnet schools nationwide, according to Magnet Schools of America, which organized Wednesdays conference. (DeVos cited a lower figure in her remarks: 2.6 million.) [Influential conservatives: Trump, DeVos should dismantle Education Department and bring God into classrooms] But federal funding for magnet schools has declined over the past decade and now stands at about $91 million per year less than half the amount appropriated to charter schools. Magnet schools advocates are hopeful that DeVoss advocacy for expanding parents choices in education will mean additional federal funds. Todd Mann, the organizations director, urged attendees to keep an open mind about DeVos, who was barely confirmed amid concerns among Democrats and some Republicans that she lacks experience in public education and would seek to expand vouchers and charter schools at the expense of traditional public schools. It may be very easy to assume we have little in common with Secretary DeVos and then stand back, but I think you would all agree that would be a mistake, Mann said. It is our role as public school advocates to declare far and wide the value of what our schools offer. Mann invited DeVos to visit magnet schools to learn about them. Absolutely. I look forward to it, she said, and then she departed without taking questions from reporters. President Donald Trump talks with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos by his side during a meeting with parents and teachers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) A policy manifesto from an influential conservative group with ties to the Trump administration, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, urges the dismantling of the Education Department and bringing God into American classrooms. The five-page document produced by the Council for National Policy calls for a restoration of education in America that would minimize the federal role, promote religious schools and home schooling and enshrine historic Judeo-Christian principles as a basis for instruction. Names of the councils members are closely held. But the Southern Poverty Law Center published a 2014 membership directory showing that Stephen K. Bannon now chief White House strategist for President Trump was a member and that Kellyanne Conway now counselor to the president served on the councils executive committee. DeVos was not listed as a member, but her mother, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, was named on the councils board of governors. Her father-in-law, Amway founder Richard DeVos Sr., twice served as president, most recently from 1990 to 1993. And she and her husband have given money to the council as recently as 2007 through their family foundation, according to federal tax records. The councils Education Reform Report says it is intended to help DeVos and Trump map a path toward change. The proposal to abolish the department dovetails with the long-held views of many Republicans, and Trump suggested during the 2016 campaign that the agency could be largely eliminated. But Trump has given no sign since taking office that he aims to act on that idea, and DeVos embraced the mission of the department when she took office last week. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Still, the councils views carry weight in the conservative movement. Its hundreds of members are a whos who of prominent figures on the Christian right, including former lawmakers and leaders in social activism, business and think tanks. Their thrice-yearly meetings are held in undisclosed locations, and every four years GOP presidential candidates show up to address the crowd and seek their favor. [These Christian teachers want to bring Jesus into public schools] A version of the councils report, created by an 11-member education committee, was posted on the councils website. The document was no longer available online as of Wednesday afternoon, after The Washington Post reported on it, but it could still be found on the Internet Archives Wayback Machine. Three committee members confirmed its authenticity. The document proposes demoting the department to a presidential Advisory Council on Public Education Reform, a sub-Cabinet-level agency that would serve as a consultant to states. New employees should subscribe to the educational worldview of the Trump administration, it says, from assistant secretaries to the mailroom. It also says states should encourage K-12 public schools to post the Ten Commandments, teach Bible classes, recognize holidays such as Easter and Christmas. promote instruction from a Judeo-Christian perspective and remove secular-based sex education materials from school facilities. It calls for the termination of the Common Core academic standards and an end to the government collection of student data, which has generated concerns among activists on the right and the left. The goal, it says, is a gradual, voluntary return at all levels to free-market private schools, church schools and home schools as the normative American practice. Think tanks routinely seek to influence new administrations. But the councils vision would be a dramatic departure for education in America. Nearly 9 in 10 students attend public schools, and the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the First Amendment prohibits public schools from establishing or promoting any particular religion. The department administers and manages student loans for tens of millions of borrowers, gives K-12 schools billions of dollars a year to bolster education for children who are poor or have disabilities, and enforces civil rights laws in schools and colleges nationwide. A department spokesman said Wednesday that DeVos had not received the document and therefore had no reaction. DeVos fully supports the mission of the department and applauds the decision by the president of the United States to continue to keep the Department of Education at Cabinet level, the spokesman said. Trump, as a candidate, endorsed eliminating the Common Core. But as president he cannot do that on his own because standards are decided by states. Trump has said nothing since taking office about dismantling or downsizing the department. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) this month introduced a one-sentence bill to eliminate the agency by the end of 2018. DeVos has long advocated for taxpayer-supported vouchers to help parents pay tuition for private and religious schools. Before her confirmation and since taking office Feb. 7, she has sought to allay concerns about how she would lead the department, though she has also made clear that she is looking for ways to shrink it. I cant tell you today whats being done thats unnecessary, but I can guarantee that there are things that the department has been doing that are probably not necessary or important for a federal agency to do, she told Michael Patrick Shiels, a Michigan radio host, this week. Really, when it comes down to it, education and the provision of education is really a state and local responsibility to a large extent. In Washington, she told career employees last week that they are professionals to whom she will listen, and she said she thought that despite disagreements, we can and must come together, find common ground and put the needs of our students first. [DeVos has deep ties to the Christian Reformed community] DeVos grew up in the Christian Reformed Church and graduated from Calvin College, which is affiliated with that church. Her support for vouchers appears to be motivated by faith: She once said she believed her education-reform efforts could advance Gods Kingdom and lead to greater Kingdom gain in the long run. In light of those comments, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked DeVos before her confirmation to clarify her beliefs about the role of religion in public education. My faith is very important to me and informs my work. In education, it teaches me that every child is special and deserves the best we can offer them, she wrote in response to Franken. That said, I do not believe in imposing my faith on others and, if confirmed, I will implement the laws as intended by Congress. That includes the provisions about the prohibition against religious instruction in schools. E. Ray Moore Jr., a member of the councils education committee, said he thinks that Trumps election shifted the education debate toward the right, away from a focus on how to fix public schools and toward how to create alternatives. And thats what is needed, Moore said, to strengthen education. The system cant be fixed, Moore said. You dont hear Republicans and free-market people talking about fixing Obamacare. They talk about repeal and replace. We think the same argument should apply to education. [On the world stage, U.S. students fall behind] Moore is the founder of the Exodus Mandate Project, which encourages Christian families to pull their children out of public schools. He said that he was speaking for himself, not the committee, and that he does not know whether DeVos will adopt any of the committees ideas. My guess is that shes not going to want to do a lot of it. It may be a bridge too far for her, Moore said. But this is what a lot of conservatives would like to see happen. Another committee member, Donna Hearne a former teacher and author who was an education appointee in the Reagan administration said this is the councils first foray into education policy. Members were moved to weigh in, she said, out of concern that U.S. schools have fallen behind even as the federal role in education has expanded. International tests show American students trail peers from other nations, particularly in Asia. Many of us are concerned that our high rate of literacy and comprehension and analytical thinking, theyre not there anymore like they used to be, she said. That hurts a country that is based on We the people. Hearne said council members also worry children arent learning right from wrong in school. Theres a real need for a discussion in America today of what kind of education do we want, she said, because what kind of country do we want down the road? Deirdre Grimm, pictured with her son, Gavin, is among the hundreds of parents of transgender children who signed a letter to President Trump asking him to keep in place protections for transgender students. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) Nearly 800 parents of transgender children from across the country signed a letter to President Trump imploring him to maintain protections for transgender students, saying that the protections, enacted under President Barack Obama, are critical for the safety and well-being of their children. All students deserve equal access to a safe, welcoming school and a high quality education no matter who they are and where they live, the parents wrote. The letter was organized by the Human Rights Campaigns Parents for Transgender Equality Council and emailed to administration officials Tuesday evening. This is the value at the center of our nations education policies and civil rights laws, the letter said, and it is a principle espoused by the 2016 guidance issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education seeking the fair and respectful treatment of transgender students in our nations schools and colleges. [Read the letter the parents sent to President Trump] The letter comes four days after the Justice Department dropped its objection to a preliminary injunction that halts the Obama-era guidance requiring schools to accommodate students in the bathrooms that match their gender identity. The move signals that the administration is changing course on transgender rights and left many parents heartbroken and scared, they wrote in the letter. You promised to be a president for all Americans, but less than 48 hours after Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General, the Department of Justice took a concrete step to undermine equality for the LGBTQ community, the parents wrote. [Trump administration signals change in policy for transgender students] Sarah McBride, spokeswoman for the Human Rights Council, said the parents hope to shift the administrations thinking on transgender rights by appealing to policymakers. You never give up hope that if people including elected officials hear from people at the center of the policy debate, that their hearts will be opened and their minds will be changed, McBride said. In an interview in May with The Washington Post, Donald Trump, then the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, said that he thought the government should protect transgender people, but that he would rescind guidance issued by the Obama administration directing schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. Trump said that should be left up to the states. I think its something where we have to help people and hopefully the states will make the right decisions, Trump said in the interview. Opponents of the guidance said the Obama administration overstepped its authority. Some also argue that allowing students to use bathrooms that conflict with the sex on their birth certificates violates privacy and traditional values. [Trump: Rescind Obamas transgender directives, but protect everybody] Transgender students and their advocates argue that barring them from bathroom that aligns with their gender identity amounts to discrimination and endangers their safety and well-being. Parents of transgender students have long grappled with uncertainty over the rights of their children in the face of conflicting guidance from courts, the federal government and, in some cases, state legislatures that have passed laws requiring people to use public restrooms that align with the sex on their birth certificates. The Supreme Court could offer some clarity on the matter. It is scheduled to hear oral arguments in March in the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy from Virginia who sued his school board after it barred him from using the boys bathroom. But the high court could remand the case if the Trump administration rolls back the guidance. [Supreme Court scheduled to hear transgender bathroom case in March] In their letter, the parents lamented that some schools have moved to bar transgender students from bathrooms that match their gender identity. Sadly, there remain some in our school environments who still choose to target our children for mistreatment and violence, the parents wrote. These policies are wrong, they hurt our children, and they violate the principle of equal protection. The parents wrote that the Obama administrations directive helped push policy changes in some schools that gave transgender students access to facilities that match their gender identity. It also reassured parents of transgender students that the federal government was working to protect their children. No young person should wake up in the morning fearful of the school day ahead. When this guidance was issued last year, it provided our families and other families like our own across the country with the knowledge and security that our government was determined to protect our children from bullying and discrimination, they wrote. Please do not take that away from us. Get updates on your area delivered via email. This 1940s photo made available by the family shows Henrietta Lacks. In 1951, a doctor in Baltimore removed cancerous cells from Lacks without her knowledge or consent. (AP/Lack Family via the Henrietta Lacks Foundation) The eldest son of Henrietta Lacks wants compensation from Johns Hopkins University and possibly others for the unauthorized use of her cells in research that led to decades of medical advances. Lawrence Lacks said that he is the executor of his mothers estate and that an agreement that the National Institutes of Health made with other family members over the years regarding the use of the cells was not valid. That agreement did not include compensation. The cells were taken from the 31-year-old from Turners Station, Md., who had an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951 They were the first cells to live outside the body in a glass tube. They were dubbed the HeLa cells and have become the most widely used human cells that exist in scientific research. Vaccines, cancer treatments and in vitro fertilization are among the many medical techniques derived from her cells. My mother would be so proud that her cells saved lives, Lawrence Lacks said in a statement. Shed be horrified that Johns Hopkins profited while her family to this day has no rights. Hopkins officials said in a statement that when the cells were taken there was no established practice for informing or obtaining consent from cell or tissue donors, nor were there any regulations on the use of cells in research. Today, Johns Hopkins and other medical research centers maintain strict patient consent processes for tissue and cell donation, the statement said. It is now standard practice to have an Institutional Review Board examine every research study involving human participants before it is allowed to begin. The medical institution said it hasnt profited from the cells. Johns Hopkins never patented HeLa cells, and therefore does not own the rights to the HeLa cell line, the statement said. Johns Hopkins also did not sell or profit from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells. [Conference remembers Henrietta Lacks as unsung hero of modern medicine] NIH came to an agreement in 2013 with some of Lackss family that required scientists to get permission from the government agency to use her genetic blueprint. The agreement also required researchers who get NIH funding to use a database of Lackss genome that they can only access by applying through the federal agency. One of her grandsons and a great-granddaughter were appointed to a working group to help make the decisions. But Lawrence Lacks, 82, said he never signed off on that agreement. When he asked NIH for more information, he said it cut him out of the process. I really didnt understand what was going on, Lacks said. Instead of explaining it to me, they went three generations under me. An NIH representative said the agency could not respond to a request for comment Monday. Lawrence Lacks and his son and daughter-in-law said in an interview that they plan to file a lawsuit against Hopkins in coming weeks. The family members said they had contacted other attorneys in the past, but were told they had passed the statute of limitations. Francis Lanasa, the attorney who will represent the family, said that he would use a continuing tort argument, alleging that Hopkins had continued to violate the personal rights, privacy and body parts of Henrietta Lacks over time. They are literally the foundation of modern medical science, Lanasa said of the cells. Lawrence Lacks, a retired Amtrak engineer, said he remembers when Hopkins doctors came and asked his family for blood samples in the 1970s. They gave the samples not knowing they were being used to research the HeLa cells. Lackss story garnered national attention after Rebecca Skloot wrote a bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is being made into a movie by Oprah Winfrey and HBO that is expected to be released this year. [Johns Hopkins Hospital inspires mistrust and fear in parts of east Baltimore] After the books release, Hopkins pointed out that when Lacks was treated, there was no fixed method of seeking consent to take patients tissue samples for research. But Ron Lacks, Lawrence Lackss son, said pharmaceutical companies, authors, hospitals and scores of other institutions have made money off his grandmothers cells. The family has even seen artwork made of pictures of her cells for sale on the Internet. Everyone else is making funds off Henriettas cells, Ron Lacks said. I am sure my grandmother is up in heaven saying, Well, what about my family? The family said they want her cells to be owned by her estate and they would set up a foundation to allow everyone to benefit from the cells. Hopkins officials said they have worked with family members to develop programs to recognize and honor Lacks, including scholarships, annual symposia and a historical exhibit on the Hopkins medical campus. The family said that is not enough to correct the wrong done to Lacks. We have been living with this for years, Ron Lacks said. It is getting to the point where it is the principle of everything. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Johns Hopkins Hospital collected cells from Henrietta Lacks after her death. The cells were collected from Lacks during a diagnostic procedure. THE DISTRICT A second bald eagle egg is found in nest And then there were two. Wildlife experts say there is a second bald eagle egg in a nest at a D.C. police facility in Southeast Washington. The Districts wildlife biologist, Dan Rauch, said Tuesday that a second egg has been found in the nest. The first was laid early last week. The parents of the eggs at the D.C. police facility are Liberty, the mother, and Justice, the father. They have kept a nest at the site for 11 years. The nest sits about 100 feet up in an oak tree at the police academy. Officials are keeping close tabs on the pair and the eggs. Liberty is mainly responsible for incubating the eggs and caring for the eaglets when they hatch, officials said. Justice has the crucial job of catching fish and bringing them for his mate and hatchlings, wildlife experts wrote on a YouTube page that tracks the live eagle camera. The eggs require incubation for about 35 days. And like any celebrity these days, the eagles have their own hashtag, #EggWatch2017, on social media. There are now at least three bald eagle nests in the District that are being monitored, including one on the Department of Homeland Security campus in Southeast and another at the U.S. National Arboretum in Northeast. Dana Hedgpeth MARYLAND Driver may have hit man on purpose Prince Georges County police are investigating whether a driver who fatally struck a man with a car in the parking lot of a shopping center acted in self-defense. Officers were called to the 5000 block of Brown Station Road about 8:30 a.m. Monday for a report of a pedestrian struck in a parking lot. When they arrived they found that Nathaniel McKinnon, 21, of Upper Marlboro, had been hit by a car, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. It appears the driver intentionally struck McKinnon, police said. Police said a weapon was recovered from McKinnon. Police are investigating whether the driver acted in self-defense but did not detail whether the driver provided a supporting statement. The name of the driver has not been released, and police are working with the Prince Georges County states attorneys office to determine whether he will be charged. Lynh Bui Man fatally shot in car is identified Police have identified a man found fatally shot in a car in Accokeek as Timothy Sherod, 28. A neighbor in the 3300 block of St. Marys View Road saw Sherod unresponsive in a car Monday morning and alerted an off-duty officer, according to Prince Georges County police. Sherod, of Glenarden, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are still working to identify the killer and motive in the case. Lynh Bui VIRGINIA Suspect is arrested in July 2016 rape case A 15-year-old girl was raped in Fairfax County in July, and a suspect was arrested Tuesday, the county police said. They said Ronald Fabricio Herrera Contreras was charged with rape and gang participation in connection with an attack that allegedly occurred July 13 in a park in the 7300 block of Lee Highway. In November, police said Contreras was 18 years old. The matter came to light in August, when the 15-year-old told a family case worker that she had been raped the month before by someone who was a gang member, police said. On Tuesday, seven months after the alleged attack, the Fairfax County police said, one of their detectives recognized Contreras. The detective spotted him while involved in a Prince William County police operation in Prince William, Fairfax police said. The suspect was taken to the Fairfax adult detention center, where warrants were served in connection with the July allegation, Fairfax police said. Martin Weil Fairfax officials hire former FBI agent Fairfax County officials announced Tuesday that they had hired a former Federal Bureau of Investigations special agent to monitor police department investigations into cases when an officers use of force led to a fatality or serious injury. Richard G. Schott will start his $143,000-a-year job as an independent auditor in April, county officials say. He was hired as part of a series of police department changes that are underway in response to controversy stemming from the 2013 fatal shooting of John B. Geer outside his home in Springfield. County officials are also reviewing applications for a nine-member civilian review panel that will monitor police department investigations into allegations of police abuse and are also preparing to launch a pilot program this year for the use of body cameras by Fairfax police. Schott spent 27 years as an FBI agent. He was most recently a trainer for local and state law enforcement agencies, including on legal issues related to the use of force and deadly force, according to a county announcement. Mr. Schott will provide increased accountability and transparency to the Fairfax County Police Department, Sharon Bulova (D), chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement. Antonio Olivo The Montgomery County Council signed off Tuesday on the final pieces of a long-debated project that is supposed to bring jobs, housing and economic vitality to the countys economically struggling eastern sector. The council voted 8 to 1 to sell 110 acres where a sludge-processing facility once stood to the developer Percontee, which owns adjoining property near Route 29 and New Hampshire Avenue, next to the Food and Drug Administration campus. The developer will build a life sciences town center called Viva White Oak that would feature a hub of medical and science companies and attract FDA workers as well as employees and visitors to the Washington Adventist Hospital facility being built nearby. The council also approved the sale of $47 million in general obligation bonds to finance road and intersection improvements around the site. Detailed sketch plans still face review by the Montgomery County Planning Board. But Tuesdays action sets in motion the major elements of a venture that supporters believe could generate 10,000 new jobs over 25 years in an area that has never shared in the prosperity enjoyed by other parts of the county. I think this is a great day for us, said council member Nancy Floreen (D-At Large), adding that for the Eastern County, the project comes after years and years and years of nothing. But it could be many years if at all before the area, home to some of the Montgomerys highest-poverty census tracts, begins to reap the benefits of Viva White Oak. The health of the global and national economy as well as the potential impact of the Trump administration on federal spending, are critical factors. This is a big leap of faith, said council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large). We want to make an area of the county into something that it isnt today. The agreement started in 2014 as a joint venture in which the county and Percontee would share the risks and benefits of building the life sciences center. The pact nearly collapsed when county attorneys discovered that Percontees property came with covenants agreements forged in the 1950s and 1960s with surrounding property owners that limited construction. Leggett pushed instead to sell the countys land to the developer, severing the county from the partnership to protect taxpayers from any potential lawsuits over covenant violations. The acreage was appraised at $42 million but will be sold to Percontee for $10 million. The lands remaining $32 million in value will be converted into a county loan to Percontee. The county will forgive portions of the loan as the company meets certain conditions, such as the construction of roads and schools and payment of transportation-impact taxes, collecting any remaining loan principal after 10 years. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who negotiated the agreement, says an unconventional approach was needed to jump-start economic development in an area that had not attracted investment on its own. Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large) voted against the land sale, saying the pact lacked staging provisions to keep construction from overwhelming roads and other infrastructure. He also said that the deal allowed Percontee to build too much housing and not enough commercial space in the early phases. When the county was a partner, we had some control. Now thats gone, Elrich said in a text message after the vote. Later Tuesday, the council was briefed on the results of an audit evaluating the countys response to the gas explosion and fire at the Flower Branch apartment complex in Silver Spring in August, which killed seven and left 170 people homeless. The countys Office of Internal Audit gave officials generally high marks. But it recommended that in the future the county activate its emergency operations center for such incidents to help with interagency communications. The center is usually used for blizzards and other countywide emergencies. After the meeting, council member Tom Hucker (D-Silver Spring) expressed disappointment with the report, calling it a lost opportunity. Hucker, who represents the area where the fire occurred, said that emergency shelters did not have enough Spanish-speaking staff and that council members were frequently excluded from key meetings. Council members had to go to press conferences to find out what was happening, Hucker said. Marylands General Assembly on Wednesday approved blanket authorization for state Attorney General Brian E. Frosh to sue the federal government, illustrating the eagerness of Democratic legislative leaders to challenge the Trump administration over undocumented immigrants, refugees, health care and other issues. The proposal passed quickly through the legislature over the past two weeks on party-line votes that exposed an increasingly bitter partisan divide in Annapolis. It will take effect without the signature of Gov. Larry Hogan (R), whose spokeswoman accused Democrats of engaging in Washington-style party politics and philosophizing over what might or might not happen in Washington, D.C. instead of focusing on Maryland. The joint resolution, which cant be vetoed by the governor, is one in a series of Democratic measures in response to Trump administration policies, including a bill that would set aside $3 million in the state budget for Frosh to protect Marylanders from harmful federal efforts. Another measure, the Trust Act, would prohibit police and sheriffs departments from complying with federal requests to hold undocumented immigrants; bar local authorities from arresting people for immigration purposes; and try to limit federal immigration officials authority to remove people from schools, hospitals or courthouses. Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D). (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Republicans argued that the resolution allowing Frosh to sue was a politically motivated attempt to undermine the Trump administration and would give the attorney general virtually unchecked authority. House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) called the measure troubling and described it as an unprecedented reallocation of powers. Under current law, the attorney general must seek a green light from the legislature or the governor to take action against the federal government. In most other states, attorneys general can take legal action to protect the public interest as they see fit, legislative analysts said. Democrats fast-tracked the resolution after President Trump issued executive orders to lay the groundwork to cut off federal funding to jurisdictions that do not comply with requests to detain undocumented immigrants and ban citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from entering the United States. The legislation received final approval in the House on Wednesday by a vote of 89 to 50, with all Republicans in the chamber voting against it. It passed a similarly divided Senate last week after Republicans attempted to delay the vote and then stormed out in protest when that request was denied. I cannot fathom why anybody who believes fundamentally in constitutional rights would not want our attorney general in court when necessary to protect them, Del. Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) said Tuesday. Two weeks ago, Frosh asked Hogan for permission to sue the Trump administration over its travel ban, which federal courts elsewhere in the country have since put on hold. His office said the governor still has not provided a yes or no reply. Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said the governor is waiting for Frosh to explain how the entry ban violates the Constitution and why Maryland should launch a case of its own when other states have already sued to stop Trumps order. She said the administration also concluded that Frosh had decided to pursue a different legal strategy after he joined 17 other attorneys general in filing a brief in support of anti-ban lawsuits by Washington state and Minnesota. During the debate on Friday, House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel) said the resolution expanding Froshs authority was merely an extension of bottled-up feelings about our current political climate. He noted that the legislature didnt act similarly in response to controversial Obama administration policies, such as conducting drone strikes that in some instances killed U.S. citizens; ending a pause on deportation of Haitians who entered the country illegally after a disastrous earthquake in that country; and seizing journalists phone records. Luedtke countered that Kipkes remarks were an argument for why we should have done it years ago, and why we should still do it now. On Tuesday, Del. Robert L. Flanagan (R-Howard) offered an amendment to the proposal that would have barred the attorney general from taking legal actions against the federal government without approval from the governor or the legislatures policy committee, which consists of leading lawmakers from the House and the Senate. Democrats rejected the amendment, saying it would gut the resolution. H.C. Cal Thornton, a longtime executive with United Press International and later the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service, died Feb. 11 at a hospital in Fall River, Mass. He was 91. The cause was coronary disease, said his son Peter Thornton. Mr. Thornton began work as a reporter in the 1950s for the United Press wire service. He later moved to the business side of the industry as a sales executive for United Press International in Minneapolis when UP acquired International News Service in 1958. He served as UPIs regional manager in Boston and Chicago and in 1971 became vice president of sales. Mr. Thornton joined the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service as sales director in 1977, and within 10 months was promoted to general manager. He eventually became president and editorial director of the news service, spreading its reach across Asia and Europe as well as in the United States. He retired in 1988 and moved to Westport, Mass., where he worked part time in a bait and tackle shop. Howard Calvin Thornton was born in Lynchburg, Va., on Aug. 11, 1925. He was studying philosophy at the University of Chicago when his father died. He left school to start working as a reporter. His marriage to Audrey Laschansky ended in divorce. Survivors include his companion of 25 years, Sally Hand of Westport; five children from his marriage; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Nugget (A453882), a 1-year-old tan male Chihuahua, was surrendered by his owner because of moving restrictions. He is available for adoption. (Prince George's County Animal Shelter) Nugget (A453882), a 1-year-old tan male Chihuahua, was surrendered by his owner because of moving restrictions. He is available for adoption. The Prince Georges County Animal Shelter, 3750 Brown Station Rd., Upper Marlboro, has animals available for adoption. Adoptable animals can be seen at adoptapet.com/adoption_rescue/74710.html. The shelters viewing and adoption hours are noon to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays; 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. The shelter is closed Thursdays, Sundays and holidays. Call 301-780-7200. D.C. police said Tuesday they arrested a fourth suspect in connection with the shooting of a transgender woman on July 4. [Amid downpour, family and friends remember District 22-year-old shot on July 4] At around 3 a.m. on July 4, officers responded to the 200 block of Division Avenue NE for the report of an unconscious person, D.C. police said in a statement. They found 22-year-old Deeniquia Dodds suffering from an apparent gunshot wound near her home, and she died in the hospital on July 13. In September, police said Dodds murder was the result of a robbery gone wrong, and two people were arrested and charged in the killing: Shareem Hall, 22, of District Heights, Md., and 26-year-old Jalonte Little of Southeast Washington. On Feb. 8, 21-year-old Montee Tyree Johnson of Southeast was also charged. On Tuesday, police said they arrested 21-year-old Cyheme Hall of Southeast, who is charged with first-degree murder while armed in Dodds killing. Davon Wallace was convicted of second-degree murder in the slaying of Knijah Bibb, 3. (Prince George's County Police) A Maryland man who fatally shot a 3-year-old girl after firing into a townhouse full of women and children was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison, according to the Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office. Davon Wallace, 27, of Seat Pleasant, was convicted of second-degree murder in November in the death of Knijah Bibb. [Man convicted of murder in shooting of 3-year-old during fight over clothes] During his trial in Prince Georges County Circuit Court, prosecutors said Wallace recklessly fired into a house in Landover after fighting over clothes with a teenager inside the home in 2014. Wallace was dating a woman who lived in the townhouse where the 3-year-old girl and her family were visiting relatives. The girl was running and hiding from the sounds of gunfire when she was struck, according to court testimony. [He aimed at a teen after a fight over clothes, police say. He shot a 3-year-old instead.] Wallace, who took the stand in his own defense, testified that he simply wanted to scare teenagers inside the home who had previously chased and beaten him. He said that he didnt intend to kill anyone and his attorney argued that he should be convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Wallace eluded police for five weeks after the shooting before being caught and charged. Three members of Congress called for an investigation Tuesday after a Virginia man apparently playing Pokemon Go was shot by a security guard last month. Jiansheng Chen, 60, was fatally shot by a neighborhood security guard about 11 p.m. on Jan. 26 in Chesapeake. An attorney who represents the Chen family told local media that the man, who did not speak English well, was killed while playing Pokemon Go. That account has not been confirmed by authorities. I cannot imagine what could have justified shooting through the front windshield of Mr. Chens van five times, Greg Sandler, a lawyer representing Chens family, told News 3. Sandler didnt respond to a request for comment on Tuesday from The Washington Post. On Tuesday, U.S. Reps. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), Robert C. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Chens death, saying in a joint statement they are concerned about the manner and circumstances in which he lost his life. Many questions remain and need to be answered, and we call on local authorities to conduct their investigation thoroughly and expeditiously, the statement said. We must know how a game of Pokemon Go turned into a fatal shooting. In a statement, Andrew M. Sacks, who represents Citywide Protection Services the company whose security guard shot Chen said Chen was barred two times in the past 18 months for allegedly trespassing, and that Chen tried to run the guard down with the van he was driving. Faced with a situation in which he could not safely escape the oncoming van headed straight for him, the security guard, out of total necessity, and in reasonable fear for his life and safety, fired in an effort to stop and repel the threat to his life and safety, the statement said. In an interview, Sacks objected to the legislators statement on the killing, saying that there was no way to know whether Chen was playing Pokemon Go and that he made an aggressive, malicious, intentional maneuver with vehicle. With all due respect to the congressmen, they dont know what he was doing, Sacks said. He added that the assumption that Chen wasnt the author of his own misfortune might be due to anti-police bias. The Chesapeake Police Department and the residential community that contracted with Citywide Protection Services were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday. No charges have been filed against the security guard. [Pokemon Gos augmented reality is augmenting the reality of this small town] Since its release last year, Pokemon Go, in which players capture virtual characters for points, has caused problems that include traffic jams and trespassing arrests. A man has been charged with two crimes after D.C. police said he ran naked through the offices of WRC-TV in Northwest Washington on Saturday and bit a studio engineer who helped in the mans capture. A police report said the assailant was taken to a hospital for evaluation. A police spokeswoman said Wednesday that Mark William Baker, 20, of Northwest, was charged via citation with simple assault and unlawful entry. He has a court date Feb. 27. Police said that about 10:15 p.m. Saturday, a naked man repeatedly hit the front door to the NBC station in the 4000 block of Nebraska Avenue NW, and then went inside. Police said he hit a security guard in the face, shoved him to the ground and ran down a hallway. An engineer who runs the stations robotic cameras, along with security guards, chased down the man. The engineer told police he helped in taking [the man] to the ground, according to a police report. The engineer said the man bit him on the right forearm, breaking the skin. Maybe they wanted some cash for Valentines Day gifts. But rather than taking out some cash from an ATM, the thieves decided to take the whole machine. In two incidents Tuesday morning, an ATM was stolen from a Laurel area store while thieves tried to take one from a store in another Maryland suburb of Washington. Police are trying to determine whether the crimes are related. The first incident happened just after 4 a.m. in the 3300 block of Fort Meade Road, Anne Arundel County police said. A clerk at a convenience store said a white Ford work-style van backed into the side of the building, breaking a window. Two men got out of the van, while a third man remained in the vehicle. The men then picked up the ATM, put it in the van and drove off along Route 198 toward Route 295, police said. The thieves said nothing to the clerk, police said. The suspects in that incident are said to be black men who were all wearing dark clothing at the time. [Abandoned U-Haul truck found with multiple ATMs inside] About an hour later, thieves tried to take an ATM from a store in the 7700 block of Annapolis Road in Lanham. New Carrollton Police Chief David Rice said his officers saw a white van similar to the one in the incident in the Prince Georges case backed up to the store. A chain was tied to the ATM just inside the store and the thieves were trying to yank it out, using the van, Rice said. The stores clerks were behind a bulletproof-glass partition inside the store during the attempted robbery, and no one was injured. The thieves were nearly successful, as two bolts were later found by police on the floor of the store, Rice said. But as the thieves became aware that they were being watched, they jumped in the van, leaving the ATM behind. They took off, Rice said, noting that his officers followed them down part of Route 50 where they allegedly threw part of another ATM out of the van. At one point, the thieves bailed out of the vehicle at Southern and Pennsylvania avenues, police said. Officers searched the area, but no one was apprehended. Rice said at that point his officers pulled back and officers from other agencies, including Prince Georges County police, took over. When a federal judge in Alexandria issued a preliminary injunction Monday night against President Trumps travel ban, she limited her ruling to the state of Virginia. But Judge Leonie M. Brinkemas opinion could have much broader implications for the fight against the ban. Brinkema was the first judge in the country to actually confront the legality of the executive order barring travel from seven majority-Muslim countries. While a temporary restraining order out of Washington state put the ban on hold nationwide, the judge who issued that ruling did not delve deeply into the facts of the case. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said much in its decision about Trumps motives and the separation of powers. But, ultimately, that panel ruled on narrow due process grounds. Its opinion did not even mention the statute on which the executive order is based, which gives the president broad power over immigration and national security. Brinkema addresses that statute, as well as the record of Trumps comments and the case law to justify their inclusion. Judge Brinkema spells out a lot more; she really fleshes out one of the possible claims, and thats the religious discrimination claim, said David Martin, a professor at the University of Virginia who, for many years, helped shape immigration policy inside the government. That may well prove to be the strongest or more fruitful line of inquiry for the plaintiffs in these various cases, particularly if theyre trying to reach past green-card holders or people on immigrant visas. Its hard to get there without a religious discrimination case of some kind. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) Green-card holders and people with long-term immigrant visas have certain rights that visitors, students and others do not. But if the executive order is deemed unconstitutional on religious discrimination grounds, those distinctions are irrelevant. While one federal judges decision is not binding on any other court, experts agreed that Brinkemas thoroughness will probably make her opinion persuasive to other districts. It was a very well-reasoned, thoughtful decision. Frankly, I think, a more careful decision than the 9th Circuit decision, said Steve Legomsky, former chief counsel for immigration services in the Department of Homeland Security. In her opinion, Legomsky said, Brinkema pretty methodically went through the various statements by Trump. . . . They put great weight on the opinions of the former national security officials to show the absence of counterevidence from the Trump administration. For both of those reasons, I think the Virginia opinion is very important. Brinkema also brings to the case extensive national security experience. She presided over the trial of Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, among other high-profile cases. It was a thoughtful opinion, its well considered, it wasnt hastily done like some of these other decisions had to be in light of circumstances, said Justin Cox of the National Immigration Law Center. His group is involved in several lawsuits against the ban, including one filed in Maryland last week focused on refugees. That case is specifically focused on religious discrimination. Legally [the Virginia ruling] is actually quite significant because its the first court to squarely hold that the executive order violates the establishment clause, Cox said. The danger for opponents of the ban is that, should the Justice Department appeal Brinkemas decision, they will face the more conservative 4th Circuit rather than the left-leaning 9th Circuit. It would be a close call, Legomsky said. There is such strong evidence of religious discrimination its really hard to know. This Sept. 11, 2013, file photo shows the bridge on Western Avenue over the Cal-Sag Channel framed by the rusted supports of the closed Chatham St. bridge in Blue Island, Ill. The Western Avenue bridge was classified as both "structurally deficient" and "fracture critical" in federal data for 2012. (M. Spencer Green/AP) Ed Rendell remembers his quest to become two-term governor of Pennsylvania as something of a tale of two cities. For decades, people running for statewide office in Pennsylvania had two sets of speeches. In the eastern half of the state, they talked about jobs and education. In the western end divided by three big rivers they promised to get help for dangerously decrepit bridges. In Pittsburgh, bridges were a huge issue, he said. Its really amazing. Pittsburgh probably has more bridges per capita than any city in America. We have a huge problem, said Rendell, who co-chairs the advocacy group Building Americas Future. You look at other states, and there are very few states that are even close to it. The yearly report on bad bridges by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) was released Wednesday, and Pennsylvania ranked second to Iowa in the number of structurally deficient bridges. Nearly 20 percent of the Keystone States bridges achieved that level of decrepitude. Nationwide, 55,710 bridges were found to be deficient. Those bridges arent all about to tumble down, though there have been notable bridge collapses. In 2007, the Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people; in 2013, the Skagit River Bridge in Washington state collapsed into the river after overhead support beams were struck by an oversize load. But as bridges rust or concrete crumbles, there are serious consequences for consumers and taxpayers. The more rust erodes a bridge without a fresh coat of paint, the closer it grows to needing full replacement. As bridge concrete deteriorates occasionally dropping in chunks to the roadway the choices are to patch it up or eventually face the need for a new one. The Federal Highway Administration estimates an annual investment of $20.5 billion is needed over the next 16 years to repair and replace bridges. The cost to consumers is hidden, but it can translate into most things they buy. As a bridge nears the end of its life, the first indication is a sign restricting the weight on trucks that cross over it. Rerouting trucks to less favorable routes adds to the cost of delivery for everything from gasoline to a tube of toothpaste. Truckers need to follow particular routes to destinations that avoid these hazards and restrictions, said Rick Turek, chief navigation scientist at the fleet service management company Omnitracs. For most of the destinations, there are safe routes to and from. For a smaller number of destinations, typically residential deliveries, the goods will need to be transferred to a smaller vehicle for the actual delivery. If there was good news in the ARTBA report, which was drawn from federal data, it was that the number of bridges needing repair dropped by 2,785 last year. But at that pace of improvement, it will be a generation before the last deficient bridge is addressed. [Nearly 59,000 bridges in U.S. are structurally deficient] The average life span of a highway bridge is 50 to 70 years, with newer bridges that were built to higher standards expected to achieve that higher number. Rusting alone has rendered 15 percent of the countrys bridges structurally deficient, according to the National Association of Corrosion Engineers. All the need might dovetail nicely with the White House vow to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure, some portion of which would go to roads and bridges. Though that promised investment, so far, relies on a campaign white paper that says the money could be leveraged by offering an 82 percent tax credit to private investors, people on Capitol Hill hope to round out President Trumps funding strategy. This is the first president that I can recall who talked in his inaugural address about infrastructure, said House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), who counts more than three dozen deficient bridges in his southwestern Pennsylvania district. We at the national level have to figure out how were going to make these investments, and figure out how we get it done, and now we have a president whos pounding on the table saying weve got to do it. [Finding cash for Trumps promise on roads, bridges, transit starts this week on Hill] The average bridge in Shusters state is 51 years old and nearing the end of its functional life. Though there is no shortage of rivers that need crossing in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, rivers are a dominant characteristic in the west. Pittsburgh alone counts 446 bridges. None of the spans that cross Pittsburghs famous three rivers is a toll bridge. Even with a tax credit, private investors want a return on their money, and for bridges that generally means imposing a toll. Like many of the things were talking about with the quote-unquote trillion-dollar plan of President Trump, it will fit well for some states and some projects, but certainly it will not address most of the needs we have out there across the country, said Alison Black, ARTBAs chief economist. Rendell, who once proposed creating a public-private partnership to govern the Pennsylvania Turnpike, said Trumps plan to lure private investors just wont work in Pennsylvania or most other states. It has to be government investment, no if, ands or buts, and in Pennsylvania we have 4,500 deficient bridges, Rendell said. My guess is that no more than 10 of them can be tolled. Of all the countrys 55,710 structurally deficient bridges, Rendell estimates that there are probably 500 that could be tolled. Statewide candidates in Pennsylvania no longer need to give different speeches in Pittsburgh than they do in Philadelphia. Thats changed. We have a huge bridge problem in the eastern part of the state as well, Rendell said. This year, all 10 of the most heavily traveled deficient bridges in Pennsylvania are in the east, carrying Interstate 95 for 18 miles through Philadelphia. When a bridge inspector in search of a cheesesteak shop happened to park under an I-95 bridge nine years ago, he noticed a half-inch-wide, four-foot-long crack and had the major East Coast highway shut down for several days. Had not that guy wanted a cheesesteak, we would have had a tragedy, Rendell said. In Donald Trumps new home town Sunday night, there was a homicide. Thirteen gunshots were fired in a neighborhood less than four miles from the White House. When D.C. police showed up, they found Kenny Bell, a 30-year-old black man, dead on the grounds of the Ferebee-Hope Recreation Center in Southeast Washington. The rec center is in Ward 8, which is predominantly black and scarred by deep pockets of poverty but also home to a vibrant middle class. Of the 135 homicides in the city last year, 46 were in Ward 8. During President Trumps campaign, he referred to such crime-plagued areas as a living hell. Now he was just a 10-minute motorcade ride away from one, having pledged to curb violence, reduce unemployment and improve schools in such places. I will produce for the African Americans, Trump said. Did he mean it? There are some in Ward 8 who would like to believe him. Perhaps living in a high-crime area and seeing the devastating effects of homicides, day in and day out, leaves you little choice: Cling to hope or succumb to despair. During the past 14 years, I have been to 96 funerals, mostly for young, black male homicide victims, said Trayon White Sr., 32, who represents Ward 8 on the D.C. Council. Three of them were in the past two weeks. If we can get Justice Department grants for public safety programs and mental health services, we ought to at least make an effort to do so. Nearly a month into Trumps presidency, however, Trump has shown no sign of producing anything but more misery for the nations poor and working class black and white alike. [Trumps plan to help black America doesnt look like much of a deal] His efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act could leave millions of the nations most vulnerable residents uninsured. His tax-cutting scheme would certainly enrich corporate America, but it could also reduce incentives for developers to create more affordable housing. His administration already includes appointees who have advocated for cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and Head Start programs. On the campaign trail, Trump appealed for black votes with a harshly put observation about life in troubled neighborhoods: Youre living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose? The answer, so far, appears to be food, housing, health care and education. In the nations capital, slashing the federal budget would likely increase a racial wealth and income gap that is already obscenely wide. White households in the Washington area have a net worth 81 times that of black households $284,000 compared with $3,500, according to a report last year by the Urban Institute. In 2013, the top one percent of families nationally made 25.3 times as much as the bottom 99 percent, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute released in June. Yet during the presidential campaign, those at the bottom rung were cast as the primary cause of all that was wrong with America. Trump said immigrants coming from Mexico were not the best, but rapists and criminals. He tweeted that black people were responsible for 81 percent of homicides against white people. His claims were not just divisive, they were lies. Meanwhile, immigrants fear being rounded up and deported now more than ever, the white working class continues to die of suicide and drug overdoses in record numbers and black Americans in poor neighborhoods are overwhelmed with the knowledge that they may be the only ones worried about the violence taking so many black lives. [To make black lives matter, black people need to believe it] Instead of having a president working to solve our common problems, we have one who has set up each group to hold the other in contempt on their way to the grave. On Tuesday, Valentines Day, White wasnt waiting for Trump to address the problems of his new city. He launched a Red Ribbon Safe Communities initiative in which couples gathered to discuss ways to make their communities safe. We need to build stronger families, White said. Residents need to become more active in the community because, in the end, the solution lies with us. Spread love, not bullets, was the theme. But, as White knows, there can be no separating chronic, concentrated poverty from increased violence. A few days before Bell was killed, a gunman fired 12 rounds into a crowd on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. Four people, including a 17-year-old girl, were hit and wounded. It could have been a dozen homicides. Our ward has one of the highest unemployment rates, per capita, in the country, White said. People are very stressed, a lot are desperate. If Trump can help with workforce development and job placement, then Im willing to focus on what we have in common and not our differences. What does White have to lose? To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy. Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. (Evy Mages/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Fairfax County Executive Edward L. Long Jr. on Tuesday proposed a 2018 budget that would give county schools $61 million less than they are seeking, one of several hard choices he said the wealthy suburb must make as it struggles with tepid revenue and a public rejection of tax hikes. Longs proposed $4.1 billion budget reflects a local economy still feeling the effects of the 2008 recession and 2013 federal sequestration cuts and a county bracing for the possibility of further reductions in government spending by the Trump administration. County revenue generated mostly by real estate taxes increased by $88.2 million last year, not enough to cover rising pension costs, a growing public school student population and more elderly and low-income residents seeking government aid in a county of 1.1 million residents. Slow economic growth is, I think, here to stay, Long told the countys Board of Supervisors during a bleak presentation that also fell $13 million short of what agencies requested for disability services, public safety, maintenance of county trails and raises for nonschool county employees. To find the $112 million in new funding that the schools system was seeking as part of a $2.8 billion budget request, Long said, the county would have to increase residential property tax rates by 21/2 cents a move supervisors are reluctant to make after boosting the rate 4 cents last year, to $1.13 per $100 of assessed value. The other option is less money for teacher raises a perpetual worry for school officials who say they have seen a steady exodus of experienced teachers from the system of 186,000 students to higher-paying jurisdictions elsewhere. Longs budget also leaves about $21.7 million in planned police department improvements unfunded, including $5.3 million for a Diversion First program that steers people with mental illnesses to counseling instead of jail. It does not cover about $6.7 million in services for people with disabilities, and defers maintenance of county sidewalks and trails. Long predicted that the county also will have a hard time meeting funding obligations in 2019 for maintaining the regions long-troubled Metro system. I think you can describe this as a no-growth budget, said Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D), chair of the county board. Unfortunately, some of the things that we consider priorities were not going to be able to address with the funding thats available. Several supervisors expressed frustration over the funding mechanism for local governments in Virginia, which prohibits collecting a local income tax and leaves municipalities relying heavily on real estate taxes. In Fairfax, real estate taxes represent 65 percent of the countys revenue stream. Last year, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to expand that pool of funds by adding a tax on restaurant meals and other prepared foods. That defeat, plus the potential for more federal spending cuts and the uncertain economic fallout of a possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, has left Fairfax in a financial bind, some officials said. The ability we have as a county to control our own destiny is very slim, Supervisor Catherine M. Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill) said. Supervisor John C. Cook (R-Braddock) argued that the still-wealthy county may need to rethink some of its priorities. He cited a free middle school aftercare program that is open to all, regardless of income. So we have millionaires who get free after-school care, paid for by the taxpayers, Cook said. We have to look at those things, because were starting to cut back on services for people with disabilities. Tuesdays budget session was tense at times, but also seemed familiar in a jurisdiction that since 2009 has trimmed various spending initiatives by $344 million. County unions protested outside the meeting room, and school officials vowed to keep fighting for teacher salary increases. It is unconscionable that the county executives budget proposal would balance the budget on the backs of working people, David Broder, president of a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union, told a cheering group of about 50 demonstrators. They were rallying against Longs proposal to defer market-rate-adjustment raises for county employees. Sandy Evans, who chairs the Fairfax County School Board, said she and other school officials plan to lobby county leaders for more funding for teacher salary increases. The school board is already considering increasing classroom size and making other changes to free up money for $56 million in expenses anticipated next year, Evans said. Fairfax supervisors keep saying that schools are the top priority of our county, Evans said. If its our top priority, then we need to fund it. The Trump administration is taking its first steps to put its imprint on the Affordable Care Act, reversing plans to withhold tax refunds this year from Americans who flout an insurance requirement in the law while proposing a series of rule changes to encourage insurers to remain in ACA marketplaces. The Internal Revenue Service has revoked an Obama-era instruction to taxpayers that was taking effect during the current filing season as a way to further compliance with the ACAs requirement that most Americans carry health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Under the instruction, the IRS had announced that it would no longer process tax returns for people who fail to send a notice with their returns that they have insurance, are exempt from the requirement or are paying the fine. Instead, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday, tax returns will be processed as always, even for individuals who do not provide the required information. The IRS said the decision, made earlier this month but not previously publicized, was in line with an executive order that President Trump signed hours after his inauguration, giving agencies broad authority to lighten the burden of federal rules under the ACA. The IRS confirmed the change on the same morning that Health and Human Services officials proposed a set of rules to help protect insurers and shore up ACA marketplaces in the short term while Republicans work on demolishing the law. The proposal drew swift praise from the insurance industry and condemnation from consumer advocates and congressional Democrats. Taken together, the moves by the IRS and HHS demonstrate the balancing act the fledgling administration is attempting with the 2010 law, which remains one of Trumps top targets. The administration is eager to undermine as much of the ACA as it can through executive actions, but it also is eager to stave off any abrupt collapse of the insurance marketplaces covering about 10 million people and to minimize any political fallout for the GOP. While allowing tax refunds to keep flowing, the IRS change does not affect the actual penalty most people face for not having health coverage, which can be eliminated only through a new law. The penalty is $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of a households income, whichever is greater. The proposed HHS rule would make it harder for consumers to buy health coverage outside of the laws regular enrollment periods, give insurers power to deny new coverage to people late in paying their premiums, and create more rigorous checks of applicants eligibility. At the same time, the changes would eliminate federal reviews of whether health plans in the ACA marketplaces have enough doctors and other providers of care, delegating the task to states. And by lowering how much insurers must pick up for a specific benefit package, the changes would allow them to sell plans with higher deductibles. [Health insurers warn of wider defections from ACA marketplaces for 2018] The proposal aligns with concerns voiced by the insurance industry long before the Trump administration assumed power concerns that have prompted some major insurers to stop selling coverage or to curtail their participation in the ACAs federal insurance exchange or separate, similar marketplaces run by states. Those concerns center, in essence, on the fact that the ACAs risk pools tend to have older and less healthy customers than insurers had expected and thus are more expensive to cover. Insurers complain that some customers wait to buy coverage until they are sick and in need of medical services, then drop out once they have gotten care. On Tuesday, Humana announced that, after cutting back on its ACA participation in 2017, it plans to fully withdraw from the marketplaces next year. The new rule is an attempt to deter others from following suit, Aetna chief executive Mark Bertolini predicted at a forum on Wednesday that you will see a lot more withdrawals this year of plans, though he did not address the proposed rule changes. Others in the industry had a more optimistic reaction. These proposals . . . are a good start toward improving the functioning of the marketplace, so that any longer-term reforms can begin on a better footing, said Alyssa Fox, senior vice president for policy of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. As other insurers have withdrawn, its members are the only insurer available in about one-third of the nations marketplaces. But Andy Slavitt, the Obama administration official who oversaw the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency carrying out much of the ACA, predicted that the altered rules would raise deductibles, reduce access to physicians and put limitations on the ability for people to get coverage. [HHS nominee skirts questions about impact of Trumps executive order on ACA] Ron Pollack, executive director of the advocacy organization Families USA, called the proposed rule a huge step backwards. The changes are actually going to make health coverage and care a whole lot more expensive for consumers, he said. Parts of the proposed rule would strengthen steps the Obama administration already had taken. For instance, that administration last year limited the circumstances under which people could qualify for special enrollment periods outside the normal sign-up season. The new proposal would require greater proof of eligibility for such exceptions. It also would require the 39 states relying on the federal HealthCare.gov website to screen the eligibility of all applicants instead of just half of them. Other elements would markedly shift course. Last year, the Obama administration expanded upon a regulation to try to ensure that ACA plans offer their customers enough providers nearby. Under the Trump administrations change, there would be no federal review of health plans networks. And insurers could refuse to renew coverage for customers who are behind on their bills. That change would eliminate a three-month grace period that consumer advocates say has been especially helpful to people who struggle to pay their ACA premiums. Starting in 2018, the rule also would shorten the annual ACA enrollment period from three months to six weeks. The administration is providing an unusually short window 20 days for public comment on the rule. The neo-nazi National Socialist Movement and Ku Klux Klan participate in a cross and swastika burning in Temple, Ga. in April 2016. The Southern Poverty Law Center says it has seen a rise in hate groups, though the number of KKK chapters has dwindled and many groups are trading overt symbolism for a more intellectual approach. (ERIK S. LESSER/EPA) American hate groups and particularly anti-Muslim groups are on the rise, fueled in part by the recent presidential election, according to a new report from a liberal-leaning advocacy group that tracks domestic extremism. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) attributed some of the growth to President Trump, who it described Wednesday in its quarterly Intelligence Report as having electrified the radical right, and whose campaign rallies, the reports author claims, were filled with just as much anti-establishment vitriol as any extremist rally. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the report and its conclusions. Many of the groups the SPLC identified as part of the rise in extremist activity reject the label of hate group. [How a hate-watch group is preparing for President Trumps America] According to the SPLC, the number of American hate groups has been climbing steadily for most of the past 30 years, but the new arrivals to the SPLCs list in 2016 were predominantly characterized as white nationalist and anti-Muslim groups. By far, the most dramatic change was the enormous leap in anti-Muslim hate groups, wrote the reports author, Mark Potok, an SPLC senior fellow. The report says hate groups in the United States nearly tripled, from 34 in 2015 to 101 last year. Nearly 50 of those new additions are local chapters of ACT for America, an anti-Muslim activist group that claims Michael Flynn, who this week resigned as Trumps national security adviser, as a board member. Potok argues that Trumps rhetoric throughout the campaign including calls for a ban on immigration from some Muslim-majority countries, proposals for ideological vetting of those seeking entry to the United States, and accusations that American Muslims harbor terrorists stoked popular fears in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe, California and Florida. Potok wrote that Trumps rhetoric has helped fuel a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment, a view that is shared by several other civil rights advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Diminished are the overt Ku Klux Klan robes and Nazi insignia sometimes associated with extremist hate groups: the number of KKK chapters fell 32 percent, and the use of symbols has diminished in favor of a more intellectual approach, Potok wrote. More prominent now are the groups born as think tanks and nonprofits, and the correlated emergence of the alternative right, which the SPLC argues is a rebranding of white supremacy for public relations purposes. Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues center on extremism, said in December that he, too, had seen an uptick in white supremacist messaging, some of it targeting college campuses as part of an outreach to appeal to a younger audience. He said at the time that it appeared supremacist groups viewed Trumps electoral victory as a victory for their cause, noting that the alt-right in general thinks this is the time to pounce. [We have a right to exist. White supremacist fliers reported at the University of Maryland] Militias within the so-called Patriot movement, like the Bundy brothers, who seized control of a wildlife refuge in Oregon, also dropped by 40 percent, the SPLC reports. New arrivals to the 2016 list included white nationalist groups such as the campus-based Identity Evropa in California and the 29 clubs created by the popular neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, which changed its masthead from The Worlds Most Visited Alt-Right Web Site to Americas #1 Most-Trusted Republican News Source the day after the election. And the SPLC warns of growing numbers of right-wing extremists [who] operate mainly in cyberspace until, in some cases, they take action in the real world, such as Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a Charleston, S.C., black church after finding inspiration in online propaganda. [Charleston church shooter: I would like to make it crystal clear, I do not regret what I did] The FBI says it does not investigate organizations characterized by the SPLC as hate groups, or others, unless it has reason to believe that a particular individual is engaged in criminal activity. The FBI cannot initiate an investigation based solely on an individuals race, ethnicity, national origin, religion or the exercise of First Amendment rights, and we remain committed to protecting those rights for all Americans, said Carol Cratty, an FBI spokeswoman. Potok argues that more hate group activity in terms of online and physical participation yields more small level hate violence, though he acknowledges such activity is difficult to prove. The growth in anti-Muslim and white nationalist groups coincided with what Muslim and civil rights leaders have described as an ongoing spike in anti-Muslim harassment and violence. The FBI reported a 60 percent rise in hate crimes targeting Muslims in 2015. Statistics for 2016 are not yet available. The SPLC says it recorded 1,097 bias incidents, including some secondhand reports of harassment and name-calling, as well as crimes including vandalism and assault, during the first 34 days following Trumps election. More than a third of those incidents, the organization says, directly referenced either Trump, his Make America Great Again slogan, or his infamous remarks about grabbing women by the genitals. (Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post) Two days before the entire population of Oroville, Calif., was evacuated, Jennifer Tatman knew something was wrong. Looking up at the towering Oroville Dam, she noticed something quite unusual: A cascade of water was pouring over the dams emergency spillway and into the Feather River. She walked to the fire station by her house to ask whether they expected the town to flood, and they told her not to worry. An emergency contact number she received rang busy all weekend. Im a single mom, so I wanted to know if something was going to happen, she said. Then, on Sunday afternoon, the order to get out and quickly came via a text message, as erosion from the spillway drew serious concerns. She grabbed her son Jackson, 4, who was playing outside, and scooped up her computer, photo albums and some clothes. Ten minutes later, they were headed to Chico, where they slept in a car in the parking lot of the fairgrounds. A neighbor sleeping in his vehicle nearby was robbed in the night. Jackson thinks its a big sleepover, but I was worried, said Tatman, a full-time student. A dog walks unsupervised in Oroville, Calif. Nearly 200,000 residents were evacuated from their homes Sunday evening after officials feared the weakened emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam might collapse. (Stephen Lam/For The Washington Post) [The government was warned that the Oroville Dam emergency spillway was unsafe. It didnt listen.] Tatman was among the nearly 200,000 people evacuated from around the Oroville Dam this week as state and local officials scrambled to assess failing overflow systems on the shoreline of Lake Oroville, a massive reservoir that threatened to gush from its bounds. Authorities worried that a complete failure could send a wall of water racing toward several residential communities. Authorities lifted the mandatory evacuation order Tuesday afternoon, downgrading it to a warning as water levels in the lake have subsided ahead of storms expected later this week. But now, a fresh worry: As families began going home to a place that just days before was under threat of catastrophic flooding, they were suddenly unsure whether the infrastructure that nearly failed will continue to hold back a trillion gallons of water. Of course, everyones worried, Tatman said. I never worried about the dam before. 1 of 58 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad See photos as thousands are evacuated after Oroville Dam threatens floods View Photos About 188,000 residents near Oroville, Calif., were ordered to evacuate after a hole in an emergency spillway in the dam threatened to flood the surrounding area. Caption About 188,000 residents near Oroville, Calif., were ordered to evacuate after a hole in an emergency spillway in the dam threatened to flood the surrounding area. Feb. 17, 2017 This photo shows water continuing to move down the damaged spillway of the Oroville Dam in Oroville, Calif. California Department of Water Resources/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue. Weather forecasts project that rains will resume as soon as Wednesday and could continue for days, part of a winter precipitation onslaught that stood in stark contrast to five years of drought. While officials were cautiously optimistic that the worst of the immediate danger had passed, they emphasized that the situation remains dynamic. A pair of helicopters looped between a staging area above the Oroville Dam and the site of maximum erosion in its spillway late Monday, collecting and dropping bundles of boulders to prevent further erosion. Massive sprays of water continued to cascade over the main spillway and into the swollen and muddy river currents below. Most Oroville residents heeded the evacuation orders, but some chose to remain behind. Yailyn Delatorre, 19, and her 15-year-old brother Johnny received evacuation orders on Sunday, but their family did not budge. We didnt think it was that serious, she said. My dad is calm, and hes also really hardheaded, and he just didnt want to go. Others stayed because they had no other option. There are still people here, said a homeless man who declined to give his name. He and his partner were sleeping in an orchard outside town when they heard about the evacuation order but had no way to leave. Theyre just people that nobody else cares about. . . . Now everybody knows what its like to be homeless. In the waterfront mansions that sit beside Lake Oroville and behind the dam, several residents also had not evacuated; they sat on their porches watching bulldozers and helicopters work on repairs. Many of those who were able to evacuate could not bring their animals with them, leaving them behind or trying to get help from area shelters. Others fled with their pets only to learn that evacuation centers were not able to accommodate them. The mingled howls of almost 200 dogs spilled from an open-sided barn at Chicos Silver Dollar Fairgrounds on Monday night. The dogs were the most numerous and vocal animals in the makeshift shelter established by the North Valley Animal Disaster Group, but they were not the only ones: goats, chickens, cows, horses, cats, birds and a potbellied pig were also held in pens, crates and cages north of the fairgrounds. Evacuee Mike Hoadley of Gridley, Calif., smokes a cigarette after bicycling an hour and a half to the evacuation center at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico. (Stephen Lam/For The Washington Post) The mass evacuation spurred widespread volunteer efforts. Members of the California State University at Chico soccer team visited and played an impromptu match with some of the kids staying at the fairgrounds on Monday afternoon, and dozens of people dropped off diapers, soap, toilet paper, dog food, bottled water, snacks, and other supplies throughout the day. Lots of people have been helping, said Jacquelyne Elgen, who joined her two young children sleeping on cots at the fairgrounds for two nights. After sundown Monday, a pedicab driver from Chico named Mike Griffiths rode his bicycle taxi to the fairgrounds and spent a few hours treating young children to free rides around the facility. Dressed in pink for Valentines Day, Griffiths also wore Cupid wings and carried a small pink bow. He blasted pop songs from speakers on the back of his bike as he peddled in small loops. Theres been a lot of tears, he said. I wanted to come and try to bring joy, to lighten the mood. Things are going to be okay as long as it doesnt rain too much. A few grocery stores and gas stations reopened in Oroville late Monday. Some families stood by the roadside leading to the top of the dam holding homemade cardboard signs with messages thanking the work crews. Though the immediate crisis appeared to have passed, some residents criticized authorities for not anticipating and preventing the situation even though they were made aware of concerns 12 years ago, when environmental groups said the emergency spillway could lead to catastrophic damage if compromised. Theyve known about this for years, so why didnt they fix it? Elgen said. The city didnt want to spend $50 million a few years ago; now theyve got to spend hundreds of millions. Thats the government for you. WHILE MUCH of the country has seen dramatic growth over the past 15 years in the number of public charter schools and students, Virginia has been an outlier. Its public charter school law, enacted in 1998, has been ranked as one of the worst in the country, and today there are only nine public charter schools operating in the commonwealth. That may not be a big deal for families fortunate to live in districts with good schools, but for children trapped in chronically failing schools it has been devastating. So lets hope an effort now underway in the General Assembly for modest changes in this archaic law advances and that Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) doesnt squelch it. Both the state House and Senate have approved versions of a bill that would loosen the chokehold that local school boards have in authorizing charter schools and ease restrictions on operations. A final vote by the House on the Senate bill is expected within a week, and charter advocates are cautiously optimistic. Under the measure, the Virginia Board of Education would be able to create new regional public charter school divisions with the power to approve new charter schools in areas of the state with persistently low educational performance. The plan is carefully framed to deal with some of the objections that have undermined past efforts to reform the charter law. School systems with fewer than 3,000 students would be excluded, negating concerns that a charter could have a severe impact on small school divisions. Public charter schools would have no claim to local funding, and existing schools would continue operations unaltered, without loss of needed resources or local control. Only school divisions with one or more schools having had state accreditation denied for at least two of the past three years would be targeted, countering the notion that charters are superfluous in a state that overall has a good public education system. The sad fact, as former state school board member Chris Braunlich recently wrote in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, is that while the state has been able to brag about its rank on metrics such as SAT and Advanced Placement scores, nothing has been done to effectively deal with the school districts including Richmond and Norfolk that have persistently failed to effectively educate their students, many of them minorities or disadvantaged. There is no one easy answer, but charter schools have been shown to be effective at improving student performance and offering parents a critical choice. That Virginia has been so unwelcoming that quality charter operators dont even think about applying is to its discredit. The critical vote in winning Senate approval came from Sen. J. Chapman Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax), who crossed party lines in the 21-to-19 vote. In choosing children over politics, he set a good example that Mr. McAuliffe should follow if this bill reaches his desk. CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelas government condemned U.S. sanctions on the countrys vice president, saying Tuesday that the Trump administrations designation of Tareck El Aissami as a major drug trafficker represented an unprecedented and highly dangerous infringement on the South American nations sovereignty. In a series of defiant messages posted on social media, El Aissami said the miserable and defamatory aggression only deepens his commitment to revolution started by the late Hugo Chavez and wont distract him from his job of rescuing Venezuelas crashing economy from what he called sabotage by its conservative opponents. Theyll never be able to defeat our unbreakable resolution to be free forever, El Aissami said. On Monday, the Trump administration froze El Aissamis U.S. assets and banned him from entering the U.S. for his alleged role facilitating cocaine shipments from Venezuela. El Aissami is the highest-ranking Venezuelan official to ever be sanctioned by the U.S. and his designation as a drug kingpin is bound to ratchet up tensions between the two countries, who have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010. But whether the action signals a hardening U.S. stance toward President Nicolas Maduros socialist government, or is just a carry-over of policies set in motion by the Obama administration, remains to be seen, analysts said. Under Obama, the U.S. was careful not to call for the unpopular Maduros removal, as the opposition has been seeking, choosing instead to support a Vatican-sponsored dialogue aimed at avoiding bloodshed. Patience has worn out, said Chris Sabatini, editor of Latin America Goes Global, a website that tracks U.S. policy toward the region. Theres a mounting sense of frustration, even in the State Department and on the Hill, that the dialogue is going nowhere. For now, no additional actions against Venezuela are in the works, said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss policy. Its also not clear whether Trump personally signed off on the sanctions, although in conversations over the weekend with the presidents of Peru and Colombia he raised concerns about Venezuelas deteriorating humanitarian situation. Trumps newly confirmed Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, told reporters on Tuesday the sanctions demonstrate the presidents seriousness about fighting the scourge of drugs in the United States. Trump, he said, also wanted to to send a clear message to the people of Venezuela that America stands with them. In remarks carried on state television Tuesday, Maduro accused the U.S. government of committing a grave error and said Venezuela would deliver a note of protest to the U.S. Embassy in Caracas demanding the accusations against El Aissami be retracted. Maduro pledged his full support of El Aissami and said he hoped the new U.S. administration would not go down the same path of defeat and failure as the previous two U.S. presidential administrations in relations with Venezuela. Bandits, he said. They are the bandits. THE RESIGNATION of Michael Flynn as national security adviser offers President Trump an opportunity to right what has been a dysfunctional policymaking apparatus. Having previously been dismissed from a post at the Defense Intelligence Agency for erratic management, Mr. Flynn failed to prepare Mr. Trump for conversations with foreign leaders, inadequately vetted executive orders and staffed key positions with military cronies even before he lied to the media and vice president about the content of his conversations with the Russian ambassador. His self-destruction in a post that demands the steadiest of hands was widely anticipated; the only surprise was that it took just 24 days. Its not unusual for an incoming national security adviser to speak with foreign ambassadors, and its not entirely clear that what Mr. Flynn said to Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak in late December was improper. But Mr. Flynn clearly misled The Post, Vice President Pence and other senior officials when he said he did not discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia with Mr. Kislyak. He did so in the context of as-yet- unresolved questions about Russias interference in the presidential election and other possible contacts between the regime of Vladimir Putin and the Trump campaign. The affair underlines the urgency of an impartial investigation into those matters by the Justice Department, Congress or an independent commission and the full disclosure of the results to the public. The White Houses handling of Mr. Flynns deception also raises concerns. According to The Post, the acting attorney general told the White House counsel late last month about Mr. Flynns false statements and warned they could expose him to Russian blackmail. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Mr. Trump was informed immediately afterward, but the White House did not correct the false public statements about the Flynn-Kislyak call, and Mr. Trump told reporters last Friday that he was unaware of the issue. At a minimum, the episode further undermines the credibility of an administration that has repeatedly disseminated untruths. Mr. Trump could begin to undo the damage by appointing a new national security adviser prepared for the jobs most essential work, which is serving as an honest broker in internal debates over questions of war, foreign policy and intelligence. The National Security Council chief should ensure that the unschooled Mr. Trump is fully briefed for encounters with foreign leaders and that policy steps whether a response to a North Korean missile launch or a new strategy for fighting the Islamic State are fully studied and discussed in an orderly way before a presidential decision is made. The past two weeks have seen some welcome corrections by Mr. Trump to what looked like potentially rash departures from previous U.S. policies. He calmed Asian leaders by accepting the one-China principle and strongly backing the U.S. alliance with Japan, and he retreated from suggestions that the U.S. Embassy in Israel would be swiftly relocated to Jerusalem. His U.N. envoy affirmed that sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Crimea would remain in place. (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post) However, Mr. Trump still has some fixes to make above all in U.S. relations with NATO allies, where signals from Cabinet secretaries and the White House have been conflicting, and in his dangerously appeasing stance toward Mr. Putin. A competent national security operation may not correct the presidents mistaken convictions, but it should, at least, provide him with better intelligence and options. A strange and circuitous path led retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn toward his fateful telephone contact in late December with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and the flameout of what had been a distinguished military career. Military and intelligence colleagues who served with Flynn describe him as a brilliant tactician whose work in the shadowy Joint Special Operations Command a decade ago didnt prepare him for broader challenges as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, from which he was removed in 2014, and national security adviser, the post from which he resigned Monday night. In the JSOC world, you think youre Superman, said a former Pentagon superior of Flynns. After the disappointment at DIA, he said, Flynn wanted recognition from anyone who would give it to him. The Russians paid attention, and he reciprocated. A four-star general who served closely with Flynn sees a painful lesson: Flynns is an advisory tale to naive military officers. Swim with the sharks and youre sometimes the chum. Flynn made his name perfecting the find, fix, finish tactics employed by JSOC against al-Qaeda in Iraq. The intelligence haul from one nights raid would be processed in a few hours, and the leads from cellphones and laptops would drive the next nights raids. Those inside JSOCs super-secret operations felt were conquering the world, recalled one colleague. Flynn continued to shine as intelligence chief at U.S. Central Command, then at the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and finally in Afghanistan, where I met him. His appointment to head the DIA in 2012 was the culmination of what had been a charmed rise to the top. Then bad things began to happen, some involving Russia, and Flynns path began to veer toward Mondays catastrophe. The DIA, a messy agency of nearly 20,000, mostly civilians, was famously the underachiever in the intelligence community. Flynn tried to fix everything at once. He had an ambitious but unrealistic plan for fusing the agency into mission centers. His superiors said no; Flynn went ahead anyway. Employees complained of shouting matches, bad leadership and a demoralized agency. Along the way, Flynn became enthusiastic about improving liaison with Russia, which he saw as a natural counterterrorism partner. He visited the Russian military-intelligence agency, the GRU, in 2013, and came back advocating greater cooperation in monitoring Syrian chemical weapons. Even after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Flynn proposed inviting the intelligence chiefs of its various theater commands to Washington for discussions. His superiors rejected what they saw as a supremely ill-timed proposal. After Flynn was forced out in 2014, he complained that his ouster reflected disagreements about Middle East strategy. Colleagues at the time say it was simply a story of management failure a good officer in the wrong job. An embittered Flynn continued to advocate closer cooperation with Russia and began issuing strident denunciations of the Obama administration. He told Al Jazeera television in August 2015 that the rise of the Islamic State was a willful Washington decision. He told the German magazine Der Spiegel in November 2015 that U.S. military operations in Iraq and Libya had been a mistake and a strategic failure. These became major themes for Donald Trump, whose campaign Flynn informally began advising in late 2015. Flynn did something in December 2015 that has haunted him ever since. He gave a paid speech in Moscow at the 10th-anniversary celebration of Russia Today, a global cable network described by U.S. intelligence as the Kremlins principal international propaganda outlet. The RT interviewer pushed him to say positive things about U.S.-Russian cooperation, and Flynn complied. Stop being like two bullies in the playground! Flynn said in Moscow. Its a marriage, whether we like it or not, and that marriage is very, very rocky right now, he said. In a separate RT interview in Moscow, he urged that the two countries share intelligence and operations centers against Islamic terrorism. Flynn sat next to President Vladimir Putin at a celebratory dinner on that 2015 trip. Friendly relations continued. During 2016, even as the Russians were mounting what U.S. intelligence described as a covert attack on the presidential election, Flynn had several contacts with Kislyak. The fateful one came in late December, when the two men discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia, even as the Obama administration was expelling 35 diplomats. Flynns fall is a painful story, with many unanswered questions. Perhaps the biggest is why a retired general, schooled in the chain of command, would have talked with Kislyak without consulting his boss, Trump. Thats the White House line, but this investigation of Russiagate is just beginning. Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Regarding the Feb. 11 front-page article Trump might rewrite travel ban: The suit brought by Washington state and the subsequent ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit resurrected the dangerous concept of nullification. That is the contention that a state can refuse to follow a federal law that it disagrees with. It was a major threat to the Constitution in the years before the Civil War, championed by South Carolina, with the ultimate threat of secession. President Andrew Jackson squelched the issue during his administration by announcing that he would march into the state and hang the first traitor from the first tree with the first rope. In its modern guise, as brought by Washington state, it contends that any perceived injury to any entity in the state allows it to defy the exercise of the presidents constitutional authority in matters of national security to execute a law passed by Congress. Washington has found a tactic that South Carolina never thought of in a less litigious era: trap the executive authority in the quicksand of endless argument in the courts. If this tactic is allowed to become a precedent, the executive branch will be crippled. The progressives who celebrate this measure as a way to stick a thumb in President Trumps eye should contemplate that what goes around comes around. They should also contemplate the comparison of Jackson and Mr. Trump. Peter G. Tsouras, Alexandria President Trump spoke as a political guardian of the people rather than the representative of a people capable of self-government. He explained the matter as clearly and lucidly as anyone could: You cannot appreciate the extent of the threat unless you are president. Therefore, he knows better than we do. And so, he will and should do whats necessary, i.e., things that the people apparently are not disposed to do. Whilst saying this, at his order, federal agents engage in widespread raids against immigrants, criminal and noncriminal, felonious and of merely minor criminality. It looks for all the world like a police-state action, and, in light of Mr. Trumps remarks on political guardianship, thats because it is. As federal agents come for the immigrants, it is important that we ask now: Where is this going, and where might it all end? The answer depends on what is going on in our guardians mind. Mr. Trump has told us he is in a superior position to make a judgment, and he could readily conclude that those who protest the immigrant crackdown are jeopardizing efforts to secure the nation from terrorism and criminality. They then, too, should be subject to heavy surveillance, arrest and incarceration. There is a slippery slope built into the guardians way of thinking, which places the whole of our democracy in jeopardy. Ross Zucker, Harrison, N.Y. Sherrilyn Ifill is president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller argued Sunday that President Trump was the victim of voter fraud in the election. Voter fraud, Miller insisted, is a serious problem in this country. This statement is untrue. He also said that the White House has provided enormous evidence of this fraud. This is also untrue. The president himself has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims, from last weeks allegation that then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte lost her race in New Hampshire because thousands of voters were bused in from Massachusetts to his fact-free insistence that he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes because of 3 million to 5 million votes cast by illegals. And when he called for a major investigation, he was hardly opaque about his aims, with his press secretary, Sean Spicer, saying that the probe would be focused on urban areas, the same areas Trump told his supporters to watch on Election Day. Lets dispense with the easy part. This issue has been studied, and every credible academic review has concluded that widespread voter fraud does not happen in this country. There are isolated incidents, such as the Iowa woman accused of voting twice for Trump. But there is no evidence that millions, thousands or even hundreds of instances of in-person voter fraud occur in the United States. One of the most reliable studies found only 31 instances of fraud in more than 1 billion votes cast over nearly 15 years. A person is more likely to be struck by lightning than commit voter fraud. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Although voter fraud has long been on the list of myths perpetuated by state-level Republican leaders to justify onerous voter ID laws, even Republican members of Congress have refused to endorse the presidents views about widespread voter fraud. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said that no federal dollars should be used to support the presidents search for voter fraud. Ayotte rejected Trumps account of her defeat. Thus, the president and his teams peculiar repetition of claims about voter fraud must be recognized for what it is: They are laying the groundwork for forthcoming efforts. We should prepare for the president to issue a sweeping executive order requiring a nationwide investigation of alleged voter fraud. The justification for it will be as unmoored from facts, as was the basis for the seven Muslim-majority countries selected for the presidents travel ban. And the results will be just as, if not more, pernicious. A presidential command to investigate the existence of a phenomenon that has been demonstrated not to exist can accomplish only one thing a nationwide system of voter intimidation authorized at the highest levels of government. The president and his team have already made clear that they will not let facts get in the way of their firm conviction that voter fraud exists. Whatever body is charged with the investigation will be certain to concoct evidence of voter fraud; the administration would not take the risk of launching an investigation unless it could be certain that it would corroborate the presidents fantasy. Along the way, any commission will be charged with aggressively probing the actions of state and local voting officials and voters in its zeal to find what study after study has been unable to find. All of this is especially alarming now that Jeff Sessions is leading the Justice Department. When Sessions was U.S. attorney in Alabama, he used the power of his office to investigate and unsuccessfully prosecute civil rights leaders for unsubstantiated voter fraud. In the black community, this generated fear about exercising the franchise that lasted decades. The results of such an investigation on a national scale could be even more devastating. Of course, there is a serious illegal voting problem in our country: voter suppression. But even that does not require an investigation. Federal courts have ruled that voter ID laws in North Carolina and Texas, respectively, illegally suppress the votes of African Americans and Latinos. In North Carolina, the U.S Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit found that state had intentionally designed its law to discriminate against minority voters. The comparison of voter suppression to voter fraud is stark. Although Texas has found only a handful of cases of in-person voter fraud since 2000, it is estimated that 600,000 eligible voters were disenfranchised by the 2013 adoption of Texass strict voter ID law. Rather than address this travesty, the president has chosen to reinforce the myth that minorities urban voters and illegals are a threat to the integrity of our election system. Trumps insistence on investigating a nonexistent threat while ignoring the reality of systematic disenfranchisement of minority voters speaks powerfully about the intentions and focus of this administration. We take the president at his word when he threatens to launch a major investigation into voter fraud. We will challenge any illegality in the presentation or execution of the program. But we had all best recognize the implications of the president of the United States launching a nationwide voter intimidation program. President Trump signs an executive order last month to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press) The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is dead, but could it have an afterlife? Maybe. Among President Trumps first acts was an order withdrawing from the TPP. This fulfilled Trumps campaign promise to torpedo the high-profile agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries, led by Japan and Mexico. As important, it symbolized Trumps conviction that ineptly negotiated trade agreements are at the core of the U.S. economys problems. Given this background, it seems astounding that anyone would suggest that the TPP may rise from the dead, with a new name and slightly altered provisions. Yet thats the message of a new study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank and unabashed advocate of TPP. Written by Jeffrey Schott, the study makes two general points, one political and the other economic. The political point is that, despite Trumps repudiation, TPP still has substantial backing on Capitol Hill. Schott says that both Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, the two panels responsible for trade legislation strongly support TPP, as do many other members of Congress. Similar support exists abroad, Schott argues. Since the U.S. election, the leaders of Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have emphasized the strategic importance of TPP for their countries and for leadership in the region, he writes. The main reason is China. U.S. withdrawal from TPP effectively opens the door for China to assert a more pronounced leadership role, writes Schott. The economics reinforce the politics. Contrary to Trumps opposition, Schott says, the TPP would strengthen demand for U.S. exports. Some of these sales will now be lost to foreign competitors, because they will negotiate their own free trade agreements (FTAs), lowering import barriers between them. American firms will be at a disadvantage. U.S. beef and pork exporters already face loss of market share in Japan due to the Japan-Australia FTA, he says. Meanwhile, Schott says, with American markets already open to most trade, U.S. trade negotiators gave up very little. Even a small 2.5 percent tariff on imported autos will be phased out only over 25 years. Little wonder, Schott notes, that almost every major U.S. farm and industry association supports the TPP. On its face, all this constitutes a powerful case for reviving TPP. Despite this, there is [as yet] no indication that the Trump administration would consider revisiting the pact, Schott writes. He speculates that Trump will change his mind. First hell concentrate on his still-unveiled tax and spending proposals. If Congress approves these, he will have more freedom to negotiate modest trade changes and ditch the Obama-era title of Trans-Pacific Partnership. This may be plausible or just wishful thinking. Read more from Robert Samuelsons archive. President Trump has just set the all-time speed record for scandal from zero to Watergate in 25 days. Not yet four weeks into the new administration, Washington has already revived a favorite parlor game based on Howard Bakers famous question in the Nixon era. What did President Trump know, and when did he know it? asked conservative Max Boot. What did President Trump know and when did he know it? asked liberal Joan Walsh. The Boston Globe, the Daily Mail, the Chicago Tribune and others asked variations of the same. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Its a have-you-stopped-beating-your-wife question, because there is no good answer. If Trump only just found out that Michael Flynn spoke to the Russians about sanctions, hes a dupe. If Trump knew earlier, hes been hiding something. [Admit it: Trump is unfit to serve] But the What Did He Know? game in this case may ask the wrong question. The real question is not when Trump found out but whether Flynn, in his contacts with the ambassador, was doing Trumps bidding, at least implicitly. This would fit a pattern that has already developed in this White House: Trumps aides do exactly as he orders. Flynn is no idiot. He spent a good chunk of his career in the intelligence business. He had to know that U.S. spy agencies listen to the Russian ambassadors phone calls and hes savvy enough to know that his discussions with the ambassador about sanctions the Obama administration was imposing that day would make their way up the reporting chain. Finally, he had to know he couldnt pass it off as a casual contact; the two spoke several times that day. So why do it? Perhaps for the same reason other smart people who work for Trump have done seemingly unwise things: Trump told them to. Sean Spicer is a seasoned pro, deeply experienced with the press. So why would he, in his first full day on the job, destroy his credibility by berating reporters in the briefing room and peddling the bogus claim that Trumps inauguration crowd set a record? An explanation soon emerged: Trump himself had directed Spicer to do it. Likewise, Kellyanne Conway, an old political hand, had to know she was breaking rules when she gave what she called a free commercial last week on Fox News for Ivanka Trumps fashion line: Go buy it today, everybody. A bipartisan smackdown came swiftly and Spicer said she had been counseled. Why do it? 1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad See what President Trump has been doing since taking office View Photos The new president is expected to make his mark on an aggressive legislative agenda. Caption The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Well, consider that the day after Conways supposed transgression, she tweeted an Associated Press report saying Trump had defended Conway to White House staffers, saying Spicers counseled rebuke was unfair to Conway, who was merely sticking up for Ivanka. On Tuesday, Conway tweeted another message indicating she parrots Trump: I serve at the pleasure of [Trump]. His message is my message. Next came Stephen Miller, the young Trump White House policy adviser who went on four Sunday talk shows and was widely pilloried for uttering extravagant untruths about voter fraud and for his attempt to assign absolute power to Trump. (The powers of the president to protect our country . . . will not be questioned.) But when the performance was done, the president made clear Miller had done as Trump wanted, tweeting: Congratulations Stephen Miller on representing me this morning on the various Sunday morning shows. Great job! In Flynns case, if he were freelancing with the Russians, Trump would justifiably be furious about the embarrassment and distraction it has caused. Trump never hesitates to attack those he thinks have wronged him. But the day after Flynns calls to the ambassador, Russia made an unusual decision: It would not take the usual course of retaliating against the Obama administrations sanctions. And Trump tweeted his pleasure: Great move on delay (by V. Putin) I always knew he was very smart! [Where is the very first place anybody should have looked for a Russia-Trump connection?] Since then, Trump has uttered nary a word of criticism of Flynn. On Wednesday, he called Flynn a wonderful man who has been treated very, very unfairly by the media. No surprise here: Flynns talks with the ambassador, Vladimir Putins subsequent decision to postpone retaliation, and Trumps applause for that decision are consistent with Trumps long-standing words and actions selling property to the Russians; declining to release tax returns that could indicate whether Russians hold any of his debt; his early musings about Ukraine and NATO that have been more friendly to Moscow; his reluctance to criticize Putins human-rights abuses or to acknowledge Russias intervention to help him win the election; his surrounding himself with men Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Roger Stone and Flynn with ties to Moscow; and, now, confirmation of frequent contact between Russian intelligence and Trumps campaign. Asking what Trump knew when, then, misses the more important question: Was Flynn acting under Trumps instructions? Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. White House Press secretary Sean Spicer points as he answers questions from members of the media, seen reflected in an exit sign, during the daily briefing. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) President Trumps ouster of national security adviser Michael Flynn, and the circumstances leading up to it, have quickly become a major crisis for the fledgling administration, forcing the White House on the defensive and precipitating the first significant breach in relations between Trump and an increasingly restive Republican Congress. Even as the White House described Trumps immediate, decisive action in demanding Flynns resignation late Monday as the end of an unfortunate episode, senior GOP lawmakers were buckling under growing pressure to investigate it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that it was highly likely that the events leading to Flynns departure would be added to a broader probe into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election. Intercepts showed that Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions in a phone call with the Russian ambassador a conversation topic that Flynn first denied and then later said he could not recall. McConnells comments followed White House revelations that Trump was aware for weeks that Flynn had misled Vice President Pence and others about the content of his late-December talks with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. White House counsel Donald F. McGahn told Trump in a briefing late last month that Flynn, despite his claims to the contrary, had discussed U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration in late December, press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. That briefing, he said, came immediately after Sally Q. Yates, then the acting attorney general, informed McGahn on Jan. 26 about discrepancies between intercepts of Kislyaks phone calls and public statements by Pence and others that there had been no discussion of sanctions. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) Trump brought in senior strategist Stephen K. Bannon and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to join the discussion with McGahn, according to two officials familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. McGahn then conferred with Yates again the following day, Jan. 27, to try to glean more information, these two officials said. Within the White House, the matter was viewed skeptically, and Trump, Bannon, Priebus and McGahn for several days remained among the few people briefed, they said. Over the next two weeks, the officials said, Flynn was asked multiple times about what exactly he had said. He brushed aside the suggestion that he had spoken about sanctions with the ambassador denials that kept him afloat within the White House even as he was being actively evaluated, they said. It was not until a Washington Post report last Thursday, in which Flynn was quoted as saying that he had no recollection of discussing sanctions but couldnt be sure that he hadnt, that the downward slide culminating in Mondays forced resignation began, several administration officials said. [National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say] 1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad See what President Trump has been doing since taking office View Photos The new president is expected to make his mark on an aggressive legislative agenda. Caption The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Weve been reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to General Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks, trying to ascertain the truth, Spicer said at the daily White House press briefing. He emphasized that an internal White House inquiry had concluded that nothing Flynn discussed with the Russian was illegal but that he had broken trust with Trump by not telling the truth about the talks. When asked whether Trump told Flynn to talk to Kislyak about sanctions, Spicer responded: No, absolutely not. Asked why Trump had waited nearly three weeks to act after what Spicer called a heads-up from the Justice Department, he said that once the question of legality was settled, then it became a phase of determining whether or not [Flynns] action on this and a whole host of other issues undermined Trumps trust. He declined to specify the other issues. In an interview conducted early Monday and published Tuesday by the Daily Caller, Flynn said that he did not specifically discuss sanctions with Kislyak but rather President Barack Obamas simultaneous expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats. He said he told the ambassador that well review everything following Trumps inauguration. Current and former U.S. officials have said, however, that much of the conversation was about sanctions and that Flynn suggested that Moscow not respond in kind to the expulsions advice that Russian President Vladimir Putin took in declining to take retaliatory action. Although Trump has not publicly mentioned his view of the sanctions, Spicer said that the president has made it very clear he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea, even as he hopes to cooperate with Putin on terrorism. Asked Tuesday on a flight to Brussels about Flynns ouster, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said it has no impact on his job. It doesnt change my message at all, and who is on the presidents staff is who I will work with, he said. Mattis was on his way to a meeting of NATO defense ministers, who were expected to discuss their significant concerns about Russian aggression. During his confirmation hearing, Mattis placed Russia first among threats to U.S. security. Officials inside the National Security Council described low morale and concern about the future. The worthless message at a five-minute staff meeting Tuesday morning, one official said, was: Keep working hard. Dont leave. For those who knew and liked Flynn, another official said, its sad. Hes a good man, and I hate to see this. Various accounts of the Flynn saga offered by White House officials in recent days have added to confusion about how the administration viewed Flynns actions, who knew what and when they knew it. News accounts about a Flynn-Kislyak conversation in late December the day before Obama announced new sanctions related to Russian election interference first surfaced in a David Ignatius column in The Post on Jan. 12. Asked the next day whether they had talked about the sanctions in light of Trumps campaign and post-election pledges to better relations with Russia, White House officials said the subject had not been discussed. Three days later, Pence told CBSs Face the Nation that Flynn had assured him personally that there was no conversation about sanctions. Spicer offered similar assurances in a subsequent White House briefing. On Jan. 24 or 25, based on discrepancies between comments by Pence and Spicer and what they knew from regular intercepts of Kislyaks calls, FBI agents interviewed Flynn. Details of that interview, first reported Tuesday by the New York Times, are unknown but they could expose Flynn to possible charges if he denied that he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak. That interview was followed by the Justice notice to McGahn, who immediately informed Trump and others, officials said. After Trump ordered McGahn to review the matter, Spicer said, he quickly concluded that the presidents instinctive conclusion that the discussions were not illegal was correct. But some in the White House who had long distrusted Flynn began to contemplate his departure. CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Keith Kellogg, the National Security Council chief of staff, began attending intelligence briefings with Flynn. The president was sort of like: Until this matter is sorted out, I want buttressing, said the senior official, one of several who discussed the sensitive matter on the condition of anonymity. The idea was . . . if the president decides to pull the trigger, we need to make sure that we have some options. Flynn was eventually made aware of the White House investigation, which led to alarm among senior Trump aides when he initially told The Post, in a Feb. 8 interview, that there had been no discussion about sanctions. He revised his remarks to the paper the next day, saying through a spokesman that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldnt be certain that the topic never came up. The two accounts were published by The Post on the evening of Feb. 9. His story remained the same until that night, Spicer told reporters in his office Tuesday evening. There was a story in The Post where theres a White House official that says that he could not recall. . . . Whatever that quote was is what matters. . . . His story remained the same until that night. Pence spokesman Marc Lotter told reporters that the vice president first became aware of the incomplete information Flynn had provided him by reading the same newspaper account. [Pence did not learn that Flynn misled him on Russia until last week] Flynn was then questioned by McGahn, Pence and Priebus, who the official said was so frustrated that his tone became more that of a litigator than a colleague. Asked Friday aboard Air Force One about the Post reporting that Flynn allegedly had not told the truth about the calls, Trump said he was not familiar with it. I dont know about that. I havent seen it. What report is that? I havent seen that. Ill look into that, Trump told reporters on the plane. Spicer said Tuesday that Trump was responding only to a question about the Post report and was not speaking about the overall issue of Flynns contact with the Russian ambassador and his discussion of sanctions. After discussing the situation throughout the weekend at Trumps Florida resort, a final decision was made Monday night by Trump, along with Priebus and senior advisers Bannon and Jared Kushner, to tell Flynn to resign, officials said. That is a notably different version of events than the one offered Monday night, when administration officials characterized Flynns departure as voluntary. One senior White House official said Monday that Trump had not fired Flynn but that he had made the decision to resign on his own because of the cumulative effect of damaging news coverage. Read more: Flynn episode darkens the cloud of Russia that hangs over Trump administration Flynns swift downfall: From a phone call in the Dominican Republic to a forced resignation at the White House Pence remains above the fray, but is he outside the inner circle? Robert Costa, Dan Lamothe, Ellen Nakashima and Ashley Parker contributed to this report. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. The new president is expected to make his mark on an aggressive legislative agenda. The new president is expected to make his mark on an aggressive legislative agenda. See what President Trump has been doing since taking office See what President Trump has been doing since taking office Once again, Donald Trump is embroiled in controversy related to Russia. The ouster of Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, caught by intelligence agencies speaking with the Russian ambassador about U.S. sanctions and then misleading administration officials about the interactions, marked the latest chapter in a months-long saga in which Trump has been unable to break free from the shadow of the United States longtime rival. Two advisers left the campaign amid questions about their ties to Moscow and the oligarchs that hold sway there. The FBI is probing ties between Trump associates and Russia, as is the Senate Intelligence Committee. The president himself has repeatedly praised Russias authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin, while he has long expressed a desire to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and boasted of how the Trump brand holds special appeal for Russian investors. All of this coincided with Russias role in last years U.S. election, in which the Kremlin is accused by U.S. intelligence agencies of orchestrating hacks that targeted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her top aides to weaken her campaign. FBI Director James B. Comey also last month briefed Trump on accusations that the Russians hold compromising material about him, an unverified claim found in a dossier written by a former British spy hired by Trumps political opponents. Trump has rejected the claim as fake news. Now the foreign power that allegedly hoped to help Trump gain power is in a position to undermine his grip on it, with Flynns departure lending new gravity and intensity to long-simmering questions about Trump and Russia. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) [Inside Trumps financial ties to Russia and his unusual flattery of Vladimir Putin] Democratic lawmakers and a handful of Republicans escalated calls Tuesday for a thorough and independent investigation into the possible connections between Trump and Russia. The line of inquiry could result in uncomfortable questions for the White House, including demands by Democrats that lawmakers seek to make public Trumps tax returns. There was already a cloud hanging over the administration when it comes to Russia, and this darkens the cloud, said Eliot Cohen, who served as an adviser to the George W. Bush administration and has been a Trump critic. This is serious. Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of the Senate Republican leadership, told a Missouri radio station Tuesday that the Senate Intelligence Committee should look into Trumps Russia connections exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldnt reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions. For all of us, finding out if theres a problem or not, and sooner rather than later, is the right thing to do, he said. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who had raised initial questions about Secretary of State Rex Tillersons past good relations with Putin during his time as ExxonMobils CEO, told reporters this week that senators will go wherever the truth leads us in the Russia inquiry. Trump aides stressed Tuesday that the Flynn controversy was entirely about internal dynamics in the White House and not about any larger issues related to Russia. Press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that Flynn resigned because of misleading information he gave to Vice President Pence and others, rather than the nature of his contact with the Russians. Pure and simple, it was a matter of trust, Spicer said. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post) Spicer, meanwhile, sought to portray Trump as a hawk when it comes to dealing with the Kremlin. The irony of this entire situation is that the president has been incredibly tough on Russia, Spicer said, citing comments from Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who has issued recent condemnations of recent Russian military action in Ukraine. Trump, however, has done little in his public appearances as a businessman, a candidate or as president to suggest a hard line on Russia. For years before entering politics, Trump appeared to hold Putin in an especially high regard. By the way, I really like Vladimir Putin, Trump told the Russian-language magazine Chayka in 2008 as he debuted a new Trump-branded New York City condo project that was catering in part to Russian buyers. I respect him. He does his job well. Much better than our Bush. Trump continued to praise the Russian leader after President Bush left office, repeatedly citing Putin as a stronger leader than President Obama. In 2014, a year after Trump hosted the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, he tweeted that Putin had become a big hero in Russia who would rebuild the Russian empire, even as Obamas popularity sagged. Trumps positive words about the Russian leader during last years campaign surprised some Republicans, considering that most GOP leaders said Putins rise was a threat to U.S. allies and interests around the world. In December 2015, before any ballots were cast in the primary election, Trump declared that praise he had received from Putin was a great honor and rejected allegations that Putin had killed journalists and other political opponents. Hes always denied it, Trump told ABCs This Week on Dec. 20, 2015, adding, I think our country does plenty of killing also. Trump also seemed to embrace some aspects of Russias foreign policy agenda. He spoke of partnering with Moscow to fight the Islamic State and other radical Islamic terrorist groups, while, during the Republican National Convention, his campaign sought a tweak to the GOP platform softening a call for the United States to provide Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons in its ongoing fight with Russian-backed separatists. After WikiLeaks first posted hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, Trump refused to criticize instead inviting Russia to hack his Democratic opponent. Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, he said in July, referring to emails Hillary Clinton had deleted as personal while secretary of state. Later, after WikiLeaks posted thousands of emails from Clinton campaign chief John D. Podesta, Trump resisted findings by U.S. intelligence of Russian interference. Only in January did he say he concurred with the professionals assessment that Russia was behind the cyberhacks that plagued his opposition. As far as hacking, I think it was Russia, he said, before quickly adding. But I think we also get hacked by other countries and other people. Trump has also surrounded himself with aides who had expressed similar views on Russia. Flynn, who Trump considered naming vice president, had been particularly vocal about the potential for Russia to be a stronger ally against terrorism. Flynn was also a frequent commentator on RT, the Russian-government funded news network and had been paid to attend a gala for the network in 2015 where he was seated near Putin. Another top Trump aide, Paul Manafort, had financial ties with business and political leaders linked to Putin, including time spent advising the Putin-backed president of Ukraine. Manafort was named Trumps campaign manager in June but resigned in August, after Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators announced they discovered a black ledger showing $12.7 million designated for Manafort between 2007 and 2012 by a political party associated with the former president of Ukraine. Manafort denied any wrongdoing and rejected the suggestion that he received off the books funds from his work in Ukraine. Another Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, delivered a speech critical of the U.S. role in promoting democracy while visiting Moscow in July. An energy consultant who worked in Moscow for Merrill Lynch a decade ago, Page had been little known in Washington policy circles until Trump named him publicly as an adviser in March. After reports of his speech in Moscow surfaced last summer, campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Page was an informal foreign policy adviser who does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign. In September, as criticism continued, Page took a leave from the campaign. Sensing vulnerability, Democrats pressed Tuesday for more investigation into whether Trump has business ties in Russia that could explain his attitudes. Trump has said he has done no deals there. But over 30 years, he has repeatedly visited Moscow and promised to one day build a tower bearing his name there. He has also bragged about selling a mansion in Florida to a Russian oligarch for nearly $100 million, and Russian investors were key to the success of several Trump-branded buildings, particularly in Florida following the 2008 crash of the U.S. housing market. Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, Trumps son, Donald Jr., told a real estate conference in 2008, according to an account posted on the website of eTurboNews, a trade publication. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. Trumps aides have been unequivocal that his campaign did not coordinate with Russians who meddled in the campaign. Two days after Trump was elected, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a reporter in Moscow that there were contacts between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage, Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency. Russian officials later described those contacts as standard diplomatic interactions but at the time, they were vigorously denied by Trumps transition team, with Hicks saying there had been no contact with Russian officials. In fact, Ambassador Sergey Kisylak recently confirmed to The Washington Post that he had spoken with Flynn prior to Election Day. Asked again Tuesday whether anyone from the campaign had contact with Russians before the election, Spicer told reporters he knew nothing to suggest anything had changed with respect to that time period. Read more: Flynns swift downfall: From a phone call in the Dominican Republic to a forced resignation at the White House Flynn departure erupts into a full-blown crisis for the Trump White House Pence remains above the fray, but is he outside the inner circle? The Department of Transportation audit announcement felt like a sucker punch to the gut. Projects in the works for our state roads have cost $3 billion more than projected, $3 billion more than the Legislature planned for. This is simply unbelievable. Wisconsin roads have gone from 53 percent good to 41 percent good in just five years. How do our roads deteriorate that much in just five years? Complete lack of adequate funding. The 2011 state budget cut road funding by delaying projects, postponing large projects and cutting funds to rural roads in Wisconsin. Each and every budget since then has done the same thing. The Transportation Fund has been in crisis mode since the Legislature repealed the indexing of the gas tax and there have been no true solutions put forth by the majority party. Before the last biennial budget, this crisis was truly recognized statewide by all legislators and the governor. Governor Scott Walker even asked his transportation secretary to come up with possible solutions to this economic crisis. A group of experts met and they came up with many different options for ensuring that our immediate road needs and our long-term funding crisis could be addressed. Walker and the Republican majority rejected each and every idea this group of experts put forth. Instead, they chose to borrow once again for our roads and delayed projects, postponed large projects, and cut funding to rural roads. It is like Groundhog Day with an increasingly bumpy road. Why is funding for roads so important? First and foremost is the safety of all of us going where we need to go. Hazardous roads equal unsafe roads for our families. Second is the economy. How can we expect our lagging economy to improve if we dont have the infrastructure to support the businesses that work here? How can we expect new businesses to move into a state that has 41 percent poor roads? From farms to factories, road travel is still the cheapest and fastest way for businesses to move products and supplies. We will never catch up to our neighboring states if we do not invest in our roads. Delaying and bonding and backfilling have been used time and time again to fund our roads and it simply is not working. Over 20 cents on every dollar we are spending now to build our roads is going to financing of yesterdays projects. This credit card, funding scheme has to stop. I stand ready, as I have for the last six years, willing to work with any legislator with the strength to find a short-term and long-term solution for transportation funding. Walker and legislative Republicans need to put their money where their mouths are and help this state. No more excuses. For nearly two full weeks, nobody told Vice President Pence that he had been misled by national security adviser Michael Flynn. After privately being assured by Flynn that he had never had any discussions about Russian sanctions with that countrys ambassador, Pence went on TV in mid-January and publicly parroted Flynns denial. But on Jan. 26, President Trump and a small group of senior aides learned that the Justice Department had evidence that Flynn had, in fact, discussed sanctions and misled the vice president. Yet it would take almost a fortnight for Pence to learn the truth and only then because of a report in The Washington Post, according to Marc Lotter, a spokesman for the vice president. Throughout the campaign and now in office, Pence has largely managed to avoid the infighting and warring factions of the young White House by keeping his head down and soldiering loyally forward. But the incident with Flynn reveals both the benefits and risks of his approach he has emerged largely unharmed by the scandal that led to Flynns resignation, but his influence within the West Wing has come increasingly into question given how little he knew about his own situation. Does this episode strengthen Pence or weaken Pence? asked William Kristol, editor at large of the Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine and who served as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle. Thats what everybody is trying to figure out. (The Washington Post) Pences decision to try to stay out of the cliques that have plagued the White House has allowed him, so far, to maintain his standing as a neutral player committed to forwarding Trumps agenda on Capitol Hill. But it also appears to have left him at times outside the inner circle of Trumps brain trust. Aides to both the president and vice president say the two men speak on the phone or in person multiple times a day. But despite their frequent communication, the president never told his No. 2 that he had been misled by Flynn and that in defending him on the Sunday shows had put himself in a publicly compromising and embarrassing situation. [Pence did not learn that Flynn misled him on Russia until last week] The vice president became aware of incomplete information that he had received on Feb. 9, last Thursday night, based on media accounts, Lotter told reporters Tuesday. He did an inquiry based on those media accounts. Several people close to him were more blunt, saying he was blindsided and frustrated. 1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad See what President Trump has been doing since taking office View Photos The new president is expected to make his mark on an aggressive legislative agenda. Caption The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. But even as Flynn flailed, Pence did not urge Trump to fire him, or lash out against him. Instead, said two officials familiar with the situation, Pence was disappointed and suggested that Flynn could publicly apologize. Others within the White House, however, thought what Flynn had done was egregious and unacceptable. The vice president is a very forgiving man, said one White House official. On Friday, Pence, chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House counsel Don McGahn held a conference call with Flynn who had originally denied any improper communications with the Russian envoy to go over his story again, according to two officials familiar with the call. Flynn was at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps private club in Palm Beach, Fla., during the call, while the other three men were in Washington. Pence left the conversation troubled, as did Priebus, who expressed dismay both with Flynns answers and the dawning reality that Flynn had deceived Pence. By Monday, Pence was in full agreement with Priebus and others that it would be best for Flynn to go and remained involved in all top-level talks that day. Asked how the vice president could be kept in the dark about the Flynn controversy for so long, two White House officials said it was a result of the muddled and uncertain way events unfolded rather than an intentional desire to keep him out of the loop. On Jan. 26, when acting attorney general Sally Yates contacted McGahn about discrepancies of Flynns account of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, McGahn took the information directly to Trump in the Oval Office that day. Trump quickly brought in chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and Priebus to join the discussion with McGahn, said two White House officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly. McGahn then conferred with Yates again the following day to try to glean more information about what Yates knew and to probe the matter further. But McGahn, who has been friends with Pence since the vice president was a House member, did not share the information beyond that group because he had already informed the president and his top two advisers, with the expectation that anyone else who needed to know would be informed by those principals. Several other people within the White House described the situation as unfortunate and unintended, saying that Trump and McGahn did not mean to exclude Pence but were reacting to Yates whose information was initially viewed with some skepticism and trying to keep the information about Flynn within a tight group. At that point, Flynn was still maintaining that he had discussed nothing improper with the Russian ambassador. [Flynns swift downfall: From a phone call in the Dominican Republic to a forced resignation at the White House] Nonetheless, the two-week lag between when Trump, Bannon and Priebus learned of Flynns misdirection and when Pence himself found out through news reports has raised speculation as to Pences true clout or lack thereof within the White House. In 2010, when Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, President Barack Obamas military chief in Afghanistan, made disparaging remarks about some of Obamas senior civilian advisers, including Vice President Joe Biden, Obamas response was swift and decisive. Within 40 hours, he called McChrystal back to Washington and fired him. Pence is not the type to demand that sort of response. Those who know him said he is thinking ahead, believing that as vice president, he is likely to outlast advisers whose positions may be more tenuous. Pence is trying to play a long game, keeping his head down and keeping his powder dry, assuming some of the more flamboyant types will blow up or blow out and he will be there as a trusted counselor a year or so from now, Kristol said. But, he added, the long game can mislead you. If you end up keeping your powder dry and never using it, you end up being just another guy in the White House. A Republican who works closely with Hill lawmakers said that Pence has repeatedly gone to the Capitol to assuage fears, only to have his reassuring words upended by a tweet from Trump and upheaval within the West Wing. The question that legislators are trying to figure out, that Republican said, is if Pence like most everyone else is simply a victim to a rash and erratic president, or if he is deliberately being shut out by senior White House advisers. The latest incident with Flynn, he added, further undermines the vice president. This is hurtful to Pence, he said, speaking anonymously to offer a candid insight. Its another example of him not being totally in the loop. Pence, however, is still well-liked by lawmakers, many of whom view him as their most direct line into the White House and their best hope for enacting a conservative, Republican agenda. And they remain hopefully optimistic that he is a pivotal West Wing player. I think Pence has a lot of respect by the president and by a lot of us who have known him, said Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). Hes solid, hes measured, and he fits the job beautifully. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said that Pences influence within the White House was evident simply from Flynns downfall. As it turned out, misleading the vice president doesnt look like it was a very good thing to do. Read more: Flynn episode darkens the cloud of Russia that hangs over Trump administration Flynn departure erupts into a full-blown crisis for the Trump White House Dan Balz: In the early weeks of the new administration, the humbling of a president Jenna Johnson, Abby Phillip and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) looks over his notes as he prepares to speak at a news conference on Feb. 14 on Capitol Hill. (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post) One by one, Republican lawmakers stepped to the microphone and talked about the topic that was not consuming Washington on Tuesday morning: overhauling the health-care system. One committee chairman declared that Republican lawmakers were working on solutions to replace and repeal the Affordable Care Act. Another chairman was more cautious, explaining that Republicans were taking our time to get it right. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan spoke on each side of the issue, saying both that the health-care system is collapsing and needs a rescue, and promising a step-by-step approach leading to a stable transition. Its a sign of just how surreal things have become in the early days of the Trump administration that six GOP lawmakers preferred to discuss health care, the very thing that has bitterly divided them since the 2016 elections, than the more pressing news of the day: the resignation barely 11 hours earlier of President Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, after a questionable phone call with a Russian official before Trump became president. Republicans tried to avoid that 800-pound gorilla in the room, but they didnt entirely succeed. Ryan fielded questions from just four reporters, in less than three minutes, all regarding Flynn or Trump, and left. Ill leave it up to the administration to describe the circumstances surrounding what brought [Flynn] to this point, Ryan (R-Wis.) said. Four hours later, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) faced a similar onslaught at his leadership teams weekly briefing, exiting the podium after three of the first four questions were related to Trump. The controversies affecting the Trump White House are consuming Capitol Hill, distracting from the GOP agenda and pulling the partys congressional leaders into a daily vortex of new charges and countercharges regarding Trumps latest actions, from the firing of Flynn, to the presidents most recent tweet or his controversial ban barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. It sucks the oxygen out of the room, it really does, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the large group of reporters who surrounded him after the Tuesday Senate GOP luncheon. We should be talking about replacing Obamacare. We should be talking about tax reform, and we are talking about it, but thats not the issue that is dominating the news, obviously. The Trump chaos is also beginning to put increased pressure on top leaders to take a more forceful approach to the charges surrounding Flynn, who discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the United States in December, current and former U.S. officials said. During roll call votes Tuesday morning, several members of the Senate Intelligence Committee convened on the chamber floor to discuss the situation. [Justice Department warned White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail, officials say] According to one member of the bipartisan huddle, the senators delivered a direct message to the committee chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), that his slowly emerging investigation into Russian cyberattacks during the 2016 campaign had to be more aggressive and more expansive. Events were moving too quickly, the senators told Burr in what was an animated discussion easily seen from the galleries above the chamber. If Burr didnt act, the momentum would build into a special committee or even a blue-ribbon commission doing the investigation. By 4 p.m. Tuesday, Burr emerged from committee offices to announce that his probe would expand to include Flynns pre-inaugural discussions with the Russian ambassador. The decision to broaden the Intelligence Committee investigation also has the parallel effect of helping Republican lawmakers to steer demands for investigations into Trump-related controversies into a single panel over which they have partisan control. That will free up more time, they hope, to focus on fulfilling their legislative promises such as their seven-year-old vow to tear up the ACA if they ever got full control of Congress and the White House. As difficult as the ACA effort has been, Trumps constant controversies are draining too much energy for lawmakers to focus on the domestic policy agenda that Ryan and McConnell had been hoping for this year. And no embroilment is as distracting as anything connected to Trump and Russia, following the presidents campaign of talking soft toward Moscow and intelligence findings that allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin worked to promote Trumps candidacy. When a reporter said Tuesday that he had a question unrelated to Flynn, McCain hugged him. The senators had just seen a more than hour-long presentation with Ryan, a rare guest on that side of the Capitol, and Vice President Pence, who are aiming to forge a game plan for a critical stretch ahead. Ryans caucus holds another meeting on the ACA on Thursday, after which Congress is to adjourn for a 10-day break. [Upheaval is now standard operating procedure inside the White House] When the House and Senate return Feb. 27, Republicans have a five-week sprint to meet their first self-imposed deadline for passing a bill that would repeal the ACA and begin the long process to replace it. How close are they to unity on legislation? I think were getting there, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said. He called the Ryan-Pence luncheon swell, but said that it was not peachy. McCain was more dour, saying that things are better than three weeks ago, when congressional Republicans assembled in Philadelphia for a policy retreat. There, they squabbled over which buzzwords to use to describe the repeal effort. Now, theyre getting into more policy substance. But every advance on health care seems to be quickly eclipsed by the newest Trump distraction. Despite Republicans work to put the attention where they think it belongs on Tuesday morning, the results were less than effective. Were like small children in that we only have certain priorities. . . . Our attention span is short, McCain said, and when you take the attention away from one issue and put it on the other, then obviously it slows the progress of the issue that is not paramount at the time. Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Andrew Puzder, President Trumps labor secretary nominee, withdrew from consideration Wednesday amid growing resistance from Senate Republicans centered primarily on Puzders past employment of an undocumented housekeeper. The collapse of Puzders nomination threw the White House into further turmoil just two days after the resignation of Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, amid revelations that Flynn had spoken repeatedly, and possibly illegally, with the Russian ambassador last year about lifting U.S. sanctions. Puzders fate amplified the deteriorating relationship between the White House and Capitol Hill, where bipartisan support grew Wednesday for expanded investigations into ties between Trump, his presidential campaign and Russian officials. The White House, including Trump, offered no comment on Puzders withdrawal nor any indication of whom the president would nominate in the restaurant executives place. Puzder issued a statement saying he was honored to have been nominated. While I wont be serving in the administration, I fully support the President and his highly qualified team, he said. A top Trump campaign supporter, Puzder had attracted widespread criticism regarding his business record and personal background. He was set to testify Thursday at a confirmation hearing that had been delayed for weeks to allow for the completion of an ethics review of his vast personal wealth. Donald Trump with labor secretary-designate Andrew Puzder at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on Nov. 19. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press) Critics have railed against Puzders positions against minimum-wage increases and more generous overtime benefits. Some have also accused him of sexism, pointed to a rancorous divorce that involved later-recanted allegations of domestic abuse as well as racy TV ads run by his restaurant chains that featured scantily clad women eating hamburgers. But it was Puzders hiring of an undocumented worker for domestic work as well as his support for more liberalized immigration policies that pushed several Senate Republicans away, they said. Puzder had told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this month that he had been unaware of the housekeepers immigration status when he hired her and that he paid federal and state back taxes after terminating her employment. Similar revelations have forced Cabinet nominees to withdraw dating to at least Bill Clintons presidency, but it was less clear this year, in the unpredictable, rule-breaking era of Trump, whether that norm would apply. In the end, the revelation was particularly troubling to lawmakers because of the job Puzder was seeking: running the Labor Department. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate health committee, said Wednesday that revelations about Puzders personal employment practices gave him serious concerns that he had conveyed to Senate leaders. Three other GOP senators on the committee, Susan Collins (Maine), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), had also publicly voiced doubts. In the hours before Puzder withdrew, 12 Republican senators at a minimum were withholding support, according to a senior Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid political retribution. The quick erosion of support compelled Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to tell the White House on Wednesday that Puzder lacked the support needed to survive, according to two senior Senate aides who requested anonymity. Shortly after that, Puzder withdrew. Senators may yet face another contentious confirmation vote Thursday, when Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), Trumps nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, is scheduled for a final vote on the Senate floor. On Wednesday, Mulvaney lost the backing of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who objects to Mulvaneys support for military spending cuts. [Trumps pick for budget director just lost a crucial backer in the Senate] Puzder has spent much of his career in the restaurant industry speaking out against wage and labor regulations. The former commercial trial lawyer has been a staunch opponent of rules finalized by the Labor Department last year and since put on hold that would have expanded the number of people eligible for overtime pay. He also has been critical of substantially increasing the minimum wage, arguing that it could push companies to cut jobs and encourage businesses to invest more money in automation. As a result, Puzders nomination immediately came under intense scrutiny from unions, labor groups and consumer advocates who worried the executive would prioritize businesses over workers. As recently as this week, workers from his fast-food chain and advocates for a higher minimum wage marched outside of CKEs restaurants to protest the nomination. Worker advocates had also hand-delivered petitions to senators local offices and organized trips for CKE employees to travel to Capitol Hill and share their grievances with senators. [Watchdog group working to unseal Puzders divorce records before his confirmation hearing ] Democrats cheered Puzders withdrawal and sought to take credit for helping pressure Republicans to withdraw support. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Puzders decision a victory for the American worker. Puzder should never have even been nominated to lead the Labor Department, and Senate Republicans clearly recognized this, too. He called on Trump to nominate someone who champions workers rights rather than suppresses them. Progressives and Democrats said they hoped Trumps next pick for labor secretary would be someone with a clear willingness to speak up for disadvantaged workers. We need a labor secretary in the mainstream who supports the workplace protections that he or she would be charged with enforcing and who cares about workers, said Emily Martin, general counsel for the National Womens Law Center, which opposed Puzders nomination because of sexist advertising run by Carls Jr. and Hardees two of Puzders restaurant chains and reports of harassment from employees working for the chain. Several names that had emerged on Trumps shortlist for labor secretary late last year began recirculating Wednesday. Among them: Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. After Puzders withdrawal Wednesday, Walker tweeted: The future is too bright in WI for me to do anything other than being Governor. Puzder would have been the first labor secretary since the Reagan era to take the job without some experience in public service. He made a minor foray into politics in 2011, when he served as an economic adviser and spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who recently endorsed his nomination. In 2016, Puzder was an avid Trump supporter. In addition to serving as an economic adviser to his campaign, he and his wife, Deanna Puzder, contributed a total of $332,000 to Trumps bid, joint fundraising committees and to the Republican National Committee, according to the Federal Election Commission. Senators often do not weigh in on a nominee publicly until after a confirmation hearing, but Republicans have been mostly in lockstep to support Trumps top Cabinet nominees. Only one other pick Secretary of State Rex Tillerson drew as much public wavering among Republicans before his hearing, when five GOP senators expressed doubts. Ultimately, all of them voted for Tillerson. Beyond the committee where Puzder was scheduled to appear Thursday, three other Republicans John Thune (S.D.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) publicly expressed concerns about his nomination. Thunes hesitancy was notable because he is the third-ranking Senate Republican and responsible for helping to build support for big-ticket GOP causes. He told reporters Wednesday that he wanted to know more about why Puzder employed an undocumented housekeeper and how he paid her. Tillis cited the same concerns to reporters. Collins and Murkowski also voted against Betsy DeVos, Trumps choice for education secretary, forcing Vice President Pence to become the first vice president to cast a tiebreaking confirmation vote for a Cabinet member. Both senators are among several who had seen footage of a 1990 Oprah Winfrey Show episode in which Puzders former wife appeared in disguise to describe allegations of domestic violence. The health committee requested that Winfreys production company provide copies of the episode for senators to review. Puzder has always denied the allegations, and his ex-wife recanted the accusations in 1990 when the couple reached a child-custody agreement at the time of their divorce and again in a letter to senators last month. Aides said before Puzders withdrawal that Portman was still reviewing his history and did not want to weigh in yet, but the senator represents a state where labor unions were building support against the nomination. Portman won reelection last year with the endorsement of several labor unions, a rare feat these days for a Republican. [Oprah Winfreys TV network provided footage of interview tied to Andrew Puzders labor secretary nomination] Another blow to Puzders chances came on Wednesday morning when the conservative National Review announced its opposition. The publication cited Puzders past support for increased levels of legal immigration for high-skilled or seasonal workers a position at odds with Trumps calls for limited legal immigration. The magazines editors acknowledged the impulse of the White House and the Senate to try to bulldog through rather than to give obstructionist Democrats a scalp. But, they wrote, The country, and the administration, can weather a redo on this one. The National Restaurant Association which had marshaled members across the country to help Puzder called his withdrawal extremely unfortunate. Andy Puzder would have made a great labor secretary, said Cicely Simpson, the groups executive vice president. We hope that President Trumps next labor secretary nominee, like Andy, has experience creating jobs and a deep understanding how to get business and government to work together to grow the economy. Paul Kane and Ashley Parker contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) speaks to the media following the House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill on Feb. 14, 2017, in Washington. (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post) House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) spent Tuesday on a door-to-door tour of the Capitol in hopes of salvaging his plan to repeal and largely replace the Affordable Care Act by spring. The day-long blitz comes as Republicans in Congress have made virtually no visible progress in recent weeks on overhauling the health-care system, according to interviews with several senior GOP aides. That is largely because the party remains sharply divided over how much of the ACA should be repealed and how much if any of it should be replaced. The stalemate has lawmakers questioning whether the law known as Obamacare can be effectively gutted by Ryans self-imposed deadline of the end of March. I dont think you can fully repeal and replace it in that amount of time, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). It took months to write Obamacare, the original bill, and years to phase it in. It is going to take time to unwrite it and replace it with something else. Ryans efforts are being stymied by a host of factors, including a familiar revolt from his most conservative members, who want to keep their promises to eliminate Obamacare regardless of the pace of a replacement measure. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are not ready to act on any kind of repeal without a consensus replacement plan. The Washington infighting is playing out against a backdrop of rowdy GOP town halls across the country showcasing people worried about the impact on their lives of potentially losing their health insurance. For Ryan, the stakes could not be higher. While trying to satisfy his right flank, the speaker also must consider the potentially explosive impact of the health-care debate on his quest to maintain and grow the GOP majority in the 2018 midterm elections. Further confusing things is President Trump, who has both vowed to repeal and replace the ACA immediately, and said that such a process would take until 2018. Dozens of GOP members attended an afternoon briefing Tuesday on Medicaid. The issue is one of the biggest sticking points among Republicans, opening divides between lawmakers in states who have accepted the programs expansion under Obamacare and those who have opted out, forgoing hundreds of millions of federal dollars a year in protest against the law. Inside the closed-door sessions, senior lawmakers walked through a variety of options for replacement including a radical reorientation of the Medicaid program, an open-ended insurance entitlement and a fixed block grant that would let states decide how to apportion health-care dollars for the needy. They also considered an indefinite extension of the ACA Medicaid expansion that would allow those now covered to remain so. They got to see a lot of the details of the plans that were working on, said House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who hosted the session. He added, Theres a lot of work left to be done. Republican senators who represent states that expanded Medicaid including Bill Cassidy (La.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) huddled last week to discuss concerns that a House GOP repeal bill could leave millions of their constituents without insurance. While no consensus emerged, many lawmakers said they could not support an aggressive repeal bill that could harm so many of their constituents. Weve added 27,000-some-odd Alaskans to the covered rolls, Murkowski said Tuesday. I want to make sure whatever we do post-ACA, we dont leave these good folks hanging. The debate is playing out against a backdrop in which the proportion of Americans without health insurance through most of last year remained at the same low level as in 2015, according to survey data released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. The data, covering January through September 2016, showed that 8.8 percent of people of all ages were uninsured compared to the 9.1 percent uninsured through 2015, according to the U.S. Censuss most recent annual report on health insurance rates. It is unclear how much of that improvement is the result of an improving economy and how much was brought about by the ACAs impact. Meanwhile, the insurer Humana announced it would stop selling individual plans under the ACA after this year. On Capitol Hill, Republicans are locked in a battle for control over the repeal process. Conservatives are seeking to reassert their influence after several weeks where more-moderate lawmakers and Trump himself have seemingly argued for a more deliberate process. Members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and conservative Republican Study Committee are insisting that a repeal bill should go at least as far as a measure they approved in 2015. That bill ended with a veto from President Obama, but GOP leaders touted it as a test run for what could be possible with a Republican president. What were trying to do is really create some urgency, said Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee. Were okay with talking through that and hearing what they [House leaders] have for us, but ultimately, weve promised to the American people that were going to get this thing off the books as quick as possible. Thats what were asking the leadership to do. Leaders are using a quirk in the budget process to repeal Obamacare without the threat of a blockade by Senate Democrats. Budget legislation is considered under special rules in the Senate that allow a simple majority of 50 senators to support passage rather than the normal 60 needed for almost everything else. While there are 52 Republicans in the Senate, some of them are unlikely to support a rapid repeal without a replacement in place. Ryan set out Tuesday to rally the GOP to consensus, starting the day by launching several policy sessions to offer rank-and-file members some details of what could be included in the replacement plan. He outlined several common ideas that unite the GOP, such as expanding health savings accounts and allowing insurers to sell plans across state lines. He also announced plans for a Thursday meeting where members will be briefed on further details just before they leave for a week-long recess where many plan to hold events with constituents. Ryan told reporters after the meeting that the plan for a step-by-step process to replace ACA was still on track. We have to stop the collapse, and we have better ideas that have been time-tested that will make sure that we give the American people the kind of relief they deserve, Ryan said. He then headed to a closed-door lunch in the Senate where he pitched the outlines of his vision for replacement. But Republicans largely left the meetings unable to identify any specific proposals that go beyond a small number of general ideas. There was a lack of specificity, Cassidy said after the meeting. Ideas are bubbling together. The conversation was not as specific as would be expected at this point in a major policy negotiation, according to several GOP aides. One aide described the talks as remaining in the very beginning stages. Carolyn Y. Johnson contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost Striking doctors hold placards and chant slogans outside the Court of Appeals as they wait for the release of jailed officials from the national doctors' union. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters) In the wake of a new wave of protests by Kenyas doctors now including those in the private sector the Court of Appeals on Wednesday released seven imprisoned doctors union officials and ordered them back to the negotiating table. The officials had been given one-month sentences for contempt of court in connection to the months-long strike by Kenyas public hospitals over unkept government promises for wage increases among other demands. The officials are now free, pending the appeal of Mondays ruling to jail them. Following their jailing, Kenyas medical association, which is separate from the public-sector union, urged all health professionals to withdraw their services to protest the ruling. A majority of private hospitals shut down in solidarity. The closings, on top of the 75-day strike by public hospitals, left Kenyans almost entirely without any form of health care. During the court proceedings, which stretched into the early hours of the morning Wednesday, striking doctors dressed in white gowns and surgical caps marched through the streets protesting the imprisonment of their colleagues. We do not want money. We want the collective bargaining agreement to be implemented, they chanted in front of Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Finance. The doctors are demanding the fulfillment of a 2013 agreement between their union and the government that would raise their pay and improve working conditions. The agreement was to give them a 300 percent pay rise, review their working conditions and criteria for promotions, and address understaffing in state hospitals. The dispute between the government and the doctors has taken on a political angle, with the opposition taking the opportunity to accuse Kenyas president of not doing enough to stop the rampant corruption in the country. In October last year, Kenyans were outraged when local media reported that an audit had revealed that more than $50 million was missing from the Health Ministry. The scandal came to light just days after President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed frustrations about the fight against graft in his government. The strike has affected all public hospitals, leaving Kenyas once proud health system in tatters and people dying if they cant afford private health care. Following the court ruling, a team from Kenyas Bar Association and the National Commission on Human Rights was mandated by the court to lead mediation efforts between the government and the doctors to end the stalemate. The 2013 agreement involves boosting doctor salaries by 300 percent which the government now says is not according to the rules for civil service compensation. Read more: Kenya court jails doctors union representatives as medical strike crisis deepens 80 psychiatric patients escape from Kenyan hospital during strike Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news LOS ANGELES (TNS) Like many scientists, Aaron Parsons doesnt have a history of political engagement. Instead of focusing on earthly concerns, the University of California, Berkeley radio astronomer spent most of his time scanning the outer reaches of the cosmos, searching for the earliest stars in the universe. Were looking for when the lights turned on, he said. But after Donald Trump became the leading Republican candidate for president, Parsons turned his attention closer to home. As someone who has lectured about the atmospheres of distant planets, he was dismayed by Trumps dismissive attitude toward climate change and his claim that the science on global warming was a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. He became distraught when he heard that the new Trump administration was considering pulling out of the Paris climate agreement to curb greenhouse emissions. And he watched with increasing despair when Trumps nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, said at his Senate committee hearing that there is no clear scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activity. I had to do something, Parsons said. I felt like I couldnt ignore what was going on anymore. So he sent an open letter to Trump explaining the widespread consensus among experts that human-caused climate change is real and that its consequences are already being felt. The science of how greenhouse gases trap heat is unimpeachable, he wrote. He passed it around Berkeleys astronomy department to see whether his colleagues would sign on. Within a few weeks, 2,300 researchers and academics from across the University of California and Cal State University systems had added their names to the letter. When facts become politicized, then scientists have to speak up, Parsons said. We are fighting for what is knowledge, and how we know it. All science is international In ivory towers across the country, scientists are leaning in. Spurred by a flurry of executive orders and presidential adviser Kellyanne Conways references to alternative facts, certain researchers are venturing beyond the safety of the lab and into the murky political fray. Four hundred scientists took to the San Francisco streets at an American Geophysical Union conference in December to denounce Trumps position on climate change. A larger March for Science in Washington is being organized for Earth Day in April. Researchers have spoken out against new restrictions on how government scientists at the EPA and other federal agencies communicate with the public. Others have been collecting and storing the governments copious climate data for fear that it may soon become unavailable to the public or deleted entirely. Many have lamented that nearly a month into his presidency, Trump has still not selected a science adviser. Perhaps the biggest outcry came after the White House announced that travelers from seven primarily Muslim countries would be blocked from entering the United States. Hundreds of research institutions, hospitals and scientific organizations expressed grave concerns for how it would affect the future of research in the United States. It doesnt matter if you were born in Pakistan or Somalia or whatever scientists like to work with scientists, said Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Rafael Reif. If you are after facts and truth and whats real, then it doesnt matter who can help you. James Appleby, head of the Gerontological Society of America, echoed that sentiment. There is a saying that all politics is local, but I think its fair to say all science is international, he said. There is this image of the lone scientist toiling away in the laboratory to come up with the next big advance, but in reality, many of the biggest leaps come from our ability to sit down with other scholars from around the world. At home and abroad The burst of activity has been particularly gratifying to Rush Holt. As a physicist, he helped lead the Department of Energys Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory for more than a decade. Then he was elected to Congress, representing the New Jersey district that includes Princeton University for 16 years. Now he leads the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest organization of scientists and engineers in the world. Holt said that when his group penned a letter to President Trump decrying the travel ban, 171 other institutions quickly signed on. In my relatively long career I have not seen this level of concern about science, he said. This immigration ban has serious humanitarian issues, but I bet it never occurred to them that it also has scientific implications. Among them: Researchers from overseas are threatening to boycott meetings held in the United States. Already, Sudanese-born Mohamed H.A. Hassan, co-leader of a group of scientific academies from around the world, has said he wont travel from Europe to attend the AAAS annual meeting in Boston next week. Bill Foster, a physicist-turned-congressman from Illinois, said the political awakening among researchers is not solely a consequence of the rapid series of executive orders coming from the Oval Office. In science, if you stand up and say something you know is not correct, thats career-ending, said Foster, a Democrat. It used to be that way in politics, but not anymore. To see how far we have fallen, that is particularly disturbing to scientists. Holt agreed. Some of us have been saying for years now that ideological assertions have been crowding out scientific evidence in public debate, he said. But the willful disregard for facts is worse now than its ever been. A seat at the table To counteract this trend, some researchers are considering their own experiments with politics. The recently formed 314 Action PAC had 2,500 people with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math sign up for training on how to run for office. Thousands more have volunteered to help with their campaigns. What has motivated them? Donald Trump, said founder Shaughnessy Naughton, a trained chemist from Pennsylvania who lost two campaigns for Congress. But the bigger picture is the feeling that science is under attack. Jamie Tijerina of Highland Park is one of the scientists who signed up for 314 Actions workshop. She works in Caltechs cytometry lab and is a member of her local neighborhood council. Its important for people with a scientific background to have a seat at the table, she said. The taxpayers deserve to have someone knowledgeable about the scientific literature to offer their expertise. UC Berkeley evolutionary biologist Michael Eisen has announced on Twitter his plan to run for U.S. Senate in 2018. He hasnt filed formal papers yet, and he has no fundraising apparatus in place, but he says his campaign is not a stunt. Id been thinking about issues of science and politics for a long time, and a lot of people felt like things were coming to a head with the new administration, he said. The moment seemed to call for more engagement, so one morning I just said ... this is what I have to do. Eisen said the whole thing is kind of like one of his science experiments. Its clear that there is a lack of empirical decision-making in our politics, he said. Our hypothesis is that having more scientists involved in politics would reverse that trend. Its an untested hypothesis, but one we should test. As a realist, he doesnt expect to win. But he said he hoped his campaign would help spark a conversation about the relationship between science and politics, and possibly inspire other scientists to run for office as well. Foster, the sole physicist in Congress, said he hoped more scientists would join him there. Scientists want to know the evidence behind a statement; they want reproducible tests and verifiable facts, he said. There is a big difference in the thought process of a trial lawyer who is interested not in whats true, but what he can convince a jury is true. Parsons, the astronomer who penned the letter about climate change, said scientists had a moral obligation to speak out. I wish we lived in a world where science could live outside of the political sphere, he said. But we didnt bring this battle to them; they brought it to us. And we have to fight back. In science, if you stand up and say something you know is not correct, thats career-ending. It used to be that way in politics, but not anymore. To see how far we have fallen, that is particularly disturbing to scientists. Bill Foster, D-Illinois, congressman and physicist Malaysian police investigating the killing of the North Korean leaders half-brother held one woman in custody Wednesday and searched for other possible suspects a day after the apparent lethal poisoning in a busy airport terminal. The detention of a potential female plotter fit with Malaysian reports Tuesday saying a woman ambushed Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpurs international airport with a cloth soaked in some kind of deadly liquid. North Koreas tightly controlled state media has not made reference to the death of the 45-year-old Kim, who was estranged from the Norths leader Kim Jung Un and had lived outside the country for more than a decade. But the opaqueness in North Korea also opens room for speculation about the motives behind the killing and whether it could be traced back to high-level decisions in Pyongyang. Just three years ago, Kim Jong Un had his uncle and Kim Jong Nams mentor executed on suspicion of building an alternate power base. Meanwhile, a slew of high-profile defections have raised questions about the stability of the regime. Separately, officials from the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur objected to an autopsy being carried out on Kim Jong Nams body, officials told local reporters. But the authorities continued and completed the autopsy Thursday night. However, the results have not yet been released. Four black cars bearing North Korean diplomatic plates sped out of Kuala Lumpur General Hospital Thursday night. One, a Lexus, contained a visibly upset man in his 20s who was wearing a pink t-shirt and who honked at reporters on his way out. The man could have been Kim Han Sol, the dead mans son. Malaysian authorities described the woman detained at the airport as holding a Vietnamese passport bearing the name Doan Thi Hoang, 29. Police said they identified her from surveillance camera images showing a young woman, wearing a white shirt with the letters LOL on the front, waiting for a taxi immediately after the attack. Police are looking for a few others, all foreigners, Malaysias deputy inspector general, Noor Rashid Ibrahim, told the Reuters news agency, declining to give the suspects nationalities or gender. [Defying skeptics, Kim Jong Un marks five years at the helm of North Korea] North Korea, with its secretive and idiosyncratic leadership, is often the subject of dramatic tales that turn out to be exaggerated or flat-out wrong. But the Malaysian police chiefs confirmation suggests that at least part of this story is true. What is likely to take much longer to determine is whether the plot was orchestrated directly by Kim Jong Un, who recently celebrated five years at the helm of North Korea and is now locked in a showdown with the international community over his nuclear ambitions. Kim Jong Nam was involved in some funny business, said Michael Madden, editor of North Korea Leadership Watch, a specialist website devoted to the ruling Kim family. He was rumored to have worked in computing in North Korea now notorious for cyberattacks and money laundering throughout Southeast Asia. Analysts had long considered Kim Jong Nam, as the eldest son of second-generation leader Kim Jong Il, to be the natural heir to the family dynasty. But this assumption was thrown into doubt in 2001 when Kim Jong Nam was caught at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, trying to enter Japan with his wife and son on fake Dominican Republic passports. Kim Jong Nams bore the name Pang Xiong fat bear in Mandarin Chinese. He told the authorities that they wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland. It was later revealed that he had never been in the running to be leader. Kim Jong Uns aunt told The Washington Post last year that the current leader was chosen as successor in the early 1990s, when he was only 8 years old. In 2010, with Kim Jong Ils health steadily worsening, Kim Jong Un was officially declared heir apparent. Both before and after the announcement, the usually reclusive Kim Jong Nam said in interviews with Japanese media that he opposed hereditary succession, something that not even Mao Zedong had done in China. But I presume there were internal reasons. We should abide by such reasons if there are any, he told TV Asahi. [The secret life of Kim Jong Uns aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998] Kim Jong Nam was born in 1971, the son of leader Kim Jong Il and his consort, an actress named Song Hye Rim. But he grew up largely in secret, the result of founding president Kim Il Sungs disapproval of his sons relationship with Song. He left North Korea to live with his grandmother in Moscow in 1979, according to North Korea Leadership Watch. He spent his childhood at international schools in Russia and Switzerland before returning to North Korea in 1988, the site says. But the embarrassing incident in Japan was a tipping point, and Kim appears to have never lived in North Korea again. He reportedly lived for a period in Macau, a Chinese region. But in recent years he seems to have had homes and families in Beijing and Singapore as well. He was occasionally sighted in sushi restaurants in Singapore and swanky hotel bars in Beijing but otherwise kept a low profile. Kim did, however, return to North Korea at least one time after his younger half brother assumed the leadership for their fathers funeral at the end of 2011. [Ex-diplomat: Ive known that there was no future for North Korea for a long time] Madden of North Korea Leadership Watch said Kim Jong Nam could have been involved in financing for the regime and could have run into problems as a result. But at the same time, Madden noted that Kim had publicly said he would do anything to help the new leader. Their relationship probably took a turn for the worse in 2013, when the young North Korean leader ordered the execution of their uncle, Jang Song Thaek. Jang had been close to Kim Jong Nam and had reportedly backed him as successor. Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news This May 4, 2001, file photo shows Kim Jong Nam, exiled half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, escorted by Japanese police at the airport in Narita, Japan. (Itsuo Inouye/AP) Terminal 2 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport was convulsing with its usual Monday morning chaos. Passengers were crowding around self-check-in kiosks for no-frills flights to Bali and Cebu and Da Nang, cramming belongings into their carry-ons. One of those navigating the cavernous white terminal was a rotund Asian man traveling alone, checking in for a flight to Macau after a week in Malaysia. The nearby Starbucks was full of people camped out waiting for their flights, and the noise was so loud that the workers at the cafe selling Malaysian soup and noodles did not notice anything amiss just a few yards away. There, near a counter in the check-in area, the man was suddenly set upon by two attractive young women who looked like any other travelers heading off on vacation. One was wearing a white sweater emblazoned with LOL and a short flowery skirt, her lips painted dark red and her hair cut in a femme-fatale bob. What followed was an assassination that, complete with a honey trap and a public poisoning, has focused new attention on Kim Jong Un, the 33-year-old leader of North Korea, suggesting he will stop at nothing to keep power. For the victim was his older half brother, Kim Jong Nam, traveling on an apparently fake passport that said he was a 46-year-old named Kim Chol. It was an attack that South Koreas spy chief asserted was directly ordered from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. [N. Korean leaders half brother killed in Malaysia in possible poison attack, police say] One of the women grabbed the man as the other sprayed liquid on his face and held a cloth over it for about 10 seconds. In the hullabaloo of the check-in area, no one even seemed to notice. This account of the attack and its aftermath was pieced together from interviews with staff at the airport, police and other official statements, and leaks to the local media. The women left swiftly, but not that swiftly. They went down three sets of escalators, past an H&M and a Baskin-Robbins, and out of the terminal to a taxi stand, where they needed to buy a voucher for their journey before lining up for a cab. They got in and told the driver to take them to the Empire Hotel, some 40 minutes from the airport. Where are you from, the driver asked. Vietnam, the women responded. Inside the terminal, Kim Jong Nam, feeling dizzy and apparently unable to see, stumbled to one of the counters to seek help. He was taken to a medical clinic inside the terminal, where he had a mild seizure, then was loaded into an ambulance. South Korean TV shows an image of a woman suspected of involvement in the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, who was poisoned by two female attackers at the Kuala Lumpur airport. (Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA) He didnt make it to the hospital. He died en route. And Malaysian officials soon discovered the real identity of the man who had been living in a kind of exile for the past 15 years. [Who was Kim Jong Nam?] This was not first attempt on Kim Jong Nams life. Five years ago, when he took power, Kim Jong Un issued a standing order to have his half brother assassinated, South Korean spy chief Lee Byung-ho told lawmakers in Seoul on Wednesday. It was a command that had to be pulled off no matter what, Lee said, according to some of the lawmakers. Their spy agency had consistently been preparing for the killing, and it just turned out to have been accomplished this time. One attempt, in 2012, prompted Kim Jong Nam to send a letter to his younger brother pleading with him to spare me and my family, lawmakers were told. This weeks successful attack bore many of the hallmarks of other assassinations and attempts blamed on North Korea, including a foiled 2011 plot to kill a North Korean defector at a Seoul subway station with a poison needle hidden in a Parker pen. Two days after the attack, just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a woman was arrested at the airport in the same terminal where the attack took place and positively identified as one of the suspects. She was traveling on a Vietnamese passport identifying her as 29-year-old Doan Thi Hoang, police said. [Police arrest third suspect in Kim Jong Nam killing] North Koreans have been caught traveling on Southeast Asian passports before, making it entirely possible that the woman is, in fact, North Korean. Police said that she was traveling alone and had told them she was tricked into the attack, which she had been told was just a prank. On Thursday morning, police arrested a second woman but were looking for four men thought to have been involved. As all this was happening at the airport, Kim Jong Nams body was being transferred in a white van, escorted by four police vehicles carrying officers with automatic weapons, from Putrajaya Hospital to Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, where an autopsy was scheduled. Black sedans bearing North Korean diplomatic plates pulled up outside the general hospital, and the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, emerged from one. He refused to speak to reporters. [A not-that-short history of North Korean assassinations and attempts] Police said the North Korean diplomats had tried to stop the autopsy, insisting that the body be released to them. The police refused. The autopsy was finished by Wednesday night, but the results were not immediately released. A Malaysian police official told local reporters only that the poison was more potent than cyanide but declined to say what exactly it was. Shortly after 8 p.m., four North Korean cars sped out of the hospital grounds, one driven by a visibly upset young man in his 20s wearing a pink T-shirt perhaps Kim Han Sol, the most visible of Kim Jong Nams six children. But there was no such frenzy in Pyongyang, where the regime has been preparing to celebrate the birthday Thursday of Kim Jong Uns late father, Kim Jong Il, an anniversary officially known in North Korea as the Day of the Shining Star. The central squares have been cleared of snow, and pictures of trams and computers are on display at an industrial art exhibition commemorating the anniversary. Floral baskets from as far as Africa and Ecuador have been laid at the foot of statues of Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim Il Sung, according to state media. For North Korea, it is business as usual. Read more: Ex-diplomat: Ive known that there was no future for North Korea for a long time The secret life of Kim Jong Uns aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998 North Korea fires ballistic missile, first since Trump elected in U.S. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives to board his plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Feb. 15, 2017, for a flight to Germany. It is his first trip abroad as secretary. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Germany on Wednesday on his maiden overseas trip as the top diplomat in an administration whose foreign policy overtures are mostly being conducted from the White House. Tillersons participation at a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 major world economies is in some aspects his introductory foray into the world of diplomacy and its practitioners. As chief executive of ExxonMobil, Tillerson negotiated oil deals around the world, but he had never dipped into foreign policy before becoming secretary of state two weeks ago. He will be in listening mode during multilateral meetings on the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under protocol for briefing reporters on the trip. And it will be Tillersons first face-to-face meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are fraught with tension, uncertainty and scandal. Russia plays a key role in the Syrian war, it is suspected of trying to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, and there is concern over its recent deployment of a cruise missile in violation of a key arms-control treaty. President Trump has said he wants to get along better with Russia, but the White House says Trump expects Moscow to return Crimea to Ukraine after annexing it in 2014. Lavrovs spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Wednesday that Moscow will not even discuss the subject. Questions about possible ties between the Trump administration and the Kremlin rose anew this week when Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser after it emerged that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Moscow with Russias ambassador before Trumps inauguration. But lifting sanctions imposed over Ukraine and Crimea is apparently off the table for the time being. The State Department official said Tillerson will raise with Lavrov overlapping interests such as fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but will insist that Russia stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and live up to other commitments it made in the Minsk agreements. The president himself has said that its too early to talk about lifting sanctions, the official said when asked whether Tillerson would signal a softer approach to Russia on Ukraine. Amid concerns among European allies over how rigorously the Trump administration will uphold traditional U.S. commitments, Tillerson also will meet separately with the foreign ministers of Italy and Britain, as well as those of Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Britain has its own concerns with Russia. Prime Minister Theresa May has warned the White House to beware of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Kremlin has accused Britain of trying to poison relations between Moscow and Washington. The tensions bubbling below the surface at the G-20 meeting come at a time when the State Department is still laboring to assert its traditional place as the chief voice for U.S. foreign policy. But the State Department has been largely silent, in part because it is still trying to fill staff positions and replace many senior political appointees who resigned as is typical when a new administration takes office. After two weeks on the job, Tillerson still lacks a deputy. His personal choice for the No. 2 spot, Elliott Abrams, was rejected by the White House, apparently because Abrams criticized Trump during the presidential campaign. Tillerson left Washington for Germany on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House. The State Department was represented at the meeting by Tom Shannon, the acting deputy, who served in the Obama administration. In a sign of the unsettled nature of life at Foggy Bottom, Tillerson is being accompanied on the trip by several senior State Department officials who have the word acting as part their job titles, including five acting assistant secretaries and an acting spokesman. The State Department still has not resumed its daily news briefing, an institution for decades and a vital way for the U.S. government to explain foreign policy to Americans and the rest of the world. And State often has not weighed in with its version of conversations Tillerson has had with foreign counterparts, even when those counterparts have gone on to speak publicly about the substance of their talks, leaving a one-sided narrative with no American counterweight. It is not clear whether Tillerson, who has not spoken publicly since a speech to employees when he arrived at the State Department on Feb. 2, will make any public comments in Bonn. Read more: [Trump has handed Tillerson a house of horrors] [Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world] [Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news] President Trump sent Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to Brussels to press European allies on Wednesday to do something they have long been reluctant to do: open up their wallets on defense in an era of austerity and budget cuts. The hammer-hard message a warning from Mattis that allies must significantly increase their defense spending if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to this alliance was a harsh threat to countries that have been struggling with anemic growth and high unemployment. [Defense Secretary Mattis issues new ultimatum to NATO allies on defense spending] Europes defense spending was already increasing before Trumps November victory, but only four NATO member countries apart from the United States meet the alliances budget minimums. Now, Europeans have been jolted by Trumps questioning of the basics of U.S. foreign policy since World War II. They are scrambling to do even more, motivated by dueling fears: Many Europeans worry the Trump administration may not rush to their defense if needed. But the prospect of being dependent on an erratic United States for security is also frightening to some policymakers. Mattis began the Trump administrations push at a Wednesday meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. On Friday, Mattis will be joined in Munich at a security conference by Vice President Pence, Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly and more than a dozen members of Congress, many of whom have turned out to reassure U.S. allies that Washington remains committed to them. But the hammer-heavy pressure to increase defense spending will still be a major challenge for Europe, particularly in a year when elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany feature insurgent anti-establishment nationalists who, like Trump, question the need for international alliances. [Trump to meet NATO leaders amid doubts about his commitment to the alliance] What has happened is that in Europe we harvested the peace dividend very, very quickly after the end of the Cold War eliminated the need for large standing armies, said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former NATO secretary general who led the 2014 effort to secure pledges from NATO members to spend 2 percent of their annual gross domestic product on defense. Defense spending quickly withered after the breakup of the Soviet Union, as new security threats tended to be addressable through light, quick-moving forces. But capabilities eroded so deeply that the Belgian military was left asking for U.S. hand-me-down flak jackets for its soldiers when it deployed domestically in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels in recent years. The problem was even greater on NATOs eastern border, where Russian President Vladimir Putin revived fears of an old-style European ground war following his 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. The security insurance has been more expensive because of Mr. Putins actions in Eastern Europe, so we have to reverse the trend, Rasmussen said. The United States spends 3.6 percent of its GDP on defense, or $664 billion annually, the alliance leader in both measures according to NATO figures. Britain, the runner-up in dollar terms, spends $52 billion, or 2.2 percent. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Tuesday that Washingtons allies in Europe and Canada increased their defense spending by 3.8 percent last year, or $10 billion, which is greater than originally expected. [Europes leaders gather amid fears Trump is campaigning for their breakup] But the effort to increase spending even more quickly is running headlong into European Union rules that tightly limit the amount of money governments can borrow to fuel their budgets. Following pallid economic growth and years of austerity-fueled cutbacks, defense is rarely the first priority for voters. In France, for example, far-right leader Marine Le Pen has surged to the top of opinion polls ahead of the first round of presidential elections in April by campaigning on a platform of shutting out immigrants, bolstering social spending and holding a referendum on E.U. membership. Le Pen said this month that she wants to pull out of NATOs integrated military command so that France is not drawn into wars that are not its own. Other far-right politicians, such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and the leaders of the Alternative for Germany party, favor staying in NATO. But their desire for rapprochement with Russia could undermine efforts to bolster European defenses against Kremlin challenges, analysts say. The spending challenges are stark in a nation like Spain, where the defense budget is less than half the NATO-pledged level, but youth unemployment stands at 42.9 percent. Italy faces similar issues. A separate difficulty for the Baltics where Estonia already spends more than NATOs baseline, and Latvia and Lithuania are soon set to achieve it is that money devoted to education and health can also be seen as a security investment, given large domestic Russian communities whose loyalties might be stronger if they feel they benefit from their governments. But leaders say that NATO is of such fundamental importance that they will meet those commitments first and address other issues later. In Latvias case, there will be no need to spend money on health and education if your country ceases to exist, said Artis Pabriks, a former Latvian defense minister who is now in the European Parliament. But even wealthy Germany has lagged on defense spending as its economy has consistently grown in recent years. That has made it a primary target of U.S. efforts for a spending turnaround. Germany now spends 1.2 percent of its annual economic output, or $39 billion. To make it to NATO guidelines would require a $36 billion annual increase. German leaders have committed to reaching that level by 2024, although many officials say privately that they see it as unrealistic. An increase of that level would require a radical reorientation of the countrys complicated relationship with its military. Many Germans grew up shunning the armed forces in the aftermath of World War II. But senior defense leaders say that major changes are necessary, and German faith in the United States is plummeting so quickly that there may be a prime political window to push for an even faster spending increase. Only 22 percent of Germans say they believe they can trust the United States as a partner, according to a poll released this month by German public television. That is down from 59 percent in November. The U.S. demand for more spending is a fair request, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said after meeting Mattis last week in Washington. Everyone has to make a contribution. [In the home of NATO and the European Union, dismay as Trump takes power] More broadly, Trumps ascendance has touched off a debate in Europe about whether it should expect American support as a safety net for issues the continent is unable to handle, analysts say. At the end of the day its a question of the level of ambition, said Markus Kaim, a security analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, which advises the German government on policy issues. The question is: What role do we want to play in the international system? Europe is already in the drivers seat in resolving the crisis in Ukraine, where most peace talks have been brokered by Germany and France alongside Russia and Ukraine. On Syria, however, the E.U. is playing only a minimal role, even though the wars consequences have a more direct effect on Europe than on the United States. The Europeans are really punching below their weight, said Fabrice Pothier, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who until last year was a senior NATO official. There is the need to make a big leap forward. Read more: Even as Trump seeks warmer ties with Russia, U.S. deploys troops across Eastern Europe This Belgian bar is boycotting U.S. products because of Trump One of Europes most powerful jobs is up for grabs. Its a bad sign for the E.U. that no ones paying attention. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news In Indias space center on the barrier island of Sriharikota, the white-jacketed scientists held their breaths. The countrys trusty red-and-white satellite launch vehicle had lifted off moments before and blasted into orbit. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-37 was about to perform a delicate maneuver carefully sending 104 satellites into the heavens in pairs, the highest number ever attempted in one mission. One Indian space analyst on television likened the complicated maneuver to dropping children at different bus stops. About 10 a.m. Wednesday, the announcement came: All the satellites had been successfully launched. The scientists breathed a collective sigh of relief, and backslapping and applause ensued. This is a great moment for each and every one of us. Today we have created history, project manager B. Jayakumar said afterward. The total number of satellites far outstripped the previous record 37 simultaneously sent into space by Russia in 2014. Wednesdays launch was another success for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which is rapidly gaining a reputation globally for its effective yet low-cost missions. India had already sent up dozens of satellites, including 20 in one launch last year. In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to send a probe into orbit around Mars, a $74 million effort that, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted at the time, cost less than what it took to make the Hollywood space movie Gravity. The fierce national pride that resulted after that success sent the Mars probe rocketing onto the face of the countrys new 2,000 rupee ($30) currency note in November. Now India is showcasing its competitiveness in the $300 billion global space market, said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, head of the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. The 104 satellites launched Wednesday for interests in India, the United States, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates are considered small, micro and nano-size spacecraft, much easier to load onto a rocket in large numbers. ISROs commercial arm, Antrix, has charged about $3 million to send a satellite into space in recent years, far less than private companies. The ability to reuse components and some government subsidies contribute to these savings, Rajagopalan said. The complex, 90-minute mission shows that Indias space program has come a long way and gained a lot more sophistication in terms of launch capabilities, she said. India increased the budget of its space program by more than 20 percent this year in an effort to mount a second Mars mission in the coming years, as well as an orbiter mission to Venus that may be undertaken in collaboration with NASA. As the scientists in India watched anxiously on Wednesday, a group of environmentally focused techies gathered around big screens at their San Francisco headquarters with equal excitement, recording the liftoff on their smartphones. The U.S. Earth-imaging company now known as Planet owns 88 of the satellites sent into orbit Wednesday, and its flock of tiny craft called Doves will join 12 satellites already in orbit in an ambitious project to image all of Earths landmass every day, the company said in a post-launch report. Read more: India becomes first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit India set to launch Mars mission as international space race heats up Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A Syrian rides on the turret of a tank in the rebel-held area of Daraa on Feb. 4. (Mohamad Abazeed/AFP/Getty Images) A cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia two months ago is fraying along Syrias southern border as rebel forces launch their largest offensive in the area in more than a year. Monitors, activists and an aid group said fighting between opposition and pro-government forces raged for a fourth day Wednesday in the southern city of Daraa, pushing the number of dead and wounded past 60. A nationwide cease-fire has largely held since late December, when President Bashar al-Assads forces recaptured the flash-point northern city of Aleppo. That victory brought what remained of the armed opposition to a crisis point, bolstering the hand of its Turkish backers to negotiate a truce with one of the Syrian governments staunchest allies, Russia. But rebel guns had been largely silent in southern Syria for more than a year, constrained by infighting and the directives of the forces powerful Jordanian backers across the border. [The strange and very cold city of Astana could be where Syrias war is solved] In an unusual development for Syrias knotty conflict, the rebel offensive in Daraa appeared to have been launched without international support. The fighters began pushing through the southwestern district of Manshiyah on Sunday, detonating car bombs and at least one powerful tunnel bomb. According to activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring network, the government has carried out intense airstrikes in response. Medics said at least 25 people have been killed in the fighting, six of them from a single family. Thousands have fled the area, many seeking refuge on countryside farmland and in orchards. The International Rescue Committee said a rocket attack late Monday injured four health workers and caused major damage to a clinic it supported in Daraas Balad district. Amanda Catanzano, the organizations senior director for international policy and advocacy, warned that similar attacks in Aleppo and other cities preceded heavy fighting. Its distressing to see the strategies that resulted in so many civilian deaths in Aleppo begin to play out elsewhere in Syria, Catanzano said. There can be no peace in Syria without accountability for these repeated attacks against civilians. But activists defended the fighting, insisting that the rebel offensive would bring a much-needed morale boost ahead of peace talks scheduled for Feb. 23 in Kazakhstans capital, Astana. This is a battle to bring spirit back to the opposition, said Ahmed Almasalma, a media activist from Daraas western countryside. [At Russia-led talks, Syrian rebels and government meet for the first time] Although an earlier round of talks in Astana ended inconclusively, negotiators hope that the new meetings will pave the way for a resumption of the Geneva peace process brokered by the United Nations. Syrias conflict, almost six years old, has gone through several cycles of cease-fires broken by ferocious violence. But the latest truce is playing out in a dramatically altered military and diplomatic landscape. Rebel forces mostly have been boxed into the northwestern province of Idlib. Internal tensions have boiled over into open war there, with hard-line factions allied with al-Qaeda coming out on top. Pro-Assad forces hold all the most important urban centers in the country, and the presidents departure is no longer a precondition for the rebels participation in any peace process. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report. Read more: Syria has secretly executed thousands of political prisoners, rights group says Syria used gas attacks in campaign to retake Aleppo, Human Rights Watch says Syrias war creates myriad problems for Turkey Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Michael Flynn was at a beachside resort in the Dominican Republic, a stretch of sand and sun that he and his wife had visited for years, when he took a few moments out of their post-election vacation for a call with the Russian ambassador to the United States. As a veteran intelligence officer, Flynn must have known that a call with a Russian official in Washington would be intercepted by the U.S. government, pored over by FBI analysts and possibly even shared with the White House. But six weeks later, Flynn was forced out of his job as national security adviser to President Trump over what was said in that conversation and Flynns inability to be truthful about it with then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence and other officials now in senior positions at the White House. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that the level of trust between the president and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change. But Flynns removal was also the culmination of swirling forces and resentment unleashed by the 2016 election. He embodied the bitterly partisan nature of the contest, leading Lock her up chants directed at Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the Republican National Convention. His unusual association with Russia and the discovery of his secret communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak fanned suspicion among senior Obama administration officials of a more sinister aspect to Russias interference in the election. And ultimately, Flynns misleading statements about the Kislyak calls added to broader concerns about the Trump administrations regard for the truth. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) [Flynns firing is a scandal. But his hiring was, too.] The sequence connecting Flynns call and his dismissal came to involve two presidents warily passing power, the leaders of national security agencies including the FBI and CIA, and incoming and outgoing transition officials who regarded one another with significant distrust. Senior Obama administration officials said they felt so uncertain about the nature of the Flynn-Kislyak relationship that they took it upon themselves to scale back what they told Flynn and others on his incoming national security team, particularly on sensitive matters related to Russia. Officials emphasized, however, that there was no formal decision to limit information sharing with the Trump transition team. We did decide to not share with them certain things about Russia, a former senior Obama administration official said. We just thought, who knew? Would that information be safe? A flurry of communications Flynns rising profile in the Trump campaign appears to have coincided with a resumption of his contacts with Kislyak. The two first met in 2013, when Flynn, then the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, met with military intelligence officials in Moscow on a trip that the Russian diplomat helped to arrange and coordinate. As Moscows lead envoy in Washington, Kislyaks communications were routinely monitored by the FBI, including diplomatic reports he filed with Moscow in which he documented his interactions with Flynn, according to current and former U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. At the same time, Russian intelligence services were carrying out an assault on the election, delivering troves of emails stolen from Democratic Party servers to the WikiLeaks Web site, according to U.S. officials. U.S. intelligence agencies later concluded that the effort was designed to destabilize U.S. democracy, damage Clintons prospects and help elect Trump. No evidence has surfaced to suggest that Flynns contacts with Kislyak were in any way tied to the Russian operation. Nevertheless, by mid-December, senior officials in the Obama White House began to hear about Flynns contacts with Kislyak, both from intelligence reports and other sources. Obama administration officials werent sure what to make of the communications. To some, they appeared to be consistent with the kind of diplomatic outreach expected of any incoming administration. To others, already alarmed by the scale of the Russian interference in the U.S. election, the frequency of the contacts seemed excessive and the lack of any effort by Flynn to coordinate his calls with the State Department was regarded with growing suspicion. Susan E. Rice, President Barack Obamas national security adviser, did not give Flynn advance notice of the sanctions that the White House planned to impose on Russia over its meddling in the election. Instead, Denis McDonough, who at the time was Obamas chief of staff, waited until the sanctions were announced to inform his Trump counterpart, a former administration official said. The measures that Obama announced on Dec. 29 included the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian intelligence officers from the United States, and the forced closure of Russian-owned compounds in Maryland and New York used as resortlike retreats for that countrys spies and diplomats. Flynn had a flurry of communications with Kislyak in the days leading up to that announcement, including, by his account, an exchange of holiday greetings via text message on Dec. 25. The two also traded phone calls that Flynn said were limited to condolences over the assassination of Russias ambassador to Turkey and the downing of a Russian aircraft, as well as a preliminary conversation about setting up a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. By that time, Flynn and his wife were in the Dominican Republic for a beachside respite before he moved into one of the most demanding jobs in the White House. It was there, at a resort on the eastern tip of the country, that Flynn fielded a Kislyak call as sanctions were announced. He got a hold of me, Flynn said in the Post interview, I was on vacation, actually, with my wife. The digital packets streaming between their phones were intercepted by the FBI, using capabilities provided by the National Security Agency, as part of its routine surveillance of Kislyak. An FBI agent prepared a brief intelligence report summing up the contents of the conversation, officials said. The report was not widely circulated and might have attracted only scant attention were it not for a Putin move that baffled Washington. Rather than retaliate against the United States with comparable sanctions standard practice during the Cold War and afterward Putin seemed to greet Obamas punitive measures with an indifferent shrug. Putins reaction praised by Trump in a tweet saying I always knew he was very smart sent officials at the White House, State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies scrambling for clues. What they began to focus on, in early January, were Flynns calls with Kislyak. Telling the Trump team On Jan. 5, FBI Director James B. Comey, CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. briefed Obama and a small group of his top White House advisers on the contents of a classified intelligence report showing that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Trump. Thats when White House officials learned that the FBI was investigating the Flynn-Kislyak calls. The Flynn-Kislyak relationship was highlighted, a former senior U.S. official said, adding that the bureau made clear that there was an actual investigation underway. The Obama administration at times seemed almost paralyzed about how to respond to Russias unprecedented attack on the U.S. election system, even as officials watched it unfold. It wasnt until weeks after the election that the Obama administration sought to punish Russia. The Obama team was similarly slow in its deliberations over whether and how to confront the fledgling Trump administration over what it had uncovered in Flynns conversations with Kislyak. The issue was forced out into the open on Jan. 12 in an op-ed by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. The article revealed Flynns calls with Kislyak and called for an explanation from the White House on whether the two men had discussed sanctions. Pence and other members of the Trump transition team, still a week away from assuming power, checked with Flynn before they publicly denied that sanctions had been discussed during the call with Kislyak. Sally Q. Yates, then the deputy attorney general, Clapper and Brennan wanted to inform the Trump White House that Flynn had misled Pence and other officials. They were concerned that Moscow could use the lie to blackmail Flynn and didnt feel comfortable leaving Pence in the dark about being misled. On Obamas last full day in office, Jan. 19, Clapper and Brennan made the case to Comey for informing the Trump team about Flynn. The FBI director pushed back primarily on the grounds that notifying the new administration could complicate the agencys investigation. The bureau, Comey also insisted, shouldnt be the truth police, according to an official familiar with his thinking at the time. In other words, if theres not a violation of law here, its not our job to go and tell the vice president that hes been lied to. In the days following Trumps inauguration, FBI agents interviewed Flynn about his calls with Kislyak. That removed the basis for Comeys earlier objection to notifying the White House, current and former officials said. It is unclear whether Flynn gave the agents an accurate account of his calls with Kislyak. If not, officials said he could find himself in serious legal jeopardy. The FBI interview with Flynn was first reported by the New York Times. On Jan. 26, Yates notified White House counsel Donald McGahn about the concerns that she and the former intelligence chiefs had about Flynns misrepresentations to Pence and others. McGahn, in turn, informed Trump, leading to a review of whether Flynn had violated any laws. White House lawyers quickly concluded that no laws had been broken, according to Spicer. In his letter of resignation, Flynn said that he had inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador, and that he had merely sought to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships for Trump with foreign leaders. Current and former U.S. officials described that assertion as implausible, noting that sanctions were such a prominent subject of Flynns conversation with Kislyak that it seems unlikely he could have forgotten. Spicer also suggested that Flynns false account of the sanctions discussion was part of a troubling pattern, saying that a series of issues and series of statements and pronouncements had damaged Flynns standing beyond repair. Flynns version of events finally started to crumble on Feb. 7, when he was informed that The Post was preparing to publish an article about his discussion of sanctions with Kislyak, citing nine current and former U.S. officials. Flynn, at first, stood by his denials. Then, one day later, he acknowledged through a spokesman that he might have discussed sanctions but couldnt recall. Pence finally learned from The Post two weeks after McGahn that Flynn had misled him. It would appear that neither McGahn nor Trump had informed him of the false statements. After Flynn apologized to Pence, the vice president seemed open to allowing Flynn to remain in place, according to a senior administration official. But Reince Priebus, Trumps chief of staff who had also come to Flynns defense in January, didnt want to let it go, the official added. Read more: Flynn episode darkens the cloud of Russia that hangs over Trump administration Pence remains above the fray, but is he outside the inner circle? Flynn departure erupts into a full-blown crisis for the Trump White House White House Counsel Don McGahn, arriving in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York last month, has found himself at the center of the controversy surrounding Michael Flynns resignation from the national security adviser post. (Albin Lohr-Jones/Bloomberg) Less than a month into his presidency, Donald Trump has faced no shortage of controversies. Donald McGahn the fiery lawyer who has represented the president since before his election has been at the center of virtually every one. When the acting attorney general wanted to warn the White House that its national security adviser was potentially susceptible to Russian blackmail, she passed the message first to McGahn. When the director of the Office of Government Ethics wrote a letter recommending an investigation of senior adviser Kellyanne Conway for her public endorsement of Ivanka Trumps clothing line, he made sure McGahn had a copy. McGahn played a key role in helping Trump select Neil Gorsuch as his Supreme Court nominee and even told those not chosen that they had been passed over. And while it is unclear the extent to which he scrutinized in advance Trumps executive order temporarily barring refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, after it was issued he tried to dispel confusion over the ban. Justice Department lawyers have asserted that his clarifying memo should be treated as if it came from the president himself. The guidance from the White House counsel is the definitive interpretation of the order, a Justice Department lawyer said at a recent court hearing. The White House counsel speaks for the president in this context. [Trumps own Beltway establishment guy: The curious journey of Don McGahn] McGahn, 48, is a veteran campaign finance lawyer and former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission. Before taking over the role of White House counsel, he worked at the Jones Day law firm and as general counsel to the Trump campaign. He is a consummate Washington insider, but like the man for whom he works, he has an independent streak, those who know him say. He plays the guitar and once sported shoulder-length hair. Don is not a buttoned-down guy, said Bradley A. Smith, a law professor at Capital University and longtime professional friend of McGahn. On the Federal Election Commission, where he served from 2008 to 2013, McGahn repeatedly clashed with Democratic commissioners as he worked to loosen regulations on campaign spending and place limits on the commissions ability to launch investigations of violations of campaign finance law. Democratic Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub said McGahn came into this agency with the agenda of blowing it up from the inside and resisted pursuing virtually all complaints of election-related wrongdoing. One thing that does trouble me a little bit in the role that hes in now is he was never someone who was open to new ideas or people challenging his views, Weintraub said. McGahn in 2011 helped protect Trump from a possible investigation. Then mulling a run for president, Trump was accused of violating Federal Election Commission regulations by channeling money through the Trump Organization to the website ShouldTrumpRun.com. Commission staff members recommended that Trump be investigated, but the case was dismissed after McGahn and two other Republican commissioners voted against the recommendation. Trump ultimately did not run for president in 2012. As White House counsel, McGahn is supposed to provide the president with legal guidance on the thorniest issues of the day, and to manage disputes between power players inside the administration and the various executive agencies. Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel under Obama, said it is critical that the counsel maintains a position of authority and thinks in the long term. The White House counsel has to be empowered to be the process hawk, hopefully with the full support of the chief of staff, Ruemmler said. There are a lot of short-term, win-the-day voices in the room. The White House counsel should not be focused on winning the day. The White House counsel should be the voice in the room thats thinking about the long-term institutional interests of the presidency. If his predecessors provide any indication, McGahn will not be able to dodge high-profile controversies. Obama White House counsel Gregory B. Craig, for example, was responsible for drafting the executive actions that banned torture, and he was at the center of the failed attempt to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel and later attorney general under George W. Bush, was involved in crafting legal guidance that critics say paved the way for the use of inappropriately harsh interrogation techniques on detainees in the war against terrorism. Then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates first told McGahn in late January that Michael Flynn, then Trumps national security adviser, was potentially susceptible to Russian blackmail because he had misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn had said publicly that he did not discuss U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia when he spoke with the ambassador in late December, when in fact he had. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that McGahn briefed the president and a small group of senior advisers soon after receiving the message and conducted his own review to determine if Flynn had acted illegally. Spicer said McGahn determined Flynn had not, although Flynn had nonetheless lost the presidents trust. Late Monday, Flynn resigned. Smith said he had talked with McGahn a few times since the election and he seemed upbeat and busy. He said he was not sure who played what role in drafting the travel ban, and he and McGahn had not discussed the response to revelations about Flynn. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request to interview McGahn for this story. It remains unclear what role McGahn played in drafting the hotly contested travel ban. Trump has moved at a rapid pace to make good on some of his controversial campaign promises, including the ban. That executive order already has run into several successful court challenges, which have frozen it for now, and Trump has said he is considering rewriting it. After the ban was issued, McGahn issued a memo asserting that the ban did not apply to legal permanent residents of the United States although courts have said if that is to have true legal force, Trump must make it a part of his executive order. The White House counsel is not the President, and he is not known to be in the chain of command for any of the Executive Departments, three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit wrote in an opinion upholding the suspension of Trumps travel ban. Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and co-founder of the Lawfare blog, said that part of McGahns job is ensuring that the president avoids legal controversy or related political controversy. The White House counsels responsibilities go far beyond technical legal compliance, said Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general heading the Office of Legal Counsel. He is supposed to ensure compliance with ethics rules. And he is supposed to anticipate political problems related to legal issues that might adversely affect the president and take steps to protect the president. That McGahn clearly did not do. Read more: Michael Flynn resigns as national security adviser The timeline of Michael Flynns resignation just looks bad for the Trump White House What will become of the National Security Council that Flynn was building? The University of Wisconsin-Madison has recognized students named to the deans list for the fall semester of the 2016-2017 academic year. Students who achieve at a high level academically are recognized by the dean at the close of each semester. To be eligible for the deans list, students must complete a minimum of 12 graded degree credits in that semester. Each university school or college sets its own GPA requirements for students to be eligible to receive the distinction. Most call the honor deans list, but some grant the deans honor list and deans high honor list. Chaseburg Katie Bluske, College of Engineering, deans honor list; Cadan Cummings, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, deans list. Coon Valley Kyle Hoff, College of Engineering, deans honor list; Andrea Oelke, School of Education, deans list; Christopher Poellinger, College of Engineering, deans honor list; Travis Schmitt, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, deans list. Genoa Alexandria Chapes, School of Education, deans list. Ontario Sarah Witt, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, deans list. Readstown Erica Howe, College of Letters and Science, deans list; Hannah Sherry, School of Education, deans list. Stoddard Christian Curti, School of Business, deans list; Alice Gardner, School of Nursing, deans honor list; Isabella Ruetten, School of Human Ecology, deans high honors. Viola Gavin Mccauley, College of Letters and Science, deans list; Jocelyn Parker, College of Letters and Science, deans list. Viroqua Sam Barendregt, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, deans list; Emma Bruland, College of Letters and Science, deans list; Mari McPheron, College of Engineering, deans honor list; Sylvie Rising, School of Human Ecology, deans honor list; Jessica Schmidt, School of Education, deans list; Cora Sheldon, School of Education, deans list. Westby Brittany Dunnum, College of Letters and Science, deans list; Herman Feller, College of Engineering, deans honor list; Logan Gutenberger, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, deans list; Ryan Gutenberger, College of Engineering, deans honor list; Samantha McGarvey, College of Letters and Science, deans list; Connor Vonruden, School of Education, deans list. Palestinians play cards in Hebron, West Bank, as a TV screen shows a joint news conference by President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Feb. 15, 2017. (Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters) Palestinian officials pleaded with the White House on Wednesday not to abandon the two-state solution for a possible peace deal with Israel, as President Trump signaled he could live with other outcomes. The Palestinian leadership appeared stunned that a Trump official told reporters in Washington late Tuesday that the White House was open to a new approach that does not emphasize two states one for Israelis and one for Palestinians, living side by side, as previous administrations have. At a White House news conference on Wednesday, Trump said he had once believed the two-state solution was the easier of the two options, but he said the United States could embrace alternatives, if Israel and the Palestinians agreed. I am looking at two states or one state, and I like the one that both parties like, Trump said. The comments came during the first face-to-face talks between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the November election. It also followed disclosures that CIA chief Mike Pompeo held secret talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Tuesday, according to a senior Palestinian official. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) [Watch: Trump urges Israel to hold off on new settlements] Netanyahu has been under pressure by his right-wing governing coalition to abandon the two-state solution, which he formally backed in 2009. Trumps position on the two-state paradigm has not been clear and still remains fuzzy. Its something the two sides have to agree to. Its not for us to impose that vision, a Trump official said Tuesday. A two-state solution that doesnt bring peace is not our goal, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the potential U.S. policy change. Many Palestinians would view such a shift as an abandonment of a principle adopted by preceding U.S. administrations, both Republican and Democratic, as well as the European Union and the United Nations. At Wednesdays news conference, Trump cautioned that the Israelis are going to have to show some flexibility, which is hard, its hard to do. Trump advised that Netanyahu hold back on settlements for a bit. He added, Well work something out. Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian official and former peace negotiator, said: We believe undermining the two state solution is not a joke. Its a disaster and a tragedy for Israelis and Palestinians. Erekat, a veteran of seven U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel, said the Palestinian Authority remains committed to the two-state goals. He said it was the Israeli leaders and supporters of the 600,000 Israelis living in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem who were opposed to a Palestinian state. [Analysis: Trump is dividing American Jews over U.S. policies, not Israel] Erekat said the alternative to the two state vision was a single democratic secular state for Jews, Muslims and Christians, with full rights for all. Such a single state, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, would hold almost equal numbers of Jewish and Muslim voters. Israelis and American supporters of Israel fear that a single state would either undermine the democratic or Jewish nature of Israel. Today, Palestinians in the West Bank live under an almost 50-year military occupation. In the Gaza Strip, the population lives under severe trade and travel controls. To those who think the current system is acceptable, having one state with two systems, this is apartheid, Erekat said. I dont think they can sustain it, not in the 21st century. Netanyahu has argued in the past that while Israel remains committed in theory to the idea of two states, now is not the time. The Palestinian leadership is weak and rejectionist, he said. Theres no partner for peace, Netanyahu said. In Washington, Netanyahu restated his claims that no peace talks are possible until Palestinians agree to accords that Israel believes are essential for its safety, including giving Israeli security forces a continued presence in the West Bank. Netanyahu has warned that a new Palestinian state could quickly by taken over the Islamist militant movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and is committed to Israels destruction. Israel and Hamas have fought three years in the last nine years. The last time Netanyahu ran for office in 2015, he promised voters a Palestinian state would never be created under his watch. He later walked the statement back. The Israeli minister for public security and member of Netanyahus Likud Party, Gilad Erdan told Israels Army Radio earlier this week that all the cabinet ministers oppose a Palestinian state, including Netanyahu. The two-state solution has often been declared moribund. But most of the world continues to think it is the regions best chance for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, speaking in Cairo on Wednesday, warned, There is no alternative solution for the situation between the Palestinians and Israelis, other than the solution of establishing two states, and we should do all that can be done to maintain this. Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Photo credit: Facebook From Woman's Day For more than 30 years, American Girl has brought fun into the lives of little girls with their sweet dolls, and now this 9-year-old hopes to share the joy she's found in the toys with young cancer patients. Bella Fricker, a third grader from Georgia, fundraises money to donate bald American Girl dolls to little girls with cancer by selling her handmade bracelets through her very own business called "Peace. Love. Bracelets," according to The Huffington Post. She started her fundraising efforts just a few months ago, and she's already sold close to 500 bracelets and donated four dolls. "Unfortunately, four children in our community over the years have had cancer and really left an impression on her," Bella's mother, Valerie Fricker, told The Huffington Post. "I have been personally involved in the fundraising efforts within the community in the past." Back in October, Bella set up a work space in her playroom and began to create the handmade bracelets and "blind bags" for $3-15. All of the proceeds from her jewelry business go directly to her next American Girl doll purchase. "I think [Bella] has just taken her love and passion for American Girl dolls and turned it into her passion with wanting to make little girls feel happy when they're in the hospital and have lost their hair," her mother said. The Frickers family organizes the doll donations with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Bella personally delivers to the dolls to girls in the hospital, and she enjoys picking out items and outfits that will speak to the new owners. "For example, if they are a softball player, then Bella will get a softball outfit. If they are a ballerina, Bella will get a ballet outfit," Valerie said. "She also likes to give them a coloring book, crayons, and a bracelet making set, so they have something to do during chemotherapy or hospital stays." Story continues All of the donated dolls come from the American Girl "Truly Me" line, which are designed for girls suffering from cancer, alopecia, or other hair loss conditions. They come without hair, and can be customized to feature various eye colors and skin tones. If the young owner wants her doll to have hair once her own hair returns, it can be arranged with the doll company free of charge. Bella's donated dolls come wearing a hospital gown, which Bella also arranged on her own. Right now, the only way to get these gowns for the dolls is to send your own American Girl doll to the company's "Doll Hospital" for repair. To assist Bella in her efforts, people have donated their own doll's hospital gowns to outfit these new dolls for cancer patients, FOX5 Atlanta reported. The third grader hopes to donate 45-50 dolls to CHOA and a few other children's hospitals across the country in the near future, and she's also considering raising money to donate Build-A-Bear stuffed animals to children who might not play with dolls. Her mother plans to create a website for "Peace. Love. Bracelets." and turn the charity business into an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. "It's been awesome," Bella told FOX5 Atlanta. "I feel really good about myself by helping somebody else." To donate to Bella's cause, visit her Facebook page for more information. (h/t The Huffington Post) Follow Woman's Day on Instagram. You Might Also Like Kim Kardashian is not happy with her belly button. (Photo: Getty Images) Kim Kardashian is back on social media, which means we know exactly how she spent her weekend: getting plastic surgery. She took to Snapchat at longtime surgeon Dr. Simon Ourians office to share her latest treatment, belly-button lasering. Anyone thats had babies understands what it does to your belly button afterwards and how much your belly button changes, then you really understand how much you need Dr. Ourian to tighten around your belly button so it looks normal, she explained. The procedure may be worth it for new moms, but it also hurts, Kardashian said. Ive never loved someone and hated someone so much at the same time, she joked of Dr. Ourian. If you havent heard of belly-button lasering before, youre not alone. Although we wouldnt put it past a Kardashian to be at the forefront of a new plastic surgery treatment, we checked in with the experts to see how lasering really works. Post-pregnancy patients can get an outie type look, often associated with a small umbilical hernia, says Dr. Sachin M. Shridharani, a New York City-based luxury plastic surgeon. It is very rare that the pre-stretched-out state is ever restored, but an improvement can be seen. Kardashian is likely referring to laser resurfacing, a treatment recommended to reduce acne scars and fine lines. Laser resurfacing is a procedure that uses a laser to improve the appearance of skin texture and quality and treat minor flaws by removing damaged skin, says Dr. Shridharani. Theyre the fix-it-all laser when it comes to skin care: Resurfacing lasers also stimulate collagen growth, help get rid of fine lines and creases, remove environmental trauma and tighten skin. Story continues But for anyone looking to turn that outie belly button inside out, laser resurfacing may not be the first recommended treatment. More invasive surgery has a higher chance of getting your belly button to its pre-pregnancy state. According to the experts, No laser is going to give as much tightening as a well- done tummy tuck or mini tummy tuck. Now who wants to tell Kim? Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Body lotion is being used to smuggle cocaine. (Photo: Getty Images) We love a good skin cream here at Yahoo Beauty and thought wed seen it all lotions infused with bee venom, masks made of bird poop but putting cocaine in your body lotion seems like one of those beauty ventures that, you know, since its highly illegal and dangerous, just isnt worth it. And thats exactly what got one Ecuadorian woman arrested Monday after authorities at Thailands Suvarnabhumi Airport found her carrying a suitcase full of cocaine-laced body creams. Narcotics police found six large jars of body lotion in the luggage of 56-year-old Jenny Pacheco after she stepped off her flight from Lima, Peru. Authorities said there was about 2.3 kg worth of cocaine in total, according to reports. Narcotics officer Wutthipong Phetkamnerd told reporters that mixing cocaine in lotions and creams is a new smuggling tactic to avoid arrest but didnt go into detail as to how the illicit drug could be extracted from the cream. It turns out, infusing cocaine into beauty products is just the latest in a long line of increasingly creative ways to get contraband across international borders. Thats according to Gregory D. Lee, an expert witness in police procedures and retired DEA supervisory special agent. As a smuggler, youre only limited by your imagination and what you think you can pull off, he tells Yahoo Beauty. But what about getting it out (assuming, of course, that you dont want cocaine-laced body lotion)? It can be extracted through chemical means, says Lee. Whoever that woman was going to deliver the lotion to, obviously they were set up to do it. And while Lee says it was clever of Pacheco to allegedly stash the drugs in body cream, he adds that carrying six jars in her luggage was a dead giveaway. He estimates that she was carrying about $3,000 worth of cocaine and likely got her flight from South America to Asia covered. Still, living in the shadow of the law comes with real risks, and Lee says that Thailand has some of the harshest punishments in the world smugglers can face the death penalty. Story continues Suffice it to say that as long as smugglers remain creative and brazen, theyll keep trying to bring illegal drugs across borders, maybe next time in a lip kit. Read More: These Designers Really Nailed It With Their Fashion Week Manicures Teen Nearly Blinded by Hair Dye Counterfeit Jergens Enters the Market. Is This the Tip of the Iceberg? Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. (Photo: Josh Rossi) Though shes just 3 years old, Nellee Rossi has already been portrayed as Wonder Woman, Little Red Riding Hood and legendary female warrior Hua Mulan by her father, Josh Rossi, a commercial photographer. So this year, for a Valentines Day surprise, he went a bit more traditional and cast her as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, his daughters current obsession. Whenever something special comes up I do something fun for her, Josh, 32, tells PEOPLE. The new Beauty and the Beast movie is coming out and shes obsessed with Belle from the movie. She loves when the Beast comes out, when they fall in love. So I was like, Okay. That could be fun. (Photo: Josh Rossi) And he just happened to be traveling in Europe earlier this year for so he was able to photograph real castles for the background, including the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland in Anaheim, California. I took some background shots of the castle, some surroundings, he says. We had somebody donate three of the replica dresses that they created, for a kids version. Then I got home and did a photo shoot of her. So its this magical, Disney-type series for Valentines Day. Nellee was especially thrilled when she saw the dresses, he says. (They were donated by designer Ella Dynae.) She was over-the-top excited about the dresses, he says. While we were in studio shooting her she wanted to reenact certain parts from the movie. She had seen it so many times that she had the dancing scene memorized. She got the most excited for that part because finally she could act out that scene with the Beast (me). She loved that scene so much he decided to give an enlarged portrait version of it to her as a special gift, which he gave to her on Valentines Day morning. Story continues I wanted to give that to her because it represented my love for her and how special she is to me, he says. The surprise gift was a huge success, he says. (Photo: Josh Rossi) She is little so she just jumped up and down and couldnt believe it, he says. Then she started singing, Tale as old as time, went and put on her Belle dress and now she is in a different world. Moments like those make all the time and effort he puts into the shoots worth it, he says. I want her to have something that represents the relationship she and I have, he says. A normal photo doesnt do it for me. Im constantly taking photos and videos to try and hold on to each moment spent with her. The Beauty and the Beast series is a follow-up to his eight-photo Halloween series casting her as Wonder Woman, which had more than 35 million views. (Photo: Josh Rossi) Photo credit: KMOV From Cosmopolitan The wife and stepson of a Ku Klux Klan leader found fatally shot next to a river in eastern Missouri were charged in his death Monday. Malissa Ann Ancona, 44, and her 24-year-old son, Paul Edward Jinkerson Jr., were charged with first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and abandonment of a corpse in the death of Frank Ancona. Both are jailed without bond. A probable cause statement alleges that Jinkerson shot his 51-year-old stepfather as he slept Thursday at his home in Leadwood, about 70 miles south of St. Louis. St. Francois County Sheriff's Department detective Matt Wampler wrote that after the shooting, Ancona's body was taken in Jinkerson's vehicle to an area near Belgrade, about 20 miles away. Jinkerson's attorney, Eric Barnhart, said he didn't believe his client was involved in the killing, but he declined to comment further. It wasn't immediately clear if Malissa Ancona had an attorney. A family that was fishing in the Big River found Frank Ancona's body Saturday. An autopsy conducted Sunday revealed that he died of a gunshot to the head. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Ancona called himself an imperial wizard with the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. A website for the group includes an image of him in a white hood and robe standing in front of a burning cross. The website describes the group as a "White Patriotic Christian organization that bases its roots back to the Ku Klux Klan of the early 20th century." The Park Hills Daily Journal said investigators placed yellow police tape around Ancona's home in Leadwood Saturday, believing he was killed there. His safe had been broken into and the contents removed. Several of his guns were missing, police told the Daily Journal. Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said a U.S. Forest Service employee found Ancona's car Thursday on a service road near Potosi, about 30 miles from where his body was eventually found. He was reported missing Friday after his employer told Leadwood police that he hadn't shown up for work for two days. Story continues Investigators found evidence of a burn pile near Ancona's abandoned vehicle, Jacobsen said. Prior to the discovery of Ancona's body, Malissa Ancona told police her husband had left the state on a delivery job. She said he planned to file for divorce when he returned. Investigators said Malissa Ancona tried to destroy blood evidence and altered the crime scene in an effort to conceal the killing, the Daily Journal reported. Investigators said she was acting in concert with her son. You Might Also Like Photo credit: Getty From Esquire Two weeks after President Donald Trump fired acting attorney general Sally Yates, she's made breaking political news once again in a major way. The Washington Post reports that Yates informed the Trump administration late last month that she believed Michael Flynn had "misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States," adding that the national security adviser was "potentially vulnerable" to Russian blackmail after his talks with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. "Current and former" U.S. officials said, according to The Post, that Yates and a senior career national security official to the White House counsel delivered the message. The warning was prompted by a conversation Flynn had with Mike Pence, in which he said that he had "not discussed the Obama administration sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 election." Former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. and former CIA director John Brennan had the same concerns at the time, "concurr[ing] with [Yates'] recommendation to inform the Trump White House": "They feared that 'Flynn had put himself in a compromising position' and thought that Pence had a right to know that he had been misled, according to one of the officials, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters." The Post notes that currently, it's unclear if White House counsel Donald McGahn did anything with this information. A senior Trump administration official added that the White House is aware of the situation and that they've been "working on this for weeks." Multiple government agencies are currently investigating Flynn's relationship with Russia, according to The New York Times: "The F.B.I. has been examining Mr. Flynn's phone calls as he has come under growing questions about his interactions with Russian officials and his management of the National Security Council. In addition, the Army has been investigating whether Mr. Flynn received money from the Russian government during a trip he took to Moscow in 2015, according to two defense officials." Story continues The news comes shortly after Yates was fired for refusing to defend the president's executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations. (H/T The Washington Post) You Might Also Like President Trumps Bathrobe Has Taken on a Life of Its Own with Parody Twitter Account: Oh I Exist President Donald Trump has responded to claims of repeated contact between his team and Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 presidential election election, calling the accusations conspiracy theories and an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clintons losing campaign. He also slammed the apparent leaks from the intelligence community, tweeting that classified information was being given out like candy. Current and former American officials told The New York Times in a report published Tuesday that law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted communications around the same time they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee. CNN published a similar report later in the day. Trump responded to the accusations in a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, calling the news conspiracy theories being pushed by fake news media before praising Fox News weekday morning show. The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred, he wrote. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great! The 70-year-old business mogul also fired shots at the Times and the Washington Post, which has also published numerous reports citing unnamed security sources. Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia, Trump said. In another tweet, he wrote, This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clintons losing campaign. The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017 The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017 This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017 Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017 Thank you to Eli Lake of The Bloomberg View "The NSA & FBIshould not interfere in our politicsand is" Very serious situation for USA Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017 RELATED VIDEO: Trump Denies Claims He Employed Prostitutes in Russia: Im a Germaphobe Among several senior Trump advisers regularly communicating with Russian nationals were then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former top adviser Michael Flynn, according to the reports in the Times and CNN. Story continues Flynn, who was Trumps national security adviser, was forced to resign on Monday following reports that he gave incomplete information to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Moscows ambassador in Washington. Flynn repeatedly denied that he discussed sanctions imposed by former President Barack Obama against Russia for election meddling with the ambassador. However, call transcripts show that Flynn may have even suggested the incoming Trump administration would be open to lifting the sanctions. Manafort denied any contacts with Russian officials. He told The New York Times on Tuesday, I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers, and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today. Numerous members of the Senate and Congress spoke out against Trump following the allegations, some calling anyone found to have worked with Russian hackers or intelligence services to be tried for treason. Any Americans who conspired w/ the Russian hackers should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, no matter how high up the trail goes, tweeted Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro. Any Americans who conspired w/ the Russian hackers should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, no matter how high up the trail goes. Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 15, 2017 If any US citizen conspired with enemy foreign agents to subvert US democracy then that person committed treason. Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 15, 2017 This report should serve as a clarion call for all of Congress to demand an independent investigation into Russia's meddling in our election https://t.co/zG5bQWe8JO Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) February 15, 2017 Everything we suspected during the campaign is proving true. This is a colossal scandal.https://t.co/NythuqU4Cq Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) February 15, 2017 Okay, Republicans. The time has come. Dump this guy and protect the nation. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/2dXEwiDvoX Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) February 15, 2017 Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan Boyle wrote, If any US citizen conspired with enemy foreign agents to subvert US democracy then that person committed treason. Although it is not unusual for communications between campaign staff and representatives of foreign governments to occur, the contact stood out to investigators due to the high frequency and level of the Trump advisers involved, according to the Times. Students at La Farge Schools are teaming up with the La Farge Lions Club once again in the Giving Back From The Heart program to help support a variety of individuals, families, programs, organizations and projects. The Lions club will donate $100 to each grade at the school for the students in that grade to choose a worthy cause, project or individual to support. The La Farge Lions Club hopes the donations allows the students at La Farge Schools to become involved in the needs of their community and the world around them. This is the sixth year of the giving back program, started by the La Farge Lions Club in 2012. Some of the recipients chosen by the La Farge students this year will include donations to the Vernon County Humane Society, American Cancer Society, Wounded Warriors Project, Lawton Memorial Library and several local families in need. Presentations of the checks by the students and La Farge Lions Club members will be made at an assembly held at the school gymnasium at 9:45 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 23. This assembly at the La Farge gymnasium is open to the public. Many of the recipients chosen by the students will have representatives at the school to receive their donation from the students at the assembly. Everyone is invited to attend the Giving Back From The Heart program. North Korea's intermediate-range ballistic missile launch Sunday once again raised concerns over the reclusive country's nuclear capabilities. Despite being at the receiving end of tough United Nations sanctions, North Korea has continued to stoke tensions with the West and its southern neighbor with its missile launches and efforts to bolster its nuclear program. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to "deal with" North Korea and called it "a big, big problem," but did not mention the ballistic missile the country test-fired over the weekend. Trump also did not outline any response the U.S. was planning to counter Pyongyang's threats. While both the nations have blamed each other for provocations, here is a list of threats Kim Jong Un has made to the U.S. over the years. Attack on Los Angeles: Most recently, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea said in an interview to the BBC's "Victoria Derbyshire Show" that Kim Jong Un could "press the button" and launch a missile at the California city. When asked if Kim would carry out an attack against the U.S. knowing that the Pentagon would retaliate, Thae Yong-ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador in London, replied: "Yes." "He knows that if he loses the power then it is his last day so he may do anything, even to attack Los Angeles, because once people know that in any way you will be killed, then you will do anything. That is the human being's normal reaction," he added. North Korea will bring misery to America: In January, the reclusive country threatened to pour further misery on the U.S. after Trump announced that Washington will make a state of the art missile defense system to counter attacks from Pyongyang. The U.S. will face a position more miserable than that in the Pueblo case if it forgets that lesson and frantically pursues new ways to provoke war against the north, North Koreas Central TV station said at the time, referring to the capture of an American intelligence ship, the USS Pueblo, during the Cold War. Story continues Missile that can reach U.S mainland: Earlier in January, Kim Jong Un announced that its military is capable of test-launching an inter-continental ballistic missile that could reach the U.S. mainland at any time and from any location. Kim Jong Un's New Year speech threat: In his New Year address, North Korean leader said Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparing to test an ICBM. "Research and development of the cutting-edge tech weapons are actively progressing and strengthening our defense capabilities, including last stage preparation of tests for Intercontinental Ballistic rocket launch have been continuously succeeding," Kim said in his New Year's remarks. Pyongyang threat to retaliate to U.S.-South Korea drills: Kim said during his New Year's speech that North Korea will ramp up preparations for potential nuclear strikes against Seoul and Washington if the two fail to abandon their joint military exercises. US-South Koreas madcap mid-winter drills: North Korea warned of retaliation over South Korea's and U.S. Marines' military exercises on the ski slopes of Pyeongchang that began on Jan.15 and ended on Feb.3. Pyongyang reportedly termed the exercises, in which over 300 Marines took place, "madcap mid-winter" drills. Long-range nuclear warheads threat: A South Korean government official in December said that North Korea has long-range nuclear warheads which can reach the U.S. Pyongyang's KN-08 missile was set to have a range of more than 7,500 miles. Retaliation over U.S. hostile acts: North Korea warned the U.S. in November 2016, urging it to end its "ever-worsening hostile moves and increasing nuclear threat against" Pyongyang. North Korea's foreign affairs ministry, in a memorandum, listed what it called "the criminal acts of the U.S." "The anachronistic hostile policy and nuclear threat that the U.S. has enforced with unprecedented recklessness against the DPRK have only provoked its just and righteous countermeasures for self-defense," the memorandum, as published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, read. Joint naval drills by South Korea and the U.S.: In October 2016, North Korea condemned the joint naval drills by Seoul and Washington saying that the exercises were an advance preparation for mounting a preemptive attack. Threat to U.S. base in Guam: In September 2016, North Korea threatened Seoul and a United States' base in Guam with a nuclear attack. The provocations have pushed the situation on the Korean peninsula to the uncontrollable and irreversible phase of the outbreak of nuclear war, the statement said. Related Articles Start mapping out a movie-inspired itinerary in these iconic film settings. Memorable trips and films share a few key attributes: strong visuals, engaging characters and a good backstory. And these days, movie enthusiasts the world over can visit cinematic locations that artfully combine these elements, blending beautiful backdrops and intriguing narratives. Companies like Viator sell guided movie tours in destinations such as Las Vegas, Paris, Rome and Sydney. Film and literature fanatics can spend a week retracing Harry Potter's footsteps through the U.K. or following Frodo across New Zealand. Start planning your own bucket list-worthy trip to alluring destinations that have inspired or served as the backdrop for an Oscar-nominated film. Los Angeles Film: "La La Land" The Oscars are a Hollywood staple, so it likely comes as no surprise that LA has long been a coveted cinematic destination, featuring film locations for 10 best picture winners, including the classic "Gone with the Wind." If you're a fan of "La La Land," the irresistible love song to the boulevards, pool parties and dreams of Hollywood, there are plenty of locations to explore. Travelers who fell for Sebastian and Mia should stop at the Starbucks on the Warner Bros. Studios lot, where their courtship began before making their way to Griffith Observatory or the carpool lane at the Century Freeway interchange with Interstate 110, the location for the film's opening number. Cape Ann, Massachusetts Film: "Manchester by the Sea" "Manchester by the Sea" is a drama in which Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) returns to the fishing port of the same name to deal with his brother's sudden death. Filmed entirely on location in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, "Manchester by the Sea" and the area's brooding harbor are augmented by wintry scenes shot in Gloucester, Essex, Rockport, Beverly and Salem that accentuate the sense of loss. More authentic than Amity Island, the fictional setting of the "Jaws" franchise filmed on Martha's Vineyard, these Massachusetts towns provide opportunities to experience the serenity of the sea on whale-watching, fishing, schooner or sightseeing boat tours, offered daily throughout summer. Story continues Paterson, New Jersey Film: "Paterson" "Paterson" is director Jim Jarmusch's lyrical story of a bus driver named Paterson (Adam Driver) and his richly observant poetry about daily life in Paterson, a faded city that once inspired the poets William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg. Though the small-town bar where Paterson ties up his dog each night was filmed in Queens, New York, travelers can make their way to New Jersey to admire Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, the waterfall that renews Paterson's faith in the power of art. Plan a film-inspired road trip to visit the home lab of Thomas Edison in West Orange, New Jersey, and his museum and experimental lab at Menlo Park, New Jersey. Fiji, Samoa and Oahu, Hawaii Film: "Moana" In Disney's animated feature "Moana," set in long ago Oceania, a teen uses traditional Polynesian wayfinding skills on a sailing adventure to save her people. The inspiring film settings -- Viti Levu and Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park in Fiji; the Alofaaga Blowholes on the lava fields of Samoa; and Moorea and the Teahupo'o surf break in Tahiti -- should ride a rising tide in family travel. Youngsters can learn about Oceania at Oahu's Polynesian Cultural Center, see lava fields on Hawaii or visit Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, for story time and a Moana makeup, hair and costume makeover. Miami Film: "Moonlight" A graceful coming-of-age story, "Moonlight" follows Chiron, a young black man struggling with a crack-addicted mother and self-identity in a Miami ghetto. Director Barry Jenkins embraces the city that was backdrop to "Scarface." The film was shot in Liberty City, which visitors can tour from above by following Chiron's ride on the Miami Metromover and Metrorail transit systems to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza station. Meanwhile, Chiron's joyful introduction to the sea was filmed at Virginia Key Beach, a public park with bike trails. And the beach where he finds love is between 21st and 22nd streets off Miami Beach Drive, a quiet corner of bustling South Beach. The Maldives Film: "Rogue One" After the award-winning documentary "The Island President" about government efforts to combat climate change, the Maldives is back in the limelight for another apocalyptic moment in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." The Rebel Alliance forces make their last stand against the Death Star on the verdant tropical island of Scarif, a military base filmed on Berasdhoo Island and Gan, two of 82 islands in the Laamu Atoll. The former is uninhabited; the latter counts among its few hotels the eco-friendly resort Six Senses Laamu. If the final embrace of heroes Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor is any indication, the Maldives' popularity for destination weddings will soar. Jordan Film: "Star Wars" series Jordan has long been a popular film location, from Petra, the star of the two-time Oscar-winning action film "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" to deserts made famous by Academy Award winners "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Argo." Recently, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" used the red rock desert of Wadi Rum's national park to create Jedha, the pilgrimage site for Jedi knights and followers of the Force. Earthly travelers can sleep in Bedouin tent camps, feast on lamb barbecued in the hot sand and ride camels to explore hidden petroglyphs. Iceland Film: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" Iceland, known among film fans for the acclaimed HBO series "Game of Thrones," features a prominent backdrop in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" as the place where scientist Galen Erso reports to his Death Star commander. The film's location team selected the volcanic beach at Hjorleifshofi and the caves at Hafursey in Myrdalssandur for the film's imperial outpost of Eadu. This sparsely populated region of southern Iceland has unique landscapes popular with hikers and adventurers. Plan a trip soon and benefit from cheap flights on low-cost carriers Icelandair and Wow Air. Liverpool, England Film: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is J.K. Rowling's story of British wizard and "magizoologist" Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who causes chaos when hippogriffs and other beasts escape from his luggage into1940s New York. Shot mainly on sets at the Leavesden studio in Watford, England, the movie is an especial crowd-pleaser for Harry Potter fans. Potterheads should embark on the Warner Bros. Making of Harry Potter tour in London before heading to Liverpool to see the Cunard Building, St. George's Hall, Stanley Dock and other filming locations. If you have some extra days to spare, download the U.K. Film Office's Location Guide and tour the country. Dubai, United Arab Emirates Film: "Star Trek Beyond" While some sets featured in the film "Star Trek Beyond" were built in Vancouver, the movie's locations are pure Dubai. Fans can spot several of the 900 actual futuristic skyscrapers in the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Jumeirah Lakes Towers development through the visual effects overlay. Start your tour on the 2,700-foot outdoor observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, the skyscraper Tom Cruise scaled in "Mission Impossible: Rogue Protocol." Afterward, cruise through the historic Dubai Creek aboard a wooden dhow, a traditional vessel. What's more, Dubai plays upon its cinematic history at the Dubai Mall Cineplex, which features cinemas that stay open 24/7 during holidays like Eid. Two unidentified bodies were found along a northern Indiana creek Tuesday after two 13-year-old girls went missing Monday near the same place. State Police Sgt. Kim Riley told a news conference Tuesday both the bodies were found along Deer Creek about one mile east of Delphi, Indiana. "We are investigating this as a crime scene," Riley said. "We suspect foul play." Riley said authorities hadn't yet identified the bodies. He did not comment on any injuries the deceased might have suffered or even the ages of the victims. He added the bodies were found Tuesday on the edge of the creek about three-quarters of a mile from an abandoned railroad bridge. Liberty German and Abigail Williams, the two girls who went missing Monday, had gone hiking in that same place, and were declared missing hours after they failed to return to a predetermined meeting place. Delphi Police Chief Steve Mullins said the discovery of the bodies alongside the search for the girls had shocked the people living around the place. "I know it's had a terrible effect on our people and we are grieved this sort of thing would happen here in our community," Mullins said. Following the incident, Delphi Community Schools sent a letter to the local community on Tuesday, saying they would offer bus rides to all students in the area, irrespective of where they live. "We will be providing transportation to all students to and from school. We feel that in the best interest and safety of the students, a regular schedule is best," the letter said. People living in Delphi were concerned when the two girls went missing because it is a small town in northwest Indiana and has a population of only around 3,000, with a close-knit community. "I would always be concerned about that until they find whatever murderous beast did this. I would watch my kids very carefully," Kevin Kologinski, a Delphi resident, said at the press conference. Story continues "Mine are all grown up, my grandchildren are too young to be off on their own, but for any other kids that are out I'd keep a very close eye," he added. Related Articles More than 800,000 Americans have signed a petition demanding the release of Donald Trumps tax returns. Polls show that a majority of the country wants to see the documents. On April 15, tens of thousands plan to take to the streets in protest of the presidents refusal to release his tax returns to the public. Some worry Trump is hiding financial ties to Russia. Others want to understand all the conflicts of interest that flow from his failure to divest from his business interests. Twenty thousand people say theyre going to a Los Angeles protest. Eleven thousand are signed up to attend in New York City. Folks will protest in Boise, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Raleigh, Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, and other municipalities throughout the U.S. And this week, the movement got a new champion and 23 new targets for ire. The champion is Represenative Bill Pascrell, who sits on the Ways and Means Committee. He found that a rarely invoked 1924 law could be used to examine President Donald Trump's tax returns for possible conflicts of interest and Constitutional violations, USA Today reported. The 1924 law gives congressional committees that set tax policy the power to examine tax returns. It was used in 1974 when Congress looked at President Richard Nixon's returns, and in 2014 when the Ways and Means Committee released confidential tax information as part of its investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's handling of applications for nonprofit status. Recommended: Are Deep-State Leakers Defending Democracy or Corroding It? This prompted Democrats on the committee to introduce an amendment Tuesday that wouldve triggered a request for the tax returns to the Treasury Department. Unless this amendment is adopted, we will never see the president's tax returns while he's in office, Representative Sander Levin told his Republican colleagues. Before you stonewall this, I urge you to think twice. You'll only keep the issue alive. Story continues Last year, after some of Trumps worrying foreign conflicts were exposed, I argued that Congress cannot fulfill its constitutional duty to check and balance the next president, or provide adequate oversight of the federal agencies he presides over, without a full, accurate understanding of his business holdings and debts. I urged Americans to tell their representatives that they favor an exhaustive inquiry into Trumps finances to determine exactly where his interests and ours diverge. The amendment was rejected on a party-line vote by these 23 Republicans (the ones with asterisks next to their names represent relatively competitive districts; the others are thought to be in safe seats for the GOP, and only vulnerable in primaries): The vote could come back to haunt these legislators if the tax returns eventually come to light and reveal something that American voters feel they shouldve known, especially given the weak rationale offered by Republicans in defense of the vote. Recommended: What Will It Take for Republicans to Finally Act? If Congress begins to use its powers to rummage around in the tax returns of the president, what prevents Congress from doing the same to average Americans? House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told reporters, according to CNBC. Privacy and civil liberties are still important rights in this country, and the Ways and Means Committee is not going to start to weaken them. This strikes me as wildly unpersuasive. First, the law was reportedly used decades ago in the special case of a corrupt president and no slippery slope seems to have been stepped on. Second, a bright-line question easily presents itself to keep Ways and Means off that slope: Do we have a Constitutional responsibility to check, balance, and oversee the person whose tax return we are requesting? That ought to be sufficient to protect average Americans. Third, how many average Americans would even care if Ways and Means pulled their tax return, which consists of information theyre already forced to give the federal government? Fourth, there are about six dozen steps congressional Republicans could take to end privacy abrogations that are orders of magnitude more intrusive than a remote threat of a future Congress voting to look at ones tax returns! Take ending the NSA program that collects details on the private communications of almost everyone. The president of the United States is the most powerful person in the world. For that reason alone, he or she has the least expectation of privacy of any American citizen. Tax returns are documents that every modern president has released to the public. And financial ties and relationships bear directly on Trumps official duties, particularly due to his failure to fully divest himself from his businesses. Meanwhile, multiple allies of the president have suspicious ties to a foreign government. Given all that context, it is obscene for members of Congress to eschew a lawful way to examine the presidents tax returns and make sure that he isnt selling out America. They should be judged harshly by voters and history alike. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports The Packers ruled out linebacker De'Vondre Campbell (knee) after he missed practice all week. That leaves rookie Quay Walker to wear the communication helmet on defense against the Lions. The only game Campbell has missed the past six seasons was Week 18 last season when he was inactive to rest for the postseason, not for [more] KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Taliban insurgents attacked a village in northern Faryab province on Wednesday, killing five members of the local police force, an Afghan security official said. Karim Yuresh, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said After a surprise early morning attack, the Taliban gained control of the village, located in the Shirin Tagab district, he added. Five insurgents were also killed and two others were wounded in the battle. Qari Yusouf Ahamdi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack. In neighboring Jawzjan province, insurgents abducted about 50 local farmers in Darzab district. Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the tribal elders are trying to secure their release. He added that the motive behind the kidnapping isn't yet clear. The Taliban have not made any statements on the abducted farmers. In another report, three people an Afghan army soldier and two civilians were killed in two separate attacks in eastern Laghman province, according to Sarhadi Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor. First, a roadside bomb against an army convoy killed one and wounded seven soldiers in Alishing district, said Zwak. Two civilians were killed in the same district when a rocket fired and struck a civilian house, he added. From Popular Mechanics Earlier today there were a rash of predictions that the Air Force's secret space plane would be returning to Earth today. Multiple signs, including orbital maneuvers spotted by ground observers and a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) notice warning pilots to stay out of the Kennedy Space Center, hinted that the bird might be coming home. But since then the Air Force has denied the unmanned plane is coming home, at least today anyway. "The X-37 is still on-orbit," said Capt. Annmarie Annicelli, an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon told Florida Today. "The program is conducting a regularly scheduled exercise this week." A miniature, reusable space plane just thirty feet long, the X-37B has been in space for 636 days, a long voyage that is quickly becoming typical for the craft. What we still don't know is, what exactly it is doing up there? There are two X-37B spaceplanes, and they are launched from U.S. Air Force Atlas 5 launch vehicles. Similar to the old Space Shuttle in appearance, the X-37B is just one quarter the size. Unmanned, it lacks a crew and life support systems. A cockpit and windows aren't necessary, either, giving the craft a bullet-with-wings profile. Like the space shuttle, the X-37B has double doors that conceal a payload bay, in this case one the size of a pickup truck bed. While the original crewed Shuttle could stay aloft for just 17 days, the unmanned X-37B typically stays in orbit for hundreds of days. The current mission, OTV-4, flies high over some interesting places including Iran, North Korea, and China. That's probably not a coincidence, and leads to speculation that the spacecraft is doing so-called intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance work, training cameras, radars, and other spying devices on the ground below. The X-37B is probably more flexible than existing spy satellites, as it can return to Earth and have its payload swapped out at any time. Story continues Other possible roles recently floated by experts consulted by Air & Space Magazine include the idea that X-37B is a testing platform for spaceplane technologies including autonomous flight; a proof-of-concept test that might lead to a larger, manned craft; a temporary communications satellite over a particularly important area or testing future satellite technologies. Given that previous missions have lasted hundreds of days, it seems possible the X-37B is carrying out multiple roles. Previous missions have been 224 days, 469 days, and 674 days long, so this isn't even the longest mission by far. The Air Force isn't in the business of setting records. OTV-4 will come home whenever its mission is over...whatever that is. You Might Also Like Westby City Council spent an hour listening to comments regarding its Jan. 17 decision to go against a Jan. 4 planning commission recommendation which would have allowed Westby business owner Joanne Kjome to apply for a conditional use permit to continue adopting cats out of her downtown antique/resale shop. At the Jan. 17 meeting, the council split down the middle denying its approval of the planning commission recommendation with three aye votes (Brad Mashak, Lyle Lund, Russell Haakenson) and three nay votes (Bob Von Ruden, Mark Hendrickson, Rick Rognstad). The split board left Mayor Danny Helgerson casting the tie breaking vote. If the city had approved the planning commission recommendation and Kjome received a conditional use permit to continue to operate a cat adoption center in her downtown business, a longstanding city ordinance covering the heart of the business district would have needed to be amended. The B1 district ordinance currently has no allowances for such an animal-related service in that portion of the city. Helgersons nay vote prevented any further action regarding Kjomes request for a conditional use permit or any zoning ordinance amendment in the B1 district at this time. Instead, Kjome who was given until Feb. 28 to shut down the cat adoption center located on the second floor of the two story Main Street business, which is in violation of the present city ordinance allowances. Approximately 20 people showed up at the Feb. 7 monthly meeting in support of Kjome and Westby Mayor Danny Helgerson allowed anyone wishing to speak the chance to do so during the public participation portion of the meeting. First to speak was Erika Wilson, of Gays Mills, who on Jan. 24 after learning about Kjomes situation, posted an online petition that received more than 19,000 worldwide signatures (1,693 Wisconsin votes) supporting Kjomes cat adoption center. The petition also requested that the Westby City Council reconsider denial and instead allow Kjome to continue operating the cat adoption lounge inside her Treasures on Main business. Wilson said the business costs the city nothing to operate and brings people into the city, making it something the council should value. She said ordinances are only guidelines and asked the city to find compromise with so many people looking at what is happening in Westby right now. You have a chance to turn this into something fantastic. The cat lounge is part of Westbys small town charm and ethics and doesnt go against any of the city goals, Wilson said. Marie Glover, who operates Tabby Town cat rescue near Westby said she is at her wits end with anywhere from 50-100 cats to care for all the time. Since she and her husband, Ted, opened there cat rescue business they have spayed approximately 3,000 cats and requests for them to take in more cats never stop coming. Glover said to shut down the cat lounge in Westby would only lead to a feral cat problem, worse than the one that already exists in almost every small town. Connie Wilson, a board member for CASA (Crawford Area Shelter for Animals) said nothing that the CASA shelter has been able to do in regards to adopting out cats has been as successful as Kjomes cat adoption lounge. Since opening the cat lounge two years ago Kjome said the adoption of cats has grown from approximately 15 a year to 50 a year. Wilson asked why the city council would not want to continue something that has proven itself to be so successful and a clear draw to the community. Helgerson said Kjomes success or failure in adopting out cats is not the issue, but the location of the adoption center in the B1 district, which doesnt have an ordinance allowance for such a program is the problem. He said the city is bound by its zoning ordinances and they simply voted to uphold them. Vernon County Board of Supervisors member Karen Dahl said ordinances are laws, but exceptions are allowed. She said Westby is a gem of a community and it is unique because of its quirks. She encouraged the city council to take a second look. Helgerson said the city ordinances are a standard format used by many surrounding communities, which also do not allow for places like a cat adoption center in the heart of the business district. Alderman Bob Von Ruden said since an article regarding this issue came out in the Westby Times, that he has heard from a number of people in his ward and they all backed the councils decision. Things heated up when Ted Glover said he knows Kjome and she will move her business out of the city if they dont start looking at ways to make the cat adoption center work. City of Westby Attorney David Abt made it clear that the city council is following the black letter of the law and doing what is in the best interest of all its residents and businesses. It was also noted that the vast majority of people at the meeting were not residents in the city. Kjome fired back that the city should never have taken her money to hold a planning commission meeting if they had no intention of ever allowing her a conditional use permit or ever amending its ordinance. Helgerson said he has spent a lot of time researching this since the planning commission meeting last month and has learned plenty from the Wisconsin League of Municipalities. Westby Section 13-1-48 B1 Central Business District ordinance is intended to provide an area for the business, financial, professional and commercial needs of the community, especially those which can be most suitably located in a compact and centrally located business district. There are 51 permitted uses for B1 district businesses and 14 conditional use allowances in the city ordinance book, none of which includes operating an animal adoption center. A complete copy of the city zoning ordinance or the League of Municipality conditional use permit allowances, referred to by Helgerson, can be found at Westby City Hall. Helgerson said the city council will not be revisiting its Jan. 17 decision, nor will they be extending its Feb. 28 deadline requiring Kjome to have all 12 of the remaining cats in her adoption room adopted out or removed from the B1 district in downtown Westby. The next city council meeting is 6 p.m. on Feb. 21. By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) suspended licenses on all oil and gas well facilities and pipelines belonging to Lexin Resources Ltd on Wednesday, nearly doubling the number of orphaned wells in Canada's main crude-producing province. The provincial regulator ordered privately-held Lexin to cease all production, saying it failed to comply with multiple orders and lacked enough staff to manage its more than 1,600 sites. Calgary-based Lexin also owes more than C$1 million to Alberta's orphan fund and more than C$70 million in security for its obligations to clean up its oil and gas facilities at the end of their producing life. "The closure order is the result of a year of trying to work with the company to come into compliance," said AER spokeswoman Cara Tobin. "With the number of non-compliances and the debt that was owed we felt it was important to take these steps." Lexin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alberta's Orphan Well Association (OWA) is responsible for cleaning up wells that have no owners financially able to deal with abandonment and decommissioning costs. It is overseen by the AER and funded by levies from the oil and gas industry. The enforcement action by the regulator means the 1,380 wells belonging to Lexin are now in the care and custody of the OWA, taking the total numbers of ownerless wells in Alberta to 2,970. Tobin said that at this time there is no abandonment order on Lexin's wells, and she did not have any estimate of how much crude Lexin had been producing because the company stopped reporting output last summer. Brad Herald, chairman of the OWA, said he expects a number of Lexin's wells that are commercially viable will eventually be bought by other companies, but that process could take up to six months. "This is quite an unusual situation," Herald said, adding that normally wells came to the OWA via a court appointed receiver process following a company going bankrupt. There are 1,590 other orphan wells in Alberta that are awaiting abandonment and clean-up, an issue that prompted the Alberta government in the past to say it could ask the federal government for help in covering the costs. Fully reclaiming a disused oil well can cost between C$60,000 and C$300,000 depending on factors including well depth and location. (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Tom Brown) By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Almost 56,000 U.S. bridges are structurally deficient, down slightly from a year ago, with underperforming spans including New York's landmark Brooklyn Bridge, accord to a construction industry report released on Wednesday. About 1,900 structurally deficient bridges are on interstate highways and vehicles cross underperforming U.S. spans 185 million times a day, the analysis of federal data by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association found. Rebuilding U.S. infrastructure, including bridges, was a campaign promise of Republican President Donald Trump, who has backed a $1 trillion infrastructure plan over a decade. The U.S. highway system "is outdated, overused, underfunded and in desperate need of modernization," Alison Premo Black, the association's chief economist, said in a statement. The group's report was based on an analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportations 2016 National Bridge Inventory. The builders' group said 55,710 bridges, or about 9 percent of U.S. spans, were structurally deficient, a share that is down 0.5 percent from a 2015 bridge report. "While these bridges may not be imminently unsafe, they are in need of attention," the group said. Of the most-traveled underperforming bridges, the top 14 are in California. No. 1 is the Interstate 110 bridge over Los Angeles County's Dominguez Channel, which vehicles cross 274,000 times a day. State estimates put the cost of repairing underperforming U.S. bridges at more than $700 billion, Black said in a telephone interview. "I'd say that's conservative," she added. A bridge is classified structurally deficient if one or more of the key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure or substructure, is in "poor" or worse condition. The Brooklyn Bridge, a New York suspension bridge built in 1883, is among the state's most-traveled underperforming spans. The landmark structure crossing New York's East River is listed as an urban freeway or expressway with 134,000 daily crossings. Story continues Among states, Iowa had the most structurally deficient bridges, at 4,968. Nevada had the fewest, at 31. At least 15 percent of bridges in eight states fell in the underperforming category, with Rhode Island heading the list with a quarter structurally deficient. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Andrew Hay) In February of 2015, Israels ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, was going through a rough period. Amid a contentious election in Israel, the Obama administration accused him of conspiring with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to arrange an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a controversial speech on Obamas diplomatic outreach to Iran before both houses of Congress, only 14 days before Israelis were set to go to the polls. Administration officials claimed that Dermer knew for two weeks that then-Speaker of the House John Boehner had invited Netanyahu to give a speech on this issue, yet didnt share the information with anyone in the administration, leading to a situation in which they learned about it from the media. Democratic members of Congress lined up to boycott Netanyahus speech, and the Israeli opposition, capitalizing on the mess to improve its election prospects, blamed Dermer and Netanyahu for damaging the U.S.-Israel relationship. Recommended: Scenes From the 2017 Westminster Dog Show As these events unfolded, rumors began circulating in the halls of the Knesset that Dermer was not long for Washington. Whatever happens in the election, one Likud minister told me at the time, I dont see how Dermer can stay the ambassador after everything that's happened. The notion that Dermer had become persona non grata in the Obama White House and a partisan actor in the eyes of many Democrats prevailed, despite constant denials from the Israeli Embassy. Perhaps the only person in the Israeli government who refused to accept it was Netanyahu. Ron is an excellent ambassador. I see no reason to end his term in Washington, he said at the time. Netanyahu went on to win the election, and stayed true to his word: Dermer remained his man in Washington, and there are no signs that hell be leaving any time soon. Story continues When Netanyahu arrives at the White House for his first meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, even some of his strongest critics will agree that, at least for now, his bet on Dermer paid off. In a town where every foreign diplomat is scrambling to gain access to Trumps inner circle, Dermer, according to recent reports, has already developed a close relationship with senior members of the Trump White Housemost notably Jared Kushner, the presidents Jewish son-in-law and senior adviser. Dermer also met with members of Trumps transition team at Trump Tower in Manhattan just days after the election, and also participated in Trumps meeting with the head of Israels Mossad agency in December. Dan Meridor, a former senior Cabinet member in two of Netanyahus governments, told me that he did not like the confrontational approach of Netanyahu and Dermer toward President Obamabut that now, with Trump in power, Netanyahu might need Dermer, whom he considers brilliant, more than ever. This is an unexpected administration. No one knows what their plans are and how they want to execute them. So obviously, having access to his senior advisers is something that any leader would like to have right now, Meridor said. But he also added a note of caution. I've seen reports saying he is very close to Jared Kushner. In any other administration, Id immediately tell you thats a great thing. With this administration, its harder to tell, because its not clear which people truly have the most influence, he said. Recommended: Why Flynn's Resignation Matters Still, an open line to Kushner is better than what many of Dermers colleagues currently enjoy, four weeks into the Trump administration. As a veteran ambassador that enjoys the trust of Israels prime minister and the close circle of the president, I would anticipate that he will play a pivotal role in building a strong, rich dialogue between the two administrations, Josh Block, the CEO of The Israel Project, a pro-Israel organization based in Washington, told me. Indeed, Netanyahu seems to trust Dermer blindly. When the Israeli Cabinet convened last week to discuss a controversial piece of legislation to retroactively legalize illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank, Netanyahu told the ministers present that he doesnt want to make any decisions before he has a chance to speak about the matter with Dermer. Dermer grew up in a Jewish family in Miami Beach, Florida, where his father, a Democrat, was mayor in the late 1960s. He immigrated to Israel in the 1990s, and became involved in politics almost immediately. His first boss was Natan Sharansky, the famous Jewish dissident who fought for Soviet Jews right to immigrate to Israel. While working with Sharansky, Dermer was introduced to Netanyahu. Then, when Netanyahu was finance minister under Ariel Sharon, he appointed Dermer to serve as economic envoy at the Israeli embassy in Washingtonan appointment for which Dermer had to give up his U.S. citizenship. Recommended: The 2017 Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest After three years in Washington, Dermer returned to Israel, just in time to become Netanyahu's senior policy adviser in the lead-up to Israels 2009 election. Netanyahu won, and Dermer, just over a decade after immigrating to the country, became his most-influential adviser. In that capacity, Dermer spent considerable time working with the Obama administration, and was involved in many of the diplomatic clashes between Israel and the United States. Headlines about tensions between him and members of Obamas team began appearing as soon as 2009, and while some were exaggerated (People in Bibis office were making up stuff and leaking it to the press in order damage colleagues they wanted to get rid of, one former senior U.S. official told me), they created the impression that Dermer was constantly fighting with the administration. According to an Israeli embassy official, that impression wasn't always true. Dermer worked closely with White House officials throughout the entire [Obama] term, the official told me. The official noted that in January 2016 President Obama, in an unprecedented gesture, attended a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, less than a year after Netanyahus speech to Congress. The official also added that top administration officials like Joe Biden and Susan Rice attended the embassys Israeli Independence Day receptions. Dermer also played a key role in convincing Netanyahu to extend a gesture of goodwill to Obama during his March 2013 visit to Israel, by agreeing to apologize to Turkish President Erdogan for an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla that tried to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. Senior members of the Obama administration appreciated Dermers push for this gesture to take place during the visit. And yet, many saw Netanyahus appointment of Dermer to serve as his ambassador to Washington in late 2013 as a sign that he was preparing for a confrontation: Dermer was seen by many liberal and left-leaning American Jews as affiliated with neo-conservative Republicans, who were highly critical of Obamas foreign policy. Bibi always needs an external enemy to fight against, it's part of his way of conducting politics, explained one former senior Israeli official, who worked closely with Netanyahu for more than a decade. When he sent Ron to Washington, it was clear that he was getting ready for a big fight with Obama. The controversy over Netanyahus speech to Congress was the low point of Dermers relationship with the Obama administration. Dermer, like Netanyahu, seems to feel no regrets: He believed it was the prime ministers duty to speak up on the dangers posed by Iran, and has rejected accusations that it was all part of a political ploy meant to boost Netanyahus standing ahead of the Israeli election. Robert Danin, a former U.S. diplomat who worked with Dermer in Jerusalem when the latter served as Netanyahus political adviser, said that both men seem to believe that Israel is being unfairly piled on by a hypocritical world, and that it must stand up for itself. They don't think about it in terms of hasbara [the Hebrew word for explaining, used by Israelis to describe attempts to better explain Israel's positions and complexities to the rest of the world], but as a national security issue, almost an existential one. [They think] Israel is involved in a war of ideas, requiring it to speak strongly against unjust critics, to help ensure the countrys survival. Dermer, like Netanyahu, seems to feel no regrets. The belief in speaking up, even at the expense of alienating allies and supporterssuch as pro-Israel Democrats who agonized over the speech in 2015has recently brought Dermer into friction with left-leaning supporters of Israel. In November 2016, after Dermers meeting with the Trump transition team, he publicly defended Trump's senior adviser Stephen Bannon, who has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks. One month later, Dermer accepted an award from the Center for Security Policy, a right-wing think-tank that has been accused of racism and Islamophobia by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dermer lashed out against those accusations in his speech and offered a strong defense of the Centers founder, Frank Gaffney, just like he did for Bannon. One public figure with staunch pro-Israel views told me that by making these statements, Dermer gave legitimacy to people who hate some of Israel's best friends in this country. The downside, and danger, of such an approach, is the effect it could have on Israel's relationship with the Democratic party going forward. The most urgent task for an Israeli ambassador in the U.S. right now is to preserve bipartisan support for our country, Danny Ayalon, Israels ambassador to Washington from 2002 to 2006, told me. It's not an easy task, when the entire political system in the United States is drifting towards extreme partisanship. Its something that will require caution and calculation at every step of the way. People close to Dermer like to emphasize that he enjoys good working relationships with many prominent Democrats in Washington, and that he regularly sits with Democratic members of Congress, just as he does with Republican ones. Yet even senior Israeli officials acknowledge that the battles of the last eight years have created a rift between Israel and large parts of the Democratic Partya rift that Dermer must be careful not to widen further, as he works to create a close working relationship with Trump. Dan Shapiro, who until recently was the U.S. ambassador to Israel, told me that he has conveyed a similar message to Dermer. As a friend, I've advised him that one of his big challenges will be, while working closely with the Trump administration, to maintain Israel as a point of bipartisan consensus and to be attentive to progressive communities who aren't going anywhere and who Israel will need in the future. It's going to take a lot of effort to strike that balance. In other words: Even if Dermer indeed becomes a favorite of the Donald Trump White House, it would be wise of him not to forget that unlike him and his boss, many supporters of Israel in the U.S. are currently longing for Barack Obama. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. The "birth plan" of an ancient Nessie look-alike didn't involve laying a giant egg, but rather delivering a live baby sea monster, a new study finds. Until now, researchers had thought that the fearsome marine reptile known as Dinocephalosaurus laid eggs, just as birds and crocodiles (its distant relatives) do. But the discovery of the remains of a pregnant, 245-million-year-oldDinocephalosaurus specimen in a Chinese fossil deposit indicates that the reptile gave live birth, the researchers said. "This is the first-ever evidence of live birth in an animal group previously thought to lay eggs exclusively," said the study's lead researcher, Jun Liu, an associate professor of paleontology at the Hefei University of Technology in China. [Image Gallery: Ancient Monsters of the Sea] Researchers discovered the specimen of the pregnant Dinocephalosaurus in southwestern China's Luoping Biota National Geopark in 2008. During its lifetime in the middle Triassic period, the 13-foot-long (4 meters) marine reptile would have swum throughout the shallow seas of ancient southern China. Dinocephalosaurus had a long neck and sharp teeth. "It was a fish eater, snaking its long neck from side to side to snatch its prey," Liu told Live Science. "It looks superficially like the legendary Nessie." The star marks the spot where researchers discovered the pregnant Dinocephalosaurus remains. Liu, J. et al. Nature Communications. (2017). Ancient embryo The researchers discovered a fossilized Dinocephalosaurus embryo in the mother's abdomen. The fetus was small about 12 percent of its mother's body size but large enough for scientists to discern that its anatomy (for instance, a long neck and elongated ribs) was similar to that of the adult Dinocephalosaurus, the researchers said. Still, the researchers went to great lengths to determine that the bundle of bones was, in fact, an embryo. First, they noted that the embryo was enclosed within the mother's body, which excluded the possibility that a foreign animal fell on top of her and then fossilized. Second, the embryo's neck was pointing forward. Usually, sea creatures swallow prey headfirst; the mother even had a partially digested fish, whose head was facing backward in her abdomen, the researchers noted. Story continues "The neck-forward position of the embryonic skeleton suggests that the included skeleton was not ingested prey, but was an embryo," the researchers wrote in the study. Finally, the embryo was curled in a fetal position, just like other known vertebrate embryos during development, the researchers said. Egg-laying animals typically deposit eggs holding embryos that are much less developed than the one found inside the mother Dinocephalosaurus, the research team noted. In addition, the researchers said that they did not see any evidence of an eggshell near the embryo, further supporting the idea that the Dinocephalosaurus gave live birth, they said. A diagram of the specimen, with the hot pink area showing where the embryo's remains were discovered. Liu, J. et al. Nature Communications. (2017). Reptilian evolution Dinocephalosaurus was an archosauromorph (Greek for "ruling lizard form"), a relative of the group that includes crocodiles, pterosaurs and dinosaurs, including birds. The new discovery pushes back evidence of reproductive biology in the Archosauromorpha group by 50 million years, Liu said. In addition, the discovery solves a mystery about egg laying in most archosauromorphs. Previously, researchers were unsure whether archosauromorphs had genetic or developmental barriers preventing live birth, but now they know there isn't a barrier most archosauromorphs just evolved to lay eggs, Liu said. [Photos: Ancient Pterosaur Eggs & Fossils Uncovered in China] The finding is an "extraordinary" one, and demonstrates how "evolution never really attains the optimal solution," said Kenneth Lacovara, a professor of paleontology and the dean of the School of Earth and Environment at Rowan University in New Jersey, who was not involved in the study. "It obtains the best solution possible based on the current situation." The finding shows that "egg laying in the group that spans crocodiles to birds is not a deficit of their nature," Lacovara told Live Science. "It appears to be a strength. The alternative was possible, but that was not selected for." Moreover, the fossils show that "Dinocephalosaurus determined the sex of its babies genetically," Liu said. "This is a noteworthy finding given that its closest extant [living] relatives, turtles and crocodilians, determine the sex of their offspring by environmental temperatures." Live birth (known as viviparity) has evolved independently at least 115 times in living lizards and snakes, and at least once in the common ancestor of mammals, the researchers said. However, Dinocephalosaurus is hardly the only ancient marine reptile that gave live birth; a 182-million-year-old ichthyosaur fossil shows that a mother died during a breech birth, Live Science reported previously. The new study was published online today (Feb. 14) in the journal Nature Communications. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations President Trumps streak of success in getting controversial cabinet nominees through a closely divided Senate broke on Wednesday, with the news that Andrew Puzder will remove his name from consideration for the position of Secretary of Labor. The news arrives in the midst of a tumultuous week for the new administration, which is facing calls for Congressional investigations into connections between the presidents campaign staff and Russian intelligence officials. Puzders nomination has long had a question mark hanging over it. The wealthy CEO of the CKE fast food restaurant chain, Puzder was very slow to submit his financial disclosure forms and other documents necessary for an ethics screening. He also faced severe criticism from both sides of the aisle in Congress for various positions he has taken over the years. Related: 4-Star General Warns of Unbelievable Turmoil in Trumps White House Democrats wanted to block Puzder because they saw his nomination to head the Labor Department as an insult to workers. Puzder is anti-union and has called for the abolition of minimum wage laws, positions Democrats saw as antithetical to the Labor Departments mission To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. Many Republicans were baffled by the choice because of Puzders history of advocating immigration reforms that would make it easier for low-skilled people from other countries to enter the US legally and find work. Trump had campaigned on a stridently anti-immigrant platform, promising to build a wall on the Mexican border and to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. In recent days, allegations of spousal abuse that arose in a divorce proceeding decades ago were raised after former television host Oprah Winfrey provided members of Congress with a recording of an interview with Puzders ex-wife in which she made claims of physical abuse. Story continues Related: Can Trump Deliver 4% Growth? Why Most Economists Say Not This Year The decision to pull out of the nomination process came as Puzder was approaching his long-delayed Senate confirmation hearing. A source told CBS News that the nominee was very tired of the abuse. His departure deprives Trump of a Labor Department chief who shares his unique views about the way employment is measured in the US, but who was rapidly losing support from Congressional Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly told the administration on Wednesday that he did not believe Puzder had the votes to be confirmed by the whole Senate because as many as seven Republicans were planning to vote against him. Under normal circumstances, the defeat of a cabinet nominee would be a major blow to a new presidential administration. But the way things have been going for the Trump White House in the last 48 hours, theres a non-trivial chance that the failure of the Puzder nomination feels less like a defeat than a welcome distraction. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: By John Irish BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will meet on Friday for the first time since Donald Trump's U.S. administration took office, to seek common ground ahead of U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva next week. The talks on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers meeting come as Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, is in his strongest position since the early days of the civil war, and as Trump's policy on Syria remains unclear. "It's urgent to meet to see whether all the like-minded countries are on the same page," said a senior French diplomatic source. "It's a chance to get everyone pushing in the same direction before the Geneva talks." He said the meeting between the United States, France, Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia and others would be the first opportunity to "test" U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's position on Syria and how that fitted into the new administration's thinking on defeating Islamist militants. A second European diplomat said it was unclear to what extent Tillerson represented the views of Trump himself. "On the fight against Islamic State, we're comforted, but the question remains what will be the relationship with Russia? The Americans will gradually realize that everything is linked and that the fight against Islamic State and an alliance with Moscow also implies choices in the region and a long-term vision," the first source said. "You can't just do a grand deal with Moscow and hope things will be resolved." Turkey, which has been a major supporter of the rebellion against Assad, has, with Russia and Iran, brokered a shaky ceasefire. "It's also urgent that we see where Turkey stands in light of the newfound proximity with Russia and Iran," the source said, adding that it would be vital to assess how Gulf Arab Sunni states Saudi Arabia and Qatar - opposed to Assad - saw the conflict after "pulling back a little". (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Berlin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) If North Korean agents are responsible for the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, it would be the latest in a long line of targeted killings by the isolated state. Kim, whose younger brother Kim Jong-Un has ruled North Korea since the death of their father in December 2011, died after reportedly being poisoned by two female agents at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday. Here are some other fatal attacks carried out by North Korea on foreign territory. - 1968 Blue House assault - At the height of the Cold War, a team of 31 commandos were sent from Pyongyang to assassinate then South Korean president Park Chung-Hee. They were stopped some 100 meters (330 feet) away from the presidential Blue House. Gunfights erupted and more than 90 South Koreans were killed including many civilians on a bus. Only two of the 31 commandos survived, one fled to the North and one was captured. - 1974 presidential attempt - In 1974, Park, late father of the current South Korean president Park Geun-Hye, survived another assassination attempt. A pro-Pyongyang Korean living in Japan, Mun Se-Gwang, opened fire with a revolver while Park was delivering a speech. He missed Park but killed Park's wife Yuk Young-Soo. Mun was executed that year. - 1983 Myanmar - North Korean undercover agents killed 21 people, including four South Korean cabinet ministers in a bomb attack in Yangon. A timed device planted under the roof of the city's Martyr's Mausoleum was intended to kill then South Korean president Chun Doo-Hwan. It exploded before the president arrived, but his entourage was badly hit. Three North Korean agents fled the scene, one was killed and two others were captured by Burmese authorities. - 1987 Korean Air - A South Korean plane flying from Baghdad to Seoul exploded over the Andaman Sea. All 115 people on board were killed. The two bombers were traced to Bahrain where a male agent committed suicide by biting a cyanide capsule hidden in a cigarette as they were about to be taken into custody. Story continues The other agent, Kim Hyon-Hee, was captured and brought to Seoul. She later confessed her attack had been aimed to hamper the 1988 Seoul summer Olympics. She was sentenced to death but later pardoned. - 1996 diplomat killing - South Korean diplomat Choi Duk-Keun was found bludgeoned to death in Vladivostok in 1996 in what South Korean media said was revenge for the death of 25 North Korean submariners who died when their vessel ran aground in the South during an infiltration attempt. - 1997 family affair - Yi Han-Yong, a nephew of Jong-Nam's mother Sung Hye-Rim, was fatally shot in 1997 outside his home. The two assailants were never caught. Yi had been living in the South since his 1982 defection, where he had published his memoir revealing details of the Kims' private lives. That book was believed to have been the trigger for the assassination. Today in 5 Lines White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the eroding level of trust between the president and his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, drove Trump to ask for Flynns resignationan account that differs from those of White House reporters. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said its highly likely that the Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate Flynns talks with the Russian ambassador. Officials said F.B.I. agents interviewed Flynn shortly after Trump took office. The Office of Government Ethics issued a letter urging the White House to investigate Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to Trump, and consider taking disciplinary action against her for endorsing Ivanka Trumps label. And Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, asked White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to provide more information on widespread reports that sensitive information may have been shared or discussed in a common area at Mar-a-Lago by Trump over the weekend. Recommended: Are Deep-State Leakers Defending Democracy or Corroding It? Today on The Atlantic Who Knew What, and When?: Krishnadev Calamur recaps key events leading up to the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. A Ship Without a Captain: Michael Flynns resignation calls attention to problems within Donald Trumps National Security Council whose success depends critically on the ability of a competent staff working directly for the president to orchestrate it. (Eliot A. Cohen) No Time to Waste: Donald Trumps Cabinet, while growing, still has too many empty seats. Andrew McGill illustrates how Trumps Cabinet compares with his predecessors after the same amount of time in office. Follow stories throughout the day with our Politics & Policy portal. Snapshot Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed will likely need to raise interest rates at an upcoming meeting. Joshua Roberts / Reuters Recommended: These 23 Republicans Passed on a Chance to Get Trump's Tax Returns Story continues What Were Reading A New Normal: The Washington Post reports that White House aides, concerned about a potential staff shake-up, are trying to avoid appearing weak or low energy. (Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker) The Political Assassination of Michael Flynn: The White House claims that Trump asked for his national-security advisers resignation because he misled the administration. But, writes Bloombergs Eli Lake, a better explanation here is that Flynn was just thrown under the bus. Facing Reality: Sarah Kliff spoke with people who struck out on their ownleft a job, started a business, went back to schoolafter the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Now, that career freedom is threatened as the law faces an uncertain future under the Trump administration. (Vox) On the Downlow: While the Trump administrations daily activities take up the national spotlight, Congress has been getting to work. Not on big-ticket campaign promises, but a hand-picked collection of discrete measures aimed at dismantling Obama-era regulations. (Lisa Mascaro, The Los Angeles Times) The Dog Who Caught the Car?: For years, Obamacare repeal has been a winning Republican messagean indictment of its polarizing namesake, of big-spending Democrats and of the boogeyman of creeping socialism all rolled into one. But how will Republicans do itand will Trump support them? (Robert Draper, The New York Times Magazine) Recommended: What Will It Take for Republicans to Finally Act? Visualized In Spicers House: The White House press secretary has upended some of the longstanding traditions of the daily press briefings. Take a look at these graphics to learn how the process has changed. (Larry Buchanan and Karen Yourish, The New York Times) Question of the Week On Monday, February 20, well celebrate Presidents Day. This week, wed like to know: What U.S. president do you admire mostand why? Send your answers to hello@theatlantic.com, and our favorites will be featured in Fridays Politics & Policy Daily. -Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) and Candice Norwood (@cjnorwoodwrites) Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. On Sunday, Feb. 26, the Friends of the Library, in conjunction with the Fine Arts Foundation of the Westby Area, will be hosting their annual Arts in the Library. For the past six years, the organizations have joined forces to showcase local artists from the Westby and surrounding area. The theme for this years event, Norwegian Arts, will highlight a multitude of very talented professional and hobby artists that specialize in the many ways that art founded in Norwegian heritage can be expressed. Painting, such as rosemaling, needlework, such as hardanger, acanthus and figure carving, Norwegian knit jewelry and metal smithing are just some of the craftsmanship that will be on display. There will also be bunads exhibited so that visitors can get an up-close look at the remarkable stitching of the beautiful Norwegian traditional costume. True bunads are considered to be works of art and are not allowed to leave the country of Norway. There is also an art to creating excellent wines and cheeses that visitors will be able to taste while attending the event. Samples of award-winning Branches Winery wines and Westby Creamery cheeses will be featured refreshments offered during the event. Wine will be served by licensed persons and non-alcoholic beverages will be available. No person under 21 years of age will be allowed to sample wine. In addition to the visual arts, live music will be provided by Susan Sweet Frank and Bob Hill. Susan majored in flute at the Eastman School of Music at Northwestern University. She has played as the principle flutist with the Chicago Festival Orchestra and has taught flute at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. She has also performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and recorded with several artists. Susan moved to the Driftless Region from the Twin Cities five years ago. Her repertoire includes both classical and improvisational styles of music. Frank exercises her vocal talents by singing with the Ridgetones. Hill is primarily a guitarist but very much enjoys playing the bass when the opportunity arises. He has no formal musical training and is self-taught by playing with a wide variety of artists in many diverse situations. Hills repertoire includes foundational jazz chording with a flat finger technique. He has provided material and performed on recording projects, and looks forward to recording again as soon as possible. He came to this area from Kansas City about nine years ago. The Friends of the Library was organized in 2011 to support the mission of the Bekkum Memorial Library. The Fine Arts Foundation (FAFWA) has conducted a successful campaign to bring a performing arts center to Westby. Both organizations promote the importance of the vitality of a strong library and an extensive arts presence in the Westby community. Arts in the Library will be held at Bekkum Memorial Library, 206 N. Main St., Westby, Sunday, Feb. 26, from 4 until 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public but donations to Friends of the Library and FAFWA are appreciated. For more information, call library director Cindy Brown at 608-634-4419. Editors note: As of this publication date, Tip Bagstad, Paula Ekern, Karen Hankee, Verda Lund, Sarah Nestingen, Adam Oldre, Ann Karen Gronbeck-Peterson, John Sutton and Patsy Vork are among the artists whose works will be on display, with more expected to participate. The doctors told Tamara Milby her newborn would not live beyond a year, and in that short span, she would neither walk nor talk. Little Paige emerged from the womb with skin the color of a boiled lobster. There was a thick, white build-up of skin covering her nose and upper lip. Read: Baby Born with 'Worst Disease You've Never Heard Of' Has Lost 60 Percent of His Skin The 21-year-old mother had no idea what was wrong with her child, and the medical staff delivering her baby didnt either. Paige was rushed to a childrens hospital in Louisville, Ky., where physicians diagnosed her with lamellar ichthyosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes her skin to form scales and peel in alarming amounts. There is no cure, the doctors said. They said she wouldnt walk, she wouldnt talk and she wouldnt live past a year, the mother told InsideEdition.com Wednesday. She is now 15 months old. Shes walking and talking and running and getting into everything you can imagine, Milby said. Paige defied the doctors predictions because her mother and grandmother refused to believe them. Me and mom decided thats just not going to happen, said Tamara. We said, 'Maybe if we did physical therapy with her, and moved her arms and legs and flexed her muscles and kept her moisturized as much as possible, maybe it will help. Apparently it has, but it has not been easy. At 12 days old, Paige had to undergo surgery to sew her eyes shut. She had no eyelids, which meant her eyes were unprotected and had no moisture. She still needs eye drops every two to four hours, but her vision appears to be fine, her mother said. Read: Teen with Brittle Bone Disease Delivers Rousing Rendition of National Anthem Paige cannot hear because her skin peels off inside her ears and piles up. She undergoes surgery every six months to remove the dead tissue. Story continues The baby is bathed twice a day to wash off her shedding skin and she is slathered in Vaseline and lotions. Tamara says she doesnt take her child out in public because people have been known to stare and say horrible things. "My mom took her to Walmart once and a woman made some comments that momma didnt like. She accused us of burning her. It was pretty bad. My mom just left." Paige is perfectly normal in the eyes of her mother and grandmother. Tamara is considering home-schooling her daughter, "so she wont be made fun of." "Its a hard road" her mother said. "Its been real hard road." Watch: Strangers Raise $100,000 for Boy with Rare Skin Disease Related Articles: Baghdad (AFP) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle in a Shiite majority neighbourhood of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least nine people, an interior ministry official said. Thirty others were wounded in the explosion in the Habibiya area, near the vast district of Sadr City in northern Baghdad, the official said. A hospital official and a colonel in the Baghdad police confirmed the toll from the blast, which struck in an area where many car dealerships are found. On Tuesday a car bomb explosion in southern Baghdad killed at least four people, according to the same sources. The Iraqi capital was rocked by a wave of deadly suicide bombings during the first days of 2017 but relatively few explosions had been reported since. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's blast but nearly all suicide attacks are claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, which is defending its last major Iraqi bastion of Mosul against a massive, four-month-old operation by the security forces. Memphis (AFP) - Darian King of Barbados won his opening match at the Memphis Open, surprising fifth seeded Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-4 to become the first player from his country to win an ATP Tour match. This was uncharted territory for King who is also the first player from Barbados in the 41-year history of the tournament. King, who had to go through the qualifying rounds to get into the tournament, is making just his second appearance in the main draw of an ATP Tour event. He hammered four aces, won 75 percent of his second-serve points and had no double faults in Tuesday's 66 minute match between the two 24-year olds. King, who is ranked 140th in the world, said it was a "dream come true." "Playing against Bernard, the No. 5 seed is a dream come true," King said. "The discipline in Barbados is not as big so to come from there and compete against these guys, its a lot of progress. I'm glad to get my first ATP win. "I played at least three years in Futures against college guys and Americans then basically had my first breakthrough in Cali, Colombia, in a Challenger against former top 50 player Victor Estrella [Burgos]. Then I realized I can play." King booked a second round match against Steve Darcis of Belgium who beat Radu Albot 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. During his only other main draw appearance, at the 2015 Washington ATP event, King lost in the first round. Australia's Tomic had one double fault and won just half of his second serve points. Earlier this year, Tomic reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarter-finals of this event two years ago. In other first round matches Tuesday, Tomic's fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden rallied to beat Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-1 and American Ryan Harrison eased past Russian Konstantin Kravchuk 6-3, 7-5. The National Constitution Center has announced that Vice President Joe Biden has been elected Chair of the Centers Board of Trustees, succeeding Governor Jeb Bush, whose term ended in January 2016. Previous Chairs of the Centers Board of Trustees also include President Bill Clinton and President George H.W. Bush. Vice President Bidens love for the Constitution, and passion for teaching all Americans about its enduring principles, have inspired people around the world, said Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. From his service in the Senate to his time in the White House, Vice President Biden has devoted himself to educating all Americans about the founding principles of the Constitution and their timeless relevance today. The National Constitution Center is Americas leading convening place for non-partisan constitutional education and debate, and all of us here are thrilled and honored that Vice President Biden will lead us as our Chair. I am honored to chair the National Constitution Center and to succeed Governor Jeb Bush, President Bill Clinton, and President George H.W. Bush at the head of this national treasure, said Vice President Biden. The National Constitution Centers mission to teach all Americans about the great document of human freedom that unites us has never been more timely, urgently needed, and inspiring. Related Story: Biden named chair of the National Constitution Center (Philly.com) In the tradition of the Centers extraordinary leaders, Vice President Biden will help us teach Americans about the Constitutions history and enduring meaning, and about the principles of freedom that unite all Americans, said Doug DeVos, Chairman of the National Constitution Centers Executive Committee. His patriotic devotion to constitutional education has inspired Americans and we are honored that he will carry on the Centers distinguished tradition of national leadership. Story continues Once in a generation does a leader emerge with the patriotic devotion to service, reverence for our Constitution and our shared American values, and vision for educational opportunity of Vice President Joe Biden, said University of Pennsylvania President and National Constitution Center Trustee Amy Gutmann. We are all honored and excited that he will continue to provide unsurpassed expertise and a rare degree of wisdom as Chairman of the National Constitution Center. Our city, our nation, and our world stand to benefit immeasurably. Joe Biden was the 47th Vice President of the United States. On January 12, 2017, President Barack Obama awarded Vice President Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with Distinction, the nations highest civilian honor. In addition to chairing the National Constitution Center, Vice President Biden will lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagementa new center at the University of Pennsylvania focused on diplomacy, foreign policy, and national securityand he will serve as the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor at Penn. He will also serve as founding chair of the University of Delawares Biden Institute, a new research and policy center focused on developing public policy solutions on issues ranging from economic reform and environmental sustainability to civil rights, criminal justice, womens rights and more. Earlier this month, he and Dr. Jill Biden also launched the Biden Foundation, dedicated to ensuring that everyone no matter their income level, race, gender, age or sexuality gets a fair shot at achieving the American Dream. The National Constitution Center is a private, independent non-profit museum and education center located on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Chartered by Congress during the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, the Centers mission is to bring together Americans of different perspectives for constitutional education and debate. In addition to educating Americans about our founding principles, the Center plays a crucial role as a front-line responder to the constitutional debates that are emerging every day and will continue in the years to come. The cornerstone of the Centers educational efforts is the Interactive Constitution, co-hosted by the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society, which convenes the nations leading scholars from diverse perspectives to write about every clause of the U.S. Constitution. By the end of 2016, the Interactive Constitution had received nearly nine million unique visitors since its launch in September 2015, and the College Board has adopted it as a centerpiece of the new AP History and Government exams. National news outlets turn to the Center as a trusted authority to answer the constitutional questions that are arising every day. Reflecting the national hunger for constitutional conversation, the Constitution Centers web site averages 1 million viewers per month, making it the third most visited museum web site in the U.S. after the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. With Vice President Bidens leadership, the Center looks forward to continue serving America as the Museum of We the People, Americas Town Hall, and the nations leading nonpartisan center for civic education. About the National Constitution Center The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia inspires citizenship as the only place where people across America and around the world can come together to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. A private, nonprofit organization, the Center serves as Americas leading platform for constitutional education and debate, fulfilling its Congressional charter to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis. As the Museum of We the People, the Center brings the Constitution to life for visitors of all ages through interactive programs and exhibits. As Americas Town Hall, the Center brings the leading conservative and liberal thought leaders together to debate the Constitution on all media platforms. As a center for Civic Education, the Center delivers the best educational programs and online resources that inspire, excite, and engage citizens about the U.S. Constitution. The National Constitution Center has also developed the Interactive Constitution, where scholars from across the legal and philosophical spectrum interact with each other to explore the meaning of each provision of the Constitution. For Press Information Merissa Blum Chris Pigott Communications Manager DKC Communications 215.409.6645 212.981.5126 mblum@constitutioncenter.org chris_pigott@dkcnews.com Chris Hurst, the coworker and boyfriend of the Roanoke, Va., reporter who was fatally shot during a live news broadcast, has quit his anchor job to run for political office. Hurst will campaign for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, a decision he said was made to honor his slain girlfriend, Alison Parker. Her cameraman, Adam Ward, was also killed by the gunman. Im leaving my career at the station where she worked to fight for the causes she and I value the most, Hurst wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Beast. The ex-anchor will run in the Democratic primary for the 12th District seat, which is currently occupied by Republican Joseph Yost, according to NBC News. Hurst, 30, says its the best way to find purpose following the death of Parker, who he had moved in with shortly before her murder in August 2015. I started to become a shell of the person that I was because I had to numb myself in order to anchor the news, and I didnt feel that was who I wanted to be, Hurst told NBC News. I was trying to think of what can I do, where I can stay in this area where the people have given me so much help and strength when I needed it and public service is a real natural progression. Hurst admitted the career pivot will be a challenge, as he is used to remaining objective as a journalist. But he is prepared to be honest and investigate the information and gather facts and come to an objective conclusion as a politician. He said one of his main priorities will be universal background checks for guns, if elected. I think we can have healthy conversations, and the one thing I am interested in is saving lives, he told NBC, adding that he does not intend to take away firearms from properly registered citizens. Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - A Brazilian judge on Wednesday overturned a ruling that barred leading newspapers from publishing reports on an extortion attempt against President Michel Temer's wife. Folha de Sao Paulo and Globo, the country's two biggest dailies, were forced to halt publication online and in print of reports giving details of the attempted extortion last year by a man convicted of hacking Marcela Temer's cellphone. The reports reproduced chat messages between the first lady and the blackmailer who, at one point, referred to a video he said he had hacked that "drags the name of your husband in the mud." On Monday, the newspapers removed reports which the judge had ruled harmed "the inviolability of the privacy" of the hacking victim. Folha reported that another judge has now overturned the ruling. In his ruling, which was posted on the Folha website, Judge Arnoldo Camanho de Assis said that the publishing ban was "apparently unconstitutional" as "it violates the freedom which is a true pillar of the democratic rule of law." "There is no indication... that the journalistic activity on the part of (Folha) was meant to follow an irresponsible or abusive editorial line," he wrote. Folha and Globo argued that the details they wished to publish regarding Temer's wife had already become available in court documents and that their suppression in the newspapers amounted to censorship. "Those who inform have to be accountable for the relevance of what they publish. Those who feel harmed have every right to appeal to the courts," Folha said. "What is not reasonable is to censor before publication, something that should be consigned to the memory of authoritarian regimes." The hacker, Silvonei Jose de Jesus Souza, was sentenced in October of last year to five years and 11 months in prison after being convicted of trying to extort $96,000 from Marcela Temer in exchange for not publishing audio and images on her phone. BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Lower House of Congress on Wednesday approved a bill that reopens a program providing an amnesty against criminal prosecution to Brazilians holding undeclared assets abroad if they pay tax and a fine. In a 303 to 124 vote, lawmakers approved legislation that is expected to yield 13.2 billion reais ($4.32 billion) in extra revenues this year. The bill, which was changed by the lower house, will return to the Senate for final approval. The extra cash would help ease the financial strains of many states struggling to pay wages and public services while also improving the fiscal position of the federal government, which has posted three straight years of hefty budget deficits. A group of governors met in Brasilia earlier on Wednesday to call for their allies in Congress to support the legislation, whose proceeds would be shared between the federal government and states and municipalities. To avoid any legal challenges over the constitutionality of the tax rate, lawmakers raised the fine to 20.25 percent from 17.50 percent, of the undeclared assets, while lowering the tax percentage to 15 percent from 17.5 percent. "Most states and municipalities are under heavy financial stress and need this money now," said Alexandre Baldy, the congressman in charge of reviewing the legislation. Lawmakers continued to debate a controversial provision in the bill that allows relatives of elected politicians to participate in the amnesty program. In the initial program, the government collected a total of 46.8 billion reais, which helped authorities meet their primary budget deficit goal for 2016. (Reporting by Cesar Raizer and Alonso Soto; Editing by David Gregorio and Leslie Adler) Britney Spears' niece, who was seriously injured in an ATV accident earlier this month, has made her first public appearance since coming home from the hospital, distributing Valentine's Day candy at her school. Read: She's Home! Photo Shows Britney Spears' Niece Leaving Hospital Following Horrific ATV Accident The daughter of Jamie Lynn Spears, Maddie, delivered Valentine's Day treats to her classmates as she continues to recover from a horrifying off-road vehicle accident. Maddie isn't quite ready to return to school, but her doctors did clear her to bring in her Valentine's Day treats to her class. Read: Jamie Lynn Spears' Daughter Seriously Injured in ATV Accident, Was Underwater for 7 Minutes Jamie Lynn posted the news on Instagram Tuesday, saying, "It made her so happy to see her friends, and be able to give them such cute treats. It was a great moment for us after everything that has happened. "We are so thankful to celebrate Valentine's Day with the ones we love, and we don't take a second of it for granted. Watch: Report Describes Desperate Effort to Rescue Britney Spears' Niece After Horrific ATV Accident Related Articles: JACKSON, N.Y. (AP) Authorities in New York are searching for a bull that escaped a livestock auction show. WTEN-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2lNOnMC ) that the bull's owner was unloading the animal from a trailer outside a livestock barn in Cambridge when it sprinted away Tuesday night. Police say the bull was almost hit by a car in the street. Cambridge police and New York State Police are currently searching for the animal. Authorities are warning people to stay away from the bull because it's agitated. ___ Information from: WTEN-TV, http://www.wten.com The following editorial was published in the Feb. 5, 2017, La Crosse Tribune. A group of Wisconsin legislators is circulating a bill that aims to take public notices out of newspapers and put them instead on government websites a bad idea that would harm transparency, democracy and public trust. For more than two centuries, governments in this country have paid newspapers to publish public notices about the actions of government. Without a third-party, independent source providing the information, there is no accountability, no check-and-balance to make sure that government is posting all the public notices it is required by law to post. Besides, relatively few people actually use government websites compared to newspaper websites and relying exclusively on individual government websites does nothing for people who dont use computers. Most Wisconsin residents continue to rely on the printed newspaper for information about their local elected governments, as they have for decades. For those who choose not to use computers, it remains the best source. For those who use computers, theres already an invaluable resource at your fingertips. Since 2005, newspapers in Wisconsin have been digitally archiving every public notice published in every newspaper in our state every day. Today, there is a database with more than a decade worth of information posted on a website thats free to use, 24/7: www.WisconsinPublicNotices.org. Wisconsin newspapers collect that information daily, archive and maintain it free of charge. That database is very user-friendly searchable by city, county, newspaper, Zip code and key word. This service is provided to citizens, courts and local government free of charge because newspapers in Wisconsin have made a substantial investment to provide and maintain the service for the sake of transparency and public trust. Businesses throughout the state use www.WisconsinPublicNotices.org to learn about projects they may wish to bid on. Just ask a contractor how efficient it would be to every day log onto the website of every local government in Wisconsin. Eliminating the usefulness of that website wouldnt be good for business in our state. So, is this a big money-maker for newspapers and are newspapers gouging government by charging an exorbitant rate for publishing notices? That rate barely covers the cost of processing and printing the information. Besides, the rate is regulated by the state the Department of Administration, to be specific. Most states dont regulate the rate that newspapers can charge for the service. To give you an idea how regulated the process is in Wisconsin, just look at the portion of the statute that regulates the type used to print notices: All legal notices shall be in Arial type face. A standard line shall be 6-point leading without spacing between the lines, and 11 picas in length. In fact, it was the newspaper industry in Wisconsin that agreed on a standard type face to help the DOA cut down on its administrative workload. The Wisconsin Legislature approved of that streamlining without opposition in 2012. The process of publishing public notices is more regulated in Wisconsin than in most states. With that said, only one state Utah briefly eliminated the requirement of publication, and it was a failure. Its also important to note that government isnt the sole bearer of the cost of publishing legal notices. In many cases, the cost is passed along by the government agency to those who are seeking government action. As Beth Bennett, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, has testified: A notice for a new license is passed along to the new licensee. Foreclosure notices are assumed by the banks and the attorneys handling the foreclosure. Court notices are passed along by the courts to the subject of the legal matter; and in many instances, public notices are required to be placed by John Q. Citizen who pays directly for the publication of the notice. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has such notices. Taking public notices out of newspapers is just another attempt by government officials to curb government transparency in Wisconsin. NAIROBI (Reuters) - The government of Burundi has said it will not attend peace talks scheduled to resume in Tanzania on Thursday, although the main opposition alliance has confirmed its participation. The talks are meant to find an end to a violent political crisis that began in 2015 after President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term - a move opponents said violated the constitution and a peace deal that ended an ethnically charged civil war. "The government of Burundi finds some irregularities in the organization of this present session," a government statement said on Wednesday. Spokesman Phillipe Nzobonariba said the government objected to the presence of senior U.N. adviser Benomar Jamal, but did not say why. The government has repeatedly accused the U.N. of bias against it after several human rights groups have said the security forces and ruling party have committed abuses. The main opposition grouping, CNARED, said it would attend the talks although it has previously accused mediator Benjamin William Mpaka, a former president of Tanzania, of bias. Mpaka said in December that Nkurunziza was legitimate and that mediators should focus on setting up elections for 2020. The violence in Burundi has alarmed people in a region where memories of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda remain raw. (Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Proponents of free trade scored a much-needed win on Wednesday, after the EU parliament approved a landmark (and controversial) free trade agreement with Canada that was seven years in the making. But those wins may be fewer and farther in between now, with protectionist sentiments on the rise in the United States and many European countries. Members of the European Parliament easily approved the Canada-EU free trade pact, known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), by a vote of 408 to 254. The vote was the last major hurdle to the deal, first signed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin (or Joe) Trudeau and European Council President Donald Tusk on Oct. 30 last year. Backers of CETA, which scraps 98 percent of tariffs between the two sides, say it will boost economic growth, create jobs, and reduce the cost of goods. The EU said it would boost EU-Canada trade, currently valued at $63 billion a year, by 20 percent, and EU exporters are slated to save $525 million annually from reduced tariffs. But CETA, which was seen as a prototype for a (now moribund) EU-U.S. trade pact, could be the last big free trade win for a while. President Donald Trump pulled the plug on a huge free trade agreement with Asia as soon as he stepped into the Oval Office. And Trumps top trade advisor said Brexit had already killed plans for the European trade deal, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and Trump had no plans of reviving it. We are killing ourselves with trade pacts that are no good for us and no good for our workers, Trump said on the campaign trail in 2016. He pledged to throw out all multilateral trade deals to renegotiate bilateral ones, which experts say could well turn back the clock on trade, which has underpinned decades of global economic growth. CETA sparked many of the same concerns as the TPP and TTIP. Critics argued the bill would sabotage EU environmental and labor regulations and empower corporations over the little guy. It faced stiff opposition, and at one point in late 2016 was declared de facto dead by some European lawmakers, until Chrystia Freeland, then Canadian minister of international trade, resuscitated it. Freeland was reassigned to head the foreign ministry after Trumps election. After salvaging CETA from a near-death experience, she now faces an even bigger task: ensuring that the U.S.-Canadian trade relationship, worth $2 billion a day in two-way trade, can weather the Trump administrations vows to renegotiate NAFTA. Photo credit: FRANCOIS LENOIR/AFP/Getty Images Ottawa (AFP) - The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings that killed 331 people is now free, Canada's parole board said Wednesday. Inderjit Singh Reyat had been ordered to live at a halfway house following his release from prison one year ago, after serving two decades behind bars. That condition has now been lifted and Reyat may return to a normal life, including "living in a private residence," parole board spokesman Patrick Storey told AFP in an email. The Sikh immigrant from India was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover for his co-accused. One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including entire families. The second exploded at Japan's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo to another Air India plane. The blasts followed a crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland, and those behind it were allegedly seeking revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops. Reyat was working as a mechanic in westernmost Canada and purchased the dynamite, batteries and detonators used to construct the bombs. Two alleged co-conspirators were acquitted due to a lack of evidence and, according to prosecutors, because of Reyat's perjury. Storey said Reyat's parole officer has assessed those with whom he will live "to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him." Conditions of his release from prison also still apply, including having no contact with the victims' families nor with extremists. Reyat must also shun all political activities and take counseling for violent tendencies, a lack of empathy and exaggerated beliefs. CHICAGO (AP) Police are examining dramatic video that captured a shooting that killed a toddler and a man authorities say was the intended target. The video , streamed live on Facebook, was taken from inside a car driven by a young woman who was wounded in the shooting. The man and 2-year-old Lavontay White were also in the car. The woman and man can be seen listening to rap music before more than a dozen shots ring out. Screaming is heard as the footage becomes jumbled but shows the woman exiting the car and running toward a house. The video goes to black, but the audio continues and people can be heard yelling, "Oh my God," ''I can't breathe," and "Please, no, no." Police suspect the 26-year-old man, identified Wednesday by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Lazarec Collins, was the target of a gang hit. The man was Lavontay's uncle and a documented gang member with an extensive criminal history. According to the state's Department of Corrections, Collins was convicted of felony charges of burglary and armed robbery and was released on parole last June. Police have confirmed the authenticity of the video and it is part of their investigation, spokesman Frank Giancamilli said. No arrests had been made as of Wednesday. He also said that the woman, who is pregnant, was shot in the abdomen. Both she and her fetus are expected to survive. Lavontay was among at least three children shot in Chicago two of them fatally in recent days. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. On Tuesday morning, an 11-year-old girl who was shot in the head over the weekend died. Hours after Takiya Holmes died, a 19-year-old who was being sought by police turned himself in. Antwan C. Jones was charged with first-degree murder. At a hearing Wednesday, a judge ordered Jones to be held without bond. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Jones has an extensive juvenile arrest record and a record as an adult that includes an arrest on a felony charge of aggravated assault after allegedly attacking a teacher. Story continues Jones spotted three people outside his home, determined they didn't belong there and went inside and got a handgun, police said. He came outside and started firing, striking Takiya but no one else, said Brendan Deenihan, a commander of the detectives' unit handling the investigation. Police found Jones by contacting people in a video of the shooting. Guglielmi said no gun has been recovered. Jones doesn't have a listed number to pursue comment. Authorities said Tuesday that a 12-year-old girl also shot over the weekend remained in critical condition. ___ This story has been updated to correct the first name of the 2-year-old boy who was killed to Lavontay, instead of Levontay. BEIJING (Reuters) - As many as 79 people died from H7N9 bird flu in China last month, the government said, stoking worries that the spread of the virus this season could be the worst on record. January's fatalities were up to four times higher than the same month in past years, and brought the total H7N9 death toll to 100 people since October, data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission showed late on Tuesday. Authorities have repeatedly warned the public to stay alert for the virus, and cautioned against panic in the world's second-largest economy. But the latest bird flu data has sparked concerns of a repeat of previous health crises, like the 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). "It's mid-February already and we are just getting the January numbers. With the death rate almost catching up with SARS, shouldn't warnings be issued earlier?" said one user of popular microblog Sina Weibo. Other netizens in the Chinese blogosphere worried about the pace of infections, and called for even more up-to-date reports. The People's Daily, the official paper of the ruling Communist Party, warned people in a social media post to stay away from live poultry markets, saying it was "extremely clear" that poultry and their excrement were the cause of the infections. "The situation is still ongoing, and our Chinese counterparts are actively investigating the reported cases," the World Health Organization's China Representative Office said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "As the investigation is ongoing, it is premature to conclusively identify the cause for the increased number of cases. Nevertheless, we know that the majority of human cases got the A(H7N9) virus through contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments, including live poultry markets." Chinese chicken prices sank to their lowest levels in more than a decade on Wednesday. RECORD HIGH INFECTIONS China, which first reported a human infection from the virus in March 2013, has seen a sharp rise in H7N9 cases since December. The official government total is 306 since October, with 192 reported last month. But others believe the number of infections is higher. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota last week estimated China had at least 347 human infections so far this winter, eclipsing the record of 319 seen three years ago. "An important factor in the past waves of H7N9 cases among humans in China has been rapid closure of live poultry markets," said Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland in Australia. "This season there seems to have been a slower response to the outbreak, which may be leading to greater numbers of human exposures to infected birds." Most of the H7N9 human infections reported this season have been in the south and along the coast. In Hong Kong, where two of the four patients infected with H7N9 this winter have died, health officials said they would step up checks at poultry farms. H7N9 had spread widely and early this year, but most cases were contained in the same areas as previous years, including the Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong, Shu Yuelong, head of the Chinese National Influenza Center, told state radio. Beijing on Saturday reported its first human H7N9 case this year. The patient is a 68-year-old man from Langfang city in neighboring Hebei province. A second human case was reported on Tuesday. "It is highly likely that further sporadic cases will continue to be reported," the WHO said. "Whenever influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases are possible." The World Health Organization recently said it had not been able to rule out limited human-to-human spread in two clusters of cases although no sustained spread has been detected so far. The Health and Family Planning Commission of southwestern Yunnan province said a woman died from H7N9 on Tuesday night. The victim was the mother of a three-year old toddler who died of H7N9 earlier this month, the official Xinhua news agency reported late Wednesday, citing the Yunnan commission. The two had traveled to Jiangxi last month and had contact with live poultry in the southeastern province. The mother developed symptoms on Feb. 4 and was hospitalized four days later as she had close contact with her daughter, who died on Feb. 7. For graphic on bird flu strains click on http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/HEALTH-BIRDFLU-SOUTHKOREA/0100311X2BC/BIRDFLU-SOUTHKOREA.jpg (Reporting by Ryan Woo and Josephine Mason; Additional reporting by Nick Heath, Christian Shepherd, Dominique Patton and Lusha Zhang in BEIJING and Venus Wu in HONG KONG; Editing by Randy Fabi and David Evans) SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A former Communist Party boss at China's Bank of Jiangsu is being investigated for suspected corruption, the party's graft-busting body said on Wednesday. Wang Jianhua is suspected of "severe disciplinary violations", the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a brief statement, using its normal euphemism for corruption. It gave no other details. Wang had previously held the post of Communist Party Secretary of Lianyungang, a city in Jiangsu province, before taking the current role at the bank. Reuters was unable to reach Wang for comment. Calls to Bank of Jiangsu's administrative office went unanswered. (Reporting by Winni Zhou and John Ruwitch; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) BEIJING (Reuters) - China has lodged a diplomatic protest with India over a visit by a parliamentary delegation from self-ruled Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Three Taiwanese parliamentarians, led by ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Kuan Bi-ling, began their visit to New Delhi on Monday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing in Beijing that China had lodged "solemn representations" with the Indian government over the issue. "We have always been resolutely opposed to any country with diplomatic relations with China having any form of official exchanges, or establishment of any official institutions, with Taiwan. This position is consistent and clear cut." India's ministry of external affairs said the visit was informal. "Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes. I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them," the ministry said in a statement. A DPP official in Taipei said the legislators were scheduled to return to Taiwan on Thursday and were also in India to visit Taiwanese companies such as China Steel, Taiwan's biggest steel maker which has a plant there. Despite efforts by China and India to improve ties over recent years, deep suspicions remain, especially over a festering border dispute. China considers Taiwan a wayward province, with no right to formal diplomatic ties with other countries. Beijing has also increasingly squeezed Taiwan's international space following the election of Tsai Ing-wen as president last year. China suspects she wants to push for the island's formal independence. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China. A longstanding African ally of Taiwan's, San Tome and Principe, switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in December. "We have been requiring countries which have diplomatic relations with China to fulfill their commitment to the 'one China' principle," Geng said. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communists. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. (Reporting by Philip Wen; Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in New Delhi and Faith Hung in Taipei; Editing by Ben Blanchard, Robert Birsel) BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned Washington against challenging its sovereignty, responding to reports the United States was planning fresh naval patrols in the disputed South China Sea. On Sunday, the Navy Times reported that U.S. Navy and Pacific Command leaders were considering freedom of navigation patrols in the busy waterway by the San Diego-based Carl Vinson carrier strike group, citing unnamed defense officials. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said tension in the South China Sea had stabilized due to the hard work between China and Southeast Asia countries, and urged foreign nations including the U.S. to respect this. "We urge the U.S. not to take any actions that challenge China's sovereignty and security," Geng told a regular news briefing on Wednesday. The United States last conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the area in October, when it sailed the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur near the Paracel Islands and within waters claimed by China. Dave Bennett, a spokesman for Carrier Strike Group One, said it did not discuss future operations of its units. "The Carl Vinson Strike Group is on a regularly scheduled Western Pacific deployment as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet-led initiative to extend the command and control functions of the U.S. 3rd Fleet," he said. "U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups have patrolled the Indo-Asia-Pacific regularly and routinely for more than 70 years," he said. China lays claim to almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the waters that command strategic sea lanes and have rich fishing grounds, along with oil and gas deposits. The United States has criticized Beijing's construction of man-made islands and build-up of military facilities in the sea, and expressed concern they could be used to restrict free movement. (Reporting by Philip Wen in Beijing; Additional reporting by Matthew Tostevin in Bangkok; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Clarence Fernandez) LONDON (Reuters) - The Church of England's legislative body on Wednesday voted against a report from bishops that rejected the idea of blessing same-sex marriages, the latest row over an issue that has divided the Church for years. The wider Anglican communion, which has 85 million members worldwide, has been in crisis since 2003 because of arguments over sexuality and gender between liberal member churches in the West and their conservative counterparts, mostly in Africa. But the Church of England, where the Anglican tradition originated, is itself divided, especially over how to deal with same-sex marriages which are legal in Britain. The latest controversy stems from a report issued in January by the House of Bishops, which along with the houses of Clergy and Laity makes up the Church's legislature, known as the synod. The bishops' report re-affirmed the Church teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, while calling for "a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support for lesbian and gay people". http://bit.ly/2kSjR5N It advocated sticking to the status quo in terms of Church law on marriage, while interpreting the law "to permit maximum freedom within it". In practice, this would exclude church blessings for same-sex marriages, angering critics who pointed out that warships, animals and pubs are eligible for blessings. The bishops' report required majority support in each of the three houses to be endorsed by the synod, but the House of Clergy voted against it during a session in London on Wednesday. A small crowd of protesters demonstrated outside the venue where the synod was meeting, holding banners with slogans such as "Proud to be gay, now make me proud to be Christian". The vote left the bishops' carefully worded position on same-sex marriage in disarray. A Church spokeswoman said that while the vote was non-binding, in practice it would make it hard to take the bishops' proposals forward. Days before the vote, a group of 14 retired bishops published an open letter to their successors criticising the report and saying it would cause deep disappointment among lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people. "Our perception is that while the pain of LGBT people is spoken about in your report, we do not hear its authentic voice," the retired bishops wrote. http://bit.ly/2l7KbHy The Anglican communion last year slapped sanctions on one of its liberal member churches in the United States, the Episcopal Church, for supporting same-sex marriage. (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Dominic Evans) Paris (AFP) - War correspondent, statesman, astronomer. Stargazing may not be what Winston Churchill is best remembered for, but a treatise he wrote on extraterrestrial life has revealed his scientific acumen six decades later. Between ruling Britain and helping the Allies win World War II, the British Bulldog was among the first to theorise about other regions of the Universe in which conditions may be conducive to harbouring life, it has been revealed. Excerpts from his essay "Are We Alone in the Universe?" were brought to light Wednesday in the science journal Nature. "I am not sufficiently conceited to think that my sun is the only one with a family of planets," Churchill wrote in the document which astrophysicist Mario Livio laid hands upon last year at the US National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri. There must be many other planets, he concluded, of "the right size to keep... water and possibly an atmosphere", and "at the proper distance from their parent sun to maintain a suitable temperature." This later became known as a star's "habitable zone". To qualify, a planet has to orbit its star at a distance far enough so that water does not evaporate in the solar heat, and near enough that it does not freeze beyond the rays' reach. Water is considered an essential requirement for life, however primitive. Churchill first drafted the paper in 1939, when Europe was on the brink of war, and revised it in the late 1950s while visiting his publisher in a village in the south of France, said Livio. As far as could be determined, the work has never been published or subjected to scientific or academic scrutiny. "What is extraordinary is his train of thought, he thinks about the problem like a scientist," Livio told AFP of the find. - 'Goldilocks' zone - The concept of habitable zones originated in the 1950s, the same decade in which Churchill finished his essay. Story continues A war correspondent and soldier turned politician, Churchill was also known for his love of science. He wrote essays and articles in the 1920s and 1930s on topics including evolution, cell biology and fusion power. Later as a politician, he regularly consulted scientists and was the first British prime minister to employ a science adviser, according to Livio. The government under Churchill funded laboratories, telescopes and technology development that spawned many discoveries. Until now, astrophysics was not known to have been one of his fields of scientific interest. "At a time when a number of today's politicians shun science, I find it moving to recall a leader who engaged with it so profoundly," Livio wrote in Nature. The hunt for potentially habitable planets elsewhere in the Universe began decades after Churchill's musings on the topic. In 2015, researchers calculated that our Milky Way galaxy alone may be home to billions of planets orbiting in their host stars' so-called "Goldilocks" zone. The Paris-based Extrasolar Planets Encylopaedia has so far compiled a database of over 3,500 planets around other stars, a few dozen in the habitable sweet spot. HOUSTON (AP) A federal judge has ordered a civil trial of the Texas prison system and its leadership in a civil rights lawsuit arising from the heat-related death of an inmate, saying state prison officials refused to provide air conditioning that could have also kept 21 other inmates alive. Larry Gene McCollum, a 58-year-old Waco-area taxi driver, was among 22 inmates who have died front the heat in Texas prisons since 1998, including 10 during a 2011 heat wave alone, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison of Houston wrote. McCollum was serving a one-year sentence in the Hutchins State Jail near Dallas for writing a bad check when he died of a heat stroke on July 22, 2011, just seven days after he arrived at the jail. In an 83-page opinion filed Tuesday, Ellison, who visited state prisons during the peak of the summer heat, wrote that prison logs showed that the day before McCollum's death, the outside air temperature was above 90 degrees for at least nine hours and above 100 degrees for at least six hours, peaking at 107 degrees and staying at 106 degrees at 6:30 p.m., when the last recording of the day was taken. Humidity never fell below 40 percent that day. Although the log represents that the heat index at 3:30 p.m. was 116 degrees, a chart provided by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice computes the heat index was about 150 degrees. The jail utilizes air handlers for ventilation, which circulate outside air through the facility without changing its temperature, Ellison wrote. "Larry McCollum's tragic death was not simply bad luck, but an entirely preventable consequence of inadequate policies. These policies contributed to the deaths of 11 men before McCollum and 10 men after him," Ellison wrote. The TDCJ will appeal the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal, said spokesman Jason Clark. "The safety, security, health and overall well-being of offenders is of paramount importance to the TDCJ," Clark wrote in a statement. Story continues The attorney for McCollum's family, Jeff Edwards of Austin, said he and his clients are gratified that the facts will finally be heard by a jury and receive a full hearing. Of the 109 prisons in the Texas system, 30 are fully air-conditioned. State law required all county jails to be air conditioned. Many inmates have trouble acclimating themselves to a prison in the middle of summer where air-conditioning is unavailable, Edwards said. "All this is going to say is 'Let's look at the facts.' We believe they will speak for themselves" when presented to a jury, he said. The ruling was sealed Friday and unsealed Tuesday. Helsinki (AFP) - Finnish game giant Supercell saw its sales plateau last year amid harsh competition from its Japanese rival Nintendo's smash hit Pokemon Go, the company said Wednesday. Supercell's sales in 2016 were 2.1 billion euros ($2.31 billion), showing no improvement over 2015 when the company saw its revenues triple from a year before. Last June, a consortium led by Chinese technology giant Tencent bought a majority stake of 76.9 percent in Supercell from Japanese mobile firm SoftBank for $10.2 billion (9.65 billion euros). Supercell's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation grew by eight percent to 917 million euros ($1.01 billion), leading chief executive Ilkka Paananen to celebrate 2016 as the company's "best year so far". The group is not listed and did not publish a full earnings report. "We released our fourth game, Clash Royale, which has been really successful so far -- topping the charts in 131 countries right away and has now spent a total of 130 days at number one in the US," Paananen said in a statement. Clash Royale, a competitive multiplayer defence game, was released in March 2016 as a spinoff from Supercell's previous hit game, Clash of Clans, which also remained popular among players. "What makes me proud is that we've managed to stay as a small company despite this success. At the end of 2016, we were 213 people in total in our five offices across the world," Paananen continued. Supercell was founded in 2010 and saw rapid growth in subsequent years despite releasing just four games so far. BERLIN (AP) A vast trove of art which a German collector kept hidden from the world for decades will be shown simultaneously at museums in Switzerland and Germany later this year, Switzerland's Kunstmuseum Bern announced Wednesday. The Swiss museum, which Gurlitt designated as his sole heir, announced it would co-host the "Dossier Gurlitt" shows together with the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. Art collector Cornelius Gurlitt died in May 2014, months after German authorities announced they stumbled upon more than 1,000 artworks at his Munich apartment while investigating a tax case. His collection included paintings by Paul Cezanne, Eugene Delacroix, Albrecht Duerer and other world-famous artists. Experts said several of the paintings likely were stolen from Jews by German Nazis. The 2013 discovery brought renewed attention to the many unresolved cases of art that was looted from Jewish owners during the Third Reich and never returned to original owners or their descendants. Gurlitt's father, Hildebrand, was an art dealer who traded in works confiscated by the Nazis. After his father's death, Gurlitt kept more than 1,200 works in his Munich apartment and 250 more in Salzburg, Austria. The Bern museum has pledged to ensure that any pieces that turn out to have been looted will be returned to Jewish owners' heirs. A German government-backed foundation has evaluated hundreds of paintings and identified dozens already that were likely stolen by the Nazis. The Bonn part of the Gurlitt exhibition will focus on art stolen from Jewish owners, while the Bern museum will focus on art considered "degenerate" during the Nazi era. The art will be on show from November through March 2018. It's the first time the collection will be shown to the public. BOGOTA (Reuters) - A former Colombian congressman detained on accusations he received millions in bribes from Brazilian engineering firm Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] denied on Tuesday that a $1 million portion of the money was given to President Juan Manuel Santos' 2014 campaign. Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez said last week that part of $4.6 million allegedly paid to ex-Liberal Party Senator Otto Bula Bula by Odebrecht was sent to Santos' campaign management. Martinez later said his office had only the testimony of Bula, who was arrested last month on charges of bribery and illicit enrichment, to substantiate the allegations. But Bula said via a hand-written letter released by the electoral commission, which is investigating the allegations, that he had not given money to the campaign. "It is not true, it is not a fact, I have not said that the money I turned over ... was a contribution to the Santos presidential campaign," the letter said. Bula's testimony will likely end the commission's investigation into the campaign, which secured a second four-year term for Santos, judicial sources said. The campaign of Santos' right-wing rival Oscar Ivan Zuluaga is also under investigation by the commission for allegedly receiving $2 million from Odebrecht. Zuluaga was the candidate of the Democratic Center opposition party. Parties may be disbanded and prevented from backing candidates if a campaign is found guilty of electoral violations. Odebrecht pleaded guilty in U.S. court and agreed to pay a $3.5 billion penalty for paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes in association with projects in 12 countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. Bula is accused of working to ensure higher-priced tolls on a highway project on behalf of Odebrecht in exchange for bribes. Gabriel Garcia Morales, a former vice minister of transport, has also been arrested for allegedly receiving $6.5 million in bribes from Odebrecht in 2009. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Helen Murphy and Lisa Shumaker) A community has rallied around a Florida family whose 8-year-old triplets were each diagnosed with brain tumors. Read: More Than $200,000 Raised for 3 Children Whose Parents Both Died of Cancer The Coseno family, of Miami, was able to raise $5,000 to help with medical bills for 8-year-old Ellie, Gigi and Carmina during a Sunday fundraiser held at a neighborhood restaurant, Quarterdeck. "We moved to Sunrise two years ago and the support that we have found in our community has changed our life," the triplets mother, Kimberly Coseno, told WSVN. The family relocated from Ohio just after they discovered they discovered Ellie had five brain tumors when she was 5 years old. She has already undergone seven surgeries, and will need more in the future. They later discovered their two other girls, Carmina and Gigi, also had similar brain tumors. Its been a struggle, Kimberly explained. For the last few years, the Cosenos said they have endured countless surgeries, doctors appointments and chemotherapy treatments, but it was their fight against insurance claims and hospital bills that proved to be the most daunting hurdle. "After about two years of fighting this fight, quietly in our own family, doing what we had to do, just surviving, going to the surgeries, the medical appointments, it was, it was a lot, Coseno said. Read: Boy, 6, Does Happy Dance After Final Chemo Treatment Following Lifetime Battle With Cancer Quarterdeck donated 20 percent of the proceeds to the family during the Sunday fundraiser, which was also attended by former Miami Dolphins wide receiver O.J. McDuffie. "We are filled with love for everybody who has helped us out in this process to get our children healthy over the last few months, Kimberly said. I am filled with love. To donate to Ellie, Gigi and Carmina's cause, visit the family's GoFundMe page. Story continues Watch: Woman Acts as Surrogate Mother of Twins for Younger Sister Who Can't Have Kids Due to Cancer Related Articles: Damascus (AFP) - Syria's government on Wednesday fiercely denied accusations by Human Rights Watch that it used chemical weapons in its battle for Aleppo, shrugging off the group's report as "unprofessional and unscientific". In a major report released Monday, Human Rights Watch said Syrian government forces had carried out at least eight chemical attacks in late 2016 as they were fighting to capture second city Aleppo. But a Syrian foreign ministry source cited by state media said the report was based on fabricated testimony. "The government of the Syrian Arab Republic altogether denies the false allegations made in Human Rights Watch's report," the source said. "Human Rights Watch's reliance on terrorist media sources and on fake eyewitnesses... proves this report's lack of credibility," it said, describing the conclusions as "unprofessional and unscientific". HRW said it interviewed witnesses, collected photos and reviewed video footage indicating that chlorine bombs were dropped from government helicopters during the offensive from November 17 to December 13. It concluded that nine people, including four children, were killed and another 200 were injured by the toxic gases used on opposition-controlled areas of the northern city. Syria's government regained full control of Aleppo in late December, in the biggest win for President Bashar al-Assad's regime since the conflict first began in March 2011. Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that several units of the Syrian army had used toxic weapons against three villages in northern Syria in 2014 and 2015. And in January, the United States announced new sanctions against 18 senior Syrian miliary officers and officials over the use of chemical weapons. President Trump taunted a group of Senate Democrats last week by declaring that Pocahontas is now the face of your party, an obnoxious reference to his chief nemeses, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), whose claim to Cherokee heritage once became a bone of contention. The former Harvard professor and consumer protection champion with impeccable progressive credentials relentlessly attacked Trump during the 2016 campaign and then led the charge against Trumps nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama to become to become attorney general. Her stock within the Democratic party soared after she was formally silenced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on the Senate floor last week for allegedly violating Senate rules by impugning a fellow senators reputation. Related: Democrats Will Regain Power If They Can Avoid Screwing Up At age 67, Warren can hardly be considered a fresh face within her beleaguered party one that is still struggling to make sense of its devastating losses to Trump and the Republicans. She and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 75, are among a handful of aging progressive leaders who clearly better understood the mood of the electorate and the importance of shifting left on economic and trade issuesthan Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton ever did. But whether Warren is the new face of the party or more likely just one facet of a blurry, emerging composite picture of the Democrats reconstituted party leadership remains to be seen. Even before the rank and file Democrats began to grasp the enormity of their loss to Trump and the GOP, veteran Democrats in the House and Senate solidified their hold on the congressional party for at least another two years. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, 66, succeeded retiring Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada as Minority Leader, while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, 76, put down a minor rebellion to claim the leadership of her party for at least another two years. Story continues While Schumer and Pelosi are both highly accomplished veteran politicians and now are showing some spunk in demanding an independent probe of the burgeoning national security scandal in the Trump White House -- both appeared to be caught flat-footed by last Novembers election when the Republicans swept to victory again in the House and Senate and took the White House. Related: Will Democrats Stand Up to Trump? Heres Their First Test Moreover, Schumer was recently put on notice by progressive Democrats who actually demonstrated outside of his apartment in Brooklyn -- that he would be making a big mistake if he supported any Trump nominees and that he should scrap his post-election pledge to seek common ground with the new president. Meanwhile, the race to chair the beleaguered Democratic National Committee after months of upheaval within that organization appears to be coming down to two candidates neither of whom is a household name. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim to serve in Congress, has drawn strong support from Sanders, the AFL-CIO and other progressive groups seeking a shift in party policy much further to the left. Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez is considered more of a moderate and big tent Democrat who has picked up an endorsement from former Vice President Joe Biden. While the outcome of the DNC election later this month no doubt will have an important impact on the future direction of the party, the race has been relatively low key and obscure and certainly has done little to fire the imagination of Democrats throughout the country. Empirically, Democrats are down, said Nathan Gonzales, a national political analyst. They have the fewest number of governors in at least a generation just 16 out of 50. They have the minority of the House, the minority of the Senate, there are just fewer Democrats in leadership positions. The bench is less full, and that filters down into the state legislatures. Can Trump Deliver 4% Growth? Why Most Economists Say Not This Year Not only is the party dealing with fewer members, but there is no clear leader, he added in an interview. And you have a battle going on [within the DNC] for the best path out of the wilderness, with at least two different factions arguing what that path looks like. And their partys prospects for making a comeback anytime soon seems dim at best. Indeed, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the former Democratic White House chief of staff and Democratic congressional party organizer, recently advised the Democrats to take a chill pill and realize party rebuilding could take years to achieve. With Democrats facing uphill battles in the Senate and House in 2018, some experts had already all but ruled the chances of the Democrats winning back either of the chambers. University of Virginia political scientists Larry J. Sabato notes that, in the wake of Trumps chaotic and highly controversial first three weeks in office, the Democrats have got more public support now than they had before the election, and you have to make hay while the sun shines. But certainly, the line-up in the Senate for 2018 is horrible for Democrats, he added, as the Democrats will have to defend 25 seats, including many in states that Trump carried, to only eight Republican seats that will be on the line. The Republicans currently hold a 52 to 48 seat majority in the Senate. The Democrats will be very lucky to lose, net, only a couple of Senate seats, Sabato said in an email. Related: The Power of the Pink Hat: Heres How Democrats Can Win America Back But when it comes to the next presidential contest, Democratic voters seemingly have much stronger views. Just as conservative Republicans and independents flocked to Trump in search of an outsider who would challenge the establishment and upend conventional wisdom, recent polling suggests that Democrats and independents want a completely fresh start in 2020. I think it will be somebody who is not even on the radar today, Ross Baker, a Rutgers University political scientist, said in an interview. Not unlike former President Barack Obamas rise from relative obscurity as a senator to the pinnacle of national power, Baker said, I think it will be somebody who is not a recognized, revered leader. The quest for novelty is not unique to Republicans, he said. I think the Democrats are looking for something different as well. Some 66 percent of Democrats and independents picked someone entirely new when given the choice of a list of potential 2020 presidential candidates, according to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll in late December. Only nine percent of those Democrats surveyed believe a newcomer should stay out of the race. Related: Trump Might Adopt a Democratic Plan to Crack Down on Drug Prices There was practically no interest in seeing Clinton run for a third time for president with 62 percent of the registered Democrats surveyed saying she should definitely not seek the nomination again. Sixty-one percent said they would love for former first lady Michelle Obama to run, although she has pretty much slammed the door on that possibility. Around 44 percent said they might be in favor of seeing Sanders or even Biden seek the nomination to challenge Trump, assuming he runs for a second term. But just 34 percent said they would like to see Warren run, while 27 percent hope she doesnt run which hardly makes her the face of the Democratic party. The fact of the matter is, there is no telling how the next two years will play out in Washington and who among the Democrats in politics, business or some other endeavor may rise to the surface and lead the party. For now, at least, here are six Democrats who offer a relatively fresh look who may emerge as important players in the coming years: Chris Murphy Sen. Christopher Murphy -- The first-term Connecticut senator arrived in Washington shortly after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre in his state in December 2012, and he swiftly rose to become one of the most outspoken advocates for gun control a highly important but invariably frustrating issue to pursue in the face of the powerful gun lobby. The 43-year-old former House member and state legislator is a champion of health care reform and was a strong advocate of a single-payer national health care system similar to one sought by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Cory Booker Sen. Cory Booker The 47-year-old former Newark, N.J., mayor and prominent black politician insists hes not interested in the presidency. And he finds ways to anger both liberals and conservatives, as Politico recently noted. But his high-profile speech at the 20016 Democratic National Convention and his sharp critique of President Trump and his cabinet picks suggest Booker will be very much in the national eye as the 2020 race begins to take shape. Amy Klobuchar Sen. Amy Klobuchar The former Minnesota county prosecutor is a rising star among progressives and brings the much-admired qualities of mid-western common sense and practicality and a firm grasp of domestic and foreign policy issues. Klobuchar, the daughter of a legendary Minneapolis newspaper columnist and one-time legal adviser to former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, is a natural in dealing with the media. And speculation that Hillary Clinton had closely considered her as a running mate in 2016 will probably add to her luster as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Kyrsten Sinema Rep. Kyrsten Sinema The 37-year old two-term House member from Arizona brings a distinctive perspective to Washington. The former state legislator and social worker grew up homeless for a time and is the first openly bisexual member of Congress. >She is one of the more dazzling Democrats from a red state. I was homeless when I was a kid, she said once at a Phoenix job fair. But I got my shot at college, I got a job, and I stand before you today. Mark Cuban Mark Cuban President Trump recently tweeted that Cuban is not smart enough to run for president! But those who have dealt with the Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star think he is plenty smart and probably better equipped than Trump to do the kind of policy and economic analysis required of a president. Trump may have been reacting to a New York Post story mentioning Cuban as a possible challenger for Trump in 2020. Cuban, 58, responded by tweeting Isnt it better for all of us that he is tweeting rather than trying to govern? Kamala Harris Sen. Kamala Harris The charismatic Democrat from California has a number of claims to fame: She was the first woman ever elected attorney general in California and the second black woman and the first Indian American elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. Harris, 52, once said that she sought a career in law enforcement because she wanted to be at the table where decisions are made. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse on Wednesday reported strong increases in earnings and profits for 2016, as it awaits regulators' go-ahead for a tie-up with London Stock Exchange. The Frankfurt-based firm saw profits rise 14 percent to 811 million euros ($859 million), adjusting for special items, while revenues added 8.0 percent to reach 2.4 billion euros. Underlying, or operating profit before interest and taxes grew almost 13.0 percent to 1.2 billion euros. "Our ongoing measures to enhance operating efficiency have shown their full effect," finance director Gregor Pottmeyer said in a statement, with controlling costs a "major contribution to earnings growth" in 2016. Chief executive Carsten Kengeter pointed to "progress made with the planned merger" with London Stock Exchange in the statement, offering no hints about the tie-up's prospects as it faces scrutiny by regulators. An LSE-Deutsche Boerse merger would create a financial markets behemoth competing with the likes of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and ICE in the United States, as well as the Hong Kong stock exchange in Asia. The prospect of creating one of the globe's biggest groups for stock listings and market data has stoked competition fears among EU rivals. LSE formally offered last week to sell clearing house LCH Clearnet SA to European competitor Euronext if the European Commission approves the deal at the end of a competition probe. Meanwhile, Kengeter himself is under investigation for insider trading over shares in Deutsche Boerse he bought in December 2015, shortly before the LSE merger plans were announced -- sharply increasing the stocks' value. Deutsche Boerse says the shares were part of a revamped executive pay programme -- and that in any case, the two stock market operators did not open tie-up talks until January 2016. A report in German news weekly Der Spiegel last week suggested Kengeter had in fact discussed the planned merger with a German government official the month before the share purchase, although it did not cite any sources. Deutsche Boerse told AFP last week it is fully cooperating with the investigation. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Intelligence officials believe North Korean agents assassinated leader Kim Jong Un's exiled half brother, but if the whodunit seems settled, a very big question still looms: Why now? Kim Jong Nam, reportedly killed by two female agents in a cloak-and-dagger operation in a Malaysian airport, had long been an embarrassment to North Korea's government humiliated during a failed attempt to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland and outspoken in opposing the rise to power of his brother, who had his uncle executed after taking over. But the overweight gambler and fading playboy had kept his head down in recent years from his base in Macau. Kim Jong Nam was seen by many outsiders as only a minor distraction for North Korea's leaders, and certainly not an existential threat worth the risk of a potentially embarrassing assassination caper on foreign soil. The spotty South Korean intelligence community ascribed the North's motivation in killing Kim Jong Nam, without any elaboration, simply to Kim Jong Un's "paranoia." There is a more intriguing possibility floating around Seoul, however: The tipping point in North Korea's bloody calculations may have been a largely ignored South Korean news story from last week. A national daily, the Kyunghyang Shinmun, reported that Kim Jong Nam tried to defect to South Korea several years ago and had served, in the 2000s, as a middleman between disgraced current South Korean President Park Geun-hye and officials in North Korea. Kim Jong Un may have clenched his teeth and carried on when he heard reports of his half brother's exploits in Macau casinos, and even when Kim Jong Nam, often photographed in an expensive, untucked, button-down shirt and newsboy cap, questioned in 2010 the need for a third generation of the Kim family to rule in Pyongyang. But public reports in rival South Korea of alleged close dealings between a direct relative of North Korea's ruling dynasty and high officials in Seoul and possible attempts to defect to the South could have represented a serious challenge to a leader who portrays his family as the only legitimate power on the Korean Peninsula. Story continues If a person with the blood of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung flowing in his veins was considering defecting to prosperous, democratic South Korea, what message did that send to North Korea's elite, or to the millions of poor and dissatisfied? South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, which has a spotty record in reading the goings-on in North Korea and often tries to paint the leadership as unbalanced, denied any defection attempt by Kim Jong Nam. But Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Korea's Sejong Institute, raised the possibility that the assassination was linked to the newspaper report, which cites interviews with anonymous officials from the Europe-Korea Foundation, where Park served as a board member for a decade before stepping down ahead of the presidential election in late 2012, and computer files and emails that showed exchanges between Kim Jong Nam and the foundation's officials. The newspaper reported that Kim Jong Nam, who was then living in Beijing, delivered a letter that Park wrote to Kim Jong Il, North Korea's second leader and Kim Jong Un's father, in 2005. The letter, according to the newspaper, showed Park requesting help on cultural exchange programs pushed by the foundation. Jeong Joon-Hee, the spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry, previously said the government doesn't believe such a letter from Park, who has been impeached over a corruption scandal, was delivered to North Korea. The newspaper also cited anonymous sources to report that Kim Jong Nam explored the possibility of defecting to South Korea, and also to the United States and Europe, in 2012 before giving up. The sources said Kim's talks with South Korea and the United States eventually fell through because of his excessive demands. While the South Korean news report is a fascinating potential explanation for Kim Jong Nam's death, there are other possibilities including that Monday's killing was the culmination of years of effort by North Korea. Seoul's spy service told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea had for five years tried to kill Kim Jong Nam, who had kept a low profile since his uncle and former protector, the North's former No. 2, Jang Song Thaek, was executed by Kim Jong Un in 2013. The NIS, according to lawmakers, cited a "genuine" attempt by North Korea to kill Kim Jong Nam in 2012, but didn't elaborate. The lawmakers said the NIS told them Kim Jong Nam sent a letter to Kim Jong Un in April 2012, after the assassination attempt, begging for the lives of himself and his family. The letter said, "I hope you cancel the order for the punishment of me and my family. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and we know that the only way to escape is committing suicide." Kim Jong Nam's links with China may have also played a role. Beijing had long protected Kim Jong Nam, according to South Korea's intelligence service. China may have been interested in propping up Kim Jong Nam as a future North Korean leader should the current government in Pyongyang collapse. Kim Jong Un would not have been pleased by knowledge that his brother was being used by Beijing as a pawn and potential replacement. Mammals give birth to babies, reptiles pop out eggs, right? An ancient fossil unearthed in China suggests the latter wasn't always true. Paleontologists have found a 245-million-year-old fossil of a pregnant reptile and her curled-up embryo. The discovery suggests this long-necked reptile may have ditched its egg-bearing ways over time to gain a biological advantage, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications. SEE ALSO: Greenland fossils may be the earliest evidence of life on Earth In its day, the Dinocephalosaurus could grow to be at least 13 feet long with the neck making up about half that length. The aquatic reptile was a relative of dinosaurs and is a distant ancestor of modern crocodiles and birds, all of which belong to the major clade Archosauromorpha. Dinosaur eggs! Image: Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images While live birth has evolved many times in mammals and diverse groups of lizards and snakes, scientists had not yet observed live birth among archosauromorphs. Jun Liu, a paleontologist at the Hefei University of Technology in China, said he and his colleagues have found the first known example of an Archosauromorpha member giving birth to live young. The team found their ancient fossil inside a chunk of limestone in Southwest China nearly a decade ago. As they steadily chipped away at the stone surrounding the skeleton, they encountered a surprise in the reptile's stomach: another reptile. (a) Photograph of three separate blocks, arranged following their original positions in the field. (b) Interpretive drawing: Dotted line indicates the rough course of the vertebral column of the adult. The different color in the cervical region aims to facilitate the association of cervical ribs with corresponding vertebrae. (c) Photo showing a close-up of the embryo preserved in the stomach region of the mother. (d) Interpretive drawing of the embryo. (e) Photo showing a close-up of the perleidid fish preserved in the stomach region of the mother. Image: Liu Et Al. (2017) Liu, the study's co-author, said at first they though it might be just an unlucky meal. But the creature was curled, and it was facing forward. The Dinocephalosaurus preferred to eat its prey head-first. "If an animal is ingested by something else, theres no way to preserve that shape," he told National Geographic. The scientists suggested the marine reptile may have evolved to deliver live babies because producing and nesting eggs was too hazardous. Its neck-to-body ratio made it harder to walk on land and burrow its progeny, like turtles do. Reptilian eggs also can't be incubated underwater, as they need oxygen. Mulan (Disney) By Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter Niki Caro, who broke through with the 2002 Maori family drama Whale Rider, will direct Disneys live-action Mulan, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In an industry where female-helmed tentpoles are still rare, Caro will be the second woman at the studio to direct a movie budgeted at over $100 million. (Ava DuVernay is the first, with A Wrinkle in Time.) Related: Netflix Unveils First Look at Anne of Green Gables Reboot; Series Premiere Directed by Niki Caro Caros most recent film, Focus upcoming The Zookeepers Wife, has been praised for its gender-inclusive set by its star, Jessica Chastain. Disney previously worked with Caro, a New Zealand native, on the 2015 cross-country drama McFarland, USA, for which she lived in central California for nearly a year to immerse herself in the Mexican-American community there. Disney also considered other women for its woman-warrior project, including Wonder Womans Patty Jenkins and Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones). Caros hiring likely takes her out of the running for Captain Marvel, the studios first female-fronted superhero movie. THR reported last August that she was on the short list of directors for that film, along with Homelands Lesli Linka Glatter and Lorene Scafaria, who directed 2012s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Related: Hulu Nabs Mulan, Other Disney Movies in Exclusive Subscription Streaming Deal Disney and producers Chris Bender, Jason Reed, and Jake Weiner are taking pains to assure fans that Mulan will be culturally authentic. The studio had initially sought an Asian director for the project, meeting with Ang Lee (who passed, citing scheduling) and Rogue One star Jiang Wen, a hit director in his native China. Sony, which is developing a rival live-action film about the Chinese legend, also hoped to put an Asian director at the helm, but ultimately hired television veteran Alex Graves. Story continues In addition to extensive conversations with Chinese cultural consultants and working closely with Disneys own China-based team, the studio is bringing on Hong Kong-based super-producer Bill Kong as executive producer. Kong produced the most successful Chinese films to cross over Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which he received an Oscar nomination as well as many of Chinas biggest hits, including Monster Hunt, Wolf Totem, and Journey to the West. Disney hires Niki Caro (left) to direct its live-action Mulan, while Bill Kong (right) signs on as executive producer (Photos: Caro: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney; Kong: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage) Last fall, controversy briefly arose when reports surfaced that the original spec that Disney purchased, written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, featured non-Chinese characters, including a white male lead. Disney quickly responded that Mulan and all primary characters in its movie, which has been rewritten by Jurassic Worlds Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, will remain Chinese. The studio is focusing its casting search in mainland China for the main roles, including the legendary woman warrior herself. Related: Sony Taps Game of Thrones Director to Helm Its Live-Action Mulan Caro is repped by UTA, Artists House, and Lichter Grossman. Rebecca Ford and Borys Kit contributed to this Hollywood Reporter story About one in 68 children born in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the developmental disorder that affects a number of brain functionsmost notably childrens ability to socialize and communicate. Because the first signs of autism arent obvious until children start talking and interacting with others, doctors cant definitively diagnose the condition until babies are about two years old, when language and social skills start to emerge. Experts say that may be too late in terms of treating or minimizing the effects of autism, since whatever brain changes responsible for them have already taken place. However, a new report in the journal Nature may give worried parents new hope. Heather Cody Hazlett, a psychologist at the Carolina Institute of Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina, and her colleagues used brain scans to come up with a formula for predicting which babies, from as young as six months old, might be at higher risk of developing autism. The team focused their work on babies with older siblings diagnosed with autism; these brothers and sisters have a 20% higher risk of also developing autism, compared to newborns without affected siblings. Hazlett took MRI scans of the babies at six months, 12 months and 24 months to track any changes. They then matched the scans with autism diagnoses when the infants were two years old. The researchers found that children who ended up being diagnosed with autism had brains that looked very different from those who did not develop the condition. In the infants with autism, the nerve cells in the cortex of the brain, which receives incoming information from the environment, including sights, smells and sounds, grew and expanded at a blistering pace between six and 12 months. That rapid growth led to more brain surface in these children, which in turn contributed to faster growing brains in their first year of life. By the time these children were two years old, when the first symptoms of autism emerge, their brains had already experienced a different growth pattern than those of kids who werent affected by autism. The greatest implication of this work is that it pinpoints that brain differences in autism are happening in the first year of life, says Hazlett. While other studies have relied on brain scans to document differences in brain size and nerve growth in children with autism, most have not tracked the same children from infancy to their diagnosis. Instead, they compared different babies at six months to different toddlers at two years old for insight into changes during that time. Because the 318 children from high-risk families for autism and the 117 from low-risk families in the current study were scanned periodically during their first two years of life, Hazletts team was able to analyze the data and look for patterns that set the autistic brain measurements apart. Based on that information, they came up with a formula for predicting which babies, beginning at six months or so, were more likely to develop autism by age two. When they used the algorithm in a separate group of infants at one year old who had siblings with autism, it accurately predicted that eight out of 10 of them would be diagnosed with autism. The formula needs to be validated by testing it in more infants, but it could be the foundation for a new way of understanding which babies might be at high risk of the developmental disorder. Hazlett sees the algorithm being most useful for families with older siblings already diagnosed with autism; knowing that a younger sibling is at higher risk as well may give the family more time to take advantage of behavioral therapies that could help to lessen the symptoms of the condition and perhaps even normalize autistic brains. Studies show that some learning programs may help minimize some of the learning and communication symptoms of autism, but only if they are begun early in the infants life. The results could also get more doctors and parents to appreciate that autism spectrum disorders represent an ongoing change in childrens development, rather than a one-time event that switches the disease on. This is an unfolding development process, says Dr. Joseph Piven, director of the Institute and senior author of the paper. We need to begin to think of autism more in that way. We cant compare two year olds and six year olds; we need to really look specifically at changes over time. (Adds additional quotes, details) NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Rumor, a German shepherd, was named best in show at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday, besting more than 2,800 other dogs that competed in New York this week. It marks the second time a German shepherd has won the top prize at the show. The breed last won in 1987, which also represents the only other time a dog from the herding group has won at Westminster. Shes got a lot of beautiful details, Rumor owner, breeder and handler Kent Boyles, from Edgerton, Wisconsin, said about the features that make Rumor a winner. Boyles, who said he became German shepherd crazy as a child, has been breeding the dog for 35 years. Boyles said he and his family will drive back to Wisconsin with Rumor, where she will be retired from shows. This was definitely the ultimate type of win for her, Boyles said. Rumor, whose favorite snack is prime rib, will likely begin bearing puppies, Boyles said. Rumor won the herding category in 2016 as well, but lost the top prize to a German shorthaired pointer. "She is just magnificent," Judge Thomas H. Bradley III said, in an interview with broadcasters about his pick. Adrian, an Irish setter from the sporting group, was named runner-up. A total of 200 breeds vied for the blue ribbon at Westminster, which began in 1877, making it the country's second longest-running sporting event behind the Kentucky Derby horse race, launched in 1875. Devlin, a boxer, won the working group on Tuesday, while Tanner, a Norwich terrier, was the winner in the terrier group. On Monday, the opening night of the two-day competition, in addition to the German shepherd Rumor, a Norwegian elkhound, a Pekingese, and a miniature poodle won their groups. Devlin, the boxer, has lived with and been trained by Diego Garcia in Lillington, North Carolina for the past two years, and will return to her owner in Canada after the show to retire. "I started to cry this morning," Garcia said about returning Devlin. Three new breeds debuted in this year's competition: the sloughi, a North African sighthound; the American hairless terrier, first bred in the 1970s to hunt rats and other vermin; and the pumi, an ancient Hungarian herding breed. This year's contestants came from 49 states and 16 foreign countries. Dogs are judged on characteristics specific to their breeds. (Reporting by Laila Kearney, Editing by Richard Chang, Sandra Maler and Himani Sarkar) By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rumor, a German shepherd, was named best in show at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday, besting more than 2,800 other dogs that competed in New York this week. It marks the second time a German shepherd has won the top prize at the show. The breed last won in 1987, which also represents the only other time a dog from the herding group has won at Westminster. Shes got a lot of beautiful details, Rumor owner, breeder and handler Kent Boyles, from Edgerton, Wisconsin, said about the features that make Rumor a winner. Boyles, who said he became German shepherd crazy as a child, has been breeding the dog for 35 years. Boyles said he and his family will drive back to Wisconsin with Rumor, where she will be retired from shows. This was definitely the ultimate type of win for her, Boyles said. Rumor, whose favorite snack is prime rib, will likely begin bearing puppies, Boyles said. Rumor won the herding category in 2016 as well, but lost the top prize to a German shorthaired pointer. "She is just magnificent," Judge Thomas H. Bradley III said, in an interview with broadcasters about his pick. Adrian, an Irish setter from the sporting group, was named runner-up. A total of 200 breeds vied for the blue ribbon at Westminster, which began in 1877, making it the country's second longest-running sporting event behind the Kentucky Derby horse race, launched in 1875. Devlin, a boxer, won the working group on Tuesday, while Tanner, a Norwich terrier, was the winner in the terrier group. On Monday, the opening night of the two-day competition, in addition to the German shepherd Rumor, a Norwegian elkhound, a Pekingese, and a miniature poodle won their groups. Devlin, the boxer, has lived with and been trained by Diego Garcia in Lillington, North Carolina for the past two years, and will return to her owner in Canada after the show to retire. "I started to cry this morning," Garcia said about returning Devlin. Three new breeds debuted in this year's competition: the sloughi, a North African sighthound; the American hairless terrier, first bred in the 1970s to hunt rats and other vermin; and the pumi, an ancient Hungarian herding breed. This year's contestants came from 49 states and 16 foreign countries. Dogs are judged on characteristics specific to their breeds. (Reporting by Laila Kearney, Editing by Richard Chang, Sandra Maler and Himani Sarkar) Santo Domingo (AFP) - Two journalists were shot dead during a live radio broadcast in the Dominican Republic, police and media said. Unidentified attackers burst into the 103.5 FM studio as presenter Luis Manuel Medina was reading the news on air on Tuesday and shot him dead, station employees were quoted as saying by local media. Moments before that the station's director Leonidas Martinez was killed in his office, they said. In a video of the broadcast, which was streamed on Facebook, gunfire is heard as Medina reads the news and a woman's voice is heard calling "Shots, shots!" "Two people have died and one has been injured," national police spokesman William Alcantara told reporters. He identified the injured person as the station's secretary. The attack occurred at the radio station's office in San Pedro de Macoris, east of the capital Santo Domingo. Medina was presenting the influential investigative news show "Milenio Caliente," or "Hot Millenium," on Tuesday morning in the Caribbean nation, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and is a popular beach destination for foreign tourists. The Miami-based Interamerican Press Society (SIP) condemned the 103.5 FM "tragedy" in a statement. Its press freedom chief Roberto Rock urged investigators "to shed light on the killings and bring those responsible to justice, to prevent impunity from protecting those who want to keep generating violence against the media." Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders says that journalists who tackle corruption and drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic often fall victim to attacks. "Freedom of information is also weakened by continuing impunity for crimes of violence against media personnel and the concentration of media ownership in few hands," it said in a 2015 report. The watchdog noted that Blas Olivo, press director of the Dominican Agribusiness Association, was found murdered that year. A television cameraman was shot dead in broad daylight in 2014 and a newspaper reporter was shot at but not hurt days before that. Other journalists have said they were victims of hate campaigns after speaking up for the citizenship rights of Haitians born in the Dominican Republic. CAIRO (AP) Egypt's chief-of-staff has mediated between two Libyan rivals who refused to meet face to face in Cairo but later agreed to form a committee to renegotiate a U.N. peace deal. Col. Tamer el-Rifai, an Egyptian army spokesman, says the two the head of Libya's U.N.-backed government, Fayez Serraj, and Khalifa Hifter, the country's most powerful army commander met separately with Egypt's chief-of-staff, Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy late on Tuesday. He says they agreed to form a joint committee that would make key changes to the 2015 U.N.-brokered peace deal. Once the parliament, based in eastern Libya, endorses the changes, it would pave the way for parliamentary and presidential elections next year. Libya's east-based parliament does not recognize the U.N.-backed government set up in the country's capital, Tripoli. CAIRO (AP) An Egyptian court has ordered the detention of an activist for failing to report to a police station because he had been detained by security agents elsewhere, his lawyer and a friend said Wednesday. Abdel Azim Fahmy, a senior member of the secular, now-outlawed April 6 Movement, who is also known as Zizo Abdo, was detained for several hours last Wednesday, causing him to miss a court-ordered visit to a police station, one of the conditions of his release from custody. He was detained again on Saturday for breaching his provisional release conditions and prosecutors charged him the following day with breaching a court order, his lawyer, Mokhtar Mounir, told The Associated Press. On Tuesday the court ordered that he remain in custody, Mounir said. Abdo was charged with incitement and membership in an outlawed organization in May, part of a wide-scale crackdown on dissent that has imprisoned thousands of people, mostly Islamists but also several prominent secular activists. The April 6 movement played a leading role in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. It was outlawed after the military overthrew Mubarak's freely elected successor, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, in 2013. Mounir said he would appeal the order extending Abdo's detention, which he called "inhumane and irrational." Activist Nour Khalil, who was detained along with Abdo last week, told the AP that Abdo had asked his interrogators to alert the police station he reports to that he was in their custody, but they refused. Abdo headed to the station immediately after his release five hours later, according to Khalil. Another leading figure in the 2011 uprising, Khaled Tallima, said this week that he was fired from his job hosting a political talk show on the private ONtv network. The network, recently purchased by a businessman allied with the government, did not announce Tallima's dismissal, and editor-in-chief Gamal el-Shennawy declined to comment. The Egyptian media, both public and private, is dominated by government supporters. Beijing (AFP) - Eight people were killed in a knife attack on a crowd in China's restive Xinjiang region, including three assailants who were gunned down by police, local officials said on Wednesday. Ten other people were injured in the attack Tuesday evening in Pishan county, according to an announcement issued by the government of the nearby city of Hotan. Police sped to the scene within a minute of the attack, which remains under investigation, the announcement said, calling the attackers "rioters". The far-western region is the homeland of the Uighurs -- a traditionally Muslim group, many of whom complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination -- and is often hit by deadly unrest. Beijing regularly accuses what it calls exiled Uighur separatist groups such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement of orchestrating attacks in the vast, resource-rich region. But overseas experts have expressed doubts about the strength of the groups and their links to global terrorism, with some saying China exaggerates the threat to justify tough security measures. Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, told AFP that police arrested six people after the attack, including two young Uighurs who shared information about the incident over mobile phones. "Armed forces in the county are targeting Uighurs for investigation and demanding that Chinese people avoid leaving their homes," he said, citing his sources in Xinjiang. "I am worried the case will provide China with a new political excuse for repression and will cause more people to face discriminatory inspections or detentions." Last month police killed three "rioters" following a manhunt for suspected members of a "violent terror group" linked to a 2015 attack in Pishan county, according to the regional government's official website. Weeks earlier state media reported that three attackers were shot dead after detonating an explosive device at a local party office in Moyu County, killing two and injuring three. In November 2015, police killed 28 members of a "terrorist group" over the course of a 56-day manhunt following an attack on a colliery in Aksu two months earlier that left 16 people dead. In March 2014, 31 people were knifed to death at a train station in Kunming, in southwestern China, with four attackers killed, with Xinjiang separatists blamed and state media dubbing it "China's 9/11". As some Republican members of Congress seek to roll back the Endangered Species Act, conservation groups have taken to familiar arguments about protecting wildlife. But theres one species that is often overlooked in that defense: Homo sapiens. As it turns out, biodiversity protects against climate change and helps ensure a stable food supply. And those both have economic benefits that in some cases dwarf the value of developing land. There are other reasons to conserve things beyond just dollars, says Brad Cardinale, a professor at the University of Michigan who studies biodiversity. But there are many examples where conservation would have a huge economic valuation. Scientists say that while the Endangered Species Act focuses on individual species, it actually helps protect ecosystems that support those species. In turn, those can help keep air and water that people depend on clean, while also lowering costs on things like asthma caused by pollution. Perhaps the greatest economic value of ecosystems is the role they play as greenhouse gas sinks that absorb climate change-causing pollutants like carbon dioxide. Cutting down forests currently represents more than 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But restoring forests would allow them to absorb up nearly a third of global carbon emissions. Of course, plants do the actual absorbing of gases, but animals, including those protected under the Endangered Species Act, play a key role in keeping ecosystems intact. Read More: Why Restoring Nature Could Be the Key to Fighting Climate Change Many insect species also play a key role as pollinators that support the food supply. Bees, for instance, pollinate more than 90 commercial crops in the U.S. including nuts, fruits and vegetables, according to an Obama-era White House report. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the rusty patched bumblebee, which has lost 90% of its range in the last two decades, as an endangered species in January, but suspended that designation later in the month following instructions from the Trump Administration. Story continues A lot of people dont associate species and species diversity with food because they go to the grocery store to buy their food, says Cardinale. But there were actually hundreds of species involved. A group of Republicans who now control both houses of Congress and the White House have pushed for the most significant reform to the law since the measure was adopted in 1973. The measure received wide bipartisan support at the time with only four members of Congress voting against it. Today, Republicans argue that the measure has failed at protecting endangered speciespointing to the fact that the vast majority of species listed as endangered have not been delistedwhile also burdening landowners. Read More: The Problem with U.S. Wildlife Protection Efforts The Endangered Species Act is not working today, said Senator John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, at a hearing on the Endangered Species Act Wednesday. States, counties, wildlife managers, home builders, construction companies, farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders are all making it clear that the Endangered Species Act is not working. Reform proposals remain in early stages, but they could include provisions that make adding a species to the list more difficult and requiring the involvement of affected states, according to an Associated Press report. In his testimony, Barasso said he hoped that the reform could be a bipartisan effort aimed at making the measure stronger. But conservation and environment groups arent buying it. In my over 35 years of experience, talk of modernizing the Endangered Species Act has amounted to one thing: a euphemism for undermining and weakening the statute, said Jamie Rappaport Clark, CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. The Endangered Species Act is not broken. It does not need to be fixed. Liancheng (China) (AFP) - Dragons several hundred metres long snake their way down pastoral roads and through country hamlets, part of centuries-old Chinese folk celebrations for a mythical creature revered as a blessing. The visually striking festival is among a range of colourful traditional observances unique to eastern Fujian province and its Hakka people and held each year in conjunction with the Lantern Festival, which fell this year on February 11. The dragon is believed to scare off bad luck and bring the rains needed by farming communities in Liancheng county, a rural area of Fujian. In the village of Gutian on Saturday, residents began their two-day dragon parade by slitting the throat of a squealing pig on the grounds of a temple, the animal's blood spouting into a pan and later poured onto the head of the paper-and-wood dragon. The giant beast was then carried by dozens of local men through farms and villages. Bringing up the rear was the dragon's tail, separated from the rest of the body because locals believe attaching it may bring too much rain. Later that night the dragon was paraded in circles outside a local government compound as fireworks crackled. The dragon was dismantled at night, but the parade resumed the next day. The dragon's head started out first, joined in succession by other sections until it was complete again. It was eventually lit up in flames on the grounds of the temple where it all started, an offering for a bountiful year ahead. A few days earlier, the well-preserved ancient Hakka village of Peitian had its own parade of eleven illuminated dragons, observances dating back to the Ming dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644. Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The European Parliament backed a contested EU-Canada free trade deal on Wednesday, facing down protests by activists and Donald Trump-inspired calls for protectionism. MEPs hailed the deal as a rare victory for an imperilled global trade system that is under threat from US President Trump who opposes far-reaching trade deals. The accord, known as CETA, is tipped as Europe's most modern ever and a possible model for relations with Britain after its leaves the EU. EU states and Canada formally signed the deal in October after seven years of tough talks, overcoming last-minute resistance from a small Belgian region that blocked its national government from approving the accord. But it needed the backing of MEPs meeting in Strasbourg, France, who solidly approved the pact with 408 votes in favour, 254 against and 33 abstentions. "This is a watershed moment -- EU trade policy will never be the same again," said senior Scottish MEP David Martin, whose Socialists and Democrats group split on the issue. Approval by the parliament allows the provisional implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement as early as next month. It must then be approved by national parliaments. Protesters attempted to disrupt the vote, with about 700 people marching outside the European Parliament to voice their opposition to the deal. Anti-globalisation activists dressed in surgical masks dramatically blocked the entrance to the parliament building, before being dragged off by riot police. "Saying yes to CETA is a trampling of the people," said a banner. Following the approval by parliament, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will address MEPs in person on Thursday. "Looking forward to it," Trudeau tweeted on Wednesday, adding in a statement that the deal "prepares the ground for stronger ties with the EU, which will result in greater possibilities for the middle classes on both sides of the Atlantic." Story continues - 'Blow to EU' - Opponents to CETA slam the deal as a "Trojan horse" to big business and a danger to health, democracy and the rule of law. "The disconnect between MEPs and public concerns over living standards, public health and the environment is another blow to the EU," said Greenpeace's EU trade policy adviser Shira Stanton. Some of the more controversial aspects, including a much-derided investor court system, still require ratification by EU member states, which could take years. CETA will remove 99 percent of non-farm customs duties between the two sides, a big win for exporters on both sides of the Atlantic. And unlike classic trade deals, CETA harmonises regulations on matters such as health and the environment, a major concern for activists. Some industries are left untouched. The CETA deal will not remove tariff barriers for public services, audiovisual and transport services and a few agricultural products, such as dairy, which is heavily subsidised in Canada. A major flashpoint for opponents is the proposal to set up special courts to settle disputes between investors and national authorities that is central to the deal. Opponents believe this provision hands too much power to multinationals that will use powerful lawyers to undermine national regulation. "Multinationals will be able to attack governments in a privatised court system," said France's far-right presidential candidate and MEP Marine Le Pen, who voted against CETA. But the deal's EU negotiator, Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem, said many of the concerns were "myths". "You have to remember too that 28 countries, 28 governments have signed this deal and said it is a good deal. Would the 28 really sign something that was so dangerous for their citizens?" she told AFP in an interview. The vote comes at a particularly sensitive time for global trade matters, with Britain poised to leave the European Union and new US president Trump rejecting an Asia-Pacific trade deal. Trump is also widely expected to drop a similar proposed deal with the EU known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP. Trudeau met with Trump on Monday in Washington. Trump had vowed to put "America first" and rip up the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, but significantly toned down that rhetoric after meeting Trudeau. burs-dk/ri Pax Britannica and Pax Americana have together provided the foundation for the modern, globalized world. Yet as Americans and Europeans gather in Munich this weekend for a major conference on security affairs, the Wests two founding members the United Kingdom and the United States are backing away from the order they spent considerable blood and treasure to build and maintain. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump make clear that many British and American citizens have had it with the liberal international order that was consolidated after World War II. Struggling to earn a living wage, uncomfortable with the social diversity bred by immigration, and worried about terrorism, a sizable bloc of voters across Western democracies sense that they are on the losing end of globalization and want to defect from it. Fair enough. The justifiable anger of these voters makes clear that our post-industrial polities have not done enough to manage globalization and ensure that its benefits are more broadly shared across our societies. Trumps election and Britains impending exit from the European Union are alarming wake-up calls; we ignore the plight of our working classes at the peril of Western democracy. Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump, his ascent reveals that the social compact that sustains democratic centrism and popular support for a liberal international order desperately needs to be recast. The problem is that Trump and his fellow populists are not offering a new social compact; they are selling their supporters a false bill of goods. Trumps policies and rhetoric may play to his base and its anti-establishment fervor, but the course he is pursuing promises, if anything, only to exacerbate the plight of struggling Americans. There is no going back to the industrial economy of the 1950s, when manufacturing jobs powered the U.S. economy. When that reality settles in, Trump may feel the need to resort to even more irresponsible populism, imperiling whatever is left of our fact-based, deliberative democracy. Story continues A new social compact entails better managing globalization, not unplugging from it. If Washington builds a wall on the border with Mexico, slaps sizable tariffs on imports, and blocks or scares off the immigrants that help fuel growth, the main result will be an economic slow-down, higher prices for many consumer goods, and a less competitive and innovative economy. To be sure, Trump may be able to restore some manufacturing jobs to the heartland. But such jobs have been dwindling in number mainly because of automation, not because of foreign trade. Furthermore, the United States will be great again not by building the best washing machines and air conditioners (although that would certainly be welcome), but by remaining the worlds leader in innovation, technology, and education all of which thrive on newcomers. While many immigrants do work in the service sector, they are also critical contributors to the high-tech sector. A recent study of American start-ups valued at $1 billion or more revealed that half of them were founded by individuals from outside the United States and over 70 percent of them employed immigrants in high-level executive roles. The United Kingdom is driving into a similar cul de sac. The Brexiteers are pursuing a global Britain that rids itself of the political and fiscal obligations of EU membership and is free to pick and choose its trading relationships. The promised result is a resurgent economy. But as Britain breaks away from the worlds largest market and watches manufacturers and financial firms flee to continental Europe, its economy is poised to shrink dramatically. And even if the U.K. remains open to free trade, since it represents less than 20 percent of the EUs single market, it will hardly be in a position to negotiate better trade pacts on its own. With both the United States and the United Kingdom opting for the politics of illusion and disruption rather than relying on deliberative discourse and informed policy making, the era of liberal internationalism that opened in 1945 could be closing. To avert that outcome, three urgent tasks are at hand. First, centrists of all political persuasions must come together to offer a new social compact that is a credible alternative to the false economic promises of the populists. Restoring the faith of workers in the political establishment requires a comprehensive plan fresh initiatives on education, vocational training, trade policy, tax policy, and wage minimums to ensure that all enjoy an adequate standard of living and share in globalizations benefits. Globalization is here to stay. But its unequal distributional effects must be addressed for the sake of democratic politics. Second, while the United States and other Western democracies are buffeted by populist forces, the moderating effects of institutional checks and balances will be crucially important. Legislatures, courts, the media, public opinion and activism these constraints on executive authority must be fully exercised. Finally, if the United States and Great Britain are to be, at least temporarily, missing in action when it comes to defending the liberal international order, then continental Europe will have to hold down the fort. With the internal cohesion of the EU strained by the very populism the bloc needs to face down, it is not good timing for the EU to fill the gap left by Anglo-American dysfunction. But at least for now, European leadership is liberal internationalisms best hope. A version of this article is being published in La Stampa and Suddeutsche Zeitung. Photo credit: DAN KITWOOD/Getty Images Paris (AFP) - After London last year, Eurostar has installed electronic passport gates with facial recognition technology for passengers travelling from Paris. "If you're travelling from Paris to day, try our brand new E-gates," the company tweeted Wednesday. Passengers with biometric passports scan the document at a first gate and then proceed to a second gate where a camera compares their features with their passport picture before allowing them through to the departure lounge. Over half a million passengers have used the e-gates at St Pancras station in London since they were installed in mid-2016. After Gare du Nord in Paris, Eurostar also plans to roll out the technology, in use in a growing number of airports, to Brussels Midi station. Cairo (AFP) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in Cairo Wednesday there is no option other than a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and efforts to reach it should be preserved. Guterres's comments came after he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and a day after a senior White House official said the United States would not insist on a Palestinian state alongside Israel. "There was a complete agreement" that a resolution needs a "two state-solution and that everything must be done to preserve that possibility," Guterres said. Later, in a speech at Cairo University, Guterres said the Israeli-Palestinian problem was the "mother" of regional conflicts. "There is no Plan B than a two-state solution," he added. A senior Palestinian official denounced the White House comment on Wednesday, saying it was irresponsible. "This does not make sense," Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi told AFP. "This is not a responsible policy and it does not serve the cause of peace. "They cannot just say that without an alternative," she added. The White House official's comments came ahead of talks between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Wednesday in Washington. "A two-state solution that doesn't bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve," the official said on condition of anonymity. For the better part of half a century, successive US governments -- both Republican and Democrat -- have backed a two-state solution. PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat said the organisation remained committed to two states and would oppose any system that discriminated against Palestinians. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Dylan Hatfield got one last chance to see his brother and five other crewmen on the Destination, a 98-foot crab boat missing and presumed sunk in the Bering Sea. The Destination was tied up Thursday in the Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor, preparing to leave. Hatfield, 29, had just come in from the Bering Sea on a different boat. He had worked on the Destination off and on for seven years, and when he left, his older brother, 36-year-old Darrik Seibold, replaced him. "We went down to the boat, brought a case of beer, said hello to everybody, gave everybody big hugs, told stories and had laughs," Hatfield said. Afterward, they all went out for pizza at the Norwegian Rat Saloon." "I got to tell the fellas I loved them, I got to hug my brother and tell him that I loved him, and then they left," Hatfield said. Early Friday, the Destination left for St. Paul Island, one of the tiny Pribilof Islands in the vast Bering Sea. On Saturday morning, Hatfield got the call: the Destination was missing 2 miles off another Pribilof Island, St. George. The Coast Guard had received an emergency location radio transmission from a device that transmits when it hits saltwater. Searchers rushed to the scene. They found an oil slick, a life ring and buoys. They emergency location beacon was floating in the slick. The lack of debris, the failure to make a mayday call, the absence of lifeboats or mariners in survival suits pointed to a sudden tragedy. "In my mind, they rolled over," Hatfield said. "I'm almost positive that those boys are still on the boat." Commercial fishing is inherently dangerous, and crab fishing in the Bering Sea is notoriously so. Fishermen work winters in icy, heaving platforms handling heavy, unforgiving equipment. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health notes that fishermen drop crab pots, each weighing 750 to 850 pounds empty, rigged to hundreds of feet of coiled line and buoys used to recover them from the ocean bottom. Story continues Just getting to the fishing grounds is dangerous. Vessels stack the heavy pots on their main deck in three to five tiers high as they travel in shallow ocean that sees big waves, high wind and icing that can make a boat top-heavy. In the 1990s, 73 people died in the Bering Sea crab fishery as the result of capsizing, sinking, falling overboard or an industrial accident. Two factors, however, have dramatically lowered that rate of nearly eight deaths annually. The Coast Guard and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 1999 instituted an upgraded inspection program with an emphasis on stability and safety. Vessels found lacking were not allowed to leave port. Federal managers also changed the fishery. Before 2005, boats rushed out from ports "derby style," trying to catch as much crab as possible until a quota was met, even if it meant fishing in dangerous conditions. That was replaced with "crab rationalization," in which most of the catch was guaranteed to boat owners. That meant they could use fewer boats, take longer to catch their quota and sit out dangerous conditions. It also meant hundreds of crew members lost their jobs. However, safety improved. From October 1999 through last year, 10 lives have been lost, according to the national institute. The Destination was on its way to St. Paul and planned to drop off bait on the island before heading out for a week or two to fish. The boat was carrying 200 crab pots and probably about 15,000 pounds of bait, Hatfield said. The boat had just rounded the northeast quarter of St. George Island, an area known for turbulent water, when it went down. "You get the shelf shallowing-up there, and lots of tide," Hatfield said. "It's always really cold around those islands." A number of factors probably led to a capsizing, he said. The boat may have iced up from sea spray freezing in 20-degree temperatures. An alarm in the engine or steering room may have malfunctioned. The boat had three tanks for holding crab. Pumps keep water circulating to them. If a pump shut off, it could cause a tank to go slack partially emptied of water that provides stability, Hatfield said. When a big wave hits, and the boat rolls in one direction, a slack tank makes it harder to recover. "It's never the first one," Hatfield said. "They probably took a big one, laid 'em over, and they didn't recover. Then they took another one, and another one, until she probably just rolled over." The vessel owners, F/V Destination, Inc., have not released name of the six crewmen. Spokesman Mike Barcott said the company has not contacted all families to make sure they want the names public. He agreed that whatever happened probably came on suddenly. A half hour before the boat disappeared, it was in calm water on the lee of St. George Island, Barcott said by email. "If there was a problem at that time they easily could have pulled into the harbor so we assume all was good then," he said. Seibold leaves a 3-year-old son. The cause of the tragedy likely will never be known, Hatfield said. "The only people who know what happened are on the bottom of the ocean," he said. By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - China will delay a planned $1.1 billion investment in a port on its modern-day "Silk Road" until Sri Lanka clears legal and political obstacles to a related project, sources familiar with the talks said, piling more pressure on the island nation. Heavily indebted Sri Lanka needs the money, but payment for China's interests in Hambantota port could be delayed by several weeks or months, the sources added. After signing an agreement last December, state-run China Merchants Port Holdings had been expected to buy an 80 percent stake in the southern port before an initial target date of Jan. 7. Beijing also has a separate understanding with Colombo to develop a 15,000-acre industrial zone in the same area, a deal that Sri Lanka was hoping to finalize later. But Colombo's plans to sell the stake and acquire land for the industrial zone have run into stiff domestic opposition, backed by trade unions and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. A legislator close to Rajapaksa is also challenging the government's plans in court. Now Beijing has linked the signing of the port deal with an agreement to develop the industrial zone, saying it would hold off on both until Colombo resolved domestic issues, officials on both sides of the talks said. "China has said that when they start the port, they want the land also," Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said, although he added that China had not made it a precondition. Yi Xianliang, Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka, said the two deals were related. "If we just have the port and no industrial zone, what is the use of the port? So you must have the port and you must have the industrial zone," he said. A source familiar with China's thinking said it may wait until May, when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits Beijing, to sign both deals. The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The previously unreported setback for Sri Lanka suggests Beijing is digging in its heels as it negotiates its global "One Belt, One Road" initiative to open up new land and sea routes for Chinese goods. SPEED BUMPS, MOUNTING DEBTS President Maithripala Sirisena is struggling to contain popular opposition to land acquisition for the huge Chinese industrial zone, including from Rajapaksa, who remains an influential opposition legislator. The deal for the port development and industrial zone has also been challenged in court, which means it is stuck at least until the next hearing on March 3. Asked whether the agreement would be delayed until the court had ruled, Yi, the Chinese ambassador, said: "Oh yes. We will follow the rule of law. We have the patience to wait." Rajapaksa's role, the court case and violent protests by people afraid they could be evicted from their land underlined how Beijing does not always get its own way even in countries that badly need investment. Sri Lanka wants Chinese money to help alleviate its debt burden; the government had expected to have the proceeds from the stake sale within six months of signing the agreement before Jan. 7. Sri Lanka has been under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to cut its deficit, shore up foreign exchange reserves and increase tax revenues as part of a $1.5 billion loan agreement struck in 2016. At least part of the money from the port deal would have gone toward paying down some of the more expensive loans on the government's books, some of which are from China, a senior Sri Lankan government official said. Hambantota port and a nearby airport were built from 2008 by the Rajapaksa government with the help of $1.7 billion in Chinese loans. When Sirisena unseated Rajapaksa in an upset victory in 2015, he froze all Chinese investments, alleging unfair dealings by his predecessor. Sirisena eventually negotiated a new deal with the Chinese government that involved the stake sale and further plans for the Chinese to develop an industrial zone. The Chinese government expects to invest about $5 billion to develop the area within 3-5 years. Sirisena also agreed to give land to the Chinese on a 99-year lease. The terms did not go down well with port trade unions, which have asked the government to reduce the Chinese stake to 65 percent and lease period to 50 years. Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in January when a demonstration against the planned industrial zone turned violent. (Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paritosh Bansal) President Trumps pick for Secretary of Labor, CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder, withdrew his nomination, a senior Administration official told TIME. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Puzder did not give a reason for his withdrawal. I am honored to have been considered by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Labor and put Americas workers and businesses back on a path to sustainable prosperity, he said in a statement. I want [to] thank President Trump for his nomination. I also thank my family and my many supporters employees, businesses, friends, and people who have voiced their praise and hopeful optimism for the policies and new thinking I would have brought to America as Secretary of Labor. While I wont be serving in the administration, I fully support the President and his highly qualified team. The withdrawal comes after a week of scrutiny of decades-old abuse allegations from Puzders ex-wife, which she has since retracted. Lisa Henning, who now goes by Lisa Fierstein, alleged in 1988 divorce filings that Puzder physically assaulted her in 1986, resulting in severe and permanent injuries including bruises and contusions to the chest, back, shoulders and neck and two ruptured discs that caused her to seek medical attention, according to records of the divorce obtained by TIME. Henning also appeared in disguise to discuss her experience in a 1990 Oprah episode about domestic violence. Henning said her ex-husband (whom she does not name in the tape) vowed revenge when she made the abuse allegations public, according to a copy of the tape obtained by POLITICO. Remember my ex-husband was a public figure. Everyone knew him and knew what he was doing, Henning said in the Oprah interview. And once I made that public, he vowed revenge, he said Ill see you in the gutter, this will never be over, you will pay for this.' Story continues Puzder also came under scrutiny last week for employing an undocumented immigrant to clean his home. He said in a statement that he had not known the housekeeper was undocumented, and that once he found out, he and his wife immediately fired her and offered her help to get legal status. Puzder has been widely criticized by unions and workers rights organizations. Workers at Carls Jr. and Hardees, which are operated by Puzder-run CKE restaurants, filed 33 state and federal complaints against their employer for wage theft, sexual harassment, unfair overtime practices, among other things. The nomination process was also derailed by Puzders attempts to disentangle his financial assets from anything that might constitute a conflict of interest. In order to serve, Puzder would have to step down as CEO of CKE Restaurants and divest from more than 200 companies and funds. Puzder delayed filing the necessary financial paperwork for weeks. He has also voiced support for replacing workers with robots: Theyre always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, theres never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case, he told Business Insider in 2016. Puzder also had a long record of supporting immigration reform, which puts him at-odds with an administration thats advocating for a tougher approach. By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Wednesday with the chief executives of eight large retailers, including Target Corpwill@cvradio.com
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) A Utah teenager is recovering in a Maryland hospital after being struck by lightning on a beach.
Conner Benson, a June graduate of Park City High School, had just finished sailing with his girlfriend and another friend Wednesday near Annapolis, Md., when the bolt hit nearby, knocking him and his friend to the ground.
Bensons grandmother, Sandy Goble of Murray, told KUTV-TV that hes in a medically-induced coma, and doctors are keeping his body cooled to reduce the chance of brain damage.
She says they likely wont know the extent of the 19-year-olds injuries until hes brought out of the coma.
Conner was in Maryland visiting his girlfriends relatives and pursuing a work internship.
His girlfriend, Jaimie Martin, escaped serious injury.
Family members have created a webpage to provide updates on Bensons condition.
Information from: KUTV-TV, http://www.kutv.com/
The revenge of the ugly fruits and vegetables
Published on February 15, 2017
Story by cafebabel DE Translation by: Nadege Vallet
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We eat with our eyes, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Querfeld and Zachran jidlo, two initiatives from Germany and the Czech Republic respectively, are promoting the return of imperfect fruits and vegetables to our plates.
The food industry is a slave to beauty. In the Czech Republic, 20% of all harvested fruits and vegetables will never make their way to our plates, while the figure rises to 30% in Germany - all because they don't meet arbitrary standards for size, shape and color. According to the Berlin-based start-up Querfeld, "Fruits and vegetables have to be attractive or nobody would want to eat them. Yet, those ruled out are just as tasty as the others." It is estimated that in Germany, about 18 million tons of edible goods are wasted each year - it would take 450,000 fully-loaded trucks to carry it all.
"At the supermarket or any other food supply chain, consumers are used to finding only calibrated fruits and vegetables. Retailers are 100% sure they would not buy anything else," says Anna Strejcova, from the Czech initiative Zachran jidlo (which means "Save the food"). "But if you go out in the fields to see how it actually works, you realize all fruits and vegetables don't grow in the same way, somebody has to sort them out in the end." This generates a huge farm loss beause foods that do not fit into standards are simply thrown away.
Real cucumbers have curves
The standardisation of our fruits and vegetables isn't just a cosmetic argument, however: same-shaped vegetables are simply easier to transport and to store. Consequently, suppliers have developed internal standards, such as the infamous "Curved Cucumber Regulation." Even so, Amelie Martin, a member of Querfeld, is quick to absolve the EU of blame for the rules: "What many don't know is that this curved cucumber regulation only exists since 2009!" But the damage is done: consumers keep on focusing on straight cucumbers because they were influenced to do so. Supermarkets do not offer alternatives, since they assume they will not sell. Consumers are thus prevented from buying something unusual or from getting used to different shapes and sizes - and eventually forget the alternative exists in the first place.
"It is necessary to make people aware! Demand, buy!" recommends Amelie. An issue close to her heart: while she was in business school, she chose to spend her holidays working in an organic farm and she was extremely shocked to see all that went to waste. "Most people don't have the slightest idea of what's being thrown away."
Nosy tomatoes
Last year, Zachran jidlo met representatives from various supermarkets: "We've been told that their clients were not ready to buy non-standard fruits and vegetables," reads the organization's homepage. In response they launched the campaign Jsem pripraven ("I am ready"), in which more than 10,000 people have signed a petition stating they'd be happy to buy imperfect produce - making it more likely that these frutis and vegetables will one day be available on the market. Leaders of the campaign can no longer stand more value being attached to cosmetics rather than taste.
Querfeld comes from the breeding ground of Berlin-based start-ups and wants to reach as many people as possible: "Our goal is not to convert or force anyone to buy our vegetables, but we'd like to make them desirable through our campaigns," Amelie explains. Communication is essential: campaigns have to be funny and trendy. Tomatoes with a crooked nose or close-up pictures of root vegetables call out for sympathy. "When you communicate with humour, you reach a lot of people," she adds.
Zachran jidlo also uses non-conformist aesthetics. Last year in Prague, activists displayed photographs by German artist Uli Westphal on the Artwall along the Vltava. Westphal, who has been taking pictures of unconventional fruits and vegetables since 2006, explains: "People think every single tomato, every single cucumber, every single bell pepper is identical. But they only are because the food industry want them to be identical. They've become design products. We judge our food according to beauty criteria. As soon as something does not comply with those criteria, we become suspicious." Westphal aims at proving to the Czechs that imperfect food is not only delicious but also, in its own way, beautiful.
"We will be glad if the consumers find it cool - but it must not end there," Anna insists. A supermarket chain recently started selling "crooked" vegetables in Czech Republic, but this is mostly a marketing strategy. Instead, Zachran jidlo is trying to make deep change occur and to transform the production system. "This is why we organize round table meetings where representatives from the Department of Agriculture, retailers and other experts are invited to discuss concrete measures to change this side of production," Anna explains.
Inner beauty
Querfeld has already found a solution: they deliver to client companies - caterers, canteens, professional kitchens, who couldn't care less what cucumbers looked like before their transformation. Until now, supermarkets haven't been Querfeld's core target, but Amelie promises that "we sure will not forget them." The start-up has had to be persuasive in talking to producers and retailers; farmers are obviously skeptical when they see young people from the city show up with their start-up. "The important thing was for our project to be able to renew itself in the long run," Amelie explains. Meanwhile, they have developed good relationships with the producers, but they must be patient: "Up until now, we cannot reduce waste as much as they would like us to." It is also difficult for the farmers to throw away those products and then to undergo the resulting shortfall.
The priority is to stop wasting food. No matter what shape fruits and vegetables have, quality must be the main focus. "It is essential for us to make local and organic products," Amelie insists. "We do not sell anything not fresh or moldy, only different-looking products." This is how to reduce food waste: by giving the producers a revenue, and offering clients the possibility to buy less expensive organic quality products.
Zachran jidlo also started this fight for ecological reasons: "It takes a lot of resources to produce fruit and vegetabels - water for irrigation, nutrients from the earth, fuel, labour. And this agriculture has a huge influence on climate change," Anna explains. "That's why we cannot allow all this food to rot away."
Story by cafebabel DE
Translated from Krummes Gemuse gegen Food Waste
Gunther Oettinger: Germany's walking gaffe machine
Published on February 15, 2017
Story by Sophie Rebmann Translation by: Ellie Sellwood
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Germanys new EU Budget and Human Resources Commissioner has had a decent career, but he has also made a number of comments that would have cost other politicians their jobs. Here we paint a portrait of this controversial figure.
Gunther Oettinger stands gravely in a dark grey suit and bright blue tie, in stark contrast to a bright, almost neon blue background. This portrait of the former Minister President was made by Germanys BILD magazine for the ancestral gallery of Villa Reizenstein, the representative government seat of Baden-Wurttemberg. When it was unveiled, however, a surprise discovery was made: the top corner appeared to have a bullet hole in it.
The hole had in fact been painted on, but the most striking feature of the painting was the apparent shattering of glass in the upper left corner. The artist, Anke Doberauer, is well-known for her luminous backgrounds, but this is her first (and so far only) piece with this particular visual touch.
In explanation for this, she merely said: "One can often find themselves under threat and vulnerable." This is undoubtedly true for the portrait's subject Oettinger always seems to land on the wrong side of controversy and, less than a year after the portrait was unveiled, finds himself in the crossfire yet again for comments of a homophobic, sexist and racist nature. That being said, his comments didnt seem to affect him when he stepped into the role of EU Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources at the beginning of this year.
The Commissioner who shoots himself in the foot
Oettinger has long been known as a politician who seldom misses a chance to put his foot in it. The Germans call him a 'Swabian Kalashnikov' for his rapid-fire remarks. In October, while speaking to invited guests of the Hamburg company AGA, he joked derogatorily about the introduction of a "compulsory homosexual marriage" in Germany. He also described a contingent of Chinese businessmen who had recently come to Brussels to meet EU officials as "nine men, (with) one party and no democracy," who had "slit ears" and "slit eyes" and wore "single-breasted dark-blue jackets, all with their hair brushed from left to right with black shoe polish." When the video, which was recorded in secret, became public, the politician saw no reason to apologize. However, he later appeared to change his mind and issued a public apology in which he stated that the statements had been disrespectful and that he had sought only to speak freely.
There are, of course, plenty of other incidents in which he has crossed the line. With Frauke Petry leader of Germanys AfD Party for example whom he said he would "shoot" if he was married to her. This comment, however, received very little in the way of criticism. Oettinger's partner, Friederike Beyer, is 24 years younger than him and not active in politics and apparently loves him "a little more than her horse," according to an interview Oettinger gave to Germanys Bunten magazine back in 2008 when their relationship became public.
Oettinger was also heavily criticized during his time as Minister President for Baden Wurttemberg. Most notably, for the time when he declared that one of his predecessors, Hans Filbinger of the Christian Democrats, was not only the Minister President but also a former Nazi-Marinerichter (naval judge).
The Kalashnikov comes under fire
The media, along with various NGOs, were outraged, and published an open letter protesting Oettingers promotion to his current role of European Commissioner for Budget and Personnel, one of the most important roles within the EU Commission. This role oversees the management of the Commission's human resources, and as such it is argued that the person occupying it should set a good example.
But Oettinger spoke out, in spite of the mounting criticism surrounding his position. At a hearing held by the EU Parliament before he took on his new post on 9 January, he managed to win over his critics and appease the media. And so the phrase which made an appearance at the unveiling of his portrait gained relevance once again: "A target, healthy, but still vulnerable."
Speeches aside, Oettinger's ascent to his current position was generally smooth but also steep. Oettinger was born in Stuttgart and grew up in Ditzingen, a small town in the surrounding area. He remained close to home, choosing to study in Tubingen, a mere 50 kilometers away. On his return to Ditzingen, he followed in the footsteps of the father and became co-owner of hi fathers accountancy firm. At the age of 21, he joined the CDU, and founded the partys Junge Union or youth division in his hometown. This was followed by his election to the municipal council, then to the state parliament, then to the chairman of the CDU in Baden Wurttemberg in 2005.
He has kept up his contact with the municipal council while in the role of EU Commissioner and he is praised for that. David Wagner (25), a member of the CDU since 2010 (Baden-Wuerttemberg), likes Oettingers down-to-earth attitude, and especially the fact that it is not beneath him to shake the hand of someone who is less well-known. The young CDU politician especially likes Oettingers sense of humor and ability to laugh at himself stating an example when Oettinger remarked: "New glasses? New lid, old pot." He certainly seems to come across well, in his own unique but funny way. He is definitely a character and often described as self-confident, energetic, purposeful and sympathetic. The majority of the members of the Junge Union and the CDU have a good impression of him as "very competent and pragmatic."
In 2010, Wagner said, "Many of us, including myself, regret that he went to Brussels." As Minister President, Oettinger, was often in Brussels at the EU and he was not received very well here, either by the EU or by his colleagues in the CDU especially when videos began to circulate of his speeches in Brussels, because his English was so bad.
He became the butt of many jokes online, and also within the CDU: "We definitely laughed at his English," says Wagner. Before moving to Brussels, Oettinger, who speaks only German and English, had lived almost exclusively in Stuttgart and the surrounding area, and so, when he moved to Brussels he left much of his international and multilingual support behind. The commissioner does, however, see the funny side of this: "I could have spent lots of money on continuous ads but I got so much recognition free of charge." Although many have made fun of him, his way of speaking has become his trademark.
Nevertheless, he does not seem to be as comfortable in Brussels as he does in his home faction of the CDU. He often comes back to Stuttgart and can be seen at the political celebration of Ash Wednesday as well as at parties, jubilee events and election campaign events, as the young party members will tell you. He also just celebrated his 60th birthday, not in Brussels, but in Baden-Wurttemberg, with well-known businessmen and politicians. The CDU in Baden-Wurttemberg threw a big party for him, for 600 guests which apparently cost 40,000 euros.
"Broadband? Id rather have a bottle of Bordeaux!"
In Brussels, Oettinger held the role of Vice President of the European Commission for Energy, before moving into the role of commissioner for digital affairs, where he had very little to do. Network activists, in particular, consistently questioned his competence and were clearly very happy to see him move to a different department. Commenting on his departure the Grunderszene said: "a sigh of relief is felt throughout the digital economy." This is in part due to the fact that he said that he once said he would prefer a bottle of Bourdeaux in his home over an internet connection.
Many others have also benefitted from the fact that the Oettinger performed well as an energy commissioner and made an important contribution to the department of digital affairs, with the ban on roaming costs. Wagner is also convinced of Oettingers competence as a politician and is confident that he will bring a lot to the table in his new role as the commissioner for Budget and Human Resources: "He has a good grasp of different topics. The commissioner also has a large staff made up of experts with specialist knowledge. His craft is politics. I think he has a good political sense and political perspective. Further, as Minister President, he was inevitably responsible for everything so he brings a lot of experience to the role."
It is precisely this, however, that makes *Jasmin, a young woman and former long-time member of the CDU and Junge Union in Baden-Wurttemberg, not want to see their real name mentioned in this article. "He is not sympathetic. His manner is very smooth, but its not authentic and he doesnt take responsibility. But, that being said, there are a lot of people with whom he has great relationships and who like to spend time with him."
Committed to partying
This is probably due to his many popular parties: "Everyone knows that you can celebrate with him and drink beer. This is what he is known for, and there are many who swarm to Oettinger for evening celebrations," says Jasmin. The German daily press has repeatedly reported on Oettinger's celebrations, during many of which he has been "more or less carried to bed," as reported by Germanys Stern magazine. The Sudkurier described him as "somewhere between a swot and a bon vivant." While it is speculated that this image was not good for him at the time, the Junge Union are sure that "he gained a lot of respect within the CDU for his staying power."
It is likely that he trained this characteristic while studying in Tubingen, as he was an active member of the universitys oldest student-run society Landsmannschaft Ulmia, which celebrated its centenary in 2015. The society, which is only open to male students, is heavily criticized across the political spectrum because it often produces inside deals and relationships that are thought to encourage nationalist, sexist and racist behaviour.
The society has had its fair share of scandals in the past. The students in Tubingen, living in the villas on the Osterberg just above the town, are famous for their drinking habits and nationalistic behaviour. It was at one of these festivities that Oettinger sang the first verse of the German national anthem, something which was strictly forbidden in Germany because of its abuse by the Nazis. In politics, too, Oettinger joined a men's club, which afforded him great advantages, through this he was invited by the CDU to join a group of young, promising men to go on a trip to Venezuela and Chile. Over the Andes, they swore to support each other and the Andean pact was born.
Comments made while drinking
Oettinger learned to drink and to casually throw around questionable comments during his time as a member of the Junge Union, as Jasmin relates: "Whether it was a wine festival, a club evening or a joint excursion, the meetings usually ended with alcohol in male-dominant settings. Sexist and morally questionable jokes were very much the order of the day."
Women either chose to go along with them, or risked being considered boring, says Jasmin, adding critically: "As a young, inexperienced woman you dont even notice what is going on, at first. Everyone is in a good mood, you joke and laugh a lot and you just laugh too." The CDU has long been criticised for having a problem with sexism within its ranks, an issue that was flagged up in an open letter written by 26-year-old member of the Berlin faction of the CDU, Jenna Behrends, just last year. But neither Jasmin nor David Wagner recalled hearing explicitly sexist comments and neither of them was able to enjoy a beer with Oettinger himself. All things considered, David does not take this to mean that such comments do not exist, "comments like that could come up at the Stammtisch. But that should be seen as a very different setting and not indicative of a general phenomenon, it really depends on the people present."
But even if he was caught saying such things there is no doubt that Oettinger would surely be able to convince people that it was OK, as was announced on his satirical Twitter account - in his characteristic English - in a tweet to Donald Trump:
Story by Sophie Rebmann
Translated from Gunther Oettinger: Feiernder Aktenfresser oder burgernaher Alleskonner?
Avaya Zang Launches SMB Cloud Services
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By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC By Paula BernierExecutive Editor, TMC
About a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Avaya (News - Alert) has introduced new business communications solutions for the small and mid-sized business set. The new offerings, delivered via the companys Zang business, include Zang Office and Zang Spaces.
We are building on our goal to deliver cloud to the market, providing small and medium-sized business with an affordable and efficient way to differentiate their products and services through real-time connections and engagement with customers, said Zang Inc. General Manager Mo Nezarati.
Zang Office is a customizable cloud-based phone service. The company says this offering provides enterprise-class communications at a small business price. That is, starting at $15.95 a month.
Features include auto attendant, conference calling, hunt groups, interactive voice response, landline-to-mobile transfer, local or toll-free numbers, voicemail-to-email translation, and more. Administrators can use the Zang Office Web interface to add mobile devices, change configuration, make IVR changes, manage users, and more. Organizations also can customize Zang Office with Zang Cloud, which enables the addition of SMS and voice features via the use of simple tools.
As for Zang Spaces, thats a meetings-as-a-service offering. It brings together sharing, tasks, video, and voice. And its integrated with popular calendar solutions.
Theres no download required with Zang Spaces. Rather, its available from any browser, and participants can just click to join a meeting.
Cottonwood Cottage is among the early users of Zang Office. This solution provides the company with an affordable way to support people calling in for information or to book events.
We are adding event venues and looking to support adjacent businesses, and Zang Office supports this game plan, said Brent Knittel, co-owner of Cottonwood Cottage. We are excited about the possibilities provided by SMS enablement via Zang Cloud while Zang Spaces allows us to easily collaborate with couples on wedding logistics. All of this ties back to creating differentiated experiences that traditionally only larger businesses could offer.
Zang Office is now available in the U.S. and Canada and can be purchased at https://store.zang.io/zang-office/view. Zang Spaces has tiered pricing, starting with a free model that includes file sharing, messaging, tasks, and video sharing for up to three people.
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Senat Camerounais Archives
Over 10 members of Parliament and Senators of the ruling party CPDM in the North West region have appealed on Head of State Paul Biya to release arrested Anglophone leaders currently at the Kondengui Maximum prison.
This was part of 10 point resolutions arrived at after a meeting held at the Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda, North West region at the invitation of Senate Vice President Senator Achidi Achu.
The Bamenda meeting held on Wednesday February 15, 2017 also saw as recommendation acknowledgement by the MPs and Senators on the pr5evailing situat5ion in the two English speaking regions, hail and acknowledge efforts mad eby President Paul Biya in putting in place the Ad Hoc Committees which according to them have solved some of the problems raised by Trade Union leaders.
They also thanked the Head of State for creating the National Commission of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism which they consider as a salutary and a giant step in the right direction in resolving the crisis and appeal for an expedient appointment of its members for effective work to begin.
Resolutions of the Bamenda Meeting (c) Musa Wilson
On school resumption, the Parliamentarians expressed deep concern and regret the negative impact that the present stalemate is bound to inflict on the youths.
Among others the MPs and Senators also urged Traditional rulers and Religious authorities well as Civil Society actors to add their voices to the peace campaign.
Cameroonians In Diaspora Demand Reconnection of Internet In NW and SW Wilson MUSA
He Internet Disconnection in the North West and South West regions has caused youths in these regions to go in search of network wherever they find one, even in neighboring regions.
The people of the North West travel kilometers to neighboring Babadjou to receive and send messages through social media. These modern internal Pilgrims because that is what they have become, will for the sake of information undergo tedious journey coupled with security harassment who have become very vigilant on the new style adopted.
The situation is not different with youths in the South West regions that have to go to Misellele to get connected. As usual the Pilgrims are often chased by security men who have taken the place their hotel. Police even go as far as violating rights to privacy by seizing phones, deleting messages and or arresting some on grounds that they are propagating messages to fuel th strike action.
President Paul Biya during his traditional Youth Day message on February 10, 2016 described todays youths as Android Generation, a generation where technology has been made simple and most youths rely on it to make ends meet. He urged youths to make good use of digital economy which is fast becoming a major item to boost the countrys economy and job creation.
One year after, it is the same regime which glorified the coming of internet, which is now crucifying its citizens for using it.
The repercussions are enormous, most of these youths who relied on internet have simply shut down their businesses, and some have had to relocate to neighboring regions, while others have changed business in an attempt to put food on the table.
Observers hold that if the Biya regime is responsible enough, it will reconnect these regions with Internet to avoid another crisis tomorrow, when the rate of unemployment must have skyrocketed in these regions, when landlords will throw tenants out and when many will become school drop outs.
| BY Martin Trevaskis |
Lions Health, Cannes Lions dedicated stream focused on life-changing creativity, has today announced June Laffey (left), Executive Creative Director, McCann Health, Australia and South East Asia, as the 2017 Pharma Lions Jury President.
Serviceplan Health & Life, Germanys Mike Rogers has been named the Health & Wellness Lions Jury President.
Says Louise Benson, Executive Festival Director of Lions Health: The rigid boundaries in the healthcare communications industry act as a catalyst for creative solutions that genuinely make a difference and Lions Health is a platform for these ideas to be celebrated, discussed and built upon. June and Mike bring vast expertise and experience and were delighted to have them as Jury Presidents, championing the very best of creativity in this highly regulated field and pushing for greater innovation and fresher ideas going forward.
Says Laffey: In life every challenge is an opportunity. Thats how we learn, thats how we grow. Nowhere is this more true than when working in healthcare. Heavy regulations, risk-averse thinking and a smorgasboard of other constraints mean that, in health, we have many challenges. Despite this, the opportunities for life-saving creativity have never been so huge. I am honored to be trusted to lead this jury, where the filter of judging within these constraints must, and will, be rigorously applied.
The Health specialist Lions celebrate creativity across a wide range of pharma and healthcare communications aimed at engaging healthcare professionals, patients and consumers. This year sees a new Health and Wellness Tech product category added to the Health & Wellness Lions reflecting the huge increase in digital products, apps, wearables and gadgets aimed at improving and promoting a modern healthy lifestyle.
Says Mike Rogers, Creative Partner at Germanys Serviceplan Health & Life: Its been three years since the introduction of Lions Health in 2014, and since then it has been interesting to witness the incredible impact it has had on the industry perception of healthcare creativity. During this time, we have seen healthcare creativity truly flourish thanks in part to inspiring innovation. I was honoured to be a part of the inaugural Health Lions jury, and now, three years later, I am incredibly excited to see what this strong wind of change has brought in to the increasingly fascinating world of healthcare creativity.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 10:17PM
With Samsung pushing back the release of its latest flagship, we cant stress enough how important it is for LG to take advantage of the opportunity. And the South Korean brand seems to be making the most of it with its latest round of teasers for the LG G6. Two new teasers focus on talking about reliability with the words Reliability. Check, check, check. Whether this takes a stab at the troubles Samsung has faced or even to address the own flaws of its units, its a good thing to focus on.
Another teaser has the words Resist more. Under pressure. If we are to surmise, this could point to water resistance. Perhaps we can expect full submersion to be possible with the G6. Now, whether theyll take the IP68 rating that Samsung employs, we cant say. We dont have that much of a wait anyway as the phone will launch at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this February 26.
Source: Android Authority
Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 8:58AM
By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Swedish headphone makers Sudio may not be the first brand to come to mind when considering over-the-ear headphones but their Regent line offers great sound and clarity as well as smart Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity and 24 hours of playback on a charge.
I'm very particular about headphones, specially over the-ear-models where fit is a huge factor for me. I travel a lot, I need a compact set that's durable and easy to pack and which can isolate me from cabin noise, other passengers and also serve to provide music and video audio. Other features that will appeal to travellers, the Sudio Regents can be quick charged in 10 minutes which will yield at least four hours of use. Full charge takes two hours.
The Sudio Regent headphones ($219) are surprisingly light and compact, yet offer a great fit and full-sized sound. They're not ostentatious, (my review unit was matte black on black with slight yellow gold accents, and beautiful marble inserts that give it a bit of customization).
Pairing to an iPhone 7 as well as my Surface Book proved to be easy and sound was generally good for most of the content I listened to. Sudio prides itself for providing, "impeccable balance of instrumental tones and noise clarity, the musical elements seamlessly knit together to create an unmatched listening experience."
I found this to be accurate as I prefer headphones that focus on fidelity and play back music as close to how it was recorded. Plugging in the Sudio Regents into my ancient Sony Discman to play a variety of CD's proved to be delightful as the loudness, clarity and separation this set provided matched the sound I enjoyed from sets costing three to four times as much and which weigh more.
When I'm out and about, I tend to wear in-ear headphones and most recently these have been Apple AirPods.
I have been using the Sudio Regents though and found them to provide far better connectivity than any other in-ear or sport Bluetooth headset I have used. They are also super-light and you forget they are there even when wearing them over a toque (beanie). There are easy to miss buttons on the headset for stop/play and volume up/down, this is convenient for when you don't want to reach for your phone.
Sudio Regents will appeal to a wide range of users. The design is functional and understated but elegant. I'd have no problems wearing these to work and I like the flexibility of being able to change the look with the Caps which easily twist into the headsets.
As a frequent traveller, usually taking many short one or two night trips for work, I've become obsessed with travelling light and carefully choose the technology I carry. Before the Sudio Regents, I never considered taking a full-size over the ear headphone with me. That's changed. Even if this isn't a noise isolation set, it is compact enough yet performs well as a wireless set or as a wired set.
It's easy to recommend Sudio Regents for anyone looking for a solid, light (in weight) and well-designed pair that sounds good, has tremendous battery life and offers quick-charging capabilities.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
NOTE: Sudio is offering a 15% off discount code for Canadian Reviewer readers: The code is CANADIAN15
It has no expiry date and it's valid for 15% off their entire purchase at sudiosweden.com.
"I'd probably like to see what the moon's actually made of, people say it's made out of rocks and stuff but I'd like to see," she said.
Extra staff has been on hand since Friday to meet the hundreds of orders that have already been placed, as well as prepare for those purchasing flowers on the day.
"It had snapped its collar to get to her. The owner tried to control it but accidentally let go of the other dog, which started attacking Elsa as well."
Taiwan-funded companies that have invested in Guangdong province's city of Dongguan, a major manufacturing center in the Pearl River Delta, have maintained sustainable business growth there and many of them have been introducing smart solutions to cope with rising production costs, according to leading businessmen.
"There haven't been hundreds of Taiwan-invested companies moving their businesses out of Dongguan," said Tsai Jinhong, chairman of the Taiwan Businessmen Association (Dongguan).
Some overseas media reported that over 1,000 Taiwan-funded companies in the mainland had closed or moved to other regions because of the local government's industrial upgrading policy.
Dongguan, traditionally known for its strong manufacturing capacity, attracted thousands of overseas investors, especially those from Taiwan and Hong Kong, since the early 1980s.
At the end of 2016, Dongguan was host to 3,447 Taiwan-funded companies, according to the association.
The number of Taiwan companies in Dongguan accounts for about one third of the city's total overseas invested businesses, said Tsai.
"A growing number of Taiwan companies have performed well in expanding in the domestic market and building their own brands," Tsai added.
He said that only 74 Taiwan companies closed businesses in Dongguan in 2016, most of which were engaged in labor-intensive manufacturing.
Business leaders said companies had been making increased efforts in achieving sustainable business growth, countering higher production costs and a shortage of workers in Dongguan.
"The biggest concern is the labor shortage. Workers now have more optionsworking in their hometowns or other manufacturing places," said Chang Hanwen, chairman of Dongguan Fuwha Shoes Industry Co Ltd.
Chang said some workers had not yet returned to their jobs after the Spring Festival.
Sales of the company, founded 27 years ago in Dongguan, declined 18 percent year-on-year to about $50 million in 2016.
"Businesses were greatly affected by the increased costs of labor and production," Chang said.
According to Chang, manufacturing businesses from Southeast Asian counterparts have put great pressure on Taiwan companies in the Pearl River Delta.
"We are now making efforts in upgrading our processing lines by introducing more smart equipment and technologies," he said.
"Otherwise, we will consider moving part of our manufacturing business to the neighboring regions, which are in lower production costs."
Chang also called for more preferential policies from the local government to help Taiwan businesses, especially traditional manufacturing companies, develop more smart solutions to cope with the challenges.
"We are no longer labor-intensive manufacturing business," he said.
"The government needs to invest more in helping companies utilizing technology and smart processing to achieve sustainable growth."
Yi Ling contributed to the story.
Dabbour was CFO of the African business until this month, a position he had held since August 2015. He has been with the London-headquartered company since 2008, spending time as CFO of operations in Chad and, later, Ghana.
Millicom operates in Africa and Latin America under the Tigo brand name.
Before joining Millicom, he worked for Besix, the largest Belgian construction company. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Brussels as senior accountant.
My experience covers turnarounds and growth strategies in volatile and challenging markets, he says on LinkedIn. Developing teams, fostering talents and building world-class organizations bring me a lot of satisfaction. Im challenge-driven and I usually do not hesitate to question the status quo in order to improve things.
Meanwhile Gordon is understood to be about to announce a new role in the industry.
Via Reuters: China death toll from bird flu soars to 79 in January: government. Excerpt and then a comment:
China reported as many as 79 fatalities from H7N9 bird flu in January, the government said, far surpassing the number of deaths in recent years and stoking fears about the spread of the deadly virus among the population this winter.
The news released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission late on Tuesday brings the death toll since October to 100. January's total far surpasses numbers for January over the past three years, which ranged between 20 and 31.
Some 192 people were infected last month, the commission said, bringing the total since October to 306.
The latest data will reinforce concerns about the spread of the virus among humans as neighboring South Korea and Japan also battle major outbreaks among their poultry flocks.
Chinese disease control experts have warned the public to stay alert for H7N9 avian flu. The virus usually strikes in winter and spring, and farmers have in recent years ramped up measures such as cleaning regimes to prevent the disease.
Bear in mind that this is 79 deaths in a population of 1.375 billion. At the same time, with much less fuss, China is suffering 1.6 million yearly deaths due to air pollution, or 4,383 a day.
That means 135,873 Chinese died last month from smog alone. This month will be better, with only 122,724 deathsbecause February has just 28 days.
Dr. Michael Tompsett invented the world's first digital camera, shown at left, and took the first color digital photo of his wife, Dr. Margaret Tompsett, which was published on cover of Electronics Magazine in 1973. TIM WOOD PHOTO
CHATHAM Drs. Michael and Margaret Tompsett were getting ready for a vacation in Cuba when they received a call from Lord Browne of Madingley. Michael Tompsett, he informed them, was to share the 1 million Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his work in digital imaging.
We basically took a day of shock, then unpacked our suitcase for Cuba and packed for London unpacked swimsuits and packed rain coats, Michael Tompsett said.
The award, announced Feb. 1, recognized the contribution Tompsett and three other engineers made to digital imaging, which paved the way for everything from ubiquitous cell phone cameras to medical scanners. Every second, 100 cameras are made using the technology, resulting in some three billion images each and every day, according to the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, which sponsored the award.
Tompsett, whose home overlooks Lovers Lake, was working at AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey in the 1970s when he came up with the idea of using the charged-couple device, or CCD, to create digital images. He made the first digital camera and took the first color digital image a photo of his wife, which was published on the cover of Electronics Magazine.
They called her the first digital cover girl, he said of recent new reports about the award.
In the second floor study in his home, Tompsett opens up the back of that first camera, which was about the size of a shoe box, and points to its various components.
Today everything in here fits on one chip, he said, highlighting how the technology has changed, although the concepts have basically remained the same. Two of the other engineers honored with the award, Professor Nobukazu Teranishi and Professor Eric R. Fossum, invented ways to make those initial imaging sensors smaller, to the point today when they can fit inside a pill that can be swallowed.
Also honored was Dr. George Smith, co-inventor of the CCD. The chip, first created at the Bell Lab in 1969, was originally intended to enhance computer memory. Tompsett's innovation was to apply the CCD to imaging. Light-sensitive pixels produce an electronic signal which the sensor reads and measures; an analogue-to-digital converter, which Tompsett also invented, then turns the pixel measurements into binary information that can be stored as digital data.
Slowly a lot of things came together, he said. A year after putting together the first digital camera, a second prototype was made that was less than half the size. They knew they were on to something, but, said Tompsett, he and his team of engineers had no idea if it could ever be important or even if it was realistic.
That initial image was blurry and pixelated the first CCD chips only contained eight pixels and the image of Margaret Tompsett was made with 10,000 pixels, minuscule by today's standards, when a cell phone camera's resolution can be 12 megapixels, or 12 million pixels. Images grew clearer and sharper as the number of pixels were increased, which upped the amount of light that the sensor could gather. The technology at the time was pretty basic, he said. We cut the templates by hand.
Tompsett had come to Bell Labs from his native England, where he had invented a thermal imaging television camera tube while working for the Electric Valve Company. Unlike previous scanners, his did not require cooling. It became the basis of thermal image scanners used today by the military and rescue services as a visual aid in low-light environments, such as smokey fires, as well as a medical diagnostic and screening tool. That innovation was previously recognized with a Queen's Award in 1987.
At Bell Labs Tompsett's team was working on ways to reduce the size of the enormous television cameras used at the time, which relied on tubes, by applying semiconductor or solid state technology. He also worked on the Bell picture phone, which was abandoned because it was too expensive.
Tompsett continued to work on CCD images, as well as computer modems, developing a codex to convert between analogue and digital signals, which reduce the cost of communicating over telephone lines dramatically, he said.
After taking early retirement from Bell Labs, Tompsett ran the U.S. Army's Electron Device Research program for six years, again working on imaging devices. He left the post to start his own medical software company after noticing that the products his wife, a medical doctor, was using were crummy.
We decided we could do better, and in fact we did, he said. After a dozen years, he sold the company and moved to Chatham, where his family had been vacationing since 1973. The couple bought their home here in 2008 and became year-round residents in 2012.
Tompsett's contribution to the technology that is indispensable today was recognized in 2012, when he was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Barack Obama; a photo of the engineer with the president is prominently displayed in his study, alongside other honors, including his membership in the National Academy of Engineers and the Edison Gold Medal awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is also a member of the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. The honors are not over; he will officially receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize from the queen herself in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace at an as-yet-unannounced date.
The prize, given biannually, is designed to raise the profile of engineering and inspire young people to take up the engineering challenges of the future, according to a statement from the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. In his acceptance speech, Tompsett acknowledged the importance of encouraging students to study STEM subjects and not be intimidated or dissuaded from becoming engineers.
Engineering is a fun, creative, exciting, fulfilling and rewarding activity in itself for both sexes, as well as the crucial role which it plays for society, and that is the message to be taken away today and publicized, he said.
Where will digital imaging go from here? It may have reached the limit as far as miniaturization, Tompsett said. We can almost detect a single photon in today's cameras, he noted. He does see improvements in virtual technology, including three-dimensional imaging.
Movies and so on will be come totally immersive at that point, he said.
Heres the thing about Wolf Hollow, the new novel by Lauren Wolk of Centerville: the story is so compelling that when you finish it, youll be thrilled to know that another novel by Wolk will soon be released.
Beyond the Bright Sea, set in the Elizabeth Islands off Falmouth, is due out in May.
Wolf Hollow is for ages 10 and up and was named a 2017 Newbery Honor Book and won the New England Book Award. It was also named a best book of the year by NPR, the American Library Association and many more groups. And even if you are well over the age of 10 you will still enjoy the book which is set in rural Pennsylvania during World War II.
So how did Wolk, who grew up in Providence during the 1960s and 1970s and summered in Chatham, write so convincingly about growing up a full generation ahead of herself?
My father grew up in the Pittsburgh area, and my mother grew up on a farm not far from there, she said in an email interview last week. I spent a lot of time on that farm over the years. Its a taproot for me.
A memoir Wolks mother wrote for the family inspired me to start working on a piece of fiction set on a small farm during WWII, Wolk says. I didnt have to do much other research. Just things like which radio programs were popular in the 40s, which board games the kids might have played, things I mostly discovered simply by asking my mother a lot of questions.
Wolk, who is a poet and visual artist as well as a novelist, is the associate director of the Cultural Center of Cape Cod. A graduate of Brown University, she and her husband Richard Hall are the parents of two adult sonsRyland and Cameron. Her first novel was Those Who Favor Fire in 1999.
She grew up in a book-loving family.
My parents always read to us, every night, and I loved everything from Pat the Bunny to Goodnight Moon, she recalls. When I could read on my own, I devoured everything I could get my hands on, but I was especially crazy about Charlottes Web and other classic childrens novels.
Many readers would add Wolf Hollow to that pantheon of well-loved childhood books. Wolf Hollow reminds me of the other-era, powerful books I loved as a child, says Caitlin Doggart, co-owner of Where the Sidewalk Ends Books in Chatham.
It is the fall of 1943 when a dark-hearted girl named Betty Glengarry arrives and changed everything. Betty, who is a big, tough, older girl from the city, is staying with her grandparents because she was deemed incorrigible.
Annabelle, age 12, guides us through this world that for children revolves around a one-room schoolhouse that is so crowded that when the boys show up from the farms, the thinner pupils have to share desk chairs.
Bettys reign of terror begins in an innocent, if annoying manner with spitballs and jabs of a pencil. Soon, though, she graduates to extortion, telling Annabelle that she will harm her, and then her brothers, if Annabelle doesnt bring her something.
When one of the older boys befriends Betty, she leaves spitballs behind. One shocking crime follows another.
Also living in this small town is a mysterious WWI veteran of few words named Toby. Toby blew into town during the Great Depression, a hobo who stayed. Toby spends his time walking in the woods. Toby is strange.
Betty has the unerring instincts of the psychopathic criminal, and she blames Toby for the violent crimes. This works because even well-meaning adults arent sure if Toby can be trusted. The drama escalates to a powerful conclusion.
Annabelle has been much praised because she stands up to a bully.
Wolk, who says both she and her sons were bullied, says when she discusses bullying with children she tells them that by asking for help, they are giving someone else a gift: the chance to do something good and to feel wonderful about it.
Some critics have compared Wolf Hollow to To Kill a Mockingbird. That book, like Wolf Hollow, features a mysterious eccentric in the neighborhood, Boo Radley.
I am more than honored to be mentioned in the same breath with such a book, Wolk says. But when I first heard the comparison I was alarmed. First, I wrote Wolf Hollow to honor my own family and its history, and I didnt notice (let alone try to create) any similarities to Harper Lees book. Wolk says she would have loved to converse with Lee about the power of literature to capture a time and a place in the evolution of family and country.
Wolk will speak on Wolf Hollow at the Eldredge Public Library on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. She will also sign copies of her book courtesy of Where the Sidewalk Ends Books.
And on Monday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. author Matthew Van Fleet will sign copies of his new interactive book for children, Dance at Where the Sidewalk Ends, 432 Main St., Chatham.
WHO has published Nine countries commit to halve maternal and newborn deaths in health facilities. Excerpt and then a comment:
Today, 9 countries Bangladesh, Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda committed to halving preventable deaths of pregnant women and newborns in their health facilities within the next 5 years.
Through a new Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, supported by WHO, UNICEF and other partners, the countries will work to improve the quality of care mothers and babies receive in their health facilities.
This Network aims to strengthen national efforts to end preventable deaths by 2030, as envisioned by the Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Womens, Childrens and Adolescents Health. Countries will do that for example, by strengthening capacity and motivation of health professional to plan and manage quality improvement, improving data collection and increasing access to medicines, supplies, equipment and clean water.
Every mother and infant deserves to receive the highest quality of care when they access health facilities in their communities, says Dr Anthony Costello, director, WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health.
Through a global learning platform, the Quality of Care Network will build a community of health practitioners from the facility level and up to develop evidence-based, yet context-specific, strategies to improve quality of care, harvest implementation ideas, and collect information and experiences about what is working.
Ending preventable deaths
The period around childbirth is the most critical for saving mothers and newborns, and preventing stillbirths. Every year, worldwide, 303 000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth, 2.7 million babies die during the first 28 days of life and 2.6 million babies are stillborn. Most of these deaths could be prevented with quality care during pregnancy and childbirth.
However, the provision of care is uneven within and between countries, and often fails to respect the rights and dignity of those who seek it.
Births in health facilities have increased in the past decade, says Dr Costello. Attention is now shifting from access to care to improving the quality of care so that countries can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals targets to end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths by 2030.
Think about this goal: Assuming all countries, not just these nine, commit to these goals, in 2030 150,000 women will die in childbirth, 1.35 million babies will die during the first 28 days of life, and 1.3 babies will be stillborn. And that will halve the preventable death rates of 2017.
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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Sometimes its good to be reminded of just how good a car is by giving it go once more. In the case of the Mitsubishi Xpander, its the smal...
LUXEMBOURG, LONDON, BERLIN, SILICON VALLEY, BUCHAREST (February 14, 2017) -- The city of Luxembourg today hosted international leaders to launch Asteroid Day 2017. Asteroid Day is a UN sanctioned global day of education to raise awareness about asteroids and in particular how we protect Earth from dangerous impacts.
The press conference was broadcast live from Luxembourg, with the participation of experts in planetary science, business and government joining from Berlin, Bucharest, Silicon Valley, and London - courtesy of Cisco TelePresence Centers and the live stream by vBrick Rev.
The press conference is archived for viewing and the live stream may be downloaded (one hour post press conference) at: http://asteroidday.org/newsroom
Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy of Luxembourg, welcomed guests by expressing his countrys leading role related to asteroids, within the framework of the SpaceResources.lu initiative. Luxembourg aims to contribute to the peaceful exploration and sustainable utilization of resources from celestial bodies. While asteroids might be seen as a threat to our planet, they are a tremendous opportunity. Indeed, the use of space resources, both on earth and in space, holds great potential for future technological innovation, economic activity and growth with a promise of ecological and social benefits for humanity. To ensure that this vision becomes a reality, we have to increase our knowledge and understanding of asteroids and Near Earth Objects.
Luxembourg announced that it will be hosting Asteroid Day Live from Luxembourg, a 24-hour live broadcast of global Asteroid Day activities and educational programming on June 30th, made possible by local Luxembourg companies, including SES and OHB SE. OHB SE and SES satellites are joining forces with Asteroid Day as Sponsors. BCE will be the official production studio for Asteroid Day Live, broadcast from the new BCE Studios in RTL City in Luxembourg.
Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB SE, thanked the organizers of Asteroid Day for the great opportunity to participate in this global event. Asteroids are celestial objects fascinating everybody, young people and experienced researchers alike. Protection of Earth from a future impact and commercial exploitation of asteroids through mining constitute a global endeavour for generations. I share the enthusiasm of my engineers to design a fast mission to a near-Earth asteroid in only five years to test key technologies.
Ruy Pinto, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, SES: SES is a natural partner for Asteroid Day because we are experts in space and we can help spread the message around the world. As global leaders in our industry, we manage the largest commercial satellite platform in the world, reaching 317 million TV households worldwide and thus touching the lives of around 1.3 billion people every day. We are a natural partner because we see space as an important resource that we continue to develop and leverage, together with Luxembourgs Government.
Asteroid Day - UN designated event
In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly recognized Asteroid Day as an official UN event and declared it to be held internationally each year on June 30, the anniversary of the largest asteroid impact in recent history, the 1908 Tunguska impact. The UN resolution invites all United Nations Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, other international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals to observe Asteroid Day.
Dr. Brian May, Queen guitarist, co-founder of Asteroid Day commented: On the heels of the United Nations announcement, the momentum for Asteroid Day is increasing exponentially around the world, enhanced greatly by the new commitments from Luxembourg and the addition of OHB SE and SES as global sponsors. And, we are highly appreciative of Cisco joining Discovery Science, ESA, ASE and B612 as our primary partners making Asteroid Day Live from Luxembourg in 2017 a reality.
Astronaut Dorin Prunariu, who was instrumental in realising the UN Declaration with the UN COPUOS and the support of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), explained the crucial role of continued international collaboration: Planetary defense is well within our capability in the near future. However, reaching our goals will require continued and strong collaboration among government institutions, academic institutions and private organizations to realise both terrestrial and space-based assets. This is why Asteroid Day is so valuable.
Asteroid Day 2017
Grig Richters and Danica Remy, co-founders of Asteroid Day noted that during Asteroid Day 2016, more than 500 asteroid-related educational events were held in 72 countries, involving more than 150,000 participants and reaching over 1.3 million people through live online activities. This year, we welcome to date 97 regional coordinators and anticipate more than 700 educational events for June 30, stated Remy. In addition to OHB SE and SES, we welcome to Asteroid Day the European Southern Observatory, International Space University, and the Secure World Foundation and thank the continued support of our more than 30 partners joining us for Asteroid Day 2017.
All activities for Asteroid Day are self organized by independent organizations, including science centers, universities, cities and concerned citizens. 2017 activities will be listed in the future on the Asteroid Day website: asteroidday.org/event-guide
Asteroid Detection and Deflection
Experts at the press conference emphasised the importance of planetary defense and in particular new technologies and missions that can aid in more rapid detection and deflection of asteroids.
Lord Martin Rees, UK Astronomer Royal, astrophysicist, and distinguished fellow of Trinity College, emeritus professor of cosmology at the University of Cambridge, has strongly supported Asteroid Day since its launch in 2014. He joined the press conference from Cambridge: We know that asteroids pose risks to Earth and recent advances in sensor technology have radically improved our ability to detect and deflect these Near Earth objects. The value of Asteroid Day is that it raises the level of awareness for governments to private citizens to take action.
Representing the European Space Agency (ESA), Franco Ongaro, Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, and Head of ESTEC Establishment spoke to the importance of Asteroid Day: The European Space Agency is fully engaged in the protection of our planet with the detection of asteroids through our Space Situation Awareness program and supporting the test of asteroid deflection with the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) Mission cooperation with NASA and the Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) if possible. Both represent the central role and bold ambition of Europe to address the only natural hazard that can be prevented. Our partnership with Asteroid Day has proven very valuable in communicating the merits of our efforts."
Dr. Patrick Michel, Principal Investigator of the Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) echoed the importance of Asteroid Day and the AIM mission: Simulations of asteroid deflection by impact are only as good as the knowledge we put into them. With AIM, we have the unique opportunity to test our simulations and see how the asteroid responds upon impact, stated Dr. Michel. AIM will also demonstrate advanced new technologies for use in future planetary missions and pave the way to new types of deep-space missions using CubeSats for riskier operations.
Dr. Ed Lu, a three time US Astronaut and CEO of B612, an expert in the field of planetary defense, emphasized the key elements in protecting Earth from dangerous asteroids: Asteroids are scientific gold mines telling us about the history and dynamics of our solar system. But they also sometimes collide with Earth. Asteroid Day helps garner the support needed to protect Earth from a dangerous impact. Finding Near Earth Asteroids as early as possible is the first priority for planetary defense, in order to give adequate time to make decisions and implement courses of action.
Dr. Tom Jones, a planetary scientist and veteran astronaut of four NASA space missions, and Chair of Association of Space Explorers Committee on Near-Earth Objects explained: The greatest benefit we can anticipate from 21st century space exploration is the prevention, using spaceflight technology, of a disastrous asteroid collision with Earth. International Asteroid Day is an ideal opportunity to enlist the public in global efforts to discover hazardous asteroids and develop the detailed plans to nudge them from a collision course.
Debbie Lewis, deputy chair of the Asteroid Day expert panel and a specialist in risk, crisis and disaster management, joined from London and expressed concerns about the current lack of planning to effectively respond to a potential disaster. Recent events such as the 2013 Chelyabinsk incident and this months meteor strike over Milwaukee, Wisconsin, could be harbingers of a future, more serious incident. It is a case of when, not if a serious asteroid impact event will occur and it will require international cooperation for preparedness and response that address the science of detection and deflection, as well as contingency plans for civil protection. Mrs. Lewis will be independently organizing an Asteroid Day 2017 event at the Imperial College, London.
Asteroid Day Sponsors
OHB System AG is one of the three leading space companies in Europe. It belongs to the listed high-tech group OHB SE (ISIN: DE0005936124, Prime Standard), where around 2,200 specialists and system engineers work on key European space programs. With two strong sites in Bremen and Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich and 35 years of experience, OHB System AG specializes in high-tech solutions for space. These include low-orbiting and geostationary satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications, science and space exploration as well as systems for human space flight, aerial reconnaissance and process control systems.
Further information available at: www.ohb-system.de
SES is the world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO offering worldwide, with more than 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 12 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). SES focuses on value-added, end-to-end solutions in four key market verticals (Video, Enterprise, Mobility and Government). It provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions, and businesses worldwide. SESs portfolio includes the ASTRA satellite system, which has the largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) television reach in Europe, and O3b Networks, a global managed data communications service provider. Another SES subsidiary, MX1, is a leading media service provider and offers a full suite of innovative digital video and media services. Further information available at: www.ses.com
About Asteroid Day
Asteroid Day is a UN sanctioned global day of education to raise awareness about asteroids and in particular how we protect Earth from asteroid impacts. Asteroid Day was co-founded in 2014, by Dr. Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist for the rock band Queen, Danica Remy, B612 Chief Operations Officer, Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart, and German filmmaker Grig Richters. Asteroid Day is held on 30 June each year to mark Earths largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event, which devastated over 2000 square km, the size of any major metropolitan city.
MEDIA RESOURCES: A video taping of the Press Conference and additional resources for media, including photos and video, and bios of speakers, are available at: http://asteroidday.org/newsroom
MEDIA CONTACTS: pr@asteroidday.org;
USA: Diane Murphy Tel. +1.310.658.8756; Europe: Tel: +49 151 41286644
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Winston Churchill once said, There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.
No one can really put into words the centuries-long bond between horses and humans, especially the emotional and sometimes mystical attachment we have had with these magnificent creatures throughout history.
But there are times when Churchills quote is taken to a far deeper level, and it would be a gross understatement to simply say that the outside of American Pharoah was good for the inside of Jon Parkerson, whose life had been in a downward spiral, haunted by the many demons inside him. From those demons spawned addictions to alcohol and a number of hard drugs, which in turn brought on drug-induced schizophrenia. He would sleep 18 hours a day from all the medications he was on, and at six-feet tall, his weight dropped from 180 pounds to 119. There were many times when all looked hopeless and he contemplated suicide. But with the support of his family and his affection for a horse named American Pharoah, Parkerson has turned his life around and has finally found peace and happiness.
Parkerson was born and raised in Mount Holly, New Jersey (he has since moved to South Carolina), and after graduating high school he worked as a contract driver for the Hamilton post office.
In school he was labeled learning disabled and went to special education, but ever since his father took him to Freehold Raceway and he cashed his first bet, winning $60 on a $2 exacta wager, he became fascinated with the numbers and math of handicapping. He would draw a track out on a board and learned how horses break, where they enter the turns, and learned where they start at each distance, while watching numbers of race replays. For him, it was never about the money; he simply loved horseracing and all aspects of it, especially picking winners. Soon he began taking road trips with his father to Kentucky and seeing his favorite horse, Smarty Jones.
He had been in the hospital for a lung operation and his father went to the track to bet Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby. When he won it took his mind off the surgery and gave him only positive feelings.
But at age 21, he began to drink heavily and eventually began taking harder drugs that caused his schizophrenia, for which he still takes medication.
They say youre born with addiction; its basically a disease, he said. I suffered from depression from an early age. I used drugs and alcohol to be social and it got way out of hand. I didnt get diagnosed with bi-polar depression until I was 30, so for years and years I suffered alone. Towards the end I was suicidal. I just gave up.
My personal life was always a struggle and I had to fight for things other people took for granted. I have anxiety issues, for which I self medicated with drugs and alcohol. I was diagnosed with bi-polar depression on top of drug induced schizophrenia. My relationship with my family was horrible, as they watched me go crazy. They watched me struggle in and out of hospitals and rehabs for 10 years.
The deeper he plunged into drugs the deeper his life began to spiral downward. In 2014, Parkerson checked himself into the hospital, staying in the psychiatric ward for 30 days. When he was released he entered rehab for a total of 60 days.
My family never gave up on me, he said. They were right there for me and would start crying because I was sleeping 18 hours a day due to all the medications, which werent even helping, and they thought horse racing would be out of my life due to my condition. I could never have done it without the love and support of my dad, mom, and brother. While I was in rehab my dad had a heart attack. I didn't find out until weeks later because they didn't want me to get upset and leave. That's when I really had to fight this thing. I felt like it was somehow my fault and I vowed from that point on to never go back.
Then something happened that caused a major change in his life. Parkerson was watching the 2015 Arkansas Derby and fell in love with the runaway winner, American Pharoah, who just seemed to glide over the ground with smooth, graceful strides.
American Pharoah gave me hope and someone to follow, he said. My heart had been ripped out when Smarty Jones lost the Belmont Stakes, and I vowed that day I wont stop until I find that one horse that could win the Triple Crown. American Pharoah looked to me to be that horse. I watched the Kentucky Derby with my brother and his son and we cheered him on, then the same deal in the Preakness. Then my old way of thinking returned, that, after Smarty Jones, it was impossible for any horse to sweep all three races.
When American Pharoah won the Belmont and the 37-year wait was over, I was surrounded by family and they all had tears in their eyes, and we began hugging each other. They knew how I felt about American Pharoah, and racing in general. American Pharoahs win marked the turning point in my new life. He did something I only dreamed about. He gave me peace and all of us something to cheer about. But most of all he gave me hope and made me realize life can go on again.
I was obsessed with the Triple Crown. Racing was my mistress and American Pharoah came along at the most important time, just when I needed him. He brought life back into me. It was a spiritual feeling like a gift from God for all of us to enjoy that was 37 years in the making."
May 1st will mark the third anniversary of Parkersons sobriety and he continues to attend meetings. He has regained all the weight he lost and is back up to 185 pounds.
I want to be able to visit rehabs and hospitals and even jails to tell people about my experience and my strength and hope, he said. I feel that was the purpose of all my suffering, so I can tell others what its like. I'm just really enjoying life. When I watch the Derby now and they start singing My Old Kentucky Home it brings tears to my eyes and I just think about my struggle and where Im at now. I'm a really happy man. Im now a great son and brother and uncle.
As much as I loved to bet, I had decided when I got clean I wasnt going to bet anymore, so now I just handicap, pick one horse and let it ride. Ive had more fun in the past three years than Ive ever had.
Parkerson moved into a new house in South Carolina and is beginning a collection of racing memorabilia. One person he thinks of often is Chris Antley, who was plagued by the same demons, but wasnt as fortunate as him.
Whenever I think of Chris and the millions of others we lose to addiction, I always say, There but for the grace of God go I. My dad found out where Chris is buried and were going to take a trip there soon.
Parkerson will always be grateful to American Pharoah for coming along at a time when he needed him. He was the impetus to keep pushing forward and become emotionally involved with a horse again. And he gave him the opportunity to finally witness history.
Ive never been in contact with the Bafferts or Zayats, he said. Bob Baffert is the man and very humble in my opinion, and the Zayats did an amazing job handling all the fame extremely well.
Life is all uphill now for Parkerson. Ive been given a fresh start and American Pharoah was just the beginning," he said. "I'm loving life every day and I dont take anything for granted. It's like a higher power stepped in and Im truly blessed to be alive and well.
The new Mitsubishi Grand Lancer has been officially revealed shortly after images of it leaked online.
Set to be sold in China and other select Asian markets like Taiwan and Malaysia, the Grand Lancer retains a characteristic Lancer design, but is immediately identifiable from the final Lancer models being produced and sold internationally.
The front of the Grand Lancer incorporates the companys distinctive Dynamic Shield look with chrome stretching across and around the front grille. Additionally, the five-door sedan has a particularly eyebrow-raising side profile due to the presence of two bold character lines running from the front wheel arch to the rear wheel.
Mitsubishis refreshed design is also notable at the rear thanks to a set of uniquely-shaped taillights, reverse lights and even a single rear rain/fog light. Theres also a set of silver and black 18-inch wheels.
Appropriately, it is not just the exterior which has received a makeover; the cabin has also been freshened up by the Japanese brand. Among the changes is an optional digital instrument cluster and an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system while dual-zone automatic climate control comes standard in the range-topping Grand Lancer.
In terms of power, customers will only have the option of a 1.8-liter SOHC MIVEC four-cylinder delivering 140 PS (138 hp) and driving the rear wheels courtesy of an updated CVT box.
PHOTO GALLERY
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Rumors about Seat working on a more extreme version of the Leon Cupra have reportedly been confirmed, with the Spanish brand to reveal a Cupra R within the next 8 months.
Seats vice president for R&D Matthias Rabe was the one who told Auto Express that theres still room for a more hardcore version in their range.
Rabe suggested that the new model could be produced in limited numbers and benefit from the usual modifications, with the company even considering the use of carbon-fiber parts. In seven or eight months you will see something interesting, he said.
However dont expect Seat to go crazy and release a race car with number plates on the market.
The core values of Cupra must remain it must be fun to drive but something you can use every day, because this is not a car that is bought by people who have five or six other cars. So I dont think a Cupra would be as extreme as a Porsche 911 GT3, for example. And even if we went further, it would still have four or five seats, Rabe added.
With that said, Seat is also getting ready for the Cupra version of the Ateca, as the company greenlighted the project for a market launch in early 2018. It will be a fantastic car, he said, confirming that it will be a four-wheel drive model but without revealing which powertrain is going to be used.
Rabe also revealed that Seat has no current plans to make a Cupra version of the all-new Ibiza, as the business case for small hot hatches is becoming harder over the years. I wouldnt say it will never happen, but it is not the top priority now. For me, the Cupra brand is Leon and not smaller than that but this still allows some options.
Note: Seat Leon Cupra 300 pictured
PHOTO GALLERY
The first images and details of Chinas 2018 Buick Regal sedan have surfaced online showing a vehicle that apart from its badges and grille, looks just as expected.
Joining the new Opel/Vauxhall Insignia and Holden Commodore, the Buick Regal adopts the same sleek design as its siblings but has been fitted with different badges and Buicks customary waterfall grille. Although few specifics about the Chinese version are known, we dont expect the U.S. version to look any different.
When sales of the 2018 Regal commence in China, it will be offered with three different engines. The first will be a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder delivering 163 hp, a 2.0-liter turbo with 254 hp and a hybrid that will use a 123 hp 1.8-liter engine paired to a small electric motor.
The 2018 Buick Regal will debut at Aprils Shanghai Auto Show 2017.
The North American model should arrive in US and Canadian dealerships in the second half of the year as a 2018 model, likely offering 1.5-liter and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines at launch.
PHOTO GALLERY
When the President of the United States has to get somewhere, it should come as no surprise that he doesnt hop on a bicycle or drive himself. POTUS has a whole transportation system not just at his disposal, but for his safety. And with good reason: of the four presidents who were assassinated in office, two (Garfield and Kennedy) were killed while in transit.
What that means, in essence, is that the President is most vulnerable while on the move. So the Secret Service (not to mention the Marines and Air Force) have an elaborate and extensive system in place for moving their commander in chief from one location to another.
Parts of that system were already somewhat familiar with: the limousine known as Cadillac One (or The Beast), the jumbo jet referred to as Air Force One, and the helicopter that goes by the call sign Marine One. But those are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
As youll see from the video below, theres a staggering array of vehicles employed when POTUS needs to get from Point A to Point B. And operating those vehicles (let alone acquiring and outfitting them in the first place) comes at a huge expense to the taxpayer.
In fact the video asserts that the White House spends $350 million each year or about a quarter of its annual budget on the presidents transport. Just one trip costs an estimated $2,614 for each and every minute of transporting the leader of the free world. Scope out the rundown in the video below.
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Last year Jaguar sold nearly 150,000 cars around the world the most it ever has in a single year. So what was the big deal made over nine more? Well tell you: $17 million.
Thats how much the classic Jag you see here is expected to fetch, give or take a million, under auction at Amelia Island next month. Its a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, and this will be the first time one will become available in over a decade.
The XKSS, for those unfamiliar, was essentially a road-going version of the D-Type with which Jaguar dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years running from 1955 to 1957. This particular example was delivered new to a customer in the Canadian racing capital of Montreal, and was raced extensively in a shining example of art imitating life imitating art. The current owner picked it up two decades ago, and submitted it to an exhaustive, concours-standard restoration ten years ago.
Captured in the photos below by Brian Henniker for Gooding & Company, XKSS 716 was one of only 16 made before a fire at the factory destroyed the remaining nine chassis that were under construction. Little wonder, with how much Gooding estimates this one to be worth, that Jaguar recently undertook the process of building those last nine examples. (Although Jaguar wont be charging nearly that much for the additional continuation examples its making.)
Based on its $16-18 million pre-sale estimate, this XKSS looks poised to positively eclipse the $7.4 million paid at the Bonhams auction in Arizona last month for a Lightweight E-Type the other continuation project that Jaguar recently undertook.
The records for both the most expensive Jaguar and the most expensive British car ever sold at auction was set last year when RM Sothebys handled a D-Type for over $21 million at Pebble Beach.
Photo Gallery
Photo: Elizabeth Shepherd Click here to view gallery Photo: Elizabeth Shepherd Photo: Elizabeth Shepherd
Elizabeth Shepherd recently came across a majestic Canadian sight.
And she captured it on camera.
She was at the Telemark snowshoe trail, located up Glenrosa Road in West Kelowna, when she saw a moose and its calf meandering through the quiet, pristine ponderosa and cedar forests.
Moose call the Okanagan home, but they are not as common in the Valley as they are in other parts of B.C., according to the provincial environment ministry.
Photo: Contributed
Voter registration notices begin going out across B.C. today in anticipation of May's provincial election.
Were mailing over 1.9 million notices across the province to ask eligible voters to register to vote or update their voter information, says Keith Archer, B.C.s chief electoral officer.
The notices advise of the residents who are on the voters' list at that address and ask them to contact Elections BC if the information needs correcting or updating.
The notices also indicate new electoral districts that come into effect when the election is called. There will be 87 electoral districts for this election, up from the current 85.
Every eight years, boundaries are adjusted to make the number of people each MLA represents roughly equal.
The two new electoral districts are in Surrey and Richmond.
An interactive map of district boundaries, is available at elections.bc.ca/resources/maps.
Starting March 8, Elections BC will begin registration drives at malls, community centres, and post-secondary campuses. Enumerators will make door-to-door visits in new subdivisions and residential complexes.
We want to ensure the voting process is as accessible as possible, says Archer. Updating the voters' list is an important part of that goal.
Registered voters will receive a Where to Vote card from Elections BC, making the voting process faster and easier. Registration online and by phone is open until midnight on April 11.
To do so online, go to elections.bc.ca/ovr, or register by phone at 1-800-661-8683.
There are about 3.4 million eligible voters in B.C.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer
Penticton's rich and exciting history is on display this week at the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre.
The Penticton branch of the Okanagan Historical Society and others have a number of exhibits set up for Canada 150, My Canada, Heritage Week 2017.
"Basically it's to allow people to learn about the history of the city and take a trip down memory lane," said Karen Collins, president of the local branch.
And from now until Feb. 19, visitors are invited to view pictorial displays of the history of Penticton including hospitals, buildings associated with early businesses still in use today, post offices and schools and the history of a long existing business such as Berry & Smith Trucking Ltd.
There is also a display of Canada Post artifacts, books on the Okanagan's history for sale and more.
On Tuesday, Jim Leir, a longtime Penticton resident, proudly showed off an old blasting machine used in the early days in Penticton.
While Jeff Pniowsky, a visitor from Winnipeg, walked from one display to the next.
"It's always nice to see tangible things from history that are everyday life things," he said. "Like an old iron, you can put yourself in the shoes of someone who used it in the past."
The display will be at the mall until 5 p.m., Sunday.
If you're going to set world speed records on a production mountain bike, you need a few things: A complete lack of fear, a good bike, and a very funny looking aerodynamic suit. Max Stockl broke his own 2011 speed record, running down a 45 gravel slope in Chile's Atacama desert. Max topped just over 103 MPH on the run, breaking his old record of 102 MPH down the side of a volcano in Nicaragua.
Photo: The Canadian Press
A former federal cabinet minister has been appointed the B.C. government's trade envoy to try and reach a new softwood lumber deal with the United States.
The province says David Emerson will also work with the federal government to get a new agreement.
Emerson served in a number of federal cabinet portfolios for the Liberals and Conservatives including industry, foreign affairs and trade.
As trade minister, Emerson signed the last softwood lumber agreement in 2006, ending the fourth Canada-U.S. lumber dispute.
He also worked as CEO of lumber producer Canfor, which the province says gives him a "broad base of knowledge to defend B.C.'s forest policies" when negotiating with the U.S.
Industry advocates and the provincial government have said they will try to convince American consumers and politicians that a fair softwood lumber deal is necessary to protect the U.S. from import restrictions and higher prices.
Susan Yurkovich, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, has warned that restrictions on Canada's lumber supply would cause house prices in the U.S. to spike, pushing home ownership out of the reach of some Americans.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark said securing a new agreement matters to people across the province, particularly those who work in the forestry industry.
"Defending those jobs for British Columbians is our absolute priority," she said at a news conference on Tuesday after the government's throne speech.
Clark said Emerson will part of a team that is making sure B.C.'s case is "well-known and wisely argued" to the new U.S. administration.
"He is probably the most skillful and knowledgeable person in this area that we could send down to the States on our behalf," she said.
Emerson said in a statement that he's excited about his new post.
"I am looking forward to working collaboratively with the B.C. lumber industry and Canadian ambassador to the U.S.A., David MacNaughton, as we defend B.C. companies, workers and communities against the false subsidy allegations made by the U.S. lumber industry," he said.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer
Archery equipment and other valuables were stolen from a vehicle on Quebec Street in Penticton on Sunday night.
Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said the rear window of the vehicle on the 2000 block of the street was smashed out and a Samick bow, arrows and a case were taken.
A Garmin GPS and sunglasses was also stolen, making the estimated cost of items lost more than $2,000.
There was nothing for the forensic identification unit to go on as the vehicle was already tidied up and the window taped when it was turned over to them, Wrigglesworth said.
Photo: The Canadian Press Inderjit Singh Reyat
The only man who was convicted in the Air India bombings has been released from his halfway house, and can now live where he likes.
Inderjit Singh Reyat was described in a recent Parole Board of Canada ruling as highly accountable for his actions, which helped kill 331 people.
On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182, which had departed from Vancouver, blew up near the coast of Ireland, killing all aboard. A second bomb blew up in a Japanese airport, killing two baggage handlers.
Reyat was convicted of providing bomb parts that were used in the attacks and is serving a seven-year sentence for perjury for repeatedly lying during the high-profile trial.
He never testified against the others who were involved in the bombing.
Reyat was granted statutory release to a halfway house in January 2016.
He served a 15-year sentence for manslaughter, possession of a restricted weapon, possession of explosives and making an explosive substance with the intent to cause an explosion.
The parole board found that Reyat has developed anti-violence views since the bombing.
"According to psychological assessments, your risk to re-offend is low. However, if there were a threat to your Sikh cause, your risk for future group violence is high," reads the parole boards Jan. 26 decision.
Reyat is under several probationary conditions, including avoiding extremist propaganda and people he has reason to believe are involved in extremism, crime or politics.
He must also undergo mental health counselling.
- With files from CTV News
Photo: The Canadian Press
At churches, fairgrounds and other makeshift shelters, thousands of Californians packed what belongings they had into garbage bags and suitcases to return home Tuesday, two days after they were told to flee the threat of massive flooding from a dam's damaged spillway.
They expressed relief as authorities lifted an evacuation order for nearly 200,000 residents who live below the nation's tallest dam. Some voiced frustration at how authorities handled the disaster that never happened. Others said they were playing it safe and staying put for now. Many were just happy to be heading home.
"You don't appreciate home until it's taken away from you," said Oroville resident Margaret Johnston, 69, one of hundreds who had sought shelter at the Neighbourhood Church of Chico, northwest of her town.
Johnston and others huddled around televisions to watch a live broadcast where Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the risk of the spillway collapsing was significantly reduced. But he said the region would remain under an evacuation warning, meaning residents needed to be ready to flee again if conditions worsen.
"It was just frustrating. Very frustrating," Johnston said about the back-and-forth from officials and the mad rush to get out of Oroville after the evacuation order Sunday.
She fled with her two sons, packing a few blankets, pillows and clothes into a black garbage bag.
"It feels great to be going home," Johnston said.
State water officials said they had drained enough of the lake behind Oroville Dam so that its earthen emergency spillway will not be needed to handle runoff from an approaching storm.
"It's great, all of us can finally go home," said Pedro Mota of Gridley, who was staying at a Red Cross shelter at a fairground in Chico with his wife and four young children. He wasn't concerned by the on-again, off-again evacuation.
"They're doing their job. They're going to know more than me," he said by telephone. "I'm just going to listen to them and follow their advice on it."
Mota said he would be prepared if the sirens sound again.
"I'm still going to play it by ear, head back home but still have things packed and ready to go just in case they make it mandatory," he said.
Rod Remocal and his wife, Kelly, were taking the same cautious approach.
"This time we're going to be on call like they said," said Remocal, who lives in Biggs, west of Oroville.
Photo: The Canadian Press
A Texas jury has found a neurosurgeon guilty Tuesday of maiming patients who had turned to him for surgery to resolve debilitating injuries.
The verdict of the Dallas County jury on a first-degree felony charge of injury to an elderly person means 44-year-old Christopher Duntsch of Plano could be sentenced to five to 99 years or life in prison. He also could be given probation. The penalty phase of his trial began Tuesday afternoon.
The Dallas Morning News reports the jury deliberated about four hours before deciding on its verdict. The indictment accused Duntsch of wide-ranging malpractice that included improper placement of screws and plates along patients' spines, a sponge left in another patient and a major vein cut in another. Records also showed that he operated on the wrong part of a patient's spine, damaged nerves and left one woman with chronic pain and dependent on a wheelchair.
Prosecutors had accused Duntsch of maiming four patients and causing the death of at least two between July 2012 and June 2013. They say Duntsch's hands and surgical tools amounted to "deadly weapons" contended that Duntsch "intentionally, knowingly and recklessly" harmed up to 15 of his patients.
Prosecutors said Duntsch said in a 2011 email to his girlfriend that he would "become a cold-blooded killer."
Duntsch's attorneys argued that Duntsch was not a criminal but just a lousy surgeon committing malpractice in chaotic operating rooms in hospitals in Dallas and its northern suburbs. They also said the tone of the email to his girlfriend was unclear could have been meant as sarcasm.
Photo: Contributed
UPDATE: 9:45 a.m.
A driver who was attacked while behind the wheel of a BC Transit bus acted heroically, says the local union president.
"I'm stunned," said Scott Lovell, president the the Amalgamated Transit Union 1722.
He said the Highway 97 Express bus was moving when the female driver was "cold-cocked" in the head. The passenger then climbed over her and out the window.
"I'm so proud of the operator that she was able to safely pull the bus over after she got punched in the head. Can you imagine if she had been knocked out and that 20-ton bus went flying into another vehicle can you imagine what would have happened?"
He said the attack happened because the bus driver tried to ensure the passenger had a valid pass or transfer. Lovell said a bus shield would have prevented the assault from happening.
Instead, surveillance cameras have been installed on transit buses, which Lovell said is not a deterrent.
"We still don't have any bus shields. We were promised that back in September," he said.
The assault is particularly upsetting, coming in the wake of the fatal stabbing of a bus driver by a passenger in Winnipeg this week.
ORIGINAL: 9:20 a.m.
A transit driver was sucker punched in the head by an angry passenger on Family Day.
"The bus operator did not require any medical treatment at the scene for the injuries she sustained, which are considered to be relatively minor in nature," says RCMP Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey.
Police say the assault happened at about at about 12:30 p.m while the bus was stopped at the Highway 97 South and Hudson Road bus exchange.
"Investigators will be conducting a review of the bus' on board video surveillance cameras for any evidence to further their ongoing investigation," said Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey.
Police say the suspect is described as a young aboriginal male, with dark hair and poor complexion. He was wearing a dark hoodie, shorts and white runners. He was carrying a large backpack.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the West Kelowna RCMP at 250-768-2800 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Isabelle M. Graham
Isabelle M. Graham, 93, of Mechanicsburg passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at the Church of God Home in Carlisle where she was attending for rehab. She was born on April 13, 1923 in Mechanicsburg, PA to the late Mary (Heiges) and Verne Shur. After her mother passed away while Isabelle was an infant; she was lovingly raised by her grandparents Emma and Calvin Shur.
Isabelle retired from the New Cumberland Army Depot with over 25 years of service. She was so proud to be a 1940 graduate of Mechanicsburg High School and enjoyed the yearly reunions with her classmates. Isabelle was a devoted Army wife to her husband Lee for 26 years. She enjoyed their deployments and work experiences in Japan, Alaska, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
After retirement, Isabelle enjoyed taking trips and visiting historical places. She enjoyed watching westerns on TV and loved watching her birds on the feeder as well as the ducks at Boiling Springs Lake. Attending Tai Chi classes at the Senior Center was a very special activity for her. She enjoyed spending time with her family at numerous picnics and holiday get togethers.
Isabelle was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 65 years, Lee W. Graham of Boiling Springs. She is survived by her 4 children: Jerry L. and wife Donna Graham of Mechanicsburg, Judy L. and husband Donald Bogart of Long Beach, California, William S. and the late Diane Graham of Camp Hill, and Jeffery C. and wife Paula Graham of Mechanicsburg. In addition to her children, Isabelle is survived by her half-brother Verne Shur, Jr. of Mechanicsburg, her seven grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Isabelle is at peace now, leaving this earth on Valentines Day to be with the love of her life Lee, and reuniting with her mother she never got to know. Two months shy of her 94th birthday, Isabelle lived a full life filled with lots of love and laughter.
Funeral services will be held 11:00 AM Friday, February 17, 2017 at Malpezzi Funeral Home, Mechanicsburg with Pastor Mike Langford officiating. Burial will take place at Mechanicsburg Cemetery. Viewing will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 AM Friday at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Grace United Methodist Church, 216 South Market Street, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055. www.MalpezziFuneralHome.com
Castanet viewers have been sharing their slices of Canadiana.
First, Elizabeth Shepherd sent in photos of a majestic mother moose wandering the pristine West Kelowna forest with her calf.
Now, Ruth Lamb sent in video of an awkward beaver near Okanagan College on KLO Road.
"This past weekend I decided to walk to a client's house instead of drive and this is what I saw," said the realtor.
She caught video of the beaver reaching gingerly for a plant.
"You know that awkward moment when you wave at someone thinking you know them and you dont you just pretend you were doing something else."
Send in your photos and video to [email protected]
Photo: Flickr/BC Gov't
Fresh off the upcoming budget and heading into this spring's provincial election, Premier Christy Clark will address the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce next week.
Clark, MLA for Westside-Kelowna, will recap the budget document in her luncheon speech at the Delta Grand Hotel on Feb. 24.
In this week's throne speech, Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon, said the government is promising financial relief for taxpayers in what is expected to be the BC Liberals' fifth consecutive balanced budget.
It will be tabled on Tuesday.
At the chamber lunch, Clark will provide the city's business community with an overview of the budget and an update on the state of B.C.'s economy.
Clark will also take questions from the audience following her speech.
Tickets are $50 for chamber members, $75 for non-members and can be purchased at www.kelownachamber.org/events.
Photo: Thinkstock.com
West Kelowna council has given first reading to a zoning bylaw amendment that it hopes will begin a discussion around marijuana production in the community.
The changes further regulate and provide clarity for commercial medical marijuana facilities, ensuring the commercial production, processing, storage and distribution falls within a single definition.
Amendments exclude the growing of marijuana in greenhouses and nurseries, and require air filtration and security measures for commercial production facilities.
Proposed changes will now be circulated among many agencies within the city, including the RCMP, Interior Health and the Board of Trade before coming back for second reading and a public hearing.
"I recognize the need and the place for medical marijuana and support that, but I believe it is important as a municipality that we follow the provincial and federal legislation in this regard," said Coun. Rick de Jong.
"I'm hesitant to get too carried away with what the new federal legislation might, or might not look like. We'll know in due course."
As for public discussion, Mayor Doug Findlater is pleased that will be part of the process.
"I think we will get varied points of view just as there are some various points of view on our council," said Findlater.
"I think we have to come to grips with the current problem, and it may change, but right now, we've had a very clear statement from the RCMP. It's illegal. There is no tolerance, and we're tolerating it. I'm pleased to work with the RCMP on this."
While council waits for the bylaw to return to the table, Coun. Duane Ophus has a message for the federal government: show some leadership.
"This issue is costing our municipality, and probably every other municipality across Canada, a lot of money a very significant amount of money.
"Our friends in the federal government, and their lack of leadership on this whole subject is really disconcerting. I think we need to hear from everybody... get your act together and decide how to proceed and show some leadership on this subject."
The feds are expected to announce measures soon that would legalize marijuana.
Photo: Contributed
UPDATE: Feb. 20, 12:35 p.m.
Police say Elisha Dawn Nixon-Barron has been found.
"The West Kelowna RCMP is pleased to confirm that the 24-year-old woman reported missing had been located over the weekend. Thanks to the media and public for your assistance," said RCMP in a statement.
UPDATE: Feb. 16, 8:35 a.m.
Kelowna RCMP confirm they are also searching for Elisha Dawn Nixon-Barron.
The 24-year-old was last seen in West Kelowna on Feb. 9, and a fundraising campaign is underway to send her mom to the Okanagan to search for the woman.
"There is nothing to indicate foul play at this time and police believe she is either in Kelowna or West Kelowna," said police in a statement.
"Since Elishas disappearance, police have followed up on several leads and possible sightings. However, Elisha remains missing."
RCMP say they are very concerned for her health and well-being.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to contact police, or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, leaving a tip online at crimestoppers.net or by texting your tip to CRIMES (274637) ktown.
ORIGINAL: Feb. 15
A campaign is raising money to send a worried mother to the Kelowna area to search for her missing daughter.
Elisha Dawn Nixon-Barron, 24, has been missing since Feb. 9.
"We are all very concerned for her well-being," says the GoFundMe campaign. "Every donation big or small will be a great help in aiding to find her and return her home safe!"
It appears no official RCMP release has yet been sent. However, information has been posted to a website set up to help find missing people in B.C.
"She was last seen in West Kelowna. She is living a high-risk life style and doesnt know many people in Kelowna. She is from Winnipeg. She has a large chest tattoo with a heart and wings," says BC Missing Person.
NixonBarron has blue eyes and dark hair. She is about 5-foot-3 and 120 pounds.
If you have any info, contact her mother Lesley Nixon through Facebook or the Kelowna RCMP at 250-768-2880.
Dear Editor:
In news coverage and on Facebook, Sen. Pat Toomey blamed clogged phones and email at his office on a flood of calls and emails by paid persons from outside of Pennsylvania. Don't believe it or forget that he said it.
Although some supported confirmation, the vast number of commenters to his Facebook page, thousands of voters who provided their zip codes, begged him not to vote for DeVos, a ridiculously unqualified candidate for Secretary of Education. Angry voters raised $71,000 in five days on GoFundMe to "Buy Pat Toomey's Vote" (actually donated to education and arts charities in Pennsylvania).
In emails, Toomey claimed to support DeVos because of her commitment to school choice. But recent news articles tell us that even leading school choice advocates were against her confirmation. In hearings she was evasive, condescending, and demonstrated an abysmal lack of knowledge of legal protections for children with disabilities, educational assessment, and administration. It also appears she used several sentences and phrases from other sources without attribution in responses to the Senate's questionnaire. Far from assuaging doubts, her testimony raised still more. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents were able to come together on one thing Betsy DeVos is not qualified.
None of that mattered to Pat Toomey. He put aside his conscience and his responsibilities, demonstrating that he represents no one except special interests.
The people of Pennsylvania were sold out with this confirmation. Whether or not you wanted him to vote for DeVos, Toomey's mind was made before he heard from any of us. If he voted your way, don't be fooled into thinking your voice will be heard when you disagree it won't.
The children of Pennsylvania and the country were sold out for a fat campaign contribution and the power it lent, under the cover of an election that is five and three-quarter years away.
Chris Martin
Carlisle
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The Farmington Press opens the doors to a new chapter on Thursday with the opening of the offices at 227 E. Columbia St. in downtown Farmington.
A ribbon cutting with the Farmington Regional Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday.
This opening of the new Farmington building marks an important step in our newspapers future, explained Daily Journal Publisher Eugene Jackson, who also serves as publisher of the Farmington Press and Democrat News. We are focused and committed to beautifying our communities we serve as well as making our employees daily work environment world-class.
We are a media company now, not just a newspaper. That being said, the newspaper in Farmington has a long history in the community and will continue to have a strong presence in Farmington for many years to come. This move makes that happen.
We moved into a more modern-feeling environment for our readers, customers and employees. Thank you, Farmington, for letting us be a part of your daily and weekly life.
Daily Journal Managing Editor Doug Smith said the new location helps staff continue to tell the stories of Farmington.
We always want to maintain a news presence in Farmington, he said. Even though weve been transitioning between offices there, Editor Shawnna Robinson and reporter Craig Vaughn have remained very much attuned to what was happening day to day. It will be much easier for them to do their respective jobs now that theyre back in place in an office right in the heart of the community.
The move for the office is blocks down from where the Roberts brothers started the paper in 1928.
The new space brings a bit of Farmington Press history into the 21st century. There are framed front pages from newspapers past hanging in a comfortable seating area for visitors.
Parking for the new location is conveniently located across the street near the Farmington Fire Department and steps away from additional downtown parking areas.
For sale signs were hung on the former Daily Journal/Farmington Press building at 218 N. Washington St. in November of last year.
After years of considering the idea, the decision was made to sell the large, under-utilized space and relocate the editorial and customer service staff to a more fitting, updated location.
The Daily Journal has its main operations at 1513 St. Joe Drive in Park Hills, but has staff in place at both the Farmington and Fredericktown offices to handle any customer needs regarding any of the three different newspapers, as well as a weekly real estate guide, free weekly shopper and other niche publications.
We are also currently remodeling our Park Hills Daily Journal building from the inside out to again help beautify our communities we serve, Jackson said.
For several years the former Farmington Press/Daily Journal building at 218 N. Washington St. was an improper fit for the services being provided there. The actual printing of both papers, as well as the Democrat News and non-company owned papers in Ironton and Ste. Genevieve and other periodicals and sales inserts ceased and those operations were moved to other locations.
Even the office space at the Farmington location was far more area to heat and cool than was being utilized. Such was also the case for a large parking lot which for the most part sat empty but still required upkeep. For a time the Farmington Chamber of Commerce leased office space in the building while building a new office next door.
At the new location, customers will be able to purchase the latest issue or back copies of all of the companys papers, as well as place classifieds, drop off community calendar items or other notices, and handle any other services for the three papers.
After months of anticipation, the day has arrived for the latest chapter in the story of the Farmington Press to be written, said Robinson. Weve played a vital role in the community since the founding of the Farmington Press by Cecil W. and John Roberts in 1928. I look forward to our readers visiting us in our new location, reliving the history and celebrating what lies ahead.
We thank you so much for your support and patience through the exciting changes. This will align us to be in Farmington for many years to come.
Customers wishing to reach the office by phone or email for editorial, circulation or advertising issues can use the same phone numbers and email addresses as always. The main number is 573-756-8927 and the email addresses are srobinson@farmingtonpressonline.com and cvaughn@farmingtonpressonline.com. Additional contact email addresses included receptionist Marsha Nicholson at mnicholson@farmingtonpressonline.com, Classified Advertising and Employment Specialist Sarah Jones at sjones@dailyjournalonline.com and Account Manager/Digital Media Specialist Ashlee Fears at afears@dailyjournalonline.com.
On Monday morning, charges were filed against two individuals police believe are responsible for the murder of 51-year-old Frank Ancona.
Malissa Ancona, 44, of Leadwood, is being charged with a class A felony of murder in the first degree, felony armed criminal action, a class D felony of tampering with physical evidence and a class D felony of abandonment of a corpse.
Her son, Paul Jinkerson Jr., 24, of Belgrade, is also being charged with a class A felony of murder in the first degree, felony armed criminal action, a class D felony of tampering with physical evidence and a class D felony of abandonment of a corpse.
According to a probable cause statement, on Feb. 9 a homicide occurred at the Ancona home, located at 1124 Mill St. in Leadwood. Frank Ancona was shot and killed inside the bedroom area. Investigators believe he was shot first with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, which was followed up with a shot from a 12-gauge shotgun. His body was then placed in Jinkerson's vehicle.
Frank Anconas body and his car were taken to Washington County and dumped. His car was found in the Mark Twain National Forest on a service road. His body was found in the Belgrade area near Big River off Route C.
A search warrant was served at the Ancona home on Feb. 11, which revealed extensive blood evidence in the master bedroom. Malissa Ancona was present at the home prior to and during the service of the search warrant.
St. Francois County Prosecutor Jerrod Mahurin said blood was found in the home as well as on the sidewalk.
I think that was what gave the officers enough information and probable cause to go in, said Mahurin. She did attempt to clean inside the home, the different areas, and not very well I would say. She did try to conceal a lot of blood evidence that was inside the home. The mattress was soaked almost completely through. There was blood in different spots on the walls, the ceiling and there were spots on the floor.
When asked if the different areas with blood indicated he was dragged through the house, Mahurin said that was probably the case.
They drug him from one end of the house to the other and I think they went out the back door, because they had to pull the cars around back, said Mahurin.
The investigator who wrote the report stated that Malissa Ancona admitted to him in an audio/video recorded interview that her biological son, Paul Jinkerson Jr., shot and killed Frank Ancona while he was asleep in the bedroom. Malissa Ancona also admitted that she failed to report the crime and attempted to destroy evidence and altered the crime scene in an attempt to conceal what had happened.
Mahurin stressed he doesnt think the attack had to do with Frank Ancona's affiliation to the KKK. When asked if the duo gave any indication of their motive, the prosecutor said the only thing they were able to discern was that it was a domestic matter.
There was talk of divorce, and from that point the talk led to the shooting, explained Mahurin.
Malissa Ancona was taken into custody Saturday for questioning after the search warrant was served on her home. She was later released and picked up a second time late Sunday evening on a 20-hour hold for investigation.
When the forest service worker found Frank Ancona's car in Washington County, the car had been completely cleaned and wiped down. The officer said there was almost a chemical smell, like with cleaning fluids, and that was one of the things they noted when they found the car. They later discovered a burn pile next to it. There was a burn pile with clothes in it within a few feet of the car.
Mahurin said they have located both of the firearms used.
One of them was in St. Francois County and one was in Washington County, said Mahurin. Whether there were any other guns, I dont know. Its my understanding he was shot first with a 9 mm, and would have been shot with a shotgun afterwards.
An autopsy was conducted Sunday on Frank Ancona's remains, which confirmed he died as result of a gunshot to the head.
Mahurin added he has been asked about Frank Ancona having some prescription pills in the house.
It is my understanding he did have his pills. I dont know what kind they were, but I do know there were pain pills of some kind, a controlled substance, stated Mahurin. He did have (the prescription) filled the day before the murder happened. I dont think they had anything to do with murder, but again that was one of the things that was missing (from the home) and we were able to confirm that.
Jinkerson was initially arrested on an unrelated drug warrant while his home and vehicle was being searched. Mahurin said from what he understands Malissa Ancona may have been dealing with addiction issues as well.
When asked if he thought mental illness played a part in Frank Ancona's murder or would come up in court, Mahurin answered he doesn't believe it will be a factor in the case.
I was there for just a portion of her interview and watched through the closed circuit, said Mahurin. I didnt see anything, there was no talk of (mental illness) and there is nothing that I know of at this point to believe it would head in that direction.
Mahurin said his guess would be that any attorney who gets her case will probably file for a change of venue and they will probably look at giving her a psychiatric evaluation to try to mitigate anything that happened.
He added Jinkerson was supposed to be moved from Washington County to the St. Francois County Jail on Monday afternoon. They should both be arraigned in coming days. A bond reduction hearing has been set for Malissa Ancona on Feb. 28. They are currently being held without bond.
A Park Hills woman was rescued from her burning home at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Park Hills resident Richard Cowell Jr. was visiting his sister when she pointed out there was smoke coming from her neighbors house in the 600 block of Fourth Street as he was getting ready to leave.
I was coming out to my car and these two, (Jennifer Cowell and Chasity Pierce), saw smoke coming out of her house, explained Richard. She was just standing at the doorway and I ran down there and grabbed her. I put her out because she was on fire and burned my hand.
Richard said she was standing in the doorway and the fire was rolling out of the house. He added she was out of it and he tried to talk to her, but she didnt respond.
I just pulled her out the rest of the way, said Richard. I am just glad she is alright. She was just standing there dazed and I told her we have to move.
Jennifer said she took over once they had the woman in the yard.
I was kind of pushing her and I know she cant walk that fast, said Jennifer. I just told her we had to get out of the yard because the house was in flames. Her whole back was burnt and her head I took her jacket off.
Richard said he patted her out because her whole back was on fire. He added he did not throw her on the ground due to her age.
Jennifer said her sister-in-law, Chasity, gave the woman her jacket to cover her up and they managed to get her to their front porch.
I told her the house didnt matter, said Jennifer. You are OK, you are alive and that is all that matters. Things can be replaced, but people you cant.
Jennifer said at one point there was as loud explosion and the air conditioner flew out of the window, blowing glass everywhere.
St. Francois County Ambulance District Administrator David Tetrault said the woman was 74 years old. He said 15 percent of her back and head has burns.
She was conscious, alert and disoriented, but she was talking to us, explained Tetrault. She is going to be taken to Mercy-St. Louis for her burns. She did have some smoke inhalation so that is why she is being taken to a Level 1 burn center at Mercy-St. Louis.
Tetrault said they had to prep her for the flight before they transported her because they weren't sure how deep the injury goes and they had to follow protocol.
Pain management and airway management are the biggest thing in burn victims because within the first eight to 10 hours they are going to need fluid replacement and pain management ... he said.
Tetrault said it depends on how hot the fire was and how long the exposure was or how long they had been in the house, so if they dont know those factors they have to go by protocol.
Her age can also play a factor because you never know what her other medical problems are either, said Tetrault.
Park Hills Fire Captain Jason Harris said when they arrived at the home there was heavy flames coming out of the front and side of the home.
At the time the electric was connected to the house and the gas was shut off, said Harris. The electric line burned off the house and popped. Ameren was called out and Missouri Natural Gas came out to check the meter and make sure there were no leaks. I am waiting to hear back from him.
Harris said once the fire got into the attic, it just kind of rolled through the back even though it never really got to the back of house other than the attic.
Trying to salvage the back side of the house was impossible, said Harris. We did have one firefighter who may have has smoke inhalation and was being checked out just to be sure. We dont want anyone to get hurt.
Assisting the Park Hills Fire Department were Desloge, Leadington, Farmington and Big River Fire Departments.
The fire marshal's office was also contacted, even though the woman said she was smoking and must have missed the ashtray dropping the cigarette into a wastebasket full of tissues. Harris said they dont know that for sure and wanted it to be checked out anyway.
Saturday 1 p.m. UPDATE: Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen has confirmed they have found the vehicle and are still at the scene investigating the disappearance of Leadwood resident Frank Ancona.
The area where Anconas car was found is a very large heavily wooded area in the Mark Twain National Forest.
We are still seeking the whereabouts of Mr. Ancona and we have requested the assistance of the Missouri State Highway Patrol with processing the crime scene and they are here now, said Jacobsen. We are still way back here at this location and are processing the vehicle. We are working this case in conjunction with the sheriffs office in Washington County, St. Francois County Sheriffs Office is involved, the Leadwood Police Department and then the state highway patrol.
ORIGINAL STORY: A Leadwood man went missing several days ago and it appears to be under suspicious circumstances.
Frank Ancona, 51, was last seen Wednesday morning. Then Friday evening it was learned that Ancona's car had been found in a remote area of Washington County. A preliminary search of the area did not turn up the missing man, but due to nightfall the scene was secured to be searched more thoroughly on Saturday morning.
Leadwood Police Chief William Dickey said his officers were told by Malissa Ancona, Franks wife, that she saw him last on Wednesday leaving to go to work around 8:30 to 9 a.m. in the morning.
I have talked to other people who are claiming its more along the lines of 6 a.m., explained Dickey. His wife, Malissa, has stated he got a call from his workplace and he needed to drive across the state to deliver a part, which is what he does for a living, he delivers vehicle parts. So that was the last time she had seen him and he has not made contact with any family members. The son states he always talks to his father and so does the daughter.
Dickey said Franks place of employment reached out to them and that is how they found out he was missing. His employer is stating they did not send him on a run across the state.
We were getting ready to put a stop and hold out on her as well, because we werent able to make contact with her, Dickey said of Ancona's wife. So my officer called me at home and said he was getting ready to contact the Missouri State Highway Patrol in reference to this. I told him that I would just come on over and we would go on in, because he was assuming and thinking that he was dead inside the house.
Dickey said when he got to the home Malissa was sitting in the driveway with her son, getting ready to go inside.
She was a little hesitant to let us go into the house at first, said Dickey. She said she didnt really want us going in, but after talking to her in detail about what we were there for, she let us inside. We found a safe that looked like somebody had taken a crowbar to it and beat the side out of the safe. Everything was missing from inside the safe. Right now I dont believe it was a burglary, because she didnt want to report anything.
Frank is described as a 51-year-old man with short brown hair, brown eyes, 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He drives a 2015 black Ford Fusion, which was located in the remote area of Washington County on Friday evening.
Right now we are investigating and trying to get more information from his wife and trying to contact her son, his stepson, added Dickey. She was the last one to have any kind of contact with him and it just so happened that when we pulled up to the house we found his stepson with her and he hardly ever comes around this residence.
Dickey said he questioned Malissa about a Facebook post she wrote looking for a roommate and she said she posted that the day that Frank left.
She stated she did it because when he said he was leaving to go out of state on this job he took a bag of clothes with him and said when he got back he was filing for divorce, said Dickey. She told us she figured she would need help to pay the rent, so she put an ad out looking for a roommate.
Dickey said all of Franks firearms that were in the home are missing and Malissa said he took them with him.
His family, which lives next door, states no, he wouldnt have taken all of his firearms with him, said Dickey. The gun he usually carries on him on a daily basis was left in the house and she turned it over to us.
The Daily Journal will bring more details as they become available. Anyone with any information on Ancona's disappearance or his whereabouts is asked to call Central Dispatch at 573-431-3131.
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TVA joined with Southern Adventist University, Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, Prova Group, and GreenCommuter for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the university.
Thanks to a unique partnership, the on-campus student parking area is now home to a solar canopy containing 20kW of solar enrolled in TVAs Dispersed Power Production solar program, four charging ports for electric vehicles and two all-electric Nissan LEAFs available for car sharing services under GreenCommuters Chattanooga program.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, sponsors spoke to university dignitaries, faculty, campus leaders, students, and media representatives about the collaborative partnership that created Chattanoogas first city-wide solar-assisted electric vehicle car sharing program.
The innovative combination of all-electric car sharing and dedicated charging stations at SAU represents one of more than 20 locations around the greater Chattanooga area that host either solar, electric vehicle charging stations or car sharing Nissan LEAFs. When not in use for car sharing operations, the electric vehicle charging stations are open to the public to charge their personal electric vehicles.
College campuses like Southern Adventist University represent a great opportunity to combine solar charging stations with an all-electric car sharing service, because parking is usually constrained, and some students elect to sacrifice convenience by leaving a vehicle at home, said Drew Frye, power utilization engineer in Technology Innovation and project lead for TVA . Having access to affordable, clean-powered transportation as they need it for doctors appointments, grocery shopping, transportation to and from work, the mall or downtown is a valuable service for these students.
The solar charging project is one of 11 projects that TVA agreed several years ago with the EPA to undertake. EnergyRight Solutions has oversight of the projects, which support TVAs vision for low-cost and cleaner energy.
Green Commuter is a membership-based, fully automated platform where individuals and businesses have 24/7 access to a network of electric vehicles via their smart phone. Members can rent a vehicle on an as-needed basis, paying only for the time they reserve. Green Commuter pays for the electricity, insurance, parking, and maintenance. It's like owning a car without the financial responsibility of car ownership. Click here to learn more about this innovative program.
More than a year before the fair, this much is certain: analytica 2018 is very popular among exhibitors. Some 14 months before the next exhibition is set to begin, more than 230 companies have already registered to participate in the International Trade Fair for Laboratory Technology, Analysis and Biotechnology. The exhibition is being accompanied by a supporting program that promotes the transfer of know-how at the highest level. analytica takes place at the Messe Munchen trade-fair center from April 1013, 2018.
More than 230 exhibitors from 22 countries have already registered for the next analyticathat is 26.4 percent more than at this same point in time prior to the 2016 fair (in 2015: 182). 36.2 percent of the applications received to date are from countries other than Germany. Exhibitors include leading international manufacturers such as Agilent, Akzo Nobel, Analytik Jena, Buchi, Mettler Toledo, Netzsch, Olympus, Perkin Elmer and Waters. In addition, large joint international exhibits, among other things from China and Korea, have also been announced. As a result, the trend that has been noticeable at previous exhibitionscompanies registering for analytica early and in large numbersappears to be continuing. Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy CEO of Messe Munchen, sums things up: The fact that manufacturers are expressing this much interest in analytica 14 months prior to the fair confirms that analytica is Number 1 in the industry. It covers the entire value chain in the laboratory sector in its entire breadth and depth. No other trade show in the world has a portfolio of equipment, techniques, services and innovations for the laboratory that is as comprehensive as that of analytica in Munich.
Leading international trade fair received top marks from exhibitors
The fact that exhibitors were satisfied with having participated in analytica 2016 and with the business that they initiated there was also reflected in an exhibitor survey that was conducted by the independent opinion research institute Gelszus Messe-Marktforschung GmbH. Susanne Grodl on the results of the analytica 2016 survey: 97 percent of exhibitors were satisfied or very satisfied with having participated in the fair, and 95 percent said that they wanted to participate again in 2018. For us, that is naturally an incentive to increase the quality of the fair, something that our exhibitors have come to expect, to a new level for analytica 2018. Exhibitors should be able to conduct the best business in the world at the largest industry gathering in the world. We want to enthrall our exhibitors with the trade visitors' internationality, quality and investment potential.
analytica a driving force behind innovations and a source of momentum
In addition to allocating stand space, preparations for the supporting program and the scientific conference are moving ahead at full speed. Keynotes from leading scientists from Germany and abroad and 1,839 participantstwelve percent more than in 2014that is the record of success of the analytica conference in 2016. The conference promises to be a scientific highlight of analytica again in 2018. Experts will report on the latest developments in analysis in their presentations. They will cover the entire range of topics, from fundamental research to applicationsand do so in nearly all application sectors, from material analysis and bioanalysis to food analysis and pharmaceutical analysis.
The Live Labs will also continue their success story in 2018. Well-known manufacturers give live demonstrations of their products and in various applications on the topics of food and material analysis. The extensive supporting program including Finance Day, Personalized Medicine and JobDay will also be continued in 2018 and expanded to include a number of trending topics. Whether it comes to the analytica conference, Live Labs, special shows or the forum program: The supporting program will give attendees a comprehensive look at the latest products in the laboratory community and at the future of laboratories.
Because of diverse backgrounds and ideas, discussing problems and goals in a group setting can be a valuable way to get things done. Too often, meetings fall apart because they arent structured correctly, experts say. (PeopleImages.com / Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH For millions of workers who attend frequent meetings, the ritual gatherings often can feel like a waste of time.
"People find meetings generally to be unpleasant," said Aimee Kane, associate professor of management at Duquesne University's Palumbo Donahue School of Business. "Meetings can be notorious for wasting time."
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But it doesn't have to be that way.
Because of diverse backgrounds and ideas, discussing problems and goals in a group setting can be a valuable way to get things done. Too often, meetings fall apart because they aren't structured correctly, experts say.
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For starters, they should have a clear purpose that's communicated to participants in advance so everyone has time to prepare, Kane said.
It's also important to use techniques to encourage equal participation, such as calling on everyone in the room in turn. Otherwise, "Because of rank or personality, one person might dominate the meeting," she said.
Nisha Nair, clinical assistant professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business, advocates "brain writing," in which all participants write ideas on index cards that are then circulated to the group.
The technique helps counteract "group think," or the desire to maintain anonymity in groups, which tends to stop people from speaking up and sharing their true opinions, she said.
Brain writing "forces everyone to be engaged and generates more ideas," she said.
It's also helpful to write ideas on a board so people remember them, and then rank them, Kane said. That way, "You see what people really prefer, not just who is talking the loudest."
In general, meeting face-to-face will be more productive than conference calls or email discussions, which are prone to misunderstandings, Kane said.
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It's also important to reduce the frequency of meetings by handling simple tasks outside of the room. For example, use email to circulate information or get people to sign off on a project, she said.
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"I think the frustration with meetings has to do with the limitations of the human mind to process information and do it in a social setting," Kane said. "That's why when we structure them, we get better results."
For networking professional Berny Dohrmann, the most critical ingredient is setting up a system of rewards to recognize employees' contributions.
"Too many meetings are organized around punishment 'Sales are down and we have to get them up or you are fired,'" said Dohrmann, who knows a bit about punishment, having spent 18 months in federal prison in the mid-1990s in connection with a defaulted junk bond.
"Find ways to use praise and recognition (for performers) and others will conform to get the praise," said Dohrmann, who for nearly 30 years has been running CEO Space, a Florida-based conference and networking company for business owners.
"They will like coming to meetings because they like showing results and know they will get (recognized)."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Tribune News Service
Energy giant Exelon is confident that an attempt to derail a law that could help subsidize two of its downstate nuclear power plants won't hold up in federal court.
A group of the Chicago-based company's competitors filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Illinois regulators, alleging the new state law that created the subsidies intrudes on federal authority to regulate wholesale energy prices.
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"All the nuclear plants and all our member plants are selling in the wholesale market," said John E. Shelk, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "We compete against each other; we get the same price."
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill in December that could allow Exelon subsidiary Commonwealth Edison to collect up to $235 million a year from customers to keep open financially struggling nuclear plants in Clinton and near the Quad Cities. The law was designed to cap rate increases at an average of 25 cents a month over 10 years for ComEd's residential customers, but opponents said the hike could cost more than $4 a month.
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 The north entrance to the Exelon nuclear power plant in Cordova, Ill., is seen Oct. 7, 2011. Exelon says it will shut two Illinois nuclear plants after the Illinois legislature did not act on its request for financial support. The Chicago-based power provider said June 2, 2016, that it will close the Clinton Power Station in Clinton on June 1, 2017, and the Quad Cities Generating Station in Cordova on June 1, 2018. (Paul Colletti / AP)
Shelk said the law allows Exelon to get a side payment from customers for just two plants that otherwise would have failed.
Exelon has "very deep pockets," Shelk said. "Our members are on the other side. This is David vs. Goliath."
Another of the plaintiffs, Houston-based Dynegy, had been hoping for a subsidy in the law, called the Future Energy Jobs Act. It was cut as Exelon tried to win support from environmental groups. Dynegy has 12 power stations in Illinois, most of them fueled by coal, according to its website.
Exelon, which was not named as a defendant in the suit, disagrees with the allegations. The company has said the subsidies are warranted because nuclear plants like subsidized wind and solar power don't emit carbon pollution that contributes to climate change.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ability to regulate wholesale prices "does not relate to the clean-air attributes that are being recognized in this program," said Joe Dominguez, executive vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs and public policy for Exelon.
The company isn't worried that the court could take issue with the subsidies, he said.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, names Illinois Power Agency Director Anthony Star and a handful of Illinois Commerce Commission members as defendants. The power companies that brought the suit along with Electric Power Supply Association and Dynegy are Eastern Generation, NRG Energy and Calpine.
Star declined to comment. The Illinois Commerce Commission "is currently reviewing the allegations contained in the complaint and will respond appropriately in the proper forum," spokeswoman Marianne Manko said in an emailed statement.
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The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, a group of environmental, business and faith organizations, put out a statement defending the new law, saying the lawsuit "will not stop Illinois from implementing the biggest clean energy breakthrough in its history."
"(The) lawsuit suggests that big polluting industries would rather shackle Illinoisans to higher costs and dangerous fuels of the past rather than invest in Illinois' bright clean energy future," according to the statement.
The allegations in Tuesday's lawsuit are similar to those in a suit filed in federal court in Manhattan in October seeking to reverse a subsidy for several struggling upstate New York nuclear plants.
As in Illinois, the energy companies and trade associations that brought the New York case argued that the subsidy violated federal authority to regulate energy prices. Exelon has controlling stakes in three of the nuclear plants involved in the New York subsidy and is acquiring the fourth.
That case, which shares some plaintiffs with the Illinois case, is still pending.
amarotti@chicagotribune.com
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A traveler gathers his luggage at San Francisco International Airport. U.S.-based airlines reported the lowest rate of lost or mishandled luggage since the data were first collected in 1987. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
U .S.-based airlines last year had the lowest rate of lost luggage, canceled flights and passengers getting bumped off overbooked planes in decades, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported Tuesday.
But the number of discrimination complaints from passengers rose sharply in 2016 compared with the previous year, the federal agency reported.
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The rate of lost or mishandled luggage was 2.7 for every 1,000 passengers in 2016, down from the rate of 3.13 in 2015. It was the lowest rate since the Transportation Department began keeping track of the data in 1987.
Seattle-based Alaska Airline had the biggest drop in the rate of lost luggage.
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Airlines for America, a trade group for the nation's biggest carriers, said airlines have been investing heavily in the last few years to improve their products and services, including new airplanes and luggage management systems.
"Airlines share the same goals as our customers, which is to deliver passengers and their luggage to and from their destination as safely and efficiently as possible," said Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for the group.
The rate of flights canceled last year dropped to 1.17%, down from 1.5% in 2015 the lowest rate in 22 years of comparable data, the agency reported. The rate of passengers denied boarding from overbooked flights dropped to 0.62 per 10,000 passengers in 2016, the lowest rate since 1995.
Industry experts noted that severe weather is usually to blame for most cancellations, and airlines faced fewer storms in 2016 than in previous years.
But not all airline statistics for 2016 were positive. The number of discrimination complaints filed by passengers against U.S. and international carriers jumped to 94 last year, compared with 65 in 2015, a 45% increase.
Of those complaints, 65 passengers said they were discriminated because of race, 12 because of national origin and eight based on religion, according to the Transportation Department. Seven complaints alleged sex discrimination and two were "regarding color."
"Our members do not tolerate discrimination in any form and, in fact, have been working collaboratively with DOT, civil rights organizations and other stakeholders to ensure the well-being of everyone who takes to the skies," Jennings said.
hugo.martin@latimes.com
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Shoppers browse the Bucktown neighborhood Shinola store in 2015. The brand is planning a second Chicago store, in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Shinola is opening a second Chicago store in the Gold Coast neighborhood this summer.
The company, known for Detroit-made watches and bicycles, is headed to Rush Street in July, according to Shinola's website.
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Crain's Chicago Business first reported the news Wednesday.
Shinola opened its first Chicago store, which will remain open, in Bucktown in 2014.
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"Our Bucktown store is thriving but we always had plans to expand to other areas and the Gold Coast was a logical next step for us. It's a great mix of a vibrant family community and a high tourist destination," Shinola President Jacques Panis said in an email.
Shinola's local ties go beyond the brick-and-mortar shops. The company sources materials for watch straps and other leather goods from Chicago tannery Horween Leather. Chicago's C.A. Zoes Manufacturing makes its branded shoe polish.
Last year, Shinola said it planned to open an eyewear plant on the city's South Side sometime this year. On Wednesday, Panis said the company is "still exploring the opportunity."
The local opening will be part of a bigger U.S. expansion for Shinola, which has 22 stores and plans to open eight to 10 more this year, Panis said.
The company's Gold Coast address used to be a Scoop NYC store before that fashion retailer closed all stores in June 2016.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @laurenzumbach
Harley-Davidson has gone to black with the 2017 Road King Special.
Swapping out chrome for black on its most popular model, the new Road King Special motorcycle moves Harley-Davidson's touring line in a new styling direction, with a more contemporary look.
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"By exchanging chrome surfaces for black and lowering the bike's profile, we've moved the traditional Road King into a new space that's very current in the custom bagger scene," said Brad Richards, Harley-Davidson vice president of styling and design.
The signature styling element is a dark front end topped by a black headlamp. New mini-ape handlebars do double duty by putting the rider in a more aggressive posture on the bike, yet Harley-Davidson says it's comfortable for cruising.
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"Chrome was retained only on some key engine components," said Harley-Davidson designer Dais Nagao. "The lower rocker boxes, push-rod tubes and tappet blocks are finished with chrome to emphasize the V-Twin shape of the Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine."
New on all of the 2017 touring models, the Milwaukee-Eight engine offers quick throttle response, more passing power, purer sound, and a smoother ride than the engine it replaces.
The 107-cubic-inch engine weighs the same as the 103-cubic-inch engine it replaces, produces 10 percent more torque and accelerates 11 percent quicker.
The Road King Special is the first model to feature the Milwaukee-Eight in an all-black engine finish.
The engine guard, handlebars and hand controls, mirrors, turn signals, engine covers, air cleaner cover, mufflers and exhaust shields also feature black surfaces. New gloss black cast-aluminum wheels include a 19-inch front wheel topped by a low-profile fender.
At the rear, elongated saddlebags above the mufflers provide a slammed-to-the-ground appearance without reducing suspension travel, according to Harley-Davidson. A panel fills the gap between the saddlebags and rear fender, and a low mounted license plate module completes the tight, low lines of the rear end.
The Road King Special model is offered in four color options: Vivid Black, Charcoal Denim, Hot Rod Red Flake Hard Candy Custom, and Olive Gold.
The Milwaukee-based company introduced the Road King Special on Feb. 9 on the eve of the 2017 Chicago Motorcycle Show, which is at the same time as the opening weekend of the Chicago Auto Show.
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Bob Weber is the Motormouth columnist.
You can have many residences, but only one domicile. Domicile is what you consider your permanent home the state where you spend at least six months and one day per year. (John Handley / Chicago Tribune)
Q: My husband and I are snowbirds in the summer we live in New England, but we move to Florida when the weather gets cold. We have been asked where we are domiciled but we don't understand that concept. Can you explain?
A: I will try but its not a simple concept. And different states have different requirements to establish domicile.
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Where you are domiciled can have significant impact on your financial situation, as well as how you plan your estate. In your case, you reside in both the Northeast and Florida. But where are you domiciled?
In simple terms, domicile is what you consider your permanent home it's the state where you spend at least six months and one day per year.
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Why is it important to clarify your domicile? Because many things including income tax obligations as well as which state law will control your estate depend on where you are domiciled.
How do you prove domicile? There are many ways. Where are your state income taxes paid? Where do you vote? Where is your car registered? Do you own real estate in only one state? Where are your attorney and accountant located?
All these issues are relevant if you are asked to prove where you are domiciled. Remember, you can have many residences, but you can only have one domicile.
Q: My son is disabled and I am his guardian. His grandmother gifted him a home by general warranty gift deed. I am not sure how to proceed. I want to sell the home and put money in a trust for him, but I don't know where to start. I'm not sure how to get the deed recorded and what steps are needed. Do I need a real estate or a guardianship attorney?
A: Yes, you need an attorney, preferably one with a real estate background. That lawyer will assist you in recording the deed, although you can also go to the office of the recorder of deeds in the county where the property is located and record it yourself. I have learned through years of experience (and sometimes frustration) that most local government staffers are more than willing to assist their own neighbors.
I am assuming there is no mortgage on the property. If that is correct, then you may want to consider obtaining a loan on the property. If the property is in a good area and its value is expected to increase over the years, why not keep it for a few more years?
But if you decide to sell, please discuss this with a tax professional. There may be tax consequences upon the sale.
Your attorney also will assist you in finding a real estate agent to sell. You will be asked to sign a number of legal documents a listing agreement, certain state-required disclosures and ultimately a real estate contract and you should make sure your lawyer approves each document before you sign.
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If money is a problem, many lawyers will agree to represent you and defer receiving payment until the house is sold, at which time payment will come from the sales proceeds.
Benny Kass is a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland. He does not provide specific legal or financial advice to any reader. Readers may email him, but he cannot guarantee a personal response.
mailbag@kmklawyers.com
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College isn't cheap, and more students are turning to GoFundMe online fundraising campaigns to raise money for college costs.
In Illinois, about $2.6 million has been raised since 2014 from nearly 5,300 campaigns to assist with tuition, housing and other higher education expenses, according to a new guidebook released Wednesday by GoFundMe. Illinois' total puts it in sixth place behind California, Texas, New York, Florida and Georgia.
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"When a student goes off to college, there are a whole host of expenses from books and computers, room and board, study abroad trips ... and a GoFundMe campaign is a simple and easy way for students to raise funds from friends and families and their community to help them pay down those expenses in college," said GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne.
Over the past three years, more than 130,000 GoFundMe campaigns nationwide have raised $60 million from over 850,000 donations for college tuition and related expenses. In the past few years there has been a significant increase in education-related campaigns, making it one of the fastest-growing categories on the site, Whithorne said.
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A Chicago State University student majoring in chemistry recently raised $8,720 to help pay for school after she was in danger of losing her financial aid and her fellowship for the spring semester. Another campaign for a Wheaton College junior studying piano and struggling to secure student loans netted $8,730.
"With the average college graduate in 2016 facing $37,172 in student loan debt, the need for help with education costs in this country is clear," the newly released guidebook says. "That's why more and more students are realizing that, with just few clicks, they are able to start a GoFundMe to help reduce the burden."
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The average tuition and fees for full-time enrollment at public four-year institutions in the U.S. is $9,650 for in-state students and $24,930 for out-of-state students for the 2016-17 year, according to the College Board's Trends in College Pricing 2016 report. Add in room and board and the cost increases substantially.
The guidebook walks students through the process of creating a campaign. Notable tips include sharing stories of achievements and sacrifices to get into college, posting updates and photos frequently to keep supporters in the loop and showing appreciation by sending thank-you notes to donors.
The site also launched a college fundraising hub to connect students, parents and alumni with education-related campaigns for donations.
Sharing a campaign on social networks including Facebook and Twitter can increase donations, Whithorne said.
"There are folks that want to help," he said. "There are members of the community, members of the church, members of the alumni where you go to college, and they want to help. It's just a matter of putting the campaign out there and spreading the word."
lvivanco@chicagotribune.com
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The Finland Promotion board released a set of emojis to explain some hard-to-describe Finnish emotions, Finnish words and customs, like kalsarikannit, a "feeling when you are going to get drunk home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out." (Finland Promotion Board)
In case no one's told you yet, hygge is having a moment.
Well, was having a moment. Because once you learn the word the Finns have in store for you, you'll be grabbing a wine bottle and leaving hygge behind.
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Let me explain.
In case you skipped 2016, hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is a Danish word for the concept of finding coziness in everyday living, suddenly celebrated everywhere from the pages of The New Yorker to cookbooks, gift guides and social media.
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No surprise, given that 2016 was, for many, a garbage year. From the stream of high-profile celebrity deaths to the stressful election, Facebook became a lot less fun. The pursuit of hygge gave permission to seek refuge from the world.
Now, though, Finland has upped the ante. The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs just introduced us to a word aptly describing life in 2017: Kalsarikannit (pronounced cal-sar-y-cuhn-eet), defined as "the feeling when you are going to get drunk home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out."
Rejoice, homebodies and misanthropes, for this is your new guideline to living well.
Is it a noun? A verb? Does one kalsarikannit, or does one take a kalsarikannit? Who cares, frankly turns out my house has been a temple to kalsarikannit this entire time. I intend to spend every weekend in pursuit of holiness. See ya later, pants.
In the spirit of kalsarikannit, I've put together a list of seven wines I've loved in the cave that I call home. These are wines that work perfectly with no pretension, no stems and no pants. Swirl, if you want, but don't take these too seriously. It's time to Netflix and kalsarikannit, and no one has time for a snob.
Some wines below are available in grocery stores; others, better wine shops. Wines are listed in descending order by price; prices reflect average price on Winesearcher.com and will vary. If your local shop doesn't carry, ask for a similar style.
Scar of the Sea "a|muse" Petillant Naturel Chardonnay (Paso Robles, California) A pet-nat style of wine lightly fizzy, easygoing bubbly Scar of Sea's offering is zesty and zippy, loaded with fine bubbles, green apple and lemon flavors and almost enamel-stripping acidity. A wine for Thai food if there ever was one. $29.
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Chateau Peyrassol Rose (Cotes de Provence, France) Rose, all day. This grapefruit-pink bottle is a blast in the face of acidity and zest, lively enough to keep you awake through a Netflix binge of "Stranger Things" or "The People vs. O.J. Simpson." $23.
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Brovo Spirits "Pretty" Vermouth Made in the style of vermouth blanc more floral- and herb-driven than its red counterpart Brovo's Pretty starts life as pinot gris from Washington state's Wahluke Slope before being infused with vanilla bean, cardamom, elderflower, chamomile, lemon peel, and herbs like comfrey and angelica, slightly sweetened by agave nectar. Poured over ice and topped with Topo Chico (an aggressively bubbly mineral water) or good ol' soda water, it's a perfect low-alcohol sipper when you still have to work the next morning. $19.
Tami Frappato (Sicily, Italy) Classified Vin di Tavola (VdT, "table wine"), this wine is anything but humble. A project of one of Italy's most exciting winemakers, Arianna Occhipinti, Tami's frappato is everything a weeknight wine should be: easy on the wallet, crowd-pleasing and gulpable. $19.
Domaine Mosse "Magic of Juju" (Loire, France) Rene Mosse, proprietor of this Loire Valley winemaking outfit, is a leader in the region. This bottle is a blend of wine geek-faves chenin blanc and melon de Bourgogne, from throughout the region hence the general Vin de France designation. It's as magical as the name suggests, with all the freshness of a grove of green and Golden Delicious apples. Opening this bottle is like an outside world doesn't exist at all. $16.
Chateau d'Oupia "Les Heretiques" (Minervois, France) This $10 table wine is made by one of the Languedoc region's best winemaking outfits, Chateau d'Oupia. Made from carignan, this wine explodes with food-friendly raspberry and blueberry flavors, soft tannins and juicy acidity. Les Heretiques is also occasion-agnostic. Pizza night? This wine. Day-drinking? This wine. You get the point. $10.
Felicette Grenache Rouge (France) There's not much info on this gulping wine vineyard origins, winemaker profile, that kind of thing but that's fine, because there are two cat-stronauts on the label! Commemorating Felicette, the understudy lady-cat France sent into space in 1963 (Felix, the boy cat, went missing), this wine won't take you to the moon, but it's so easy to drink and enjoy, you won't mind. $10.
jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @joeybear85
1. Try a new brunch in North Lakeview
For a taste of Italy at brunch, head to North Lakeview, where PR Italian Bistro launches its new brunch service this weekend. Chef-owner Stefano Roman, a native of Venice, debuts dishes such as Benedict con granchio (eggs Benny served with crab over ciabatta, $14), savory scallion pancakes called frittelle ($12) and a selection of smoked fish ($14). Enjoy it with bottomless mimosas and a bloody mary bar. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at PR Italian Bistro, 3908 N. Sheridan Road, 773-404-8955, www.pritalianbistro.com.
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2. Drink to a brewery's first birthday
Botanic brewing company Forbidden Root is celebrating its one-year anniversary, and they want you to join in. A beer with the brewpub's burger (with giardiniera mayo, aged cheddar, onions and pickle on a brioche bun) or milk-braised pork schnitzel sandwich will run you just $10, while most of the botanic suds are just $5 for the occasion. While supplies last, also enjoy some rarer Forbidden Root favorites, including Snoochie Boochies bombers and absinthe-barrel-aged Green Eyes. 5 p.m. to midnight Friday, Feb. 17, at Forbidden Root, 1746 W. Chicago Ave., 312-929-2202, www.forbiddenroot.com.
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3. Sample from more than 60 craft brewers
The Illinois Craft Beer Guild's winter festival, Winter Wonderland of Beer, heads outdoors for the first time. The rain-or-shine, 21-plus event, split into two sessions, offers beer from 60 Illinois breweries, including Solemn Oath, Revolution, DryHop, Dovetail, Cruz Blanca and Alter. There won't be food, but the venue, MB Financial Park, is bordered by Hofbrauhaus and Bub City, plus seven other resataurants, for those sniffing out lunch, dinner or a snack. Tickets include a glass and samples. $35. 1-4 p.m. or 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at MB Financial Park, 5501 Park Place, www.rosemont.com.
4. Road trip for chocolate
Do something romantic after Valentine's Day: Surprise a special person with a weekend getaway to Destination Kohler resort in Wisconsin for its fifth annual In Celebration of Chocolate festival, featuring dinners, food demos, cocktails parties and pairing seminars, all starring chocolate. In addition to buying tickets for individual events, guests can book specially priced overnight packages, starting at $165 per person. Ticket prices vary; see website for details. Friday, Feb. 17, to Sunday, Feb. 19, at Destination Kohler, 444 Highland Drive, Kohler, Wis., 800-344-2838, www.americanclubresort.com.
5. Give Three Aces a proper send-off
After seven years, Little Italy restaurant Three Aces is closing its doors for good but not without opening its patio for a final hurrah. The projected high Saturday will be 62 degrees; enjoy it while having one last Ace burger with aged cheddar and bacon jam. Visit our story on the closing for more details.
jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @joeybear85
Matcha green latte: Is matcha the new black coffee? It's certainly a contender at City Newsstand's City News Cafe in Portage Park. Matcha, a finely ground, high-quality green tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies, is made of specially prepared, shade-grown leaves. City News Cafe's version uses a matcha mix manufactured by a company called Cappuccine and was discovered by City News Cafe employee Donna Kosiba while attending Coffee Fest in Boston last year. "It has been a favorite of our customers, so we kept it on the menu in a hot and cold version," Kosiba says. The piping hot matcha green latte ($3.19 for 12-ounce drink, $3.49 for 16 ounces and $3.79 for 20 ounces) provides the perfect antidote to Chicago's incoming chill. Enjoy this frothy and palatably healthy drink with the decadent add-on of a Bennison's Bakery pastry, Pleasant House pie or house-made dark chocolate truffle for the ultimate "treat yourself" experience. 4018 N. Cicero Ave., 773-545-7377
Leah Pickett, Special to the Tribune
This is one of those big-fish-in-a-big-pond situations.
The pond is Spain, the place with more vineyard acreage than any other country on earth, and the fish is tempranillo, Spain's big red grape variety. It's actually not Spain's most widely planted wine grape; that honor belongs to the white grape variety airen. But as anglers and wine buffs know, big ponds often have more than one kind of big fish, and all big fishes are not equally rewarding to catch.
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Tempranillo is the trophy catch of Spain. The word itself is derived from "temprano," which is Spanish for "early," and it is believed that the grape got its name because it tends to ripen on the early side of the harvest season. Despite its widespread presence on the Iberian peninsula or perhaps because of it tempranillo also goes by many other names in its home country.
In the storied region of Rioja, where the grape has gathered most of its acclaim through the decades, it is called tempranillo. But that is where the clarity ends. In nearby Ribera del Duero, a region that has been gaining ground on Rioja in both quality and reputation for years, the grape is called tinta del pais or tinto fino. In Toro, it is called tinta de toro. In Penedes, it is called ull de llebre in the local Catalan language (and ojo de liebre in Castilian, i.e., good ol' espanol), and in Valdepenas and La Mancha, it is known as cencibel. Of course, none of this is sensible to the outsider, since all of it is tempranillo. (And there are many other aliases too.)
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It is easy to understand why another country would have an alternate name for it (that whole "different language" thing), and even Spain's neighbor to the west, Portugal, has two separate names for it: tinta roriz and aragonez. It's almost as if the people who know what a great grape variety tempranillo is have been trying to distract and confuse everyone else, just to keep their secret safe.
But alas (or thank goodness, depending on which side you're on), the word got out, and a study by the University of Adelaide (South Australia) concluded that, as of 2010, tempranillo was the world's fourth-most-planted wine grape behind cabernet sauvignon, merlot and the aforementioned airen. Tempranillo also landed in front of such popular grapes as chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot noir.
Despite not being formally knighted a so-called "international variety" (a well-known grape recognized for its ability to produce top-quality wines around the world), tempranillo continues to grow in popularity, and it would not be much of a surprise if one day it were to pass up its white Spanish counterpart airen on the world's-most-widely-planted list.
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When it comes to turning the grape into wine, tempranillo usually does not go it alone. Though it provides a base for many wines, it is not a grape variety that stands up for itself and shouts out its most redeeming qualities over a bullhorn. Instead it moves with the crowd and relies on help from others notably garnacha (grenache) and mazuelo (aka carinena/carignan) in Rioja, and cabernet sauvignon, merlot and other grapes elsewhere in Spain. Strawberry is a common descriptor of tempranillo, and from there, aromas and flavors can move on to cherries, black fruits, herbs, tobacco, leather and spice. Tempranillo produces medium- to full-bodied wines, especially when blended with heartier grape varieties, and can range in color from ruby red to deep crimson.
This is a wine style that pairs well with ham, lamb, grilled meats, casseroles and game. You could also settle in with a friend and a bottle, along with a hunk of Manchego cheese and some crusty bread. Another option would be to light a candle, pour yourself a glass and crack the binding on "Don Quixote" or "The Sun Also Rises," dreaming of running with the bulls. Tempranillo surely makes up the majority of red wines swilled at festivals across Spain, so go ahead and drink it out of a bota bag if you like, but if you are a beginner, may I suggest not wearing a white shirt. Or if you must wear white, at least tie a red handkerchief around your neck. I'm speaking from experience here.
Tempranillo is especially fond of oak barrel aging, and the practice has been a hallmark of the country's two most famous tempranillo regions Rioja and Ribera del Duero. But it is not the rule. Despite the fact that tempranillo can be extremely age-able, it is possible today to find young, fruity unoaked versions of it in both regions.
California, Oregon and Washington turn out tempranillos, as do Argentina (where it usually takes the feminine moniker "tempranilla") and Australia, where it is often blended with grenache and the Aussie superstar shiraz. In Portugal, tempranillo (as aragonez or tinta roriz) is used in table wines and ports. Even Italy has some tempranillo, and of course they have their own name for it: malvasia nera. While we're at it, California has had an alternate name for tempranillo, too: valdepenas (yes, just like the Spanish wine region Valdepenas, where tempranillo is referred to as cencibel).
Obviously Spain, particularly Rioja, is the place where this grape variety enjoys its most-esteemed reputation. The legendary Muga and Marques de Riscal wines come from Rioja, but it is Ribera del Duero that is home to what is possibly the most famous and revered Spanish wine of all, Vega-Sicilia. Ribera del Duero's combination of blazing daytime heat and high-plateau nighttime cool create the perfect growing conditions for tempranillo, although its global sprawl suggests quite clearly that it does just fine elsewhere too.
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food@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @pour_man
Spring is a ways off, but you can conjure it with the flavors of baby artichokes and fresh lemon in this quick pasta dish. Likewise, fresh flavors of citrus, pears, apricot and other stone fruit in these crisp white wines complement the dish and make us think of warmer days.
MAKE THIS
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Pasta shells with artichokes
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 clove garlic, chopped. Cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add 1 pound frozen baby artichokes, thawed, and 1/2 cup dry white wine. Season with salt. Cook to reduce wine slightly and heat artichokes through, 5 minutes or so. Stir in 2 to 4 tablespoons cream; cook to thicken slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley; 1/2 cup pitted green olives, coarsely chopped; and finely grated zest of 1 lemon. Toss with 1 pound cooked medium pasta shells and 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese. Makes: 4 servings
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Recipe by Joe Gray
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DRINK THIS
Pairings by sommelier Aaron McManus of Oriole, as told to Michael Austin:
2013 Jean-Marc Brocard Vau de Vey Premier Cru Chablis, Burgundy, France: This crisp chardonnay smells of golden apples, fresh white flowers, lemons and almonds, plus notes of wet stony minerality. The palate has a mouthwatering freshness to it, with flavors of citrus, pears and a hint of mushrooms. The citrus flavors in the wine will complement the lemon in the pasta while the wine's slight nuttiness will pair nicely with the cheese.
2014 Domaine Vacheron Les Romains Sancerre, Loire Valley, France: This sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley offers aromas of limes and grapefruit, green apple, white flowers, tarragon, green pepper and chalk. Also, a touch of stone fruit comes through on the light and refreshing palate. The green flavors in the wine will complement the green olives and artichokes, and the wine's herbal qualities will match well with the parsley.
Ca' del Bosco Cuvee Prestige Franciacorta, Lombardy, Italy: This sparkling wine is a blend of 75 percent chardonnay, 15 percent pinot nero and 10 percent pinot bianco, which produce aromas of toast, nuts, candied citrus peels, baked apple, lemon curd and apricot. The wine has a creamy quality that will complement the Romano cheese. Plus, its effervescence will help cut through the richness of the cream.
food@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @pour_man
Q: Just wondering if you have any baked shrimp recipes or recipes that featured baked shrimp?
Kay Daniels, Downers Grove
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A: There are a number of baked shrimp recipes out there, so I asked Kay to narrow the field down. Here's her reply: "I was looking for a recipe for the shrimp to be the main ingredient. I prefer something with garlic and butter. I would like the shrimp to be oven baked or oven roasted. The shrimp I would like to serve over rice. I also would like to use frozen shrimp. I do realize it needs to be defrosted."
Could you broil the shrimp, Kay? If so, I'd go right for this scampi dish from Pierre Franey, which was featured in his 1979 book, "The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet." This recipe has long provided me with a framework when I've wanted a simple, garlicky shrimp dish to spoon over rice. I'd adjust the quantity of ingredients, throw some butter in with the olive oil, skip the parsley, use hot sauce instead of red pepper flakes, but the basic cooking instructions and timing stayed steady. You could bake it too, but remember the shrimp will take longer to cook and long cooking can kill them, turning the shrimp dry and leathery. So keep basting the shrimp with the pan liquids to keep them moist.
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As for baked, why not try the classic Shrimp de Jonghe? The dish, invented here in Chicago at the De Jonghe Hotel, remains popular today. This particular recipe ran, with some alterations and tweaks, in the Tribune at least four times between 1985 and 2005.
Frozen, unpeeled shrimp is what I usually encounter in my supermarket, so that's what I buy. Many markets sell shrimp already defrosted, but I prefer to buy the shrimp still frozen so I defrost them myself when I'm ready for them. I also buy unpeeled shrimp because the final texture always seems firmer to me. I peel them once the shrimp have defrosted and then devein them, running a sharp, small knife down the back and flushing out any black line with cold running water.
Do you have a question about food or drink? Email Bill Daley at wdaley@tribpub.com. Snail mail inquiries should be sent to: Bill Daley, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. Twitter @billdaley.
Shrimp broiled in olive oil and seasonings (Crevettes "Scampi")
Yield: 4 servings.
A recipe from Pierre Franey's "The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet." He recommends serving the shrimp with curried bell pepper strips and baked rice.
2 pounds shrimp, the larger the better
1/2 cup olive oil
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2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed oregano
2 tablespoons fine fresh bread crumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
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1. Split the shrimp down the back side. Rinse and pat dry. Or peel them but leave the last tail segment intact. Rinse and drain well. Add the remaining ingredients to the shrimp and toss to coat evenly and well.
2. Line a baking dish with foil and arrange the shrimp over it. Place the shrimp under the broiler about three to four inches from the source of heat. Broil 5 to 6 minutes. It is not necessary to turn the shrimp as they cook. Baste the shrimp and serve hot.
Shrimp de Jonghe
Prep: 30 minutes. Cook: 15 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.
The headnote for this recipe when published in 2005 read: "Shrimp de Jonghe is a Chicago survivor, having endured Prohibition police raids that closed Henri de Jonghe's Monroe Street hotel and restaurant where the dish was createdthough nobody is sure whether it was invented by de Jonghe or his chef Emil Zehr. This simple recipe is a close approximation of the delicious original."
1 1/2 quarts water
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1/2 small onion, sliced
1 rib celery, halved
3 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds large raw shrimp in the shell
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1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
1 1/2 cups coarse French bread crumbs
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced shallot
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2 cloves garlic, minced
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1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1. Heat the water, onion, celery, peppercorns, bay leaf and salt to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp; cover. Return to a boil; drain. Run shrimp under cold water to cool.
2. Peel shrimp; transfer to a large bowl. Add half of the melted butter and the sherry; toss to mix.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the remaining melted butter and one third of the bread crumbs in a small bowl. Stir in the parsley, shallots, garlic, paprika and red pepper.
4. Spoon half of the shrimp mixture into a buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Top with half of the remaining bread crumbs. Top with remaining shrimp mixture, then remaining bread crumbs. Bake until the crumbs are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
We had worked up an appetite. Exploring the small streets and impressive wine museum of Barolo one sunny fall day, we found our stomachs growling and feet aching. It was time to find lunch in this well-known wine town in Italy's Piedmont region.
Lunch in Italy is no small affair, of course. Many of the best restaurants offer the same menu at lunch and dinner, including the famous antipasti, primi and secondi courses that can lead to serious napping if all three are consumed at midday. But we just looked at it as fuel for more exploring on foot until it was time to eat again around 8 p.m. Besides, who can resist the pastas of Piemonte, perhaps the best fuel for the rigors of sightseeing?
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In this region, tajarin (tie-yah-REEN) reigns as the most popular pasta. Our first encounter with it was at the sidewalk trattoria we found in Barolo. After one taste of the thin, bright yellow pasta topped with an earthy porcini mushroom sauce, we had to find out more about tajarin.
The word is Piedmontese dialect for tagliatelle (or it's narrower version, tagliolini). It is made fresh by area cooks who use a higher proportion of egg yolks than found in pastas from other regions. Tajarin can contain up to 40 egg yolks per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of pasta dough, according to Matt Kramer in "A Passion for Piedmont: Italy's Most Glorious Regional Table" (1997).
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"A good pasta dough for tagliatelle from, say, Bologna (which is known for its fine egg pasta) uses two eggs for every hundred grams of Italy's soft white flour. That works out to 20 eggs per kilogram of dough, which is pretty rich," Kramer writes. "In Piedmont, such a ratio is the starting point."
The eggs do make the dough softer, cautions Kramer. Home cooks in the region always use a pasta machine for rolling and cutting the delicate strands. The width of the noodles often varies from cook to cook, but Kramer notes that "the Piedmontese do agree with the Duchess of Windsor: No tajarin can ever be too rich or too thin."
Luckily, the pasta also is available dried, for those not willing to crack that many eggs for homemade pasta. Classic toppings for tajarin include butter and sage sauce, pork and veal sugo or porcini mushroom sauce, like the one we raved over in Barolo.
foods@tribune.com
Tajarin with porcini mushroom sauce
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Makes: 6 servings
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In Piedmont, dried porcini are used in sauces all year round. In the States, look for fresh porcini mushrooms in the fall in specialty markets. If they are not available, any type of mushroom can be substituted, such as crimini or mixed wild mushrooms. Look for tajarin in Italian specialty stores. Another thin shape can be substituted.
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water to cover 30 minutes
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 small shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
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8 ounces fresh porcini or crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
2/3 cup chicken broth, plus more if needed
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
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1 pound dried tajarin or tagliatelle pasta, cooked to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Drain the dried porcini mushrooms, saving the soaking liquid. Rinse the mushrooms briefly; drain. Strain the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any dirt. Chop the soaked mushrooms finely.
2. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add half of the parsley and all of the shallots and garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the dried and fresh mushrooms; cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until fresh mushrooms start to brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the wine; cook, stirring often, until almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom soaking liquid; cook until almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add 2/3 cup chicken broth; heat to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer; cook to reduce slightly, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in cream, remaining parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Heat until thickened, 5-10 minutes. Drain pasta; toss with mushroom sauce in a serving bowl. Loosen the sauce with a little more chicken broth, if you like. Serve with Parmesan.
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Nutrition information per serving: 469 calories, 18 g fat, 10 g saturated fat, 51 mg cholesterol, 63 g carbohydrates, 15 g protein, 306 mg sodium, 5 g fiber
Homemade tajarin
Prep: 40 minutes
Rest: 40 minutes
Cook: 1 minute
Makes: 3 servings
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Depending on the humidity in your kitchen, the flour may absorb more than the 2 egg yolks and whole egg. This recipe can be multiplied as needed. Adapted from Matt Kramer's "A Passion for Piedmont: Italy's Most Glorious Regional Table."
2 to 3 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Large pinch salt
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1. Place 2 egg yolks, the whole egg, flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse on and off for a few seconds until dough starts to clump. If dough seems too dry, add remaining egg yolk. Pulse just until the dough is about to ball up, about 2 seconds. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; knead briefly by hand until dough is slightly smooth but still slightly moist. Pat into rectangular shape.
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2. Set the rollers of a pasta machine to widest setting. Dust both sides of the dough lightly with flour, brushing off excess. Slowly run the dough through the rollers. Cut the thick ribbon of dough in half crosswise. Wrap one half in plastic wrap; set aside. Lightly flour the countertop where dough will emerge from pasta machine.
3. Fold the half ribbon of dough into thirds like a letter. Lightly dust on both sides with flour. Turn it lengthwise; insert into the rollers and slowly roll out. Repeat folding and rolling several times until dough is silky smooth, dusting the dough with flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Reduce the opening of the roller to the next setting. Slowly run the ribbon through, letting the long ribbon lie flat on the flour-dusted counter and moving it down the line as more dough emerges.
4. Repeat the rolling process, reducing the space between the roller with each pass, until the dough has passed through the narrowest opening. Let the dough rest on the floured surface 10 minutes. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough.
5. Lightly dust each ribbon of dough with flour. Put each through the small width cutter of the machine, cranking slowly and cradling and keeping the strands aligned as they emerge. Let dry on floured countertop in loops or in straight rows until ribbons begin to stiffen, at least 30 minutes.
6. Heat a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Gently lower the tajarin into the water, taking care not to press strands together. Stir the pasta vigorously to separate the strands. Return to a boil; cook 1 minute. Drain quickly. Place on warm plates and serve with sauce of your choice.
Nutrition information per serving: 194 calories, 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 185 mg cholesterol, 30 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, 81 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Chef Bruce Sherman of North Pond and 18 of his chef friends are organizing Solidarity Soup, which aims to raise funds to support immigrant groups in Chicago. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune)
Since President Donald Trump signed restrictive executive orders on immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries a few short weeks ago, many Americans have expressed their dismay, frustration and anger through a series of protests and demonstrations. Likewise, area restaurants have picked up the cause, signing onto a "sanctuary restaurant" movement protecting targeted groups, donating food to attorneys volunteering legal aid to travelers, or banding together to raise funds for numerous charities.
Bruce Sherman, chef and partner of Lincoln Park's North Pond, joins the latter group, helming a new effort to signal support for immigrant communities. After Trump signed his executive order, Sherman was on the phone with many of his fellow chefs and restaurateurs to get Solidarity Soup off the ground.
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"Immigrants are the backbones of our restaurants and our communities," said Sherman over the phone. "With the EO, they were suddenly singled out."
On its website, Solidarity Soup declares, "we commit to standing with immigrant communities in the fight to protect their dignity and human rights; their presence among us makes us stronger." The group of high-profile chefs Rick Bayless, Phillip Foss, Stephanie Izard, Jason Hammel, Carrie Nahabedian, Matthias Merges and many more reads like a who's who of Chicago dining culture.
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"I reached out to everyone and asked 'are you interested,'" said Sherman. "There wasn't even a discussion about it it's so obviously the right thing to do."
Through the sale of soups created by each chef, Solidarity Soup hopes to raise money for three local organizations, which deal specifically with immigrant populations Centro Romero, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos and Organized Communities Against Deportations.
"I spent some time doing some research on the appropriate kind of work in the area of immigration," said Sherman. "There are a ton of nonprofits in Chicago, and these seemed like a good place to start to address needs of immigrants."
Reached by phone, a representative of Centro Romero didn't seem to be aware that the organization would be the beneficiary of Solidarity Soup, but "everyone is helping out in different ways," said Joseph Martens, resource developer for the group.
Centro Romero has been serving the Chicago immigrant refugee community for over 30 years through a variety of services, ranging from legal immigration, family and youth services and through a domestic violence program. Last year, the organization served over 6,000 people.
"In the last couple of days, over 100 people were arrested in raids in California and Texas," said Martens. "Centro is trying to get the word out to immigrants about the law. Donations help our regular services, but also to employ outreach workers to educate the community about their rights."
In a statement regarding this weekend's Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, an ICE spokesperson wrote, "Our operations are targeted and lead driven, prioritizing individuals who pose a risk to our communities. Examples would include known street gang members, child sex offenders, and deportable foreign nationals with significant drug trafficking convictions. To that end, ICE's routine immigration enforcement actions are ongoing and we make arrests every day."
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For Sherman, the work of Centro Romero and others hits close to home. "I have an employee who is a legal political refugee from Venezuela," he says. "We had a discussion about (the raids and executive order), and I assured him that he was not the first up on the hierarchy of those at risk. But that it is at this level that we have these conversations about protecting (my employees') rights I felt like I couldn't sit on the sidelines. It's hard to not expect the boots are coming here too."
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To that end, Solidarity Soup is asking for a minimum $50 donation. Donors will receive two pints of soup from two different chefs upon pickup. To ease the logistics of ordering, Sherman says soup will be distributed "dealer's choice," and will only be labeled when it contains dairy, nuts, gluten or is vegetarian. "I don't need every ingredient I didn't want to make the soup the point of the charity." Given the caliber of chefs and restaurants, though, the soups will stand on their own merits.
Ordering is available now through midnight March 1 and must be prepaid. Soups can be picked up at three as-yet-unannounced locations, in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and downtown, on March 7.
For now, Solidarity Soup numbers at 19 restaurants and chefs, but Sherman is open to adding more.
"I built (Solidarity Soup) to grow if more people want to participate, I would welcome that problem." As for immigration, "it's something that transcends political positions," he says. "It's a human rights issue. It doesn't matter who you voted for it's about humanity and what's right."
For information, go to solidaritysoup.org.
jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @joeybear85
Shrimp and andouille sausage gumbo makes a fine dish for Mardi Gras. From the meat to the stock to the vegetables, the ingredients are easily swapped out. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)
New Orleans cuisine is just about my favorite among regional American cuisines. (No offense, absolutely everybody else in the country.) And of all the iconic dishes etouffee, blackened anything, jambalaya there's nothing I love more than a steaming bowl of spicy brown gumbo. Mm-mmmmm.
Why you need to learn this
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Mardi Gras is right around the corner (Feb. 28). Also, this method is so easy to use that you can swap out the stock and protein to make literally gajillions of delicious variations.
The steps you take
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There was a time, not too long ago, when you couldn't swing a dead catfish without hitting a menu with blackened something on it blackened redfish, blackened soup, blackened toast ... Back in the day, though, New Orleans cuisine was virtually unknown outside of Louisiana. Then, along came chef Paul Prudhomme, who pretty much played St. Paul to New Orleans' Jesus, if you get my drift.
Today, what we generally refer to as "New Orleans cuisine" is actually the conflation of two originally separate cuisines: Creole and Cajun. Think, "citified" vs. "countrified," respectively.
From the 18th century, New Orleans was populated by French and Spanish settlers, local native Choctaws and thousands of West African slaves.
Add to this mix the descendants of French settlers of Acadia, a region that now encompasses parts of Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. In the mid-18th century, these mostly poor French speakers landed in Louisiana after fleeing hostilities between British and French forces. Their name, Acadians, gives us their current moniker, "Cajuns."
Take a look at gumbo's ingredients, and you'll see influences from all of these groups.
While probably every cook in Louisiana has her or his own method for gumbo, one thing that pretty much all gumbos have in common is their thick consistency. While some are thicker than others, they all by definition have some sort of thickener in them. (Please, Dearly Affronted Reader, do not send me videos of your Aunt Nell's Looziana Cooking Party in which she makes a delicious albeit watery gumbo. I'm sure they exist.)
Typically, gumbos are thickened one of three ways.
1. Roux. This hallmark of French classical cuisine blending equal amounts of fat and flour is cooked to various shades of darkness. In its adopted New Orleans home, the fat is oil and the roux can be cooked to very dark.
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2. Okra. This native African vegetable arrived with West African slaves.
3. File powder. Ground, dried leaves of the sassafras tree add flavor along with consistency. If you've never seen a sassafras tree, they're really cool because they have three distinct leaf shapes: one regular, leafy shaped leaf; one with two parts that makes it look like a mitten (or Michigan, if you want to stoke a little regional pride); and one with three parts that make it look like the Canadian flag or Lisa Simpson's hand if you couldn't see her thumb.
Now, some hard-core New Orleans cooks might argue strenuously about what thickeners go with what. My advice is, listen to them respectfully, then do what you want. We're not trying to be authentic here; we're just trying to re-create, as my Kendall College colleague chef Elaine Sikorski lectures, a New Orleans "flavor profile."
Here's what you do (for more specific instructions and amounts, see the accompanying recipe):
Roux (a mixture of fat and flour) is one way to thicken a gumbo. Start it by cooking equal amounts of fat and flour together. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)
1. If you're using roux, combine equal parts by weight vegetable oil and flour in a large Dutch oven. Stir it over medium heat until it's very dark brown, about 15 minutes.
2. Add a 2-to-1-to-1 mix of diced onion, celery and green bell pepper the New Orleans version of the French "mirepoix." Stir it into the roux until it starts to brown 3 or 4 minutes.
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If you're not using roux, start by sauteing the vegetables in oil until brown.
You could also stir in a clove or four of minced garlic when the other stuff starts to brown.
3. Add stock. Homemade is best, but, let's be honest, who's got the time, what with all the phone calls and emails? Chicken stock works for just about everything, or use fish stock or canned clam juice for seafood gumbo.
4. Add your other ingredients:
Okra. If you're not using roux, make okra equal to the weight of the proteins. If you are using roux, cut the amount in half.
Proteins. Andouille sausage, cubed chicken or duck breasts, beef short ribs, chunks of ham, anything. For seafood, don't add it until 5 to 10 minutes before serving the gumbo, so you don't overcook it.
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Spices and herbs. Try equal parts of ground red, black and white peppers along with dried thyme, oregano and bay leaf. How much? How spicy do you want it?
Tomatoes. Hmmm. More than a few people argue that tomatoes have no place in a proper gumbo. I say, unless those people are rich relatives of yours from whom you stand to collect a tidy inheritance someday, go for it.
Simmer everything together about 30 minutes. In that time, the starchy flavor of any roux will disappear and the okra (if you're using it) will have thickened the broth.
5. If you're using file powder, it's typically added at the end, about an ounce or 2 per quart of gumbo.
6. Season with salt, and you're ready to go. Mound some cooked rice in a bowl and ladle the gumbo around it. Yum.
James P. DeWan is a culinary instructor at Kendall College in Chicago and author of "Prep School: How to Improve Your Kitchen Skills and Cooking Techniques," a collection of his Chicago Tribune columns.
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Gumbo traditionally calls for a dark roux, which can take 10 to 20 minutes. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)
Shrimp and andouille gumbo
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 1 hour, 12 minutes
Makes: 12 servings
Spice mix:
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
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1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons oregano
2 bay leaves
Gumbo:
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3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 large onions, medium dice
3 green bell peppers, medium dice
5 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 garlic cloves, minced
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1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, chopped, with juice
1 pound okra, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 quarts chicken stock
1 pound andouille sausage, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Salt as needed
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
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Cooked rice as needed
1. For spice mix: Combine ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.
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2. For roux: Heat a 6-quart Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. Add oil and flour; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is dark brown, 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Add onions, peppers and celery and cook until onions are soft and brown, stirring frequently, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Add garlic and half of the spice mix; cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, okra, stock and sausage; bring to a boil while stirring, then reduce heat and simmer to remove starchy flavor of flour, about 20 minutes. Season with salt, then taste for spiciness. If needed, add remaining spice mix and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes.
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6. Add shrimp and simmer until done, about 5 minutes.
7. To serve, use an ice cream scoop to place rice in a warm bowl. Ladle gumbo around it and serve immediately.
Nutrition information per serving: 314 calories, 19 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 102 mg cholesterol, 15 g carbohydrates, 5 g sugar, 20 g protein, 505 mg sodium, 4 g fiber
Rapper/actor Machine Gun Kelly is getting positive vibes from Chicago as filming for Rupert Wyatt's sci-fi movie "Captive State" gets underway.
"The room I'm staying (in) for the next month in the Chi is vibed out," Kelly tweeted Tuesday. "And everyone at the grocery store was dressed cool as (expletive)."
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Here we go! A post shared by Alex Disenhof (@alexdisenhof) on Feb 15, 2017 at 5:51am PST
"Captive State," which also stars John Goodman and Vera Farmiga, explores conflict in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after occupation by an extra- terrestrial force. Filming is expected to wrap up here in mid-April.
Scouting. A pretty cool experience, standing all alone in an empty Soldier field in the snow. #soldierfield #chicago #dabears A post shared by Alex Disenhof (@alexdisenhof) on Jan 26, 2017 at 8:41pm PST
A variety of casting calls have been issued for this movie, which is due out in 2018. Producers are looking for hundreds of extras for a stadium shoot in April, men who are at least 6 feet, 6 inches tall to wear body suits and men and women who ride mopeds or dirt bikes, among other opportunities.
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP)
It's appropriate that "The Good Fight" has a slightly more jagged and splintered atmosphere than "The Good Wife," the long-running CBS drama that starred Julianna Margulies.
"The Good Wife" debuted eight months after the inauguration of Barack Obama as America's 44th president, and implicit in its worldview was the idea that a technocratic, centrist elite could solve almost every problem. Even in the midst of the thorniest cases, the show had a smooth assurance about how the world worked; undergirding its sprightly energy and acrobatic storytelling was a confidence that only rarely tipped into frustrating hubris. Watching smart lawyers enjoy their verbal jousting and engage in subtle but sexy flirting was often fun, and even when they lost cases -- or messed up their love lives -- they could safely retreat to an upscale bar to drink pinot noir and find solace in barbed irreverence and prickly friendships. No matter how badly things went for Alicia Florrick, it's not like the world was ending.
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"The Good Fight," a spinoff of "The Good Wife" and the flagship of the streaming service CBS All Access, blows all that up. Literally. In the show's opening credits, handsomely lit totems of the professional classes -- an office phone, a leather handbag, a vase of tasteful flowers -- explode. These images might be a bit too on-the-nose for some; one of the things that made "The Good Wife" addictive (and unusual for a broadcast network drama) was that it didn't usually spell out subtexts audience members could grasp on their own. But there's no doubt that the characters inhabiting the fractured landscape -- and the somewhat divergent storylines -- of "The Good Fight" live in a very different world than the one the Florricks knew. And no one's existence has changed more than that of Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski).
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In the opening minutes of the first episode, Diane watches as Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation's 45th president. She snaps off the TV midway through the oath of office and goes to work, sure of her place in the world of connected Chicago lawyers and well-heeled Democratic donors. Before the 50-minute pilot is over, the jarring changing of the guard in Washington is the least of her troubles.
"The Good Fight," doesn't often refer to Alicia Florrick or to the Trump era in its first two episodes (the first will air on CBS; subsequent episodes will arrive weekly on CBS All Access). But one hopes that as its 10-episode first season gets underway in earnest, the show will have a field day with the kinds of newsy issues (privacy rights, spy-agency snooping, governmental overreach) that drove some of the liveliest installments of "The Good Wife." These episodes do touch on matters relating to police violence and the legal world's increasing reliance on algorithms and tech-sector funding. But most of the first two installments are spent demonstrating that "The Good Fight," thematically and structurally, will be fairly different from its predecessor.
One of the most compelling aspects of the original show was that it depicted the moral journey of one woman -- a wronged spouse and an increasingly canny operator who held her cards very close to her vest. When "The Good Wife" was operating at peak proficiency, it smartly showcased Margulies' charismatic, savvy performance and its own commitment to depicting Alicia's professional and emotional journey in all its ugliness, ambiguity and aspiration.
"The Good Fight," on the other hand, has three centers of gravity, and it remains to be seen whether the show can successfully balance the storylines of its core trio and weave those plots together in ways that result in deeply rewarding, character-driven drama. The first two episodes are generally efficient and they display a familiar dry wit, and the cast is uniformly excellent. But "The Good Fight" has to incorporate a host of supporting characters and cases of the week into the backstories of its multiple leads, and the results are occasionally a bit bumpy and scattered. All in all, however, it's a promising endeavor, even if the lead characters are so understandably stressed that it's a pleasure to check in on amusing scene-stealers like Eli Gold's enterprising daughter, Marissa (Sarah Steele), and Denis O'Hare's delightfully eccentric judge.
Baranski brings a heartbreaking rawness to her performance as Diane, who never got enough meaningful screen time on "The Good Wife." In the new show, Diane has lost everything in a Ponzi scheme and goes to work at a law firm in which most of her colleagues are African-American. The contours of the Madoff-like fraud story are a lot more predictable than the complex racial and personal dynamics at the new firm. One hopes that the latter gets more focus than the former, especially because storylines revolving around Diane's new job give screen time to terrific actors like Erica Tazel and Delroy Lindo, who play law partners Barbara Kolstad and Adrian Boseman. In any event, one of the most unstable -- and thus fascinating -- elements of the new show involves the power dynamics on display in the new workplace, in which a white woman who had been used to exercising the power she fought to obtain has to subordinate her will to the people of color around her. Barbara and Adrian have their own agendas, and they seem just as likely to play hardball as any of Diane's previous colleagues (a number of whom don't feature prominently in the new show, and, truth be told, I won't miss most of them).
Cush Jumbo returns as the long-suffering Lucca Quinn, who ends up working alongside Diane, not always comfortably. Jumbo is a master of the seething-but-patient facial expression, and Lucca's implacable endurance in the face of the condescension and dismissal of her co-workers was a highlight of the later seasons of "The Good Wife." Lucca often comes up with creative ideas and solutions, and rarely gets (or expects) the attention she deserves for her wit and intelligence. In an echo of that slightly worrying pattern, the first two episodes don't delve much into Lucca's psychology or agenda (though one episode shows her lover's bare behind; like a few swear words appropriately scattered into the dialogue, these are the benefits of inhabiting the anything-goes realm of streaming).
One hopes meaty Lucca-driven stories arrive soon: Half of the reason to stick with this show -- and fans of solid legal dramas and aficionados of "The Good Wife" should do so -- is to see whether it delves into her moral and psychological journey more deeply. As was the case with Alicia, Lucca makes her character's silences and secrets as interesting as her decisive statements and actions.
The new member of the core trio is Maia Rindell (Rose Leslie), an inexperienced lawyer connected to the family who ran the Ponzi scheme. Like Lucca and Diane, Maia is a woman with something to prove, and Leslie does a fine job of depicting her character's shock and her tremulous resolution to rebuilding her life.
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What these women share -- aside from screen time in a couple of reasonably interesting cases -- is a determination to move on and make the best of the difficult new circumstances they find themselves in. But Alicia -- and Obama -- are like exes that cast a long shadow over the supposedly new lives of the people they left behind. Their absences leave large holes in the landscape, as well as people who feel demoralized when they cast their minds back to just a year or two ago. Diane's plight is thus personal but also metaphorical: She likens the collapse of every pillar of her supposedly solid and trustworthy world to a nightmare. It's a sentiment that many of this show's viewers will understand.
But perhaps the most topical thing about this promising drama is that Diane and Maia, two privileged white women who are forced to wake up by events they can hardly believe, are beginning to learn what Lucca and Barbara already know. No one is especially inclined to fight for them, and if they want to survive, they will have to save themselves. Maybe these women can do that together, but the jury's still out.
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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)
Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed Monday in Malaysia after being ambushed in the Kuala Lumpur airport by two women who apparently poisoned him.
Once considered the successor to his father, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Nam, 45, had been living incognito in exile in Macau, reportedly under the protection of the Chinese government. Even though he disavowed any aspirations to leadership, North Korea watchers invariably raised his name as a potential replacement in the case of a coup d'etat against Kim Jong Un.
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Although the bizarre killing remains under investigation, intelligence officials in the U.S. and South Korea are calling it a likely assassination by the North Korean government. Kim was reportedly approached from behind while he waited in the departure area of the airport in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
Joongang Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, quoted an unidentified intelligence official as saying that Kim was "stung by a poisoned needle" after being approached by "two female spies" working for North Korea. (Link in Korean.)
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"They fled in a taxi right after the crime," the newspaper quoted the official as saying.
Another version of events came from Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat, who told reporters that Kim said before his collapse that "someone had grabbed him from behind and splashed a liquid on his face.'' A different Malaysian official described a cloth placed over his face.
By whichever method, the killing had all the hallmarks of a North Korean assassination. "This sounds like a classic North Korean operation," said Sue Mi Terry, who was a senior North Korea analyst for the CIA from 2001 to 2008. "Kim Jong Nam was the most reform-minded person in the family and whenever there are discussions about regime change, his name comes up."
The timing of the apparent assassination might be linked to reports of instability in North Korea. Kim Jong Un has purged many of his former deputies, most recently his minister of state security. A North Korean diplomat, Thae Yong Ho, who defected last summer said in a news conference last month that the "traditional structures of the North Korean system are crumbling."
A file picture taken on June 4, 2010, of Kim Jong-Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, shown waving after an interview with South Korean media representatives in Macau. (Stringer / AFP/Getty Images)
Kim portly like his father and brother, and frequently photographed unshaven with his shirttails hanging out was the heir apparent to North Korean leadership until 2001, when he was arrested in Tokyo trying to enter Japan on a false Dominican Republic passport. He told authorities he was trying to bring his son to Tokyo Disneyland.
After his public disgrace, the North Korean government began grooming Kim Jong Il's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, who ended up taking over the country while still in his 20s after the 2011 death of the father.
Kim Jong Nam gave occasional interviews to Japanese media. Despite his slovenly appearance and a penchant for drinking and gambling, he was said to be something of an intellectual who expressed his belief in globalization, market economies and the need for North Korea to reform its communist economy.
"He sees his brother failing," said a Japanese journalist, Yoji Gomi, who released a 2012 book about Kim Jong Nam, "My Father, Kim Jong Il and Me." "He thinks [Kim Jong Un] has a lack of experience. He's too young and he didn't have enough time to be groomed.''
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This undated picture released by the official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 2, 2017, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting the newly built Pyongyang Orphans' Primary School. (Korean Central News Agency)
Kim Jong Nam lived much of his life in hiding. He is believed to have been the first of Kim Jong Il's offspring, a love child of a long affair with Song Hye Rim, a North Korean actress. Their relationship and the existence of the child were kept secret for years out of fear that it would not be accepted by Kim Jong Il's father and North Korea's founder.
"Wisteria House," a book about the family written in Korean by his aunt, Song's sister, described how the secret family was shuttled among secluded villas and seaside retreats in North Korea, Switzerland and Russia, a pampered but precarious life of luxury.
Kim Jong Nam's mother had psychological problems and is believed to have died in Russia.
Although Kim Jong Il publicly acknowledged his first son and was said to be an affectionate father, he reportedly thought the young man had become too Westernized because of the time he spent abroad.
In recent years, Kim Jong Nam lived in exile in Macau but traveled frequently. For his protection, he often traveled under an assumed name; initial reports from Malaysia said he was using the name Kim Chol.
Kims son, Kim Han-sol, 21, educated in Hong Kong and the West, has spoken out about humanitarian issues such as human rights and famine in North Korea. Wearing ear studs and speaking unaccented English, he gave a videotaped interview in 2012 in which he said his father never wanted to be a North Korean leader. "My dad was definitely not really interested in politics,'' he said.
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Kim was reportedly in Kuala Lumpur visiting a girlfriend, and it was unclear whether she was suspected of having lured him away from Macau. An assassination in Macau would have been more likely to incur the anger of Beijing.
If an assassination is confirmed, it would be in keeping with the modus operandi of the North Korean government. Pyongyang has been blamed for numerous attacks against defectors and critics abroad, including the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner by a female North Korean agent and a 1983 bombing in Burma directed against South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan.
Kim's first cousin and childhood playmate, a defector, was shot outside his home in South Korea in 1997.
The North Koreans have been implicated in at least one other poison needle attack, in 2011, when a South Korean pastor and activist died mysteriously in China.
"Somebody like Kim Jong Nam who was living overseas must have been aware of the possibility of being assassinated,'' said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. "He was originally going to succeed Kim Jong Il. He had been very critical of the regime. He was a focal point for potential opposition. Certainly the North Koreans had plenty of motives."
It is unclear whether Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Un spent any time together or had even met. In any case, familial loyalty has not stopped Kim Jong Un before. His uncle and regent, Jang Song Taek, was publicly purged and executed in 2013 after the young leader believed he had become too powerful; more than 100 other North Korean officials have met similar fates.
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In his five years of leadership, Kim has resisted calls to reform his economy and has methodically pursued the development of weapons of mass destruction. Since the beginning of last year, North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and more than two dozen missile tests, the most recent last weekend, when an intermediate-range missile flew about 300 miles from a launch site northwest of Pyongyang.
barbara.demick@latimes.com
Twitter: @BarbaraDemick
UPDATES:
7:44 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the assassination and political analysis.
3:25 p.m.: Updates throughout with additional quotes and details.
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This article was originally posted at 9 a.m.
Recently, author Veronica Roth - of "Divergent" fame - came under fire for her new novel, "Carve the Mark." In addition to being called racist, the book was criticized for its portrayal of chronic pain in its main character.
Before a book is published and released to the public, it's passed through the hands (and eyes) of many people: an author's friends and family, an agent and, of course, an editor.
These days, though, a book may get an additional check from an unusual source: a sensitivity reader, a person who, for a nominal fee, will scan the book for racist, sexist or otherwise offensive content. These readers give feedback based on self-ascribed areas of expertise such as "dealing with terminal illness," "racial dynamics in Muslim communities within families" or "transgender issues."
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"The industry recognizes this is a real concern," said Cheryl Klein, a children's and young adult book editor and author of "The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults." Klein, who works at the publisher Lee & Low, said that she has seen the casual use of specialized readers for many years but that the process has become more standardized and more of a priority, especially in books for young readers.
Sensitivity readers have emerged in a climate - fueled in part by social media - in which writers are under increased scrutiny for their portrayals of people from marginalized groups, especially when the author is not a part of that group.
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Last year, for instance, J.K. Rowling was strongly criticized by Native American readers and scholars for her portrayal of Navajo traditions in the 2016 story "History of Magic in North America." Young-adult author Keira Drake was forced to revise her fantasy novel "The Continent" after an online uproar over its portrayal of people of color and Native backgrounds. More recently, author Veronica Roth - of "Divergent" fame - came under fire for her new novel, "Carve the Mark." In addition to being called racist, the book was criticized for its portrayal of chronic pain in its main character.
This potential for offense has some writers scared. Young-adult author Susan Dennard recently hired a fan to review her portrayal of a transgender character in her "Truthwitch" series.
"I was nervous to write a character like this to begin with, because what if I get it wrong? I could do some major damage," Dennard said. But, she added, she felt the voice of the character was an important one that wasn't often portrayed, so she hired a fan, who is a transgender man, just to be sure she did it right.
For authors looking for sensitivity readers beyond their fan base there is the Writing in the Margins database, a resource of about 125 readers created by Justina Ireland, author of the YA books "Vengeance Bound" and "Promise of Shadows." Ireland started the directory last year after hearing other authors at a writing retreat discuss the difficulties in finding people of different backgrounds to read a manuscript and give feedback about such, well, sensitive matters.
One reader for hire in Ireland's database is Dhonielle Clayton, a librarian and writer based in New York. Clayton reviews two manuscripts per month, going line by line to look at diction, dialogue and plot. Clayton says she analyzes the authenticity of the characters and scenes, then points writers to where they can do more research to improve their work.
Clayton, who is black, sees her role as a vital one. "Books for me are supposed to be vehicles for pleasure, they're supposed to be escapist and fun," she says. They're not supposed to be a place where readers "encounter harmful versions" and stereotypes of people like them.
Ireland underscores the value of sensitivity readers - both for authors and for readers. (She was a strong voice behind the push to get Keira Drake to make changes to the advance readers' edition of "The Continent.")
"Even if authors mean well, even if the intention is good, it doesn't change the impact," Ireland said. "It's nice to be that line of defense before it gets to readers, especially since the bulk of people who come to me write for children." Fees for a sensitivity readers generally start at $250 per manuscript.
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Children's book author Kate Messner has used sensitivity readers for many of her books, some of which deal with poverty, abuse and race.
"I wouldn't dream of sending those books out into the world without getting help to make sure I'm representing those issues in a way that's realistic and sensitive," she said. Messner, whose works include "The Seventh Wish" and "All the Answers," asks a reader for feedback on whether the experience she's written reads realistically or whether anything stands out as problematic.
Her upcoming book, tentatively called "Breakout," focuses on three girls coping with a prison escape in their small town. Messner has enlisted multiple sensitivity readers to help her work out the class and race issues affecting the town and her characters. A reader has called out when her language doesn't ring true, and has questioned when her character does something that seems inauthentic and provides her perspective on why that is. Messner said it's been encouraging to hear when she's gotten something correct, but also she's had to make adjustments.
Lee & Low Books has a companywide policy to use sensitivity readers. Stacy Whitman, publisher and editorial director of Lee & Low's middle-grade imprint Tu Books, said she will even request a sensitivity reader before she chooses to acquire a book to publish.
"It's important for authors to consider expert reader feedback and figure out how to solve the problems they point out," Whitman said. "Everyone's goal is a better book, and better representation contributes to that."
Still, some sensitivity readers feel they are in part contributing to the problem. Clayton said she's unsettled by the idea that she's being paid for her expertise, but also is helping white authors write black characters for books from which they reap profit and praise.
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"It feels like I'm supplying the seeds and the gems and the jewels from our culture, and it creates cultural thievery," Clayton said. "Why am I going to give you all of those little things that make my culture so interesting so you can go and use it and you don't understand it?"
Concerns about cultural appropriation have been around for years - think of William Styron writing as the slave Nat Turner in 1967. ("That's what we're paid to do, isn't it?" Lionel Shriver said in a controversial speech last year. "Step into other people's shoes, and try on their hats.")
But sensitivity readers introduce a new twist in the debate. On the one hand they help a writer create the experience of a marginalized group more authentically. On the other, they legitimize the mimicking of marginalized voices by non-marginalized writers.
Why not just publish more books by black people, Latinos, Native Americans and others? some ask.
Despite the efforts of groups like We Need Diverse Books, "it's more likely that a publishing house will publish a book about an African-American girl by a white woman versus one written by a black woman like me," Clayton says.
"So until publishing is equitable and people are still writing cross-culturally," Clayton points out, "sensitivity reading is going to be another layer of what's necessary in order to make sure that representation is good."
Model Jeremy 'Hot Felon' Meeks poses backstage for the Moncler Grenoble collection during New York Fashion Week on February 14, 2017, in New York City. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP / Getty Images)
Philipp Plein, reveling in his disruptor status and usually a mainstay in Milan, didn't disappoint. Social media viral sensation Jeremy Meeks, the "hot felon," was on his runway alongside rappers, an army of people dressed as Statues of Liberty, and Times Square's Naked Cowboy.
The German designer promised and delivered something different, with a hashtag rallying cry of his very own launched days in advance on Instagram: "Let's Make NYFW Great Again."
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Did his giant black and silver puffer coats and luxe sportwear deliver? It was a tad hard to see the clothes from the cheap seats, but Plein the businessman is making a retail push into the U.S. market, coveting consumers here as his discerning next step.
"This dream came true for me tonight," Plein said, making the unusual move of addressing the crowd before the show after Nas performed to help get everyone all warmed up. "Even my girlfriend is here and she didn't have a seat."
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The point?
"It's all about having fun," the affable Plein told the horde.
And you know what? It kinda was.
Madonna was accompanied by photographer Steven Klein and joined in the crowd by Kylie Jenner, Tiffany Trump (Secret Service in tow) and Paris Hilton. The handsome, blue-eyed California con Meeks, with the teardrop tattoo on his face, was joined on the meandering runway by rapper Desiigner and graffiti artist Alec Monopoly, who goes anonymous by covering his face with a bandanna.
So why New York?
"I killed Milan. I did the biggest shows ever in Milan. There was nobody who could really compete with us anymore, so the next step was to come over to New York. America is one of the biggest economies in the world. We're coming to America, and the people that ask all these questions tonight, 'Who the (bleep) is Philipp Plein?' You know, I'm here to answer the question," Plein said in an interview backstage before the show. "It will take a while before they get to know us, but that's why we're here."
Meeks' searing blue eyes and perfect cheekbones lit up the runway after doing the same on the internet in 2014, after his arrest for gun possession in a gang sweep in Stockton, California. Police there posted his mugshot on Facebook and women went wild. He had a record for auto theft and has served time in both state and federal prisons, so why put him in a fashion show?
"We're all bad boys," Plein said. "I'm a bad boy."
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The Associated Press
The clock tower perched above Hamburg's main train station was tolling midnight when I boarded the Borealis sleeper train in the autumn of 2014.
During daylight hours, I had made the trip from Copenhagen - part ferry, part train - across the Baltic Sea, and now I was bound for Amsterdam. Had I known that, I would be among the last passengers to make this nocturnal journey across the peat bogs and swamp forests of the eastern Netherlands, I might have splurged on a bottle of champagne in the bar car. The route was cut before Christmas.
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A couple of days later, after sipping a sparkling water in the sleek first-class lounge (free with my ticket) at Amsterdam Central Station, I boarded the Pollux sleeper train bound for Innsbruck, Austria. My compact compartment was tidy and comfortable with a respectably fluffy pillow and gleaming chrome sink. As I looked forward to unwinding with a Swedish crime novel and a mini bottle of Riesling in the bar car, I heard a knock at my compartment door. This was, in itself, marginally thrilling: having grown up romanticizing the old-fashioned glamour of European train travel, the knock held the promise of Agatha Christie-esque intrigue. A slight young man in a conductor's uniform explained in flawless English that a mix-up had occurred: I would unfortunately have to move cabins. He offered me two small, complimentary bottles of red wine - the second an extra one to thank me for my patience.
"Do you have white?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound ungrateful.
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He shook his head. "They cut the restaurant car in March."
But less than an hour later, as we sped toward the famed spires of Cologne, he knocked on the door of my new compartment proffering a sheepish smile and a small bottle of champagne.
"Take it," he said, "What are they going to do to me? They've already given me the sack."
Austrian Railways' new Nightjet service began in December with 15 routes. It offers new beds for sleeping car passengers. (OBB-Austrian Railways)
His name was Marc, he was 23 years old, and his favorite route was the Lupus from Munich to Rome - among a slew of City Night Line routes slated to be cut, he lamented. According to Marc, the impending layoffs explained why his colleagues had, among other more indelicate acts of rebellion, placed stickers around the train that read "Der Nachtzug darf nicht sterben!" ("The night train must not die!")
This news surprised me. In the preceding few years, I'd crisscrossed the continent on the Pegasus from Amsterdam to Zurich, the Metropol from Prague to Budapest and the Lusitania from Lisbon to Madrid. Carriages were usually packed, a fact confirmed by Marc. "People love taking the night train," he sighed.
Since that mostly nocturnal adventure from Copenhagen to Verona, Italy, Internet searches for "night trains" have read like obituary pages. The Perseus, a City Night Line sleeper from Paris to Berlin, made its final voyage in December 2014. The Kopernikus from Amsterdam to Prague? After the Amsterdam-Cologne section was slashed that same month, the route met its final demise two years later. Other night train services have been reduced or shortened: Since December, passengers who bunk down on the Balkan Express, launched in 1971 to run overnight from Istanbul to Belgrade, Serbia, must disembark in Sofia, Bulgaria. In late 2015, when Deutsche Bahn announced that it would terminate remaining City Night Line routes by the end of the following year, the endangered night train seemed to be on the verge of extinction.
Austrian Railways' Nightjet service also offers compartments with updated seats. (OBB-Austrian Railways)
These cuts have not gone unnoticed by the public. The slow death of the night train has sparked dissent on social media and in cities across Europe, with protesters holding pajama party-style protests at train stations. Led by the Berlin-based coalition Back on Track, night-train loyalists contend that service cuts contradict agreements forged at the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris, where delegates made a well-publicized journey on the "Train to Paris" to promote sustainable transport. Because the German government owns Deutsche Bahn, online petitions target not only the train company but also Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt.
According to an emailed statement from Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman Susanne Schulz, "Ridership figures are not the main problem." Yet the approximately 1.3 million nighttime riders per year represent only about 1 percent of daytime riders, meaning that DB considers the "niche business" of night train services a money pit, with high operating costs, a 40-year-old fleet of sleeping cars and annual double-digit losses that translate into tens of millions of euros. That's despite "numerous attempts," Schulz explained, "to reform the night-train services in order to save them."
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Austrian Railways Nightjet service includes new beds for the Couchette coach (family compartment) with redesigned bathrooms, state-of-the-art technology and an extensive breakfast menu for sleeping car passengers. (OBB-Austrian Railways)
In October, OBB-Austrian Railways offered solace to train enthusiasts by announcing that it would refurbish the City Night Line fleet and relaunch six of its discontinued routes, including Hamburg to Zurich and Munich to Venice. Nightjet kicked off in December, with 15 routes, eight of which allow vehicles and motorbikes on the train.
OBB's rebranding effort, according to spokesman Michael Braun, includes new beds, redesigned bathrooms, state-of-the-art technology and an extensive breakfast menu for sleeping-car passengers. (In the budget-friendly couchette cars, you'll wake up to coffee and Vienna rolls with butter.) The Nightjet's carbon footprint will be admirably light. "OBB trains run with 93 percent renewable energy, mostly produced by our own reservoir power stations in the Alps," Braun said in an email.
Despite industry-wide financial pressures that Deutsche Bahn's Schulz partly attributes to increasing competition from budget airlines, the Nightjet offers evidence that the irresistible allure of the night train endures. Perhaps we can blame the cinema: Picture the sultry rendezvous in "Casino Royale" between James Bond and Vesper Lynd, sipping red wine in the dining car of the Pendolino sleeper as the passing countryside plunges into darkness. ("How was your lamb?" she asks. "Skewered," Bond says.) How would those smoldering glances play out against bright orange Easyjet seats, as flight attendants upsold perfume and Cadbury gift boxes? And if Easyjet offered lamb, would even James Bond dare to order it?
Last year, I found myself in Spanish Basque country, needing to get to Paris. I booked a couchette on an SNCF Intercite de Nuit train, hopping on at Hendaye near the French border. My compartment felt aged and worn, as if it had last been updated around the time Edith Piaf made her final recording. But the linens were fresh, I had a decent night's sleep and it was cheaper and easier than hustling to Bordeaux to catch a budget flight.
At dawn, the conductor brought me a brioche and a cafe au lait in a paper cup, which I sipped as the Loire Valley flew by. Among widespread cuts to night train services this year, SNCF, France's state-owned railway, will run its last sleeper on the Paris-to-Hendaye route in July. Yet as we pulled into the 19th-century Gare d'Austerlitz, smack on the Left Bank of the Seine, I remained blissfully unaware that this could be my last chance to wake up on a train slowly rolling into Paris.
Chandler is a Minneapolis-based freelancer.
David Zverow, a consultant for the Islamic Circle of North America Relief in Chicago, talks about the newly opened refugee resource center on West Devon Avenue on Feb. 14, 2017, in the West Ridge neighborhood. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
A Muslim family services organization is opening a food pantry and case management office in the heart of the bustling Devon Avenue business corridor as immigrant families in the tightknit ethnic patchwork of West Rogers Park cope with anxiety over President Donald Trump's recent immigration travel ban and a six-state sweep of unauthorized residents.
In a storefront nestled between a bank branch and a cellphone store, officials with ICNA Relief Chicago are planning a grand opening at 2 p.m. Saturday, when elected officials, community shareholders, mosque leaders and prospective clients can get their first look at the new center aimed at providing donated groceries and support services to vulnerable refugees, as well as indigent American citizens.
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And the services are desperately needed, they say. Before the center even officially opened its doors, staff handed out food to 130 families.
The new center at 2809 W. Devon Ave. represents the first local expansion of ICNA Relief, a national nonprofit social service, since it opened its Midwest office in Glendale Heights about five years ago, according to its Midwest director, Saima Azfar.
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"Our mission is to work with refugees and immigrants mostly, however we do serve anybody who comes through the door," said David Zverow, a volunteer consultant with ICNA.
For three to five days a week, ICNA staffers and volunteers will help feed families, offer case management, translation and counseling services, as well as partner with other social service organizations in the area.
While the suburban office helps a large number of Indian and Pakistani families that settled in the area, ICNA's city office is expected to assist a number of refugee families, including those from Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Myanmar living in and around Rogers Park and unable to travel to its main office in DuPage County.
Though planning for the center had been in the works for over a year, its opening comes at a particularly precarious time for Muslim refugees living in West Rogers Park. Fear among the community's South Asian and Arab residents has heightened following Trump's recent ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim nations, as well as a series of federal deportation sweeps that recently netted 235 arrests across six states. Of the 235, 48 were from the Chicago area, 45 were convicted criminals and 20 were previously deported.
Last week, business owners told the Tribune that business and foot traffic along usually busy Devon had slackened recently as concern and unease settled over the community, leaving immigrant families fearing they would be caught up in the government sweep, even among families with legal status.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Chicago called the sweeps, which were the first of Trump's administration, routine.
Azfar said she's received numerous calls in recent weeks expressing not only concern about how the new rules would affect immigrant families, but also about the anguish children were going through.
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"When the ban came, I've received a lot of calls from Iraqi refugee families and some Somalis who wanted to understand what was going on and how it was going to affect them," she said.
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"But now we're receiving some calls that undocumented kids are stressed out basically," she said, adding that there's a fear that the government will deport family members and break up their homes.
Zverow, a former Oak Park resident who recently moved to Rogers Park and has previously worked at other social service agencies, echoed some of Azfar's comments.
"When I ask the staff and the volunteers how are you feeling about this (the current situation), folks are scared," he said.
"People are saying, 'We hope this is a phase.' One lady said this is bringing out the best and worst in people. She said some people are being especially courteous and respectful, making a point of showing that they are accepting other people. (For) other people, this is bringing out some hostility that I don't think people felt politically correct exhibiting before," he said.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy
Chicago police Officer Emily Hock speaks about filing a lawsuit against the city and an Independent Police Review Authority investigator Feb. 14, 2017. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Two years into a bitter child custody battle, Chicago police Officer Emily Hock said she became fearful after her son's father seemed to have an uncanny knowledge of her daily work schedule.
Hock said she had her personal car swept for GPS trackers and even asked for an investigation to be opened into who was accessing her work records after her former boyfriend, Kristopher Weiss, used Chicago police jargon to refer to obscure internal reports.
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But Hock, who filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, said she was stunned in October to uncover emails pointing to the alleged source of Weiss' inside information an investigator with the civilian agency charged with investigating Chicago police misconduct.
Hock said the emails showed the investigator giving Weiss tips on how to make his complaints to police and the Independent Police Review Authority seem more substantial.
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"I was completely almost taken off my feet," Hock, an eight-year department veteran now on medical leave, said in an interview in her lawyer's offices. "I couldn't believe that an agency that has this much power and this much access to police officers' confidential records ... was providing them to somebody who I was scared for my life from."
Hock's lawsuit against an IPRA investigator and the city of Chicago alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, privacy violations and failure by the city to properly supervise the investigator.
An IPRA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to phone calls and an email Tuesday and the investigator could not be reached for comment.
Hock's lawsuit marks the second in seven months in which a Chicago police officer alleged that IPRA leaked internal records. Police Lt. Glenn Evans, acquitted of criminal charges that he shoved his service gun down a suspect's throat despite evidence of the suspect's DNA on his gun, sued IPRA last year in federal court, alleging that a disgruntled investigator disclosed the results of the DNA tests to a reporter.
Hock's lawsuit alleged that the investigator was involved in a romantic relationship with Weiss at the time. Weiss, 45, died last August after he was punched while walking home from a Bridgeport bar and struck his head on the concrete, prosecutors have said.
Cook County prosecutors charged Phillip Levato with involuntary manslaughter in Weiss' death last September. His attorney, Ralph Mezyk, said Tuesday that Weiss was the aggressor and had a history of violence.
The emails in Weiss' AOL account from 2013 to 2014 came to light after he was killed. A probate court judge ordered AOL to turn over the passwords to the account as Hock searched for assets that could go to their son, now 6.
"I promised research ... here you go," the investigator allegedly wrote Weiss, according to the lawsuit. "She is assigned to a school car. ... The sheets show she starts at 730."
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"WOW! Thanks!" Weiss allegedly responded, according to the lawsuit. "That might be really helpful. I certainly do appreciate it."
Court records show that Weiss was indicted in 2015 on two felony counts of stalking Hock, but he was acquitted of all charges at a bench trial last year.
The IPRA investigator also mailed Weiss police documents detailing emergency calls and advised him "how to file frivolous complaints to harm Hock's career," according to the lawsuit.
"It's a complete invasion of privacy, and it's devastating what it's done to my life, my career and kids," Hock said.
As part of the lawsuit, Hock's attorney, Thomas Needham, plans to subpoena for any other email correspondence.
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A 25-year-old man was fatally shot early on Feb. 15, 2017, while he was driving in the southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive, police said. (Elvia Malagon / Chicago Tribune)
Updated 6:41 a.m. Feb. 16, 2017 Six people, including a 2-year-old boy and his uncle, have been killed and at least six other people were wounded in shootings across the city during an 18-hour period from Tuesday morning to Wednesday.
The man, the 2-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman were shot about 1:30 p.m. in an alley between the 2300 blocks of South Kenneth Avenue and South Kostner Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood.
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In the most recent homicide, a 25-year-old man was shot to death about 3:45 a.m. Wednesday while he was driving on Lake Shore Drive, police said.
The man, who was driving a silver Lexus, was heading south in the 2300 block of North Lake Shore Drive near Fullerton Avenue when another car pulled up next to him and opened fire, striking him multiple times. The 25-year-old crashed into the center median. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
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Two other people who were in Lexus were not injured.
Early Wednesday, police blocked off the southbound lanes from Belmont Avenue to Chicago Avenue as officers used flashlights to search for evidence on the road. Multiple police cars and an ambulance surrounded a silver sedan, which was stopped on the left shoulder. The stretch of Lake Shore Drive where the shooting took place is sandwiched by the popular North Avenue Beach and Lincoln Park Zoo.
Earlier Tuesday and minutes after the triple shooting, police were sent to the 3400 block of West Walnut Street and North Homan Avenue, where Eddie Wade, 62, was fatally shot. Wade suffered multiple gunshot wounds about 2:40 p.m. and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
About 11:55 a.m., a 23-year-old man was fatally shot in the 2000 block of East 71st Street in the South Shore neighborhood, according to police. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest and later pronounced dead.
The man went into a store on 71st Street and was followed inside by another person, who fired shots at the man, killing him, said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a police spokesman.
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The man was identified as James Johnson, 23, of the 6300 block of South Keating Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead at 12:38 p.m.
About 9:30 a.m., an 18-year-old man was fatally shot in the chest in 4100 block of West 18th Street, according to police. He was dead on arrival at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police.
The man was a passenger in a car when another vehicle pulled up and someone fired shots, hitting the man, according to police. The driver of the car then drove to Mount Sinai instead of calling an ambulance. The 18-year-old was pronounced dead at 9:53 a.m., according to the medical examiner's office.
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He was identified as Malike Ellis of the 2200 block of South Kirkland Avenue, the office stated.
Police initially said the man was 30 years old, but later corrected that information.
In other shootings:
An 18-year-old man was shot in the left leg about 10 p.m. while he was in the 4900 block of West Hubbard Street in the South Austin neighborhood, police said. He took himself to West Suburban Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.
About 7:15 p.m., a 22-year-old man was wounded in a drive-by shooting in the Hermosa neighborhood, police said. He was walking in the 1600 block of North Keeler Avenue when someone in a dark-colored sedan opened fire, striking him in the lower back and buttocks. He took himself to Norwegian American Hospital, and his condition was later stabilized at Stroger Hospital.
In the South Austin neighborhood, a 29-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were shot about 4:15 p.m. in the 200 block of South Laramie Avenue, according to police. The man was leaving a business when another man wearing a mask and armed with a weapon opened fire. The 29-year-old then got out his own gun and returned fire. The masked man left in a silver SUV. The 29-year-old man was shot in the left arm and buttocks, and his condition was stabilized at Stroger Hospital. The woman was grazed on her left hand by a stray bullet, and her condition was stabilized at Loretto Hospital. Police recovered guns at the scene and charges were pending.
Also in the Austin neighborhood, a 28-year-old man was shot about 11:15 a.m. in the 1300 block of North Mayfield Avenue, according to police. The man was shot in the right leg and was treated on the scene by city paramedics, according to police.
This story was updated Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 to include the identity and accurate age of the man shot on 18th Street.
Three of the Marquette Four Lashawn Ezell, 37, Larod Styles, 37, and Charles Johnson, 40 speak after having their convictions vacated in a 1995 double murder in Chicago. The fourth man, Troshawn McCoy, also had his conviction set aside. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
Charles Johnson was driving with his close friend Larod Styles last week when their attorneys called with life-changing news. After more than 20 years, Cook County prosecutors had agreed that new fingerprint evidence cleared them and two others of a 1995 double murder at a Southwest Side used-car dealership.
Tears filled his eyes during the impromptu conference call, Johnson told reporters at a news conference Wednesday, just hours after a Cook County judge officially set aside their convictions. Standing with Johnson, Styles and fellow defendant Lashawn Ezell were about 20 family members and friends, one wearing a T-shirt that read, "After 20 years you finally made it!!"
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"I almost couldn't see. They was like, 'Don't crash now, you've come too far,'" Johnson said. "I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders."
Lawyers for the three men and co-defendant Troshawn McCoy credited the decision to a sweeping change in approach to potential wrongful conviction cases under State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who took over the county's top prosecutor late last year.
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The attorneys met last Monday with Foxx's first assistant, Eric Sussman, a former federal prosecutor who, along with Foxx's chief deputy, former federal prosecutor April Perry, are heading up a review of potential wrongful convictions, said Justin Barker, an attorney for Johnson. Two days later, prosecutors called the defense team to say they were dropping charges in the case, Barker said.
"The dismissal of these cases today illustrates my absolute commitment to ensuring that this office reviews and addresses any credible claim of wrongful conviction or actual innocence," Foxx said in a statement.
On Wednesday, cheers could be heard from family and supporters of the men through windows that separated Judge Domenica Stephenson's courtroom gallery from the courtroom itself as she announced that the convictions were being vacated. The three men in court embraced their lawyers and family members at least two dozen of whom had packed the courtroom after the brief hearing.
"It's finally over!" one family member cried outside court. "No more courtrooms. No more Menard (prison)."
Johnson and Styles were teenagers when they confessed to the December 1995 murders of Yousef Ali and Khalid Ibrahim, the co-owners of Elegant Auto Sales at 75th Street and Western Avenue. Johnson told Chicago police that he and his co-defendants planned to steal some cars from the lot and strip them for parts.
But Johnson's lawyers argued that he had signed the confession only after he was told it was a routine document that would lead to his release. They said, too, that the details in confessions from the men, which formed the bulk of the prosecution's case, did not match.
The convictions began to give way in 2013, when the Illinois Appellate Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Johnson after finding that crucial fingerprint evidence probably would lead to his acquittal if he was tried again. Last year, prosecutors for then-State's Attorney Anita Alvarez threw out Johnson's and Styles' convictions, although they said they planned to retry the two. Both men eventually were freed last fall on $500,000 bail.
Ezell, who had been convicted only of armed robbery, had already completed his 20-year prison sentence.
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McCoy, who has nearly finished serving his 55-year prison sentence, remained behind bars awaiting a hearing on his petition for a new trial.
Foxx, after an evaluation of the case, decided not to retry the men.
The key piece of evidence, according to Johnson's lawyers, was a fingerprint lifted from the adhesive side of a "92" window sticker peeled from a stolen vehicle and discarded in the lot that matched a convicted drug dealer who lived just a block from where the vehicle was ditched. What's more, after the trial, an eyewitness who was in the office at the time of the slayings told an investigator for the men that the two co-owners had been receiving threatening phone calls over a car sold to a known drug dealer.
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The window stickers were discovered in evidence vaults by a prosecutor after a lengthy legal battle, the defense team said. Steven Drizin, of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, said the fingerprints were found on the sticky side of the decal only seven years ago, exonerating Johnson more than a decade after he had faced the death penalty.
"This is a powerful testament to some of the reasons why we abolished the death penalty here in Illinois," Drizin told reporters Wednesday.
Johnson and his defense team credited Johnson's mother, Theresa, with tirelessly searching for a lawyer to take her son's case, eventually catching Drizin's attention.
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"She was the force behind what you see today," Barker said.
"I went everywhere trying to seek help for my son, and everybody would just close the door practically in my face," Theresa Johnson told reporters. "My heart is just so full right now. I just thank God for everything."
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A man walked into a Citibank branch Wednesday afternoon and robbed the bank before fleeing on Michigan Avenue, the FBI said.
The robbery happened shortly before 12:30 p.m. at a bank located at 100 S. Michigan Ave. The robber threatened a weapon, according to preliminary reports.
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The robber was described as black, about 27 years old and 5 feet 9 inches tall with a thin mustache. He was carrying a messenger bag with a white over-the-shoulder strap, the FBI said.
The man fled south on Michigan Avenue.
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Anyone with information about the robbery should call the FBI Chicago office at 312-421-6700.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office and Illinois Appellate Prosecutors Office announced at a news conference Wednesday that a grand jury handed down an indictment against former Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd. (Emily Coleman / Lake County News-Sun) (Chicago Tribune)
Former Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd has been indicted on five felony counts of perjury, with authorities alleging he falsely claimed to have witnessed signatures on his election nominating petitions.
The grand jury indictment follows a yearlong investigation by Lake County sheriff's detectives and the Office of Professional Standards, authorities said in a news release Wednesday. A Lake County judge has issued a $150,000 arrest warrant for Rudd, the release said.
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"I have nothing to say until I talk to my lawyer," Rudd told the Lake County News-Sun on Wednesday.
The indictment accuses Rudd of falsely attesting that he personally gathered voter signatures on five pages of his nominating petitions for his failed 2016 re-election bid. The law requires that the person who circulates a nominating petition sign each page to attest that the signatures were witnessed and are valid. Because the pages Rudd signed were formally notarized, he was considered to be under oath at the time, according to the indictment.
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Rudd, 70, a Democrat in a county where elected officials have historically trended Republican, served one term as coroner starting in 2012. He sought re-election last year, but voluntarily withdrew his nominating petitions for the primary election after the documents were challenged. In addition to the issue cited in the new indictment, those who challenged Rudd's petitions also challenged the validity of some signatures.
Rudd said at the time that he might have made a clerical error in his petitions but called the effort to oust him from the ballot "a political witch hunt."
Former Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd, shown Aug. 18, 2016, has been indicted on five felony counts of perjury following an investigation by Lake County sheriff's detectives and the Office of Professional Standards, a news release said. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
"I did make a mistake, and the question is what was the intent," Rudd told the News-Sun last year. "Was it to hide something? No. What it was ... was a clerical error because I did not know the election code law. Nobody's perfect. If you're saying that an individual who holds this office must not have ever made an error in their life, there would be nobody who could hold this office."
After withdrawing his petitions, Rudd then sought to run as an independent candidate, but the courts ruled that he could not because he had already filed to run as a Democrat. After the state Supreme Court declined to hear his case, he mounted an unsuccessful bid as a write-in candidate.
Republican Howard Cooper ultimately won the election to replace Rudd.
Ross Secler, an attorney who represented Rudd in his bid to get on the November ballot, declined to comment on the particulars of Rudd's criminal case.
But Secler called the indictment against Rudd "pretty ridiculous. It seems really vindictive."
During his term in office, Rudd often had a difficult relationship with law enforcement officials, particularly in regard to high-profile cases such as that of Melissa Calusinski, the day care worker convicted of murder of a boy in a her care, and the shooting death of Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz.
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Rudd was the first public official to acknowledge openly that Gliniewicz might have shot himself a theory authorities eventually came to conclude was correct after outwardly casting his death as a homicide by suspects he was chasing.
Rudd appeared to have ruffled feathers of investigators, but others lauded the coroner, saying he helped prevent a potential cover-up of the circumstances of Gliniewicz's death.
In the Calusinski case, Rudd reclassified the boy's death from homicide to undetermined. When Rudd testified last year in a hearing relating to Calusinski's bid for a new trial, he was grilled by prosecutors, who suggested he was improperly advocating for Calusinski's conviction to be overturned.
When asked if Rudd's history of disagreements raises suspicion of any politically motivated agendas in this case, Secler said, "Given what he did in the office and how they came after him, I would let you decide that conclusion."
Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim said the investigation began after someone submitted a complaint to his office.
"It's the job of the state's attorney to represent the coroner, so, to avoid any issue, we immediately asked a special prosecutors to look into it," Nerheim said.
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Rudd's lawyer in the perjury case, Jed Stone, said he expects his client to turn himself in Thursday.
Stone called Rudd "an American hero" who has stood up to the powerful. Stone said that while the investigation didn't come as a surprise to his client, the indictment did.
"It's way too early to comment on the evidence in this case. What I can say with virtual certainty is that Lake County has made itself the epicenter for wrongful convictions, prosecutorial misconduct and police misconduct, and Dr. Rudd was one of the very few who stood up to that misconduct and said, 'Not on my watch.' I'm sure that there were consequences for that kind of bravery."
At a news conference Wednesday evening to announce the charges, Sgt. Christopher Covelli of the Lake County sheriff's office said the indictments had nothing to do with Rudd's handling of the Gliniewicz or Calusinski cases, and the sheriff's office brought in a special prosecutor to avoid appearances of payback or politics.
"Today has absolutely nothing to do with anything political whatsoever," he said. "It has to do with an investigation that was brought forward to law enforcement, and that is precisely why a special prosecutor was brought in."
Special Prosecutor Brian Towne said he is "not a political individual" and has "no ties to Lake County politics good, bad or otherwise."
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While the indictment handed down Wednesday focused on whether Rudd circulated the petitions that he signed, Undersheriff Raymond Rose said the investigation is ongoing. The investigation could lead to charges against others.
Rose said it appears from the investigation that some of Rudd's petition papers contained signatures for people who had been dead more than 10 years. In other cases, Rose said, signatures were listed for people who later said they never signed the petitions. Those issues are not addressed in the indictment, however.
Towne said the perjury occurred when the petitions were notarized Nov. 21, 2015, and while Rudd later withdrew the petitions, Towne said that has "no legal relevance" to whether perjury was committed.
Towne noted that candidates are allowed to have others circulate petitions on their behalf. But it's the person who solicits and witnesses the signatures, not the candidate, who must sign the petitions.
"We live in an era now where elections are called into strict scrutiny," Towne said. "... We need to make sure that the petitions that are being circulated are done so in a true and accurate fashion. We need to ensure the integrity of the process, and this prosecution I believe will allow the justice system to consider all of the factors that were looked into and investigated."
The class 3 felony perjury charges carry a possible sentence of two to five years in prison and also are probational.
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Tony Briscoe is a Tribune reporter; Emily Coleman and Jim Newton are Lake County News-Sun reporters.
The driver of a silver Lexus was shot to death as he drove on Lake Shore Drive near Fullerton Avenue early Wednesday.
Jorge Navarro, 25, was heading south around 3:45 a.m. when another car pulled up and someone opened fire, striking him in the chest, police said.
Navarro crashed into the center median. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Two other people in the car were not hurt.
Police were investigating whether the shooting was gang-related, officials said.
Officers blocked off the southbound lanes from Belmont Avenue to Chicago Avenue for nearly three hours as officers with flashlights searched for evidence. Several squad cars surrounded the Lexus.
About 6:30 a.m., the car was towed away and police reopened the southbound lanes.
The shooting took place along a stretch of the drive between North Avenue Beach and Lincoln Park Zoo.
Justin Bowers, father of Kanari Gentry Bowers, middle, stands silently during a press conference at Stroger Hospital announcing the death of his daughter on Feb. 15, 2017. Kanari, who was shot outside her elementary school, died at 3:38 pm at Stroger Hospital. (Chicago Tribune)
Antwan C. Jones was walking down the street Saturday evening when he spotted three gang rivals selling pot in Black Disciples territory and opened fire from across King Drive, according to police and prosecutors.
As happens too often in Chicago, Jones missed his target and instead wounded 11-year-old Takiya Holmes in the right temple as she sat in a van with her 3-year-old brother, her mother and her aunt in the Parkway Gardens complex, authorities said.
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"Across the street he saw three individuals who he felt did not belong in the area and he chose to get a handgun," police Cmdr. Brendan Deenihan said. "Obviously, we know now that he didn't hit any of them.
"And this poor young girl, this 11-year-old, Takiya, she pulls up in a van. The van couldn't have been there more than a minute and this stray bullet strikes her, causing her death," Deenihan said.
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Activist Andrew Holmes says community pressure led to the arrest of Antwan Jones, who is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 11-year-old Takiya Holmes, a relative of Andrew Holmes. Holmes speaks at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on Feb. 15, 2017. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
Takiya was rushed to Comer Children's Hospital a mile and a half to the north, where she was taken off life support Tuesday morning. She was one of three children shot in Chicago in three days.
In bond court Wednesday afternoon, Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered that Jones, wearing a maroon jacket with a faux fur hood, be held without bond on a first-degree murder charge.
Jones was charged early Wednesday after police examined video that showed several people near the shooting. Gang investigators helped detectives identify witnesses who cooperated with authorities and identified Jones as the gunman, Deenihan said.
The commander said he believed the witnesses cooperated because an innocent had been killed.
Authorities said Jones surrendered to police but did not make a statement, instead requesting an attorney. Jones has a "lengthy" juvenile record, which police did not detail, and three arrests as an adult.
He was charged last November with two counts of domestic battery and one count of criminal damage to property. An order of protection was issued in the case. Last September, Jones was charged with aggravated assault of a teacher, and in 2015 he was charged with reckless conduct.
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the shooting underscores once again the need for action in Springfield on legislation that will toughen penalties for gun offenders.
"I raised three kids in this city," Johnson said at a news conference at police headquarters. "And for any leader in this city to watch young kids have to suffer because we don't hold people accountable is ridiculous.
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Naikeeia Williams gathers with other family members at a vigil Feb. 14, 2017, for her daughter Takiya Holmes, 11, who was shot over the weekend in the 6500 block of South King Drive in Parkway Gardens and died two days later. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
"How many children do we have to lose before the promises that were made by certain legislators are kept?" he asked. "How many?"
About 30 minutes before Takiya was shot, 12-year-old Kanari Gentry-Bowers also was struck in the head by a stray bullet about 4 miles away, outside her elementary school near 57th Street and Winchester Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood.
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Police said she remains in critical condition and on life support at Stroger Hospital.
Tuesday afternoon, 2-year-old Lavontay White Jr. was gunned down while riding in the back seat of a car on the West Side an attack captured on Facebook Live.
The boy's 26-year-old uncle was killed and the uncle's pregnant girlfriend was wounded.
Patsy Holmes, grandmother of Takiya Holmes, talks to the media Feb. 12, 2017, about her granddaughter, who was fighting for her life after being shot in the head the previous day, at Comer Children's Hospital. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
(Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
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SPRINGFIELD After staying away from a controversial Senate budget blueprint for the last month, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday is expected to nod toward the stalled framework as a potential way forward to break state government's unprecedented stalemate.
The Republican governor offered a preview of his third budget speech, which he'll give at noon at the Capitol, during an administration-controlled Facebook Live appearance Tuesday. Rauner said he plans to weigh in on the bipartisan measure that's being crafted in the Senate to try to "get a final deal done."
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The governor also blasted opposition to the effort as conservative groups normally aligned with Republicans and organized labor usually allied with Democrats work to kill the proposal, which calls for massive tax hikes, curbing employee pension benefits and putting in place some of the economic reforms Rauner has long called for but been unable to achieve.
"There are individuals and special interest groups on both ends of the political spectrum, both ends, who don't want to see any compromise, who don't want to see any grand bargain, who don't want to see a budget deal, and they are sending attacks left and right," said Rauner, who has yet to pass a full-year budget since becoming governor. "But we have got to find compromise. We need to listen to each other, respect each other and come up with some solutions that give us a better future for the long term."
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Rauner's focus on the Senate plan underscores the likelihood that his own budget address is unlikely to offer much in the way of new ideas. He's already said that his proposal will mirror the format that was shot down last year, in which he presented a plan that was at least $3.5 billion in the red and asked the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to work with him toward an agreement or to give him the power to make massive cuts on his own.
That approach is again garnering opposition from Democrats who contend the governor is shirking his constitutional duty to present a balanced budget. Rauner was quick to shrug off the criticism, saying Democrats repeatedly have passed out-of-whack spending plans that helped create the state's money problems.
Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan largely have been cut out of the Senate talks, as lawmakers worry their feud would get in the way of serious negotiations. Both would have to sign off on any plan before it could become law, however, and Republicans who have long been out of power in the Capitol have been hesitant to vote on anything without the governor's approval.
So far, the governor has resisted out of fear that he'll appear as an obstructionist if he raises specific concerns. Rauner said he has since come around to the idea in the hope it can push efforts along.
"I don't want to disrupt anything," Rauner said Tuesday. "I don't want to create any barriers or barricades to getting things done, but hopefully, maybe, if I share some of my views and comments I can help with the process and together we can bring it in for a good place and get a final deal done for the future."
Democrats said it was disingenuous for Rauner to call for compromise now, saying he's purposefully tried to wreak havoc on the state by demanding lawmakers first pass portions of his economic agenda before he'd agree to a budget.
"A lot of people have been hurt college students, single moms, immigrants, those who have special needs, autism and mental illness all because the governor has insisted stubbornly on things that have nothing whatsoever to do with the budget of the state of Illinois," said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie.
But Republicans said it also is up to Democrats to keep an open mind, saying the opposition party has given Rauner's ideas little chance to be truly debated through the legislative process.
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"I think the need to meet halfway is critical in a divided government like we have," said Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington. "If (Democrats) are unwilling to meet the governor halfway, then they ought to take ownership themselves."
Meanwhile, Democrats and their union allies also used the eve of Rauner's budget speech to bash the governor for his handling of his contract negotiations with state workers.
"This governor has been nothing but a disaster," said Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago. "This governor made it plain and clear that he is here for his business community and his business friends. That's not our goal. And if he wants a strike, a strike it will be."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 is in the midst of a strike authorization vote, asking its more than 30,000 state worker members if they are willing to go on strike to resist Rauner's attempts to impose a new contract. Rauner's contract would increase employees' out-of-pocket health care costs and give the state greater freedom to privatize jobs currently performed by unionized workers. AFSCME contends that the contract would cost the average worker $10,000.
"That might not be much to someone who can spend $50 million and put it in their political PAC, or someone that makes over $184 million a year, but to these people and the people from our communities and the people of the state of Illinois, $10,000 is a lot of money, Gov. Rauner," said Sen. Omar Aquino, D-Chicago, referring to Rauner's contribution late last year to his 2018 re-election campaign account.
Geiger reported from Chicago.
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SPRINGFIELD Gov. Bruce Rauner's lawyers have filed formal opposition to Attorney General Lisa Madigan's request that a Downstate judge lift an order that's allowed state employees to be paid despite the lack of a budget, arguing her legal move is aimed at creating an "artificial emergency."
The administration wants the court order to remain in place, saying the attorney general's contention that the state does not have the authority to cut paychecks without a budget in place ignores numerous other legal avenues that have kept salaries flowing during the record-long impasse.
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Rauner's legal team points to requirements under federal law that the state pay workers, numerous federal court consent decrees that require the state to provide services such as child welfare programs, and various laws passed by the legislature that require checks for certain employees such as lawmakers to go out regardless of whether the state has a budget. The governor's lawyers also say the state has a duty to pay employees who protect the health and safety of Illinois residents, such as police officers and corrections workers.
The filing comes ahead of a hearing scheduled for Thursday. Rauner's office says that even if the court sides with Madigan, the attorney general should be required to detail "which employees she believes must be deprived of a paycheck and which services she believes should no longer be provided to the people of this state."
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Last month, Madigan went to court seeking to undo a July 2015 ruling from St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Robert LeChien that said the state must pay workers even without a full spending plan, saying the decision "removed any imperative" for Rauner and Democratic lawmakers to cut a budget deal.
That ruling came in response to a case brought by 13 unions representing state employees who argued failing to pay workers in full was a violation of their collective bargaining agreements. It contradicted an earlier ruling from a Cook County judge in which Madigan argued that state workers should not be paid beyond the federal $7.25-per-hour federal minimum wage. At the time, Madigan said the state should comply with federal labor laws during the impasse and did not have the authority to spend beyond that without a budget in place.
Now Madigan argues that a March 2016 Illinois Supreme Court ruling rejected the idea that withholding pay would violate employee contracts, saying collective bargaining agreements are subject to funding from the legislature.
The Rauner administration raised questions about the timing of Madigan's move in its court filing Tuesday, saying she could have gone to court several months ago if she felt it was that important.
"Instead, she waited. If there was no emergency in March 2016, there is no reason for the attorney general to ask this court to act precipitously today," Rauner's lawyers argue.
Madigan spokeswoman Maura Possley said Rauner "is asking the court to relieve him of his responsibility to ever sign a budget covering the state employee payroll."
"The governor should do his job instead of asking the court to do it for him," she added.
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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. Subscribe here.
Topspin
Gov. Bruce Rauner's more frequent use of Facebook Live as a communication tool to go around the media also carries some risks, like comments that can be picked up by a hot microphone before the show begins.
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On Tuesday, when some technical problems cropped up prior to putting the feed on the governor's Facebook page, a hot mic on the governor's state website revealed that Rauner added a "Happy Valentine's Day" to his public remarks after an aide told him the greeting would make him more human.
The setup: Rauner complimented the attire of an off-camera female aide, saying, "You've got that good red dress going. It's a good very "
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The aide responded that it was "a day of love," and lamented that her boyfriend had moved to Chicago and that it would be "just me and my dog tonight."
"Are you going to wish everyone Happy Valentine's Day?" the aide asked Rauner. The governor replied, "I wasn't, but now maybe I will."
"You don't have to but," the aide said before Rauner cut her off, adding, "I think it's a good idea."
"It's humanizing," the aide responded as Rauner laughed.
The staff worked on solving technical problems over using a captioning feature, an effort that delayed the appearance's start time. Rauner questioned if the feature's use was required. "What, we violate the law if" it's not used? Rauner asked.
Noting the delay had reached more than five minutes, occasionally looking at his watch, the governor told his aides, "They're probably chanting and pounding their beer cups saying, 'Where is he? What's going on?' "
After posing for some still photos behind his desk, and with the show yet to start, Rauner told his staff, "The switchboard is lighting up with angry consumers."
Rauner then went on to deliver his Facebook Live address and answer administration-selected questions, speaking for more than 36 minutes. (Rick Pearson)
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What's on tap
*Mayor Rahm Emanuel's all-out political assault on the governor continues with a morning appearance at a city childcare center "to highlight the effects of the state's budget impasse," according to the mayor's office. In the evening, the mayor will speak at a firefighters' graduation ceremony.
*Gov. Rauner will give his annual budget address at noon from the Illinois House. Both the House and Senate have several committee hearings scheduled.
*Three City Council committees are set to meet, including one that could hear proposed changes to Chicago's Airbnb rules.
From the notebook
*Investigate Team Trump? Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday he wants an independent commission to probe dealings with Russia by President Donald Trumps administration. Talking about former national security adviser Michael Flynns resignation, Durbin sent out a tweet Tuesday: The only thing Flynns resignation proves is the need for an independent investigation of the Trump camps dealings with Russia. Now. Speaking later to reporters, Durbin said he didnt expect Republican lawmakers to push for a probe, and if a congressional committee took a look, lawmakers would slow walk it. He singled out the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and Flynns resignation after misleading White House officials about phone calls from late last year, before Trump took office, with the Russian ambassador. Talking about Flynn, Durbin said it was hard to imagine he was acting alone in his decision to communicate with Russias ambassador and hard to imagine there werent previous communications between them. (Katherine Skiba) *Gift for Gorsuch: Durbin said Tuesday he gave a gift a legal one, he noted to the visiting Neil Gorsuch, the appellate judge President Donald Trump has nominated to the Supreme Court. Durbin said the gift was a biography, Taming the Storm, which tells the story of federal Judge Frank Johnson, who was behind landmark civil rights rulings that helped end segregation and the disenfranchisement of Southern blacks. Durbin praised Johnson for fighting for the civil rights of marchers in Selma, Ala. The senator declined to say whether he will vote to confirm Gorsuch, a judge for the Denver-based 10th Circuit and the sixth high court nominee Durbin said he has considered. (Katherine Skiba) *Rauner on his newest deputy: During his Facebook appearance, Rauner touched on his decision to hire former Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger and a group of her former staff members. Munger lost her election bid in November, and Rauner recently named her a deputy governor with a salary of about $135,000. The governor called Munger a superstar and said the former Helene Curtis executive knows finances and budgets, while noting her staff gained years of experience working under popular GOP Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who died in 2014. Theyre adding a lot of value, Rauner said. (Monique Garcia)
*What's new is old? Gov. Rauner has said the budget he delivers Wednesday will resemble the same outline he presented to lawmakers last year. Other elements might seem familiar too. On Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools sued the state, saying the way Illinois pays for education is unfair to the city's students. Last year, Rauner had asked that lawmakers approve a "clean, no games" education budget and address more fundamental school funding changes later. Among the governor's critics was CPS CEO Forrest Claypool, whose statement to reporters from a year ago echoes Tuesday's lawsuit: "Today he made it clear that he was going to do nothing to change the fundamental inequity in school funding throughout the state of Illinois. He proposed nothing additional or new for low-income children throughout the state. ... The governor today did not disturb the status quo; he defended a system that is indefensible." The Tribune's February 2016 story also quotes two lawmakers who have since left to pursue other opportunities, including then-state Rep. Jack Franks, who predicted: "I could lie to you and tell you everything's going to be fine, but honestly, I don't see this being resolved until next January." That didn't happen either. What we're writing *Chicago school board sues state, alleges 'separate and unequal' funding. *Unable to pass own spending plan, Rauner to weigh in on Senate version during Wednesday budget speech. *Rauner legal team files response to AG Madigan's state employee paycheck move ahead of Thursday hearing. *Emanuel: Feds will be in town next week to continue Police Department work. *University of Chicago students, faculty clash over Corey Lewandowski event. *Durbin meets with Gorsuch, says he needs to hear more. *Feds arrested 48 in Chicago area in last week's immigration raids. What we're reading *Toddler and man killed, woman wounded in Lawndale shooting. And one of two girls shot over the weekend has died. *Abrupt budget cuts hinder Illinois violence shelters. *Harrison Ford, who has crash-landed a plane and helicopter before and has played a spaceship pilot, has a landing scare at a California airport.
Follow the money
*The Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association reported $14,000 in donations from three companies in the industry.
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*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.
Beyond Chicago
*Trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence, NYT reports.
*Trump knew for "weeks" about Flynn's contacts with Russia.
*Republican-led Senate "highly likely" to probe Flynn's actions, McConnell says.
*Malaysia official: North Korea leader's brother slain at airport.
*Russia has fired a missile that officials say violates a key treaty.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday continued his drumbeat against Gov. Bruce Rauner in the run-up to his state budget address, castigating the Republican for what he said was failing to offer a balanced budget.
The mayor appeared at a Northwest Side child care center an hour before Rauner delivered his third annual budget speech in Springfield. Emanuel used his visit to highlight the fact such facilities are struggling because of funding gaps from the state, and again blasted Rauner for what he said was not working past the stalemate with Democrats. The state hasn't passed a full spending plan since Rauner took office.
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"Our governor, three years as governor, now let me tell you this, just a simple fact: If for two years, what you introduced doesn't work, it's not like the third's going to be the charm here, OK?" Emanuel said. "It's time to hit the reset button, work with the leaders and move our state forward."
In response, Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis released a statement saying the governor has significantly increased early childhood education funding.
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Emanuel's Wednesday comments about the governor were his latest salvo this week in the ongoing public feud between the onetime vacation friends. On Tuesday, the mayor's school board sued Rauner, accusing him and the Illinois State Board of Education of violating the Illinois Civil Rights Act for maintaining what the school system termed "separate and unequal" systems for funding school districts and pension obligations.
The suit notes most CPS students are minorities and poor, while public school students in the rest of the state are "predominantly white."
Emanuel on Tuesday did not answer directly when asked what he hoped to achieve with the lawsuit. The mayor talked at length about what he said was the broken school funding formula that "penalizes poor kids in poor school districts and rewards wealthy kids in wealthy school districts," and accused Rauner of exacerbating the situation by vetoing a bill in December that would have made a $215 million pension payment to CPS.
The mayor also told a group of business leaders Tuesday that Rauner's failure to deliver a balanced budget was "the biggest adverse effect" on the city's economy.
In response to the shootings this week of three children in Chicago, Emanuel also called on Springfield to pass tougher gun laws, contrasting the lack of legislative action on that front with what he said was help from witnesses that aided police in identifying the man who shot 11-year-old Takiya Holmes on Saturday. And he called on judges to be tougher on repeat gun offenders. Antwan Jones, 19, was held without bond Wednesday on a charge of first-degree murder in Takiya's death.
"The residents stood up and acted like a neighborhood, with common values about what's right and wrong, and what's just," he said. "I would like Springfield to stand up like the neighbors. I would like the criminal justice system to stand up like the neighbors and hold people, criminals, accountable, with real sentences equal to the crime."
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
Chicago aldermen on Wednesday recommended tweaking rules to limit access to lists of people renting homes through Airbnb and similar online platforms, a move to bring the city in line with U.S. Supreme Court precedent as it battles two lawsuits challenging its home rental regulations.
Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed changes, people who rent out their homes would no longer have to make customer lists available to city inspectors upon request. Instead, obtaining the lists would require a search warrant or subpoena.
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There would be exceptions. People renting out homes could consent to releasing the lists, or the lists could be demanded when an "exception to a warrant applies," such as when police are hot on the trail of a crime and have legal authority to skip the warrant process under legal precedent.
The proposed list release change would be in keeping with a recent Supreme Court decision on a lawsuit challenging home rental regulations in San Francisco, said Vicki Kraft, an attorney at the city Law Department.
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Shorge Sato, an attorney representing people renting out rooms who are challenging the ordinance in court, told aldermen the change was "a good first step." But he called on the city to drop a provision that allows city inspectors to conduct "on-demand inspections" of homes that are rented out.
The lawsuits, filed last year after the City Council voted to approve the regulations, labeled both the initial list access rules and the on-demand inspection requirement as unconstitutional invasions of privacy. As a result of the legal action, none of the new regulations is being enforced, but Kraft said the city is "vigorously" contesting the suits.
Other changes to the regulations aldermen recommended Wednesday would make it "unlawful" to provide incomplete or false information when applying for a vacation rental license. And instead of requiring applicants to state that they read the regulations and understand them, they would only have to attest to reading a summary.
The changes were advanced by the License Committee, with three aldermen, including one original regulation proponent 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith of Lincoln Park voting against them. Smith said she wanted "to continue to send a strong message that short-term rentals are a disruption to residential communities and deserve the strictest regulation."
The regulations represent Emanuel's attempt to walk a fine line in regulating the burgeoning home-rental industry.
As Emanuel has defended Airbnb, in which his brother, Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel, is an investor, lakefront aldermen have complained about their neighborhoods getting overrun by weekend revelers. And hotel owners have lobbied to make Airbnb and other similar internet outfits subject to the same regulations as hotels.
Emanuel's rules require Airbnb and the other companies to pay a 4 percent surcharge on each rental, with the $2 million the city expects that to generate set aside for homeless services.
The full council will consider the changes next week.
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Twitter @ReporterHal
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's office says he will announce on Wednesday in his budget speech a push to fund 200 more state police cadets to patrol Chicago-area expressways. In 2016, there were 51 shootings on those roadways, compared to 37 in 2015. State police have said that the gun violence in the city is spilling onto the expressways.
It is unclear how Illinois can find the money to pay for the new state troopers in the midst of a budget crisis. Rauner's office would not elaborate.
The violence on the expressways also prompted the Chicago Crime Commission to ask that state and federal officials find the money to purchase a high-tech "expressway video surveillance system."
WASHINGTON Sen. Dick Durbin said he was withholding judgment on Neil Gorsuch after meeting with the Supreme Court nominee Tuesday.
"I'm anxious for a clear statement that he respects the judicial branch of government at this perilous constitutional time," said Durbin, the No. 2 leader for the minority Democrats in the U.S. Senate and a member of the Judiciary Committee that will vet Gorsuch.
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Durbin, of Illinois, said Gorsuch, a federal appellate judge for the Denver-based 10th Circuit, had high praise for Illinois native Merrick Garland, whose nomination by President Barack Obama was scuttled by Republican senators who denied him a confirmation hearing.
Gorsuch called Garland a "model nominee" and said he hopes to be "half the nominee" Garland was, according to Durbin.
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Durbin, addressing reporters after a 40-minute meeting with Gorsuch, said it was "totally unfair and unjust" to derail Garland's nomination and said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the "architect" of that effort "should never forget it."
Durbin supports a hearing and Senate vote for Gorsuch and said 60 votes should be required to seal a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
In his news conference, Durbin also said the nation was facing "uncharted waters." He noted Trump's executive order on travel, his firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama holdover, and Monday's resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn after he misled Trump and Vice President Mike Pence about his talks with the Russian ambassador.
"This, my friends, is serious business," Durbin said.
"That's why this selection of a nominee to fill the deciding seat on the court is historically so important, in the context of what we have seen over the past 25 days of the Trump presidency, you cannot dismiss the possibility that we are going to face some of the most critical constitutional decisions of our time," Durbin said.
Durbin said he was the 43rd senator to meet with Gorsuch since his nomination. He said Gorsuch was thoughtful and had an impressive resume but they disagreed on some high court decisions.
He noted Gorsuch reiterated that recent criticisms of federal judges was "disheartening" and "demoralizing."
Durbin said Gorsuch did not mention Trump by name, but he assumed his comments referred to the president's derision of "so-called judges" and his questioning during his White House campaign of the fairness of a Mexican-American judge in light of his heritage.
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Twitter @KatherineSkiba
Jordan Moore, left, from Englewood and other drummers entertain Black Friday shoppers along State Street in Chicago on Nov. 25, 2016. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Street performers would be virtually silenced along long swaths of Chicago's two primary downtown retail corridors under a measure aldermen advanced Wednesday.
The proposal by Alds. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, and Brian Hopkins, 2nd, would bar street musicians including one-man bands, groups of "bucket boys" and solo saxophone players from playing along the most-traveled sections of Michigan Avenue and State Street unless their performances could not be heard at a distance of 20 feet.
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The restrictions on Michigan would extend from Balbo Avenue near the south end of Grant Park to Cedar Street, north of the Magnificent Mile's famous shopping strip. On State Street, they would extend from Jackson Boulevard at the south end of the Loop to Huron Street near the Whole Foods Market in the Near North neighborhood.
The same restrictions already apply to portions of Jackson in Grant Park when there's a concert at the Petrillo Music Shell, and Randolph Street and Columbus Drive near Millennium Park when there's a concert at the Pritzker Pavilion. Street performers of any kind are banned in Millennium Park and along the toniest four-block stretch of Michigan near Water Tower Place.
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Anyone twice found guilty of the new regulations could have their performance permit revoked for a year.
As it now stands, performers can ply their trade along most of Michigan and State, provided the noise from 100 feet away does not exceed normal conversational levels a standard Reilly said police find hard to enforce.
Typically, officers who enforced the ordinance told performers to move two blocks away, as suggested by the current regulations, he said. The result was "essentially moving the noise from block to block, generating new complaints on each, resulting in more calls for service to 911 and then more utilization of our scarce police resources downtown."
Reilly said that for downtown residents, business owners and workers, resulting noise that would go on for many hours a day represented "a real quality of life issue. ... My residential and business constituents have endured this issue for many years, and they've had enough."
After dozens of downtown business representatives, building owners and residents testified in favor of the changes, with no one speaking out against it, the License Committee voted to recommend approval of the ordinance, and the full City Council will consider it next week.
Ald. David Moore, 17th, voted against the measure, contending that music from "different races, different ethnic groups, different musical equipment" is part of "what makes Chicago, Chicago." He likened choosing to live downtown to picking a home near an airport.
"There are benefits that they get, and there's going to be some negativity there as well," he said.
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GROTON The military tracked a Russian spy ship moving up the East Coast to within 30 miles of the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton Wednesday and some political figures called the maneuver another aggressive action by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We've been in touch with the Navy early this morning," U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, told The Courant. "They are watching it like a hawk. At this point there's not a violation of international waters. Unless that happens you aren't going to see any aggressive push-back, but it's something that has us on high alert."
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Two retired U.S. Naval submarine commanders downplayed the significance of the Russian presence, saying the ship presents little threat to U.S. security. Such Russian intelligence ships routinely patrol areas outside U.S. naval bases and track U.S. and allied forces' naval exercises.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it is tracking the ship's course, but would not disclose the location.
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"The U.S. Coast Guard is aware of a Russian Federation-flagged vessel transiting international waters off the East coast of the United States, as we are of all vessels approaching the U.S. The ship has not entered U.S. territorial waters, which extend 12 miles out to sea," the Coast Guard said in a statement. "We respect freedom of navigation exercised by all nations beyond the territorial sea of a coastal state consistent with international law. The Coast Guard continues to coordinate with federal agency partners to monitor maritime contacts operating in the vicinity of U.S. shores."
The ship began the trip north along the coast from Havana, where it was photographed and is expected to return.
"Residents of Connecticut should know that the arrival of the Victor Leonov, a Russian intelligence ship, 30 miles off of our coast yesterday does not present a direct threat to our physical safety," U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District said. He did say it was troubling given the on-going stories of Russian ties and interference with the Trump administration, among other events.
Lawmakers, noting recent incidents including Russian planes "buzzing" a Navy ship in the Black Sea, point to this ship's actions as yet another aggressive Russian action.
"They are doing this obviously with aggressive intent to say the least. This is part of a pattern of what's going on right now, not just off the East Coast of the U.S., but overseas," Courtney, whose district includes Groton, said on the House Floor Wednesday morning.
In a community that has a long Navy tradition, Courtney said this action does not come as a surprise.
"The local community is loaded with incredible Navy tradition and experience and it's not a great surprise that Putin's resurgence in terms of naval activity is happening," Courtney said. "If you've been down at the base in the last three or four years, it's been a real common topic of conversation."
Old submarine hands, including retired senior commanders, said tended to brush aside political concern about the Russian ship. They said that such vessels are interested primarily in eavesdropping on electronic communications, but lack the technology to crack U.S. encryption.
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"This for show," said retired Vice Admiral N. Ronald Thunman, former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for submarine warfare. "I mean, what could that thing do to us? It doesn't have anything special that I know of today. Of course, I've been out of it for a few years, but don't know of any specialized equipment that they could use to intercept our classified communications."
"The only thing they could get out of the radio circuitry is normal commercial traffic," said Thunman, who spent a career playing cold war, cat-and-mouse with the Russians as a commander of submarines and submarine groups around the world. "Any sort of classified traffic that we have goes by classified circuits and they can't get into it."
Thunman said he finds reports of Russian aircraft buzzing U.S. ships elsewhere in the world more troubling than the presence of a Russians in international waters near New England.
Retired Commander David Candler, who spent his career serving on and commanding submarines based at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, agreed.
"I wouldn't make a mountain out of a mole hill," Candler said. "It's a ship, but it's not the Great White fleet. And it is not uncommon for all kinds of ships from all kinds of places to be all over the world. A military ship up here all by itself is kind of unusual. But these kinds of ships and we do the same thing go all over the place to stay reasonably accustomed to the waters."
The 300-foot, SSV-175 Viktor Leonov, is packed with electronic gear to monitor sonar and communications. It is armed with defense weaponry. For years, it has been patrolling near East Coast U.S. Naval installations and was spotted two years ago near the Navy's Trident ballistic missile submarine base in Kings Bay, GA.
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Other sailors said they are aware of Russian of Soviet-era ships patrolling routes Groton submarines take to and from their base at the mouth of the Thames River. In the late 1970s, the U.S. Navy scrambled to recover gear that had some how been lost by a Groton-based boat, presumably before the Soviet's got it.
In the early 1980s, Thunman, as Deputy chief of Naval Operations, used a search for the sunken liner Titanic as cover for the U.S. Navy's efforts to find the wreckage of two of its submarines that sunk off the New England coast, Thresher and Scorpion. Thunman wanted to locate and photograph the boats without tipping the Soviets to the locations.
"It's been going on for years," said Jeff Walsh, a retired Navy senior chief, who served 22 years aboard attack submarines and works at Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. Walsh said its amusing to people who understand the context. "It's going to keep going on until everyone wants to play nice."
He said he saw Facebook posts from neighbors wondering whether if they should take their children out of school. The situation made him think of the movie, "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," he said.
Joe Quaratella Jr., owner of Nautilus Barber Shop, named the for first nuclear-powered submarine, near the base, said the Russians were a subject of discussion Wednesday.
"I had an officer from the base here this morning. We were talking about it," said Quaratella, who said he's been cutting sailor's hair for 50 year. "(The Russians) claim they're just trying to get signals. They're out stealing everything. They're doing this now because we have a new president. They're pushing him."
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"This is nothing to worry about. ... They're listening and watching," he said.
Jim Ericson, who works at Electric Boat, was on the shore in Stonington borough on Wednesday at a spot where the town fought an invasion by the British in 1814. He said the older people he works with were amused by news of the ship but the younger workers were concerned.
"I kept telling them 'you know they've been out there for 60 years.' The British were out there in the 1800s."
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy agreed that the presence of the Russian ship isn't new given the state's role in the creation of submarines.
"I think that clearly they like to track submarines. We know that they do. This is not something that is brand new," Malloy said. "It's getting a lot of coverage because, again, I think of other Russian stories related to the Trump administration. They seek to understand how we have the best submarines in the world. And they're made here."
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who is a ranking member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, said: "While this is not wholly unprecedented, it's part of a series of aggressive actions by Russia that threaten U.S. national security and the security of our allies."
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Murphy said the recent actions show that Putin "clearly thinks the Trump administration has given him a permission slip to flex his muscles" and that the administration needs respond to these threats.
University of Connecticut Professor Frank Costigliola, a foreign policy expert, said the Russian ship would be off the Connecticut shore trying to collect information no matter who was in the White House.
"They spy on us; we spy on them," Costigliola said.
That transparency is not a bad thing, he said. "The only way a war could come is from a miscalculation," Costigliola said. "The more information we know about each other, the better."
An official at the nearby Millstone nuclear power plant said there has been no instruction for the plant to take extra security measures.
"The presence of this spy ship has to be regarded very seriously because Russia is an increasingly aggressive adversary. It reflects a clear need to harden our defenses against electronic surveillance and cyber espionage," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said in a statement Tuesday morning. Blumenthal said he's remains in contact with the Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard as he monitors the situation.
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Blumenthal said the actions again show the need for an independent investigaiton into "possible collusion" between the Trump administration and Russian agents.
Like Murphy, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-1st District, and U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, were critical of Trump given the news of the spy ship.
On Wednesday, Trump left a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before answering reporters questions about Russia.
Hartford Courant reporters Jesse Leavenworth and Dave Altimari contributed to this story.
MOSCOW As questions over the Trump administration's contacts with Russia roil U.S. politics, the Kremlin is taking a decidedly measured approach, carefully weighing what it says to avoid jeopardizing a chance for better relations between Moscow and Washington.
This same patience is evident in Russian state media, helping to temper public expectations of the man who entered the White House with a friendly posture toward President Vladimir Putin.
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Opinion polls have shown that the initial public euphoria in Russia after President Donald Trump's victory has given way to a more sober mood.
Last week, Putin used a visit by the president of Slovenia to raise the possibility of meeting Trump in the homeland of his wife, Melania. But he acknowledged it will take time for Trump to finish forming his team before both sides can set a time and place for such a summit.
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"No one here is losing patience, because there haven't been any excessive expectations," said Alexander Baunov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center. "No one expected Trump to make some incredible moves on the Russian track in two or three weeks. Things here are viewed from a far more pessimistic, temporizing perspective."
State-controlled broadcasters have dampened public anticipation of a warming in Russia-U.S. ties with daily reporting on a host of challenges for Trump, including the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Yelena Sizova, a 47-year-old teacher, said she believes any possible steps toward a rapprochement with the U.S. will be blocked by Trump's foes in Congress.
"My feeling is that we won't get anything good from him," she said.
Russia-U.S. relations plunged to their lowest point in decades under former President Barack Obama because of the crisis in Ukraine, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russia's hacking of the Democrats.
Compared with Hillary Clinton's hawkish tone on Russia during the campaign, Trump's promises to repair relations and cooperate with Moscow on fighting international terrorism have fueled expectations of a positive change.
Baunov argues it's wrong to assert that there is widespread adulation of Trump among ordinary Russians.
"There is no great enthusiasm about him; there is just a feeling of relief," he said. "While in the United States he is perceived as a conduit of Russian influence, no one in Russia sees him as such."
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Maria Katasonova, a pro-Kremlin political activist, said many Russians shuddered at the prospect of a Clinton victory because they hold her responsible for the breakdown in ties as secretary of state.
"Her policy has led to the worst period in Russia-U.S. relations since the Cold War," Katasonova said. "That's why people have pinned big hopes on Trump. The Russians who are interested in politics and geopolitics see Trump as a person with whom it will be possible to try to improve relations between our countries."
But even as Putin and his lieutenants hope for warmer ties with the U.S., they are fully aware of the strong resistance in Congress and U.S. political circles.
Members of the Russian political elite reacted with apparent shock to Flynn's resignation. He stepped down after allegations he had discussed the sanctions in place against Russia with Moscow's ambassador to Washington prior to Trump's inauguration.
Even a readiness for a dialogue with the Russians is perceived by the hawks in Washington as 'thoughtcrime.' Konstantin Kosachev, the Kremlin-connected head of the Russian foreign affairs committee
Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer insists the problem was not that Flynn had the conversations but the fact that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the content. That led to an unsustainable erosion of trust, Spicer said.
Flynn, who once sat next to Putin at a Kremlin gala dinner, was seen by many as someone who was friendly to Russia.
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Konstantin Kosachev, the Kremlin-connected head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, said that "even a readiness for a dialogue with the Russians is perceived by the hawks in Washington as 'thoughtcrime,'" using a reference from George Orwell's novel "1984."
He added that Flynn's departure signaled that Trump has been either driven into a corner or that "Russophobia" is starting to permeate his administration.
The Kremlin took a neutral tone, describing Flynn's resignation as internal business in the U.S.
Carnegie's Baunov said the Flynn case demonstrated that any attempt by Trump to reach out to Russia would be cast by his opponents as a "deal with the devil."
"Trump's administration will face criticism and punishment for any rapprochement with Russia," he said, warning that it will be hard for Trump to change that attitude.
During the main weekly news program on Rossiya state television on Sunday night, anchor Dmitry Kiselyov portrayed an embattled Trump being besieged on all sides. The show included an excerpt from "Saturday Night Live" mocking Trump.
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"They start pummeling Trump even before he makes a decision," he said.
Other channels carried similar notes of compassion, describing Trump as surrounded by unforgiving enemies who oppose any rapprochement with Russia.
The message seems to have resonated with the public.
A nationwide survey of 1,600 people conducted last month by the Levada Center, Russia's leading independent pollster, had 46 percent of respondents expecting an improvement of Russia-U.S. ties under Trump, compared with 54 percent in November. The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Following the media, many Russians now fear that those in the U.S. who are bent on opposing Russia will force Trump's hand.
"They won't let him do what he wants," said Karim Kasachev, a 31-year-old security specialist. "Russia is a tempting target for them all."
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Many still hope Trump will prevail over his political foes and fulfill his promise of mending the rift with Moscow.
Vladimir Lyashenko, a retired military officer, said he admires Trump for his ability to stand up to his opponents.
"The thing I like most in him is that he is seeing his program through," Lyashenko said. "He fears no one, no matter how hard they push him."
He said Trump's rugged determination makes him hope he would eventually succeed in forging friendly ties with Russia.
"He said that he wants to improve ties with Russia, and he will do so even though lawmakers will be putting a wrench in the spokes," Lyashenko said.
Senate Democratic leaders agreed Wednesday to a bipartisan probe inside Congress of allegations that people linked to President Donald Trump - including ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn - had frequent contacts with Russia during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.
Democrats agreed to push forward with an ongoing Intelligence Committee investigation into Russia's purported activities into the election, expanding the probe to include contacts made by Flynn and perhaps other Trump campaign officials with the Kremlin. They united around this course of action despite pressure from some Democrats to demand an independent commission to pursue the matter from outside Congress.
The decision was made at a Democratic conference meeting Wednesday morning hastily called by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.). Schumer aimed to get his colleagues on the same page following a fresh report from the New York Times that Trump campaign aides spoke frequently with Russian intelligence operatives during the campaign. Flynn resigned Monday night after The Washington Post revealed that he spoke about sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the United States after the election.
Schumer; Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee; and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, explained their stance afterward in a joint appearance.
They demanded that all committee investigations related to allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and contacts with Trump surrogates be bipartisan and comprehensive and that panel members be "committed to making their findings as public as possible."
Democrats also want the Justice Department - specifically, the FBI - to continue investigating the allegations that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in an attempt to help Trump win. But they are insisting that former senator Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., now the attorney general, recuse himself from the proceedings.
Leading Senate Democrats - some of whom advocated for an independent commission - acknowledged that isn't possible unless Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., signs off on such a move.
"I'll be perfectly blunt: We need to have Sen. McConnell's blessing before we'll get a commission done. He's not there," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Democrat Benjamin Cardin (Md.), who has been pushing for an independent commission. "I think Senator Schumer, if he had his druthers, would take a commission immediately - but we can't get it."
Schumer had previously endorsed the idea of an independent commission to investigate suspected links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Other Democrats feared risking what precious momentum they had built for an investigation at all by pushing to take such a probe outside Congress.
"We've already started this process; we're already starting to review the raw intelligence; we're well down this path," Warner told reporters Wednesday. "I understand others look at other things - I think that would greatly delay the process, and what I think everyone wants, regardless of where we stand, is we want to get this done expeditiously."
Warner insisted that he has "faith in Senator Burr's commitment" to pursue the investigation fairly, adding that, "If at any point we're not able to get the full information and we're not pursuing the information to where the intelligence leads, that we'll look at other options."
But for other Democrats, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr's, R-N.C., integrity isn't the issue - McConnell is.
"I'm just not convinced that Mitch McConnell is going to let the Intelligence Committee get to the real story," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who advocated an independent commission.
Senate Republican leaders, meanwhile, responded to Flynn's resignation by saying that the Intelligence Committee probably will examine the circumstances. They reiterated that position Wednesday.
"I don't think we need a select committee. We know how to do our work. We have an Intelligence Committee," McConnell said in an interview on MSNBC.
One Republican, however, said lawmakers should establish a "joint select committee" - consisting of members of the House and the Senate - to examine the allegations in the Times report.
"Now, was this outside the norm? Was this something damaging to the country?" Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a Fox News Channel interview Wednesday morning. "I don't know, but if there were contacts between Russian officials and Trump campaign operatives that [were] inappropriate, then it would be time for the Congress to form a joint select commission to get to the bottom of all things Russia and Trump."
Democrats are insisting on some ground rules for the investigations, which could take place in multiple panels.
They are demanding that the Trump administration preserve all its records from the transition period, citing "real concern" that officials might "try to cover up ties to Russia" by deleting emails, texts and other documents establishing links between the Trump White House and the Kremlin, Schumer said. Democrats also are demanding that Flynn, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and other campaign officials make themselves available to testify before the committees.
But Democrats' demands still depend in large part on what Republican leadership is willing to accommodate.
Republican leaders have not ruled out calling on Flynn and other campaign or administration officials to testify. But a majority of the Senate Intelligence Committee would have to agree to issue a subpoena compelling such testimony.
The GOP is divided over the revelations that Flynn misled his superiors about the substance of his conversations with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak during the transition period. Some Republicans insist that the real scandal is not the fact that Flynn lied about whether he discussed sanctions with Kislyak - but that those conversations ever became public.
"The leaks are coming from somewhere, and the surveillance came from somewhere . . . obviously it's coming from people that don't want to see this administration succeed," said Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
He added that incoming administration members like Flynn "would be derelict in their duty not to be reaching out and getting up to speed" through conversations with people like the Russian ambassador - though, Johnson stressed, he didn't know the substance of those conversations.
That line from certain GOP leaders has infuriated other Republicans.
"All of us know that leaks happen in this town, and we all don't like it - but the fact is that you now have a much larger issue to address," said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz. "The national security adviser lied to the vice president of the United States. That's a pretty serious event."
Over in the House, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is already prioritizing investigating leaks over Flynn's contacts with Kremlin officials. And leading Democrats are powerless to stop them.
"Frankly it's safer for them to talk about leaks than be critical of the president," House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said of his GOP colleagues. "There's still a lot they want from this president in the form of tax cuts and regulatory giveaways, so I think they're hoping to get what they can get before they have to confront him."
Democrats in the Senate worry about facing the same fate, should GOP leaders decide they have bigger priorities than Trump's Russia ties.
"I'll acknowledge that Sen. Burr is moving in the right direction, and my lack of faith is probably not so much in Senator Burr but in Republican leadership," Murphy said. "I ultimately think their priority is getting a trickle-down tax cut done, and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, not getting to the bottom of this scandal."
For nearly two full weeks, nobody told Vice President Mike Pence that he had been misled by national security adviser Michael Flynn.
After privately being assured by Flynn that he had never had any discussions about Russian sanctions with that country's ambassador, Pence went on TV in mid-January and publicly parroted Flynn's denial. But on Jan. 26, President Donald Trump and a small group of senior aides learned that the Justice Department had evidence that Flynn had, in fact, discussed sanctions and misled the vice president.
Yet it would take almost a fortnight for Pence to learn the truth - and only then because of a report in The Washington Post, according to Marc Lotter, a spokesman for the vice president.
Throughout the campaign and now in office, Pence has largely managed to avoid the infighting and warring factions of the young White House by keeping his head down and soldiering loyally forward. But the incident with Flynn reveals both the benefits and risks of his approach - he has emerged largely unharmed by the scandal that led to Flynn's resignation, but his influence within the West Wing has come increasingly into question given how little he knew about his own situation.
"Does this episode strengthen Pence or weaken Pence?" asked William Kristol, editor at large of the Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine and who served as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle. "That's what everybody is trying to figure out."
Pence's decision to try to stay out of the cliques that have plagued the White House has allowed him, so far, to maintain his standing as a neutral player committed to forwarding Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill. But it also appears to have left him at times outside the inner circle of Trump's brain trust.
Aides to both the president and vice president say the two men speak on the phone or in person multiple times a day. But despite their frequent communication, the president never told his No. 2 that he had been misled by Flynn - and that in defending him on the Sunday shows had put himself in a publicly compromising and embarrassing situation.
"The vice president became aware of incomplete information that he had received on Feb. 9, last Thursday night, based on media accounts," Lotter told reporters Tuesday. "He did an inquiry based on those media accounts."
Several people close to him were more blunt, saying he was "blindsided" and "frustrated."
But even as Flynn flailed, Pence did not urge Trump to fire him, or lash out against him. Instead, said two officials familiar with the situation, Pence was disappointed and suggested that Flynn could publicly apologize. Others within the White House, however, thought what Flynn had done was egregious and unacceptable.
"The vice president is a very forgiving man," said one White House official.
On Friday, Pence, chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House counsel Don McGahn held a conference call with Flynn - who had originally denied any improper communications with the Russian envoy - to go over his story again, according to two officials familiar with the call. Flynn was at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., during the call, while the other three men were in Washington.
Pence left the conversation troubled, as did Priebus, who expressed dismay both with Flynn's answers and the dawning reality that Flynn had deceived Pence.
By Monday, Pence was in full agreement with Priebus and others that it would be best for Flynn to go and remained involved in all top-level talks that day.
Asked how the vice president could be kept in the dark about the Flynn controversy for so long, two White House officials said it was a result of the muddled and uncertain way events unfolded rather than an intentional desire to keep him out of the loop.
On Jan. 26, when acting attorney general Sally Yates contacted McGahn about discrepancies of Flynn's account of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, McGahn took the information directly to Trump in the Oval Office that day. Trump quickly brought in chief strategist Stephen Bannon and Priebus to join the discussion with McGahn, said two White House officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
McGahn then conferred with Yates again the following day to try to glean more information about what Yates knew and to probe the matter further.
But McGahn, who has been friends with Pence since the vice president was a House member, did not share the information beyond that group because he had already informed the president and his top two advisers, with the expectation that anyone else who needed to know would be informed by those principals.
Several other people within the White House described the situation as "unfortunate" and "unintended," saying that Trump and McGahn did not mean to exclude Pence but were reacting to Yates - whose information was initially viewed with some skepticism - and trying to keep the information about Flynn within a tight group. At that point, Flynn was still maintaining that he had discussed nothing improper with the Russian ambassador.
Nonetheless, the two-week lag between when Trump, Bannon and Priebus learned of Flynn's misdirection and when Pence himself found out through news reports has raised speculation as to Pence's true clout - or lack thereof - within the White House.
In 2010, when Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Barack Obama's military chief in Afghanistan, made disparaging remarks about some of Obama's senior civilian advisers, including Vice President Joe Biden, Obama's response was swift and decisive. Within 40 hours, he called McChrystal back to Washington and fired him.
Pence is not the type to demand that sort of response. Those who know him said he is thinking ahead, believing that as vice president, he is likely to outlast advisers whose positions may be more tenuous.
Germany fixed climate change as a key topic for foreign ministers from the Group of 20 nations meeting Thursday, according to an official in Berlin, setting up for a clash with Donald Trump's lead Cabinet minister on the issue.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet envoys from the rest of the G-20 in Bonn to discuss Agenda 2030, a United Nations catalogue of global sustainability goals agreed on in 2015, Germany's Foreign Office said Wednesday in a statement.
Germany, which as host of the meeting helps set the topics for discussion, is ready to challenge the U.S. administration on the issue, according to the official, who asked not to be named because the discussions about preparing for the meeting remain confidential.
"You can't fight climate change by putting up barbed wire," Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a briefing document released ahead of the meeting, making a barely-disguised swipe at Trump's ambition to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
You can't fight climate change by putting up barbed wire. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel
While European nations led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been at the forefront of the international effort to rein in global warming, Trump has called climate science a hoax, vowing to slash environmental rules restricting coal and pull out of the Paris climate deal agreed at a UN meeting in 2015.
Since he won the election in November, Trump and his officials have sent mixed signals about how they might act. While continuing to emphasize the importance of coal, Trump has said he will keep an open mind about the Paris agreement. Tillerson has said the U.S. should keep a seat at the table of the UN talks, which involve more than 190 nations.
Germany hasn't had a clear signal about how the U.S. will respond to G-20 initiatives or the broader Paris Climate accord, according to the government official. The official said Germany isn't certain how much sway Tillerson will have.
Tillerson supported the Paris agreement when he was chairman of the biggest U.S. oil company, ExxonMobil. The State Department represents the U.S. at the U.N. climate talks, though domestic policies limiting emissions are controlled mostly by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and other bodies.
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Signatories of the U.N.'s Agenda 2030, including the U.S., need to be well prepared for new challenges like climate change, conflict prevention and poverty, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said.
Exxon, the U.S. oil giant that's facing investigations over what it knew and when about climate change, sees the Paris agreement as a "monumental" achievement, William M. Colton, the company's vice president for corporate strategic planning, said in an interview last month.
Germany's plan to test G-20 unity on measures to combat ills from climate change to global poverty marks a shift in its strategy as holder of the group's rotating presidency. Presenting its schedule and G-20 goals in December, Germany said it would forgo holding a separate environment summit and focus climate debate on touting how cleaning up pollution can create jobs.
The meeting in Bonn is one of the discussions leading up to the G-20 leaders summit in Hamburg in July, which the U.S. president usually attends. The foreign ministers meeting will take up where China's presidency of the group left off last year where an action plan was agreed, the German government said on its web site.
The officials in Bonn will assess progress on implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals on the U.N.'s Agenda 2030, according to the German document. The targets cover environmental, social and economic issues.
The choice of venue for this week's meeting may be no coincidence -- the city on the Rhine is the home of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the secretariat established by a 1992 treaty establishing the global warming talks that resulted both in the Paris deal and its predecessor, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Imagine that President Donald Trump is awoken by his national security adviser because of a threat to America. Among Trump's options: put American troops in harm's way, call for drone strikes or launch a nuclear weapon. Until Monday, the national security adviser, who is not subject to Senate confirmation, was retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. After just 24 days on the job, Flynn entered the Guinness World Records for having served the shortest tenure as national security adviser. Among Flynn's transgressions was misleading Vice President Mike Pence about whether he discussed lifting sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
There are numerous important issues that require investigation. Among them is what was the vetting, extreme or otherwise, for this sensitive position?
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Gen. Flynn was "let go" as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency by President Barack Obama, allegedly for his conspiracy theories, temperament and aberrant management skills. Was Obama or his national defense team contacted by the Trump transition team about Flynn?
Following Gen. Flynn's termination as Obama's DIA director, Flynn formed Intel Group, which provided services for international clients, including lobbying on behalf of Turkey. In 2015, Flynn sat at Russian President Vladimir Putin's table at a dinner in Moscow marking the 10th anniversary of RT (formerly "Russia Today," the country's state-operated TV station). Flynn appeared on the English-language global cable network that's described by U.S. intelligence as "the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet." Were these potential conflicts vetted?
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For Trump's presidential campaign, Flynn was a top military adviser; spoke at rallies and the Republican National Convention; and joined "Lock Her Up" anti-Hillary Clinton chants at Trump campaign events. To what extent did these partisan activities play into his appointment?
Before being named the national security adviser, Flynn misled then Vice President-elect Mike Pence about Flynn's son needing a security clearance. To what extent did vetting include instances of Flynn providing misinformation to senior officials?
It was reported that the Russians had allegedly hacked into and leaked information harmful to Hillary Clinton and that Trump aides had contact with Russian intelligence operatives. Was there an inquiry into whether Flynn was among those under scrutiny?
Trending on social media are the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution and the Logan Act. Among other federal officials, the clause prohibits those with military title from receiving money from a foreign government without the consent of Congress. Flynn is under Army investigation for taking money from the Russians. Was that investigation considered in the vetting?
The Logan Act bars private citizens from interfering with diplomatic relations between the United States and foreign government. Violation of the act carries a fine and a criminal penalty. Did Flynn's pre-inauguration conversations with Ambassador Kislyak violate the Logan Act?
As a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, I prosecuted cases involving making false statements to the government including FBI agents. Having intercepted Flynn's conversations with Kislyak and possibly others, the FBI within days after the inauguration interviewed Flynn. If Flynn was untruthful, he could be sentenced to prison for up to five years.
In response to Flynn's resignation, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said, "I think the situation has taken care of itself." Republican Sen. Rand Paul opined that "it makes no sense" for Republicans to investigate Republicans. GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, intoned, "It just seems like there's a lot of nothing there."
With a Republican majority in the House and Senate, this national security imbroglio requires an independent inquiry. An inquiry with subpoena power and adequate staffing and budget and led by a pre-eminently qualified and respected American. Among those on the top of the list is Colin Powell, a retired four-star general and former national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state.
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As to potential criminal violations, the information should be turned over to an independent special prosecutor.
Malcolm Lazin is a former Department of Justice attorney and a former chair of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission.
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WASHINGTON A strange and circuitous path led Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn toward his fateful telephone contact in late December with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and the flameout of what had been a distinguished military career.
Military and intelligence colleagues who served with Flynn describe him as a brilliant tactician whose work in the shadowy Joint Special Operations Command a decade ago didn't prepare him for broader challenges as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, from which he was removed in 2014, and national security adviser, the post he resigned Monday night.
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"In the JSOC world, you think you're superman," said a former Pentagon superior of Flynn's. After the disappointment at DIA, he said, "Flynn wanted recognition from anyone who would give it to him." The Russians paid attention, and he reciprocated.
Flynn made his name perfecting the "find, fix, finish" tactics employed by JSOC against al-Qaida in Iraq. The intelligence haul from one night's raid would be processed in a few hours, and the leads from cellphones and laptops would drive the next night's raids.
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Flynn continued to shine as intelligence chief at Centcom, then at the joint staff at the Pentagon, and finally in Afghanistan, where I first met him. His appointment to head the DIA in 2012 was the culmination of what had been a charmed rise to the top.
Then bad things began to happen, some involving Russia, and Flynn's path began to veer toward Monday's catastrophe.
The DIA, a messy agency of nearly 20,000, mostly civilians, was famously the underachiever in the intelligence community. Flynn tried to fix everything at once. He had an ambitious but unrealistic plan for fusing the agency into mission centers. His superiors said no; Flynn went ahead anyway. Employees complained of shouting matches, bad leadership and a demoralized agency.
Along the way, Flynn became enthusiastic about improving liaison with Russia, which he saw as a natural counterterrorism partner. He visited the Russian military-intelligence agency in 2013, and came back advocating greater cooperation in monitoring Syrian chemical weapons. Even after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Flynn proposed inviting the intelligence chiefs of its various theater commands to Washington for discussions. His superiors rejected what they saw as a supremely ill-timed proposal.
After Flynn was forced out in 2014, he complained that his ouster reflected disagreements about Middle East strategy. Colleagues at the time say it was simply a story of management failure a good officer in the wrong job.
An embittered Flynn continued to advocate closer cooperation with Russia and began issuing strident denunciations of the Obama administration. He told Al-Jazeera television in August 2015 that the rise of the Islamic State was a "willful Washington decision." He told the German magazine Der Spiegel in December 2015 that U.S. military operations in Iraq and Libya had been a "mistake" and a "strategic failure." These became major themes for Donald Trump, whose campaign Flynn informally began advising in late 2015.
Flynn did something in December 2015 that has haunted him ever since. He gave a paid speech in Moscow at the 10th anniversary celebration of Russia Today, a global cable network described by U.S. intelligence as "the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet." The Russia Today interviewer pushed him to say positive things about U.S.-Russian cooperation, and Flynn complied.
"Stop being like two bullies in the playground!" Flynn said in Moscow. "It's a marriage, whether we like it or not, and that marriage is very, very rocky right now." In a separate interview in Moscow, he urged that the two countries share intelligence and operations centers against Islamic terrorism. Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebratory dinner on that 2015 trip.
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Friendly relations continued. During 2016, even as the Russians were mounting what U.S. intelligence described as a covert attack on the presidential election, Flynn had several contacts with Kislyak. The fateful one came in late December, when the two men discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia, even as the Obama administration was expelling 35 Russian diplomats.
Flynn's fall is a painful story, with many unanswered questions. Perhaps the biggest is why a retired general, schooled in the chain of command, would have talked with Kislyak without consulting his boss, Donald Trump. That's the White house line, but the investigation of Russiagate is just beginning.
Washington Post Writer Group
David Ignatius is a Washington Post columnist.
davidignatius@washpost.com
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A new U.S. administration has taken office, so a new provocation has been staged by North Korea. And just as predictably, America and its allies have denounced North Korea for defying "the international community." Washington is filled with chatter about the need to do something to demonstrate resolve and leadership.
It's a foolish game that Pyongyang enjoys. Why do U.S. officials continue to play?
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Rushing to the United Nations Security Council to discuss the supposedly grave threat to world peace will be of no use. After all, even Washington treats the judgment of that supposedly hallowed body as a matter of convenience.
Worse, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea almost certainly thrives on the gnashing of teeth that inevitably follows its misbehavior. To the extent that North Korea desires international attention and hopes to acquire leverage against its antagonists, such an adverse reaction is gratifying.
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But the biggest problem is Washington's determination to demonstrate its impotence. Precisely what will the Trump administration do in response? What can it do in response?
Almost certainly nothing.
The United States faces the same unpalatable choices as usual. Military strikes would be a dangerous gamble, based on the hope that North Korea would not retaliate and trigger the very conflict Washington has helped deter for more than six decades.
U.N. sanctions were twice enhanced last year after nuclear tests, only after painful negotiations with China, and have had no evident effect on North Korean behavior. The next step would be to target Chinese entities dealing with the country, which would almost certainly make Beijing less willing to cooperate with an administration already seen as both hostile and unpredictable.
Finally, there's negotiation. The president suggested the possibility while running for president, but Pyongyang is unlikely to disarm.
Moreover, even if North Korea were inclined to negotiate seriously, in the past the U.S. has refused to put on the table sufficient incentives, including a peace treaty, diplomatic recognition or troop withdrawals.
In which case U.S. officials would do better downplaying North Korea's latest actions and consider revising policy toward Pyongyang.
No doubt, North Korea's emergence as a potentially significant military power is undesirable. What to do?
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First, recognize that North Korea does not threaten the U.S. That is, leader Kim Jong Un may be evil, but he is not stupid. The regime won't attack America because it would result in North Korea's destruction.
Rather, Pyongyang desires to deter Washington from attacking, whether the goal of such an attack would be to achieve regime change or to back South Korea in an inter-Korean conflict. To the extent that North Korea's weapons might be used against American bases in Asia or the U.S. homeland, it is only because Washington has chosen to remain militarily entangled in the Korean Peninsula.
Second, there is no cause for a continued U.S. security commitment or force presence in the South. The Republic of Korea far outstrips its northern antagonist in every measure of national power except military, and the latter is a matter of choice, not necessity. South Korea should take over responsibility for its own defense.
Third, Washington needs to contemplate what policy to take in response to a nuclear North. The U.S. could continue to maintain a so-called nuclear umbrella over the South.
On the other hand, that creates the possibility, however slight, of American involvement in a nuclear exchange over interests that are modest at best. It might be better for the South to develop a countervailing deterrent. Indeed, that possibility (which could lead to a Japanese bomb) might be the shock necessary to induce greater Chinese pressure on the North.
Fourth, the U.S. needs to persuade China to do more. That means addressing Beijing's interests its fear of the impact of a North Korean collapse and resulting reunification that would strengthen an American "containment" strategy against China.
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Fifth, the U.S. should engage the North. Regular if modest contact at least would offer a small window into North Korea. Washington needs to reduce the perceived threat presented by the U.S.
Moreover, Beijing long has insisted that Washington needs to improve relations with the North as the basis for denuclearizing the peninsula. Only by making such an effort is the U.S. likely to win greater Chinese cooperation.
The best U.S. strategy would be to downplay the North Korean threat, step back militarily, offer China incentives to step forward and engage Pyongyang. The status quo hasn't worked. It's time to try a new approach.
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of "Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World" and co-author of "The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea."
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As U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton, addressed the Palatine Township Republican Organization at a closed-door meeting at the group's headquarters, protesters rallied outside Feb. 4, 2017, to protest President Donald Trump's executive orders. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
WASHINGTON Republican Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois has a safe seat in Congress. So what's he running from?
First, supporters of the Affordable Care Act showed up at his office for a previously scheduled meeting with his staff. But the 16 of them were turned away when Roskam staffers discovered they were accompanied by a reporter, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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Next, Roskam went to the Palatine Township Republican Organization's monthly meeting, billed as open to all. But organizers shut out the general public because of intense interest. With hundreds of protesters massed outside, Roskam left through a back door. Some people chased on foot after his fleeing car.
Then, Roskam announced he would hold a "telephone town hall meeting" instead of the real thing. "I have no plans to have one of these big, sort of circus meetings," he said during a WGN 720-AM radio interview Sunday, informing host and reporter Rick Pearson that he's always thought "those larger meetings are just not productive."
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They certainly aren't productive for Roskam and his fellow Republicans not now, anyway. An early backlash against the Trump presidency has led to many verbal confrontations between Republican lawmakers and the citizenry. President Trump's face plant since the inauguration most recently the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn over dealings with Russia is only making matters worse.
As recent town hall meetings of GOP Reps. Jason Chaffetz, Utah, Tom McClintock, Calif., Gus Bilirakis, Fla., Diane Black, Tenn., and others turn into well-publicized tongue lashings, their colleagues are ducking and running.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., canceled a constituent event in Southampton Village scheduled for April; his office told the Southampton Press they feared he would be harassed again by those who rallied at his recent appearance at a Rotary Club.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., was caught on video slipping out of his own community event last month before its scheduled ending time. Coffman's office told KUSA that the congressman had planned to have a series of one-on-one meetings, not a town hall event. The result: Scores were still waiting for Coffman in the lobby when he left via an unmarked exit.
In California, McClintock left his town hall meeting with a police escort. "It's the first time I've ever had a police department have to extract me from a town hall, and I've done well over 100 of them," he told the Los Angeles Times.
The scene is reminiscent of the tea party summer of 2009, but the energy is on the other side this time. Now, as then, the victims say the perpetrators are outsiders Chaffetz said those who protested him included "paid" people from out of state, an echo of Nancy Pelosi's claim of "astroturfing" but now, as then, the anger is real.
Trump has become increasingly toxic, with Flynn's resignation and other Russia revelations, the travel ban struck down in court, chaos involving Obamacare, attacks on the federal judiciary and a series of bizarre pronouncements on everything from Ivanka Trump's fashion line to Frederick Douglass. The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan and Ed O'Keefe found Republican members of Congress increasingly wary of defending Trump. "You can't make it up," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said after Trump was seen in Facebook photos making sensitive national security decisions in his Mar-a-Lago Club's main dining area.
Trump canceled an event in Milwaukee because his would-be host, Harley-Davidson, feared protests. The White House canceled a visit to Ohio that had been scheduled for Thursday; no reason was given, but protests had been planned.
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Even congressional aides have felt demonstrators' wrath. Staffers for Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue and Rep. Jody Hice, all Georgia Republicans, were met by hundreds of protesters last week in Greensboro, Ga., for what was supposed to be a "mobile office hours" event to help constituents with bureaucratic matters.
And so others are retreating.
Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., in response to a question from WGRZ television, declared that he wouldn't have a town hall meeting because of "demonstrators who come and shout you down and heckle you."
Then there's Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, whose office this week edited his Wikipedia entry to remove a recently added line claiming Tiberi "has steadfastly refused to hold a town hall meeting to discuss health care reform with his constituents."
His office, confirming its role in the Wikipedia editing, said Tiberi is instead offering to meet with the protesters in small groups and in private.
Washington Post Writers Group
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Dana Milbank is a Washington Post columnist.
Twitter @Milbank
President Donald Trump once again unleashed a fearsome barrage of tweets on Wednesday morning. The target was The New York Times' new report that intelligence officials have established contacts between Russian intelligence and Trump campaign officials during the campaign.
Trump attacked the news media again, railing that "the fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred." He also blasted the intelligence services, claiming that they are "illegally" giving information to the media, which, he opined, is "just like Russia."
This has become a pattern, in which Trump deals with setbacks by lashing out at other institutions, including ones that can function as a check on his power. When the courts blocked his immigration ban, he blasted both the courts and the news media for making us less safe, in what seemed to be designed to lay the groundwork to blame them for a future terrorist attack, a move that even some Republicans criticized for its authoritarian tendencies. This appeared to be a test run of sorts, in which Trump was experimenting with how far he could go in delegitimizing the institutions that might act as a check on his power later.
But as a test run, for now, at least, it is failing. Trump's unchecked antics on multiple fronts are suddenly making him look like a very weak autocrat wannabe.
The Times' new report is actually pretty carefully drawn. It notes that phone records and intercepted calls show "repeated contacts" between members of the Trump campaign and "senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election." These were discovered at around the time that evidence emerged that Russia was trying to interfere in the election. The report stressed that intelligence officials did not name particular Trump campaign officials, other than Paul Manafort, and have not seen evidence of collusion ("so far") designed to influence our political process.
CNN also weighed in with a similar investigation, reporting that "high-level advisers close to" Trump were in "constant communication during the campaign with Russians known to U.S. intelligence." CNN added that Trump had been briefed on this after the election. If that last detail is true, then it means Trump knows that intelligence officials have, indeed, concluded that this happened. Which might explain why some of his tweets Wednesday sort of function as confirmation of the stories, by blasting intel agencies for leaking classified information.
Indeed, the lashing out is beginning to look less and less fearsome, and more and more impulsively buffoonish and self-defeating. And there's a broader pattern developing here, one that undermines a key narrative about the Trump presidency, in which Trump is pursuing strategic disruption and breaking all the old rules and norms to further an unconventional presidency that is designed to render the old way of doing business irrelevant. It's obvious that all of this is now actively undermining his own designs, on multiple fronts.
Consider: The use of the White House bully pulpit by Trump and his top aides to interfere in a dispute between Nordstrom and Ivanka Trump which seemed intended as a big middle finger to the pointy-headed ethical norms police resulted in Republicans condemning it. The trip to Mar-a-Lago with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe another intended sign that Trump will damn well use the presidency to enrich himself if he pleases, by turning his own resort into an official court of sorts while pocketing the profits from it ended up getting marred by the surprise North Korea ballistic missile test. This made his administration look incompetent, chaotic, unprepared and unconcerned about basic security protocol.
The administration's handling of the Michael Flynn fiasco was a mess that was partially created by Trump himself. We now know he had been briefed three weeks ago that the Justice Department concluded Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about contacts with the Russian ambassador. Yet Flynn remained, and new reporting indicates that this was driven in part because of high-level White House skepticism about the Justice Department's warnings something that likely emanated from Trump himself. The botched rollout of Trump's travel ban the first high-level exercise in translating Trumpism into reality was a legal and substantive disaster, largely because of a lack of concern over basic legal and process niceties that also reflected Trump's evolving leadership style.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's events are a reminder that the press is bearing down hard on the Russia story, which may make it harder and harder for Republicans to continue resisting a full accounting.
To be sure, Trump is getting a lot of his Cabinet nominees confirmed. It's likely that Trump and Republicans will win a lot of victories before long, ones that will be very demoralizing to Democrats. It is also true that the White House has at its disposal a tremendous range of tools to take control of events and news cycles, thus turning things around. So all of this might change soon enough. A doubling-down on Trump's worst policies, perhaps in the form of a newly implemented and then expanded "Muslim ban," or in the form of stepped-up deportations, remain real possibilities. A terrorist attack could empower Trump and lead to far worse.
But right now, Trump looks weaker, less effective and even more ridiculous than anyone might have anticipated and it happened surprisingly quickly, too.
Washington Post
Losing a national security adviser to scandal within the first month of a new presidency, with Michael Flynn resigning late Monday, isn't just unprecedented; it's one of those events that would have Spock telling Kirk that the readings are off the charts and make no sense.
Which is also the case with Donald Trump's approval ratings they're not just the worst ever at this point, but in territory that's unimaginable had any previous major party nominee won election. Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Walter Mondale odds are that had some weird fluke happened and they had won, they would still have been doing much better by that measure than Trump.
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The president himself is beset by up to three separate scandals: One about Russian interference in the U.S. election along with contacts between his campaign and transition team with the Kremlin; one about conflicts of interest and "emoluments"; and perhaps one about the president himself as a security risk.
Nor is there any particular reason to expect things to get better, at least not without massive outside interference. And not just because the Russia scandal is hardly over just because Flynn is gone. The factionalized, inept White House remains just as dysfunctional as ever. Executive branch nominations have slowed to a crawl, with just one submitted since Feb. 1 balanced by the withdrawal of the former selection for secretary of the army, Vincent Viola. They can't find anyone willing to handle communications. Did you know they still don't appear to have formally submitted the nomination of Sonny Perdue, the choice for agriculture secretary, to the Senate? Did they just forget? Who knows?
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Then there's an increasing obsession with leaks Trump tweeted about it this morning. That's a classic White House mistake. Things go wrong, and it triggers people (in the permanent bureaucracy, or from one or another faction within the administration) to talk to the press. A good president will use these leaks as sources of information who is upset, and why? A poor president will circle the wagons, trying to keep knowledge of what's happening within the administration within a tighter and tighter circle, which only serves to make those who legitimately are supposed to be part of the policy-making process even more upset, and the policy made without proper inputs even less likely to succeed. Guess which one Trump is choosing? Hey, at least on this he's making a normal presidenting mistake, albeit one which helped cost Richard Nixon his presidency.
The worst of it, perhaps, is that hardly anything that has happened since Nov. 9 has been truly surprising. Look at the White House. The president of the United States has no government experience and demonstrated during the campaign only a very limited understanding of the U.S. government and public policy. The top players within the White House Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner also have no government experience at all. Why should anyone expect that to work?
Of course they're stymied by the basic tasks of governing. Of course a president who hires based on whether they look right for the job what I call the "cut of their jib" test is going to wind up with wildly inappropriate staffing choices. Of course a president who hasn't even minimally reached out to the majority who didn't vote for him is going to have lousy approval ratings.
The way out of the worst of this is obvious: Congressional Republicans need to use their leverage to insist the president hire a real chief of staff to clean house including removing Bannon and run the administration properly. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any hint of it so far. Instead of floating names such as Rob Portman, Mitch Daniels or Lamar Alexander, some Republicans are apparently trying to rally around Priebus, who may not be as objectionable as Bannon but doesn't have the capacity to get the administration on track. If the Russia scandal is, as NBC's First Read said Wednesday, "arguably the biggest scandal involving a foreign government since Iran-Contra," then the solution is the same as it was then: Investigate the scandal to be sure, but meanwhile get a steady hand in the White House to make up for the president's shortcomings.
If Republicans don't demand a new version of Howard Baker (who fixed what was broken in the Ronald Reagan White House back then), they'll only have themselves to blame for the next scandal, and the next one, and the one after that. Which, at this rate, might not even get us to Memorial Day.
Bloomberg View
Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.
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Obvious advice for President Trump: Don't trust Putin
Putin getting exactly what he wants from Trump
How Michael Flynn fell into the arms of the Russians
Imagining a successful Donald Trump presidency
We're wondering which over time turns out to be the bigger bombshell development regarding Russia: Is it the forced resignation of President Donald Trump's national security adviser? Or Vladimir Putin's reported secret deployment of a menacing new cruise missile?
Granted, the first story is significant. There's a lot we still don't know about Michael Flynn's ouster Monday night. Flynn had to go, the White House said Tuesday afternoon, because he wasn't forthright about conversations he had with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. More about that below.
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But whoa, that second story the one literally about Russian bombshells is also troubling. These missiles (medium-range, nuclear tipped) violate a long-standing treaty. The United States cannot allow an adversary to disregard a missile accord without paying a price. Otherwise, such agreements become worthless.
The New York Times, citing government sources, said Tuesday that Russia deployed a ground-launched cruise missile in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Arms Control Association called Russia's alleged move a breach of the U.S.-Russia architecture that helped halt the Cold War nuclear arms race. These Russian missiles were in development for years, and the focus of some mild protests by the Obama White House. Then in December, just after Trump's election, one battery of the missiles went active in Russia, the Times said.
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Every White House administration faces early tests of its resolve. Ready or not, Trump is at risk of being outfoxed by Putin and needs to respond. From his time as a candidate through his first month in office, Trump's behavior toward Putin has seemed more ingratiating than skeptical. Back in September, Trump said Putin was more of a leader than Barack Obama was. We didn't understand Trump's bizarre fascination with the former KGB autocrat during the election, and we don't get it now. Vladimir Putin, who annexed Crimea and now dabbles in Ukraine, is not to be trusted.
Trump's buddying up really does defy description, partly because too much of his fixation is opaque. The president has said he has no business deals in Russia, but he never released his tax returns, which could provide clarity on his business transactions involving foreign countries. There are also the murky circumstances of Russia's hacking activities designed to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Then along comes Flynn, who had numerous phone calls with the Russian ambassador during the transition and misled Vice President Mike Pence about details of those calls. One apparent topic of conversation: Obama administration sanctions against Russia. We don't know the details of those calls. If Flynn talked about lifting sanctions, that could be a violation of law because private citizens can't negotiate U.S. disputes with foreign governments.
Flynn says he gave officials "incomplete information."
The White House said it saw nothing illegal; Trump asked for Flynn's resignation over a loss of trust. But there may be more to the Flynn situation. The FBI reportedly interviewed him about the calls. The Justice Department warned the White House weeks ago that it knew Flynn wasn't being honest, which could have set him up to be blackmailed by the Russians.
All of this drama for Trump and a country to run, too. If the president thought he was buying himself time to deal with Russia by avoiding confrontation early on, that's clearly backfired. Cleaning up the Flynn mess requires finding a strong replacement as national security adviser as quickly as possible and cooperating with any investigations.
On Russia's missile gambit, the U.S. needs to respond to this provocation. That could include more sanctions or deploying counter-weapons in Europe.
And one more piece of advice we never thought we'd have to give a president: Vladimir Putin is not your friend.
Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
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Helicopter parents
The opposition to New Trier Township High School's civil rights seminar day, like so much of our American history, is enveloped in ironies.
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This is not just another secondary school. Ever since it opened its doors in 1901, this duly constituted public institution has attained its much-deserved reputation for excellence in American public education.
The faculty and administration under the aegis of the elected Board of Education in New Trier Township have the legal responsibility furnished by the state of Illinois to design and implement a suitable curriculum for New Trier High School.
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I wholeheartedly acknowledge the prerogatives of the aggrieved parents who have enlisted in the oppositional campaign to thwart the civil rights seminar day.
Certainly they are entitled to petition the school board as well as express their fervent opinions. After all, vigorous dissent a core value of our cherished American political system extends back to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
I have a pertinent question for the dissenters to contemplate: Once your daughters and sons receive their highly valued baccalaureate degrees from New Trier High School, will you closely monitor the content of the curricular offerings and extracurricular activities at the esteemed colleges and universities in which they choose to enroll?
I taught American history at colleges and universities in New York City and Illinois for 40 years. Never did I encounter criticism from parents or administrators about the design of the courses I offered or the content of their subject matter.
Michael H. Ebner, professor emeritus of American history, Lake Forest College
Inquire, commit, serve
I am a proud New Trier Township High School graduate, long-time educator and parent of three adult children.
New Trier inspired me to, as its motto says, commit my mind to inquiry, my heart to compassion, and my life to the service of humanity. I am concerned that a small but vocal group of parents in the community is trying to influence the presentation of a seminar on "Understanding Today's Struggle For Racial Civil Rights." Now, more than ever, our young people need to be reading and hearing authors like Colson Whitehead and Andrew Aydin. They are both National Book Award winners who will be speaking at the seminar.
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How wonderful for our children to grow up here and be educated in such great schools. We want to count on them to be the leaders of tomorrow who will remember what they learned at school and lift up their fellow citizens. I have faith that this seminar will inspire this new generation to inquire, commit and serve. We entrust the expert educators at New Trier to have these goals in mind. New Trier has always been a beacon in the educational community. Let's let these professionals do their job. Great dinner table discussions should ensue.
Mary Kay Koerner, Deerfield
Mandatory seminar
Officials at New Trier Township High School are requiring students to attend a day on learning about the struggle for equal rights by African-Americans. Although they plan to stick with the original program, many parents have complained because it has a "liberal" bias. It's too bad the views of these parents cannot be included, as I'd sure like to know what that other take looks like. This is especially so if the high school is focusing on the fight for equal rights in the 1950s and 1960s. I'd be really interested to hear what a conservative has to say about it. In my view, attendance by these parents should be mandatory, as it seems to me they also need to be educated.
Nick Sloane, Glendale Heights
I was among the few allowed to ask a question during Rep. Peter Roskam's telephone town hall on Monday. My question was in regards to a letter his office sent me in response to criticism of his support for the president's travel ban. In the letter he cited the attacks in Paris, San Bernardino and Orlando as evidence of the order's merit. Obviously none of the attackers in Paris were subjected to vetting by the U.S. The attackers in San Bernardino were an American-born citizen and his Pakistani wife. Likewise, the perpetrator of the Orlando attack was a citizen born in this country.
I asked my representative why he supported this ban when he could not even provide any relevant evidence to support the claim that our vetting of immigrants and refugees from these counties is insufficient. Furthermore, given that the overwhelming majority of terrorism in the U.S. is conducted by our own citizens, why would he support an action that only serves to further radicalize those here who would do us harm? He did not have a sufficient answer. He simply claimed that those attacks did somehow indicate that our extensive vetting is somehow failing. His only concession was that the executive order was enacted "inartfully."
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When I tried to follow up and ask that he actually address my concerns, I found that I had been muted. That night I heard others with friendlier questions talk back and forth with my representative. I was not afforded such a privilege. At least I got to ask a question; many have reported that they were not permitted to, and many others were dropped from the call.
I hope that Roskam eventually will agree to meet me and his constituents face-to-face. His recent motto has been: "Reasonable people can disagree." Maybe one day he will meet us.
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Chad Condon, Naperville
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner delivers his third State of the State address at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Jan. 25, 2017. Rauner will give his third annual budget speech Wednesday. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Two years ago, just before Gov. Bruce Rauner's first budget address to the General Assembly, I was on fire with curiosity.
The rookie politician had run on the vague promise that he could get Illinois' collapsing financial house in order without raising taxes. In fact he'd insisted that lawmakers allow most of a temporary income tax increase to expire.
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But the time for slogans and platitudes had passed. The Illinois Constitution demands that the budget process begin with the governor preparing and submitting a "budget for the ensuing fiscal year" in which "proposed expenditures shall not exceed funds estimated to be available."
Balanced, in other words.
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Could he do it?
No, he could not. Even after laying out some $6 billion in program cuts, the plan he offered in mid-February 2015 balanced only by assuming $2 billion in savings from obviously unconstitutional proposed changes to the public pension laws.
The constitution requires the House and Senate in turn to counter the governor's proposed budget with a series of spending bills in which "appropriations for (the) fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year."
Balanced, in other words.
Did they do it?
No, they did not. Instead, the Democratically controlled legislature sent Rauner what amounted to a spending wish list and invited him to use his veto pen to cut more than $4 billion to bring it into balance.
Rauner didn't take that bait and refused to negotiate on a taxing-and-spending plan until the General Assembly passed elements of his broader pro-business, anti-union agenda.
And, as you know, a standoff ensued. Democrats, led by veteran House Speaker Michael Madigan, insisted that budget talks, almost impossibly complicated on their own, not be further complicated by Rauner's non-budgetary ultimatums.
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Court orders and other side deals allowed 90 percent of state spending to continue without formal appropriations while human services and higher education, in particular, suffered.
One year ago, just before Rauner's second budget address, I was but mildly smoldering with curiosity.
By then I knew the governor didn't have any magic beans in his bag and had no intention of proposing a straightforward, balanced mix of revenues and expenditures. I simply wondered how he'd wriggle out of his constitutional duty a second time.
Well, he did it by proposing a budget that was $3.5 billion in the red and offering Democratic legislators a choice on how to fill that hole: They could either pass some of his non-budget agenda items as a precondition for negotiating on cuts and new taxes the ol' hostage routine or they could give him unprecedented, unilateral emergency authority over nearly all of state spending so he could make the necessary cuts on his own.
The Democrats rejected the choice, naturally. And the House responded with another wish list that didn't balance spending with anticipated revenue as the constitution required.
The standoff continued. And if you think it's just some bookkeeping abstraction, I recommend going to the YouTube channel for "Stranded by the State," a documentary project by Chicago's Kartemquin Films (of "Hoop Dreams" fame) and Illinois Public Media.
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The segments, which have been knitted together for airing on public TV stations this month, show how the human costs in reduced and eliminated services for individuals are compounding long-term financial costs for all state residents.
The imperative for the governor to step up and do his job to propose an actual budget with no fairy dust sprinkled on it and for the legislature to respond by doing its job to turn that proposal into legislation has never been greater.
Yet this year, just before Rauner's third budget address Wednesday afternoon in Springfield, my curiosity is a sodden mound of ashes.
Nothing Rauner has said in his recent public remarks, including in a cheesy Facebook Live curtain-raiser Tuesday afternoon, makes me wonder if he'll say something bold or interesting. Nothing indicates he's any less determined to force Madigan to knuckle under to some of his extrinsic demands as a precondition to budget negotiations, or any more willing to make the politically risky decision to take the lead on hammering out a state spending plan.
And yes, there's plenty of cowardice and hypocrisy to go around here. Our elected officials don't want to own the painful combination of tax increases and spending cuts necessary to make up for years of irresponsible fiscal stewardship. Even the tentative moves in the Senate to strike a "grand bargain" compromise have sent lawmakers scurrying for cover as lobbyists and ideologues fire their flaming arrows.
But fear, stubbornness and blaming others has gotten us nowhere in two years except way deeper in debt, and it's gotten us nothing but misery and ever more wretched bond ratings.
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Will the governor at last do the job Wednesday that the constitution demands. Will he stop playing policy games and begin to lead us out of this mess by proposing a balanced budget without strings attached. Or will he instead continue to hope that whatever political advantage comes from this slow-motion disaster will accrue to him and the Republicans.
Notice that I did not use question marks in the previous paragraph.
Because I'm not really asking.
I already know the answers and, sadly, so do you.
Twitter @EricZorn
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Chicago school board sues state, alleges 'separate and unequal' funding
Wake up, Bruce Rauner. Bring back Illinois.
Will Madigan and Rauner act like statesmen or Illinois politicians?
Kennedy enters 2018 Illinois governor's race ripping Rauner for causing 'economic chaos'
MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski said on Wednesday that she won't allow President Donald Trump's top counselor, Kellyanne Conway, to appear on "Morning Joe."The show's host slammed Conway for spinning on behalf of the administration without being accurate."She books herself on these shows. We know for a fact that she tries to book herself on this show," Brzezinski said. "I won't do it because I don't believe in fake news or information that is not true, and every time I see her on television something is askew, off, or incorrect."I guess Morning Joe has had it's fill of "alternative facts"
Gov. Bruce Rauner presents his 2017 budget address to the General Assembly at the Capitol in Springfield on Feb. 15, 2017. (Illinois General Assembly) (Illinois General Assembly/Chicago Tribune)
Restive, annoyed Democratic lawmakers quietly but openly mocked Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner several times Wednesday afternoon as he delivered his third annual budget address in Springfield.
They murmured in audible disagreement when he claimed, again, that he proposed a balanced budget two years ago.
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They laughed when he said, "This isn't about pointin' fingers or assignin' blame."
They laughed again and almost seemed to heckle him when he claimed that legislative term limits, an item on his policy agenda of which he seems particularly fond, "get job creators excited."
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Overall, the 37-minute speech deserved a resigned, Reagan-esque chuckle: There you go again.
Lots of platitudinous evasions of the tough choices that he and the General Assembly are really going to have to make if the ongoing budget stalemate is to be resolved. More exhortation than policy.
A few quotes and comments:
Rauner: "For the first time, legislators from both parties are standing together to say that Illinois must have structural change to grow our economy and create good jobs in every part of our state. That budgets must be truly balanced for the long term and that to achieve balanced budgets, changes must be made to fix our broken system. On this, we all now agree. And that is real progress."
No, that is real nonsense. Both parties have long agreed that certain policies and practices need to be changed to set things right in Illinois, and the problem has always been that they don't agree on which ones and how they should be changed.
Rauner: "Today, we finally all agree that economic reforms must be part of a balanced budget solution."
Long term, yes, and nothing new or "finally" about it. But there is not widespread agreement by any means that such "reforms" (journalists should avoid that word when at all possible) should be mandatory before annual budget talks can proceed, which is Rauner's position.
Rauner: "Two years ago, our Administration proposed a balanced budget. It contained more than $6 billion in cuts, spending only what the state could afford at current revenue. But the majority in the General Assembly simply ignored our proposal, didn't discuss it, debate it, didn't vote on it just passed their own your own $4 billion out-of-balance budget. And so our current impasse began."
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This rank revisionist history prompted groans and grumbling in the hall. Rauner's proposed budget two years ago assumed into reality phantom savings from a constitutionally dubious pension program alteration that, of course, never materialized. He might be able to get away with such statements at service club luncheons, but not in front of lawmakers who know the record.
Rauner: "We are here once again with our hand outstretched to the leaders and members of the General Assembly. Between ongoing budget negotiations in the Senate and all of our leaders acknowledging the need for change, there is good reason for optimism. I am deeply optimistic."
This line was greeted with applause and I'm all for can-do uplift, but really? At a time like this, a leader needs to level with his constituents about the pain and sacrifices that lie ahead. Illinois is in a huge hole. Digging out is going to be tough.
Rauner: "Some people argue we should just cut our way out of our budget problems. Others believe we should simply raise taxes and declare the budget crisis solved."
But these are not serious people. They are strawman ideologues. The grown-ups have long known that a mix is required.
Rauner: "I've repeatedly said that I will consider new revenue, revenue increases if we stand together to make the job-creating changes we need ... we've always said that we'd consider revenue if it comes with changes that create jobs and grow the economy."
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So say something new! Like what rate will you accept? What rate do you think will be necessary?
Rauner: "Pension reforms, in addition to (Senate) President (John) Cullerton's consideration model, can save us a billion dollars right off the bat. A new hybrid pension Tier III plan could give new employees more options while saving the state money."
I'm deeply suspicious of any claim that new employees will choose a pension option that will save the state lots of money. Because if it saves the state lots of money, well, I'm not the math person in my family but ... And Cullerton's consideration model is certain to face a court challenge, if passed.
Rauner: "Together, let's look at each regulation that we have, at every law we pass, and ask ourselves a simple question: how does this impact job creators? Is the benefit of this rule worth the cost in lost jobs? That's the essential question that can guide our decisions every day."
One person's regulation is another's consumer protection. Of course the interests of business should be part of any discussion of safeguarding laws, but not the essential question. How does the requirement impact the environment? Public safety? Health? The fundamental concepts of fairness?
Rauner: "These changes (rootin' out fraud and abuse from the workers' compensation system and gettin' highest-in-the-country property taxes under control ... term limits and redistricting) are necessary to producin' long-term balanced budgets and long-term financial stability. They are THE items that can ensure Illinois not only survives, but thrives, for generations to come."
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Each is worthy of a vigorous and independent debate. None needs to be held hostage before serious budget talks can begin.
Rauner: "We need a permanent property tax freeze in Illinois."
This is populist piffle from the party that otherwise keens over the value of local control. Property taxes should be a local issue, and freezes on any budgetary items ought to be temporary, not permanent, because circumstances change.
Rauner: "We're open to a broader sales tax base to mirror neighboring states like Wisconsin, but let's make sure it's best for the people of Illinois, not for the lobbyists here in Springfield."
He's "open" to it? No. He's the governor. He's got to get behind a specific proposal and stop punting to the lawmakers.
Rauner: "We cannot tax people's retirement income."
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Just about every other state does.
Rauner: "Passin' term limits is one of the most important things we can do to send a positive recruitin' message to job creators: It's a new day in Illinois, we've turned the corner."
If there's any evidence that states with legislative term limits are more attractive to relocating businesses than states without such limits, I've yet to see it.
Look, we get it. Rauner hates septuagenarian Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. But Madigan will almost certainly be retired by the time a term-limits amendment would take effect. Give it a rest.
A quick look at page 30 of the budget book Rauner's office released after the speech shows that his budget is "balanced" by sprinkling onto it a fairy-dust line item of "Grand Bargain" savings of $4.6 billion.
Oh, and if you're keeping score: Of the 136 words Rauner spoke from the podium that ended with the "-ing" syllable, he dropped the final "g" on 76 of those, ("We convened bipartisan workin' groups, doin' our best to find a way forward together," for example) for a 56 percent score on the Folksy-Meter.
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That's down from a 62 percent score in his State of the State address in January, but up from the 47 percent score in last year's budget address.
Twitter @EricZorn
Some of the students expelled this year by East Aurora School District were those involved in a stabbing during a fight across from East Aurora High School, a trash can fire in a high school bathroom and a fight involving students, adults and school officials at the high school. (The Beacon-News / Sarah Freishtat)
Nearly six months into the school year, East Aurora School District 131 officials have expelled more than double the number of students they expelled all last school year.
The uptick comes the same year as a new discipline law that includes measures designed to limit punishments that remove kids from class.
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So far this school year, board members approved the expulsion of 11 students, meeting minutes and coverage by the Beacon-News show. During the previous school year, board members approved the outright expulsion of one student, the expulsion of two other students with the caveat that they were subject to alternative placement to be determined by administrators, and, for a fourth student, approved an expulsion but specified it could be modified to a placement in an alternative program on the condition that the student complete drug and alcohol counseling. They approved sending three other students to alternative programs in lieu of expulsion that year, meeting minutes show.
Mark McDonald, one of the district's two interim superintendents, said in a written statement the district regrets having to expel any student from school and characterized the decision to do so as "the most difficult decision educators and boards of education have to make."
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"Some student conduct, however, is impossible for the district to tolerate while still maintaining a safe school environment for the majority of our students who come to school intending to learn," he said. "The students recently expelled acted willfully, without regard to the safety and welfare of others, and we believe we had no choice (but) to act as we did."
Under the new state law, which took effect in September, certain types of discipline including expulsions, longer suspensions and placement in an alternative school can only be used if a student's presence in class is deemed a significant disruption or threat or if administrators have tried other disciplinary actions. It also prohibits zero-tolerance policies that lead to automatic suspensions or expulsions for certain behavior and sets several other requirements. Several Fox Valley districts were working on measures to reduce or replace such discipline practices before the bill took effect.
In East Aurora, an administrator who at the time was working on efforts to comply with the law and has since left the district described to the Beacon-News last spring several ways the district was rethinking its response to student infractions, along with steps it would take to meet other requirements of the law. But he said students who cause disruptions to learning or who pose a threat to themselves or others could still face suspension or expulsion.
McDonald, in his statement, said the bill is designed to reduce suspensions and expulsions by providing students with "support systems" to improve their experiences at school and causes educators to examine each instance a student would be excluded from school because of their behavior.
"District 131 has stepped up its efforts at student supports and interventions and also revised its discipline policies to meet the requirements of the law," he said. "(The law) does not prevent boards of education from expelling students for deliberate dangerous actions in which students and staff have been injured or when a student clearly threatens the safety of the student body and faculty. When those occur, we believe the district needs to respond accordingly."
Student discipline has been a point of contention in East Aurora, as it has in some other Fox Valley districts. During teacher and staff contract negotiations last school year, some East Aurora teachers highlighted "constant disruptions" in some classrooms and called for consistent discipline.
This year's expulsions have been approved between November 2016 and February 2017, including one instance where five East Aurora High School students were expelled in one meeting in January. Last school year, the expulsions and alternative program placements were each approved between December 2015 and February 2016.
School board President Annette Johnson said some of the students expelled this year were those involved in a stabbing during a fight across from the high school, a trash can fire in a high school bathroom and a fight involving students, adults and school officials at the high school. Those incidents, all in December, led to the arrest of five students and two adults, and district officials have said they were unrelated.
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"Yes, there is a new state law, but the issues that have been coming up are related to student safety," Johnson said.
She said the district is working on a variety of services for at-risk kids.
McDonald said numbers of expulsions vary from year to year and said this year's expulsions would be affected by several "significant disciplinary incidents" involving multiple students.
"That said, we have over 3,800 students at East High School, the vast majority of whom are good students and citizens making good choices and focused on contributing to their school community," he said. "Our responsibility to those students is to take appropriate actions to keep our school safe."
sfreishtat@tribpub.com
Twitter @srfreish
Juan Romero of Aurora talks about his ongoing mission to find the funds needed so his 9-year-old son Carlos can continue with the treatments he needs to try and keep his rare form of bone cancer in remission. (Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News)
I can only imagine it. But the hardest thing a father can do is watch his child battle cancer.
It's also got to be darn tough asking for the funds needed to keep your son from succumbing to his disease.
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Even tougher: going back and asking for more.
That's the predicament Juan Romero, of Aurora, finds himself in as he struggles to come up with the cash needed for an expensive drug, not yet approved in the U.S. but used in Europe, that could keep his son's rare form of bone cancer in remission. Without it, the tumors will likely come back, he said. And doctors have already told him there are no other treatment options available.
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Romero, a 53-year-old father of two who works at Wal-Mart, is nothing but "grateful" for the community's support that, last year, raised close to $50,000. It's a staggering amount that allowed him to pay for half of the 48 treatments Carlos needs over a nine-month period.
Much of that money came from a raffle he held mostly for family and friends, as well as funds from two benefits sponsored by the caring staff and families at McCleery Elementary School, where Carlos is a well-liked fourth-grader who has somehow managed to keep his grades high, despite so much time spent in hospitals.
On Friday, Carlos will receive dose number 16. Thanks to so many generous people, his father was able to pay the first installment when it came due in January and has the money for the second installment, due Feb. 24.
But after that, the account is empty.
Romero said he's been working to come up with the second half of that hundred-grand since December. But it's been tough. How do you hit up the same family and friends who have already been so generous, he asks. How do you go back to the school district and beg for more assistance? There are, after all, other students who need help, other families struggling. And you can only go back to the well so many times.
"It's a horrible situation," said West Aurora School District 129 spokesman Tony Martinez. "You can't blame him for what he's trying to do. I'm a father too and would do anything for my child."
Which is why Martinez and Alex Perez, director of the city's public access television station, are planning to donate their time to create a video about Carlos' story that they hope to "push out online," said Martinez, in the hopes of gaining enough viral interest to pay for the other half of treatments.
"When you hear about what Carlos' father is doing, and to know Carlos, who is an amazing child, you can't help but be touched," said Martinez. "People need to hear this story."
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Juan Romero holds a package that contained the expensive drug Mepact his 9-year-old son Carlos is now taking to try tokeep his rare form of bone cancer in remission. (Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News)
Carlos, a once-active kid known for his upbeat personality, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the summer of 2014. Since then, he's undergone repeated rounds of chemotherapy and surgery to remove tumors, only to have the cancer return again and again. In his last surgery, his dad said, doctors had to remove 50 percent of his left lung, but he's tried to keep as much as he can from the boy "because Carlitos deserves as happy and carefree childhood" as possible.
And so, his father takes on the heaviness of the task at hand.
Romero said since his son was diagnosed, his one and only focus has been to fight for his son's survival, including calls and/or visits to state and federal legislatures, as well as trips to leading medical institutions including the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.
Carlos' best shot at survival, Romero soon learned, was the drug Mepact, which has not been approved by the FDA here because studies done in the United States in the 1990s were conflicting, according to a spokeswoman at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, where Carlos is now receiving treatment. That means places such as St. Jude's can't use or administer it, nor is it covered by insurance.
And so Mepact, which is available overseas, comes at a hefty cost. But from what Romero has gathered after talking to countless medical experts and other families, it puts his son's survival rate at 80 percent.
Those are odds this father said are well worth fighting for.
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As he talks to me about the long and arduous road his family has been on for almost three years, Romero becomes teary-eyed. But his voice is filled with resolve, and I can't help but be reminded of Denzel Washington's character in "John Q," the heart-wrenching 2002 movie about a father's desperate attempts in this case, holding a hospital hostage to get his dying son the surgery he needed.
Romero is aware of the movie, as others have compared his dilemma to the one faced by the character John Quincy Archiobald. "I'm going to do everything I can do, legally," he emphasized.
"Every spare moment I'm working with my son and for my son," Romero added. "I've got to keep knocking on so many doors in order to get one to open. But I'll keep doing it because my child's life is worth it."
dcrosby@tribpub.com
Fundraising efforts
To find out more about efforts to help Carlos Romero, go to www.facebook.com/carlitos.cure. To contribute, go to GoFundMe.com/CarlitosCure.
sambaRoot said: Historically established international law, then goes Constitution (a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state is acknowledged to be governed)...
Article 6
3. The establishment and activities of political parties and other public associations whose goals and activities are aimed at the forcible changing of the basis of the constitutional order and at violating the integrity of the State, at undermining its security, at engaging in terrorism, at creating armed units, at instigating religious, social, racial, national, and tribal strife; and that are based on sectarian, regional, class, professional discrimination, or on discrimination by gender or origin, may not be undertaken. Such organizations may not be part of the social and political system in Syria.
4. Syria denounces terrorism in all its forms and shall ensure protection of its territories and population against terrorist threats.
Learn it, and then talk about the rights of terrorists on Syrian land!:evil: Click to expand...
As I have stated, the liars may write their lies into laws and constitutions of the states, but these lies will not become truth, no will these lies, even if written into the constitution and the laws of the state, international law, laws of mankind and humanity, deny God-given natural rights to life, freedom, property and pursuit of happiness, derivative-natural rights, civil rights, traditional rights to those men and women, who freely and consciously chose to reject them in this world and for ever: there is a good Arab saying, one can say sugar a thousand times, but it will not sweeten his mouth.Objectively, some Syrians and Assyrians, sons and daughters of Assur, including islamic warriors of Jabhat al Nusra (Tahrir Al Sham) and the Assyrians and the descendants of Assyrians of the islamic state of Iraq and Syria, freely and consciously rejected to live under Syrian constitution and Syrian laws, international law and laws of mankind/humanity, and established free Syrian people and free Syrian state. These Syrians and Assyrians, sons and daughters of Assur, including islamic warriors of Jabhat al Nusra (Tahrir Al Sham) and the Assyrians and the descendants of Assyrians of the islamic state of Iraq and Syria have settlement rights to reside freely and separately in Syria under jus sanguinis, historically established international law and unchangeable decrees of Syrian and Assyrian kings, in force as long as the Syrian people and the Assyrian people remain, freely and proudly stampeding and trampling under their free and proud feet Syrian constitution and Syrian laws, international law and laws of mankind/humanity. These millions of Syrians and Assyrians, sons and daughters of Assur, including islamic warriors of Jabhat al Nusra (Tahrir Al Sham) and the Assyrians and the descendants of Assyrians of the islamic state of Iraq and Syria objectively exist and fight for their sacred and inalienable to self-determination of peoples and their blood based settlement rights in Syria in Syrian civil war, and Almighty God, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit - burning fire with his great sword will fight for Jabhat al Nusra (Tahrir Al Sham) and the Assyrians and the descendants of Assyrians of the islamic state of Iraq and Syria in the territory of Syria and will slay all Syrian and foreign enemies of Jabhat al Nusra (Tahrir Al Sham) and the Assyrians and the descendants of Assyrians of the islamic state of Iraq and Syria in the territory of Syria, so that all Syrians and Assyrians, sons and daughter of Assur may live in peace in Syria and Assyria.The liars may write their lies into laws and constitution of assadite Syria: free Syrian people laugh at laws and constitution of assadite Syria and spit at laws and constitution of assadite Syria. And you will have to learn, that existence exists, whether you like it or whether you dislike it, against your will, and those men and women, who freely reject national constitutions and national laws, international law, laws of mankind and humanity, and/or God and gods, and build the world differently from the states, nations and peoples, are entitled to live their lives as they see fit, under the covenant of Noah, the general covenant in force throughout the whole earth with all men and women, sons and daughters of Noah, the provision of which are above all commandments of Lord God Jehovah and all commandments of Lord Jesus Christ, as long as no abominable deeds of sexual perversions (homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13), lesbianism (Leviticus 20:13), bestiality (Leviticus 20:15), incest (Leviticus 20:11-17), ********** (sexual relations with girls below 12 years of age) (Leviticus 20:2-3, Matthew 18:6)), abominations (child murders (abortions)) (Leviticus 20:2-3, Exodus 21:22-25), change of gender (Book of Enoch, section XVII, chapter 86; section II, chapter 10), cannibalism (Book of Enoch, section II, chapter 7,10), human cloning (Book of Enoch, section XVII, chapter 86; section II, chapter 10), intentional murder (Exodus 21:14), enslavement of men/women (Exodus 21:16) or selling of men/women to slavery (Exodus 21:16) are committed by them.
A Lebanon woman was shot dead in her home on Feb. 14 and her husband Jason Allen Garlinghouse, 34, has been arrested, according to a Lebanon Police Department report.
Patrol officers arrived at the residence at 928 Osprey Way after receiving a call that a female, Sparki Sue Garlinghouse, 35, had been shot inside the residence. Her husband, Jason Allen Garlinghouse, 33, was in the home at the time, according to the report.
Police obtained a search warrant, allowing multiple officers, deputies, detectives and members of the Oregon State Police Crime Lab to search the home, where they found evidence, including a firearm allegedly used in the shooting.
Garlinghouse made the initial 911 call, when he indicated Sparki Garlinghouse came at him and attacked him. He gave no further statement. He was arrested at midnight at the Lebanon Police Department, and charged with murder.
Two elementary school age children also lived at the house, but they were not home at the time of the shooting and they have been placed with family members.
The Linn County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police assisted in the investigation.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Lebanon Police Department Detective Division at 541-451-1751, or reach out to the agency via the MyPD app or its Facebook page.
We will have more information as it becomes available.
Randolph Edward Lloyd, 55, died Feb. 11, 2017. A visitation will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb 16, at AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home. A recitation of the rosary will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb 16, at AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home. A funeral liturgy will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at St. Marys Catholic Church in Albany.
Richard Towey, 88, long-time Corvallis resident, died Feb. 6, 2017, in Portland. A funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at St. Marys Catholic Church, 501 NW 25th St., Corvallis. DeMoss-Durdan Funeral Home & Crematory is handling arrangements.
Steve Skeeter Joseph Vargo, 72, formerly of Albany, died Feb. 7, 2017, in the Ogden, Utah, hospital. Military honors will be at 6 p.m. and viewing will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, at the Premier Funeral Services of Roy, 5335 S. 1950 W., Roy, Utah.
The rebirth of the American bald eagle populations in Oregon and nationwide can easily be witnessed this time of year, as Americas national symbol bird dances in the sky over the mid-valleys bright green farm fields.
But while it may be soothing to watch the majestic birds, once nearly extinct, they also pose a problem for sheep producers, who say they lose newborn lambs to them.
The eagles migrate here following the Canada geese and ducks, Brownsville area sheep producer Reed Anderson said. They start out eating dead sheep and then figure out its easier to kill a baby lamb than a goose or duck.
Anderson estimates he loses 10 to 15 percent of his lamb crop to eagles.
It never used to be this way, Anderson said. You might see one to three eagles on a dead sheep. Now, you might see a dozen.
Anderson said he tries to keep newborn lambs protected for the first couple of weeks and to keep ewes in higher traffic areas, where eagles dont like to settle.
Ewes average 1.5 lambs per season.
Its also the time of year when rodents and other field critters are hibernating, Anderson said of the eagles search for food.
About 50 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there were only about 400 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous 48 states. The pesticide DDT was found to harm the birds reproductive systems and was banned. In 1978, the bald eagle was listed as a threatened species. It was delisted in 2007.
There are now an estimated 10,000 nesting pairs nationwide. The American Eagle Foundation estimates there are about 400 nesting pairs of bald eagles in Oregon.
Of the contiguous states, Minnesota has the largest bald eagle population, with an estimated 1,312 nesting pairs, followed by Florida with 1,133 pairs. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game estimates there are more than 30,000 bald eagles in that state.
Emily Ruckert raises about 400 ewes in the Seven Mile Lane area and echoed Andersons sentiments about eagles.
They are definitely a problem, she said. On a nice day like today, if we lamb outside, we really have to keep an eye on them. The eagles will be sitting and watching.
Ruckert said the eagles will start by cleaning up afterbirth, but often progress to newborns.
We actually had a ewe chase an eagle off the other day, Ruckert said.
Ruckert said its difficult to estimate how many lambs are killed by eagles since there are other predators, including coyotes. But she said she lost between 10 and 15 lambs last season.
She has seen as many as 20 bald eagles in a single field.
We try to lamb in the barns if possible and keep the lambs in for a couple weeks, Ruckert said.
Her father, Roger Ruckert, said that in the 1950s, sighting one eagle was something to talk about.
I know people believe bald eagles will only eat dead things, but they do pull salmon out of rivers and they arent dead, he said.
Ruckert said eagles also have learned that after a ewe has delivered one lamb and is delivering a second lamb, it is vulnerable.
Although he hasn't not seen an eagle drop a lamb to kill it, an employee has.
Ruckert said the issue of increased cougar populations in the mid-valley creates a domino effect in terms of predator pecking order. He said the cougars and coyotes have pushed lower in the mid-valley as well.
Ruckert said coyotes will often crush a lambs windpipe and leave its carcass.
Its definitely a success story from a conservation viewpoint, said Martin Nugent, threatened and endangered sensitive species coordinator with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It is an iconic species nationally and it was heavily impacted by pesticides in the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
Nugent credited the banning of DDT, along with protection under state and federal threatened and endangered species programs, with its comeback.
It is a recovery story that we are able to document, thanks to Oregon State University and the Oregon Eagle Foundations constant monitoring over 30 years, Nugent said. Bald and golden eagles are spectacular to see, and although they have been delisted as an endangered species, they remain protected.
The bald eagle has been removed from both the state and federal threatened and endangered lists, but it remains illegal to harass them or to shoot them.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the bald eagle is protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which was passed in 1940. It makes it illegal to take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, export or import any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part of them, including their nests or eggs.
Penalties range from a $5,000 fine and one year imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine and two years of imprisonment.
Farmers and ranchers can apply for a permit to haze eagles, but the process can be time-consuming, because a representative of the U.S. Wildlife Services must inspect the lamb carcass and determine it was indeed killed by an eagle.
The carcass is supposed to be left in the field, which is a problem since it likely will be consumed by other predators and it can take several weeks before a permit is issued.
By Jake Liddle
In October 2016, Hong Kongs government issued a consultation paper for implementing measures to counter base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) in the region.
BEPS refers to tax planning strategies that exploit discrepancies in tax laws in order to shift profits to jurisdictions where there are lower tax rates, often tax havens. While some methods are illegal, many are not, and can disrupt domestic market competition and undermine taxation systems. Because of their reliance on income tax, BEPS is particularly relevant to developing countries. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 countries have formed an inclusive framework, which implicates over 100 jurisdictions to cooperatively implement the OECD/G20 BEPS package, a tool that provides governments with the means to tackle BEPS on domestic and international levels.
As a key member of the inclusive framework and as an international finance center, Hong Kong indicated its intent to join the OECD scheme in June 2016. The consultation paper highlights the governments commitment to implementing the BEPS package consistently, marking the start of a potentially long process of aligning its domestic tax system with the latest international tax standards. Hong Kong will do this by revising domestic laws in order to facilitate its smooth implementation, and aims to fully introduce it in the middle of this year.
The consultation paper outlines key areas of the BEPS package that will be given priority for implementation, namely:
The transfer pricing regulatory regime;
Transfer pricing documentation and country by country reporting;
Anti-treaty abuse rules in comprehensive double tax agreements (CDTAs);
Multilateral instruments;
Statutory cross border dispute resolution mechanisms;
Spontaneous exchange of information (EOI) regarding tax rulings; and,
Enhancement of the tax credit system.
RELATED: Tax and Compliance Services from Dezan Shira & Associates
Although Hong Kong will implement the four minimum standards of the OECD BEPS package, and the above priority measures, it will also maintain a simple and low tax regime. BEPS is a more pertinent issue for Hong Kong, as the region is often used as a base and gateway by multinationals to access Mainland China due to its legal autonomy and relative tax freedom.
China Mainland
Though not as pressing for the Mainland, it has maintained a positive approach to the OECD BEPS package, and is an active purveyor of the scheme. Chinas particular attention to the BEPS package can be put down to the countrys implementation of the so called tax reform plan, which aims to reform the tax collection and administration system of tax bureaus on both local and state levels. And in 2014, President Xi Jinping pledged support for the inclusive framework and global tax reform. Since, China has hosted the G20 and the OECD Forum on Tax Administration. The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has been instrumental in implementing BEPS related regulation, translating and publishing all BEPS reports in Chinese, participating in the formulation of the BEPS project, and forming a domestic BEPS task force. Tax laws and treaties have been revised by SAT in order for the BEPS package to have optimum effect in China, including regulation pertaining to transfer pricing, anti-avoidance rules, and financial and tax EOI. Thus Chinas regulatory environment and tax authorities behaviours are changing accordingly.
Impact assessment for investors
As a holistic program in itself, the BEPS action plan poses a significant change not only for international tax law, but also for how individual jurisdictions interact and operate. This applies to both Hong Kong and China, two regions proactively dedicated to implementing the OECDs BEPS package. Thus, it is of key importance for multinational enterprises and investors to take heed of the changes, keep on top of updates to regulation, and, in particular, adjust internal operation to reflect the changes in the international and domestic tax environments. A good way to start this process is to conduct a BEPS impact assessment, so that operation is sufficiently calibrated with the changing tax compliance requirements. Preparations should also be made for wider BEPS plans outside of China and Hong Kong in order to fully comply in the international tax environment.
About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight.
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An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017
Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.
Navigating HR Audits in China
Recent changes in Chinas labor market have underscored the importance of having both an efficient HR system and a satisfied and reliable workforce, and the HR audit is a useful tool to ensure this. In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we provide a guide for conducting HR audits in China. We analyze why the HR audit is especially important for foreign companies operating in the country, and then detail the different HR audit models and procedures that are available to firms.
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China's foreign trade still faces downward pressure despite improvements in January, a senior commerce official said Tuesday.
"Uncertain and unstable factors are increasing. Difficulties facing China's foreign trade are not short term," said Wang Dongtang, deputy director-general of the foreign trade department under the Ministry of Commerce.
The rise of trade protectionism, sluggish overseas demand, and increasing domestic production costs are potential restraints on China's future exports growth, he added.
However, Wang said, the foreign trade fundamentals have not changed and the country still retains advantages in this regard.
China's trade started this year with a strong rebound, with exports and imports both up significantly.
Exports rose 15.9 percent year on year in January, up from 0.6 percent in December, while imports increased 25.2 percent, up from 10.8 percent, customs data showed Friday.
Exports to the European Union, China's biggest trade partner, climbed 13.6 percent year on year in January.
In the same period, exports to the United States, China's second-biggest trade partner, rose 17.2 percent, and those to emerging economies also jumped.
The ministry will continue to implement pro-trade policies and strengthen trade cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road to boost foreign trade, Wang said.
A clerk counts currency at a Bank of China Ltd branch in Nanchong, Sichuan province. [Photo/Xinhua]
China hopes that other nations will see the renminbi's exchange rate "in a right manner", a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, in response to news that Washington may be exploring ways to avoid a confrontation with Beijing over currency.
The issue again rose to the surface with the swearing in on Monday of Steven Mnuchin, as US treasury secretary. Mnuchin, who has called China a currency manipulator, was promptly sworn in after his confirmation by the US Senate.
Analysts said dialogue between China and the US will be of vital importance during the next two months, given that Washington is set to issue its next report evaluating the foreign exchange practices of major trading partners on April 15.
China has never undervalued its currency to get an export advantage, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news conference. Geng said China will continue to reform its renminbi rate setting procedures.
Geng's comments were made in response to a Wall Street Journal report that the administration of US President Donald Trump is considering ways to avoid confronting Beijing over currency.
Instead, the US commerce secretary would designate currency manipulation as an unfair subsidy when employed by any country, instead of singling out China, the newspaper reported.
The administration would avoid, at least for now, accusing China of manipulating its currency, it said.
Trump threatened during his campaign to label China a currency manipulator. But he has softened his tone since then. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last month, Trump said he wouldn't name China a manipulator on his first day in office as previously promised.
"I would talk to them first," he was quoted as saying. "Certainly they are manipulators. But I'm not looking to do that."
Jin Yong, a professor of international relations studies at the Communication University of China, said that if the new approach is used, it would suggest Trump is taking a softer approach toward China.
Labeling China a currency manipulator could lead to trade conflicts between the world's top two economies, hurting everyone, he said.
Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said that Beijing and Washington are likely to engage in tough negotiations in coming months, given that the label of currency manipulator would harm China's trade interests.
"There are likely to be compromises on both sides in the dialogue on currency," he said, adding that Trump may still label China a currency manipulator if negotiations break down.
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Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over a meeting of the chairpersons of the 12th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2017. [Xinhua/Li Tao]
China's top legislature will convene its bimonthly session from Feb. 22 to 24, according to a statement issued after a chairpersons' meeting Tuesday.
Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), presided over the meeting.
Legislators will review a report by the Standing Committee of the NPC, to be submitted to an annual session of the 12th NPC in March.
They will consider the draft agenda of the annual session, a draft list of candidates for the session presidium and secretary-general, as well as a list of observers, it said.
Legislators will continue deliberating revisions to the law on the Red Cross Society, the law on corporate income tax and the Unfair Competition Law, according to the statement.
They will also review a report on the qualifications of some NPC deputies and discuss appointments and dismissals.
Twenty five people have been arrested in two separate instances of fly-tipping, in which more than 100,000 tonnes of garbage was carelessly dumped last year, the People's Procuratorate of Zhejiang Province in east China said Tuesday.
The 25 suspects have been implicated in two cases that occurred between May and December last year.
In one case, over 90,000 tonnes of household trash from Haiyan County, Zhejiang, was either dumped at sites across the provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui, or thrown into the Nantong section of the Yangtze River in east China's Jiangsu Province.
In the other case, more than 10,990 tonnes of trash from Haining City, Zhejiang, was collected and 9,747 tonnes of it was dumped into the Yangtze River between November and December, causing serious water pollution and economic losses of over 300,000 yuan (about 43,725 U.S. dollars).
The investigation continues.
More than 80 aquatic animal rescuers are now involved in the search for an injured finless porpoise in the country's largest freshwater lake.
In addition, more than 2,000 fishermen have also been mobilized on Poyang Lake to report traces of the finless porpoise - an endangered mammal considered rarer than China's giant panda - which is known to have life-threatening injuries.
"There are less than 1,000 finless porpoises in China, and the number is declining by 13.7 percent each year," said Hao Yujiang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science's Institute of Hydrobiology, who led a team of six from his institute to join the rescue mission on Monday.
Volunteers first saw the mammal, which is similar to a dolphin in appearance, on Feb 5 in Yugan county, Jiangxi province. Photos showed a large fishhook in the back of the porpoise. Rescuers said they saw the porpoise several times, but that it disappeared before they could help.
"The photos showed signs of infection in the wound, meaning rescuing the porpoise is a matter of urgency," Hao said.
The team is prepared to provide medical treatment, and the purpoise might have to be sent to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, where the institute is headquartered, for further treatment, he added.
Another three local rescue teams as well as two from Hubei province also joined the rescue efforts, bringing the total number of rescuers in the six teams to more than 80.
The local fisheries bureau has distributed notices asking more than 2,000 fisherman to help track down the porpoise, Zhang Jinyang of Yugan county's fisheries bureau told Changjiang Daily, which is headquartered in Wuhan.
Human activities have put the existence of the finless porpoise at great risk, Hao said. "Shipping, fishing, construction and sand excavation in the Yangtze River are all to be blamed for the mammal being endangered."
Zhu Jiang, head of the World Wildlife Foundation's Yangtze River biodiversity conservation project, said, "in previous years, there was a lack of recognition of the finless porpoise's situation in China and government resources to support the mammal's protection were far from enough."
The situation has improved to some extent in recent years, with the Ministry of Agriculture classifying the mammal as a first-class national protected species in 2014, and a plan for its protection being drafted late last year, Zhu said.
However, many issues, such as overfishing and sand excavation, still hinder the mammal's protection, he added.
The finless porpoise's habitat may be further worsened as the Jiangxi government plans to build a series of sluice gates in areas that link Poyang Lake to the Yangtze River to keep water in the lake during winter months, as the lake has been suffering from worsening drought over the past decade.
The mammal's habitat is mainly located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and about 450 of them live in Poyang Lake.
Two passengers from Mongolia were arrested in northern China's Inner Mongolia for smuggling drugs, according to local customs Wednesday.
One of the suspects, Enkhjargal, was caught Saturday evening when taking a train from Beijing to Ulan Bator via Erenhot, with police seizing 72.57 grams of methamphetamine from his luggage. He allegedly bought the drugs for 10,500 yuan (about 1,529 U.S. dollars) in Beijing.
Another suspect, Nyamjav, was caught Sunday at the customs in Erenhot. Nyamjav was carrying 53.65 grams of methamphetamine and 0.84 grams of cannabis, which he allegedly bought in Beijing for 7,500 yuan.
Erenhot is the biggest land port between China and Mongolia. Last year customs in Inner Mongolia handled three cases involving Mongolian suspects carrying drugs via route Erenhot.
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Flash
India on Wednesday launched a record 104 satellites in a single space mission from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The satellites were launched into space on board state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C37, at 9.28 a.m. (local time).
Among the 104 satellites are many belonging to international customers, the primary being the Earth-mapping Cartosat 2 series satellite, which weighs 714 kg.
Others are small satellites belonging to the U.S., Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
If successful, this will be the Indian Space Research Organisation's second attempt after the launch of 23 satellites in a single space mission in June 2015.
In the past, the Russian Space Agency had launched 37 satellites at one go.
Flash
Brexit would not impact China-UK relations, said a visiting British minister describing bilateral ties as entering a golden era.
UK Minister for Asia and the Pacific Alok Sharma said that leaving the European Union presented the United Kingdom with many opportunities when it comes to other friends such as China
"We have the opportunity to start dialogue and talk to China about what our trade relations might look like once we have left the European Union," he said after unveiling an expanded UK Visa Application Center Tuesday in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province.
Fuzhou is the second leg of Sharma's four-stop China visit. His delegation, which contains UK healthcare and life science business leaders, is visiting Xiamen Wednesday.
In Fuzhou, Sharma reassured Chinese investors that Britain is a good place to do business and remains "very much open for business" as the British economy continues to remain strong after last year's Brexit referendum.
"We have seen growth forecasts for Britain upgraded. We have seen a lot investment across the world flowing into UK, particularly from Asia and China," he said.
The minister has also said there was a wealth of investment and export opportunities for the UK across southern China. He particularly highlighted room for cooperation in health and education. Sharma's delegation has been meeting Chinese hospital and university officials during the visit.
This year marks 45 years of bilateral ambassadorial relations between the two sides. China is Britain's second largest trading partner outside the European Union, while Britain is home to more Chinese investment than any European country.
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Taliban militants have abducted 52 civilians from Darzab district of the northern Jawzjan province, spokesman for the provincial government Reza Ghafori said on Wednesday.
"A group of armed Taliban rebels seized 52 innocent civilians, including farmers and elders, from some villages in Darzab district on Tuesday afternoon and took them to an unknown location," Ghafori told Xinhua.
Without giving more details, the official said the local administration is seeking to secure the safe release of the abductees.
Taliban militants are yet to make comment on the report.
Taliban's rival militant group Islamic State (IS) shot dead six employees of the ICRC and abducted two others in Darzab's neighboring Qushtapa district last Wednesday.
Flash
The Malaysian police said Wednesday that a female suspect was arrested in the investigation related to the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that the suspect was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, where the man looked for help after feeling unwell on Monday. He died on the way to hospital.
The female suspect, who was carrying a Vietnamese passport, was identified from the surveillance video footage at the airport, Khalid said, adding that the suspect was alone at the time of arrest.
The Malaysian police said earlier that the 46-year-old man who died Monday was holding a DPRK passport under the name Kim Chol.
South Korean media reported that the man was Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un.
His body was taken to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday for postmortem to ascertain the cause of his death.
Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carters family confirmed the singers death Saturday. They did not provide any immediate further comment. A sheriff's official says deputies responding to reports of a medical emergency found a person deceased at the home in Lancaster. Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brothers boy band, and appeared on the familys reality series, House of Carters.
Flash
The Spanish Interior Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the arrests of two more jihadist suspects in Spain.
The first arrest took place in the Basque city of Vitoria on a 41-year-old Moroccan man, who had returned from the conflict zone in Syria and was allegedly dedicated to recruiting for the Islamic State (ISIS).
According to the ministry, the man mainly targeted young Moroccans, who were more susceptible to his ideas. Among the people he recruited, a young man with no previous strong religious feelings finally traveled to Syria in 2013 and died there two years later.
The second arrest was made on a 36-year-old woman in Alicante, eastern Spain.
According to official sources, the woman also collaborated with the Islamic State and had intended to travel to Syria with her four children to be reunited with her husband.
She had been publishing pro-jihad propaganda on social network sites using "very aggressive jihadist emblems and publishing videos (of an extremely violent nature) she herself had edited."
Wednesday's detentions followed two arrests made on Tuesday in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Bilbao and bring the total number of jihadist sympathizers arrested in Spain to 12 for 2017 and to 190 since the country was placed on a level four anti-terrorist alert in June 2015.
Mid-valley residents will have an opportunity to voice their concerns about a proposal to cut $10 million from the proposed state budget for veterans programs, at a Ways and Means Committee listening session on Saturday, Feb. 25.
The session will be from 1 to 3 p.m. in rooms 308 and 309, Building 17 (The Forum), at Lane Community College, 4000 E. 30th Ave., Eugene.
Linn County Commissioner John Lindsey said Gov. Kate Browns proposed budget includes the cut, even though Oregonians in November approved Ballot Measure 96, which would dedicate 1.5 percent of state lottery funds for veterans programs. The measure would generate an estimated $18 million each biennium.
Lindsey said the measure clearly stated the funds were to be in addition to current state funding.
The county commissioner is commander of the American Legion Post 51 and has called the governors actions an end-run around the will of Oregon voters. In January, he and seven other commissioners from counties around the state sent a resolution to the governor. They are members of the Veterans Steering Committee of the Association of Oregon Counties.
Lindsey said there are an estimated 320,000 veterans in Oregon.
He also said the governors proposal blindsided everyone.
Others who signed the letter were Stan Primozich, Yamhill County; Rod Runyon, Wasco County; Pat Farr, Lane County; Martha Schrader, Clackamas County; Bill Hall, Lincoln County; Mae Huston, Jefferson County; Ken Fahlgren, Creek County; and Jennifer Wheeler, Polk County.
Lindsey contends veterans seldom access all of the benefits to which they are entitled and cutting the veterans programs budget will decrease access.
Zhu Yufu
China Aid
(Wenzhou, ZhejiangFeb. 13, 2017) A policeman attacked a sick and elderly political prisoner on Saturday, the inmates wife learned when she went to visit him in Chinas coastal Zhejiang province.
Authorities refused to allow Jiang Hangli, the wife of political prisoner and China 18 member Zhu Yufu, arrived at Zhejiang No. 4 Prison on the morning of Feb. 11, to see her husband until the afternoon, saying he was currently connected to an IV on account of his high blood pressure. However, when she met with Zhu later that day, he told her that a police officer had confronted him earlier that day about the length of his beard. After Zhu explained to the official that the razor was locked up, the man unexpectedly accosted him. The back of his head hit concrete, and he blacked out. His blood pressure spiked to 120/230 mmHg, and he was given emergency medical treatment.
Zhu also suffers from hyperlipidemia, heart disease, severe hypertension, lumbar disc hernia, cholecystitis, prostatitis, and various other diseases.
In a letter Jiang wrote yesterday, she claims China often charges political prisoners, including her husband, with inciting subversion of state power. Zhu, who founded the first pro-democracy movement in Communist China, the Democracy Wall, a pro-democracy publication entitled April 5 Monthly, and the China Democracy Party in addition to serving as the general secretary of the Standing Working Group of Zhejiang Preparatory Committee of China Democracy Party and a member of the Preparatory Committee of National Preparatory Committee. These activities prompted authorities to charge him with subversion of state power, on Nov. 2, 1999, and he received a seven-year prison sentence.
After he was released in 2006, Zhu was arrested again in 2007 and was sentenced to two years on a falsified charge of obstructing government business.
On March 5, 2011, he was taken into police custody once more because he wrote and distributed a poem that urged people to take to the streets around the time of the Arab Spring protests, according to Human Rights in China. Subsequently, the Hangzhou Intermediate Court sentenced him to seven years in prison and deprived him of political rights for three years for inciting subversion of state power.
Jiangs letter can be read in full below.
China Aid exposes abuses such as those experienced by Zhu Yufu in order to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and promote religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law.
To the Zhejiang province prison management bureau:
I am a relative of political prisoner Zhu Yufu, who is currently serving a sentence in Zhejiang No. 4 Prison for inciting subversion of state power. Zhu Yufu is already 65 years old. He has severe hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, lumbar disc herniation, prostatitis, cholecystitis, and several other diseases. He moves slowly.
On the morning of Feb. 11, I went to the prison to visit Zhu Yufu, but I was told he was on IV due to high blood pressure, and I couldnt meet with him until the afternoon. When I finally saw him in the afternoon, he told me what happened earlier that day. At around 9:10 in the morning, a prison policeman (about 56 years old, but he is not the policeman assigned to manage Zhu) had an argument with Zhu regarding the length of his beard. The police asked him to shave his beard immediately. Zhu told him the shaver is locked in the prison and is difficult to get. Then the policeman decided to give him a difficult time. Without any warning, he was forcibly attacked by the police. The back side of his head hit the concrete, and he passed out immediately. That caused his blood pressure to rise to 120/230mmHg. The situation got better after emergency medical treatment.
Inciting subversion of state power is a typical charge for political prisoners. The international community and laws specially emphasize that political prisoners should receive different treatment from other prisoners and are especially concerned about the extent of infringement of rights of political prisoners. China, as one of the signatories of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and one of the 23 countries that is a member the international human rights conventions and related protocols, will receive more international condemnations if political prisoners treatment continues to be ignored in this country.
I urge the authorities in charge of prisoner management to take actions to guarantee the safety of Zhu Yufu and keep him safe from violence. I urge higher authorities to get the surveillance video from 9:10 a.m. on Feb. 11, 2017, to verify the situation and punish the policeman who attacked Zhu Yufu in order to prevent similar issues from happening again. Do not insult Zhu Yufu or force a confession from him. He is old and sick. I hope the prison can give him better treatment considering his situation and offer him nutritious food.
Treating political prisoners well shows a countrys international image, its political civilization, and the authoritys benevolent rule.
Jiang Hangli,
Relative of Zhu Yufu,
Feb. 12, 2017
ChinaAid Media Team
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
For more information, click here
China Aviation Daily | Feb. 15, 2017
A China Eastern Airlines flight heading from London to Shanghai has made an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia after experiencing a mechanical problem.
Flight MU552, performed by an Airbus A330-200 (Registration B-5975), departed from Heathrow at 9:02 p.m. Tuesday local time but the crew requested an emergency landing due to mechanical failure.
The aircraft was diverted to Russia's Yemelyanovo International Airport for a safe landing with no injuries reported.
In a statement, China Eastern apologized to passengers and said a replacement aircraft has been arranged to fly the passengers back to Shanghai.
Dockers untie a mooring from a container ship docking at the Port of Southampton in the United Kingdom. [Photo / Agencies]
The fast expansion of Chinese companies in the United Kingdom is creating local jobs at a time when Brexit uncertainties have caused unemployment fears.
In addition to direct job creation, employment has also been boosted among supply chain companies as a result of massive Chinese investment, particularly within the infrastructure, property development and energy sectors.
"As Brexit uncertainties are leading to potential reduced growth rate in the UK economy over the next few years, continued investment by Chinese firms is very helpful to boost job security," said Andrew Godley, a professor of management and business history at Henley Business School.
An example is the Chinese developer ABP's 1.7 billion pound ($2.13 billion) investment to create a commercial hub at the Royal Albert Dock in East London, which is estimated to be creating more than 30,000 jobs.
Another example is the Hinkley Point nuclear power station project, which is likely to create 25,000 jobs across its whole supply chain. China General Nuclear is investing 6 billion pounds into the French-led project, one-third of the total investment.
"The partnerships with Chinese enterprises unlock supply chain potentials and the flow-on impact of job creation is great," said Mike Harrison, a spokesman for WElink Group, a British renewable energy company contracted by China Triumph International Engineering Co to construct six modular housing factories during the next five years that will each employ 200 to 250 local workers.
"In addition, Chinese enterprises also think for the long term, the long-term partnership they commit to is great for confidence and promotes deeper cooperation, which further contributes more to job creation," Harrison added.
The company logo of Noble Group is displayed at its office in Hong Kong, January 22, 2016. [Photo / Agencies]
Sinochem Group is in early talks to become a strategic investor in Noble Group Ltd, providing the embattled Asia-based commodities trading house with an equity injection, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Noble is discussing a possible strategic investment, according to a statement on Tuesday that didn't refer to Sinochem.
"No binding arrangements have as yet been entered into with respect to this possible transaction and, accordingly, there can be no assurance that this transaction will be concluded," it said.
The conversations between the State-owned oil and chemicals group and the Hong Kong-based trading house are still at an early stage, the sources said.
Sinochem is understood to be interested in the international energy trading business of Noble, which includes oil, coal and natural gas.
Noble Chairman Richard Elman said last year that the company was looking for a strategic investor after it raised $500 million in fresh equity in June.
"A strategic partner is still very possible," said Elman, who is due to stand down later this year. "But it has to be at the right time and the right candidate."
Noble feels it's now in a stronger position to negotiate a deal for a strategic investor, with its equity price stabilizing and bond prices rising strongly, according to one source.
The yield of Noble's bond maturing in 2020 fell last week below the key 10 percent level for the first time in more than a year, compared with an all-time high of more than 35 percent in January 2016.
Sinochem didn't reply to phone calls and emails.
Noble has been fighting to prop up its finances after a torrid 2015 and 2016 during which its share price collapsed.
Bloomberg
Dongfang Electric Wind Power employees at work, Oct 23, 2009. [Photo/VCG]
Chinese turbine manufacturer Dongfang Electric Wind Power Co Ltd has said it aims to speed up exports.
It has signed a contract to supply turbines to the Ulyanovsk wind power project in Russia and has recently shipped 14 wind turbines to Russia, as domestic manufacturers look elsewhere for sales.
With an installed capacity of 35 mW, the phase one will be equipped with 14 units of 2.5 mW direct drive wind power units manufactured by the company and is scheduled to come into on-grid production this year.
FTI Intelligence said the Chinese market will shrink with annual installations estimated to reach 20 gW in 2017, from more than 25 gW in 2015, and manufacturers are starting to look further afield for wind contracts to supplement the home sector.
According to Dongfang Electric Wind Power, it now has the most advanced intellectual properties like wind power plants in China. Its DF2.5 mW-100 turbine was the first of its kind in China that has reached the world's highest standard certificated by international certification organization TuV SuD.
"The number of our cross-border projects doubled last year compared to the year before," said Liu Xinggui, chairman of the board.
China plans to spend 700 billion yuan ($102 billion) on wind power during the 2016-20 period. By the end of 2020, total installed capacity of wind power facilities connected to the power grid will reach 210 million kW, compared with 129 million kW at the end of 2015, it said.
China, whose energy mix is at the moment dominated by coal, is promoting non-fossil energy including wind electricity to power its economy in a cleaner and more sustainable manner, trying to lift the proportion of non-fossil energy to 20 percent by 2030 from the current level of around 11 per cent.
Qin Haiyan, secretary-general of the wind power committee of the Chinese Renewable Energy Society, said : "China's wind power industry tops the world not only in installed capacity but also in a rather round industrial system. Some products with Chinese independent intellectual property and leading technology have been sold in nearly 30 countries and regions in the world.
"Wind power is one of China's few competitive industries, as the country has mastered the core design technology of blowers. We are proud to be the first one that exported wind power plant to Russia in batches, and we expect more in the future."
Editor's Note: China aims to increase the share of non-fossil fuel in its overall energy to more than 15 percent by 2020 and to 20 percent by 2030, according to the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) for Renewable Energy released by the National Energy Administration in January. Renewable energy companies are key to meeting the targets. To find out whether or not they are on the right course, China Daily interviewed top officials of several companies engaged in solar power, geothermal, wind power and biomass. What we get to see are their ambitious development and overseas expansion plans against the backdrop of China's commitment to saving natural resources and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
China Merchants New Energy Group Ltd has promised to set up 100 solar power stations in the next five years, with a total installed capacity of 5gW to promote green energy along the Belt and Road trading routes.
The Hong Kong-based company also aims to offer countries along the Belt and Road clean energy projects integrated with photovoltaic, wind power, water and electricity power solutions, it said.
Most countries along the routes are developing countries and they are faced with unbalanced industrial structures, said chief executive Li Yuan.
Li said: "For them, infrastructure and energy are two key areas to optimize allocation of resources. Our projects can assist these countries to accelerate replacement of traditional energy and lower energy costs."
"Panda Solar Power Plants," shaped in the image of a giant panda, are innovative power stations combining new energy with high technology. The aim is to promote youth engagement in promoting world green and sustainable energy development in Italy, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka and other countries along the route.
These power plants will help countries along the route to popularize green power and promote Chinese brands in these countries, it said.
A 100 mW Panda Solar Power Plant could provide 3.2 billion kWh green power in 25 years, which is equal to offsetting 1.056 million tons of coal and 2.74 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the CMNE.
The CMNE acquired six grid-connected photovoltaic power plant projects in the UK this year. With an installed gross capacity of 82.4 mW, this is the first new energy acquisition project that Chinese enterprises would complete in the United Kingdom following Brexit.
China has the largest capacity for photovoltaic energy in the world, 77.42 million kW at the end of 2016, thanks to 34.54 million kW of capacity added in the year, the National Energy Administration stated.
China's photovoltaic capacity and its increase in 2016 were the biggest in the world, with the country's solar plants generated 66.2 billion kW hours of power last year, accounting for 1 percent of the country's total power generation.
China is to expand its photovoltaic capabilities, adding over 110 million kW of solar power by 2020.
CARACAS - The China-Venezuela Joint Commission on Tuesday is reviewing the expansion of the Puerto La Cruz refinery, according to Venezuelan Vice-President of Planning and Knowledge Ricardo Menendez.
This plant, which was located in the northeastern state of Anzoategui and near the Caribbean Sea, has a current capacity of 129,000 barrels of oil per day for internal and external distribution.
"This alliance will raise (capacity) to 210,000 barrels of oil per day, following the vision that (former president) Hugo Chavez had for the Orinoco Oil Belt as the country's main reserve," Menendez told a press conference, who was accompanied by Ning Jizhe, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission of China.
The Puerto La Cruz refinery has seen investment and assistance from a number of countries, including China, which leads the Joint Commission to explore its development.
In 2014, China's Wison Engineering Company signed up to help build the refinery's basic processing units, in a joint venture with Hyundai Engineering and Construction.
Eulogio del Pino, president of Venezuela's national oil company, PDVSA, added that the expansion included an investment of around $10.5 billion.
According to Del Pino, the expansion will be completed in a year and a half, as the work was not stopped even during "the cycle of the lowest oil prices."
On Monday, during the 15th Meeting of the Joint Commission, the governments of China and Venezuela signed over 20 new cooperation agreements in various fields, including economy, energy, finance, trade, education, culture, and science and technology.
Chinese used car trading platform Youxin raised $500 million in a new round of funding led by TPG Growth, Jeneration Capital and China Vision Capital in January to further expand its businesses, services and branding, according to the company.
The company said on Wednesday that Youxin has completed a whole industrial chain for used car bidding, trading, financing and big data services in the sector.
Other investors in the funding included Warburg Pincus, Tiger Global Management, Hillhouse Capital, KKR, Huasheng Capital and Focus Media.
Recently, some reports claimed that the company gives an inflated number of used cars for trade on its platform. Youxin denied this claim and said that the source of the information is from a netizen's speculation on a domestic online community, which is not factual.
The company said it's highly possible that this information is an act of illicit competition.
Workers assemble smartphones at a ZTE Corp plant in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. YUAN JINGZHI / FOR CHINA DAILY
Chinese telecom equipment company ZTE Corp's shares surged on Tuesday after it indicated that the results of the US government's trade-sanction violation investigation would not be as bad as had been expected.
The Shenzhen-based company said it was in discussions with the US authorities on a settlement, which is likely to "include but is not limited to fines and other related obligations under US law".
The announcement, which analysts said was better than investors' expectations, sent ZTE stocks in Hong Kong up 5.42 percent to HK$12.84 ($1.66) on Tuesday. Shenzhen-traded shares of ZTE closed at 15.51 yuan ($2.25), a rise of 1.57 percent.
ZTE is the second-largest telecom equipment maker in China, after Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
In March, the US Commerce Department said ZTE resold prohibited products to Iran, violating US laws, and threatened to ban ZTE's US suppliers from selling components to the Chinese company.
Xiang Ligang, a telecom industry expert and CEO of the website cctime.com, said the statement was a positive signal and greatly eased investors' concerns.
"It won't have big negative effect on ZTE's business if the case can be resolved after paying fines," Xiang said.
Xiang said the fine may be at dozens of million dollars, based on previous similar cases, and "this is a relatively small sum for ZTE".
In the third quarter of 2016, ZTE posted 23.8 billion yuan in revenue, up 5.23 percent from a year earlier.
In December, ZTE said it would spend up to $101.3 million to purchase a 48 percent stake in Netas Telekomunikasyon AS, a leading Turkish telecom company, as it ramps up efforts to expand overseas presence.
Fu Liang, an independent analyst who has been following China's telecom sector for two decades, said investors initially expected a very severe penalty from the US government, although ZTE said its operations were in line with the laws in every local market.
"The case highlights that Chinese companies need to step up efforts in the research and development of core components such as chips," Fu said.
Local residents use smartphones to pay for the gas bill in Wuhan, Hubei province, Nov 21, 2016. [Photo/VCG]
Payments made on Chinese smartphones are nearly 50 times greater than the number of mobile transactions in the United States, signaling a late-mover advantage with robust potential for the fintech sector, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The value of third-party mobile payments more than tripled to 38 trillion yuan ($5.5 trillion) in China last year according to estimates by consultants iResearch, while Forrester Research reported a 39 percent increase to $112 billion in the United States.
The rise of Chinese mobile payments has been driven by the explosive growth of online shopping as well as internet financial services such as peer-to-peer lending and readily-accessible money market funds, the newspaper reported.
Online sales surged 26.2 percent to 5.2 trillion yuan in 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Over half of Chinese mutual funds are now sold online, up from only 5 percent in 2012.
Last year was a turning point for online payments, the newspaper pointed out, as their presence at physical retailers became ubiquitous. Customers can choose to pay with their mobiles at Starbucks, Ikea or even breakfast stalls and manicure shops.
While Alipay and WeChat Wallet, the payment arms of the country's tech giant Alibaba and Tencent respectively, play dominant roles, the US market is split between Apple, Google, Samsung and Paypal.
A shorter history of credit card usage and relatively low penetration contributes to China's thriving mobile payments, according to the newspaper. Compared to cumbersome online payments with debit cards, payment via Alipay or WeChat only requires the scanning of a QR code from a retailers point-of-service terminal or a smartphone.
The dominance of the country's mobile payments market also gives Alibaba and Tencent access to valuable user data that can be used in credit ratings as well as targeted advertising, the newspaper said.
The People's Liberation Army Air Force has punished more than 100 of its members for violating an alcohol ban or failing to prevent subordinates from drinking, Chinese media has reported.
Since 2014, 15 Air Force members who drank at their workplaces or during work hours, and 87 others who failed to make sure their subordinates followed the ban, have been punished, according to a report by People's Daily.
The report said the punishments included demotion, disqualification from promotion and administrative warnings. It also said that many restaurants near military installations in Beijing noticed customers from the PLA had no longer been ordering alcohol.
Other military units, such as the counter-chemical regiment of the 39th Group Army, installed alcohol detectors at every entrance to its office compound, according to the newspaper.
The Central Military Commission issued an alcohol ban in December 2012, one month after Xi Jinping became top leader. Since then, alcoholic drinks have gradually retreated from dinners attended by military members.
Several officers said that they welcome the ban because it "saves" them from drinking baijiu, a strong Chinese liquor that was popular within the Chinese military for a long time for maintaining or improving personal relations.
"We had to drink a lot in the past when there were visitors or guests. My superior officers and I didn't want to drink too much, and I believe our guests didn't want to drink too much either, but drinking baijiu was a kind of ritual at banquets to show our hospitality," said a Navy officer who wished not to be named. "Now we are free of liquor. My wife and my daughter are the biggest supporters of the no-alcohol policy."
A technician with the PLA Ground Force, who wished to be identified as Luo, said his regiment spent a lot of money on baijiu before the ban was introduced.
"At first, I didn't take it very seriously, but I gradually came to realize that this time we would really say goodbye to alcohol after some officers at my unit were punished for breaking the rules," Luo said.
In 2015, Major General Zhang Yan, who was commander of the 26th Group Army at that time, was deprived of his post after one of his former subordinates died after a drinking banquet with Zhang at the army's headquarters.
Injured miner Ma Xuefu receives treatment in a hospital in Loudi, Central China's Hunan province, Feb 14, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]
Nine people were killed in an explosion at a coal mine in Central China's Hunan province on Tuesday.
The blast occurred at 1:37 am at Zubao Coal Mine in Lianyuan city, authorities said.
A total of 29 people were working underground at the time of the explosion, 16 of whom managed to escape from the shaft, while another four were rescued.
Three injured miners are being treated in hospital, with their condition having been described as stable.
A rescue mission to retrieve the bodies of three victims in the flooded shaft is ongoing.
The licensed coal mine, with an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons, is owned by Tengfei Coal Mine Co Ltd.
Authorities did not identify the cause of the blast, but said the site was considered a "high gas mine". While ventilation systems are supposed to prevent gas from becoming trapped, explosions inside mines are often caused when a flame or electrical spark ignites gas leaking from a coal seam.
China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, but authorities have announced the shutdown of outdated mines as well as a reduction in the number of working days for miners to improve safety conditions.
Use power impartially and cautiously, president says in call for self-discipline
President Xi Jinping told leading officials on Monday to practice strict self-discipline and eliminate special privileges, in the latest move to govern the Party strictly.
Xi made the remarks when addressing the opening session of a workshop on the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee.
The workshop at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee was attended by senior provincial and ministerial officials.
In his speech, Xi urged leading cadres to "build a fence" against special privileges to prevent themselves and those around them from abusing power. Leading officials should use their power "impartially, cautiously and legally".
Xi required officials in senior roles to strengthen their self-discipline and be discreet when alone and on small matters. They should also guard against interest groups that besiege them, he said.
The CPC Central Committee held the workshop to help senior provincial and ministerial officials understand the two documents passed by last year's plenum. Of the two documents, one is on the norms of political life within the Party in the new era, and the other is a regulation on intra-Party supervision.
"Leading officials should strengthen their political capability, firm their political ideals, uphold political direction, be steadfast in their stance and strictly observe political rules," Xi said, stressing they should enrich their political experience and match their political capability with the positions they hold.
Gao Bo, a political researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is highly important to strictly manage the "key minorities" - senior officials.
"If they fail to perform their duties or even take the lead to breach Party disciplines and the law, the consequence would be very serious," he said.
"Not only will they be corrupt, but a group of subordinate officials might follow suit. The entire political environment in the department, the region or the system might be harmed."
The central leadership has launched a massive campaign to fight corruption and strictly administer the Party since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in late 2012.
So far, 240 officials directly managed by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the great majority of whom are at or above ministerial level, have been placed under official probe for possible discipline or law violations, which is 3.6 times that of the number from late 2007 to late 2012, according to data from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft watchdog.
In Monday's speech, Xi also called on all Party members to become more aware of the need to uphold political integrity, keep in mind the bigger picture, follow the CPC as the core of the Chinese leadership, and act consistently with CPC Central Committee policy.
An editorial published on Tuesday by People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CPC, also warned of a weakening or ignoring of political values in modern society.
"The politics (we're talking about) is not the old tune, or the ultra-leftism practiced during the 'cultural revolution' (1966-76), but it has strong relevance to reality," the editorial said.
It said that since China's reform and opening-up, some Party members have gradually considered politics less important, and they have become politically confused. Some have committed political mistakes consciously or unconsciously.
Therefore, the editorial called for Party members to resolutely prevent and overcome such tendencies, and be clear and firm in their political stance.
The CPC has more than 88 million members and 4.4 million organizations nationwide.
(China Daily 02/15/2017 page3)
Chinese official pledges safe development of nuclear energy
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 08:30
BEIJING - A Chinese atomic energy official said the country will fine tune its nuclear energy safety standards, develop its emergency response system and improve the management of spent fuel.
Wang Yiren, vice head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, told Xinhua that during the 13th Five Year period (2016-2020), China will undertake a number of nuclear-related projects.
Research into the processing of spent fuel will be conducted, according to Wang, who is also deputy head of China Atomic Energy Authority.
In response to concerns over the safety of inland nuclear power projects, Wang said such worries are understandable, but assured that the projects would be secure.
As energy demands in inland regions have increased, the need for inland nuclear power projects has increased, he said.
Wang said the authorities have also organized expert discussions on the construction of nuclear power stations at sea, to support offshore oil and gas exploitation and the country's islands.
The official also pledged efforts to ensure the supply of uranium resources and nuclear fuel for nuclear energy development.
An Australian expert in the human organ trade says there's been a massive drop in the numbers of foreigners coming to China for an organ transplant.
Campbell Fraser, from Griffith University, spoke at the Vatican Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism last week and told chinadaily.com.cn that he had interviewed many patients "who attempted to buy an organ in China but were refused by the Chinese hospitals."
For the first time, Chinese representatives have been invited to the summit to discuss its experience of combating organ commercialism.
China has undertaken a 10-year reform process to reduce dependence on executed inmates as the primary source for organ transplants.
A public organ donation system has been launched in line with international practice, and in 2015 the country announced that the use of organs from executed inmates had ceased.
Using organs from executed inmates became a major source of criticism of China by some individuals or groups, such as Falun Gong. They even accused China of extracting organs from "prisoners of conscience".
"In the days before the summit, the FLG embarked on a campaign of emailing participants," Fraser said. The content of the emails made false allegations against Chinese representatives.
Fraser said that the authors of these emails -- academics, lawyers, doctors, and politicians based primarily in Australia, Canada, USA and Europe are not "independent" researchers as they claim.
"They have the specific intention of attacking the Chinese government, and have decided to use so-called "organ harvesting" as their main weapon... as they think that it will be difficult to prove that it does not happen," Fraser said.
Fraser has investigated human organ trafficking since 2008 and has personally met over 1000 people involved in the illegal business, including doctors, buyers, sellers and brokers, and consulted several governments, health departments and police organizations.
After conducting his own investigations, he said he has concluded that the FLG claims are fraudulent.
He also believed that the FLG met the criteria of a cult because they believe in one person with supernatural powers and "practitioners" refuse medical treatment for themselves and their children.
He said he was recently invited to both New York and Taipei to meet doctors who explained to him that they have a problem with FLG "practitioners" refusing treatment.
"There was even a case reported to me of a FLG practitioner refusing medical treatment for her young daughter," he said.
When academics have reported things against the FLG, Fraser says they are harassed.
"The FLG harass me because they know that I am a threat to them, because I know what really happens in China," he said. "They are doing all they can to silence me, by trying to stop me attending and presenting at international conferences."
"In August 2016 the FLG tried to stop me speaking at the international transplant conference in Hong Kong. When legal means failed, they attempted to physically stop me from speaking by shouting at me when I started to present. What made this particularly ridiculous was that my presentation was not even specifically about China, it was about Special Interest Groups in general."
China is still implementing major reforms in organ transplantation, and significant progress continues to be made in this transformation process.
Fraser said he hoped "the international transplant community will continue to support our Chinese colleagues in this vital work."
A screen grab of the Chaoyang Qunzhong app's front page.
Beijing police have launched a whistleblower app for members of the public to report tipoffs about crimes and help maintain public security.
The app went viral on Tuesday because it is named after the mysterious whistleblowers who have been repeatedly described by the police authority in the capital as "Chaoyang Qunzhong", which means "the public in Chaoyang district".
The name has been frequently cited as a source of tips for the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau in cracking down on major criminal cases, such as those involving drug use and trafficking, as well as prostitution.
Chaoyang Qunzhong has jokingly been referred to by netizens as the fifth-largest intelligence agency in the world, in addition to well-known agencies such as the FBI in the United States and the British intelligence service MI6.
The app, launched by the public security sub-bureau in Chaoyang district in August, has been upgraded four times.
At present, it is still in the testing stage. Users can download the app and register free of charge.
The Chaoyang police authority said on Sina Weibo that the app aims to build closer ties between police and residents, and it hopes Chaoyang Qunzhong plays a bigger role in fighting crime.
The authority said developing the app expands the number of Chaoyang Qunzhong protecting social order and public security.
Five categories of tipoffs are listed on the app, but only two of them - major crimes and missing persons - are active.
Chaoyang district is the largest and most modern in Beijing, covering an area of more than 470 square kilometers. It is home to most embassies and high-end residential buildings.
The nickname Chaoyang Qunzhong is said to date back to 1974 when people in Chaoyang district joined forces with police and netted spies from the former Soviet Union.
The latest case involving assistance from Chaoyang Qunzhong was a crackdown on an illegal fireworks warehouse on Jan 8 following a tipoff from members of the public in the district.
Beijing police have stepped up efforts in mobilizing the population to fight terrorism in the capital in the past few years.
Any whistleblower will be rewarded a minimum of 1,000 yuan ($146) for a tipoff on terrorism and violent crimes. There is no upper limit for rewards.
Relatives of people who died in a bus crash mourn their loved ones at a memorial ritual in Taipei on Tuesday. At least 33 people were killed in the incident on Monday.Guo Jiquan / For China Daily
Investigators were looking into excessive speed as the possible cause of a bus crash in Taiwan that killed 33 people and injured several others in the island's worst road accident in more than three decades, an official said on Tuesday.
The tour bus crashed near Taipei on Monday night, with television footage showing the bus careening toward a road barrier before flipping on its side.
Of the 44 people on the bus, 30 were pronounced dead at the scene and three died in hospital, the fire department said, adding that 11 people were still being treated in hospitals around Taipei.
Families of the victims arrived at the site after the accident, chanting sutras and praying.
Many of the passengers were senior citizens, although the age range was from early 20s to late 60s, according to city authorities.
The trip had been arranged by the Tieh Lien Hua Travel Agency, according to Taiwan's tourism bureau.
An official with the agency said the tourists were "likely" all from Taiwan, but that it was still studying passenger information.
Highway police spokesman Ma Ling-wen said the speed limit on the ramp was 40 kilometers per hour, but it was not clear how fast the bus had been going. Ma said speed had not yet been ruled out as a cause of the crash.
Local television footage showed a video of the bus shot from behind flipping onto its side and skidding toward the hillside after it hit a road barrier when negotiating a highway interchange curve.
Ambulances and fire trucks were lined up along the bend of the road as rescue workers used a crane to lift the battered bus from its wheels, after all the passengers were pulled from the wreckage.
The crash is the latest accident involving a tour bus in Taiwan. Earlier this month, another tour bus carrying tourists from the Chinese mainland crashed into a bridge in southern Taiwan, injuring some passengers.
Government classified the mammal as a first-class national protected species
More than 80 aquatic animal rescuers are now involved in the search for an injured finless porpoise in the country's largest freshwater lake.
In addition, more than 2,000 fishermen have also been mobilized on Poyang Lake to report traces of the finless porpoise - an endangered mammal considered rarer than China's giant panda - which is known to have life-threatening injuries.
"There are less than 1,000 finless porpoises in China, and the number is declining by 13.7 percent each year," said Hao Yujiang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science's Institute of Hydrobiology, who led a team of six from his institute to join the rescue mission on Monday.
Volunteers first saw the mammal, which is similar to a dolphin in appearance, on Feb 5 in Yugan county, Jiangxi province. Photos showed a large fishhook in the back of the porpoise. Rescuers said they saw the porpoise several times, but that it disappeared before they could help.
"The photos showed signs of infection in the wound, meaning rescuing the porpoise is a matter of urgency," Hao said.
The team is prepared to provide medical treatment, and the purpoise might have to be sent to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, where the institute is headquartered, for further treatment, he added.
Another three local rescue teams as well as two from Hubei province also joined the rescue efforts, bringing the total number of rescuers in the six teams to more than 80.
The local fisheries bureau has distributed notices asking more than 2,000 fisherman to help track down the porpoise, Zhang Jinyang of Yugan county's fisheries bureau told Changjiang Daily, which is headquartered in Wuhan.
Human activities have put the existence of the finless porpoise at great risk, Hao said. "Shipping, fishing, construction and sand excavation in the Yangtze River are all to be blamed for the mammal being endangered."
Zhu Jiang, head of the World Wildlife Foundation's Yangtze River biodiversity conservation project, said, "in previous years, there was a lack of recognition of the finless porpoise's situation in China and government resources to support the mammal's protection were far from enough."
The situation has improved to some extent in recent years, with the Ministry of Agriculture classifying the mammal as a first-class national protected species in 2014, and a plan for its protection being drafted late last year, Zhu said.
However, many issues, such as overfishing and sand excavation, still hinder the mammal's protection, he added.
The finless porpoise's habitat may be further worsened as the Jiangxi government plans to build a series of sluice gates in areas that link Poyang Lake to the Yangtze River to keep water in the lake during winter months, as the lake has been suffering from worsening drought over the past decade.
The mammal's habitat is mainly located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and about 450 of them live in Poyang Lake.
Wang Jian contributed to this story.
China called on Monday for international cooperation to protect against terrorist attacks on infrastructure in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.
"China's Belt and Road Initiative takes the interconnection of infrastructure as a priority of cooperation to help countries along the routes improve their infrastructure development," Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at an UN Security Council open debate on protecting critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks.
On Monday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2341 (2017), calling up on member states to consider developing or further improving strategies for reducing risks of terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure.
To date, more than 100 countries and international organizations have joined the Belt and Road Initiative, Liu said, adding that China hopes to strengthen cooperation in areas such as "intelligence sharing, risk assessment and joint law assessment through bilateral and multilateral channels" to effectively protect interconnection projects and transboundary infrastructure from terrorist attacks, and to ensure the safety and security of construction for the Belt and Road Initiative.
The 15-member council reiterated "the need to strengthen efforts to improve the security and protection of particularly vulnerable targets, such as infrastructure and public places", according to a statement posted on the UN website.
China mulls revision of maritime safety law
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 09:22
BEIJING - China is considering revisions to the 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law to prioritize searches for survivors over searches for property.
The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council announced Tuesday it is soliciting public opinions on revisions.
The draft states that it is the right of the people in distress at sea to be rescued without charge, adding that life should come before the environment and assets.
Passengers have the right to be informed of developments during maritime accidents when vessels are in distress, and are obliged to obey the instructions of the captain, the draft reads.
The captain should organize evacuation and be the last to leave the vessel if it is to be abandoned.
The State Council and local governments should set up maritime search and rescue centers, if needed, to organize, coordinate and command rescue operations.
In addition to professional maritime rescue teams established by the government, civilian groups are also encouraged to set up rescue teams and participate in operations.
Crews of vessels and maritime facilities are forbidden from concealing, delaying or falsifying reports on maritime accidents.
According to the white paper "Development of China's Transport," an efficient safety regime and maritime emergency aid system has been established in China.
The white paper, released in December, said the nation has improved its maritime search and rescue capability and increased the number of volunteers.
The letter of apology written by Chen to Xue.
Honesty is the best policy, or so the old saying goes, and that has certainly proved to be the case for one high-school student in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province.
When Chen Yifan crashed his bicycle into a parked BMW on the evening of Feb 4, the 17-year-old could have just picked himself up and rode away.
Nobody had seen him hit the luxury car and the damage he had caused - a broken wing mirror and a 20-centimeter-plus scratch - would surely be expensive to fix.
But instead of running away, Chen wrote a letter of apology and stuffed the envelope with 311 yuan ($45) - all the money he had from working part-time at a local barbecue joint during the winter vacation.
"I am sorry I damaged your parked BMW with my bicycle, I feel very sad," he wrote.
"I have left all the money I just earned as compensation. If it is not enough, then I am really sorry."
When the car's owner, 52-year-old Xue Zhanmin, discovered the damage the next morning, he was outraged. "I was wondering who would do such a thing. How terrible it was!" he said.
But Xue's attitude changed when he spotted the note, tucked inside the car's door handle, and began to read.
"I read the letter again and was moved by the student's courage and honesty," he said.
"Everyone makes mistakes, but what's most important is whether or not you take responsibility for those mistakes."
Xue resolved to return the money, but Chen had not left his name on the note, fearing the retribution that might rain down upon him if the car owner ever discovered who he was.
He had mentioned his part-time job, however, giving Xue just enough information to begin his search.
So the businessman, who works in Shaoxing, Zheijiang province, and was only home for the Spring Festival holiday, approached the police and told them his plan.
Instead of pressing charges, he requested that the officers help him track down Chen so that he could reward his honesty.
It took a few days, but by consulting surveillance footage, the police were able to ascertain Chen's place of work and approached his employer on Feb 10.
When she learned what had happened, Chu Xiaofang, Chen's mother, offered to compensate Xue for all his losses, but the offer was refused.
Instead, Xue said he would give Chen 10,000 yuan to subsidize his further education. He appreciated the boy's honesty and wanted to encourage him to continue making the right decisions in life, he said.
Chu, the mother, said Xue's reaction was sure to have a positive effect on her son. "The accident was my son's fault, but I was relieved to hear he had a sense of responsibility," she said. "He told me that, in future, he will do his best to also reward the kindness of strangers."
Campbell Fraser, an international human organ trade expert from Australia. [Photo provided by Campbell Fraser]
China is helping the world to fight against the problem of organ trafficking, an international human organ trade expert from Australia said during a recent interview with China Radio International (CRI).
Campbell Fraser with Griffith University in Brisbane has just attended the two-day Pontifical Academy Summit (PAS) on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism.
During the PAS, Jiefu Huang, professor and chairman of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee, said China had imposed a total ban on the use of executed prisoners' organs for transplantation since the beginning of 2015.
Fraser said he has monitored global trends on organ trafficking for years and his research has shown that foreigners have stopped coming to China for organ transplantation based on his interviews with over 1000 organ buyers, sellers, brokers, and doctors.
"I'm absolutely convinced that the reforms in China are absolutely true, and for that reason, I believe the international community should be supportive of the changes in China and encouraging China, and to keep going on this wonderful journey they are going on, and not listening to the political propaganda of people who are trying to stop our progress," Fraser said.
Fraser revealed that his research prompted harassment from Falun Gong cult members just because it was inconsistent with the claims made by Falun Gong, "I had a lot of personal troubles with Falun Gong. When I presented an academic paper at the Hong Kong transplantation conference last year, they complained to my employer, they complained to the conference organizers. When I was speaking, they interrupted me, shouted at me, and generally tried to stop me speaking. "
Fraser had thought that perhaps he was the only person harassed by Falun Gong, but later he found that several other scholars who have not supported the claims made by Falun Gong have also been harassed by cult members.
The Chinese government banned Falun Gong as a cult in 1999, accusing it of disguising as a religious group to brainwash practitioners, extracting money from them, and even encouraging practitioners to set themselves alight.
Although Falun Gong made unfair claims about the Chinese government, China has made progress on cracking down on organ trafficking, Fraser said. China is not only solving its organ trafficking problem in China, but also actually assisting the world with solving the organ trafficking problem.
Speaking on behalf of China at the PAS summit which concluded on Feb. 8, Jiefu Huang proposed the establishment of a World Health Organization (WHO) task force to fulfill the mission of the PAS in order to eradicate organ trafficking.
"China is such an important country, a global leader, so it's really important for China to lead by example, and this is one of the greatest things of having them, China actually gives some good ideas, we are looking at China, we can use some of the ideas to solve the problems of trafficking in Egypt, in Pakistan, and India, and a few other countries," Fraser said.
Former Hebei provincial Party chief sentenced to 15 years for graft
Xinnhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 12:44
XIAMEN - Zhou Benshun, former Party chief of northern China's Hebei Province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption, a court in southeast China's Xiamen city said Wednesday.
According to Xiamen Municipal Intermediate People's Court, Zhou's personal assets, worth 2 million yuan (291,545 U.S. dollars), will be seized, along with other illegal gains and property.
The court found that Zhou took advantage of his official posts from 2000 to 2015 to seek benefit for others in real estate development, project payments, fire control project approval, bank loans and personnel promotions.
He accepted bribes of over 40 million yuan directly for himself or through his family.
The court decideded to hand down a lighter penalty to Zhou as he confessed to his crimes, expressed remorse and cooperated in returning the bribes.
Zhou said he would not appeal.
New air route links Fuzhou to New York
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 12:44
FUZHOU - A direct flight opened Wednesday between Fuzhou, capital of eastern China's Fujian Province, and New York.
Flight MF849 took off from Fuzhou at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday and will land in New York after A 14.5-hour flight.
It will depart from Fuzhou on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The return flight leaves New York at 12:55 p.m. local time.
The new route, operated by Xiamen Airlines, makes Fuzhou the fourth city in China after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to have direct flights to New York.
A total of 800,000 people with origins in Fuzhou live in the New York area.
Xiamen Airlines will also launch a direct flight from Xiamen city to Los Angeles in June, according to Che Shanglun, chairman of the airline.
Two Mongolian drug smugglers caught in North China
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 15:15
HOHHOT - Two passengers from Mongolia were arrested in northern China's Inner Mongolia for smuggling drugs, according to local customs Wednesday.
One of the suspects, Enkhjargal, was caught Saturday evening when taking a train from Beijing to Ulan Bator via Erenhot, with police seizing 72.57 grams of methamphetamine from his luggage. He allegedly bought the drugs for 10,500 yuan (about 1,529 U.S. dollars) in Beijing.
Another suspect, Nyamjav, was caught Sunday at the customs in Erenhot. Nyamjav was carrying 53.65 grams of methamphetamine and 0.84 grams of cannabis, which he allegedly bought in Beijing for 7,500 yuan.
Erenhot is the biggest land port between China and Mongolia. Last year customs in Inner Mongolia handled three cases involving Mongolian suspects carrying drugs via route Erenhot.
ZHENGZHOU -- Chen Yifan, 17, a high school student in Central China's Henan province, never expected praise after he left a letter of apology and some cash at the scene of an accident.
Chen hit a luxury SUV on Feb 4 in Xinmi city on his way to deliver some food, leaving a 20 centimeter scratch and a broken rearview mirror.
With nobody else at the scene, Chen left all his money, 311 yuan ($45), for compensation, and a letter of apology.
"I am so sorry and feel sad I hit your car by accident. I am a student and doing a winter vacation job. I know the compensation is far from enough, but I really have no more money left. Sorry."
When the owner Xue Zhanmin found his car the next day, he was initially angry and called police, but after seeing the money and letter, he was touched by the student's honesty and decided to return the money.
"The money was all change. I guess the student was from a poor family. It is maybe a big money for him," Xue said.
Media reports about the letter soon went viral, with many web users trying to find the student.
Chen finally contacted the car owner.
"I saw the owner's telephone number on the car window, but I dared not call him. I was afraid to be blamed and decided to leave a short letter," Chen said. "I was relieved after I called him."
The teenager is a high-school student from a low-income family, and does part-time delivery jobs to earn money during vacations, earning 60-70 yuan per day.
Chu, Chen's mother, was proud after hearing of her son's actions.
"My son is a good boy and his behavior was right. We will definitely pay for the repairs," Chu said.
But Xue refused to accept money for the repairs, totaling 13,000 yuan.
"Some people would leave without words after hitting a car, but the boy left money and an apology letter. I was deeply touched by his behavior."
Xue has since offered 10,000 yuan to help fund Chen's future studies.
"He is a kind boy and should be rewarded for his honesty," Xue said.
China has urged Japan to "respect history and stop provoking" after Tokyo labeled China's Diaoyu Islands as its "territory" in guidelines for elementary and high schools.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday that Japan should "educate the younger generation with a correct outlook on history and showcase sincerity for improving the China-Japan relationship with tangible actions".
The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology issued a new learning guideline for schools in the country on Tuesday and for the first time labeled the islands as Japan's "territory", Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.
In response, Geng said at a Wednesday regular media conference in Beijing that the Diaoyu Islands and its adjacent islets have been, and are, inherent Chinese territory.
China's determination and will to safeguard territorial sovereignty is unswerving, Geng said.
"Whatever the Japanese side says and does will never bring changes to the fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China," Geng said.
The China-Japan relationship plunged in 2012 when Tokyo unilaterally decided to "nationalize" the islands.
China has lodged solemn representations to India for the visit of a Taiwan political delegation to New Delhi, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.
China firmly opposes all forms of official contact and exchanges between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic ties with China, spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news conference.
China hopes that India sticks to the one-China policy and handles issues related to Taiwan prudently, he said.
Mentioning that India has made a commitment to the Taiwan question, Geng said India should respect and understand China's core interests and maintain the healthy development of China-India relations.
The spokesman's comment is a response to the arrival of a Taiwan lawmaker delegation in New Delhi on Sunday. The Hindu report said that Taiwan is seeking to upgrade "diplomatic ties" with India in the coming weeks, quoting anonymous sources from Taiwan.
Like most countries in the world, India doesn't have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The one-China policy is respected by major powers. For example, in a 1978 joint communique, the US said that it recognized the one-China policy - there is only one China, Taiwan is part of China and the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China.
In December 2016, the African island nation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe announced it cut "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. Currently, 21 countries and governments, mainly small nations and islands in Latin America, Oceania and Africa, rely heavily on economic aid from Taiwan and hold such ties with the island.
French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve will pay an official visit to China from Tuesday to Thursday at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang, according to the Foreign Ministry.
This will be his first visit to China after taking office, and the first by a European leader this year, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday.
Geng added that President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will meet with Cazeneuve.
"The leaders of the two countries will exchange in-depth views on the China-France relationship and issues of common concern," Geng told a daily media conference, adding that Cazeneuve will also visit Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province.
Geng also said that France is China's important strategic partner. The bilateral relationship between the two countries has developed into a high level one in recent years, with deepening strategic mutual trust, increasing practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
The two countries also keep in close communication, and cooperate, on international affairs, the spokesman said.
"We're willing to continue to jointly work with the French, to maintain the sound development of bilateral ties and contribute to world peace, stability and development," he said.
Geng believes that the visit will further deepen the China-France friendship, enhance results from practical cooperation in various areas, and boost the development of the China-Europe relationship.
A 10-year-old girl is now happily going to school in the city of Zhaoqing, about 110 kilometers from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.
Zhen Zhen, who once suffered from serious blood disorder, thalassemiais, is now recovering after a bone marrow transplant in Guangzhou, Guangzhou Daily reported.
The primary school pupil in grade one has been busy seeing doctors in major hospitals in Guangdong in the past decade.
To help save Zhen Zhen, her parents had another four children, hoping that one would have the same type of bone marrow that matches their oldest daughter's.
Zhang Qiubo, Zhen Zhen's mother, said she never wanted to give up her effort to save her daughter, despite financial strains.
Zhen Zhen was born in 2007 and thalassemia was detected 9 or 10 months later.
"Zhen Zhen had frequent fevers and other symptoms at that time," Zhang said
A rural doctor told her that the treatment was expensive and that Zhen Zhen would likely not live for more than 10 years, Zhang said .
And Zhang's husband at one point said he wanted to give up their efforts to save their daughter because they had failed to find a donor match from among Zhen Zhen's 3 siblings , according to Zhang.
"I could understand my husband's thoughts (to give up Zhen Zhen), as street vendors, we could earn about 3,000 yuan ($437) a month at that time," she said.
"But I can not stop loving my daughter. I can not," Zhang said. "I will do anything I can to help save my daughter."
To help raise money to pay her daughter's medical bills, Zhang prepared to beg on the street for money.
Zhen Zhen was given hope only when Zhang became pregnant again in April 2014. Zhang was told by doctors that the marrow of her fifth child would match Zhen Zhen's.
Furthermore, Zhen Zhen quickly won public sympathy after her story was published by local media.
With donations from local foundations and warm-hearted residents, Zhen Zhen underwent a bone marrow transplant in a hospital affiliated with Guangxi Medical University in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in April 2015.
Zhang is now living in her hometown of Meizhou in the eastern part of Guangdong, looking after her four children, while Zhen Zhen is living with Zhang's migrant worker husband in Zhaoqing.
"Heartfelt thanks go to the kind-hearted people who donated and helped Zhen Zhen. I hope to be able to repay society in the future," Zhang added.
Contact the writer at zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn
Breakthrough made for use in aircraft carriers
China has made major breakthroughs in the core design and manufacturing technology of heavy-duty gas turbines that can be installed in aircraft carriers, according to a research institute at Tsinghua University.
Workers prepare for the sailing a newly built bulk ship at a shipyard in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Provided to china daily
The domestically made CGT-60F, an F-class heavy-duty gas turbine, jointly manufactured by the Gas Turbine Research Center of Tsinghua University and a number of companies including Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd and Dongfang Electric Corp, has passed high-temperature cooling experiment tests at the Beijing-based China Gas Turbine Research Establishment.
The heavy-duty gas turbine can tolerate temperatures of up to 1,400 C.
Jiang Hongde, one of the project leaders and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the test results, including the cooling effectiveness and temperature distribution, were all better than expected.
All of the components of this high-end gas turbine are made in China. The prototype was made by Shanghai Turbine Co Ltd, with full intellectual property rights.
China currently can only develop heavy-duty gas turbines based on Ukrainian technology, as Western countries, including the United States and France, do not allow their manufacturers to export such products to China due to national security issues.
Aviation Industry Corporation of China has adopted the Ukraine-made R0110 heavy-duty gas turbine with 110 megawatts of heating power. However, this type of gas turbine can only be applied in electric power generation and cannot be used in ships.
Dong Liwan, a shipbuilding professor at Shanghai Maritime University, said that the work to adapt it for naval use still has a long way to go.
He said whether steam or gas turbines are used in Chinas first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier will depend on the nations development of high-efficiency gas turbines.
Breakthroughs on materials and technologies can build a solid foundation for domestically made heavy-duty gas turbines used in ships.
We are eager to catch up with established rivals in the field in the US and Europe, so China will encourage crowd innovation, crowdfunding and other innovative business techniques to further support the Made in China 2025 strategy, especially in its mature and fast-growing sectors, said Sun Fuquan, a researcher specializing in military-related products at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.
Sun said Chinas fast-growing 4G telecom networks and the Made in China 2025 strategy will lead to further improvements in high-end products, productivity and resource efficiency this year.
Cheng Yu contributed to this story.
Seniors participate in a group activity at the Jinde Old Age Home, a charitable institution in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.[ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]
Organization that receives millions of yuan in donations every year looks to become more professional to provide greater assistance to people in need. Xu Wei reports from Shijiazhuang.
Father Li Rongpin is a busy man. In addition to his pastoral duties, such as giving Mass several times a week and attending to the needs of his parishioners, the Roman Catholic priest has another demanding job; running a charitable foundation that received registered donations of 17 million yuan ($2.5 million) last year.
The 43-year-old takes phone calls, reviews individual charity programs and gives instructions to colleagues, but he is often frustrated by his lack of experience.
"These are things I never expected to do. When I decided to devote myself to the priesthood, all that my mother expected was that I would say Mass at the village church," he said. "As a priest, I was trained to provide services in the spiritual realm. I know almost nothing about financial management, charity work or administration."
Li is the director of Jinde Charities, a Catholic organization and foundation registered in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, a traditional Catholic stronghold in North China. Followers in the province account for about 40 percent of China's estimated 6 million Catholics, according to statistics from the Hebei Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs.
Jinde is just one of many charities run by Catholic groups. Several dioceses, including Xi'an in Shaanxi province and the diocese of Liaoning province, run charitable organizations, including nursing homes, orphanages and groups devoted to helping people with AIDS.
The groups have one thing in commontheir work is being hampered by a lack of financial management experience.
Range of activities
The Jinde foundation was approved by the authorities in 1998. Managed by about 40 priests, nuns and lay workers, it is devoted to a range of activities, including disaster relief, providing emergency relief to individual families, caring for seniors and helping people with AIDS in rural areas.
"When required, we can mobilize priests and followers in different dioceses. If we know a priest is ministering in a certain area, we can usually find hundreds or even thousands of followers who will provide help," said Li, who has a master's in biblical studies from the Catholic Theological Union at Chicago.
He acknowledged that the lack of management skills poses a challenge to the priests and nuns, who have no experience of running a foundation, especially one that handles such a large number of donations.
Management of human resources is also difficult, because Li's status as a priest means he is expected to be more forgiving than a regular employer. He is attempting to draft a code of conduct for employees to improve the foundation's management, but is finding it difficult: "This is why we need a modern management system. We need rules to reward those who obey the regulations and punish those who violate them."
Official encouragement
The central government actively encourages the participation of religious groups in charity work and the establishment of charitable organizations, including foundations, which are allowed to receive donations, according to a guideline issued in 2012 by six central government departments, including the State Administration of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.
That stance has been reiterated by Wang Zuoan, head of the State Administration of Religious Affairs. In an article published by Study Times, Wang said the government will continue to support faith-based charities.
Despite the official endorsement, the foundation's religious background can be a disadvantage when the group attempts to publicize its work, especially through the media.
"The issue suddenly becomes sensitive for many people when they learn about our religious background. Many outlets shy away from covering our work, and some have even severed ties with us," said Father John Zhang Shijiang, Jinde Charities' founder.
Taiwan-funded companies that have invested in Guangdong province's city of Dongguan, a major manufacturing center in the Pearl River Delta, have maintained sustainable business growth there and many of them have been introducing smart solutions to cope with rising production costs, according to leading businessmen.
"There haven't been hundreds of Taiwan-invested companies moving their businesses out of Dongguan," said Tsai Jinhong, chairman of the Taiwan Businessmen Association (Dongguan).
Some overseas media reported that over 1,000 Taiwan-funded companies in the mainland had closed or moved to other regions because of the local government's industrial upgrading policy.
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Shanghai's Pudong New Area granted 301 government-guaranteed loans to local startups projects in 2016, a surge of 95.45 percent compared to the number in 2015, according to data provided by Pudong New Area Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
The data placed the area first amongst Shanghai's districts and helps to demonstrate the extent to which Pudong is acting in the financial interest of small local businesses.
The increase in loans can be attributed to the decision of Pudong authorities to lower the threshold for loan applications.
Although the number of loans has risen, the amount of each loan is lower than that of 2015, which indicates that local authorities have enhanced the level of loan supervision they provide.
The government-guaranteed loan policy was first launched by the Shanghai government in 2000 and aims at helping startups to raise money during their early stages of development.
Young entrepreneurs are considered as major beneficiaries of the policy. Indeed, forty percent of the entrepreneurs who obtained government-guaranteed loans in Pudong in 2016 were under the age of 35.
Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
It does not matter whether it was meant as a provocation, a test, or simply a call for attention. It may have been any of those, or all.
The test-firing of the Pukguksong-2 intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday, which was in no way conducive to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's pursuit of the international recognition and respect it covets, was a timely reminder of an outstanding security challenge the Donald Trump presidency faces.
It might have been an invitation for direct interaction with the United States. But there is no sign that will happen.
As of now, what Pyongyang has received in return, apart from immediate condemnation from the United Nations and calls from the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea for harsher sanctions, is Trump's vow to deal with it "very strongly" and the US' "100 percent" solidarity with Japan.
However, Pyongyang will not stop now. That the US has not shown any willingness to engage can be read as a sign of indecisiveness and may thus inspire further provocations.
Yet Pyongyang will not get what it thinks it deserves, especially being accepted internationally as a legitimate, respectable nuclear power. For its persistent threats of "nuclear elimination" of "enemy states" alone, it cannot but be deemed as a threat. That is why the UN, along with all countries in Northeast Asia, has remained steadfast on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
And that is why China and Russia, while consistently appealing for caution and restraint in dealing with Pyongyang and due respect for its security concerns, have joined the international chorus of condemnation and thrown their weight behind the recent UN sanctions.
The UN Security Council may or may not agree on additional, stronger sanctions this time, given member countries' divergences on the right approach to adopt. Even if a new package is approved, it is unlikely to suffice to stop Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program and missile stunts. Over the years, the world has watched as that program has grown and thrived despite all the condemnations and sanctions.
Which is why the missile launch should be a wake-up call for rethinking the response to Pyongyang's actions and intimidation.
A solid-fuel engine itself may not suffice to make the Pukguksong-2 a "game changer". Pyongyang may not come up with missile technologies capable of intercontinental attacks soon. But the vicious cycle will not end unless the root cause, the decades-old hostility between Pyongyang on the one hand, and Seoul and Washington on the other, is addressed.
All parties should step up communication and engagement to secure a peaceful settlement of the DPRK nuclear issue.
A Vietnamese woman sells local specialities to Chinese travelers at a Vietnam market in the city of Chongzuo, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on the border between the two countries. [Photo/China Daily]
The claims of a Chinese tourist that he was beaten by Vietnamese border security officers after refusing to pay them a tip has provoked anger among the Chinese public.
The man said he was assaulted on Feb 7 in Mong Cai, when he was returning home with his fiancee and mother after a two-week wedding photo shoot in Vietnam and was forced to write a statement saying he had not been beaten.
The Vietnamese officials at Mong Cai deny beating him and claim he was injured when he fell while being chased.
Given that Vietnam's frontier security authorities are one of the parties involved, there should be a joint investigation into the incident to determine what really happened.
As the man is a Chinese citizen, China can demand the launch of a joint investigation into the case in accordance with international law and practices to find the truth and promote its just and reasonable settlement.
At the same time, the launch of joint investigations is also a necessary step for China to fulfill its consular protection responsibilities for Chinese tourists overseas.
It has long been a bad habit of some countries' customs and border security officers to charge tourists, especially Chinese tourists, a tip. The official advice offered to Chinese tourists encountering such a scenario is that no tips should be given, because doing so only fuels the practice targeted at Chinese tourists. Individual tourists and travel groups should resolutely refuse any unreasonable demands for tips to eradicate the perception among some that Chinese tourists are easy pickings.
The Chinese government should make official representations and urge the relevant countries to correct any malpractices in their tourism industries.
An increasing number of Chinese people traveling overseas will bring huge economic benefits to any destination. The government thus has enough chips to use to prevent Chinese being preyed on while traveling abroad.--Beijing News
A gavel in a court. [Photo/IC]
As early, the State Council, China's Cabinet, canceled 67 vocational certificates and approvals. However, the bureau of housing and urban-rural development in Haikou, South China's Hainan province, recently issued an official document requiring all local interior decorators to have two of the canceled certificates. Beijing Youth Daily comments:
Does the local government of Haikou know they are acting against the executive order of the central government?
There are various laws regulating the market, and all the local authorities need to do is to enforce them so that those breaking the laws get their deserved punishments. There is no need for the local government to intervene with their own measures.
Worse, some journalists visited Haikou and found that it is very easy to obtain the required vocational certificates by paying a certain agency a "training fee".
Further, the local "trade association" is also called the Haikou office for regulating the interior decoration industry. In other words, it is likely the "trade association" is the white glove of some local bureaucrats holding their hands out for illicit gains.
If this is the case there is an interest chain behind the officials of Haikou insisting workers obtain the abolished certificates. Just as Premier Li Keqiang once said, some local training agencies provided mandatory "services" to residents and enterprises and made profits in the process. That seriously curbed the market from becoming prosperous.
Such a phenomenon used to exist everywhere, and that's partly why the central leadership has vowed to push forward reform by simplifying administrative procedures. With the reform going on, the problem has been solved in many regions, but it proves deeply rooted in Haikou.
We hope the higher authorities can intervene by probing the situation in Haikou. They are acting not only against the executive order of the central government, but also against the law. It is also time to investigate and see whether the phenomenon exists in other regions, too, so that the reform can proceed smoothly.
A snapshot of Internet celebrities. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Live streaming websites have become a hit among Chinese netizens and investors in the past year, but they are plagued by obscene content and online gambling. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Tuesday:
It is estimated that there were nearly 300 live streaming platforms by the end of last year, with the number of users reaching 240 million. But the booming industry is not without problems, as major live streaming websites such as Huya, Panda TV, Douyu and Zhanqi TV were found more than once to be airing nudity or obscene language.
In some cases, anchor women purposely flirt with the male audience, even strip off their clothes in front of the cameras, in exchange for handsome virtual "gifts" that can be converted into money.
Without doubt the platforms have paid the price for such audacity. More than 2,500 websites across the country have been punished or shut down since a campaign against online pornography was launched last April. Some 3.27 million pieces of "harmful content" had been removed as of November.
In response, 20 live streaming platforms co-issued a statement urging all their anchors to be subject to real-name registration and banning applicants under the age of 18. These efforts are laudable, but far from enough.
Take for example the flirty anchor women, some platforms tend to encourage them because their performances, often in a regulatory gray area, are a magnet for paid users. Breaking this illegal alliance calls for a new supervision mechanism, in which government penalties and public supervision play an equal role.
On their part, live streaming companies need to work harder to innovate their content.
Zeze and Ziye pose in Sanlitun, a popular commercial district in Beijing, Feb 13, 2017. The lovers are college students in Beijing. They have been in love for over a year. This year's Valentine's Day, Zeze plans to spend more than 2,000 yuan ($291) with Ziye to watch movies and explore Nanluoguxiang, a popular alleyway in the city. [Photo/VCG]
Tuesday was Valentine's Day, a day when young men and women fret about not only what words of endearment are appropriate, or even what kind of promises to make, but also where to eat and what gift to buy their significant other. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:
Businessmen who are good at turning all holidays into shopping carnivals have already begun to turn the day into a commercial jamboree. All the discounts and sales promotions for the day overwhelmingly imply that those who are single should feel inferior because they are not spending money on a loved one.
Through the different ways of celebrating Valentine's Day, a non-public holiday, we can still see the different cultures and temperament. In Europe, where St. Valentine's Day originated as a Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, the day has more of a holiday vibe.
The acceptance of Valentine's Day in China and the way it is celebrated mainly derive from the customs in the United States where the day is more commercialized than it is in Europe. In the US, Valentine's Day equates to spending money to demonstrate how much a person loves another or show how romantic they are.
As a matter of fact, people can choose to celebrate the festivals they want in the way they like. But it would be a pity if this celebration of the beautiful sentiment of love eventually becomes nothing more than a conspicuous or compulsive act of consumption.
There is always a principle in the meaning of the intricacies of any festival, that is, respect for the different ways people live their lives. If a festival is found to be "successfully" established upon any sole cultural or business logic, then it is not the problem of a holiday, but people.
Dong Haifeng, director of the bureau of commerce in Danzhou, South China's Hainan province, has become the first official nationwide to be held accountable for failing to fulfill his responsibility for information disclosure.
The official website of the bureau was found not to meet the required standards for an official government website during the third national inspection of official government websites as it had not been updated for a long time. It was the only government website in Hainan not to meet the required standards.
After the results of the inspection were released, the local Party's disciplinary committee dealt with the issue. The bureau's official website has been shut down and the relevant content has been transferred to the website of the Hainan provincial government.
Official government websites are a key part of modern governance, providing greater convenience to the public and enhancing the transparency of government. But many local officials ignore the need to update and maintain their websites, which then become so-called zombie websites.
Such a phenomenon shows local officials fail to pay enough attention to the importance of information disclosure and publicity work.
The General Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, has reported hundreds of government websites for not meeting the required standards in recent years but little progress has been made. It is expected that local authorities will strictly implement an accountability system for information disclosure.
US President Donald Trump speaks while signing executive orders at the White House in Washington January 24, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
Many are concerned that the Trump Administration could start a trade war with China, if not, a military one. During the campaign, Trump threatened to designate China a "currency manipulator" on the first day he entered office. Now that he has been inaugurated, Trump has turned many of his threats into action, signing several executive orders, placing a travel ban on Muslims, withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and begun the process of erecting a wall along the US-Mexico border. But so far, he has chosen not to go through with his threat of designating China a currency manipulator, because he is worried about the consequences of doing so.
There are close to 1.5 billion people in China. As the Chinese economy grew, China became the biggest market in the world. China has bought more luxury goods than any other country. High-end car maker GE just released its sales figures for Cadillac in China in 2016. It sold 70 percent more luxury models in China than in the United States. Almost every major multinational corporation has some research and development operation in China. The Chinese market is too important for any multinational corporation to ignore. Not having a share in the Chinese market would be inconceivable for any multinational corporation.
During his campaign, Trump said that China stole American jobs. He knew that was a lie. The truth of the matter is that American multinational corporations went to China to maximize profits. In the early days, the same computer motherboard made in the US cost $400, cost just $92 to make in Mexico. When it was made in China, the cost reduced further to only $25, and 50 percent of the products could be sold there. In the past 30 years or more, American multinational companies have made tremendous profits and occupied a big share of the Chinese market while doing so.
If Trump meant what he said during his campaign about bringing American companies and American jobs back to the US, American multinational corporations will lose their competitive edge in China built up over the last 30 years. The market share they opened up would be taken over by their competitors from Europe and elsewhere, as well as Chinese companies. These American companies would lose their Chinese market share and their competitive advantage forever.
After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Russian historians examined Russian and Soviet history. They came to the conclusion that the greatest mistake Russia and the former Soviet Union made was its break up with and withdrawal from China in the 1960s.
In 1960, after helping China build up its heavy industry, with more than 11,000 Russian and eastern European engineers engaged in the industrialization programs in China, Khrushchev decided to break contracts with China and withdraw all engineers from China, due to an ideological difference with the Chinese Communist Party leadership. Khrushchev wanted to teach the Chinese leadership a lesson, by creating some short-term economic difficulties for China. China did suffer tremendous economic set backs in the short term because of Khrushchevs decision. But the former Soviet Union lost its influence and leverage in China in the long term. It lost access to the Chinese market. If the Soviet Union had not withdrawn its engineers from China, China would be dependent on Soviet technology for the long term. China would have used Soviet standards and bought Soviet technology and machinery for a long time to come. After the departure of the Russians, China was forced to develop its own industrial base and its own technological innovations, no longer relying on Russian goods.
Trump may want to bring back jobs to the United States, but American multination corporations cannot afford to lose their share of the Chinese market at this critical moment in history.
The author is a professor at Warren Wilson College, North Carolina, and a guest professor at Hebei University.
Tourists take photos while sitting on the steel ladder leading to Atuleer village in Sichuan province.[Photo by Wu Chuanming/For China Daily]
A tourism development company in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, has signed an agreement with the Zhaojue county government to turn a formerly inaccessible village into a tourist destination.
The company plans to invest 300 million yuan ($44 million) to tap rich tourism resources such as a canyon, karst caves, hot springs and virgin forests in Atuleer and its two neighboring villages, according to Jin Wenming, an official from the Zhaojue county government in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture.
The three villages are inhabited by ethnic Yi people and will be of great appeal to tourists, Jin said.
Liangshan, one of Sichuan's least developed areas, boasts China's largest population of Yi people, who are known for their worship of fire.
Atuleer, a village that lies atop a cliff more than 1,400 meters above sea level, used to be famous for relying on an 800-meter zigzag network of rattan ladders with no railings, which was its only link to the outside world.
The rattan structure - a chain of 17 small ladders tied together without any railings or other safety features - had been used by villagers for years. They relied on it to reach the nearest market several kilometers away once a week to sell peppers and walnuts, and to buy necessities.
Photos published by a Beijing-based newspaper in May of pupils climbing up the cliff on the rattan ladders sparked public outcry and prompted Liangshan officials to address the issue.
It was impossible to relocate the villagers, who did not want to leave their time-honored habitat, so decision-makers in Liangshan promised to replace the rattan ladders with steel. Construction of a steel ladder with handrails was completed in November at a cost of 1 million yuan, with the Liangshan and Zhaojue governments splitting the cost.
It took three hours to return home via the rattan structure, but the steel ladder has reduced that journey by an hour, said Er Dijiang, head of Atuleer.
Accessibility also means more chances for villagers to find wives, he said, adding that before construction of the steel ladder, a villager marrying a woman from outside the village had to carry his bride to his home on top of the cliff via the rattan structure, making it difficult for young men to find spouses outside the village.
Since the steel ladder was introduced, six young men have married women from outside the village, Er said.
National security adviser General Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington US, February 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
WASHINGTON Just six days into his presidency, Donald Trump was informed his national security adviser had misled his vice president about contacts with Russia. Trump kept his No. 2 in the dark and waited nearly three weeks before ousting the aide, Michael Flynn, citing a slow but steady erosion of trust, White House officials said Tuesday.
Flynn was interviewed by the FBI about his telephone conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US, a sign his ties to Russia had caught the attention of law enforcement officials.
But in the White House's retelling of Flynn's stunning downfall, his error was not that he discussed US economic sanctions with the Russian before the inauguration a potential violation of a rarely enforced law but the fact that he denied it for weeks, apparently misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other senior Trump aides about the nature of the conversations. White House officials said they conducted a thorough review of Flynn's interactions, including transcripts of calls secretly recorded by US intelligence officials, but found nothing illegal.
Pence, who had vouched for Flynn in a televised interview, is said to have been angry and deeply frustrated.
"The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable incidents is what led the president to ask General Flynn for his resignation," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday, one day after the president asked Flynn to leave.
Flynn, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation, said Monday "there were no lines crossed" in his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
The explanation of the episode left many questions unanswered, including why Trump didn't alert Pence to the matter and why Trump allowed Flynn to keep accessing classified information and taking part in the president's discussions with world leaders up until the day he was fired.
White House officials also struggled to explain why Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway had declared the president retained "full confidence" in Flynn just hours before the adviser had to submit his letter of resignation.
WASHINGTON A Trump administration official says US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty.
The alleged violation complicates the outlook for US-Russia relations amid turmoil on President Donald Trump's national security team.
The Obama administration three years ago accused the Russians of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing and testing the cruise missile. Officials had anticipated that Moscow eventually would deploy it.
Russia denies it has violated the INF Treaty. An administration official who wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly said intelligence agencies assessed the missile became operational late last year.
The missile deployment was first reported by The New York Times.
US President Donald Trump meets with UK Prime Minister Teresa May in the oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C, January 27, 2017. [Photo/VCG]
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Theresa May formally rejected a petition Monday signed by nearly 2 million people wanting the cancellation of the proposed state visit to Britain by US President Donald Trump.
The petitioners said a state visit by Trump, which would involve a state banquet, would embarrass Queen Elizabeth.
Officials at Westminster have scheduled a debate about the petition by MPs (members of Parliament) next week when the Houses of Parliament re-open after a recess.
In its official response to the petition, May's government recognized the strong views of those who supported the petition, but added that Trump should be extended the full courtesy of a state visit.
Even if MPs vote in support of the petitioners there is no requirement on May or her government to accept their decision.
In its response, the government says it believes the president of the United States should be extended the full courtesy of a state visit.
"We look forward to welcoming President Trump once dates and arrangements are finalized," said an official statement.
During May's visit to the United States on Jan. 27, 2017, the British prime minister, on behalf of the Queen, invited Trump for a state visit to Britain later this year. The invitation was accepted.
Media in London are reporting that Trump's state visit will take place before the end of this month.
More than 200 MPs from across the political spectrum have signed a motion in the House of Commons saying they do not want permission to be granted to Trump to address politicians at the Houses of Parliament during his state visit.
They cite Trump's recent actions, including his executive order on immigration and refugees, and his comments on torture and women, as the reason for their stand.
The Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, was dragged into the controversy when he said Trump should not address parliament. His statement has led to a vote of no confidence in him, a move that could threaten his position at Westminster.
US President Donald Trump's first phone call to President Xi Jinping shouldn't be over-interpreted, experts on China-US relations said, while urging that both countries strengthen cooperation on issues ranging from defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula to increasing "reciprocity" in bilateral relations.
In their "lengthy and cordial" telephone conversation on the evening of Feb 9, Trump agreed to honor the one-China policy, a shift from his earlier saying that he might not do so unless China made big concessions on trade. Trump and Xi also agreed that the two countries should discuss and negotiate issues of mutual interest.
"Reiterating its commitment to the one-China principle is the least Washington can do to maintain its relations with Beijing," said Niu Jun, a professor of US studies at Peking University. "It should not be over-interpreted, because it marks no significant breakthrough but a return to normal'."
On future cooperation, combating cross-border terrorism and defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula are likely to see closer interaction between both sides, Niu said, adding that both countries share increasing concerns over the two issues, and would at the very least seek to avoid increasing their differences.
Both Washington and Beijing expressed their opposition to last weekend's test launch of a missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Beijing "has been striving for a settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue by proactively engaging in mediation and promoting peace talks", while Trump vowed to deal with DPRK "very strongly".
Simon Lester, trade policy analyst of the Washington-based Cato Institute, a think tank, agreed that the presidential phone call was a sign of a good relationship, "but there are still many hurdles to overcome," he added.
His view was echoed by Nicholas Hope, former director and China program director of the Center for International Development at Stanford University.
"Recognizing the importance of the one-China policy as a foundation stone of the relationship gives me greater optimism for a more fruitful dialogue on equally vital issues, specifically, trade and investment relations and agreements to combat climate change," Hope said.
The intense interdependence shared by the world's largest and second-largest economies means that bilateral trade and financial cooperation is also inevitable, according to Zhu Feng, director of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University.
With Trump's diplomatic approach showing a distinctive tendency for "negotiations", it's important that Beijing responds to and addresses Washington's concerns about the Chinese market, Zhu said.
As many of Trump's cabinet picks are proven trade hawks obsessed with reversing the US trade deficit, two-way trade remains the most vulnerable to confrontations, said Zhang Zhixin, head of American political studies at the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Zhang said that besides traditional agendas such as nonproliferation and fighting pirates, there is plenty of room for both countries to cooperate on infrastructure and energy. "But that depends on the political importance the Trump administration attaches to them," he added.
In addition to developing relations with the US, Shi Yinhong, a director of the Center of US Studies at Renmin University of China, said, "China should also accord priority to neighborhood diplomacy and improve its ties with major regional powers, especially those in alliance with the US."
David M. Lampton, a professor and director of China Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said he had told The Wall Street Journal before the inauguration that there is a long tradition of politicians running on anti-China bumper stickers, and that Trump would probably have to "negotiate back from some of these positions".
"Welcome as his reaffirmation of the long-standing one-China policy of the US is, the US administration's move has at least two downsides," the former president of the National Committee on US-China Relations wrote in an email.
"To start, what is the policy process that leads to such volatility in foundational policy statements? It is hard to have confidence in any decisions when the process is so sloppy and subject to change," Lampton said. "I do worry about credibility. Will the administration be taken seriously when it counts in a crisis, whether with China or any other country?"
Lampton said that the US's China policy should be "broadened and modified" in the direction of achieving more "reciprocity".
"I think building a Sino-American dialogue on the themes of achieving a stable balance in Asia geopolitically, cooperation between China and America to jump-start global growth, and bilaterally achieving more reciprocity in Sino-American relations is an agenda that could stabilize bilateral relations and appeal to Americans and the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry has prepared federal regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles, which cover almost all aspects of their use, Izvestia newspaper reported, citing the document itself.
According to the newspaper, the document sets out specifications for the organizations of the flights and their execution and describes special characteristics of different types of launches.
The rules will reportedly be obligatory for all drones operated by the federal offices of the executive branch.
According to the outlet, the chiefs of the units that use drones have the right to organize simulation launches that fulfill combat-related goals.
The newspaper said that the document contains more than 40 pages of main text and four appendices.
Lord Mayor of the City of London Andrew Parmley is cementing the capital's financial ties with China as London fights to maintain its position as a top European financial hub amid Brexit uncertainty.
The Lord Mayor of London, Dr. Andrew Parmley, delivers a speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, at the Guildhall, London, Britain November 14, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
Parmley is leading a delegation to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The group comprises representatives from London's financial services companies, and will be in China from Feb 16 to 25.
The delegation will meet Chinese regulators and representatives from Chinese companies to discuss issues including bilateral financial services collaboration, fintech, green finance and a proposed link between the London and Shanghai's stock exchanges.
"It is no secret that our relationship with China is more important than ever as we negotiate our departure from the European Union," Parmley said to journalists in London ahead of his tour. "My visit came at an opportune time to show government and industry that the UK remains open for business."
Brexit uncertainties have threatened London's reputation as a leading European center. Banks, including JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC are already reportedly considering relocating staff to other EU economies. Brussels-based think tank Bruegel estimates the UK could lose 30,000 finance sector jobs as a result of Brexit fallout.
A crucial issue for London is whether it will lose its so-called passporting rights.
Jan Dehn, head of research at the London-based Ashmore Investment Management, said China is in a good position to gain from Brexit because Brexit could prompt the UK to offer "far more attractive terms to third parties, including China, in order to make up for the loss of markets within the EU".
Zeng Yeqin, a lecturer in finance at Henley Business School, said despite Brexit London can play an important role to achieve its renminbi internationalization goals and share lessons with China on financial market regulation.
Meanwhile a feasibility study is well under way that looks into the linking of the London and Shanghai stock exchanges and the mutual trading of stocks.
Malaysian police arrest female suspect related to death of DPRK man
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 19:15
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian police said Wednesday that a female suspect was arrested in the investigation related to the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that the suspect was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, where the man looked for help after feeling unwell on Monday. He died on the way to hospital.
The female suspect, who was carrying a Vietnamese passport, was identified from the surveillance video footage at the airport, Khalid said, adding that the suspect was alone at the time of arrest.
The Malaysian police said earlier that the 46-year-old man who died Monday was holding a DPRK passport under the name Kim Chol.
But South Korean media reported that the man was Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un.
His body was taken to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday for postmortem to ascertain the cause of his death.
The Moscow-Kazan railway to be built with Chinese help will have trains running at speeds up to 400 kilometers an hour, Chinese media reported. Wang Mengshu, an expert on high-speed railroads, told Sputnik that the new rail line will cut the current journey time between Moscow and Beijing from seven days to just 24 hours.
The high-speed rail service will also contribute to closer across-the-board ties between Russia and China and will bring in new investments in Russia.
The construction of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway is slated to be completed in 2020. Even though the trains will be able to run at 400 kilometers an hour, Wang Mengshu said that the actual average speed will not exceed 300 kilometers an hour.
"During the initial six months we will be running the trains at 385 kilometers an hour just to make sure that we have no power cutoffs. However, we believe that in terms of commercial profit and security, a speed of 300 kilometers an hour would be more appropriate," Wang said.
The Chinese side hopes that while Russia's network requires trains to run on a 1,520mm track, the trains operating on the Moscow-Kazan railway will be running on narrower 1,435mm tracks used in Europe and China.
This would save the China-bound passengers the trouble of having to switch trains after crossing the Russian-Chinese border.
The construction of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway would facilitate contacts between the countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt countries and would also contribute to Russia's economic development.
The current travel time along the route between Beijing and Moscow running across northeastern China is about seven days. With the new rail line in place, the travel time will be down to just 24 hours.
Russia and China earlier discussed the possible construction of a rail line to run from northeastern China to the Bering Strait via East Siberia.
The current rail project is just another indication of an increasingly strong relationship between the two economies.
Transcription
1 Canada-Nepal Export Report: Pheromone Traps and Lures for Integrated Pest Management. Robertino Morelli AGR1110 Tuesday, December 1, 2015
2 The aim of this paper was to identify and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of exporting pheromone traps and lures from Canada to Nepal. These are further explored within sections below. A great focus on the product itself and its characteristics is followed by information regarding its use. Companies involved and the benefits they stand to gain, both directly and indirectly, are explored and explained. Furthermore, an analysis of the labour required and the various costs involved are described following these sections. Lastly the data provided was used to make a recommendation on the viability of exporting the product and its benefits to Nepal and other developing nations as well. Part 1: General information on Pheromone Traps and Lures. i)product Description: Pheromone traps and lures are, in the simplest term, traps designed to attract a specific insect or insects with the use of pheromones, normally sex pheromones. The objective of this can vary. Pheromone traps can be used for detection of invasive pests, monitoring populations of pests and/or controlling pest populations through various methods (Evenden, 2011). Sex pheromones are how specific insects are able to find members of the same species. These are chemical messengers that females will usually secrete to attract males towards them in order to mate (Carter & Fraser, 2005). Artificial pheromones can be made to mimic the effects of natural pheromones and trick insects into traps that capture them. Normally the use of a rubber "septa" is the first step in making the trap as it is later placed in a sticky trap where the insects will get stuck (Carter & Fraser, 2005). A huge range of insects exist that plague farmlands which is why there is also a wide variety of traps and lures available commercially. Natural Insect Control offers many
3 pheromone traps that can be used in the farm and attract many species of pests such as fruit flies. The advantage flying insect trap with fly banquet is one of their products and is suitable to be used in Nepalese farms as it is reusable and contains an assortment of pheromones to attract many species of insects out to a distance of 30 feet and costs $24.99 for a kit (Natural Insect Control, 2015). This kit contains the trap along with bait and a liner. Cooper Mill Ltd. is also in the pest management market and provides many moth traps along with fly traps. Moth traps are needed as moths are an issue for some Nepalese farmers. The Delta 1 Trap is the largest and one of the many available traps. It is very well suited for outdoor use as it is constructed from weatherproof plastic making it ideal for small fruit farms and it offers a replaceable sticky area of 350 sq. cm (Cooper Mill Ltd., 2015) that can be easily removed to examine the pests. It is suitable for both large and small moths, another advantage. Other traps from Cooper Mill Ltd include the Delta 2 trap, a smaller version of the Delta 1, the Black Stripe Trap, which uses both pheromones and a visual stimulus to attract moths and has proven to be 60% more effective than its standard competitors (Cooper Mill Ltd., 2015). It should be noted that, like all traps, these require maintenance and good care in order to maximize their efficiency. Many companies offer replacement parts for their traps at a low cost usually ranging from <1$ to $5 (Natural Insect Control & Cooper Mill Ltd., 2015). ii)company information: Natural Insect Control (NIC) is a company based in Stevensville, Ontario. They are located 10.0 km south-east of Niagara Falls (NIC & Google, 2015). NIC was first established in
4 1989 as a family business with an eco-friendly mindset (NIC, Website, 2015). This can be viewed as both a disadvantage and an advantage. A small company like such can struggle to keep up with the large demand which is a problem, but it can also use the increase in demand for their product to expand and promote green alternatives to control and manage pests. Cooper Mill Ltd. is recognized as an industry leader in the pest management sector with a reputation for its speed and reliability of supply of products in Canada and around the world. It was the first company in Canada, in the year 1986, to run commercial-scale trials related to pheromone mating disruption (Cooper Mill Ltd, Website, 2015). The company is currently located in Madoc, Ontario, one-hour east of Peterborough. With its already established reputation and expertise in pheromone and insect monitoring (Industry Canada, 2015), Cooper Mill Ltd. can show its potential and knowledge of pheromone traps and lures and attract new customers and enter the international market in countries that are less developed as an industry leader. Table 1: Information regarding the companies involved. Cooper Mill Ltd. Natural Insect Control Number of Employees 2 N/A Total Sales (CAN) $500,000 to $999,999 N/A Export Sales (CAN) $1 to $99,999 N/A Contact Information: 31 Hastings Road, RR #3. Madoc, Ontario. K0K 2K0. Phone: Website: Netherby Rd., Stevensville, Ontario. L0S 1S0. Phone: Website:
5 Table 1: Above is a description of Cooper Mill Ltd. in terms of employees and sales. The information was taken from the Government of Canada, Industry Canada, Canadian Company Capabilities website and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs [OMAFRA], Pest Monitoring Equipment Suppliers list webpage. iii)labour costs and inputs required: Labour in Nepalese farms is relatively cheap and abundant for processes like land preparation and seeding at a rate of Nepalese rupees a day ($3.76-$5 CAN) (International Potato Center [CIP] & Nepal Agricultural Research Council [NARC], 2013). These values can be used to estimate the costs of installment and upkeep of pheromone traps and lures for integrated pest management (IPM) practices. Canadian scientists will be needed at first to interpret data gathered and assist in using the information as effectively as possible to determine further steps. These being the monitoring or controlling of the populations of pests, the step to be taken would be determined by local farmers along with scientists. Raw materials needed to implement traps can be bought cheaply or made from household items. The exact materials needed is dependent on the type, size and location of the farm and the pests present. Nonetheless, a general list can be devised. The traps themselves can be bought from local Canadian suppliers for export to Nepal, a wide variety should be chosen to ensure most pests can be covered and dealt with. Ropes or wires are needed to hang them in appropriate places above ground (OMAFRA, 2005), these materials can be obtained in Nepal for lower costs. Wooden stakes to place the traps on are optional but
6 could prove to be beneficial. These can either be made by local farmers or a market to provide stakes could be created. iv)proper use of traps: It should be kept in mind that pheromone traps and lures should not be the only method employed for pest management and should be used in conjunction with other practices (OMAFRA, 2005). They can be a useful tool, if used correctly, to determine conditions regarding pests in a farm and the data gathered should be used to determine what methods should be used to minimize pest problems such as pesticides and the use of natural predators (CIP & NARC, 2013). According to OMAFRA, CIP and NARC, traps for common pests should be placed according to the table below: Table 2: Appropriate placement of traps for common pests. Pest Separation Height Trap line placement Oriental fruit moth 40m m Edge to interior Grape berry moth 40m On second wire Varies with site. A guideline of 10m within the infestation source is recommended. Leafminer fly 1/500 sq. m. Varies with site Carried around field. Constant monitoring and some maintenance will be required, this should be done twice weekly (OMAFRA, 2005). Dirt, undesirable insects and leaf bits are most likely to get inside the traps and impair their use, if this were to happen the medium (pheromone infused liquids or sticky coatings) used to catch pests or the whole trap should be replaced with a
7 new one. Most pheromone lures in traps will come with a replacement time but if it is not specified it should be assumed they last a length of 6 weeks on average (OMAFRA, 2005). Appropriate handling and storage is very important. Lures must be kept inside their package sealed until they are ready to be used, they must also be refrigerated according to the manufacturers specifications. Lures should be taken out of their package and left to sit for a few days prior to use in traps as the pheromones tend to release a flush when the package is first opened that will attract undesired insects and corrupt the data making interpretation more difficult (OMAFRA, 2005). Once they are in use it is essential to be able to identify the targeted pest. v)market opportunity and benefits to Canada: Currently there is not a well established market for pheromone traps and lures focused towards agricultural use, specifically the in the pest management sector. The Pest Management Centre (PMC) is a partnership between local and federal governments and the crop protection industry whose goal is to improve the accessibility of tools with a reducedrisk to crop protection (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PMC division, 2015). Their current programs focus only on pesticide use and risk reduction (PMC, 2015). This leaves an opening to a new market based on pheromone traps and lures to be used in conjunction with current projects in order to reduce pest populations and pesticide use as they are both correlated. By creating a market that works alongside the current ones, jobs would be created and secured. The existing industries would integrate the pheromone trap market ensuring it has a well established beginning. This would also help manufacturers of the products and
8 promote local businesses already established. Overall, the Canadian economy would receive a boost in stability and give rise to new opportunities. Part 2: Export Potential to Nepal: i)an introduction of Nepal: Nepal is a small, landlocked country located between India and the Tibet region of China (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015) with and area of 147,141 sq. km. and a population of 27 million (T. Chapagain, lecture notes, AGR1110, September 18, 2015). It is a physiographic and culturally rich country housing 8 of the 14 highest peaks in the world, and the birthplace of Buddha. The country is divided into three major Agro-ecological regions classified according to altitude, crop and livestock systems: The Terai region (23% of land), the Hill region (42%), and the Mountain region (35%) (T. Chapagain, lecture notes, AGR1110, September 18, 2015).
9 Figure 1: The different districts Nepal is divided into. These regions are popular for their produce and landscape. Terai produces the largest quantity of small grain crops due to its sub-tropical climate. Its climate also allows for tropical fruit production such as mangos and pineapple, fresh vegetables are also produced in this area. The Hill region employs a terrace farming system where maize and millet production is very common. Fruits, cash crops and vegetables and vegetable seeds are also produced. In the Mountain region crop growth is very limited by the climate and altitude making the food deficit in this area very large (80%) (T. Chapagain, lecture notes, AGR1110, September 18, 2015). The sole crops that can be grown are barley, buckwheat and potato. The GDP as of 2014 was $19.64 billion (US$) (World Bank, 2015) with a growth of 5.5%, representing a low income level. The Agriculture sector employs over 70% of the
10 population and accounts for 38% of their GDP (T. Chapagain, lecture notes, AGR1110, September 18, 2015) making it their most important sector and form of revenue for individuals. This sector faces many challenges that impair its growth, some being poverty (25% below poverty line), high costs of farm supplies, low labour availability, illiteracy resulting in stunned technological growth and cultural barriers (T. Chapagain, lecture notes, AGR1110, September 18, 2015). ii)needs and Benefits to Nepal and Nepalese Farmers: Increasing IPM practices in Nepal is essential to the development of the country, both for its economy and population. The increased use of pheromone traps and lures in IPM practices would not only benefit the farmers but also their families and local men and women labourers. This is seen presently in coffee farms where pheromone traps have increased the ability of producers to deal with the white stem borer, a severe threat (Feed the Future [FTF], U.S. Government s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative [USGGHFSI], 2013). Women have also benefited from the extra revenue generated by IPM practices which is used to buy clothes for children, pay for schooling and in some cases build housing (FTF, USGGHFSI, 2013). It is clear that increasing the use of pheromone traps would contribute to current IPM practices in Nepal and create more jobs and revenue for labourers therefore increasing the quality of life of individuals. This increase in revenue will allow farmers and members of society to help each other out financially in order to buy more materials such as pheromone traps (FTF, USGGHFSI, 2013). Farmers that have not yet started to use IPM strategies stand to gain the most benefits. Potato producers face many pests that plague their crops and dramatically reduce their yield
11 and profits. Below some common potato pests in Nepal and the losses they represent is represented along with a visual representation of the damage caused: Table 3: Common potato pests and damage caused by them. Potato Pest Pre-harvest damage Post-harvest Yield Reduction (%) damage (%) (%) Potato Tuber Moth Below 5 initially Between 40 and 100 Up to 100 Leafminer Fly Some foliage damage N/A Greater than 20 White Grubs Between 20 and 80 N/A Up to 80 This chart was retrieved from the CIP and NARC training guide for extension officers. Figure 2: Damage in foliage and tubers from the potato tuber moth. This image was retrieved from the CIP and NARC training guide for extension officers.
12 Figure 3: Foliage damage caused by the leafminer fly. This image was retrieved from the CIP and NARC training guide for extension officers. As it can be seen these pests represent a serious problem if they are not dealt with accordingly. Some farmers have already begun employing IPM practices, including the use of pheromone traps for monitoring purposes. Table 4: Monitoring of various pests with IPM practices: Potato pest Trap used Observation period Insects captured Potato tuber moth Pheromone trap 24 hours 20 per trap Leafminer fly Sticky trap 24 hours 5 per trap Cotton boll worm Heli-pheromone trap 24 hours 5-6 per trap Information retrieved from the CIP and NARC training guide for extension officers.
13 The gathered data can be used to asses the pest situation in a farm and help farmers determine which insects they should target at a given time effectively reducing unnecessary use of pesticides and chemicals that would have no effects on managing pests. From information this an income analysis can be formulated. Using sticky traps for leafminer flies instead of current practices can result in a net income increase by 1.58 times (CIP, NARC, 2013). This method can be used for other crops in the same way to achieve similar results. iii)targeted market and potential setbacks: The individuals targeted would be low income farmers that struggle to maintain stability in crop yields. The relatively low cost of pheromone traps compared to the use of pesticides would promote the use of these and increase the demand. This would be the first step to getting the producers on track towards a better life and crop quality allowing for more profit and the use of more sophisticated methods. Women who work in farms can also be targeted and given jobs in the labour section of the project. Refrigeration is one of the most severe drawbacks to pheromone use. Most packs come with instruction specifying that the product must be refrigerated properly before use (OMAFRA, 2005). This is a problem as most low income farmers do not posses the ability to keep them cooled accordingly and sometimes lack electricity as a whole making refrigeration impossible. A high cost is also associated as refrigerators are not a cheap commodity for the targeted market. Neighbouring countries such as India and Bangladesh have also employed IPM practices (USAID & VirginiaTech, 2014) with pheromone traps and pose a danger to the market in
14 Nepal. Lower product costs as a result of decreased exportation costs can be achieved from these countries creating a more enticing offer than Canadian products. An IPM Innovation Lab (IPM IL) project led by USAID and partnered with other associations is already in motion in Nepal with similar goals (USAID/Nepal, 2013). This can be viewed as established competitors in the eye of Canadian investors resulting in a decreased interest in establishing a market. They can also be viewed as partners with expertise in the area, if they are willing. iv)transportation logistics: Transportation for Cooper Mill Ltd. and NIC would consist of moving the product to Pearson International Airport, Mississauga, ON, through either train or trucks mediated by a company like FedEx. From there, aerial transportation to the city of Kathmandu, Nepal will follow. Due to its central location in the Hill region trucking companies based in Kathmandu can distribute the product to many areas nearby where local markets for agricultural products are located. These would be businesses that already conduct business with local farmers effectively making the farmers come to the product. The use of runners from the businesses straight to farms can also be implemented in order to create more jobs. v)recommendations, unknowns, and conclusion: As it currently stands, pheromone traps and lures for IPM practices have a great potential to better the low income agriculture sector of Nepal. However, obstacles such as refrigeration and transportation costs must be overcome to make this a reality. Canadian products are just too expensive after transportation and shipping costs are taken into consideration
15 making the acquisition of them hard. Neighbouring countries with pheromone traps already in use and production like India and Bangladesh (USAID & VirginiaTech, 2014) would be more suitable in terms of exportation and low costs. Extending research and aid would be an area where Canada stands to make a difference and further research should be focused on this. Relationships with the public should also be looked into to strengthen relationships with the marketing sector, ensure the needs of the people are met, and show the benefits of pheromone traps and lures. Future research should also put an emphasis on the export and import barriers as the information needed for this product was not available. The overall focus of this paper was to identify the potential benefits Nepal stands to gain from increasing the use of pheromone traps and lures in IPM practices and evaluate current pest issues plaguing the country and the farmers.
16 References: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (2015). Pest Management Centre (Catalogue No. Unknown). Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (2015) Implementation Projects (Catalogue No. Unknown). Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved from Carter, N., Fraser, H., (2005). Pest Monitoring: Proper use of Pheromone Traps. Guelph, ON: OMAFRA. Retrieved from Carter, N., Fraser, H., (2005). Check Pheromone Traps Twice Weekly! Guelph, ON: OMAFRA. Retrieved from Chapagain, T. (2015). AGR*1110 Intro to Agri-Food Systems course notes. Guelph, ON: University of Guelph. Cooper Mill Ltd. (2008). Food Industry & Pest Management. Retrieved from Cooper Mill Ltd. (2008). About Us. Retrieved from
17 Encyclopaedia Britannica (2015). Nepal. Retrieved from Evenden, M. (2011). Use of Pheromones in Forest Pest Management in Canada. Edmonton, Alberta: Integrated Forest Pest Management Forum. Retrieved from UsePheromonesForestPestManagement-Nov2011.pdf Giri, Y. P., Dangi, N., Aryal, S., Sporleder, M., Shrestha, S., Budha, C. B., Kroschel, J. (2013). Training Guide for Extension Officers: Biology and Management of Potato Insect Pests in Nepal. CIP & NARC. Retrieved from Industry Canada (2015). Canadian Company Capabilities (Catalogue No. Unknown). Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. McVey, M. (2013). Innovation That s Making a Difference: Integrated Pest Management in South Asia. USAID Board for International Food and Agriculture Development, Feed the Future. Retrieved from Muniappan, R. (2014). Globalization of IPM Technologies and Management of Invasive Species. USAID & VirginiaTech. Retrieved from ab%20%20presentation%20in%20nepal%20march%2011,% pdf
18 Natural Insect Control (2015). Who is N.I.C. Retrieved from Natural Insect Control (2015). Fly Traps. Retrieved from The World Bank (2015). Nepal. Retrieved from USAID (2013). Integrated Pest Management Innovation Lab Project. Washington, D.C: U.S. Agency for International Development. Retrieved from
Transcription
1 Consumer in Serbia 01 & future Belgrade, October 01 1
2 Agenda Retail environment Consumers & Consumption trends for the future
3 Big change in last 10 years Outlet type structure in the region (011 Vs. 003) Czech Bulgaria Croatia Republic Hungary Poland Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Ukraine beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow beforenow Hypermarket Supermarket Discount Cash & Carry Small grocery shops Street vendors + open markets Others Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services; Measure: value share (%) 3
4 almost no change in last 3 years Poland Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary Croatia Bosnia Serbia Romania Bulgaria Russia Ukraine Consumer Panel Services l Outlet types development across region l Value share within FMCG basket in
5 Slovakia Czech Republic Poland Serbia Concentration of Top 10 accounts across the region Top 10 retailers share in the region (011 Vs. 003) 7% 60% 58% 81% 61% 86% before now Hungary 57% 67% 18% 41% Croatia 45% 76% Bulgaria 5 Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services; Calculation based upon consumer basket including monitored product categories; Top 10 retailers value share (%); 9% 36% n/a 19% % 10% 8% 35% Russia Ukraine Romania
6 Power of top 10 accounts will continue growing, new players will enter the market 009: 38% 010: 39% 011 Delhaize Mercator&Roda DIS Idea Univerexport Interex (Intermarche) Metro Lilly SuperVero DM Top Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services; Calculation based on monitored product categories 6
7 Total Beer value share by format and Top 10 Accounts 7 Others Top 10 Accounts 8 1 HY 01 Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services Households panel 7
8 Slovakia Czech Republic Poland Serbia PL share across the region % 4% 18 * % 0% 4 * % 9% then now 0% 3.6% Hungary Croatia Bulgaria 15% 7% 5% 0.% 18% 11% Private labels share in the region (003 Vs 011) *007 Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services; Calculation based on monitored product categories 0% % 0% 1% 0% 9% Russia Ukraine Romania 8
9 Household s budget distribution Statistical Office of Serbia 9
10 Beer volume and piece share by pack type 1 HY 01 Volume share in % Piece share in % 10 9 Plastic Bottle Glass Bottle 65 Can HY 01 Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services Households panel 7 1 HY 01 10
11 Beer volume and piece share by pack size 1 HY 01 Volume share in % 7 Piece share in % L + 1L 0.5L L L HY 01 Source: GfK Consumer Panel Services Households panel 1 HY 01 11
12 Agenda Retail environment Consumers & Consumption trends for the future 1
13 Consumer now as to 56% it is important to always be reachable wherever they are. 66% really need the shops and services they use to be available at all times 49% prepared to pay more for products that make their life easier. 13
14 be prepared for the consumer tomorrow 1 Make it convenient What do I want? Everything. When do I want it? Now! Implications: be accessible; help consumers to cope with pressure Source: Roper Research Worldwide; Serbia 009 & 011, n=1000 nationally representative 14
15 Consumer now as to 58% always look for ways to simplify their life. 66% Having less choice makes it easier for them to make a purchase decision 70% think of Simplicity as important value. 15
16 be prepared for the consumer tomorrow 1 Convenience What do I want? Everything. When do I want it? Now Simplify Less is more for some, but others just want to bring a little order to their cluttered lives Implications: Make your offer easy to understand, buy and use Make some choices on consumers behalf Avoid overload, especially on websites But also on advertising, packaging, labels 16
17 Consumer now as to 71% think of home as a private retreat where they can relax and get away from it all 60% think of home as a reflection of who they are and what they value 56% enjoy spending a lot of free time at home 17
18 be prepared for the consumer tomorrow 1 Convenience What do I want? Everything. When do I want it? Now! Simplicity Less is more for some, but others just want to bring a little order to their cluttered lives 3 Be a part of in-home experience I appreciate products and services that augment the in-home experience Implications: Help consumers to accentuate in-home experience Enable consumers to put personal touch to your product that reflects who they are 18
19 Consumer now as to 37% recycled. In 74% think that brands & companies should care about the environment % did so. 60% talked about environment protection. Two years ago % did so. 0% of Serbian citizens has volunteered in ecological activities. In 009 only % did so. 19
20 be prepared for the consumer tomorrow 1 Convenience What do I want? Everything. When do I want it? Now! Simplicity Less is more for some, but others just want to bring a little order to their cluttered lives 3 Cocooning I appreciate products and services that augment the in-home experience 4 Go Green Implications: Consumers expect from you to think green Serbia perceived as country for agriculture healthy food production; use this belief Don t overdo, they are not ready to pay extra Awareness of environmental issues has led me to reassess my attitudes and behaviors 0
21 Consumer now as to 1 out of highly value Fun, and for 67% Pleasure is highly important. 75% will choose an alternative if not satisfied with a product or service 74% highly value Enjoying life 1
22 Influences on a future consumption behavior 1 Convenience What do I want? Everything. When do I want it? Now! Simplicity Less is more for some, but others just want to bring a little order to their cluttered lives 3 Cocooning Implications: Think about how you can help your consumer to feel special Be innovative, but not at I appreciate products and services that augment the in-home the expense of functionality experience or product benefits 4 Green Awareness of environmental issues has led me to reassess my attitudes and behaviors 5 Delight Despite the need to economize, I don t want to sacrifice my moment of pleasure and indulgence
23 Internet is our connection to life April 01, internet usage in Serbia: Daily 37% Couple times a week 1% Several times a month 5% Less frequently % Never 44% 80% teenagers use Internet over mobile & 99% use it in this way up to 1h Only 10% teenagers never inform themselves about products over internet Implications: Internet is our connection to life Keep eye on digital consumer 3
24 THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION! Contact name: Zeljka Micic 4
(Photo : Getty Images. ) Chinese state-owned media on Wednesday warned that India would be playing fire with fire if it tries to warm up to Taiwan.
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Chinese state media on Wednesday warned India against any move to improve its relationship with Taiwan, stating that such a proactive move would be akin to "playing with fire." The warning comes barely days after Taiwan's women parliamentarian delegation arrived in New Delhi for a rare visit.
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The stinging article published in the state-owned The Global Times chides India for trying to warm up to the self-ruled island-nation just as U.S. President Donald Trump has started amending his pro-Taiwan policies.
"At a time when new U.S. President Donald Trump has put the brakes on challenging China over the Taiwan question, agreeing to change course and respecting the one-China policy, India stands out as a provocateur," it said.
The article writer Yu Ning accused New Delhi of nursing a nefarious desire to use "the Taiwan question, the South China Sea and Dalai Lama issues as bargaining chips in dealing with China."
Yu argues that the Modi government has been motivated to play the Taiwan card due to its apparent uneasiness over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He accused New Delhi of stubbornly misinterpreting the flagship project as part of the One Belt, One Road Initiative (BRI).
"As the corridor passes through the disputed Kashmir, some Indian strategists have advised the Modi government to play the Taiwan card, using the commitment of the One-China policy as leverage in exchange for China's endorsement of 'One India,'" he wrote.
The writer urged New Delhi to stop being suspicious about the BRI and rather economically benefit from the ambitious project by directly participating in it.
The article also criticized Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen for provoking India in a desperate bid to pressurize Mainland China. It accused that the leader is trying to take leverage from New Delhi's traditional suspicion of Beijing.
India does not officially recognize Taiwan
India does not have a formal embassy in Taipei since it has traditionally lent unilateral support to the "One China" policy. Nonetheless, New Delhi and Taipei have managed to maintain political and business exchange through the India-Taipei Association Centre.
If the Modi government continues to work on its relationship with the self-ruled island nation, then Taipei would be more than happy to have a major Asian country on its side.
Analyst, however, claim that India would play the Taiwan card only to a extent as the risk of irking China obviously looms high.
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TagsIndia, India and Taiwan, India and China, China and Taiwan, Taiwan
(Photo : ISRO) PSLV-C37 blasts-off with a payload of 104 nanosatellites.
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India was awash in national pride at the historic news it had launched 104 small satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) -- the largest number of satellites ever orbited on one mission by any country.
A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse launch vehicle of India's space program, at 9:28 a.m. on Feb. 15 blasted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the island of Sriharikota to successfully place 104 nanosatellites into LEO.
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The tiny satellites began being ejected into their prescribed orbits 17 minutes after the flight, PSLV-C37, reached LEO. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India's equivalent of NASA, said it took only 10 minutes to launch all the nanosatellites into space.
A nanosatellite, also called a cube satellite or CubeSat, is defined as a small satellite with a wet mass between 1 kg and 10 kg. Because of their puny size, nanosatellites are infinitely cheaper than ordinary satellites and infinitely easier to build. Even college students have built nanosatellites.
It was PSLV's 39th mission since its maiden flight, PSLV-D1, lifted-off on Sept. 20, 1993. Of these missions, 37 were successful.
Of the 104 satellites placed into orbit, 101 satellites belonged to six foreign countries. They included 96 from the U.S. and one each from Israel, the UAE, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Kazakhstan.
The PSLV XL launch vehicle first injected into orbit its main payload, Cartosat-2, India's indigenously built earth observation satellite. Cartosat-2 was followed into space by two other ISRO nanosatellites -- INS-1A and INS-1B.
The other satellites orbited were United Arab Emirates Nayif-1 CubeSats; Kazakhstan Al Farabi-1; Netherland's PEASSS; Israel's BGUSat; Switzerland's DIDO-2; United States' Doves (Flock 3p) and United States' LEMUR Nano.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised ISRO scientists for the successful launch. ISRO chief A S Kiran Kumar said Modi congratulated the ISRO team for the successful launch.
"Congratulations to @isro for the successful launch of PSLV-C37 and CARTOSAT satellite together with 103 nano satellites!" tweeted Modi.
"This remarkable feat by @isro is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists," he said.
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TagsIndia, 104 nanosatellites, low-earth orbit, Satish Dhawan Space Cente, PSLV-C37, Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, nanosatellite, cube satellite, CubeSat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
(Photo : US Army) MML test.
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The U.S. Army is scrambling to close its "short-range air defense gap," key vulnerability that's leaving its troops more vulnerable to enemy air strikes in conventional battles.
A report presented to Congress in 2016 by the National Commission on the Future of the Army concluded the Army is faced with an "unacceptable modernization shortfall" in SHORAD or Short-Range Air Defense capability.
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The renewed emphasis on a more robust SHORAD capability is being driven by the reality a war against Russia, which has a credible aerial ground attack capability, is a possibility in Europe.
Col. Greg Brady, the fires division chief for Training and Doctrine Command at Army headquarters, said the Army has nine battalions with SHORAD capabilities compared to 26 in 2004. Of those nine battalions, seven with the Army National Guard while two are with the active force.
The insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq forced the Army to focus and prioritize other weapon systems at the expense of its SHORAD capabilities. That is no longer the case since the clear threats to the U.S. now are the conventional armies of Russia and China.
To erase this gap, the army has announced its goal is to field SHORAD capability to Europe in fiscal year 2018, said Lt. Gen. James H. Dickinson, Commander of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense.
One of the options open to the army to plug this hole is to develop the Multi-Mission Launcher (MML),a launcher than can fire a wide variety of missiles. MML will be integrated into the Indirect Fire Protection Capability designed to defeat unmanned aerial systems, rockets, artillery, mortars and cruise missiles.
MML last month successfully completed another round of test firings. The army fired a Miniature Hit-to-Kill Missile (MHTK); an AIM-9X Sidewinder and an AGM-114 Hellfire missile from an MML.
The MML launcher can rotate 360 degrees and elevate from 0-90 degrees to identify and knock-out approaching fire from any direction or angle. It consists of 15 tubes, each of which can hold either a single large interceptor or multiple smaller interceptors.
MML is a truck-mounted weapon that's part of an infantry protection program called Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept, or IFPC Inc 2-I. This system uses a Sentinel radar and fire control technology to identify and destroy incoming enemy fire and protect friendly forces.
MML works in tandem with radar and fire-control software to identify, track, pinpoint and destroy approaching enemy air threats with an interceptor missile.
The army said MML gives its soldiers deployed at forward operating bases the capability to defend themselves from attacking enemy fire. It said MML will greatly help protect U.S. infantry in harm's way and under the most difficult battlespace operating conditions.
Brig. Gen. Christopher Spillman, Commandant of the Air Defense Artillery School, and his team noticed the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems by U.S. enemies was spreading and determined a new system was needed to combat the threat.
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TagsU.S. Army, short-range air defense ga, SHORAD, Short-Range Air Defense, Multi-Mission Launcher
(Photo : Indian Air Force) HAL Tejas.
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The Indian Navy has shot down the dream of the indigenous HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to serve aboard the nuclear powered supercarrier, INS Vishal (currently under development) and the INS Vikrant now being fitted out and due to join the Indian Navy in December 2018.
Instead, the Navy is now inviting foreign manufacturers to replace HAL Tejas as the attack aircraft aboard its carriers. The Navy has issued a multi-billion dollar tender for 57 jets, and excluded Tejas from the bidding after the indigenous fighter again failed flight tests.
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Navy sources said HAL Tejas was again unable to take-off from a replica 200 meter-long carrier deck while loaded with weapons. This failure, the latest in a series going back a few years, compelled the navy to reluctantly issue a request for information in January for a foreign fighter to take HAL Tejas' place.
Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, said in December 2016 that the naval version of HAL Tejas was "not up to the mark" and could not take off from an aircraft carrier once weapons were loaded.
HAL Tejas was initially developed in 1983 for the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a replacement for the IAF's ageing Mikoyan MiG-21 fighters and was supposed to have entered service in 1994. Endless delays caused by a multitude of factors, chief among which was that India was trying to make the plane almost entirely from indigenous equipment, delayed the project for three decades.
The loss of navy patronage was a heavy blow for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), maker of HAL Tejas, whose development process has taken an incredible 33 years.
Despite HAL Tejas being rejected by the navy, the jet will serve with the IAF. The Ministry of Defense late last year approved the acquisition of 83 planes for the IAF.
Tejas is a single-seat, single-jet engine, multi-role light fighter designed by HAL's Aeronautical Development Agency for the IAF and the IN. Stealth features have been designed into Tejas, which can carry up to 4,000 kg of bombs and missiles and is armed with one GSh-23 twin-barreled autocannon.
To replace HAL Tejas, the Boeing Co. is presenting its F/A-18 Hornet, the standard air superiority and strike fighter flown from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. Boeing also offered to build the F/A-18s locally.
Sweden's Saab AB said it will offer the naval version of its Saab Jas 39 Gripen fighter to the Indian Navy.
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TagsIndian Navy, HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, INS Vishal, INS Vikrant, Admiral Sunil Lanba, Indian Air Forc, F/A-18 Hornet, Saab Jas 39 Gripen
(Photo : VCG/VCG via Getty Images) Rescuers work at the collapse site where a bus was crushed by an overpass in Zhengzhou, China.
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China has appealed to the international community to help protect key infrastructure within the Belt and Road initiative.
The call was made Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations during a recent UN Security Council debate on how to secure infrastructure against terrorist attacks, China Daily reported.
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"China's Belt and Road Initiative takes the interconnection of infrastructure as a priority of cooperation to help countries along the routes improve their infrastructure development," Liu said.
This developed as the UN Security Council on Monday adopted Resolution 2341 (2017) which urged member states to establish measures that would lessen the impact of terrorist attacks on infrastructure facilities.
Liu pointed out that more than 100 countries and international organizations are now part of China's Belt and Road initiative that aims to strengthen cooperation among them in areas such as "intelligence sharing, risk assessment and joint law assessment."
He said these initiatives should be carried out through bilateral and multilateral channels to protect interconnection projects and transboundary infrastructure from terror attacks.
In a statement posted on the UN Security Council website, the 15-member Security Council emphasized that "the need to strengthen efforts to improve the security and protection of particularly vulnerable targets, such as infrastructure and public places."
In the meantime, the Belt and Road initiative is anticipated to play an important role in bringing the 10-ASEAN member countries closer to China, according to the Star.
According to HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd Chief executive officer Mukhtar Hussain, countries such as Malaysia that are strategically located in the heart of Southeast Asia can serve as a gateway to China.
"Since the implementation of the initiative, both countries have reaped the early benefits of economic investment and have pledged to build a stronger all-round strategic partnership in trade, finance, port development and logistics sectors, among others," Hussain said in a statement.
Hussain reported that Malaysia's trade with China for the first 11 months of 2016 has increased by 2.7 percent to RMB 216.27 billion.
The bank executive said that China's Belt and Road initiative would be a boon to the ASEAN, as this will instrumental in addressing the infrastructure gap in the region and boost industrial development.
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Tagschina, China Belt and Road Initiatives, China Infrastructure
February 14, 2017
Congressional leaders in both chambers are ready to roll out new sanctions on Syria, Al-Monitor has learned.
Differences in how to counter the Bashar al-Assad regime's Russian patron, however, may cause delays despite widespread bipartisan support for forcing the Trump administration to get tough on Damascus.
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs panel, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said he is getting ready to reintroduce legislation that passed the House by voice vote in November. The bill was named after a dissident Syrian army photographer nicknamed "Caesar"; Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Caesar in a Dec. 1 phone call that he would do his best to get the bill passed, according to a source who was briefed on the call.
The bill would slap financial and travel sanctions on foreign actors found to have supported the Syrian government or its military and intelligence services. Despite the Trump administration's appetite for a negotiated settlement, most lawmakers remain wary of Assad amid recent reports of mass hangings and chemical weapons attacks in Aleppo.
"My legislation to crack down on Assad and his supporters passed the House last year overwhelmingly," Engel told Al-Monitor in an emailed statement. "I'll soon reintroduce the Caesar Syria Accountability Act, and I hope it will again win strong bipartisan support. The crisis in Syria isn't getting any better, so I can't imagine why the House wouldn't act on my bill just as quickly as they did last year."
The bill targets individuals responsible for gross human rights violations, not unlike the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which took aim at senior Russian officials for abuses in their own country. It garnered overwhelming support two years after Caesar first briefed Congress about the tens of thousands of photos of tortured prisoners he said he smuggled out of Assad's jails.
The Obama administration sought to delay action on the bill last year out of concern that it could imperil peace negotiations and the nuclear deal with Iran, an ally of Syria. The chairwoman of the committee's Middle East panel, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said she has seen nothing to suggest that Republican leaders wouldn't quickly bring the bill to a floor vote again now that President Donald Trump is in charge.
"I don't know about Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson and what he thinks of it, but this is a common sense good thing," she said. "I haven't seen [the House] leadership dragging its heels in passing bills that people were in agreement with before."
The Senate, however, could prove another matter. Amid allegations of Kremlin involvement in the November election and national security adviser Michael Flynn's Feb. 13 firing over his improper conversations with Russian officials, the upper chamber is determined to counter Russia on a wide front, in Syria and elsewhere.
"We're going to look at Russia and its engagement in Syria and other places probably in an even broader way," Corker told Al-Monitor. The Caesar bill, he said, "may well be a part of it."
"We're beginning to develop thoughts as to how we develop a policy toward Russia that's more constructive than where we are, and in some cases more punishing than where we are," he said. "We're definitely looking at how to deal with Russia's destabilizing activities, and to help countries in the region that are encountering that."
Already, a bipartisan group of senators has responded to Trump's overtures toward Russia with bipartisan legislation that would preclude the president from lifting sanctions without congressional approval. Bill co-sponsor Ben Cardin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Al-Monitor that he and Corker favor a "coordinated approach" against Russia rather than stand-alone efforts.
"I want one clear message to Russia about what Congress is prepared to do," he said. "If [the Caesar bill] is part of the strategy, I can support that, but I need to know what the strategy is first. Syria is just one piece of the problem."
Transcription
1 Gallery Ancient Art from Cyprus, Greece, and Italy The island of Cyprus was a thriving trading post through much of ancient history due to its location in the Mediterranean Sea. Absorbing Mycenaean, Minoan, Egyptian, Assyrian, Phoenician, and eventually Etruscan, Roman, and Persian influences, the art of Cyprus reflects a variety of aesthetic styles as well as a distinctly Cypriot flavor. The tremendous influence of the art from mainland Greece is evident in the Cypriot objects, which closely parallel the artistic trends and periods of their Greek counterparts. Examples of Attic and Corinthian art reveal the Cypriot debt to these Greek centers. The core of the Ringling Museum s collection of classical antiquities centers on John Ringling s sensational 1928 acquisition of a large number of objects from the Cesnola collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This purchase was the first sale of ancient art to make front-page news and bolstered Ringling s plans to create a world class art museum in Sarasota. During the 1860s and 1870s, General Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the American Consul to Cyprus, amassed a large collection of Cypriot art. A flamboyant self-promoter, Cesnola became the first director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1879, and his collection of antiquities was showcased when the institution first opened its doors on Fifth Avenue.
2 Cyprus Early Cypriot period ( B.C.) Jar, c B.C. Ceramic (Red Polished Ware) Museum Acquisition, 1974, SN 74.2 Varrese Painter, attributed to Greek, active in Apulia, Italy Column Krater, mid-4th century B.C. Red-figure ceramic Gift of Mrs. Charles J. Espenshade, 1964, SN 1693 Gallery 20 Page 2
3 Cyprus Cypro-Archaic period ( B.C.) Bearded Male Wearing a Helmet, c B.C. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN Cyprus Hellenistic period ( B.C.) Male Figure, c B.C. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN Gallery 20 Page 3
4 Cyprus Cypro-Archaic period ( B.C.) Standing Male Figure, c. 540 to 450 B.C. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN Gallery 20 Page 4
5 Cyprus Cypro-Archaic period ( B.C.) Male Figure with a Dove, c B.C. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN Gallery 20 Page 5
6 Cyprus Cypro-Archaic period ( B.C.) Male Figure with Leopard Skin, c B.C. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN This figure was excavated from one of the two temples in the ancient walled city of Golgoi. The carefully incised, almond-shaped eyes are typical of Archaic art, which predates the canonical forms of Classical, Periclean Greek statuary. Also characteristic of this period is the thin, upturned mouth, a feature known as the archaic smile. This figure s frontal pose and clenched fists typical Egyptian motifs illustrate the influence of Egyptian sculpture in the Mediterranean. Yet the asymmetry of the lower body is a Greek innovation and suggests the possibility of movement. The left leg is slightly in front of the right in a pose that foreshadows the classical contrapposto. Cyprus Cypro-Archaic period ( B.C.) Male Figure with Egyptian Headdress, c B.C. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN Gallery 20 Page 6
7 Cypriot Heads Sculptors of these fascinating heads have captured ideal types by means of differing approaches that evolved through time. True portraiture, with its interest in conveying character as well as distinct facial structure, did not emerge until the later Hellenistic and Roman periods (roughly 200 BC to 300 AD). The works dating from the Archaic period, however, employed specific blueprints for figural representation; the incised eyes and half-smiles are universal, even if the statues to which these heads belonged were intended to represent particular individuals. And yet through these few heads presented here and in the scholarship to date, it is quite clear how fresh and innovative were the artists in spite of the limitations of the statuary formulae used primarily in funerary works. These heads were not carved as heads alone. Instead they were part of full bodied statues and the heads were most commonly the first to break off from the sculpture. That the heads were kept throughout the ages is quite interesting as they became objects in and of themselves worth keeping. Male Head with Headdress Band Cyprio-Archaic, c B.C. SN Male Head with Wreath Hellenistic, c B.C. SN Male Head with Wreath Hellenistic, c B.C. SN Male Head with Hair Bound in a Filet Cypro-Archaic, c B.C. Sandstone SN Male Head with Wreath and Side Beard Hellenistic, c B.C. SN Male Head with Three-Tiered Crown Cypro-Archaic, c B.C. SN Gallery 20 Page 7
8 Bronze Age Cyprus (c B.C.) The Bronze Age in the Mediterranean was the age of Homeric epics and prosperous citystates. The earliest vessels from this period have simple rounded forms. Often decorated with incised patterns on shiny, buffed red or black surfaces, they are known collectively as Red and Black Polished ware. The next millennium saw the emergence of pottery adorned with dark, geometric forms painted on light ground. Potters covered vessels with a thick white liquid clay (slip), which was then painted with these rectilinear patterns in a form known as White Slip ware. By the end of the Bronze Age, vases were commonly formed on the wheel rather than by hand, and artists primarily used black and red paint to decorate vessels in a style known as Bichrome ware. The of painting details in dark pigment continued with White Painted ware, while two examples of a rarer monochrome ware, Black Slip, are also included here. 1. Sword Middle Cypriot, B.C. Bronze, SN Composite Juglet (Bilbil) Late Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Squat Amphora Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Mixing Bowl (Krater) Late Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Small Jug Early Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Small Jug Early Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 8
9 7. Jug Late Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Bowl Early Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Small Jug with Applied Rosettes Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Blade Middle Cypriot, B.C. Bronze, SN Sword Middle Cypriot, B.C. Bronze, SN Ring-shaped Bottle Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Small Jug Late Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Bowl Middle Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 9
10 Geometric and Archaic Art in Cyprus (c B.C.) By virtue of its geographic proximity to Phoenicia, Greece, Egypt, and other civilizations, Cyprus embraced both diverse populations and artistic vocabularies. Foreign traditions merged with native pottery styles in the Geometric period (c B.C.) and continued to thrive in the Archaic period (c B.C). Craftsmen favored the geometric motifs, such as intersecting bands of concentric circles, that also adorned Greek pottery. By the Cypro-Classical period (c B.C.), the artists of Cyprus were most heavily influenced by the art of mainland Greece, but Cypriot idiosyncrasies, such as the pitchers with figural spouts, maintained their place alongside foreign vocabularies. The human figure made more regular appearances in art than in previous ages, and sculpture became popular on large and miniscule scales. The figurines visible in this case may have been votive offerings representing goddesses or burial objects meant to portray specific individuals. 1. Bracelet Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Silver, SN Earrings Cypro-Classical, B.C. Gold leaf over lead, SN a-b 3. Female Figurine Cyprus, Hellenistic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Figurine of a Pipe Player Cyprus, Hellenistic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 10
11 5. Jug Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Basket-shaped Bowl Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Female Figurine Cyprus, Hellenistic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Female Figurine Cyprus, Hellenistic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Bowl Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Juglet Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Flask Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 11
12 Animal Forms and Decorations in Cypriot Ceramics A small but bustling trading post in the Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus absorbed the artistic traditions of the wide variety of cultures that traded there. The resulting eclectic aesthetic vocabulary at times incorporated anthropomorphic shapes that displayed a sense of playfulness. The Cypro-Classical red ware jugs (c B.C.) were clearly crafted with a sense of humor, as the spouts were formed in the shape of female figures pouring libations from jugs that also repeat this motif. The open sea and sky provided endless inspiration for craftsmen, who frequently molded small, asymmetrical jugs known as askoi into acquatic or birdlike shapes. The emphasis on animal forms indicates the Cypriot affinity for playful, asymmetrical objects as well as the importance of animals and livestock to the culture. The small size of the askoi suggests that they were used to hold precious substances such as perfumed oils. 1. Composite Juglet (Bilbil) Late Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Decorated with a Duck Cypro-Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug with Serpentine Handle Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Horse with Saddle Late Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug with Spout of a Woman Holding a Jug Cypro-Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug with Bull's Head Spout Cypro-Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 12
13 7. Jug with Spout of a Woman Holding a Jug Cypro-Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Jug Decorated with Ducks Middle Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Duck-shaped Askos Cypro-Geometric, B.C. Ceramic, SN Animal-shaped Askos Middle Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Ram's Head Askos Middle Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Sheep-shaped Askos Middle Cypriot, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 13
14 Contact with the Mainland in Hellenistic and Roman Times (c. 400 B.C.-150 A.D.) While pottery was produced in local workshops throughout the Hellenistic world ( B.C.), the close interconnection among these diverse regions led to an overall uniform style of ceramics. This uniformity became even more pronounced as the Romans began to mass-produce pottery in factories in Italy, France, and Africa. At a time when figural vase painting had virtually disappeared in Athens, the red-figure tradition continued to thrive in the Greek colonies of south Italy. South Italian red-figure pottery tends to be much more ornate and florid than Athenian ceramics. Metalwork too continued to thrive alongside pottery, and those who had enjoyed prosperity in life were often buried with such exquisite items as the bronze mirror displayed here. Though age and dirt have discolored the metal, it was originally as shiny and bright as a copper penny with its incised decoration easily visible. 1. Bowl with Molded Animal Figures France, Gallo-Roman, A.D. Ceramic, SN Bowl France, Gallo-Roman, A.D. Ceramic, SN Handle in the Shape of a Lion s Head Cyprus, Roman, A.D. Bronze, SN Covered Dish (Lekanis) South Italy, Classical, c. 350 B.C. Ceramic, SN a-b Gallery 20 Page 14
15 4. Cup Cypro-Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Beaker France, Gallo-Roman, A.D. Ceramic, SN Jar (Alabastron) Greece, Hellenistic, B.C. Glass, SN Clothed Male Figurine Cyprus, Roman, A.D. Ceramic, SN Nude Male Figurine Cyprus, Roman, A.D. Ceramic, SN Mirror Depicting Dancers Etruscan, c. 300 B.C. Bronze, SN Water Jar (Hydria) Egyptian, Hellenistic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Wine Pitcher (Oinochoe) South Italy Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Perfume Flask (Unguentarium) France, Gallo-Roman, 50 B.C.-50 A.D. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 15
16 Archaic Pottery from Athens and Corinth (c B.C.) Strategically located between mainland Greece and the Peloponnesian peninsula, the city of Corinth became a major trading center in the 7th century B.C. Black-figure technique, with figures represented in silhouette and details rendered with an incised line, was first developed by Corinthian potters. A favorite decorative scheme was a procession of animals, both real and imaginary lions, geese, bulls, griffins, and sphinxes are common. Many of the best Corinthian vessels were made as small containers for perfumed olive oil, a valuable export commodity for the prosperous city-state. The black-figure technique of decoration was perfected in Athens during the 6th century B.C. Many vases were produced as utensils for drinking parties called symposia. Not surprisingly, much of the subject matter revolved around Dionysos, the god of wine, and his retinue made up of satyrs, impish horsemen, and maenads, his uninhibited and spirited female followers. 1. Drinking Cup (Kylix) Showing a Satyr with Ivy Vine (interior); Stylized Eyes with Maednad and Satyrs (exterior) Athens, Archaic, c. 520 B.C. Ceramic, SN Wine Pitcher (Oinochoe) Decorated with a Frieze of Animals and Mythological Beasts Corinth, Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 16
17 3. Wine Pitcher (Oinochoe) with a Procession of Satyrs Athens, Archaic, c. 500 B.C. Ceramic, SN Oil Jar (Aryballos) with Floral Ornament Corinth, Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Ring-shaped Oil Flask (Aryballos) with Armed Horsemen Corinth, Archaic, c. 600 B.C. Ceramic, SN Cup (Kotyle) with Decorated Frieze with Rooster, Bull, Lion, Griffin, and Goose Corinth, Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Cosmetic Box (Pyxis) Showing a Banquet Athens, Archaic, c. 500 B.C. Ceramic, SN Amphora Fragment Athens, Geometric, c. 760 B.C. Ceramic, SN Perfume Bottle (Alabastron) with Roosters Corinth, Archaic, c. 625 B.C. Ceramic, SN Oil Jar (Aryballos) with a Boar Corinth, Archaic, c. 600 B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 17
18 Archaic and Classical Pottery from Athens (c B.C.) Around 530 B.C., Athenian potters invented a new decorative scheme in which the background was colored black while the figures remained the color of fired clay. This enabled the craftsman to paint details freely within the red silhouette of the figure and to portray human forms and postures accurately. Ceramic artists continued to depict subjects related to wine and the symposium, especially on drinking vessels such as the kylix. However, after the Persian Wars ( B.C.) more sober themes emerged, such as Nike, goddess of victory, making sacrifices for peace. As Athenian potters experimented with the red-figure technique, another innovation emerged - the covering of the background with a white slip. Both the white background and the added colors proved to be extremely delicate and were too fragile to withstand daily use. The white ground technique was eventually limited almost exclusively to funerary use and to lekythoi, vessels for perfumed oil used in burial rituals. 1. Perfumed Oil Jar (Lekythos) Showing a Man at an Altar Athens, Classical, c. 440 B.C. Ceramic, SN Oil Lamp Filler Athens, Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Amphora with a Winged Nike with Torches and a Standing Youth (reverse) Athens, Late Classical, c. 350 B.C. Ceramic, SN 46.2 Gallery 20 Page 18
19 4. Drinking Cup (Kylix) Showing a Reclining Youth on a Couch with a Wine Cup Athens, Late Archaic, B.C. Ceramic, SN Drinking Cup (Kylix) Showing a Musician (interior) and a Frieze of Bacchic Figures (exterior) Athens, Classical, c. 470 B.C. Ceramic, SN Drinking Cup (Skyphos) Athens, Classical, B.C. Ceramic, SN Perfumed Oil Jar (Lekythos) with a Frieze of Warriors Athens, Archaic, c. 500 B.C. Ceramic, SN Perfumed Oil Jar (Lekythos) with a Winged Nike Holding Vessels for Pouring Wine Athens, Classical, c. 470 B.C. Ceramic, SN Gallery 20 Page 19
The half-brother of Kim Jong-Un, the leader of the reclusive regime North Korea, died on Monday at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, according to Malaysian police officials.
Speculations as to how the half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, died have been swirling around in international media. According to the Washington Post, Malaysian police confirmed that Kim was killed, but the method by which he was killed differs depending on the report.
The Washington Post quoted Malaysian police chief Fadzil Ahmat telling the countrys news agency Bernama, A woman came from behind and covered his face with a cloth laced with a liquid.
Ahmat also told Reuters that the deceased felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the counter of KLIA.
Meanwhile, the South Korean news agency Chosun reported that Kim was killed with a poison needle, and other South Korean reports say that the murder was perpetrated by two female North Korean agents who fled the scene by taxi.
Most reports agree on the account that Kim sought help at the airport counter, saying that he was feeling ill. However, he died on the way to the hospital.
Mohmad Salleh, the Malaysian Criminal Investigation Department director, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying that the police will classify this case as a sudden death.
We have to wait for the postmortem report to determine the cause of death, Salleh said.
Kim Jong Nam, the son of Kim Jong Ils first consort, was known to have lived mostly outside of North Korea, and to have spoken out against passing down the government leadership in the family line. Reports also say that he considered Jang Song Thaek, the uncle who Kim Jong Un publicly executed, his mentor.
Archaeologists have discovered a cave which they believe once housed the Dead Sea scrolls, famous for containing the earliest copy of some of the Judeo-Christian texts, they announced on February 9.
It was believed until recently that only 11 caves in the Qumran region contained the scrolls. However, the excavation at this 12th cave brought about sufficient evidence that it had once contained Dead Sea scrolls and that those scrolls were looted.
"Although at the end of the day no scroll was found, and instead we 'only' found a piece of parchment rolled up in a jug that was being processed for writing, the findings indicate beyond any doubt that the cave contained scrolls that were stolen," Dr. Oren Gutfeld, researcher at Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology, said in a statement. "The findings include the jars in which the scrolls and their covering were hidden, a leather strap for binding the scroll, a cloth that wrapped the scrolls, tendons and pieces of skin connecting fragments, and more."
The excavation was led by the 'Operation Scroll' team, which is comprised of archaeologists from Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria. A team of students and professors at Liberty University, led by distinguished research professor Randall Price, also assisted in the dig.
This is the first discovery related to the Dead Sea Scrolls made in 60 years.
"I knew the cave had potential," Price said in a Liberty University article. "This is only the beginning of our search for more scrolls. Undoubtedly, they are out there, and we know of some 300 caves in the area. Our team is planning to return to excavate other caves in the near future."
Lamar Cooper, senior professor of Old Testament and archaeology at Criswell College who first participated in excavations in the Qumran region in 2006, told the Baptist Press that such excavations tells [him] more and more that everything that happened at that place is what the Bible says.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include texts written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and the earliest texts were written in the 4th century BC. The documents not only contain some of the earliest texts found in the Bible, but also include secular texts that reveal what life was like in the times of Jesus.
Growing up in San Francisco, Russell Jeung didnt have much love for Oakland, his struggling neighbor across the East Bay. Yet Jeung has made his home in Oakland for more than 20 years, with much of that time spent ministering in Murder Dubs, a neighborhood riven with poverty and violence. He first moved there during a graduate school ethnography project focused on Southeast Asian gangs.
Meanwhile, as a sociologist, Jeung has devoted himself to learning about Californias Asian American population, a topic with deeply personal resonance. His great-great-grandfather arrived in the United States in the 1800s. Since my family has been in California so long, he says, we sort of reflect Asian American history. All the injustices and issues that Asian Americans faced throughout their time in the US, my family has personally gone through them.
Jeungs family history and ministry experiences come together in his memoir, At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors (Zondervan). CT assistant editor Morgan Lee spoke with Jeung, professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, about his lifes work.
Why did you decide to study Asian American culture?
Mainly because its had such an effect on my life. Even though Im fifth-generation, even though I grew up American, with season tickets to the 49ers, I was still treated as a foreigner and stereotyped in specific ways. And then I went to a Chinese church that taught that we were all one in Christ. I wondered, Why do we need a Chinese church if in Christ we are neither Jew nor Greek?
Over time, Ive realized how the faith I grew up with differs from more culturally white versions ...
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Evangelicals are the only religious group in the United States that has not developed a better reputation over the past few years. And Americans have become less likely to know an evangelicalmore so than any other faith tradition.
While feelings toward evangelicals have remained stable (even among Democrats), Americans gave warmer responses to every other faith group this year than they did in 2014, according to Pew Research Center findings released today.
Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, and Mormons all improved their standings, with the two lowest-rated affiliationsatheists and Muslimsseeing some of the largest gains.
Pews feeling thermometer survey of more than 4,200 adults found that even without any increase, evangelicalism remains one of the most-liked faith tradition in the countrybehind Jews, Catholics, and mainline Protestants. However, the movements popularity is largely due to positive ratings from evangelicals themselves.
Overall, 44 percent of Americans feel positively about evangelicals, while 38 percent feel neutral and 18 percent feel negatively. The ratings fall when responses from fellow evangelicals, who made up more than 1 in 4 of respondents, are removed: Just under a third of non-evangelicals (32%) have warm feelings towards the group.
Part of the reason for evangelicals middling ratings is lack of exposure. The proportion of Americans who say they know an evangelical dropped by 9 percentage points from 2014 to 2017, down to 61 percent today. (A 2013 study hinted at the lack of exposure: 1 in 5 non-evangelicals in North America said they did not personally know an evangelical.) Meanwhile, knowing an evangelical increases their rating by 12 ...
Church Calls For Government Action On 'Crack Cocaine' Of Gambling
The Church of England is calling for a clampdown on the 'crack cocaine' of gambling fixed odd betting terminals (FOBTs).
The spin machines found in high street betting shops allow a maximum stake of 100 every 20 seconds, meaning 18,000 could be lost in a single hour.
But the Church's General Synod unanimously passed a motion calling for the highest stake to be cut to 2 per spin.
A plea tabled by the Diocese of London throws the weight of the CofE behind a campaign calling on the government to act. It described the 'destructive impact' of the high-stakes machines and called for local authorities to be given the power to regulate the machines.
The highly lucrative machines are thought to earn the Treasury 438 million in tax revenues and provide more than half of Ladbrokes' profits. Bookmakers as a whole earn around 175 billion each year.
The high profits are seen as one reason why the government has called a review but declined to regulate the machines.
Clive Scowan, bringing forward the motion, described them as an 'anomaly' as they are the only type of machine allowed outside casinos where you can bet more than 2 per stake.
He described them as a 'highly pernicious form of high street gambling' and said they 'feed off poverty and exacerbate it, often plunging people into unmanageable debt, bringing misery not just to the gamblers but to their families and especially their children'.
He said: 'God calls us as his ambassadors to stand for his justice and to defend the poor and needy, which includes speaking prophetically to those in power.'
Church Of England Decides: LGBT Vigil Outside As Synod Debates Gay Marriage
LGBT protesters are holding a vigil outside the Church of England's parliament on Wednesday morning ahead of a debate on gay relationships.
The CofE's governing body, the General Synod, will discuss a report by bishops refusing to change their view that marriage is between one man and one woman.
But the Church's hierarchy are deeply concerned a tide of anger against the report will lead to it being thrown out in a vote later on Wednesday.
Officials have been ringing bishops to ask how their members the equivalent of MPs intend to vote.
Top bishops have also been called on to blog regularly on the importance of passing the report.
But campaigners say they are 'quietly confident' the report will be voted down.
Peter Tatchell, who is organising the protest alongside Anglican pressure groups Changing Attitude and the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said he was 'appalled' by the Church's treatment of LGBT people.
'The church blesses dogs and cats but it refuses to bless loving, committed same-sex couples,' he said. 'It treats LGBTI clergy and laity as second class, both within the Church and the wider society.'
Tracey Bryne, chief executive of the LGCM, said: 'We need the bishops to face up to what a "change of tone" would mean: Not more words but a recognition of the real damage that continues to be done by this inertia.
'We need a national programme of practical change to move the Church forward. That will require resources a national lead person and LGBT people at every level of the strategy, holding the church to account and monitoring effectiveness on the ground.'
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Church Of England's Clergy Issue Shock Rebuke To Bishops' View On Sexuality
The Church of England's clergy have issued an extraordinary challenge to its conservative line on marriage by throwing out a bishops' report on sexuality.
In a major revolt against the CofE's hierarchy, members of the Church's General Synod rejected a report by top bishops that said there was 'little support' for changing the view that marriage was between one man and one woman.
The shock result plunges the Church into confusion on its stance on marriage with the bishops' report barred from being discussed until the end of this synod in 2020.
Although a majority of members voted in favour overall, a move by campaigners forced the synod to split into its three separate houses the laity, the clergy and the bishops with all three needing a majority for it to pass.
But the clergy voted by 100 to 93 against, in a rebuke to the bishops' authority.
It is unprecedented that a 'take note' motion, usually passed on the nod, should fail and highlights the tide of anger from all sides within the Church over the bishops' report.
Speaking in the debate the Archbishop of Canterbury, who met with rebels earlier on Wednesday, promised bishops 'will seek to do better' as he called for a 'remarkable' new teaching document on CofE's position on marriage.
'We are going to move on and find a radical new inclusion based in love, based in our Christian understanding careless neither of our theology nor ignorant of the world around us,' he said.
Jayne Ozanne, a gay member of the synod who led a campaign against the report, said she was 'thrilled'.
She said after the vote: 'We can now work together to help build a Church that is broad enough to accept the diversity of views that exist within it, courageous enough to address the deep divisions that exist between us and loving enough to accept each other as equal members of the Body of Christ.'
But Andrea Williams said the result should not be seen as a victory for LGBT activists. She was one of a handful of conservative members who voted against the report over concerns the report would lead to blessings for gay couples.
'What was clear from the debate was that the report tries to straddle positions that cannot be reconciled,' she said.
'Now what we need is clarity.
'We request the Church make clear the teaching on true marriage that is good for all and in line with the Church's apostolic teaching.'
Another synod member Susie Leafe, who leads the conservative grouping Reform, also voted against the report over concerns allowed for 'maximum freedom' for gay couples. She said it was time for the bishops to make a decision.
'We didn't get the clarification from the bishops that we asked for so therefore we voted against,' she told Christian Today.
The result is a major blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury's authority after he instigated three years of internal discussions costing more than 384,000 on talks designed to heal deep rifts within the Church of England.
The report was the result of those talks. It refused to budge on the Church's view on marriage but promised 'maximum freedom' within existing laws. It called for 'a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support' for LGBT people but did not go far enough for many liberal members.
Responding to the result the Bishop of Norwich, who led a reflection group behind the failed report, said he guaranteed the result would be listened to.
Another leading figure, the Bishop of Willesden, Pete Broadbent, warned of future conflicts.
'We will find this debate a continuing source of disagreement because we haven't coalesced around an end point,' he said.
'We don't yet know the next stage nor yet when and whether we can bring any further report to synod.'
Is Trump's Policy Of Prioritising Christian Refugees Unfair On Christians?
At first sight, Donald Trump appeared to make a major concession to Christians in the Middle East last month when he said that he would give priority to Christians when it comes to applying for refugee status in the US.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, the new President said: 'We are going to help them [Christians]. They've been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair.'
Yet according to some Christian leaders in the troubled region, giving Christians priority will both inflame tensions with other religions and groups and also encourage even more Christians to leave the region of their origin.
After all, Christians are under threat from all sides in the Middle East. Tens of thousands of Christians were driven from their homes in Iraq by the ISIS advance in the summer of 2014. Some 80,000 Christian refugees fled Mosul and the Nineveh Plain under threat of forced conversion or execution but remain inside Iraq in the Kurdish capital of Irbil. Elsewhere, Christians are fleeing the literal birthplace of Jesus himself, as Israeli settlements and the 'security barrier' or 'wall' close in around Bethlehem. Aleppo and Syria more broadly have been ravaged by civil war.
Patriarch Louis Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad recently called the provision 'a trap for Christians in the Middle East'. He said: 'Every reception policy that discriminates for the persecuted and suffering on religious grounds ultimately harms the Christians of the East, because among other things [it] provides arguments to all propaganda and prejudice that attack native Christian communities of the Middle East as 'foreign bodies,' supported and defended by Western powers.'
Backing this view, the Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, said that any policy appearing to prefer Christians over Muslims 'feeds fanaticism and extremism'.
Not all Christian leaders agree, however. Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil in Iraq told Crux: 'As long as this is understood as something available to all the minority communities of Iraq, and not just to the Christians, I do not think this will make it harder for us Christians here in Iraq.'
Which brings us to an important distinction, not apparently made by Trump himself, between a policy that is giving overt preference only to Christians, and one that contains a fast-track provision for all victims of ISIS, which would include, for example, Yazidis, and in some cases Shi'a Muslims.
But a range of Christian leaders in the US and UK have anyway criticised the executive order which is known as a 'Muslim ban'. They say that discrimination against any faith group violates principles of religious freedom.
However, there remains the crucial moral question of whether the UK and the US should be encouraging the Middle East to be emptied of Christians.
Habib Ephrem, the secretary general of the Gathering of Christians in the Middle East, said bluntly: 'We want don't priority visas. We don't want him to take us.' He told Time: 'That's the wrong message and the wrong policy...ISIS expels people from their homeland and then you take them to the West. So what? You are doing the policy of ISIS?'
And Chawkat Moucarry, World Vision's director for interfaith relations, told Christianity Today: 'This policy will encourage Christians to migrate, which is exactly what Christian leaders in Syria are fighting against. It is important for Christians to live in Muslim countries. Because through them, Muslims will learn to accept the other. We must learn this principle in order to have a democratic society. Extremists say there is only one way to think or believe. So keeping Christians in the area is an indirect way to counter extremism and learn that diversity is good.'
Pastor Saeed Abedini Sentenced After Violating Restraining Order Taken Out By His Wife
The US-based pastor Saeed Abedini, who was released from an Iranian prison last year, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to violating a restraining order taken out by his estranged wife, Naghmeh.
Abedini, who was arrested in Iran in 2012 and sentenced to eight years imprisonment for preaching the gospel, was released along with three other Americans last January in exchange for seven Iranians.
Now the minister based in Boise, Idaho will have to work four days of community service or labour on a sheriff's office work crew.
Abedini, 36, pleaded guilty in Ada County Magistrate Court on Monday to the violation and Magistrate Daniel Steckel sentenced him to 180 days in jail but suspended all but five days, the Idaho Statesman reported.
The pastor was given credit for the one day he spent in the Ada County Jail after he was arrested on August 31. He was also fined $1,000, with $500 suspended, and placed for two years on unsupervised probation.
Also ordered to remain at least 300 yards away from Naghmeh Abedini's home in West Boise, he may text or email her for matters concerning their children but may not otherwise have contact with her.
The judge further ordered that a third person arrange to bring the children from one parent to the other.
Contacted by the Idaho Statesman on the telephone yesterday, Abedini declined to comment. 'This was a personal matter that I won't share in public,' he said. 'I will write something in my book in the future.'
No details of what occured during the incident, which took place last May 26, were provided in court documents.
Two other counts, which alleged further violations of the restraining order on June 1 and 2 last year, were dismissed in exchange for Abedini's guilty plea.
Abedini is a former Muslim who grew up in Iran and converted to Christianity in 2000, moved to Idaho with Naghmeh in 2005 and became a dual US-Iranian citizen in 2010.
While in Iran, he organised underground 'house churches' where groups of Christians worshipped together.
In 2009, while on a family visit to Iran, Abedini was detained at the airport and he agreed to cease all house church activities.
He travelled back and forth to Iran to build an orphanage over the next few years.
But he was again detained in July 2012 on charges of evangelising and sentenced to eight years in prison. Abedini, who said he was imprisoned for 'being a Christian and refusing to renounce my faith in Jesus Christ', suffered internal injuries from beatings he endured and was denied medical care during his imprisonment in Iran.
Naghmeh Abedini brought national attention to her husband's plight by advocating for his release, and the then-President Barack Obama met with her during a trip to Boise in 2015 and pledged his support.
The evangelical leader Franklin Graham also campaigned for his release.
Naghmeh filed for legal separation from her husband on the day that he arrived back in Boise, five days after he was released from the Rajai Shahr prison in a January 2016 prisoner exchange. She also obtained a temporary restraining order to ensure the couple's two young children remained in Idaho. A divorce is currently pending.
In 2007, Abedini pleaded guilty to domestic abuse in Ada County Magistrate Court before receiving a 90-day suspended sentence and being placed on probation for a year.
Row Over Thought For The Day As BBC Clarifies Editorial Policy After New Editor's Comments
The BBC has said that there are 'no plans to make changes' to the Thought for the Day slot on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' after the programme's incoming editor singled it out for potential changes at the weekend.
The BBC clarification comes after Sarah Sands, the former editor of the London Evening Standard who is taking over at the Today programme, wrote in the Financial Times (FT) that humanists should be included in the traditionally religious slot and implied that she would change its name. 'I admire religion and believe it is robust enough to have challengers,' she added.
However, BBC sources pointed out that Thought for the Day is part of BBC's religious programming and not part of the editorial remit of the Today programme.
A BBC Radio 4 spokesperson told Christian Today: 'Thought for the Day is editorially looked after by the BBC's Religion and Ethics team in radio and features speakers from the world's major faith traditions. There are no plans to make changes to it.'
Sands wrote in the FT: 'Given there are some who say I must change nothing, I was amused to chat to an old Today hand, Robert Fox, who pointed out how much the programme had developed over the years. In his day it was much more informal and had an engaging air of jeopardy about it. So I will try not to be overwhelmed by the institution. And if we are to start in deep waters, what about Thought For The Day? This slot, it seems to me, is about the meaning of life, so the title hardly does it justice. It is much, much more than platitudes about Jesus and Brexit, balanced now and then with a view from another faith. And if this is about profound faith, surely we should also include humanists? I admire religion and believe it is robust enough to have challengers. I wonder what the listeners think of this . . .'
Christian Today has learned that the comments will be discussed on BBC Radio 4's 'Feedback' programme this Friday.
A senior BBC source said: 'Sarah wasn't recommending editorial changes to Thought for the Day. Rather she was discussing her personal experience and a more general open minded approach to taking on the editorship of Today.'
But a leading Christian campaigner warned that plans to 'dilute' the slot -- which is broadcast at 7.45am on Mondays-Saturdays and runs for two minutes and 45 seconds should be 'firmly resisted'.
Andrea Williams, the Chief Executive of Christian Concern said: 'The concept for Thought for the Day was originally rooted in our Christian heritage. Many people rightly recognise that it is Christianity which has provided the foundations of Britain's values and institutions, despite the loud voices of a small secular lobby. Sadly this foundation has been lost as Britain has walked away from Jesus Christ and Thought for the Day is reflecting the moral vacuum in society. Calls to dilute the programme any further should be firmly resisted otherwise there will be nothing left.'
Peter Hitchens, the Mail on Sunday columnist appeared to agree with Sands's approach. Hitchens, who is a practising Anglican, author of The Rage Against God and the brother of the famous atheist Christopher, told Christian Today: 'Yes, let's have some atheists too. Many of them will probably be more interested in God and religion than some of the supposedly Christian contributors we have now. Indeed, what would Christians do without atheists? They are among the few people in our society who still care about religion. Far better than indifference.'
Senior Catholic Cardinals Defend Pope Francis After Attacks From Conservatives
Senior cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church have defended Pope Francis following recent attacks on the pontiff from anonymous conservatives.
Nine cardinals from across the world issued a joint statement on Monday, RNS reports. The statement expressed 'full support for the Pope's work' and 'full backing for him and his teachings'. The cardinals were from Italy, Chile, Austria, India, Germany, Congo, the United States, Australia and Honduras.
Their statement added that the show of support was coming 'in light of recent events'. Vatican sources said this was a direct reference to the attacks that recently been made against Pope Francis.
Francis' increasingly vocal critics take issue with what they see as liberalising positions on divorce, sexuality, climate change, refugees and most recently his side-lining of a senior cleric in the Knights of Malta controversy.
This week Francis was trolled by a 'fake news' edition of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which was sent to Vatican priests, bishops, cardinals and journalists. The mock-up front page contained a fake reply by Pope Francis to his critics. Many conservatives felt his exhortation Amoris Laetitia seemed to permit a liberalising on the Church's position of denying communion to divorcees.
On February 4, posters appeared across Rome criticising the pontiff. They challenged the Pope for his involvement in what it called 'the decapitation of the Knights of Malta'. The posters featured a mocking title asking Francis 'Where's your mercy?', in reference to the theme that has largely dominated Francis' papal ministry.
Swiss Catholics Will Compensate Child Sex Abuse Victims
A new commission has been launched by the Catholic Church in Switzerland that will award financial compensation to victims of sex abuse by Swiss priests.
The Swiss Bishops Conference (SBK) announced in December announced its new 500,000 franc reparations fund that would compensate sex abuse victims who could no longer seek it via the courts, according to The Local.
The new commission will study requests for compensation, awarding up to 20,000 francs for the most serious cases, it was announced on Tuesday.
In 2010 the Swiss Catholic Church accepted responsibility for various cases of child sex abuse and molestation.
From 2010 to 2015, 223 victims came forward to the Church alleging abuse they had experienced between 1950 and 1990. Of these, 49 said they were younger than 12 at the time of the abuse. Figures also revealed that there had been 205 perpetrators in the 40-year period. However a 2015 report suggested found that since 2010 only 20 criminal investigations had been launched.
John Bonnemain, speaking for the SBK, said currently only a few priests are facing conviction in the Swiss justice system because so few victims have come forward.
Bonnemain said that anyone who wanted to appeal for compensation from the new commission should do so by going first to their local diocese, which would then pass on the request to the commission.
'Each time the Church finds out about cases it encourages victims to press charges,' he said.
Turkey Nightclub Shooter Insists He Was Out To Murder Christians
The jihadist on trial for the murder of 39 people in the Istanbul nightclub shooting has stated that he was targeting Christians.
In fact most of the victims were Muslim and it is not known if any Christians at all lost their lives in the Reina nightclub attack in the early hours of New Year's Day, according to World Watch Monitor.
Abdulkadir Masharipov, who was captured on January 16, told a court in Turkey that he was a member of Islamic State.
The terror group had stated its aim was revenge on Turkey for Syria bombings.
But Masharipov, said: 'My purpose was to kill Christians.'
According to Hurriyet newspaper reporter Damla Guler, who obtained a court document, he went on: 'I believed it was an act of revenge against the murderous actions carried out by the world's Christians, an act of retaliation on their holiday.'
Masharipov, married with two young children, trained in Afghanistan and was in regular contact with an IS handler, 'Abu Jihad', in the run-up to the attack.
Twelve Turkish Muslims died, but the rest were visiting from abroad, including seven from Saudi Arabia. A further 65 people were injured.
World Watch Monitor reports: 'It's unlikely Masaripov could have realistically planned to target Christians in his attack. Less than 2 per cent of Turkey's 80 million people are non-Muslims, and of that small non-Muslim slice, Christians are a small fraction.
'About 150,000 Turkish citizens are from ethnic Christian Greek, Armenian and Syriac backgrounds. In addition to a few thousand foreign Christians residing and working in the country, there are an estimated 7,000 Turkish Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds worshipping in small Protestant fellowships found mostly in larger cities. Altogether, Christians in Turkey amount to roughly one out of every 500 people in the country.'
Why The Church Of England Is Facing Schism Over Sexuality
Is it true that the Bible is at the root of the Church of England's objection to same-sex relationships?
Apart from a few decades in the 20th century when liberals were in the ascendancy, or in the 19th century when Anglo-Catholics held sway, the Church of England has for most of its existence been fundamentally a Protestant, Bible-based Church. And the Bible is not noted for its 'political correctness'.
Last Sunday, Luke 19 was read out in many Anglican churches, ending with verse 26: 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.' In our church, however, to the stunned silence of the congregation, the reader carried on by mistake to verse 27: 'But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them bring them here and kill them in front of me.'
While treason only ceased to be a capital offence in Britain in 1998, few people today take literally Jesus' apparent instruction to his followers to go out and kill all unbelievers.
But isn't homosexuality regarded still as a first order issue, because of what is in the Bible?
Gay Anglicans want their marriages blessed by the Church so they can live by the biblical commands that restrict sex to the marriage bed only. They don't understand why they those who are not called to celibacy should be required to live celibate lives because they are gay.
1 Timothy 1 lists homosexuality as among those practices that are contrary to 'sound doctrine' and 1 Corinthians 6 lists homosexuals alongside thieves, the greedy, slanderers, drunks and swindlers as among those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Leviticus 20 instructs: 'If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.' This death sentence also applies to anyone who commits adultery, who curses their father or mother, who has sex with his father's wife or his daughter-in-law. If a man has sex with an animal, both he and the animal must be put to death. The final condemnation in this chapter is: 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.'
What is Church of England's teaching on marriage?
Canon B30 states that 'marriage is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong, for better for worse, till death them do part, of one man with one woman'.
This is based on passages such as Luke 16, where Jesus says: 'Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.'
This passage is also at the root of Catholic Church divisions over whether or not to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion.
But doesn't the Church now allow remarriage after divorce?
Yes. And it has done this without changing the doctrine of the Church that marriage is for life.
So why can't it do the same for gays?
When Christian Today asked this very question at a recent press conference, Bishop of Norwich Graham James said the Church just wasn't ready yet.
Has the General Synod voted on this before? Wasn't there something called the Higton Motion?
In 1987, the synod voted 403 to eight in favour of a motion introduced by the evangelical vicar Tony Higton and largely amended by evangelical Bishop of Chester, Michael Baughen, to state that 'homosexual genital acts also fall short of this ideal, and are likewise to be met by a call to repentance and the exercise of compassion'.
What happened next?
In 1991, the House of Bishops released a document, Issues in Human Sexuality, that appeared to set a double standard, demanding celibacy of gay clergy but not necessarily for the laity, while insisting that 'heterosexuality and homosexuality are not equally congruous with the observed order of creation'.
Surely that was not on its own enough to lead to this crisis?
Gay Anglicans became increasingly angry as secular society began moving towards gay marriage while their Church appeared to be moving in the opposite direction. The 1998 Lambeth Conference passed resolution 1.10, that committed the Church to 'listen' to gays but restated a traditional biblical line on the issue.
How come that didn't settle it?
In 2003, Jeffrey John, a well-known gay but celibate Church of England clergyman, was appointed Bishop of Reading. He was then persuaded reluctantly to resign after protests from evangelicals threatened to split the Oxford diocese and is now Dean of St Albans. Christian Today understands that he is currently in the running for at least one other bishopric. In 2004, Bishop Gene Robinson, married to a gay divorce, became Bishop of New Hampshire. These two appointments led to the creation of conservative Anglican protest groups that have found their strongest expression in GAFCON, the global Anglican conservative fellowship.
What happened next?
Legislation to allow same-sex marriage came into force in Britain in 2014. After lobbying from bishops, the legislation included a ban on the Church of England performing gay marriages, to protect it from anyone demanding it as their right from the established Church of the land. People of any religion or none are legally entitled to a CofE marriage, but not people of the same sex.
That seems clear enough. So why is it still an issue?
Gay people want the same rights to marry in the eyes of God as straight people have. Conservatives feel equally strongly that whatever path the secular world goes down, the Bible makes this impossible for the Church to follow. The Church of England has for three years been holding private 'conversations' when both sides have been pleading their case. The bishops' report on this, debated at General Synod, makes almost no concession to change apart from endorsing maximum freedom within existing limits.
Are the bishops all agreed?
No, not at all. They are deeply conflicted, among themselves and many with him or herself. Fourteen retired bishops have spoken out publicly against the latest report. Conservative evangelicals are angry because of the maximum freedom it allows within current limits. Liberals are furious that three years of talks appear to have led to no tangible result.
So what happens now?
A move towards a more liberal stance seems inevitable, medium term. The Church has proved it can change its practice without changing its marriage doctrine by allowing divorcees to remarry in church. If the Church does not move towards doing the same with gays, gays will almost certainly start doing it anyway and simply defy the bishops. Some bishops will privately support them in this.
Does this matter?
It does for all who believe in the gospel imperative to unity. But sadly, a split does seem increasingly inevitable.
GAFCON said today: 'Unless the House of Bishops has the collective will to reassert the historic biblical understanding of marriage and publicly explain it, a trajectory that takes the Church ever further way from its own foundation documents seems inevitable. The ever growing number of orthodox Anglicans abandoned by the Church of England as is embraces secularism in the futile pursuit of popularity will find a warm welcome in the global, confessionally Anglican fellowship which is GAFCON.'
So the outlook is increasingly grim.
Yes. The evangelical Andrew Symes, writing on the conservative Anglican Mainstream website, warns the Church will soon be forced to reflect the secular ideology of the powerful more and more, as has already happened in north America. 'The orthodox can agree to being one view among many, and be gradually erased. A better option: stand firm and if necessary force a schism, and at the same time plan for an alternative jurisdiction.'
Sounds like a split is coming.
Well it is the 500th anniversary of the date that Luther nailed his theses to the door at Wittenberg, so perhaps it is time for a new Reformation. The difference now is that these things are no longer nailed to doors, but posted all over the internet. Whether that will make them longer or shorter lasting in their impact only time will tell.
I like my conservative evangelical Church but I also like our gay church warden and I don't want the Church to schism. What should I do?
Pray. We think it works, and after all, nothing else has done so far.
A northeast Houston subdivision will build a 1.5-acre artificial lagoon and sandy beach tailored to look like a Caribbean seashore thanks to patented technology from the Florida-based designer.
The project in Balmoral, a community in the works near Atascocita in northeast Houston, will probably be the second such lagoon in Texas; another in Dallas is expected to open sooner.
Readers have been asking why we haven't done much here on Trumpist lunatic Stephen Miller, the guy who writes the imbecilic crap Trump reads off his teleprompters-- instead of just harping on Bannon, Bannon, Bannon. #PresidentBannon. Well, over the weekend Miller stepped out into the limelight and went on national TV to defend Trump-- every channel, right?-- and to say Trump can't be held accountable by the judicial branch. The only Americans who agree are the drug-addled , two-digit IQ Trumpist base.
The Lookout, a local publication, about his negative impression of Hispanic students and the use of Spanish in the United States... In that article, Miller also complained about his school's celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the existence of a gay club and a visit by a Muslim leader. Miller is from Santa Monica. His old home is represented by the Trump regime's most outspoken congressional antagonist, Ted Lieu. When Miller was transitioning from Lincoln Middle School to Santa Monica High, he stopped accepting calls from one of his close friends, Jason Islas, eventually telling him, "I can't be your friend any more because you are Latino." He was just 14 and the snotty little racist never looked back . "Displaying his hostility toward minorities, Miller complained to school administrators about announcements in Spanish and festivals that celebrated diversity. In his third year at the school, the 16-year-old Miller wrote a letter to, a local publication, about his negative impression of Hispanic students and the use of Spanish in the United States... In that article, Miller also complained about his school's celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the existence of a gay club and a visit by a Muslim leader.
NY Times Mother Jones. Sunday, Digby did a pretty thorough job on Miller, Jeff Sessions' contribution to the White House inner circle. She cited both the new profile and an older what's-this-thing? from
Times profile introduced Miller as the 31 year old Trump advisor behind many of "Trumps most contentious executive orders." While he worked for 2 prominent fascists in Congress, Michele Bachmann and not Stephen Miller fans. Richard Spencer, one of America's most prominent, uncloseted young neo-Nazis-- as opposed to the ones that the Dulles brothers imported from Eastern Europe-- is an old comrade-in-arms of Miller from when they were pushing racism, xenophobia and bigotry at Duke. Glenn Thrush'sprofile introduced Miller as the 31 year old Trump advisor behind many of "Trumps most contentious executive orders." While he worked for 2 prominent fascists in Congress, Michele Bachmann and sex predator John Shadegg before going on to the Senate office of sociopath Jeff Sessions. One of his jobs there was to kill Marco Rubio's immigration reform bill and at one point he was sending around "nasty news articles" ( like a version of this one ) to senators and their staffs. Republican senators areStephen Miller fans.
The ascent of Mr. Miller from far-right gadfly with little policy experience to the presidents senior policy adviser came as a shock to many of the staff members who knew him from his seven years in the Senate. A man whose emails were, until recently, considered spam by many of his Republican peers is now shaping the Trump administrations core domestic policies with his economic nationalism and hard-line positions on immigration.
But his unlikely rise is emblematic of a White House where unconventional resumes rule-- where the chief strategist is Stephen K. Bannon, until recently the head of the flame-throwing right-wing website Breitbart News, and the president himself is a former reality television star who before winning the nations highest office had never shown much interest in the arcana of governing.
Yet all three men are bound by a belief in an America-first economic policy that has suddenly moved from the fringes of American politics to the Oval Office.
Stephen was the kind of guy who would make a passionate ideological argument to a roomful of people who were there to make pragmatic decisions, said Alex Conant, a former aide to Mr. Rubio who remembers squaring off against Mr. Miller at a routine Republican messaging meeting that turned into a full-dress immigration debate.
Mr. Miller has been at the epicenter of some of the administrations most provocative moves, from pushing hard for the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico to threatening decades-long trade deals at the heart of Republican economic orthodoxy, to rolling out Mr. Trumps travel ban on seven largely Muslim nations, whose bungled introduction he oversaw.
Working in an administration that didnt come here to do small things, as Mr. Bannon has put it, is a role that Mr. Miller -- universally known as a tireless worker-- has been preparing for much of his life. From his days at a public high school in Southern California , where he preached against political correctness and liberalism and called in to conservative radio shows, to his time at Duke University, where he was known for controversial writings in the student newspaper and a failed attempt at a run for dorm president, he has delighted in challenging prevailing orthodoxies.
At a freshman mixer, recalled a college classmate who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Mr. Miller announced, My name is Stephen Miller, I am from Los Angeles, and I like guns.
Mr. Miller, known for his skinny ties, so-outdated-theyre-chic pants and his recently abandoned chain-smoking habit, enjoyed a relatively turbulence-free ascent in Mr. Trumps orbit until the travel ban. His eagerness to keep a tight lid on key details of executive orders to prevent leaks-- as well as his inexperience-- has at times hampered coordination between the West Wing and agencies that would have to carry them out, several White House officials said.
Digby put together some highlights from his Sunday gasbag appearances:
On Face the Nation:
"The President of the United States has accomplished more in just a few weeks than many presidents accomplish in an entire administration."
On the travel ban Face the Nation:
"I think that it's been an important reminder for all Americans that we have a judiciary that has taken far too much power and become in many cases a supreme branch of government."
On This Week responding to Trump's inane comment that thousands of people were bused into New Hampshire to illegally vote for Hillary Clinton, explaining why he lost there:
"George, go to New Hampshire. Talk to anybody who has worked in politics there for a long time... I can tell you that this issue of busing voters into New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who's worked in New Hampshire politics. It's very real. It's very serious. This morning, on this show, is not the venue for me to lay out all the evidence."
On General Flynn on Meet the Press:
"They did not give me anything to say... It's not for me to answer hypothetical. It wouldn't be responsible. It's a sensitive matter."
This is the quality of racist who is serving as senior adviser to the president. And the president loves him.
He especially loves this, I'm sure:
Dickerson: What have you all learned from this experience with the executive order?
Miller: Well, I think that it's been an important reminder to all Americans that we have a judiciary that has taken far too much power and become in many cases a supreme branch of government...The end result of this, though is that our opponents, the media, and THE WHOLE WORLD will soon see as we begin to take further actions, that THE POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT to protect our country are very substantial and WILL NOT BE QUESTIONED.
Yes, he actually said those words. I added the all caps because you know in your heart that how it sounded in the original German.
Jawohl, mein Kommandant
Matthew McConaughey has reached out to the Detroit gangster/drug kingpin "White Boy" Rick Wershe to offer him a job after he is released from prison after serving 29 years.
McConaughey is confirmed to be acting in the upcoming film about the real-life story of Wershe, who was an undercover police informant-turned-major drug dealer in the mid-1980s. After being caught with 650 grams of cocaine at the age of 17, Wershe was sentenced to prison for life. And now 29 years later, Wershe, 47, may be freed by a parole board after meeting with them on Tuesday, according to Detroit Free Press.
A new coalition of top universities applauded the University of Texas at Austins use of data as an effective way to better recruit and retain low-income students.
The group, dubbed the American Talent Initiative, brought together 30 universities in December with the goal of enrolling 50,000 more low-income students by 2025. Rice University and UT are part of the group, which released its first report on Wednesday.
Expanding low-income student enrollment has been challenging for universities. They think that graduating these students is crucial to their mission, but struggle to keep students on track academically or cannot provide sufficient financial aid.
Top colleges, needing to meet revenue targets, also accept less-talented students who can pay full tuition, according to the report. Even when incredibly talented students from lower-income backgrounds are admitted to top institutions, large shares do not receive adequate support, and therefore enroll and persist at lower rates than wealthier peers.
Texas public universities also contend with the top 10 percent rule, through which highly ranked high school students receive automatic admission to public universities. Admitted students, then, may need more support to succeed academically.
Wednesdays report listed successful enrollment efforts at five universities, including two important ways UT uses data.
First, UT analyzes past student data to determine a freshmans likelihood of graduating in four years. The university assigns the most at-risk students to an intrusive advising program called the University Leadership Network. There, they receive scholarship money when they participate in program trainings and events and complete performance measures like keeping up with required credit hours.
Data analytics also has allowed UT to reduce staff and streamline facilities management, freeing up more money for student programs and financial aid, the report found.
UTs six-year graduation rate for Pell Grant recipients was 70 percent, compared with 81.4 percent for non-Pell Grant recipients. That achievement gap is narrower than the average gap for all institutions, according to Wednesday's report.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting this new university group, which includes Harvard University, Yale University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with $1.7 million for data collection, research dissemination and conferences.
Member institutions will focus on recruiting students and making sure they are prepared for rigorous environments, sharing best practices. They will set their own goals and will not be bound to program-wide benchmarks, a program coordinator said in December.
There is no way to prove this, but see if you agree with me: The average American parent would be glad to see his public high school celebrate Martin Luther King Day with tributes to the Civil Rights movement, lectures on the history of slavery and Jim Crow and discussions of the challenges faced by blacks and other minorities in America today. Actually, it's not really a guess, because curricula like that are found throughout the nation.
The program that is being imposed on Winnetka, Illinois, by contrast, is a hard-left indoctrination that could have come straight from the pages of Howard Zinn. Held on MLK Day itself in 2016, this year's seminar day on race, "Understanding Today's Struggle for Racial Civil Rights," is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The school-wide program will feature a full day of lectures and seminars, and as the title betrays, the slant is built in. As one of the parents who has protested the content noted, civil rights are for everyone, aren't they? There are no "racial" rights. That was Martin Luther King Jr.'s point, or one of them.
New Trier High School has scheduled two keynote speakers and dozens of seminars for its 4,000 students to choose from among. One or two are unobjectionable, like "Black Gospel Music: Make a Joyful Noise!" or "Rap With a Social Conscience" (though much would depend upon which rap was discussed). But the rest of the offerings are thoroughly turgid agitprop. Students can attend a session titled "Seeing the Unseen: The Bias All Around You" or learn to "recognize our own implicit biases." They can attend seminars about "cultural appropriation," "trans people of color navigating the U.S.," "race, class, and police interactions," "systemic racism in housing," "myths" about affirmative action in college admissions, and "21st century voter suppression."
High school students range in age from 14 to 18, so you might imagine that some care would be taken to avoid speakers whose social media are rife with profanity, racial epithets and sexual content. No. Political radicalism means all is permitted. John the Author, one of the invited speakers, has a song titled "Blackenomics," which includes the following lyrics: "I don't wanna be king, but I'm the only one ready for it now/ Cause all these other n--- selling out/ Individualism is all these (obscenity) yelling about/ Divide and conquer. White supremacy the silent monster."
One might have hoped, in a program dedicated to civil rights and mutual understanding, that the guests might steer clear of racism and anti-Semitism themselves. Kevin Coval's poem "Occupation" says this about Israel: "Fascist ones believe in one monotheism, a walled prison/ Israelis sleep through the night." Monica Trinidad will conduct a talk titled "We Charge Genocide: An Emergence of a Continued Movement." Her Twitter feed encourages people to boycott an Israeli dance troupe ("Don't dance with Israeli apartheid!") with a link to the BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) hashtag. She tweeted a picture of mounted police officers with the comment: "Get them animals off those horses."
So, one might suppose that New Trier parents would be enraged. Yet the pushback has been about as polite, substantive and reasonable as you could possibly wish (especially in our bitter era). On their website (http://www.parentsofnewtrier.org), they suggest adding other speakers to achieve - wait for it - intellectual diversity. They note that, in contrast to what the seminars hammer home, people of the same race do not necessarily think alike. Among the speakers the parents group recommends: Shelby Steele, Jason Riley, John McWhorter and Star Parker.
Rather than marinate in doctrinaire leftism heavily inflected with a Black Lives Matter sensibility, the parents object, why not have students volunteer for the day (Chicago is 16 miles south)? The website offers other volunteering suggestions: "Good News Partners (Rogers Park), Connections for the Homeless (Evanston), Pastor Corey Brooks from New Beginnings Church in Woodlawn and 'ProjectHood.org.'"
Despite multiple requests, school officials have refused every appeal from dismayed parents. No to additional speakers. No to adding another seminar at a later date for different viewpoints. No to requiring that parents sign off on their children's seminar panel choices. No to postponing the program until parental input could be considered.
New Trier has very few black students, but the father of one wrote this: "This group (the small group of faculty and students who developed the program) does NOT represent the best of black Americans and does not advocate anything that has a track record of making black lives better."
These "check your privilege" brainwashing sessions have become commonplace at colleges. Parents don't seem to know or care enough to protest. The New Trier parents group is a sign that resistance to deadening propaganda is alive and well - and polite.
Mona Charen is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
When last we checked in with David Guerrero at his EaDo outpost Andes Cafe, he was turning heads with is guinea pig for two: a dish of deep fried "cuy" (popular in Peru and the chef's native Ecuador) served with roasted potatoes and an aji cream sauce.
Well, the crispy guinea pig is still on the menu. But many things aren't; and so much new stuff is. Guerrero has put new thought and energy into his 40-seat cafe dedicated to home-style food of countries that the world's longest continental mountain range slices through: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina
BIG SHAKEUP: There's a new chef, new menu at Tony Vallone's Ciao Bello
He purposely jettisoned more than half his menu items to concentrate on more breakfast/morning dishes ("hangover food" as he calls it), and to invest Andes Cafe with more culinary authenticity.
When he opened three years ago, Guerrero wanted to showcase the wealth of flavors and technique found in the countries hugging the Andes. And while he executed that food with aplomb he felt guilty that he hadn't actually been to all those countries. So last year he spent about eight months traveling to see, smell, touch and taste the countries whose cuisines inspire him.
"Now I feel comfortable. I went to the markets in every single country," he said. "Now I know the food and the culture better. And I can make these foods more authentic."
Guerrero said he was especially impressed with the foods of Peru, Bolivia, and his native Ecuador from the most humble vendors to the high-end restaurants. "They have the most indigenous personality," he said.
HOUSTON GUIDE: Brunch like a pro
New dishes are scattered liberally throughout the new menu. From Ecuador he offers Camarones Encocados (giant shrimp seasoned with citrus and spices and cooked in a sauce of cilantro, onions, tomatoes, peppers and coconut milk and served with rice and sweet plantains); and from Peru the Super Jalea Platter (a mound of crispy fried seafood served with yucca sticks, tartar sauce and salsa criolla. Venezuela is represented by an arepa stuffed with pulled chicken, mashed avocadoes, green peas and cilantro; Colombia comes through in a dish of smashed green plantains topped with sauteed shrimp and white onion and tomato sauce; and a risotto made with vegetables and flank steak topped with two sunny side up eggs (and a side of sweet plantains) speaks of Bolivia.
There's a new player within the ceviche program: Chochos y Palmito (lupini beans and hearts of palm with pickled onions, tomatoes, avocado and toasted corn. Two other newbies are eager to be discovered: Trancapecho from Bolivia (breaded sirloin steak served over white rice and roasted potatoes and topped with a fried egg) and Lomiton for Chile (a sandwich made with deli-style slices of charcoal roasted Peruvian chicken, sweet plantains, and an aji verde sauce).
Guerrero's new emphasis on brunch dishes (served Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) means that his guests can now sample Venezuelan Cachapas (fresh sweet corn pancakes stuffed with cheese that can be had with either braised shredded beef, deep fried pork or ham) or Peruvian Tacu Tacu (rice and lima bean cakes topped with grilled hanger steak and fried eggs).
The hearty Calentado con Heuvos from Colombia consists of rice and black beans topped with fried eggs and served with Colombian sausage, pork belly and a corn "arepita"). Ecuadorean Llapingachos are potato cheese cakes served with pork sausage, fried eggs and avocado, while Venezuelan Huevos Pericos consists of three scrambled eggs mixed with tomatoes and green onions and served with a side of black beans, sliced avocado, Venezuelan cheese and two arepitas.
And then the hangover soup, as Guerrero calls Encebollado Pal Chuchaqui: Albacore fish and boiled yucca in a tomato and fish broth. The chef also promises to serve twice a month a Colombian soup called Mondongo: beef tripe with pork shoulder, potatoes and yucca.
There's more too: a new happy hour menu where everything is $5, and a new wine list that touches on Napa Valley, Spain, Oregon and Texas instead of being focused only on South American wines.
Guerrero clearly put a lot of new energy into his menu. Isn't it time you traveled through South America via Andes Cafe?
Andes Cafe, 2311 Canal St., #104, 832-659-0063; andescafe.com
Hopdoddy Burger Bar has set the opening of its second Houston restaurant for March 6.
That's when Rice Village will get its own outpost of burgers, hand-cut fries, milkshakes, and local craft beer a menu that made the Austin brand a hit and caused a sensation when it opened its first Houston store at River Oaks District last year.
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WestWay Park Technology Center isn't the first satellite campus in the Lone Star College System, but it's the first of its kind.
And it's on schedule to open in spring 2018, according to Kim Hubbard, LSC-CyFair dean, and Deana Sheppard, vice president for student learning.
Hubbard said, "LSC-CyFair currently has two satellite centers. This additional satellite center, which will focus only on IT and Visual Communication, will allow us to provide specialized training in these programs to ensure our students are properly prepared for the ever evolving industry demands of these two fields. An example of the uniqueness of this center is that we will house an instructional Data Center to train our network students in this area of IT."
Sheppard said, "Within our system it will be very unique center. It's very different from we've what ever done."
But she added that the concept is not unique to community colleges in general and cited The Gateway Technical College with eight campuses/centers, in Wisconsin as an example of what she meant.
Hubbard said the center will house LSC Corporate College programs in Oracle, Lean Six Sigma, Project Management, Cisco and training in oil and gas industry principles.
Sheppard said the district conducted an extensive site search for the satellite campus, including land on which to build, until officials found the building at 5060 Westway Park Blvd. in Houston. Located east of the West Sam Houston Parkway and between Tanner and Clay Road, Sheppard called the location "just perfect." "It seemed like a perfect fit for us."
Added Hubbard, "The location of this center will provide easy access for students within our district, for businesses and organizations located off the Interstate 10 Energy Corridor and those located in downtown Houston."
The LSC-Westway Park Technology Center building was purchased for $15.5 million, said Jennifer Olenick, Lone Star College vice chancellor of finance & administration. "The construction manager at risk request for information estimated an additional $13.5 million for renovations, of which, the board has approved $7.2 million in December 2016. The project is still underway so final project costs are not yet known," added Olenick.
Hubbard said it is funded by the 2014 bond election and the General Obligation Bonds Series 2015A.
Project architects are BRW Brown Reynolds and Watford and construction manager at risk is Satterfield & Pontikes.
While the building has about 130,000 square feet, only 50,000 square feet will be used initially.
Sheppard said the 50,000 square feet fits current program needs. More space may be needed as time passes and programs grow, she said. Some discussion also mentioned the option of subleasing space to tenants, she said.
"There's plenty of room for growth," Sheppard added.
Hubbard said, "Our program curriculum teams will work with our System Workforce Council and our respective advisory councils to conduct constant industry analyses on an annual basis to project program growth as well as to identify new programs. During this phase we are reviewing various opportunities for usage of the additional 80,000 square feet.
"The initial phase of occupation for the building will allow us to move programs that we currently offer at the LSC-CyFair main campus to the new location, and add six programs," she added.
She identified those programs as Microsoft Academy, Computer Security, Computer Forensics, Mobile Applications Development, Web Design and 3D Animation.
"We are expecting enrollment to continue growth with the new spaces located at WestWay Park and with the addition of our six new programs. Vacated spaces at the LSC-CyFair main campus will be used to allow enrollment growth through program expansions and by adding instructional space."
Sheppard said, "We intentionally designed the center to prepare students for real work business interactions. Students won't feel like they're in the classroom but it will feel like they're at work."
Collaborative spaces have been created in hallways.
"Students will work together like in the real world," she said. Students also will learn "soft skills" that will make the transition from academia to a place of business when they get a real job, she said.
Hubbard said, "LSC strongly believes in fully preparing students for entry into the workforce. WestWay Park Technology Center was built with this mission in mind.
"By providing a 'real-world' business simulated environment, we are training students to understand the importance and seriousness of working in an organization that is business-based and goal-oriented. The design of WestWay Park will strategically train students in an educational institution that essentially treats daily activity like the daily interactions of a business with the hope that students will forget they are in a classroom. Students will graduate with the innate ability to work in any business as a skilled professional in their industry."
Katy Bar Association
Area attorneys are invited to the Tuesday, Feb. 28, lunch meeting of the Katy Bar Association at 11:30 a.m. at Hasta la Pasta, 1450 W. Grand Parkway South, Katy.
Andrew D. Weisblatt's topic is "Reviewing a Commercial Lease - a Practical Guide for the General Practitioner," and he will talk about routine provisions in commercial leases, sharing anecdotal stories about unusual provisions, consumer traps that landlords sometimes employ and negotiating principles that tenants should follow.
Each year, Gary Johnson starts preparing for Katy ISD's next FFA livestock show and rodeo only days after the last one has ended.
As president of the show and rodeo, Johnson said every detail matters.
After almost a year of planning, he said his crew is ready to host the 74th edition of the event from Feb. 15-18 in what has become a tradition deeply rooted in the suburb's history, with the show having begun when Katy was still a farming town that harvested rice and had land that stretched for empty miles.
"It's a community event that draws a lot of people to Katy," Johnson said. "For many of the volunteers and for the community, they see the benefits of the FFA program even years after the (participating students) graduate."
More Information Want to go? What: 74th Annual Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show When: Feb. 15-18 at the L.D. Robinson Pavilion, 6301 S. Stadium Lane. Wednesday, Feb. 15: 10 a.m. special rodeo, 4 p.m. rabbit show and 7 p.m. broiler show Thursday, Feb. 16: 8 a.m. swine show, 1 p.m. steer show and 7 p.m. rodeo Friday, Feb. 17: 7:30 a.m. goat show, 10 a.m. lamb show, 1 p.m. auction sale meeting and 7 p.m. rodeo Saturday, Feb. 18: 7 a.m. barn sale, 9:30 a.m. parade, 11 a.m. buyer's luncheon, 1 p.m. auction and 7 p.m. rodeo KATY ISD FFA LiVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO Parade When: 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18 Theme: Boots, Chaps and Cowboy Hats Parade marshal: Ms Van Scroggins Route: Parade leaves west gate of Rhodes Stadium, travels on Katyland Drive, ends at L.D. Robinson Pavilion on FM 1463 Judging categories: Adult general; cars, toys and tractors; churches/church organizations; civic organizations; commercial; cowboys/cowgirls; performing/marching groups; school and scouting organizations Details: http://katyrodeo.org/parade_schedule.aspx See More Collapse
The livestock show will again be held at the L.D. Robinson Pavilion, 6301 S. Stadium Lane, while the rodeo will take place at the next door W.E. Billy Morgan Rodeo Arena. More than 20,000 people are expected to attend.
A special rodeo will kick off events on Wednesday and be followed by four days of judging animals such as rabbits, steers, goats and hogs, with a grand champion eventually being crowned for each category. Each night will conclude with rodeo competitions by professional cowboys and cowgirls, with some student events such as the calf scramble being mixed in as well.
There will be 494 students participating in this year's livestock show, according to Guy James, head of the event's auction and sales committee. About 350-400 cowboys and cowgirls will be present.
Participating students have been raising their animals for months, spending hours feeding the livestock and making early-morning trips to the district's Gerald D. Young Agricultural Sciences Center, where most of the animals are kept. Each student hopes to make a profit at the end of the livestock show, when animals are auctioned.
Students who make sales on their animals average a profit of $5,000, according to James.
"Being able to showcase their animal and show them off and say, 'this is what I've done with this animal' the kids love it," James said. "It's a year-long process to make it come together for four days. We enjoy watching the kids compete."
At Houston's Livestock Show and Rodeo, which this year begins on March 7, there are often protests by animal rights activists towards the treatment of the rodeo animals, with most of the livestock eventually being slaughtered for meat once the competitions end. Johnson has said, though, that he's never seen protesters for Katy's show.
All proceeds from the rodeo are given to Katy ISD's FFA program, according to Johnson. Last year, the rodeo raised $65,000 for Katy ISD's program, and in the past 10 years, it has raised more than $500,000.
The event is sewed into Katy's history, beginning at a time when the suburb was far removed from the booming town it is today and was still a place where farm animals roamed everywhere.
Each night before the competitions begin, Johnson said he looks around the rodeo arena to take in the atmosphere. After a year's work, he said the feeling is nostalgic.
"Some of these people have been going to this rodeo since it began more than 70 years ago," Johnson said. "People remember it. It defines how Katy began in the FFA program. No matter how suburbanized Katy is now, it began as a farming community. The FFA was a large part of that. This event brings that home to the community each year."
The Dulles Brothers' policies enabled the rise of Trumpism in America
After World War II, Republicans encouraged an influx of Nazi and pro-Nazi immigrants from Europe. The Dulles brothers were at the nexus of an immigration policy that brought hundreds of thousands of Nazis into America-- not atomic scientists, most just Nazi thugs from all over eastern Europe-- like from Belarusia, which saw New Jersey, for example, become a major center of a Belarusian diaspora. Their communities--in places like South River (Middlesex County)-- are far more anti-Semitic than anything in the modern day South. In South River the Belarusian community center on Whitehead Ave., built for Nazi war criminals by the CIA, is also the local Republican Party headquarters.
The Dulles brothers were the embodiment of where Wall Street, and the intelligence community blended seamlessly into the far right, pro-Nazi Republican Party and the inept Cold War jingoism. They overrode President Truman's and Congress' ban on allowing Nazi war criminals into the country-- let alone employing them-- purging their records and getting them U.S. citizenship. John Foster Dulles, who now shamefully has an airport named after him near our nation's capital, was complicit steeped in Wall Street backing for prewar Hitler and was at all times looking out for the interests of the wealthy Republican investors who invested in the Nazi take-over, particularly the Rockefellers and the Bushes. They had decided to open the floodgates to Nazi collaborators throughout Eastern Europe once Truman was defeated by Dewey.
New Jersey, among a few other states, became a sanctuary for Nazi collaborators and war criminals from Eastern Europe. Nixon saw them as a counterbalance to the hated Jews, who always voted for the Democrats, and Eisenhower gave him supervisory powers over the operations to bring them to America. Ironically, many of them had been infiltrated by the Russian Communists and the entire program was an absolute disaster, bringing the U.S. no Cold War benefits whatsoever and costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars, but, eventually, helping elect Republican rightists from Nixon ando Christie to, obviously, Trump.
A few years ago I spoke with John Loftus, author of America's Nazi Secret , interested nine what he thought about the motivations for flooding New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, etc. with anti-Semitic Nazi war criminals, many of whom had personally taken part in the Holocaust, in Belorusia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. This is what Loftus told me:
My guess is it was 90 percent greed, as they funded the infant Bolshevik and Nazi parties simultaneously. In fact, Hitler knew the robber barons preferred the conservative and Catholic parties over the Nazis, so that is why he banned foreign ownership of German companies, which forced the robber barons to enact the Swiss Bank Secrecy Act of 1933. In the upcoming film American Secrets we document how the Auschwitz industrial park was originally a Russian-German partnership funded by the robber barons of Wall Street.
...Nixon always blamed the Jews for his narrow loss to JFK, and tasked George H.W. Bush as co-director of the RNC to recruit the Eastern European groups.
NY Post reporting that a gang of neo-Nazis (who they don't identify by ethnicity) beat up two twin brothers and menaced them with a knife in front of a Lower East Side bar Saturday morning when they took offense to an 'anti-fascist' sticker on one of the mens cell phone cases, police said." Sad how when things like these are covered up and we "move on," they just repeat themselves over and over. In 1967 I was walking along with 2 friends, Sandy Pearlman and Joan Shapiro, in the East Village, a gentrifying piece of the Lower East Side. We all had long hair and looked like hippies, which, basically, we were. We passed the Ukrainian community center and were immediately attacked by a large gang of Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Joan and I made it safely to the Psychedelicatessen but poor Sandy got caught by the Ukrainians who beat him up and stuffed him into a trash can, which they rolled down Avenue A. Gee, that's 50 years ago! Let's bring this forward a little to-- this past weekend . Here we are, back on the Lower East Side with thereporting that a gang of neo-Nazis (who they don't identify by ethnicity) beat up two twin brothers and menaced them with a knife in front of a Lower East Side bar Saturday morning when they took offense to an 'anti-fascist' sticker on one of the mens cell phone cases, police said."
The beat down happened when the brothers, both 27-year-old Columbia graduate students noticed the large group of skinheads hanging inside one of their usual haunts called Clockwork on Essex Street and decided to head for the exits around 12:30 a.m.
On the way out the door, they ran into a group of smokers outside who noticed the sticker on one of their phones reading New York City Anti-Fascists.
One of the guys sees [my brothers] phone, grabs it and starts screaming, I know what the fuck that means, I know what the fuck that sticker is, you need to get the fuck out of here, said one of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous.
He throws the phone on the ground and they just start jumping us right in front of the bar.
The brothers were pummeled by about six or seven men-- some who were using brass knuckles-- and dressed in matching vests with 211 Crew patches, a white supremacy gang, police said. The brothers tried to run away from their attackers but were chased down Essex Street and then Hester Street before the group caught up to them and continued the beating, cops said.
One of the guys pulled a knife on my brother first and starts slashing at him. Then the guy with the knife starts coming over to me His buddy grabs him and I guess at that point they all decide to run off.
Officers in an undercover police car that happened to be driving by spotted the two bloodied men standing on the sidewalk while trying to call 911 and asked them what was going on.
They were able to point out one of the suspects lingering around the scene and police quickly grabbed him.
He was identified as 29-year-old John Young and was charged with assault, grand larceny, menacing, criminal mischief, and possession of a weapon, cops said.
I didnt think something like this could happen. This is crazy, one of the victims said. I didnt think they would be so brazen as to patronize a bar in Manhattan like that. I go there all the time and never felt a bad feeling.
The men suffered cuts and bruises to their faces and bodies. One brother required five staples to close a wound on his head while the other received two staples for a head wound at a nearby hospital.
I don't know how well Trump did in the communities the Nazi immigrants settled in after World War II, although my guess is that Trump did extremely well in them. South River, NJ, for example, is in a Democratic County that Clinton won handily but it has a Republican mayor, John Krenzel, and the borough council is Republican-majority. In 2013 Christie won 63.8% of South River's votes in his gubernatorial reelection bid, up from the 53.2% he had won in 2009.
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For two years, Asmaa Basry and her family waited inside a tent for news that would free them from a life in the shadow of war. It arrived on a rainy day in 1993.
"You are clear," a United Nations official told them then. "Your visas have been granted in the U.S.A."
Basry, her husband and 5-year-old daughter, who had all escaped Iraq at the height of the Gulf War in 1991 and had since lived in a migrant camp in Saudi Arabia, had been accepted as refugees into the United States. Their chance at liberty and a peaceful life meant everything to them.
"We were lucky," said Basry, a 49-year-old now living in Katy. "There was no hope or future for peace in Iraq. I couldn't imagine living there longer. Our only hope was to come to the U.S."
About 23 years later, Basry is disheartened knowing that the same opportunity for other refugees to begin a new life in the U.S. is uncertain today.
On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that barred all refugees from entering the country for 120 days while also banning Syrian refugees indefinitely and closing the borders for 90 days to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Since the executive order, a federal judge from Seattle on Feb. 3 ordered a national halt of the ban, a ruling which was followed by a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to not immediately reinstate the ban.
By print deadline, it was unclear whether the Trump administration would ask the full 9th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, or re-write a scaled-back version of the executive order.
With Trump strongly stating that he wants the ban in place, and with the uncertainty surrounding the order, Basry wonders what the future holds and is frightened that America's refugee and immigration programs might never be the same.
"Right now, I've lost hope," said Basry, who is a Muslim. "I don't know how to describe it. There are no words."
Growing up in Basra, Iraq, Basry enjoyed a stable life where she lived in a large house and frequently socialized with family and friends.
But in the 1980s, when Iraq and Iran entered into war, her hometown became increasingly dangerous. By the early 90s Gulf War, she and her husband, named Zeki Basry, felt they had no choice but to leave.
The family eventually landed at the camp in Rafha, Saudi Arabia, where they spent two years trying to obtain visas to come to the U.S. To this day, Basry believes the visas were eventually granted because Zeki could speak English fluently and therefore did not need a translator when discussing their visa application with officials. Zeki would eventually serve as a translator for the U.S. Army from 2006-2009 during the U.S.-Iraq war.
After arriving in America, Basry and her family lived in south Texas for a short time before moving to Detroit, Michigan. They lived in Michigan for 16 years before returning to Texas, settling in the Houston area and eventually picking Katy as home mostly because of its recognized school district.
Two years ago, Zeki and Basry divorced, and Basry now lives with her four children, two who were born in the U.S. The family are all citizens. Basry works as a teaching assistant at a local Montessori school, as well as a certified nurse aide.
Since arriving in the U.S., Basry's mother, one of her two sisters and one of her three brothers have also joined the family in Houston. Basry had been attempting to bring her other sister and two other brothers here, too. The siblings are in Damascus, Syria, a country at the front lines in the war against terror.
But after Trump's executive order, Basry's hope to bring her siblings to safety has thinned considerably. She fears that no matter the outcome of the ban, the obstacles for U.S. bound refugees or immigrants will be much greater under Trump.
The Trump administration says they enacted the ban to protect Americans from potentially dangerous people coming into the borders, at least until a more rigorous vetting system is in place.
The CATO Institute, a Washington-based public policy research organization, calculated based on research that the chances of an American being killed by a foreigner are 1 in 3.64 billion per year, less than that of being struck by lightning. The institute also says zero people from the seven countries that were included in the ban have killed anyone in a terror attack on U.S. soil in the last 40 years.
With the U.S. vetting process already taking up to two years for some refugees, Basry said the U.S. government is trying to shut its borders on the world's most vulnerable people.
"Refugees are just trying to escape and be on the safe side," she said. "We have to stand up against this."
There's little Basry can do to change government policy, but she's going to try anyways.
She's leaning on her Muslim community at Katy's Muslim American Society Center, and she plans on participating in community engagement.
Eventually, she also desires to write about her experience as a Muslim refugee.
She'll also wait for the day that her siblings can have the chance at freedom in the U.S.
"I don't know how far this is going to go," Basry said. "I don't know what (Trump's) idea is. But I feel that it is a bad idea, and it's not right for human beings. I will do what I can."
Fort Bend Pet Alive!, along with animal advocates has commended the city of Stafford for its compassionate leadership and offers help to spearhead Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) to save lives of community cats.
Longtime Stafford resident Janet Starr expressed her deep appreciation of the Mayor's Workshop meeting on Nov. 21, 2016. Starr supports the approach chosen by the mayor to discuss how to make "the odds and ends" meet between shortcomings and mandates of the new ordinance, advice from the animal advocates and the logistics that should be implemented by the city staff, the Police Department in particular.
Claudine Vass, President of Fort Bend Pets Alive!, Salise Shuttlesworth, J.D., executive director of Friends for Life, (a LEED certified No Kill Shelter in the Houston Heights) and Brigitte Turner, former animal shelter supervisor of the city of Rosenberg stand strong and unified to offer much-needed logistics, free resources and possible funding to help city of Stafford to spearhead the community project to make Stafford a more compassionate and better place for all.
Ms. Shuttlesworth speaks to City of Stafford about life saving data and benefits of the three year old public/private TNR partnership Friends for Life has with the City of Houston.
Ms. Shuttlesworth reiterated the protocols of TNR step by step in front of the council again. The steps are colony counting, block walking, trapping, transport, surgery, recovery and return to the environment.
Animal advocates further emphasize the importance of self-sustainability of life saving programs and operations of the animal shelter in the future.
Mayor Scarcella values public input and involvement.
In his State of the City speech in the beginning of the meeting and in a response to the animal advocates during the Public Comment portion, he emphasizes his desire to see citizens coming together and getting actively involved to make something great happen for the City of Stafford.
Mayor Scarcella values "an aggressive no-kill provision bolstered in a trap, neuter and return policy, for feral cats" which requires a tremendous amount of support from the residents of Stafford.
Advocates conclude their speeches by not only offering commitment to the City of Stafford, they deliberate compliments and appreciation of the open mindedness displayed by the council.
Ms. Turner stated that the Mayor and the Council have demonstrated "willingness to learn more about no-kill," they have "invited the help of FBPA! and they have also facilitated opportunities for open face-to-face dialog."
Animal advocates commend City of Stafford on "the progress, effort, and care you [Stafford] have invested in making plans for the future Stafford animal shelter."
They also respect the exceptional forward thinking displayed by the city officials. Animal advocates are very optimistic that the city of Stafford has the potential to serve as a role model and lead the way in becoming the first no-kill city in our region.
Other municipalities in our region are encouraged to follow the footsteps of City of Stafford.
Texas State Technical College Regent Joe M. Gurecky is a product of technical education and along with his wife, Doris, knows what a difference it has made in his life. In an effort to help students reach their career goals, he now finds it his personal responsibility to help fund the Texan Success Scholarship.
The Fort Bend natives' donation totals $100,000, with $75,000 going toward scholarships and $25,000 going to the Chancellor's discretionary fund, which is used to facilitate the institution's needs.
TSTC matched the scholarship donation dollar for dollar, helping nearly 150 students pursue their dream of a college education. The Texan Success Scholarship goes to new students who enroll full time to provide assistance for tuition, books and other supplies.
"I am a product of a technical school, and as a result I know firsthand what an impact it has made on my life and the successes I have enjoyed throughout 60 years in the manufacturing business," said Gurecky, owner of Gurecky Manufacturing Service Inc.
Gurecky attended Taylor Vocational Technical College to learn machine shop work and spent 27 years working for Baroid Corp., a Houston-based oil and gas industry production company.
However, when a recession in the oil and gas industry hit Houston in the 1980s, the middle school sweethearts and business partners used their life savings in 1983 to open Gurecky Manufacturing, which operated out of their garage with only three machines.
Gurecky hopes to maintain a mom-and-pop-shop image, although the company is now housed in a 40,000-square-foot facility filled with state-of-the-art precision manufacturing machines.
Gurecky has also served on Rosenberg's City Council and is the former mayor of Rosenberg.
"About 15 years ago I was involved in bringing TSTC to Rosenberg, and it has been awesome to see how TSTC has grown. It brings us great joy and satisfaction to leave a lasting legacy on TSTC and the students we serve," said Gurecky.
Gurecky has also served the college by sitting on the TSTC Board of Regents for 12 years.
TSTC Field Development Officer John Kennedy said that Gurecky and his wife personify the generosity of the Fort Bend County community.
"The generous donation from Doris and Joe Gurecky will help many of our students achieve the American dream, and TSTC's match of their gift will help spread those dollars even more," said Kennedy. "We are privileged to have Regent Gurecky in our community and even more fortunate for his many years of service on TSTC's Board of Regents."
For more information on the Texan Success Scholarship and how to help a student, call 346-239-3417.
New student registration for Summer and Fall 2017 begins April 3. Visit tstc.edu to apply.
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An Austin couple knew they were engaging in a "lewd act" when they were stopped by an officer over the weekend at Hippie Hollow, arrest records show.
William Hamilton, 25, and Theresa Santos, 23, were arrested Sunday and charged with public lewdness, a Class A misdemeanor, at Austin's clothing-optional Hippie Hollow Park on Lake Travis.
A Texas fugitive on the state's Most Wanted list, turned himself in Tuesday at the Travis County Justice Complex in Austin.
Gilbert Garza, 33, is accused of burglarizing the home of a 97-year-old woman twice in January 2016. The second time, he allegedly pepper sprayed the woman when she confronted him.
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Just one day after a "Most Wanted" fugitive turned himself in in Austin, the Texas Department of Public Safety has added Michael Christopher Sanchez, 32, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Sanchez is wanted for a parole violation and engaging in organized criminal activity. He has been wanted since September 2015. His last known address was in Bryan and he has connections to Houston and Hearne, a small town northwest of Bryan.
ODD STORY: Most wanted fugitive turns himself in for pepper-spray attack on 97-year-old woman
The known member of the Latin King's gang has a criminal history, which includes burglary, assault and drug charges. He is considered armed and dangerous.
Sanchez is 5-feet 8-inches tall and weighs approximately 150 pounds. He has tattoos on his back, chest, head, left leg and arms, and multiple scars on his face. Sanchez has prior work history as a skilled mechanic.
Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward up to $7,500 for any person who provides information that leads to an arrest of Sanchez or any of the other 10 most wanted fugitives. To see the 10 most wanted fugitives or sex offenders in Texas, click through the gallery above.
RECENT LIST: Police on the hunt for Houston-area's most wanted fugitives
To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of the five following methods:
-Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
-Text the letters "DPS" followed by your tip to 274637 (CRIMES) from your cell phone.
-Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about, and then clicking on the link under their picture.
-Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the "SUBMIT A TIP" link (under the "About" section).
-Submit a tip through the DPS Mobile App. The app is currently available for iPhone users on the Apple App Store and for Android users on Google Play.
HOUSTON HUB: Fugitive last seen in Houston lands on most wanted list
Houston and Dallas have not declared themselves to be "sanctuary cities" for immigrants who are in the United States illegally, but in the eyes of some, they might as well.
According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, the two metropolitan areas together have nearly 1.1 million residents who are there illegally - 575,000 in the Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land area and 475,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area.
Texas is home to some of the nation's most prestigious universities, and within these institutions are dozens of academic departments and colleges.
For the most part, many begin with a simple "College of," followed by the school's specialty, like business, law or engineering.
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A jury Tuesday returned guilty verdicts in the emotional case of Marquita Johnson and Qwalion Busby, two Converse-area parents accused of allowing their 7-month-old baby to die in December 2015 from a massive bacterial blood infection.
The parents did not take their son, Naeem Busby, to a medical doctor during his life.
Both were convicted of serious bodily injury to a child by omission, a first degree felony, and face a possible sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison. The punishment phase of the trial was set to start Wednesday morning.
Qwalion Busby, 36, has been an oil field truck driver, while Johnson, 33, has a bachelor's degree from Tarleton State and has been a pharmacy technician and parole officer.
In closing arguments, Johnson's attorneys, Demetrio Duarte and Linda Molina, reminded jurors they never heard from a single witness who could definitively say the child's medical emergency began weeks before his death.
Naeem's auto-immune deficiency spread through his little body like wildfire, Molina said. And yet every state's witness agrees he could have been asymptomatic. Not one state's witness could give you a timeline (for when critical symptoms emerged) and not one could assure you his life could have been saved.
When you are deciding a first degree felony, you should demand more, she said.
Prosecutors Kristina Escalona and Melissa Saenz, reciting a litany of skin, hair, weight and respiratory problems Naeem exhibited at death, said common sense would have alerted any caring parent to his medical crisis.
That baby had sepsis, Escalona told the jury. How inconsolable he must have been. How long he must have cried. No wonder he was so dehydrated.
bselcraig@express-news.net
Sitting in a cold, lonely room in Saigon, separated from his family by a war, Bang poignantly recalled a time when daily meals were embellished with condiments, sauces, appetizers, garnished herbs and humble desserts.
Bang had a reverence for great cooks and lamented the power of his own pen to match their art. Prose can only satisfy the mind, he wrote. But good food fills all five senses, making life, even for one not so well-off, worth living.
The image of a beautiful woman standing by the docks appears over and over again though the high points of his wife's cuisinewhether soft green-lentil cakes or doves stuffed with mushrooms and green ricecause him to curse the affairs of his youth as frivolities.
Bangs obsession with Hanoi cuisine took on all the urgency of his opium addiction, or more frequently, his reverence for women, which came through in metaphors that pepper his prose.
According to Bang, Hanoi was bursting with passionate eaters in 1952, the kind who vigorously debated the merits of pho and pondered the relevance of the new banh cuon in townone stuffed with a controversial hash of shrimp, pork and everything in between. Vu Bang himself, spent days trying to divine rules for the proper preperation of bun cha, while dismissing the memory of his estranged wifes cha ca as a failure.
Hanoi's deliciousness is both intricate and fussy, he wrote in the final chapter. What would porridge be without dill, peanut cabbage soup without lettuce, or a bowl of bun thang without mam tom?
Years of serious eating at home and on Hanoi's streets left Vu Bang with the notion that rigorous cooking could turn a pedestrian dish into a delicacy.
What two wars and economic reformation did to the capital's cuisine.
The beauty of the capitals cuisine expressed itself in dishes as simple as fried morning glory with mam tom, he told us, and warned against conflating it with the sort of food you might find in a hack magazine article about it (pho, bun cha, banh cuon, etc.)
Though millions of curious eaters flock to Hanoi every year in search of food that's impossibly fresh, labor-intensive and deliciousone wonders what Bang might think of it today.
VnExpress International found it daunting to track down anything in modern Hanoi that met Vu Bang's standards: a pho, for example, free of MSG and clear enough to merit two, three bowls at a time, bun cha that lacked a trace of char, honest com and fresh ragworms.
Bang dedicated whole chapters to dishes that are no longer here today banh Xuan Cau, hau lon and banh khoai back in 1953.
Food historian, restauranteur and author Nguyen Phuong Hai has cataloged roughly 200 sophisticated recipes that have disappeared from the kitchens of northern family cooks.
Modern life has gradually chipped away at Hanoi's willingness to spend days cooking and hours eating, wrote Hai. Hanois devotion to food declines by the day.
In other ways, the cuisine has grown more democraticor pedestriandepending on whom you ask.
Vu Bang described bun thang as a delicacy meant for Tets final feastone in which cooks threaded the left-overs from the preceding feasts (spring rolls, chicken, omelet, dried shrimp, spiced pork floss and salted duck egg) over rice noodles and bone broth.
The dish is no longer limited to a holiday tradition; one can find a lesser version containing one or two of those ingredients on almost any street corner in the city.
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.
Many bottles with Chinese lettering were found along the coast. A local named Cuong told VnExpress that this is the first time he has seen such a huge amount of garbage wash up onto the coast.
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Ridge View to keep on sharing The Galva-Holstein and Schaller-Crestland School Districts have reached a tentative agreement that will likely reflect Schaller-Crestlands consolidation to a single...
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Terrorists with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in the western part of Mosul face two options: surrender or die, said the spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.
In a news briefing from Baghdad, Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said, "The enemy is completely surrounded in West Mosul, and those who do not surrender to the Iraqi security forces will be killed there."
As Iraqi security forces prepare to liberate West Mosul, coalition strikes are pounding ISIS targets, including terrorists and their weapons caches and ISIS command-and-control sites, Dorrian said.
With eastern Mosul liberated, the 16th Iraqi Army Division is maintaining pressure on any remaining ISIS sleeper cells to prevent the terrorists from infiltrating the city again.
Terrorists are targeting eastern Mosul with indirect fire, mortars and artillery fires, causing damage and civilian casualties. They are also using commercially available drones to observe and drop explosives on Iraqi security force and civilian positions.
As Syrian Democratic Forces and their partners work on the isolation of the key Syrian city of Raqqa, coalition strikes continue to take out ISIS targets, Dorrian said. Recent targets include tunnels, weapons caches, command-and-control nodes and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.
The Syrian Democratic Forces with their Syrian Arab Coalition partners have liberated nearly 3,400 square kilometers of territory since the operation to isolate Raqqa began November 5, Dorrian said.
In the Syrian city of al-Bab, since January 1, the coalition has conducted 35 strikes, delivering 101 weapons in or near the city to kill ISIS fighters and to destroy equipment, artillery, fighting positions, tunnels and command-and-control nodes.
Coalition and Turkish military leaders continue coordinating operations around al-Bab. "The enemy, in Al Bab," said Spokesman Dorrian, "is in deep trouble, with Turkish military and partner forces converging on the city from the northwest, coalition forces pounding the enemy from the air, and regime forces approaching from the south."
Meanwhile, the coalition continues to fight ISIS on multiple fronts. "Our commitment to completely destroying ISI[S]," said Colonel Dorrian, "means that we must destroy their ability to communicate with leadership, their financial network and their ability to control terrain."
Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump said, "Our Republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government, but that freedom is a gift from God."
One fundamental freedom, freedom of religion, includes the freedom to worship according to one's own beliefs. "Freedom of religion is a sacred right," said President Trump, "but it is also a right under threat all around us, and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways...We have seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. Acts of wanton slaughter against religious minorities. Horrors on a scale that defy description. Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. It must be stopped, and it will be stopped."
We have seen peace-loving Muslims brutalized, victimized, murdered, and oppressed by Islamic State terrorists. We have seen threats of extermination against the Jewish people. We have seen a campaign of ISIS and genocide against Christians, where they cut off heads. said President Trump.
"All nations have a moral obligation to speak out against such violence. All nations have a duty to work together to confront it and to confront it viciously, if we have to," said President Trump.
The United States will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land. "America must forever remain a tolerant society," said President Trump, "where all faiths are respected, and where all of our citizens can feel safe and secure."
"As long as our liberty and, in particular, our religious liberty is allowed to flourish," said President Trump, "America will flourish."
BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert coordonator (durata determinata) responsabil de control pe teren si din oficiu a sistemelor de plati
WASHINGTON Tomorrow, March 21 at 12:30 p.m. EDT, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will join advocates calling on the Senate to oppose the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Judge Gorsuchs decade-long record on the federal bench, as well as his writings, speeches, and activities throughout his career, demonstrate that he is a judge with an agenda. His frequent dissents and concurrences show he is out of the mainstream of legal thought. His judicial philosophy is that of a conservative ideologue who has consistently ruled against individuals in favor of large entities, including on issues affecting women, workers, the environment, people with disabilities, and employment discrimination. Time and again, Judge Gorsuch has twisted the law to favor corporate interests despite the harm done to workers and their families.
RSVP requested to [email protected].
WHO:
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Wade Henderson, president and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Nan Aron, president, Alliance for Justice Action Campaign
Michael Keegan, president and CEO, People For the American Way
Kimberly McIntosh, Library Paraprofessional, Blue Springs, Missouri
Cameron Blair Hoxie, M.Ed., Erie, Colorado
Other Senators TBD
WHEN: Tomorrow, March 21, at 12:30 pm EDT
WHERE: 902 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC. RSVP requested to [email protected].
When a Republican lawmaker in Colorado recently called his hometown newspaper fake news, the family-owned Grand Junction Daily Sentinel didnt let it go unchallenged.
On Saturday, the papers publisher, Jay Seaton, wrote a pointed column taking the state senator, Ray Scott, to task over the allegation.
I dont think I can sit back and take this kind of attack from an elected official, the publisher wrote. We are brokers in facts. Words have real meaning in this business. Sen. Scott has defamed this company and me as its leader. And then the kicker: To borrow a phrase from another famous Twitter user, Ill see you in court.
It was no joke, either, Seaton told CJR over the phone Monday.
Thats my intention, he said about a potential lawsuit, but were going to have some cooling-off period before I file anything.
Heres the background: The state senator called his local newspaper fake news on Twitter and Facebook after a February 8 editorial in the Sentinel urged him to move along a bill that would update the Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA. The bill would require government agencies to release digital copies of documents in a machine-readable format (if they have them), something they currently arent required to do. Scott chairs a committee in the state Senate that was scheduled to hear the bill last week, but he cancelled the hearing. The Sentinel urged its local lawmaker, who the paper endorsed in 2014, to set a new hearing and push the bill forward.
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In response, Scott tweeted this:
We have our own fake news in Grand Junction..
The very liberal GJ Sentinel is attempting to apply (more: https://t.co/VYmpfgM6X9 ) Ray Scott (@SCOTTFORCOLO) February 9, 2017
A longer post on Facebook reads:
The very liberal GJ Sentinel is attempting to apply pressure for me to move a bill. They have no facts, as usual, and tried to call me out on SB 40 [known] as the CORA bill. They havent contacted me to get any information on why the bill has been delayed but choose to run a fake news story demanding I run the bill. You may have a barrel of ink but it just splashed in your face.
In his Saturday column, Seaton defended his newspaper and indicated there might be a court fight on the horizon.
This particular publisher, it should be noted, is no stranger to a courtroom. Before taking the helm of the Sentinel in 2009, Seaton was a commercial litigator. This is what I used to do, he told me. I practiced law in Kansas City for 13 years, so Im accustomed to resolving business damage in the judicial system. So I dont view this really as any different.
The publisher says he has already seen people on Facebook pledge to cancel newspaper subscriptions after the lawmakers comments.
What I consider actionable is the attack on the Sentinel as fake news, Seaton says. I can take the criticism that were too far right, or were too far left, or our reporter was sloppy, or our editorial misunderstands the issue, that I can handle. What I cant abide is an attack on the essence of what we do.
Scott, who served as a regional field director for Donald Trumps Colorado campaign, declined to comment for this story on the advice of his counsel. But he did post messages on Twitter and Facebook. Bring it on Jay, if you lie it blows back. NO ONE ever attempted to contact me, he wrote. Seaton says he called the senator twice on Friday, but no one called him in advance of the editorial to clear the papers position with him. (The paper does not discuss editorial opinions with subjects prior to publication.) Scott, a possible gubernatorial candidate, isnt talking, so its hard to clear up this particular dispute.
Last month, I wrote for CJR about another recent instance in Colorado in which charges of fake news were leveled against a credible news source. That time, the charges came from an anonymous blog. This time, its a politician.
Whats really disturbing in this context is the fact that he is an elected official, hes in a position of power, Seaton said on Monday. And the purpose of newspapers is to hold those people in positions of power responsible. So when he attempts to diminish us by calling us fake news for the purpose of avoiding that accountability, Ive got a big problem with that.
Jerry Raehal, who runs the states press association, too often gets the impression that accusations of fake news are made anytime someone disagrees with a newspaper, whether that disagreement is with a news story or a piece in the opinion section.
Newspapers are finding ways to defend themselves, he says. The Sentinel is defending itself and the industry in a way we have not heard of before. Where it goes from here, we do not know.
Steve Zansberg, a First Amendment attorney who represents newspapers in Colorado including the Sentinel, says Scott could be liable under libel law if he made statements that are provably false and made with the requisite knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
To be clear, fake news typically refers to an item published in order to deliberately fool readers, and to generate web traffic (and, by extension, ad revenue). It is not CNN, Time magazine, or The New York Times, as those in the White House have claimed. It is not The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
If the paper does follow through with a lawsuit, then it will no doubt be a high-profile affair. And I imagine there are plenty in Colorados journalistic community who wish this battle didnt involve a public records bill that multiple papers in Colorado want to see pass.
Lauren Gustus, editor of The Coloradoan newspaper in Fort Collins, was involved in a working group that spent a year hashing out the details which led to the bills introduction in the Senate. While she supports the Sentinels efforts to defend itself, Gustus says she wants to make clear that its a separate issue from the open records bill that sparked this fight.
The CORA bill specifically is meant to provide better access to data that belongs to the public, she told me. While the potential for fake news to be defined in a court is intriguing, I remain committed to working to create more opportunities for the people to see public information that is theirs by state right.
For his part, the Sentinels lawyer-turned-publisher says he has received about 100 emails since his column ran, only two of them negative.
This industry has taken it and taken it and taken it over the last several years, Seaton told me. And now we get diminished as fake news, going to the core of what we do. And we dont push back. Well, Ive had it. Im not going to take it anymore.
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Corey Hutchins is CJRs correspondent based in Colorado, where he teaches journalism at Colorado College. A former alt-weekly reporter in South Carolina, he was twice named journalist of the year in the weekly division by the SC Press Association. Hutchins writes about politics and media for the Colorado Independent and worked on the State Integrity Investigation at the Center for Public Integrity; he has contributed to Slate, The Nation, the Washington Post, and others. Follow him on Twitter @coreyhutchins or email him at coreyhutchins@gmail.com.
Two Camden County, N.J., sisters have been charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud for allegedly lying about which one of them was the driver in an auto crash in an effort to support false claims submitted to an insurance carrier.
According to Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP), Labre Hodge and Brittney Hodge were each charged with second-degree conspiracy in an indictment handed up by a state grand jury in Superior Court in Trenton on Tuesday. Labre Hodge was also charged with second-degree insurance fraud and third-degree attempted theft by deception.
According to the indictment, Brittany Hodge was driving her sisters Chevrolet Aveo in Camden in March 2015 when it was struck by another vehicle that ran a stop sign. Hodge, who had been alone in the car, called her sister Labre minutes after the accident, and Labre Hodge arrived at the scene almost an hour after the crash, according to prosecutors. Both women later gave several false statements to Labre Hodges insurer, GEICO, asserting that Labre was the driver and Brittany a passenger when the crash occurred, according the indictment. Labre Hodge also filed a false claim with GEICO seeking $5,000 for medical bills and $950 in lost wages in connection with injuries she sustained in the crash, according to prosecutors.
We allege that these two defendants attempted to dupe GEICO into believing that Labre Hodge was the driver in the crash so that she could make her bogus claim for an injury she did not sustain in the collision, said Attorney General Porrino. These young women are now facing serious consequences for their actions.
Many people erroneously assume that fabricating a scenario to net them a relatively small insurance payout will not get them into trouble, but nothing could be further from the truth, said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu. Whether you file a claim for $100 dollars or $100,000, insurance fraud is a felony and we will prosecute anyone caught trying to enrich themselves by lying to their insurance provider.
The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000; third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
Deputy Attorney General Michael Clore presented the case to the grand jury. Detectives Justin Callahan, Ron Allen, Little Wright, and Investigator Marwa Kashef coordinated the investigation.
Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Iu noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips.
Source: New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
Up, up and away: Dubai hopes to have a passenger-carrying drone regularly buzzing through the skyline of this futuristic city-state in July.
The arrival of the Chinese-made EHang 184 which already has had its flying debut over Dubais iconic, sail-shaped Burj al-Arab skyscraper hotel comes as the Emirati city also has partnered with other cutting-edge technology companies, including Hyperloop One.
The question is whether the egg-shaped, four-legged craft will really take off as a transportation alternative in this car-clogged city already home to the worlds longest driverless metro line.
Mattar al-Tayer, the head of Dubais Roads & Transportation Agency, announced plans to have the craft regularly flying at the World Government Summit. Before his remarks on Monday, most treated the four-legged, eight-propeller craft as just another curiosity at an event that views itself as a desert Davos.
This is not only a model, al-Tayer said. We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubais skies.
The craft can carry a passenger weighing up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and a small suitcase. After buckling into its race-car-style seat, the crafts sole passenger selects a destination on a touch-screen pad in front of the seat and the drone flies there automatically.
The drone, which has a battery allowing for a half-hour flight time and a range of up to 50 kilometers (31 miles), will be monitored remotely by a control room on the ground. It has a top speed of 160 kph (100 mph), but authorities say it will be operated typically at 100 kph (62 mph).
Al-Tayer said the drone would begin regular operations in July. He did not elaborate.
The Road and Transportation Agency later issued a statement saying the drone had been examined by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and was controlled through 4G mobile internet. The agency did not immediately respond to further questions from The Associated Press.
The United Arab Emirates already requires drone hobbyists to register their aircraft. However, drone intrusions at Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest for international travel, has seen it shut down for hours at a time in recent months.
EHang did not respond to a request for comment. In May, authorities in Nevada announced they would partner with EHang to test the 184 to possibly be cleared by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
The drone may be a techno curiosity for now but Dubai the commercial capital of the oil-rich UAE and home to the long-haul carrier Emirates has bold visions for the future and the 184 fits right into its plans.
Dubais ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced in April he wanted 25 percent of all passenger trips in the city to be done by driverless vehicles in 2030. To that end, Dubai already has had the box-shaped driverless EZ10, built by Frances EasyMile, cruise nearby the Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest building.
In October, Dubai signed a deal with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to study the potential for building a hyperloop line between it and Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital.
A hyperloop has levitating pods powered by electricity and magnetism that hurtle through low-friction pipes at a top speed of 1,220 kph (760 mph). Elon Musk, the co-founder of Tesla who appeared on Monday at the Dubai conference, first proposed the idea of a hyperloop in 2013.
Musk, who took no questions from reporters on Monday, later launched his Tesla car brand in Dubai at an event organizers said was not open to international media. Musk has come under criticism for serving on a business council advising U.S. President Donald Trump.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
President Donald Trump recently welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the White House, stressing that the United States is an important and steadfast ally of Japan.
"The bond between our two nations, and the friendship between our two peoples," said President Trump, "runs very, very deep. This administration is committed to bringing those ties even closer. We are committed to the security of Japan and all areas under its administrative control, and to further strengthening our very crucial alliance."
The U.S.-Japan alliance remains the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Pacific region. That's why it is important that both Japan and the United States continue to invest very heavily in the alliance to build up their defensive capabilities.
"We face numerous challenges," said President Trump, "and bilateral cooperation is essential. Our country is committed to being an active and fully engaged partner. We will work together to promote our shared interests, of which we have many in the region, including freedom. . .of navigation, and defending against the North Korean missile and nuclear threat, both of which I consider a very, very high priority."
With regard to the economic issues, the U.S. will seek a trading relationship that is free, fair and reciprocal, benefitting both countries. "Japan is a proud nation with a rich history and culture, and the American people have profound respect for your country and its traditions," said President Trump. He also expressed his thanks to the people of Japan for hosting American armed forces.
"Working together, our two countries have the ability to bring greater harmony, stability and prosperity to the Pacific region and beyond, improving countless lives in the process," said President Trump. "We are committed to that goal."
Small businesses are lagging behind larger companies in preparedness for attacks on their websites or computer systems. Thats the finding of a survey by Hiscox, an insurance company whose target market in the U.S. is small business.
The survey released last week found that small businesses are less likely to make changes to their cybersecurity systems after an attack. Twenty-nine percent said they did nothing after being attacked, compared to 20 percent of larger companies. Small companies are almost as likely to be attacked _ 68 percent of small businesses reported at least one in 12 months, compared to 72 percent of larger businesses.
Two key reasons are behind small businesses lack of preparedness: money and time. Many small businesses cant afford to have employees dedicated to information technology including cybersecurity, and the more sophisticated an anti-cyberattack system is, the more it costs. And owners who focus on getting and working with customers may keep putting off tasks like ensuring their companies can deter or recover quickly from cyberattacks.
Their lower revenues also mean that a cyberattack can be proportionately more expensive for a smaller business. The survey found that smaller companies had costs of $41,334 connected to their largest cyberattack. For companies with 250 or more workers, the costs were $81,322. But a larger revenue stream made it easier for larger businesses to absorb those costs.
Companies that track cyberattacks report that the number of website invasions and computer hackings is continually growing. Symantec, which makes security software, counted more than a million attacks a day in 2015 against people who visited websites. Phishing attacks targeting employees, in which emails were sent with harmful links or documents, rose 55 percent.
The Hiscox survey questioned 1,000 companies, 70 percent of which had fewer than 250 employees. It was conducted in November and December of 2016.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
New technology promises to improve workers compensation programs, according to a Marsh webcast broadcast last week.
According to Tom Ryan, market research leader, for Marshs Workers Compensation Center of Excellence, there are many areas of workers comp that can benefit from technology. These include:
In communications with employees. Information critical to prevent injuries and claim updates can be provided to employees via smartphone mobile applications.
In sharing workforce training via an employers intranet or through smartphone applications.
In delivering care to injured workers. Through telemedicine and via mobile apps that can direct injured workers to preferred medical providers.
In managing claims by providing customizable email alerts, like notifications when prescriptions are ready.
Wearable technology is also expected to impact workers compensation, he said. For example, it can be used to monitor employee movements and alert co-workers of danger, as well as monitor fatigue, body temperature and repetitive motion. The information can be used in training, fraud prevention and for wellness programs, Ryan said.
The construction industry wearable offerings include high tech vests and helmets that have lights or vibrate to alert employees of potentially dangerous changes in surroundings.
Forklifts can be equipped to sound an alarm or flash lights to warn employees and the public. Many pieces of equipment require both hands to operate and can be fitted with vibrating sensors to alert the operator of changes in his or her surroundings.
Joseph Molloy, vice president of workforce safety at Northwell Health, offered a case example of the improvements that came about at Northwell after the company created a centralized workforce safety department and revamped its employee injury reporting system.
Previously, injuries were reported to different parts of the company, he said. Employees were confused throughout the life of an injury on who to report to and what to report. Completion of forms by employees was inconsistent, he said, and penmanship was an issue. For example, asking where an accident occurred resulted in answers that ranged from an address, a building floor or a hospital.
Using more advanced technology helped Northwell improve its incident reporting rate, he said. The company added automated forms and connected employee data so that the forms could be somewhat pre-filled. It also added multiple ways to report an incident, including a mobile app and an 800 number. Completed employee reports of injury were then sent to the supervisor, safety officer, human resources, Broadspire (its third party claims administrator) and to Workforce Safety which triages cases to determine potential nurse case management opportunities.
According to Molloy, the benefits of the new system included more employees being placed in transitional return to work assignments and a positive response from employees.
Molloy said the keys to success when implementing these types of changes include engaging senior leadership and sharing the missions method and rationale for the change.
Another case study showing how technology can improve workers comp programs was presented by Donna Sides, senior insurance manager and workers compensation supervisor with Bank of America.
She explained that Bank of America implemented a telenursing program for insured employees. This included a dedicated 24/7 reporting line that allowed injured workers to speak to a registered nurse and directly report a claim.
She explained that the nurse will assess the medical history, injury, pain level, obtain an accident description and offer a first aid type of treatment recommendation. If additional treatment is warranted, the nurse will direct employees to an in-network provider where allowed and then schedules the appointment. Call notes are uploaded to the Bank of America claims system and are viewable by adjusters.
Sides said the use of telemedicine at Bank of America has resulted in higher network penetration, lower claims severity and lower claims costs.
According to David Lupinsky, vice president at CorVel Corp., the goal of telehealth was originally to bring healthcare to rural areas. Now it bring healthcare to employees and allows employers the ability to create virtual clinics which, in turn, drives greater productivity. It also removes the need for a larger provider network, he said.
Lupinsky said its viable for employers of all sizes, so a larger investment for onsite clinics is no longer needed. He indicated 40 percent of claims can be treated through this option.
Even with its benefits, there are limits to telenursing, he said, noting that patient care is paramount.
Environmental activists and local government officials warned more than a decade ago about the risk of catastrophic flooding below a major Northern California dam the very scenario that threatened to unfold over the weekend, prompting evacuation orders for nearly 200,000 people.
State and federal regulators dismissed those fears at the time, saying they were confident the hillside that helps hold back hundreds of billions of gallons of water was stable and did not need to be reinforced with concrete.
That decision has come under scrutiny now that the hillside or emergency spillway, as officials call it has been put to its first test in the Oroville Dams nearly 50-year history.
Over the weekend, water from the storm-swollen lake behind the dam spilled down the unpaved slope for 38 hours, eroding it enough that authorities feared a huge breach could open and send a 30-foot-high surge of water down the Feather River below, devastating thousands of homes.
The danger eased Monday as the water level behind the dam dropped, but more rain was in the forecast, and residents as far as several dozen miles downriver in Yuba City were advised to stay out of their homes because of flood danger.
At 770-feet, Oroville Dam is the nations tallest. It stands about 70 miles north of Sacramento in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada.
In 2005, at the start of the dams still-unfinished relicensing process, environmental groups asked federal regulators to require that the California Department of Water Resources armor the hillside or reinforce it, typically with concrete or boulders to prevent potentially catastrophic erosion from water escaping when the reservoir was cresting over full capacity.
The groups said rocks and other debris could be swept into the river, damaging highway bridges and power plants downstream. In a worst case, they warned, a major breach would unleash floods that could take lives and destroy property.
Also in 2005, officials with Sutter County, which the Feather River runs through several dozen miles downstream of the dam, asked federal regulators to investigate the adequacy and structural integrity of the hillside and how it would hold during extreme flood releases.
I think that the warning that was given should have been taken with the utmost seriousness, said Bob Wright, an attorney at Friends of the River, which raised the issue along with the Sierra Club and South Yuba River Citizens League.
Bill Croyle, acting head of the Department of Water Resources, refused to comment on the 2005 concerns, saying he was not familiar with them and would need to research the matter.
Speaking late Monday at the states emergency-operations center in Sacramento, Gov. Jerry Brown also said he had not known of the warnings about the emergency spillway, and said public officials depend on the recommendations of their engineers. They tell us what we need and we do it, Brown said.
But we live in a world of risk, Brown added. Stuff happens and we respond.
Last week, officials tried to relieve pressure on the dam by releasing a torrent of water through an adjacent, concrete-lined primary channel designed to handle heavy flows. When the deluge gouged out hundreds of feet of the concrete bottom, dam managers eased off those controlled releases. Water then began spilling down the hillside.
Back when environmentalists and local officials were raising their concerns, the water resources department dismissed the need to fortify the hillside, insisting it would not be in danger if water cascaded down it.
The hillside was designed to handle the probable maximum flood, and annual dam inspections include a review of the spillways structural integrity, according to a May 2006 filing by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other water agencies in the state that could have been in line to help pay for the upgrades to the dam. The cost of reinforcing the hillside was not immediately clear.
In the filing, the water agencies told federal regulators that environmentalists and local officials did not show that the emergency spillway posed a public risk.
As part of the relicensing application, state water resources department officials wrote in a final environmental impact report dated June 2008 that no significant concerns about the hillsides stability had been raised in any government or independent review.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees the dams relicensing and received the request for armoring, agreed that paving was not needed. An agency spokeswoman said the original, 50-year license for the dam expired in January 2007, but it has been automatically renewed each year pending a full renewal
We have just, in December 2016, received all the necessary permits and other documents we need before issuing a final decision on the application, spokeswoman Mary ODriscoll said. She would not answer other questions about the relicensing application.
In a July 2006 memo to managers, first reported by The Mercury-News, a senior civil engineer with the agencys San Francisco office wrote that the agency determined dam safety would not be compromised in the rare event of an emergency spillway discharge.
Engineer John Onderdonk also wrote that, it is acceptable for the emergency spillway to sustain significant damage.
(Knickmeyer reported from Sonoma, California, and Pritchard reported from Los Angeles. Contributing were John Flesher in Traverse City, Michigan; Matthew Daly in Washington; Sophia Bollag in Sacramento and Angel Kastanis and John Antczak in Los Angeles.)
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AKRON, Ohio - An Akron man is accused of causing the explosion that leveled his house last week in the city's West Akron neighborhood.
Rodney Lee Hylton, 49, is charged with aggravated arson and arson in the Feb. 7 explosion that destroyed the house on Courtland Avenue near South Hawkins Avenue, according to Akron Municipal Court records.
The court issued a warrant for Hylton's arrest, records show.
Witnesses told cleveland.com that a man stumbled out of the house after the explosion. Paramedics took the man to a local hospital, an Akron Fire Department spokesman said last week.
Fire officials said last week that they believed the explosion, which happened just after 7:30 p.m., was caused by a gas leak. Crews completely extinguished the blaze just before 10 p.m., and utilities companies were on scene to shut off gas and electricity feeds to the house.
While nearby homes and residents were evacuated as a precaution, no other houses were damaged, officials said.
A Summit County grand jury indicted Hylton on Feb. 3 on charges of breaking and entering, theft, vandalism and several lesser offenses, court records show. His first court appearance has not been scheduled.
If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments page.
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Brecksville Mayor Jerry Hruby spoke to City Council last week about the proposed Brecksville-Independence regional dispatch center. Hruby expects additional communities to sign up.
(Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com)
BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - Brecksville and Independence will likely hire an administrator to run their regional emergency dispatch center inside the proposed new Brecksville police station.
The two cities hope to appoint the administrator, who could earn between $60,000-$70,000 a year, before construction of the police station starts. That way, the administrator can bring his or her expertise to the project.
Brecksville and Independence will conduct a statewide search for administrator candidates. The winning candidate will run the dispatch center independently of all other city departments.
That's what Brecksville Mayor Jerry Hruby told City Council last week. He added that city officials are talking to two other municipalities about possibly joining the regional dispatch center, which will be large enough to accommodate up to 12 communities, although it will more likely include six-eight.
"The saying is, 'Build it and they will come,'" Hruby told council. "We think that's what's going to happen."
Municipalities all over Cuyahoga County, and Ohio, are merging dispatch centers. The state has mandated that counties significantly reduce the number of dispatch centers by 2018 or face cuts in their 911 funding, which pays for upgrades to dispatch systems.
As of last summer, seven regional dispatch centers had been established in Cuyahoga County. They include Southwest Regional Dispatch Center, which serves Berea, Olmsted Falls, North Royalton and Strongsville; Parma Regional Dispatch Center, which serves Parma, Parma Heights, Brooklyn and Brook Park; and Chagrin Valley Dispatch, which serves more than a dozen east-side communities.
Hruby said Brecksville and Independence are modeling their dispatch center after Chagrin Valley Dispatch, which city officials recently toured. He said they liked the center's physical layout and organizational structure.
The two cities have not settled on a name for the dispatch center. Last summer, Hruby said they might call it Cuyahoga Valley Regional Dispatch Center or Cuyahoga Valley Emergency Radio Dispatch Center. Last week, Hruby came up with an even longer name: Cuyahoga Valley Emergency Police and Fire Services Dispatch Center.
Hruby said neither Brecksville nor Independence plan to lay off dispatchers. The two cities employ about 15 dispatchers between them and pay dispatchers similar wages. Instead, the number of dispatchers will be reduced over time through attrition. Until then, some dispatchers will be assigned additional clerk duties.
"Staffing discussions are in progress," Hruby told cleveland.com Monday. "It's very early on."
The police station and dispatch center will stand on Ohio 21, across from the existing City Hall and police station. The cost to build the station-center has not been determined, although Hruby last summer said he expected it will cost roughly $7 million or $8 million.
The project has experienced several delays. In August 2013, Hruby said the plan was to break ground on the station in fall 2014 or earl 2015. The start date was subsequently pushed back to spring 2015.
In August, Hruby said his latest goal was to start construction by the end of fall 2016. At that time, he said delays occurred partly because, for about a year, the city negotiated with four villages - Brooklyn Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Newburgh Height and Valley View - over jail- and dispatch-sharing agreements. Those negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful.
Also, to save money, the city backed out certain components from the new station, Hruby said. For example, the mayor's court, which hears a limited number of cases, will remain in City Hall.
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A student is accused of punching and elbowing a school administrator in Brook Park.
(File photo)
BROOK PARK, Ohio -- A 15-year-old boy faces an assault charge after he punched and elbowed a school administrator in the face, police said.
The incident happened just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the 5500 block of Smith Road at Education Alternatives near the Brook Park Building Department, a police report says.
The administrator suffered broken skin on his mouth and a bloody lip, the police report says.
Police were already at Education Alternatives investigating a menacing complaint involving another student. Another boy got into an argument with an administrator. The administrator tried to calm the boy as the student punched doors in a hallway, the police report says.
The administrator again tried to calm the student, but got elbowed several times in the stomach and punched in the mouth, according to the report.
The student was taken to a mediation room and held by several other school employees until he was able to calm down, the report says.
Another school employee witnessed the attack and said the student struck the administrator with a closed fist, the police report says.
The investigation was forwarded to the juvenile detective who will continue to investigate.
Education Alternatives' website describes itself as a school for "troubled children" that is "centered in the belief that the healing process needed to give children hope for the future comes from trusting relationships with positive adults in a safe and nurturing environment."
If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers forward Solomon Hill tries to knock the ball out of the hands of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the first half. February 29, 2016. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)
(Gus Chan)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cavs (38-16) host the Indiana Pacers (29-26) in the final game before the All-Star break at 7 p.m.
Last meeting: The Cavs won 132-117 one week ago at Indiana.
Cavs fast fact: They've won five straight over the Pacers at home.
Cavs injuries: Kevin Love (left knee surgery) and J.R. Smith (right thumb surgery) are out.
Pacers fast fact: They're banged up at power forward too. Thaddeus Young is out and Lavoy Allen, who's listed as tonight's starter, missed Indiana's last game.
Pacers injuries: Lavoy Allen (sore right knee) is questionable; Thaddeus Young (sprained left wrist) is out.
Probable starters:
Cavs
F LeBron James (25.8 ppg; 7.8 rpg; 8.9 apg)
F Channing Frye (9.3 ppg; 3.7 rpg; .6 apg)
C Tristan Thompson (8.1 ppg; 9.6 rpg; 1.1 bpg)
G Iman Shumpert (7.8 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 1.5 apg)
G Kyrie Irving (24.4 ppg; 3.2 rpg; 5.9 apg)
Pacers
F Paul George (22.6 ppg; 6.1 rpg; 3.3 apg)
F Lavoy Allen (2.5 ppg; 2.8 rpg; 0.0 apg)
C Myles Turner (15.6 ppg; 7.2 rpg; 1.1 apg)
G C.J. Miles (10.8 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 0.6 apg)
G Jeff Teague ( 15.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 8.1 apg)
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A man was arrested after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend.
(File photo)
BROOK PARK, Ohio -- A 22-year-old man was charged with domestic violence Thursday after being accused of attacking his pregnant girlfriend, police said.
The incident happened just after 3 a.m. in the 6300 block of Sylvia Drive near Holland Road, the police report says. The victim went to the police station after going to her mother's home.
William Sutton, of Brook Park, is scheduled for his arraignment at 10 a.m. in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, court documents say.
The victim, who is six months pregnant, was at her mother's home in Medina before coming to Sutton's home for the night. Sutton got mad because of how late she came home, the police report says.
Sutton cursed at the girlfriend so she gathered some belongings and told him that she was going to spend the night at her mother's, the report says.
Sutton got irate and kicked her twice in her leg, police said. She fell to the ground and the impact left a bruise on her thigh, the report says.
He threw clothes hangers and a hair brush at her, the report
s
ays. He continued to throw things at her as she walked out of the home.
The girlfriend called Sutton's mother and told her to "get her son" or she would call police, the police report says.
Sutton was arrested at his home without incident.
If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
parmatheater.jpg
The Parma Theater was torn down in 2014, following a two-year battle to save it. It's one of many places long-time residents remember in Greater Cleveland. What places or events do you miss? Share you thoughts in the box below.
(Maura Zurick/cleveland.com/file photo)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you grew up or lived a while in Northeast Ohio, you've undoubtedly seen a number of changes in your community. But has progress erased some of your favorite haunts. What do you miss most about the "good old days"?
Maybe you recall a favorite restaurant that is long gone, a school you attended that is no longer there. Or maybe you have fond memories of a favorite store, eatery or community event that helped make your community what you loved about it.
That's not to say that change is always a bad thing. Many Greater Cleveland communities have made major improvements, enhancing the quality of life for residents. But for many, memories of some of the best places and events of the past will always be treasured.
Share your recollections of great places, events or traditions that are no longer there. Select comments will be used in the Sun newspapers.
to load this Caspio
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University of Akron volunteers learned their ethnic mix following DNA testing.
(Karen Farkas, cleveland.com)
AKRON, Ohio - Thirty University of Akron volunteers have learned their ethnic mix following DNA testing, which may have changed views on race, officials said.
The results will be revealed Thursday night as part of UA's annual "Rethinking Race" series.
This is the 10th year of UA's Rethinking Race, a two-week forum of events that focuses on opening dialogue around race and race-related issues.
Ancestry.com, which offers DNA testing and ancestry resources for a fee, was contacted by the university to see if the company could offer free DNA tests and interviews, said UA spokeswoman Lisa Craig.
Heather Pollock, an anthropology and classical studies lecturer, took the lead on the DNA project and recruited 30 students, faculty, staff and President Matthew Wilson, Craig said.
The project was designed to challenge people to explore their own narrative about race, the university said.
It would explore questions such as:
What we can tell from how we look?
What can we tell from what science tells us?
What narrative can we tell ourselves and others that could be more inclusive when we talk about race?
The tests were done about four weeks ago and the volunteers learned the results about 10 days ago. Their reactions were videotaped and will be revealed on Thursday.
The university released a short video of volunteers describing their ethnicity and then reacting to the results.
The full results will be revealed from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Gardner Theatre, second floor of the Student Union, 303 Carroll St.
The discussion is open to the public. The university will release results and a video on Friday.
This story has been changed to reflect that UA contacted Ancestry.com.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The FBI is searching for a man wanted in connection with two bank robberies in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.
An aggravated robbery warrant was issued Tuesday against Mark Lloyd, 31, according to court documents.
He is accused of robbing Ohio Savings Bank on West 25th Street Jan. 30 and robbing PNC on West 25th Street Feb. 13, an FBI spokeswoman says.
Investigators are asking the public for help in tracking down Lloyd, who they say should be considered armed and dangerous.
He was last seen in the West 25th Street area, according to the spokeswoman.
Lloyd has a gun-shaped tattoo under his right eye, the FBI says. He's 5-feet 9-inches and weighs about 150 pounds.
Lloyd walked into the Ohio Savings Bank on Jan. 30 and handed a teller a note that read "Give me $2,500 in cash and I will not shoot you," court documents say. He made off with $918, records say.
Lloyd flashed a gun in his waistband during that robbery and also had a gun during the PNC robbery, the spokeswoman says.
Anyone with information on Lloyd's whereabouts should contact the Cleveland Division of the FBI, Cleveland police, or Crimestoppers. Tips can remain anonymous and reward money is being offered.
To comment on this story, please visit cleveland.com's crime and courts comments page.
February 8, 2017
CAIRO Two non-official visits by Egyptians to war-torn Syria within less than two weeks have sparked speculation that a rapprochement between Cairo and Damascus might be in the works. An Egyptian talk show host and a production crew landed Jan. 7 in Aleppo, while on Jan. 19 members of the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate, led by syndicate head Tareq al-Nabarawy, arrived in Damascus at the invitation of Nabarawy's counterpart, Ghiyath al-Qutaini.
The media visit was announced when Youssef al-Hosiny, host of Bitawqit al-Qahira (Cairo Time) on the satellite station ONTV, tweeted, I am on my way to the airport, flying to Syria, the eagle of the East, to learn and report what happened to the free Aleppo, and Damascus, the Pearl. Ill be back, God willing, to Cairo, with a different and hard-hitting episode.
Ibrahim Gad, a member of the production team, told the Huffington Posts Arabic edition Jan. 10 that only the show's content production team accompanied Hosiny and that the trip had been arranged in coordination with Egyptian authorities. The team met with Egypts charge daffaires in Syria, Mohamed Tharwat.
A source at ONTV told Al-Monitor that the purpose of the visit was to record the destruction of Aleppo and the prevailing atmosphere. The source said the timing of the visit after government forces and their allies took full control of Aleppo was merely coincidental, not arranged by the TV station or Hosiny to tout President Bashar al-Assad's victory.
A report based on the trip aired Jan. 24 on ONTV, eliciting criticism on a number of websites opposed to Assad, such as Almodon.com. Hosiny opens the program standing in a graveyard where victims of the Aleppo war are buried. He says, We ask you to pray that God grant a peaceful rest to those martyrs who fell victim to terrorism and armed groups that unfortunately controlled the city for a while.
In another segment, he says, The martyrs died in defense of their country, territory and honor. Unfortunately, they were killed at the hands of terrorism and armed groups that held the Syrian city of Aleppo for a while before being freed. This, some anti-Assad websites argued, represents an attempt to brand all the armed opposition factions as terrorists and apostates and is an example of Hosiny deliberately turning a blind eye to the roles of Syrian fighters, Russian bombing and Iranian militias in destroying Aleppo.
Of note, Hosiny was not the only media figure who traveled Jan. 7 from Egypt to Syria. Moustafa El Saeed, a journalist with the semi-official Al-Ahram, wrote Jan. 7 on his Facebook page, At the Cairo airport. Flying to Damascus, then to eastern and western Aleppo, and Tartus.
As for the engineers' visit, Nabarawy announced Jan. 19 that he had brought with him a draft agreement on cooperation to present to Qutaini and for discussion with Syrian engineers on activating it. The most important terms of the agreement is that each syndicate operates as an umbrella protecting the other syndicates members working in its country, Nabarawy said in a statement. The cooperation protocol suggests cooperation to exchange expertise and take advantage of the syndicate members expertise in the implementation of national development projects.
On Jan. 24, a number of the Egyptian syndicates general assembly and popular council members criticized the Syria visit to the Youm7 newspaper; they also complained about a Jan. 21 meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis. They argued that the delegation had gone beyond the syndicates role as a labor union by venturing into the political sphere and demanded that an internal investigation be opened into the matter.
In a statement to Youm7, they said, As we previously objected to any political interference in the syndicates affairs and to the [Muslim] Brotherhood board delegations visit to Gaza [in 2012 and 2013, when Brotherhood members controlled the syndicates board], we oppose the visit to Syria, which is political, and we have nothing to do with politics. These principles have not changed.
Commenting on the criticism, Nabarawy told Al-Monitor, It was a technical, vocational and syndicate visit that has nothing to do with politics. It showed Egyptian engineers willingness to take part in the reconstruction of Syria to meet the Syrian peoples needs. This matter is one of honor for any Egyptian engineer, devoid of any political considerations. We signed a protocol for cooperation with Syria, similar to the protocol previously signed with Iraq and that did not ignite criticism back then.
On Nov. 15, the US House of Representatives passed a bill imposing sanctions on any countries or companies providing the Syrian government financial support or conducting business with the Assad regime, which has been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some observers therefore interpreted the media and engineers' visits as backdoor channels to avoid being sanctioned while working to arrive at an eventual Cairo-Damascus rapprochement.
Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, an Arab affairs researcher at the Regional Center for Strategic Studies, dismissed the idea of the Egyptian government using unofficial parties to broker a rapprochement with the Syrian regime. He told Al-Monitor, This is because Egypt does not support the Assad regime, but does support stability in Syria, in order to preserve the regions security. Also, the US bill distinguishes between support for the Syrian regime and support for the Syrian people through humanitarian assistance."
Amid speculation about the true nature of the recent visit, the possibility remains that they could indeed have been nonpolitical endeavors as billed.
Forking over a billion dollars to acquire a five-year-old company can't come easy.
That's what Unilever did when it purchased Dollar Shave Club last year. Now, the consumer products conglomerate is seeking outside innovation by launching its own co-working space in its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore.
The space, LEVEL3, is an open collaboration area that can host as many as 50 startups and is connected by an open staircase to main Unilever offices.
"Speed of innovation has never been faster," Paul Polman, Unilever's CEO, told a crowd at the opening of the space. "It's confusing a lot of companies. It's confusing a lot of individuals."
"Increasingly, ideas are coming from outside of just the four walls of Unilever," said Jonathan Hammond, who heads the company's platform to engage with startups, Unilever Foundry. "There's a need for us to engage and work with those people from outside Unilever."
And while Uber, SpaceX, and Tesla were among the more than 130 tech companies that joined a friend-of-the-court brief opposing Trump's immigration order, IBM was not a signatory.
In December a spokesperson for the company told BuzzFeed News that IBM would no help build or provide data for a Muslim registry, an idea Trump proposed during the presidential campaign. "No, IBM would not work on this hypothetical project. Our company has long-standing values and a strong track record of opposing discrimination against anyone on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. That perspective has not changed, and never will."
Here is the memo in full:
Engaging the World
Team,
I'm writing you from the United Arab Emirates, where I've been meeting with leaders from business, academia and government. Tomorrow I will have similar discussions with leaders in South Africa. Last month I met with heads of state from European and Asian nations.
And last Friday, as many of you know, I met with President Trump. IBM leaders have been engaging directly with every U.S. president since Woodrow Wilson, and this was my ninth such meeting since becoming CEO. Like my predecessors, I'm invited to these discussions because of the trusted perspective IBM offers in solving problems.
At the White House, we discussed a wide range of issues from smarter infrastructure investments, to increasing the number of women in the workforce, to cybersecurity, to jobs. And, of course, we spoke about the president's recent executive order affecting immigration and travel.
Into this discussion I brought IBM's perspective as a truly global company. We employ people serving clients in more than 170 countries, and we embrace people of all faiths and backgrounds. We would not be the company we are today without the benefit of immigration and the flow of talent across all our markets. From this great diversity, we draw strength as a company.
Because we are so large and so global, our perspective is also special. IBMers and their families have been touched by terrorist attacks, from New York, to Paris, to the skies over Egypt. And IBMers have been touched, too, by the executive order put in place two weeks ago. In every case, my first priority has been to support and care for the employees and families most directly affected.
As elected leaders make decisions on national policy, we seek to provide ideas and solutions grounded in our values and technological expertise. Both. So on Friday, I discussed with the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security ways that advanced technology could address national security imperatives while also permitting lawful immigration and travel. I explained that this is not an either/or choice. Our points were heard, and we will continue to engage to find solutions that align with our values.
Some have suggested that we should not engage with the U.S. administration. I disagree. Our experience has taught us that engagement reaching out, listening and having authentic dialogue is the best path to good outcomes. IBM does not espouse a partisan or political point of view. Alone among our major competitors, we do not make political contributions, and we do not endorse candidates for office. We never have.
But if IBM does not have politics, it does have values. IBMers believe in helping our clients succeed beyond even their own expectations; in innovation that matters to the world; in building relationships based on trust and personal responsibility. And we have always led the world of business in diversity, inclusion and tolerance. Inspired by those values and that legacy, I offer every government leader with whom I engage innovative ideas to address national challenges.
This is what we do. It has been our ethos for more than a century. And it's why so many of us chose to become IBMers. Where others see the unsolvable, we see solutions. I could not be more proud of what you do every day to live our Values and to make the world a better place. It is what makes IBM, IBM.
Ginni
A general view shows the Four Seasons Hotel building in Hong Kong on February 1, 2017. A Chinese billionaire has been abducted in Hong Kong by mainland agents, according to reports on January 31.
Doubts are rising over missing tycoon Xiao Jianhua's grip on his vast business empire, with one source close to Xiao's family saying the billionaire's contact with the outside world has been severed "in the last couple of days".
The source said that in the days immediately after his return to the mainland from Hong Kong on January 27, Xiao had been allowed limited external contact, including phone calls to his wife.
"That's not the case any more," the source said last night.
But another source close to the investigation insisted that Xiao was still in contact with his wife and his business associates.
Xiao has not been seen since he disappeared on the eve of Lunar New Year.
More from the South China Morning Post:
Why silence is golden for Chinese tycoons in 2017
HK police insist missing tycoon entered mainland legally
Don't be swayed by interest groups, Chinese president warns cadres
The saga took another turn yesterday with The New York Times reporting that Yao Long, one of Xiao's employees, was taken from Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday night as he tried to board a flight for Tokyo.
Hong Kong's Immigration Department was investigating whether Yao's travel document was valid, the report said.
The department said it would not comment on individual cases. But an officer at the department's detention centre at Ma Tau Kok said a man named Yao Long had been held there since Sunday night and was taken away by officers from the department's investigation branch yesterday morning . Under Hong Kong law, the authorities can hold Yao without charge for up to 48 hours.
Xiao, has built up a sprawling business empire of financial vehicles and listed companies that could send major shocks through to the market if their shares collapsed.
Sources have told the South China Morning Post that Beijing is eager to avoid any market fallout from the Xiao case.
Shares linked to Xiao and his Beijing-based Tomorrow Group have stabilised since an initial sell-off.
Shares of Baotou Tomorrow Technology gained 0.23 per cent yesterday, Baotou Huazi Industry fell 1.75 per cent, while Xishui Strong Year gained 0.44 per cent.
Shares of Toshiba tumbled on Wednesday after the electronics conglomerate said it would book a $6.3 billion hit to its U.S. nuclear unit, a write-down of more than shareholder equity with the company looking for finance options.
Highlighting the scale of its financial concerns, Toshiba also ramped up plans to raise cash, announcing it would consider selling most, even all, of its stake in its prized flash-memory chips business. Shares traded down around 10.3 percent in late morning trade.
The company has also launched a probe into whether there was potential inappropriate conduct during its 2015 acquisition of Westinghouse, Nikkei reported.
Read the full report here.
The developments came to light after Toshiba, due to release its third quarter earnings on Feb. 14, announced that the report has "not yet become available". Reports said the company would meet with bankers on Wednesday for further discussion.
First lady Melania Trump said Tuesday the always-popular free public tours of the White House will resume in three weeks, on March 7.
The tours had been suspended during the transition to the Trump administration, but the suspension has lasted longer than usual. That provoked some dismay in Congress, where members were questioning what was taking so long, including U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who tweeted about it Sunday.
Chuck Grassley tweet
The delay is in part because Mrs. Trump has not fully assembled her East Wing staff who help oversee the program under which ordinary Americans can get a look at some of the public rooms of the People's House.
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Melania Trump says popular White House tours will resume in March
"I am excited to reopen the White House to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year," Trump said in a statement issued by the office of the White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Mrs. Trump, who is not scheduled to move into the White House until June, has not yet appointed her own press secretary. But she has appointed Lindsay Reynolds as her chief of staff, and Reynolds served under former President George W. Bush as associate director of the White House Visitors Office.
"The White House is a remarkable and historic site and we are excited to share its beauty and history," Mrs. Trump said in her statement. "I am committed to the restoration and preservation of our nation's most recognizable landmark. "
Public tours of the White House are free of charge and first-come, first-serve. A limited number of spaces are available and tickets must be requested through a member of Congress, usually one's personal congressional representative.
The tours are self-guided, generally running from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (excluding Federal holidays or unless otherwise noted). Tour hours will be extended when possible based on the official White House schedule.
Visitors are encouraged to submit requests as early as possible. Tickets can be requested up to three months in advance and must be submitted no less than 21 days in advance.
In 2015, the Obama administration lifted the 40-year ban on cameras and photos on public tours. Guests are now welcome to take photos throughout the White House tour route and are even encouraged to share their photos using the hashtag #WhiteHouseTour. Phones and compact still cameras with a lens no longer than 3 inches are allowed.
Noah Oppenheim will become the new president of NBC News.
NBC News will announce a significant reorganization of its leadership ranks, along with a major investment in a European TV network, a person briefed on the changes said Tuesday.
Noah Oppenheim, the executive in charge of "Today," will become NBC News's new president, the person said. The NBC News chairman, Andrew Lack, will announce the changes to staff members Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. Oppenheim will replace Deborah Turness, the top female executive in TV news, who will be moved into a new position president of NBC News International where she will be the news chief of the new European network, called Euronews.
More from the New York Times:
Top Wall Street Journal editor defends Trump coverage
Apple tiptoes into producing original video but plans to pick up pace
Disney drops PewDiePie and YouTube distances itself after reports of anti-semitic videos
NBC's 25 percent stake in Euronews means that the network can, at long last, tap into an international market. This will enable it to compete more aggressively with CNN, which has a robust international presence (Euronews will be renamed Euronews NBC). Founded in 1993, the network has more than 400 journalists and is broadcast in 12 languages.
Euronews has a wide footprint it reaches 277 million households across Europe, Africa and the Middle East but its viewership is small. NBC spent roughly $30 million for its stake in the network, according to the person briefed on the plan.
Mr. Lack's announcement comes just two years after NBC had reached a low point at its news division. The network was dealing with a crisis involving Brian Williams, the "NBC Nightly News" anchor; "Today" was consistently losing to "Good Morning America"; and MSNBC's ratings were plummeting.
Mr. Lack, who ran NBC in the 1990s, returned several months later and has worked stabilized the division.
Mr. Oppenheim took over "Today" in June 2015 and brought a steady hand to the show following the short-lived and tumultuous run of Jamie Horowitz.
Under his leadership, "Today" returned to the No. 1 morning show in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic important to news program advertisers. It has defeated ABC's "Good Morning America" in the category for more than a year 59 consecutive weeks of wins and it has narrowed the gap in the total viewer score: Last season, "Good Morning America," which averages about 4.7 million viewers, had a lead of more than 288,000 viewers over "Today"; this season, the lead is down to about 123,000 viewers.
Mr. Oppenheim had to be lured back to "Today" two years ago after a flirtation with Hollywood. He wrote the screenplay for the film "Jackie."
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC and CNBC.
As missile tests and alleged political assassinations deepen international concern about North Korea, the rogue nation may turn to the world's second-largest continent for help. "In recent years, North Korea has sought to increase its trade relationship with Africa, both as a sanctions evasion technique since African enforcement tends to be lax, and as a way of reducing the country's enormous dependence on China," said Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies, at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in a Tuesday note.
The national football teams of North Korea and Ghana at a quarter final match during the Women's 2016 FIFA World Cup in Jordan. Steve Bardens-FIFA / FIFA via Getty Images
Indeed, an Africa pivot may be the only option left for the country officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as Beijingits traditional allyincreasingly distances itself from the decades-old bilateral relationship amid international pressure. Following North Korea's sixth nuclear test over the weekend, the United Nations (UN) warned its members to "redouble efforts" to enforce existing sanctions against the pariah state but refrained from meting out new punishment. In November, the UN cut one of Pyongyang's major income sources, coal exports, in response to a nuclear detonation in September. It may be surprising to some but Pyongyang has long fostered diplomatic, economic and military relations with various African countries, which have thrived even after the widespread international condemnation that followed North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006. From 2007 to 2015, the value of annual trade activities between African states and the DPRK amounted to $216.5 million, higher than the average $90 million recorded from 1998 to 2006, according to a November report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), a Pretoria-headquartered think tank associated with the UN. Because only seven African countries, or 13 percent of African Union members, have participated in the implementation of UN sanctions, North Korea may deliberately target African countries as a circumvention strategy, Noland warned.
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A friendship rooted in socialism
Workers of the Escondida copper mine start an indefinite strike in Antofagasta, Chile, on February 9, 2017.
After rallying to a 20-month high, copper prices are now coming off as a workers' strike shows signs of easing at the world's largest mine of the red metal.
Striking workers at Chile's massive Escondida copper mine and mine operator BHP Billiton said they have agreed to renew talks on Wednesday, Reuters reported, sparking hopes of an early settlement to the six-day stoppage.
Benchmark three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange were up 0.3 percent at $6,063.5 per metric ton at 11.25 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Asia, off a 20-month high of $6,204 a metric ton on Monday.
Prices were still supported by another disruption in copper supply at Freeport-McMoRan 's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's second-largest copper mine, Reuters reported.
The federal judge considering a landmark class action settlement involving 7.5 million allegedly defective Remington rifles is raising new concerns about what he called the "exceedingly small" number of gun owners who have filed claims to get their guns fixed.
"It seems inconceivable to me that someone would have a firearm that might injure a loved one and not have it fixed," said U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith at the start of a three-hour hearing in Kansas City on Tuesday to consider final approval of the settlement.
As of Monday, only about 22,000 owners have filed claims in the two years since the settlement was announced, attorneys say. With as many as 7.5 million guns, that's a claims rate of about 0.29 percent. Critics, including attorneys general from nine states and the District of Columbia, are urging Smith to reject the deal, in part because of those numbers. They also complain that the settlement sends a mixed message by allowing Remington to continue claiming the guns are safe.
The case involves some of Remington's best-selling guns including the wildly popular Model 700 rifle, which CNBC first investigated in 2010. Lawsuits have alleged that for decades, Remington covered up a design flaw that allows the guns to fire without the trigger being pulled, resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of serious injuries.
Remington has consistently maintained the guns are free of defects and that the incidents are the result of user errors. But in late 2014, the company said that to avoid drawn-out litigation, it was agreeing to replace the triggers on millions of guns free of charge.
Legere acknowledged that his company does not have the same amount of money to spend on commercials as the competition does. Instead, T-Mobile's approach is to pick its moments, and do them big.
"Every move we make, it's our intent that the whole industry move," Legere told " Mad Money " host Jim Cramer on Tuesday.
When T-Mobile CEO John Legere took over his company, he pledged that he would fix what he describes as a "stupid, broken, arrogant industry."
"We do them disruptive; we do them with disruptive partners. And then we work around them. We manage the social," Legere said.
Legere's goal is to have the entire industry move into the unlimited data for mobile, because in his view, the industry should be viewed from the perspective of unlimited.
However, Legere admitted that there major changes are still needed. The changes on his radar include new devices, 5G and how to serve customers in a new and different way.
"In a short period of time other companies are asking themselves, 'hey wait a minute, maybe there is a different way to engage our customers and employees.' And that is what I am. I am all about customers and employees," Legere said.
T-Mobile announced a 16 cent earnings beat Tuesday, from a 29-cent basis, and higher-than-expected revenue, up 23 percent year-over-year. It also had 1.2 million branded postpaid subscribers, its best number in four quarters.
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Various associates of President Donald Trump , including members of his presidential campaign, had multiple contact with senior Russian intelligence officials before the U.S. election, according to the New York Times .
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L), Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L), Director of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov (2nd R), and Director of Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 19, 2016.
But the communications indicated no evidence that Trump's team was colluding with Moscow on influencing the election, the newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed American officials.
Still, the amount of contact worried American intelligence agencies as it occurred while Trump was praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Times said.
Read the full story here.
Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
Men look an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Beijing, China, January 5, 2016. Kim Kyung-Hoon | Reuters
These days in China, the disappearance of a senior Communist Party cadre barely raises an eyebrow. Talk that China's insurance regulator Xiang Junbo may be under investigation is, however, different. It's not only because he decides who gets to sell life insurance in China the most juicy business in the country but also because of the deep involvement of political heavyweights in the industry. The rumour, which appeared on Friday in Ming Jing News a Chinese-language magazine and website that trades in salacious gossip and rumours about Communist Party cadres has not received official comment by the insurance regulator. Questions faxed to the regulator's Beijing office have received no reply. Xiang has not appeared in public since the annual insurance conference in mid January where he pledged to rein in the wild behaviour of China's insurance money. More from the South China Morning Post:
China's obsession with skyscrapers reaches new heights
Confusion over missing tycoon's grip on empire
Cross hairs are on insurers as China takes aim at raiders With the blessing of former premier Wen Jiabao, the ex-auditor and central banker landed the top job at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission in 2011. He is in charge of granting life insurance licences, or virtual cash machines, or money printers as insiders call them. In the first 11 months of 2016, China's life insurers sucked in more than 1.1 trillion yuan of insurance premium, with investment schemes containing minimal insurance elements. That is growth of 2.7 times from the 2013 record, while the premiums collected from old-fashioned insurance policies only doubled to two trillion yuan. Front line salespeople typically promise their policyholders a guaranteed rate of return of over 6 per cent, double the prevailing bank deposit rate. Insurance companies are taking deposits from the public, without submitting to the regulatory restrictions and operating costs of a bank.
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Much of the money will be used to serve the insurers' owners, for buying equities that owners are hoping to jack up, or investing in the owners themselves as trust products. Not surprisingly, the queue for an insurer's licence is long, growing to more than 100. Yet, the supply is scarce. Three insurers were approved in 2015, none last year and so far one this year, making a total of 69. The decision making has always been opaque. Compared to insurance companies, the much-criticised vetting of stock market listing applications are akin to navigating a maze with a map. Xiang once listed four qualifying criteria for obtaining an insurance licence a major shareholder with good financial, social and professional credentials; support for such state programmes as the "One Belt, One Road" project; registration in an area that does not have a local insurer; and innovation. A cursory look into the background of any of the lucky holders of insurance licences will tell you these criteria are a collective joke; most don't reveal who their owners are. Among them are the seven "bad boys" of the insurance industry, according to China's state news agency Xinhua in December, for their contributions to speculation in the stock market. These seven accounted for more than half of the deposits taken by the entire industry between January and November 2016. In the first quarter of last year alone, Anbang Life and Huaxia Life took in 131 billion yuan and 118 billion yuan of deposits from policyholders. Foresea Life, a four-year old insurer, took in 40 billion yuan.
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Millennials are still recovering from the 2008 recession.
The generation's overall lack of resources, combined with growing debts, has made millions delay the decisions traditionally associated with adulthood: Living independently, getting married, having children, and buying cars and houses.
While the banks were bailed out back in 2008, today's millennials are being bailed out by their parents, who are boomers with much more disposable income. According to The New York Times, 40 percent of young millennials get financial support from parents to cover expenses.
In many ways, millennials actually have it much worse than older generations. For instance, young workers are 40 percent more likely to not have retirement savings than Gen X and 50 percent more likely than baby boomers. At the same time, millennials are making $2,000 less than Gen X did at the same age back in 1980 and 20 percent are currently living in poverty.
Toronto-based luxury apparel maker Canada Goose is preparing to file for a U.S. initial public offering of up to $100 million, according to a filing made Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 2016, Canada Goose said it had revenue of $291 million, and $103 million of that revenue came from the U.S. The company reported a gross profit of $146 million and net income of $27 million for the same year.
In going pubic, Canada Goose looks to expand globally.
The Canadian clothing maker launched its national e-commerce platform in 2015 and then opened its first U.S. retail store in New York late last year.
"We believe there is a large white space opportunity in other regions such as the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Pacific Northwest," Canada Goose said in a statement. The company also looks to grow its stronger markets of the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Korea.
Lead underwriters of the offering include Canadian bank CIBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse , Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets . Shares will be traded on both the NYSE and Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GOOS."
The market rally is thin despite positive economic data pushing U.S. stocks to new highs, and that can worry investors about its authenticity, Art Cashin told CNBC on Wednesday.
"It's not a very broad rally as it had been a couple weeks ago. So when it begins to narrow, you do worry about that," Cashin, director of NYSE floor operations at UBS, told "Squawk on the Street."
Driving what he called the "very narrow" rally were and , Cashin said, both of which are frequent chart-toppers in their respective sectors, financials and technology.
"The volume was nothing to write home to mother about," he said. "So you look at those things and say, 'How much of this is an illusion and how much of it's real?'"
Cashin added that the market's "theoretical resistance" is also bubbling up, with the bouncing in a range of 2,337 to 2,341.
"If they punch through there, they could possibly get a tailwind and ... kind of another minor breakout," Cashin said.
After Cashin's interview, the index was up just under 0.2 percent, at 2,341.38.
The floor director said traders and investors should be weary of upcoming market movers on Wednesday like Fed Chair Janet Yellen's question and answer in her congressional hearing and the Department of Energy's crude inventory data.
Barack Obama shakes hands with Donald Trump during the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2017. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Obama's first four weeks accomplished an enormous amount
By the time the stimulus was signed, Obama had already signed two significant pieces of legislation. One, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, changed the statute of limitations on pay discrimination lawsuits to make it easier for victims of unfair labor practices to obtain compensation. The other, a reauthorization and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, has since been overshadowed by the Affordable Care Act, but it was a significant bill in its own right. The bill added almost $33 billion in funding to provide insurance coverage to about 4 million children, including for the first time a provision to allow legal immigrants to obtain coverage without a waiting period. The money was found through an increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco products. A 2012 study from Jidong Huang and Frank Chaloupka found that the increase reduced the number of teen smokers by about 250,000 and the number of teen smokeless tobacco users by nearly 200,000 in the short term. Even more consequentially, they believe the "long-term projected number of youth prevented from smoking or using smokeless tobacco that resulted from the 2009 federal tax increase could be much larger," since smoking is, famously, addictive, so the impact of getting people to not start is cumulative over time. That adds up to many thousands of lives saved over the years while the Lilly Ledbetter Act's provisions are already sufficiently entrenched that there is zero GOP effort to reverse them. Either of these bills is easily more significant than anything Trump has done so far, yet both are dwarfed by the long- and short-term impact of the stimulus bill.
ARRA was more than a fiscal stimulus
The stimulus bill's primary purpose, of course, was to promote economic recovery. And while economists will debate until the cows come home exactly how successful and how cost-effective it was at doing this, there is broad expert consensus that it created jobs and reduced the unemployment rate during the peak crisis years. Congressional Budget Office estimates of its impact across four years show that even if you believe the most pessimistic assessments, it added hundreds of billions of dollars to total economic output and supported millions of jobs (See chart here). But beyond the short-term economic impact, the stimulus also had a substantial long-term legacy.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, not only has almost no legislative accomplishments but also shows no sign of having made any progress.
One clear example of this is the way the Race to the Top grant program which made education money available to states contingent on adopting administration-favored policy reforms spurred change nationwide. The University of Chicago's William Howell concluded in a 2015 assessment that this worked. Regardless of the merits of the underlying reforms, "the president managed to stimulate reforms that had stalled in state legislatures, stood no chance of enactment in Congress, and could not be accomplished via unilateral action." They repaired 42,000 miles of road, bought more than 12,000 mass transit vehicles, and cleaned up water supplies nationwide. Tax credits for renewable energy production kept the wind and solar energy sectors afloat at a time when business investment was tanking, and have semipermanently entrenched these industries as significant players in the American energy mix. There are now twice as many jobs tied to solar energy production as coal, as solar installations have soared 2,000 percent. Trump, obviously, has not yet signed laws transforming American education, health, or transportation policy.
Trump hasn't even started on anything
Barack Obama shakes hands with Donald Trump during the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2017. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
A generous income tax refund from Uncle Sam may feel like free money, but don't be fooled it isn't. For the 2015 tax year, the average refund was $2,860, according to the Internal Revenue Service. It's a chunk of change that taxpayers can put toward paying down debt, saving for retirement or socking away into an emergency fund.
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Now the bad news: If the IRS sends you a massive check this spring, it means you've likely overpaid on taxes throughout the year. The federal agency expects to receive more than 153 million tax returns this season. "A large refund from the IRS may seem like an advantage, but it isn't the best or most effective use of your cash flow," said Tim Steffen, director of financial planning at Robert W. Baird & Co. "You're basically giving the IRS an interest-free loan," he said. If you're an employee, your employer likely gave you a Form W-4 when you were hired, which you can adjust to make sure the right amount of income tax is withheld from your paycheck. More from Your Money Your Future:
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On the form, you'll make note of your spouse, your dependents and your filing status; these are your "personal allowances." The more allowances you have, the less tax will be withheld. "Some people read the form and think 'I'm married and have three kids,'" said Cari Weston, director of tax practice and ethics at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. "They end up with five allowances and owe substantial taxes at the end of the year." The IRS has a calculator to help you figure out the correct withholding. The safest course to avoid owing a large amount at tax time is to fill out your W-4 as "single" or "married but withhold at higher single rate" and take no personal allowances. However, this may also set you up for having excess taxes withheld throughout the year leading to that large refund in the spring.
The freshman congressman from Florida who aims to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency has finally released text of the agency-killing bill and it tops out at just more than 40 words.
News that Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz would introduce legislation to abolish the EPA has stirred consternation on social media since the Huffington Post first reported his plans to propose the measure two weeks ago.
The bill was introduced into the House on Feb. 3, but the text was not available until recently. It contains little more than an intention and a deadline:
A BILL
To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. The Environmental Protection Agency shall terminate on December 31, 2018.
The bill is being co-sponsored by three other Republicans: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Rep. Steven Palazzo of Mississippi and Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia.
Gaetz took office in January after serving in the Florida House of Representatives. The other three lawmakers were sworn into Congress within the last six years.
A spokesperson for Gaetz was not immediately available to comment.
"The EPA has been doing some drastic things," Gaetz recently told the Northwest Florida Daily News. "They have exceeded their original mission substantially under both Republican and Democratic presidents and violated the sovereignty of the states. I think we need to start fresh."
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works moved forward President Donald Trump's pick to lead the EPA, Scott Pruitt, earlier this month despite a boycott by Democrats.
Pruitt drew national attention for suing the EPA over Obama-era regulations while serving as Oklahoma's attorney general and for his history of questioning the science behind climate change.
After making billions of dollars in losses since the start of the century, General Motors may be ready to off load Opel to French automaker PSA Group for about $1 billion, according to analysts at Evercore ISI.
Despite European car sales at a nine-year high, auto makers have struggled to make a profit. Detroit-based GM has accumulated more than $15 billion of losses at its Opel arm since 2000 but has held onto its European operations to allow it to develop compact cars and diesel engines. However, global demand for diesel is in decline and therefore GM should be set to benefit from a potential split with Europe, Evercore ISI analysts said in a note.
"General Motors have not made money in Europe for many years, it's a drain on free cash flow and with the European (car) sales above 15 million (units) now you'd argue we're at least three-quarters of the way through the cycle if you're not making money (now) then will you ever?" George Galliers, autos analyst at Evercore ISI, told CNBC on Wednesday. "We like the deal, particularly from General Motors' perspective."
"Valuing GME is extremely difficult, given the entity's struggle to make money over the years. It does not seem unreasonable to assume that GM might actually contribute money (pay) to dispose of the asset," Evercore said in a note. Excluding pensions and other liabilities estimated to be in the region of $10 billion "and if we equated a sale price of PSA paying up to $1 billion to GM, it would be the equivalent of 6-8 times the potential earnings of a restructured GME."
Any deal may have to overcome political obstacles in the U.K. and Germany, as any merger could lead to job losses. Opel employs 28,000 people in Germany and 4,500 in Britain.
Germany's labor minister Andrea Nahles said Wednesday that there were talks "at all levels" with Opel, GM and PSA to make sure plants remained open in Germany.
"The German government intensively discussed at a cabinet meeting today the issue of Opel" Nahles was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Heineken entered the U.K. pub market in 2008 with the acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle, during what Van Boxmeer describes as a "perfect storm" following the global financial crisis.
The company has announced proposals for a back-to-back deal with Vine Acquisitions, which, once complete, will see it acquire 1,900 British pubs within the Punch Taverns group. Jean- Francois Van Boxmeer, the brewer's chief executive, told CNBC Wednesday that, despite contraction in the U.K. pub sector, he believes it is still a "good business to be in" as the group forecasts further growth over the coming year.
Heineken , the world's second largest beer brewer, is looking to pour new life into one of the U.K.'s great "institutions" as it continues to buy up British pubs.
Since then, the brewer's U.K. arm has continued to build its Star Pubs & Bars business, having invested over 20 million ($24.91 million) per year since 2014, resulting in an estate of 1,049 leased and tenanted pubs.
"We have an expertise in developing that business and hence also the proposed acquisition of part of the Punch estate would strategically add to our strength in the U.K.," explained Van Boxmeer.
The firm has received criticism over claims that it would force landlords to sell Heineken products. However, a spokesperson for Heineken on Wednesday reiterated comments made at the time of the Punch deal by Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Heineken's pub arm, saying: "Will not impose our portfolio on them."
The pubs deal follows news Monday that Heineken is to acquire Brasil Kirin Holding, one of the largest beer and soft drinks producers in Brazil. The deal will increase the group's footprint in Brazil, one of its growing markets, particularly in the north east, where it previously lacked exposure.
"It's a bolt-on acquisition but it's built on the confidence that we can make progress in Brazil," Van Boxmeer told CNBC.
The company released its full-year earnings for 2016 on Wednesday with revenues of 20.79 billion euros ($21.98 billion) coming in slightly ahead of the company's own expectations of 20.57 billion euros.
The group noted continued growth in regions of the Americas (including Brazil), as well as Asia Pacific and Europe in it 2016 results. Overall, beer volumes grew 3 percent in 2016, having been partially dampened by weakening demand from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Heineken's 2016 results market a 1.4 percent increase in revenues for the year, up from 20.51 billion euros in 2015. This comes despite what the business termed a "negative impact" from currency fluctuations.
Net profit was up 8.5 percent, compared to 2015 numbers. Meanwhile, total dividends were up 3.1 percent at 1.34 euros per share, an improvement of 0.04 euros on the previous year.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., announced a joint resolution earlier this month to stop a Labor Department rule that broadens the accessibility of individual retirement accounts.
The House of Representatives advanced two bills to overturn federal rules that would make it simpler for states to start IRAs for private-sector workers without a 401(k).
Following passage in the House on Wednesday, the bills go to the Senate. If they pass there, they go to President Donald Trump's desk for signature.
IRA simplification
The regulation, released last August, established a road map for states to set up IRAs that participants would fund through payroll deductions.
These IRAs are similar to the accounts already available to investors: They have contribution limits of $5,500 each year, plus $1,000 if you're 50 and over.
The rule that governs 401(k) plans the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 has kept states from moving forward with payroll deduction IRAs. This was because it wasn't clear how these state-based plans would be subject to ERISA.
"When something is subject to ERISA, it becomes expensive to maintain," said Marcia Wagner, managing director of The Wagner Law Group in Boston.
The rule from last summer would keep ERISA from pre-empting state law. These jurisdictions already have their own regulations that would apply to the IRAs.
"Employers will face a confusing patchwork of rules, and many small businesses may forgo offering retirement plans altogether," Rooney said in a statement when he co-sponsored the resolution. "Congress must act to protect workers and small businesses from these misguided regulations."
Retiree advocacy groups expressed concern over what the House passage of the two provisions might mean for jurisdictions that are weighing these IRA programs.
"That's the more critical question: What will happen next?" said Cristina Martin Firvida, AARP, director of financial security.
"The states that have enacted these programs are committed to the programs that they've legislated," she said. "The states that are considering bills, that have voted on them but haven't had them go to signature we are concerned these resolutions will have a chilling effect on that activity."
AARP estimates 55 million individuals don't have a way to save for retirement from their regular paycheck.
State-based saving
Eight states have enacted legislation to build retirement savings programs for workers: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.
The Massachusetts plan is currently available for workers at small nonprofits, but the Bay State has introduced legislation that will make a program available to private-sector workers who don't have a 401(k).
California's Secure Choice program is one of the newest efforts to be put in place. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law last September, establishing the program.
The vote comes on the heels of recent controversy surrounding the Labor Department's fiduciary regulation, a measure that requires financial advisors to provide you with advice that is in your best interest.
In a presidential memorandum, Trump called on the department to review the regulation. The agency is now exploring options to delay its originally scheduled April 10 applicability date.
(This story has been updated to add comments.)
Ethan Bloch was in junior high school in Baltimore during the dot-com boom.
For his bar mitzvah the ceremony that welcomes 13-year-old Jewish boys into adulthood Bloch received $7,000 in cash. It was 1998 and, like so many amateur traders at the time, he plunged his wealth into the stock market, mostly software and telecommunication names like Lucent and Nortel. He quickly tripled his money. By age 15, it was all gone. "This knocked me over the head and left a burning curiosity that I still carry today," said Bloch, now 31, from the San Francisco headquarters of his financial-tech start-up Digit. "I realized I didn't know s--- about how any of this was working." Now Bloch is playing into another trend that's taking over Silicon Valley: Machine learning. Using the combination of massive data sets, exploding compute capacity in the cloud and a host of analytics tools, entrepreneurs are training computers to make increasingly sophisticated decisions. Eventually, the experts say, we'll land at true artificial intelligence, where computers are smart enough to train computers. And it's going to upend the traditional banking industry.
Helping consumers with their finances
It's hardly a straight line from the dot-bomb blunder to Bloch's new gig developing an automated savings tool for millennials. But Bloch says he's been obsessed with finance for almost two decades, even while running his first software start-up Flowtown, a social media marketing platform. Bloch sold Flowtown to Demandforce for a few million bucks in 2011. The following year, having banked enough cash to follow his passion, Bloch set out on a mission to improve consumers' financial health. The tagline on his website is, "Save money, without thinking about it." The company is initially targeting younger consumers, who've grown up in an era dominated by smartphones and a loathing for brick-and-mortar banks.
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Digit's software plugs into a user's checking account, analyzing expenses and income and determining how much money could be stashed away without the customer feeling it. Based on the personalized algorithm, Digit puts a few bucks or so a week into a savings account, notifying users with a simple text to help them pay off college or credit card debt or prepare for a wedding. It also serves up reminders to eliminate late fees and recently launched a notification bot on Facebook Messenger. Digit says that it's saved more than $350 million for its customers. That includes people like Jenn Chen, a former community manager at a San Francisco software company who's now in between jobs. Chen has saved close to $16,000 over the past three years using Digit, money that would have otherwise remained in her checking account and more than likely have been spent. "It started off small and as time went by, I started seeing different ways I could increase that amount and be OK," she said. The savings were of particular importance after a hit-and-run accident left her with a hefty out-of-pocket payment for hospital bills.
The changing workforce
According to Goldman Sachs, machine learning and AI will enable $34 billion to $43 billion in annual "cost savings and new revenue opportunities" within the financial sector by 2025, as institutions use technological advancements to maximize trading opportunities, reduce credit risk and lower compliance and regulatory costs.
What that means for the labor force is a complicated equation. The banking sector contracted dramatically during last decade's financial crisis, with the failure of large institutions like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual and mass layoffs elsewhere. Three of the four largest U.S. banks Citigroup , Wells Fargo and Bank of America have fewer employees than they did in 2008. Jobs most in jeopardy from here are those that lend themselves to automation. Bank tellers will see an 8 percent decline between 2014 and 2024, and the number of insurance underwriters will drop by 11 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the flip side, financial firms are hiring software developers and data scientists, areas of employment growth.
Arvind Purushotham, a managing director at Citigroup's venture investing arm, is backing start-ups in fraud detection and security whose technology can potentially be applied internally at the banking giant. While there's a shift in the skills required to meet the financial challenges of the future, the problems are still being solved by people. "We think of human-assisted AI and AI-assisted humans," said Purushotham, "There are some things that humans can do that software programs can't hope to catch up to in decades."
Expanding the lending pool
The problem Douglas Merrill is trying to tackle will require sophisticated machines. Merill, who spent five years as Google's chief information officer, is the founder and CEO of ZestFinance, a Los Angeles-based start-up that's out to end the predatory system of payday lending by building algorithms that can underwrite people with little to no credit history. (He's among a handful of ex-Googlers applying computer science to finance. Consumer lender Upstart was created by former Google executives and is led by Dave Girouard, who previously ran Google's enterprise business. PeerStreet, a marketplace that matches real estate with investors, was co-founded by Brett Crosby, a former product marketing director at Google.) Merrill, who has a Ph.D in cognitive science from Princeton University, lives and breathes this stuff. From his vantage point, true machine learning is almost entirely absent from the lending industry despite a rapid acceleration over the past half-decade in online banking and underwriting. Consumer lenders like LendingClub , Prosper and SoFi have built substantial Web-based businesses using technology, but they're still targeting borrowers with good, if not pristine, credit.
ZestFinance CEO Douglas Merrill. Source: ZestFinance
That approach does nothing for Americans who struggle to make ends meet and rely on cash advances from one of the country's 20,000 payday lenders that populate mostly low-income areas. ZestFinance is looking for non-traditional data information that can't be found in credit files to determine the types of behavior that can help predict whether someone will repay debt. It turns out that a prospective borrower who fills out an application in all capital letters is a greater-than-average credit risk. While mounds of data exist that would help in developing new credit models, much of it sits in places that are very difficult to reach. For example, finding out if a bank account is open can be "super challenging," Merrill said. "I didn't foresee how hard would be to get access to a large number of those third-party data streams," said Merrill, whose 100-person team includes more than 30 data science and machine learning experts. "To run a big data and machine learning shop you have to have big data and machine learning." This week, ZestFinance introduced the Zest Automated Machine Learning (ZAML) platform, opening up the technology to any bank, credit card issuer or auto finance company. Merrill is also testing his algorithms in perhaps the world's greatest ocean of messy data: China. Through partnerships with e-retailer JD.com and Internet search provider Baidu , ZestFinance is aiming to help create a system for lending to half a billion people who lack any credit history. "Lenders in China are beginning to use these advanced techniques that analyze non-traditional variables, whether search, shopping or other data, to form the backbone of a new credit infrastructure," Merrill wrote recently in Chinese business publication Boao Review. "The credit landscape in China is about to change drastically."
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The revolution is coming, but slowly
The data suggests human lenders in the U.S. are still safe, for the time being. According to the BLS, the number of loan officers will increase 8 percent annually through 2014. Since the election of Donald Trump, bank stocks have rallied as investors wager that a Republican-controlled government will ease regulations on big financial firms just as rising rates will help boost earnings. Shares of Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have each jumped more than 20 percent since Trump declared victory on Nov. 9. But as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon wrote in his letter to shareholders in 2015, "Silicon Valley is coming." Here's one reason. Adyen, a 500-person payments start-up with offices in Amsterdam, San Francisco and 10 other cities, generates more than $1 million in revenue per employee. That looks more like Google than JPMorgan , which is around $400,000 per employee. Over the last two years, Adyen has been staffing up on data scientists to develop systems for preventing fraud. Adyen's customers range from Airbnb, Netflix and Spotify to easyJet and NH Hotels. When consumers sign up or make purchases on those apps, Adyen's software gets to work determining how much it can trust the buyer and whether another form of authentication is needed. It's a tricky formula. Asking for more information, be it the answer to a secret question or a code that's sent to a mobile phone, makes it more likely the consumer will drop off without completing the transaction. Minimizing fraud while maximizing so-called conversions is the goal, and it requires a personalized experience. Adyen's engine analyzes the shopper to figure out in real time if it's a regular customer and if the device, e-mail address and account information are familiar. A trusted buyer can go right through, but any red flags may mean more information is needed.
Adyen
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Marine Le Pen is on course to be the next president of France, according to one fund manager's big-data analysis.
Arun Kant, chief executive and chief investment officer at Singapore-based investing firm Leonie Hill Capital, told CNBC he expected the right-wing populist to prevail thanks to his firm's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) system's analysis of troves of data. His analysis which he said incorporates inputs such as social and traditional media discussions, polling, economics and demographics predicts that Le Pen will "walk over" her opponents in the first electoral test and then prove most forecasters wrong and steal the lead in the second ballot, Kant said. The French vote is split into two phases, with the top two candidates from the April 23 round due to face each other in a second run-off on May 7. In the running alongside 48-year old Le Pen are former economy minister and independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, conservative ex-prime minister Francois Fillon and socialist Benoit Hamon.
Kant's AI program predicts that Le Pen would take 28 percent of the vote in the first round, he said, which would best 16.4 percent for Fillon, and 19 to 20 percent for Macron. Current inputs are pointing to a Macron victory in the second round 52.3 percent to 47.7 for Le Pen Kant said, but he added that he expects the right-wing politician to gain considerable ground after a first round victory. "If she wins the first round, this dynamic will change," he said, noting the similarities between the populist appeal of Le Pen and President Donald Trump. And with this predicted momentum, Le Pen will likely win the presidency, Kant said.
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An IFOP poll published on Feb. 14 placed Le Pen in the lead for the April 23 ballot, with around 25.5 percent of the vote. Most election-watchers expect, however, that Le Pen would lose the second round of voting to Macron. In fact, Kant said his AI analysis predicted that the only way Macron could win is if some unexpected factor were to pull undecided voters in his favor. Le Pen, a former attorney, is leader of the French National Front (FN), a right-wing political party founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen. And this isn't the first time she's run for the country's top job. In the 2012 election, she won 17.9 percent of the vote in the first round, a record result for the FN, but failed to enter the second round. Her policies mirror those of Trump'sshe is a fierce critic of open borders and free trade. Like the White House chief, she also believes in nationalism and economic protectionism, having vowed to pull France out of the European Union. Announcing her candidacy for the French presidency in a strident speech earlier this month in Lyon, Le Pen told supporters that European "borders have been erased and our countries have become station concourses." "What is at stake in this election ... is whether France can still be a free nation," Le Pen said at that rally, according to Reuters. "The divide is not between the left and right any more but between patriots and globalists." Kant declined to share his investing plans around his Le Pen projection, but he did explain that he expected her victory to mean the beginning of the end of the European Union. And with that, he said, currencies around the world will see massive fluctuations and "it may lead to a financial crisis much sooner than anyone thinks." Still, Kant's prediction of a Le Pen victory is definitely not the consensus call. As of Tuesday, betting markets implied about a 30 percent chance of Le Pen winning the presidency. The bulk of strategists said they believe she can reach the second round, but will struggle to cross the 50 percent threshold needed to become president. Given the sheer unpredictability of recent political events like Brexit and Trump's rise to power, however, several experts told CNBC that anything was possible. There is a chance she could win the presidency, said Simon Baptist, global chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Le Pen has taken care to present herself as a candidate with reasonable views, which has helped her to push the National Front from the fringes to the mainstream. Recent events, such as the refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, and the rise of populist leaders elsewhere, have also played into her hands."
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The governor of Mexico's state of Jalisco is visiting more than 40 U.S. tech companies with the message that it's a great place for high tech, the latest cross-border recruitment effort to respond to U.S. immigration policy.
Jalisco Gov. Jorge Aristoteles Sandoval Diaz will meet with California Gov. Jerry Brown, 13 large tech companies including Facebook and Google, and 30 startups beginning this week in California. It's an annual trip for officials from Jalisco, birthplace of tequila, synonymous with hot sauce, and sometimes called Mexico's Silicon Valley for its already thriving tech scene.
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This year, the trip has an added purpose: to talk to Brown about a bi-lateral agenda to support Mexican citizens to remain in the U.S. And, Sandoval will promote capital city Guadalajara and the rest of Jalisco as a friendly environment for skilled workers that may have trouble getting hired by U.S. tech firms if the Trump administration passes more restrictions on H-1B visas, as a draft order indicated.
"We want tech companies to know there is a huge opportunity in Jalisco for them to grow," Sandoval, who has created a cabinet-level Innovation Department, told USA TODAY in a phone interview Tuesday.
"Jalisco has many advantages" a close time zone to Silicon Valley, talent, strong university system, government support and infrastructure, Sandoval said. The Trump administration's policies, in particular the possibility of an executive order that could curtail H-1B work visas, also work in Jalisco's favor, he said.
The pitch is hardly a slam-dunk. Some tech companies remain reluctant to expand in Mexico, with a threatened 35 percent tariff from Trump on goods made there looming as large as his much-heralded wall. (Trump floated the idea of a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to pay for the wall, though White House spokesman Sean Spicer said it was one of several proposals.) There are also lingering questions about Jalisco's overall tech talent, poor broadband access in some areas and costs related to opening operations offshore.
Nonetheless, Sandoval's push to raise awareness about Jalisco comes at a time when the U.S.'s northern neighbor, Canada, is also attempting to recruit tech workers as the U.S. halts entries of immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations and threatens to further limit H-1Bs, which offer a pipeline of talent from abroad. Canadian venture firms and companies are enticing U.S. start-ups with funding, sparkling new work spaces, broadband access and a relatively affordable cost of living.
Jalisco's pitch is similar. The state on the western coast of central Mexico has blossomed into a thriving tech hub worth $21 billion. Guadalajara or coastal Puerto Vallarta are home to manufacturing, design and research-and-development operations for Intel, Hewlett Packard and Oracle, among others. Oracle and Intel house innovation centers in Guadalajara, and a 940-acre media-business center is under construction.
Technology goods represent about 55 percent of Jalisco's exports, and account for 25,000 jobs in the state. Nearly a third of Mexico's tech business comes from Jalisco, according to a spokesman for Sandoval.
"The Jalisco government is 100 percent focused on technology," says Bismarck Lepe, CEO of San Francisco-based tech services firm Wizeline. "It's an ideal region for intellectual property, and not cheap manufacturing."
Lepe has deep ties to Mexico. His parents are from there, but left for the U.S. for a better economic opportunity. Lepe, who studied at Stanford Universityand worked at Google, decided to return in 2010 after a third-party analysis determined Guadalajara was fertile ground for tech talent. Half of Wizeline's 270 employees are in Guadalajara, most of them engineers.
"We want to make Guadalajara a tech hub for the world from multinational companies to mid-tiers and start-ups," says Cindy Blanco, general director of StartupGDL, a nonprofit organization that champions the region. Guadalajara has lured entrepreneurs with a pool of tech talent fed by the university system, a comparable time zone (Central) to Silicon Valley and direct flights, Blanco says.
The close proximity of Mexico and Canada could offer concerned American companies and workers an option should Trump issue executive orders on a revised travel ban, curtail H-1Bs and revise the NAFTA trade accord. Job seekers are likely to choose Canada as a backup. It was the most popular second destination, at 43%, followed by Australia (12%) and the United Kingdom (5%), based on 1,200 people tracked last week by Indeed, a job-search engine. Mexico was No. 12 on the list.
'Not an ideal solution'
Mexico is at a disadvantage when it comes to talent, say tech executives. Its engineering pool isn't as bountiful in Mexico as it is in India and China, and salaries for Mexican engineers are significantly higher because competition for them is so fierce, says Stephen Stokols, CEO of FreedomPop, a wireless Internet and mobile virtual network operator.
"Mexico is a primary market for us, but it's not an ideal solution," Stokols says. His Los Angeles-based company has 20 people about 10% of its worldwide workforce in Mexico City, mostly engineers. "We would have more people there, if the engineering talent were available."
It can also be expensive to open operations south of the border and establish a payment system, says Jesus Hoyos, managing director at Solvis Consulting, which resells tech products in Mexico.
Still, Mexico might offer as compelling a case for job seekers turned away by the U.S. It is a huge trade partner with the U.S. trade between the two companies totaled $583.6 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Trade Representative and the home to more than 1million Americans, the largest community for expatriates. (Nearly 40,000 American and Canadian expats are among Jalisco's population of seven million.)
Members of the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade demonstrate urban warfare techniques as Ukrainian soldiers look on on the second day of the 'Rapid Trident' bilateral military exercises between the United States and Ukraine that include troops from a variety of NATO and non-NATO countries on September 16, 2014 near Yavorov, Ukraine. Getty Images
Defense ministers from NATO are under pressure to raise thier contributions to the security group as conflicts grow across the world and as the new U.S. administration urges more compliance from member states. According to Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO, the group faces "great security challenges" and as a result there needs to be "fair burden-sharing" and higher defense spending.
"We do reduce defense spending in times when tensions are going down, we have to be able to increase defense spending when tensions are going up as they are now," Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday.
NATO data confirmed Tuesday showed that last year spending increased in real terms by 3.8 percent among European allies and Canada. This boosted NATO's funds by about $10 billion. Even though such figures were slightly above expectations, Stolenberg told reporters the momentum has to continue.
The new U.S. administration has repeatedly said that all 28 NATO members have to comply with their commitment to the spending target. At the moment, only five of them respect the 2 percent contribution: the U.S., Greece, the U.K., Estonia and Poland.
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President Donald Trump has described NATO as "obsolete" and has claimed that it has not been successful in "taking care of terror", adding that European countries need to increase their defense contributions.
"We only ask that all of the NATO members make their full and proper financial contributions to the NATO alliance, which many of them have not been doing," Trump said in a speech last week.
His remarks have not been well-received in Europe, but Stoltenberg agreed with Trump when it comes to members' contributions.
"In my two phone calls with President Trump defense spending has been a main topic and he has strongly expressed his strong commitment to NATO, to the transatlantic bond but at the same time President Trump has in both the phone calls also underlined the importance of a fairer burden sharing And I agree with him," Stoltenberg told reporters.
A 'fundamental bedrock'
"We are still working through a very difficult situation at the dam," he said. But he reiterated that the "dam structure is safe."
Despite plugging the gouged hole in the emergency spillway with rocks, Croyle said challenges remain for California's second-largest dam.
As of noon, he said there were 96 crew onsite working on repairs, but that is down from the 125 number provided in the morning by officials.
"I can't believe how much work...they've done in the last couple of days to move material into the area below the emergency spillway," said Croyle, whose agency operates the dam.
Construction crews continued to make repairs on the eroded emergency spillway Wednesday afternoon in an around-the-clock operation that Croyle said won't stop unless ground and wind conditions don't allow for it. They were using helicopters, heavy machinery and dumping rocks into the crevice of the damaged emergency spillway.
He explained that the planned ramp-down of water releases from the primary spillway is a result of both progress in lowering the dam levels and also as a precautionary move because "we don't want to tear our flood-control structure up any more than it has."
"This next storm won't pose a risk to the emergency spillway or the work we're doing," William Croyle, acting director of the California Department of Water Resources said at a noon press briefing in Oroville, California.
State officials say they may slow down the spigot at the troubled Oroville Dam, even as they face approaching storms.
Late Tuesday, President Donald Trump approved federal emergency aid for California as a result of the potential failure of Oroville Dam's emergency spillway, and separately to help recovery efforts in areas affected by January storms. Oroville Dam is the nation's tallest earthen dam.
Also, residents started returning to their homes Tuesday after the mandatory evacuation order was lifted although some emergency shelters still had evacuees as of Wednesday morning.
Businesses also started reopening in the affected areas but there was concern the financial impact of the mandatory evacuation may stick around for some time.
"Normality seems to be taking hold," Sandy Linville, president and CEO the Oroville Area Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday morning. "People are really spent from the stresses of the last few days. Not only are you looking at businesses being hurt, but you're looking at the trickle-down effect to the individual person being hurt financially from not working."
According to Linville, there still remained a "heightened awareness" of the Oroville Dam situation with the new storm approaching. "There are still about 300 people who choose not to come back and still are at the evacuation center in Chico."
Indeed, after lifting the mandatory evacuation order Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Tuesday that "an evacuation warning" would remain in effect given the possibility of future changes in the situation.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, the sheriff said preparation still is important for residents in the downstream communities. "This is an opportunity for them to get things togetherif the risk level increases and there's a need for us to issue an evacuation order," he said.
The approval of the emergency declaration late Tuesday will provide money for the area and authorizes the use of federal equipment and resources to alleviate the impact of the dam incident. That allows the state to potentially get up to 75 percent federal reimbursement for "required emergency protective measures," which a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson said includes things such as cots, water, blankets and food for sheltering evacuees but not the cost of repairing the dam's troubled emergency spillway.
The FEMA spokesperson said the California governor would need to put in another request to the president to cover cost-sharing on spillway repairs.
Separately, the major disaster declaration was made for the deadly January storms that caused flooding and mudslides. It also will allow FEMA to provide funds to help with debris removal as well as repair work to bridges, roads and other public facilities.
"I want to thank FEMA for moving quickly to approve our requests," Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement. "This federal aid will get money and resources where it's needed most."
A series of new storms is expected to approach Northern California and the Oroville area as early as Wednesday night. The mountains above Oroville are forecast to get 2 to 4 inches of precipitation by the end of Thursday, and snow levels will be lower than last week's storm so that will mean more snow and less rain and runoff into the lake, according to the National Weather Service.
Lake Oroville Dam, located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, gets major inflows from the Sierras and will be tested again in the spring when the snowpack begins to melt. The state's snowpack in the central Sierras region where Oroville is located sits at 183 percent of normal.
Qualcomm Inc. CEO Steve Mollenkopf speaks during a keynote address at CES 2017 on January 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Less than a month after being served from Apple, CEO Steven Mollenkopf says he wouldn't want to have to argue the iPhone maker's side of the case.
claimed in January that Qualcomm is receiving royalties for mobile technologies that "they have nothing to do with." One-third of Qualcomm's revenue comes from licensing its communications standards to other companies, smartphone makers in particular.
Mollenkopf said on Wednesday that Qualcomm has 300-plus licenses, including 120 signed in China in the last two years.
"It's tough to come in and say that this is not a solid business," Mollenkopf said at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco. "I'd hate to be on the other side of that argument."
Qualcomm has been through this in the past. Mollenkopf highlighted a similar dispute with Nokia a decade ago.
The big difference with Apple is that it's a much bigger and more dominant company than Nokia ever was. However, so is Qualcomm, which in addition to being a key component in practically every smartphone, is making a play for the broader world of connected devices and Internet of Things.
Here are some of the key stories CNBC is following this hour:
Defense Secretary James Mattis participated in his first NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, where he again spoke about the U.S. commitment to the Western pact.
Malaysian police arrested a woman in connection with the death of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Police say the woman was carrying Vietnamese travel documents when she was nabbed at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
Young millennials top the list of the worst behaved drivers. The AAA reported that 88 percent of drivers ages 19 to 24 engaged in at least one risky behavior in the last month, including texting, running a red light and speeding. Traffic deaths rose in 2016 to their highest level in nearly a decade.
Here are some of the key stories CNBC is following this hour:
President Donald Trump held a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president made his first public comments on the firing of national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Russia's foreign ministry said Russia will not hand back control of Crimea to Ukraine, in response to comments from the White House that the U.S. expects the Black Sea peninsula to be returned. A spokeswoman for the ministry said, "We don't give back our own territory."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, reported an 18 percent decline in HIV infections between 2008 and 2014. The drop was even greater among heterosexuals and IV drug users; however, there was an increase in infections in young gay and bisexual men.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks with then-ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson on August 30, 2011. Alexey Druzhinin | AFP | Getty Images
Russia
China and North Korea
While Russia's relationship with the White House has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, some experts believe that China-U.S. ties pose the most serious challenge. According to Reuters, Tillerson has already played a key role in convincing Trump to change course and commit to recognize the "One China" policy. This was a key step in beginning to normalize relations between the governments, after Trump repeatedly lashed out at China and broke with longstanding U.S. policy by taking a call from the president of Taiwan. With China more economically able and politically inclined to assert itself globally, Tillerson will have to tread delicately in his relationship with Beijing. In addition, China's status as nuclear-armed North Korea's most important ally means that the U.S. has a significant interest in developing a relationship that would which would allow Tillerson to try and pressure Pyongyang through Beijing. China's help in containing North Korea, which has tested one ballistic missile since Trump came to office, will be crucial. However, Tillerson's comments during his confirmation hearings that the U.S. should "block access" to disputed islands China has reclaimed in disputed regions of the South China Sea set off a war of words with Beijing, suggesting that balancing the needs of Trump's "America First" stance with diplomacy could be problematic.
NATO and Europe
During the presidential campaign Trump sent spasms of anxiety through America's NATO partners, blasting the transatlantic military alliance as "obsolete," and suggesting the U.S. would not come to the aid of allies who were attacked unless they boosted financial contributions. Experts say that comments like these, combined with Trump's oft-expressed admiration for Putin, have left NATO members fearful that the alliance's strongest member would not defend them in the event of Russian aggression. "It's not a five-alarm fire yet, because that's been talk and what comes now is actual concrete policy," said Adam Quinn, an expert in international politics at the U.K.'s University of Birmingham. "The Europeans will be keen to see if they can steer the administration toward something more like what they would see as a workable solution." Trump's vocal support for Britain quitting the European Union, known as Brexit, has also ruffled feathers in Europe. At a recent summit of European leaders in Malta, presidents and prime ministers, including France's Francois Hollande, lined up to denounce Trump's comments on relations with Europe, branding the president's positions as "extremism." Donald Trump tweet Tillerson has already begun the process of trying to smooth out the relationship with EU, meeting with the bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.
Iran
Tillerson will face a complex set of challenges in the Middle East with Iran among them. Tehran and Washington are on opposite sides of a number of conflicts, with Iran helping prop up Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and training and supplying Houthi rebels in Yemen. It has also conducted three missile tests since Trump became president, which do not violate international agreements but are broadly seen as a challenge to the new administration. The Trump White House hit Iran with new sanctions for the tests and for its alleged sponsorship of terrorism. Then there's the 2015 agreement with Iran that seeks to curtail Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some international sanctions. Trump called it "the worst deal ever negotiated" during the campaign, but more recently reassured EU the administration was committed to fully implementing the pact.
Israelis and Palestinians
Trump, the famous dealmaker, has publicly said that he wants to kick-start a renewed push for peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. He has also suggested his son-in-law Jared Kushner could "make peace" between the two sides a goal that has defeated previous administrations. What exactly Trump and Tillerson plan to do is unclear. What is clear is that the new U.S. president is seen as sympathetic to hard-line Israeli settlements on private Palestinian land, an issue at the heart of the conflict. The president has also pledged to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem something that would likely enrage Palestinians and other Arabs. He also named David Friedman who voiced skepticism of a two-state solution, the bedrock of U.S. policy for the conflict, and compared left-leaning pro-Israel groups to Jews who collaborated with Nazis as his ambassador to Israel. But while many Israeli nationalists believe they have an ally in Trump, the White House has also said "the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful" in a achieving peace.
ISIS
Megan Sheehey, left, works with one student (name not used-school policy) inside the Red Cloud Peak classroom.The Englewood-based Joshua School, highly regarded for its programs for elementary school age kids with autism, recently opened a second campus in Centennial called Joshua Early Childhood Center.
A team of researchers has shown that measuring the growth of brains in babies can predict the onset of autism later in childhood.
Predicting the disorder early could allow doctors to begin treating the condition earlier.
About 1 out of every 68 children in the United States has some form autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a developmental disorder that varies in severity from person to person.
As the name autism spectrum disorder suggests, autism can manifest in many different ways among patients, but in general it can be characterized by certain social difficulties and a tendency toward highly repetitive and ritualistic behaviors.
A team from several leading institutions in the U.S. and Canada published a paper Wednesday in the journal Nature, demonstrating an algorithm they created that improved early diagnosis of the condition among several children known to be at high risk.
"In the field we are always trying to detect autism at younger ages, so we can start treatment earlier, but we hit a wall around 2 to 3 years of age, because the symptoms don't start showing up until around then," said the study's senior author, Joseph Piven, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in an interview with CNBC.
Piven said the research can be likened to similar efforts to detect other brain disorders earlier in life, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, before they begin to impair patients.
In the study, the researchers scanned the brains of three different groups of subjects with magnetic resonance imaging machines. They looked at infants with a high family risk of autism who were later diagnosed with the disorder, high-risk infants who did not develop autism and low-risk infants who did not develop the condition.
The team scanned the brains of all three groups three times at 6, 12 and 24 months of age.
The brains of the autistic children had faster rates of growth on the surface of their brains from 6 months of age to 1 year, and faster overall brain size from 1 to 2 years of age.
For the second part of the experiment, the team created an algorithm that used the scans to correctly predict the onset of autism in 8 out of 10 high-risk infants.
The researchers cautioned in their report that more research is needed, but that the results suggest machine learning could help doctors identify the disorder early, and perhaps develop therapies or treatments that could improve the well-being of patients, or, perhaps one day, even stop the progression of the disorder.
Shares of FLIR Systems rose Wednesday after the company announced a $50 million contract to provide electronics systems to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Wilsonville, Oregon-based company will configure systems on more than 2,000 U.S. Coast Guard vessels, according to a Wednesday press release from FLIR. The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
Shares gained 8 percent on the day, bouncing back from a 6 percent decline on Tuesday after FLIR reported earnings that missed analysts' expectations.
The image surveillance company announced adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 48 cents per share, missing Thomson Reuters estimates of 54 cents.
Looking at the full year ahead, though, FLIR released new guidance of earnings that should fall within a range of $1.81 to $1.91, topping Reuters estimates of $1.79. FLIR has also approved a quarterly cash dividend of 15 cents per share, which is 25 percent more than its previous dividend of 12 cents.
The privately held music streaming service is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. It currently has offices in Midtown Manhattan and will move into the new 378,000 sq. ft. office space in early 2018. Spotify's relocation will make 4 World Trade Center the first office tower to be fully leased on the historic 16-acre World Trade Center site, Cuomo said.
Spotify is moving its U.S. headquarters to 4 World Trade Center in Manhattan, and adding more than 1,000 new jobs in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in a press release Wednesday.
To incentivize Spotify's growth even further, Empire State Development, or ESD, will provide the company up to $11 million in "World Trade Center Rent Reduction Program rent credits," which will be available for 15 years of Spotify's lease, Cuomo added.
ESD has also offered similar credits to other tech companies, including Snapchat and Etsy, to retain talent and expand across New York. In the past few years ESD tax incentives have aided in creating 1,824 jobs and retaining 1,513 jobs in New York State, the Governor Cuomo's release said.
Spotify was named a CNBC Disruptor in 2016. Further, recent rounds of funding suggest an IPO could be in the stars. In June, Spotify went so far as to hire a head of investor relations.
Starbucks is once again reinventing the coffee experience.
The coffee chain is testing affogato, an Italian-style dessert in which a scoop of ice cream is "drowned" in a shot of hot espresso, in 10 Reserve coffee bars in D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Maryland and Boston, and 100 Starbucks stores in the Orange County, California, area.
Starbucks has used its Roastery locations as test kitchens for several other drinks that were later rolled out nationwide. Think, Nitro Cold Brew, the Smoked Butterscotch Latte and Cascara Latte.
In addition to affogato, the company will also offer cold brew floats and cold brew malts. All ice cream will be from the Mora Iced Creamery, a creamery in Bainbridge, Washington.
Here's the full list of new affogato-inspired offerings at Roasteries:
Classic Affogato: Two shots of Reserve small-lot espresso poured over vanilla ice cream.
House Affogato : Two shots of Reserve small-lot espresso with a touch of Demerara syrup poured over vanilla ice cream and dusted with cinnamon.
Cold Brew Float : Reserve small-lot cold brew with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Cold Brew Malt: An ultra-thick spindle-blended malted milkshake with Reserve small-lot cold brew, vanilla ice cream and chocolate bitters.
Here's the full list of new affogato-inspired offerings at Starbucks locations:
While almost half of Italians polled regard the euro as "bad" for their country, saying goodbye to the common currency could have damaging consequences for an economy.
Withdrawing from the euro area could automatically trigger a country's default, Moody's warned in a research note on Tuesday. As a result, the government's credit rating would also come under pressure.
Italy, the country with the second-largest debt burden in Europe, is set to hold general elections later this year or the next, amid rising support for anti-euro parties. Though Moody's believes that the risk of Italy exiting the euro is "very low" due to parliamentary and constitutional proceedings, it cannot be ruled out and as result neither can the risk of an Italian default.
"If the series of events outlined above were to transpire, the outcome might well be what we would regard as a default by the Italian government," Moody's said in the note.
"We assume that if Italy were to withdraw from the euro area then the government's liabilities would be redenominated into a new currency," the credit rating agency said as the most likely scenario. "A currency redenomination would be classified as a default event if it resulted in holders of redenominated securities being unable to receive or acquire the sum originally promised in a timely manner," Moody's explained.
An Italian default would have far reaching consequences and would bring into question the euro's credibility.
"Italy's decision to withdraw from the euro would potentially be a severe credit event for other members of the monetary union," Moody's said. This is because the euro was designed to be an "irreversible currency" meaning that once a member joins, it is set to keep that currency forever.
"Evidence that it was not an irreversible currency union would damage confidence in its resilience," Moody's said.
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Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during their presidential town hall debate with Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
President Donald Trump blamed "conspiracy theories and blind hatred" and an attempt to "cover-up" for Hillary Clinton's failed presidential campaign in a series of tweets Wednesday morning as he tried to distance himself from any links to Russia.
Trump tweeted that the "fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred," and added that "this Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign."
@realDonaldTrump: This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign.
Trump and Clinton sparred during the campaign over U.S. intelligence reports that said Moscow was involved in the cyberattacks meant to influence the 2016 presidential election and help Trump win the White House.
@realDonaldTrump: The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!
Trump for weeks questioned the veracity of those reports before finally acknowledging in a news conference days before he was sworn in that he believes Russia was behind the hacks.
But the White House's connection with the Kremlin and how deep it runs remains under scrutiny, which has only ramped up this week
Ex-National Security Adviser Mike Flynn on Monday night resigned after admitting to misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States in December before Trump took office.
Those phone calls included talking about the hacking-related sanctions imposed by the Obama administration against Russia for allegedly meddling in the election.
Pence went on news outlets to repeatedly back up Flynn, but the Department of Justice had warned the White House in January about the national security adviser's communications and that he opened himself up to be the subject of Russian blackmail.
The fallout led Flynn to resign Monday at the request of Trump.
Democrats have called for an independent investigation into the chain of events involving the scandal, but Republicans have so far resisted doing so.
The New York Times raised further questions Tuesday night in a report that said intercepted phone calls by American law enforcement revealed Trump campaign officials had repeated contact with Russian intelligence in the year leading up to the election.
More from NBC News:
Putting the pieces of the Russia story together
A timeline of Mike Flynn's rise and fall and the Russia call
Ohio Trump voters, unfazed by Flynn resignation and White House drama, remain faithful
That report sent Brian Fallon, who served as Clinton's presidential campaign spokesman, in a tizzy on Twitter.
"Everything we suspected during the campaign is proving true," he wrote. "This is a colossal scandal."
The Times reported that there is no evidence that there was any cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians over influencing the election. NBC News has not confirmed the details in the report.
Trump on Wednesday took swipes at the intelligence community for "illegally" leaking information to "failing" newspaper outlets.
He directed other tweets focusing on whether it was the Obama administration that was "too soft" on Russia and calling it "un-American" to leak classified information.
@realDonaldTrump: Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?
@realDonaldTrump: The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!
Meanwhile, former Trump campaign Paul Manafort who resigned in August amid questions about his ties to pro-Russia interests in Ukraine told NBC News on Wednesday that "I had no contact knowingly with Russian intelligence officials."
Manafort was reportedly one of the Trump campaign officials whose communications were investigated by the FBI, according the Times.
"I don't think it's possible I could have even inadvertently had discussions with Russian officials," he added. "It's not like they wear badges. The story is not true."
Trump was scheduled to hold a news conference at noon Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting the White House. The meeting could help shape several policies involving the Middle East, from security to settlements.
At a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in October, then-candidate Donald Trump proclaimed, "I love WikiLeaks."
He went on to read hacked emails related to opponent Hillary Clinton that WikiLeaks had made public. Trump referred to the documents several times during the final stretch of a bitter campaign.
As president, though, Trump has denounced leaks from intelligence officials to major newspapers. His latest tirade against leakers came Wednesday morning, following a series of Washington Post and New York Times reports about contacts with Russian officials from his administration, and previously his campaign.
Trump tweet: Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia
Trump continued: The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!
The Post's reporting led to the revelation that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn may have misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about the topics of his conversation with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn resigned Monday night, and the White House said Trump asked him to do so because of a breach of trust, not because the administration thought he may have broken the law.
The Times then reported that intercepted calls show Trump campaign officials had contact with Russian intelligence officials during his campaign. The officials may not have been aware that their Russian contacts were intelligence officials, the Times said.
Trump claimed that the "real scandal" in his White House was not the handling of Flynn's actions but the leaks to newspapers. He argued that the intelligence community's actions are "just like Russia," after comparing U.S. leaks to Nazi Germany last month.
Democrats and Republicans have often been more critical of leaks when the information given out hurts their agenda. Trump's attacks on the intelligence community, and the number of leaks coming out of his administration, threaten to continue to pit Trump against intelligence officials.
Amid an intensifying furor over his administration's ties to Russia, President Donald Trump responded Wednesday morning with a flurry of tweets aimed at discrediting his critics.
The White House faced fresh headlines stemming from the complex web of communications between Trump, his staff and Russian officials. Michael Flynn resigned Monday as national security advisor following revelations that he had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States and had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about the discussion.
In the wake of the scandal, various news organizations have probed the Trump team's connections with Russia. The New York Times, for instance, reported Wednesday that multiple members of the president's campaign team had contact with Russian intelligence officials during his successful race against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
For the president, though, it was all part of a media hit-job trying to probe a Russia connection that doesn't exist.
The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!
He also charged that the way the Flynn information was obtained violated the law.
The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!
The incentive, he alleged, was political payback for his stunning election upset.
This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign.
He went after other news organizations as well, using what has become a familiar accusation that those opposed to him are "failing."
Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia
And he also looked to deflect attention from his administration's stance on Russia to what happened under his predecessor.
Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?
The president already has questioned the sourcing of media reports, particularly concerning Flynn. The Washington Post broke the story using leaked intercepts of Flynn's conversations.
However, the controversy likely will continue. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has said Flynn's resignation is only the beginning of a probe into Trump's Russian ties.
The source did not share the contents of the executive actions, but told Inside EPA they would "suck the air out" of the room.
The Hill reported on the Inside EPA report on Wednesday. The White House did not immediately return CNBC's request for comment.
The president intends to sign the actions during a visit to the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters for Scott Pruitt's swearing in as head of the agency, Inside EPA reported Tuesday, citing an administration source. The timing of the event has not been determined because the full Senate has not yet confirmed Pruitt.
President Donald Trump plans to introduce executive actions aimed at scaling back Obama-era climate change initiatives, according to the newsletter Inside EPA.
The event would be similar to Trump's Pentagon visit for the swearing in of retired Gen. James Mattis as Defense secretary, during which he signed executive orders restricting immigration from seven majority Muslim nations and admittance of refugees, the source said.
Myron Ebell, who directed EPA staffing for the Trump transition team, told Inside EPA in a Feb. 7 interview he expected a roll-back of the EPA's climate change programs to be delivered in one or more executive orders.
The executive orders could repeal former President Barack Obama's Climate Action Plan, a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the Clean Power Plan, which regulates carbon emissions from power plants, Inside EPA reported.
The source said one of the planned executive actions will be directed at the State Department. Inside EPA said that suggests it may relate to the Paris Agreement, an international accord to reduce the impact of climate change, which Trump has threatened to abandon or defund.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works moved forward Pruitt's confirmation earlier this month despite a boycott by Democratic members.
Pruitt drew national attention for suing the EPA over Obama-era regulations while serving as Oklahoma's attorney general. He has questioned the science behind climate change and advocates for giving states greater control over energy industry regulation.
President Donald Trump said he would support the peace agreement Israel and Palestinians "like the best" in a joint press conference during which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against Palestinian efforts to reach a deal.
"I'm looking at two state and one state. And I like the one that both parties like," Trump said when asked about a peace agreement.
Trump's meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday was an initial test of Trump's campaign pledge to go further than President Obama in strengthening the relationship with Israel. By the end of Obama's tenure in office, his relationship with Netanyahu was extremely strained and then-Secretary of State John Kerry blasted the Israeli government in an unprecedented speech before leaving that role.
More from NBC News:
Trump blames Russian connection 'conspiracy theories' on Clinton campaign 'cover up'
Piecing together the Russian story amid Flynn fallout
Team Clinton finds vindication in Trump troubles
Trump's efforts to improve relations could potentially be aided by son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a political novice, who attended the press conference with his wife, Ivanka.
"I've known the president and his family for a long time and there's no greater support of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump," Netanyahu said during the press conference.
Netanyahu began the press conference by praising the new president for renewing the bond between the allies. The Israeli leader said "both sides" need to work towards peace and slammed Palestinians for their "hate" of Israel.
"They continue to call for Israel's destruction inside their schools, inside their mosques, inside their textbooks. You have to read it to believe it," Netanyahu said.
Throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump pledged to strengthen the U.S. relationship with Israel and blasted President Obama for his icy relationship with Netanyahu.
Trump pledged to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the disputed holy city that both Palestinians and Israelis lay claim to. He said Wednesday the U.S. was looking "very, very strongly" at moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move would anger both Palestinians and Arab nations in what would be one of the strongest displays of U.S. support for Israel in recent times.
The two leaders did show some difference on the issue of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and West Bank that have been condemned by the United Nations.
"I would like you to hold back on settlements for a little bit," Trump said.
Trump also chastised the media for its coverage of National Security Adviser Mike, who resigned amid revelations of his pre-inauguration conversations with a Russian ambassador.
Trump, who asked for Flynn's resignations, had been "treated unfairly" by the press.
Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted reports about his administration's ties to Russia were an attempt to "cover-up" the mistake of rival Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid. He accused cable news of "going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred."
Trump has been scrutinized by members of both parties for his kind views and defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the issue came to a head this week when Flynn resigned late Monday after admitting to misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump's inauguration.
Flynn told Pence he did not discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia with the ambassador, a claim Pence then repeated in interviews. U.S. intelligence officials in January told Trump that Flynn did discuss the the sanctions imposed after Russia's cyber intrusions in the 2016 campaign, and the retired general's attempts to convince administration officials otherwise could subject him to blackmail.
Democrats have called for an investigation into Flynn, questioning why he was able to remain on the job for nearly three weeks after intelligence officials first informed Trump of Flynn's error. Pence did not learn he had been misinformed until February 9.
Throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump pledged to strengthen the U.S. relationship with Israel and blasted President Barack Obama for his icy relationship with Netanyahu.
Trump pledged to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the disputed holy city that both Palestinians and Israelis lay claim to. Moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would anger both Palestinians and Arab nations in what would be one of the strongest displays of U.S. support for Israel in recent times.
Andy Puzder withdrew from consideration for Labor secretary Wednesday as Republican Senate opposition to President Donald Trump's choice mounted.
The confirmation of the CKE Restaurants chief executive looked increasingly in peril in recent days amid concerns about his business record and personal issues. Puzder needed a majority of Senate votes to become Labor secretary, but reports indicated that at least four of the 52 GOP senators could vote against him.
Puzder's hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was set for Thursday.
"After careful consideration and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my nomination for Secretary of Labor. I am honored to have been considered by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Labor and put America's workers and businesses back on a path to sustainable prosperity," Puzder said in a statement Wednesday. "
"While I won't be serving in the administration, I fully support the President and his highly qualified team."
Puzder's withdrawal deals yet another setback to Trump's administration, which on Monday saw the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump and some Senate Republicans have already knocked Democrats for the slow pace of Cabinet confirmations, which the minority party insists is because of concerns about the nominees' qualifications and ethics paperwork.
U.S. oil producers sent a record 7 million barrels of crude out into the world market last week, at a time when OPEC members have cut back on their own output by nearly the same amount.
Analysts say it makes sense that U.S. crude slipped into the market void created by OPEC. It may also be a glimpse into the future where the U.S. and its shale production becomes a more significant player in the world export market. The 1 million barrels a day is nearly double the week-earlier level.
"We're raising our output and it has more than a parochial impact. It's not so much that it makes the U.S. inventories unwieldy. It's that it adds to the global inventory," said Tom Kloza, head of global energy research at Oil Price Information Service. "That really is the concern in the global oil market. We tend to import the medium and heavy [grades of crude]. I'm sure most of the exports are light sweet oil."
Energy analysts were surprised by the amount of exports, which have been running about 500,000 barrels a day, and averaged 685,000 barrels a day over four weeks. But they were not ready to say this is now a new sustainable level for U.S. exports.
"This is the future. It's not what it was in the shale boom, where there was just too much production, and we had these big discounts for crude in the United States," Kloza said.
The Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory data also showed that U.S. oil stockpiles swelled to a record 518.2 million barrels last week, and gasoline inventories also hit a record 259.1 million barrels, gaining 2.8 million barrels.
"We're seeing cargos go out to Asia more and more," said John Kilduff of Again Capital.
OPEC and other producers held back about 890,000 barrels a day from the world market in January, under their agreement to curb output in order to support prices.
Kilduff said China may have been a bigger destination for U.S. barrels because of its purchases of U.S. shale operations, and the output cuts by other producers have possibly made an opening. He also pointed to a report on Reuters that quoted sources saying as much as 7 million barrels were lined up and heading to Asia, with 2 million chartered to China in December by PetroChina and Unipec.
"We've been waiting for this to happen," said Kilduff of the export jump. "We'll see how it goes. We're going to face competition." He said cargoes also go to Europe and Latin America, and Canada has been a longtime export destination.
"It's incredible that we were able to put 9.5 million barrels into storage last week, while exporting a million barrels a day," Kilduff said.
The U.S. even with exports continues to import oil a lot of crude. It imported 7.5 million barrels of oil last week, down from 8.8 million barrels the week earlier.
U.S. oil production has been rising, and held steady at just under 9 million barrels a day last week. The U.S. government expects shale production to increase by 80,000 barrels a day next month, and it forecasts overall oil production to reach 9.5 million barrels a day next year.
"Given that the U.S. will likely be the last region to rebalance storage, we have suggested that a significant/sustainable uptick in US crude exports is a surefire sign of the broader
market rebalancing as barrels plug supply gaps elsewhere," RBC analysts wrote Thursday. They also said they expected a good chunk of the shipments were headed for Singapore, due to pricing arbitrage, and that may not signal a sustainable trend.
The cutback by OPEC, and the fact that prices have stabilized in the $50s per barrel, has given rise to a jump in U.S. shale production.
"[Customers are] looking at other types of crude to fill the gap left by a reduction in OPEC production, and at the same time you're seeing continuing demand in China, as world oil continues to increase," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
Demand forecasts have been rising and the International Energy Agency expects 1.4 million barrels of new demand for 2017. "That supports the price of crude and certainly helps the producers in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford and elsewhere. Some of it for sure is making its way out to Asia," he said.
Lipow said the U.S. export data will have to be watched to see if it really is a trend of heightened exports. He said there was fog in the Houston shipping channel recently, and if that held back cargos, it could have resulted in an unusually large amount of shipments all in the same week.
But he expects the volume of exports to grow regardless.
"The infrastructure continues to get built out to export more and more crude oil. Not only have we built pipelines, but we built more export terminals. The industry continues to add infrastructure to support more exports," Lipow said.
Kloza said exports will also grow with completion of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, expected to take crude from the Bakken in North Dakota, as well as the Keystone pipeline which would take oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC, said the U.S. barrels could run into trouble if too many are put on the world market at the same time sweet crude producers Libya or Nigeria ramp up. The OPEC producers mostly ship heavier crude, the type that can be processed on the U.S. Gulf Coast. East Coast refiners are typically where lighter sweet crudes are refined, and the source for that has been the U.S. and Africa.
"It's the type of barrel that chokes the market. We called it the Nigerian barrel last year,'" she said, adding oversupply of light sweet crude would start to weigh on oil prices.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House on Wednesday amid President Donald Trump's signals that he could oversee a shift in Middle East policy.
The leaders hold a joint press conference at noon ET, where they will likely make pledges to deepen relations following Netanyahu's tense relationship with President Barack Obama. Trump has suggested he could make stark changes to American policy toward Israel.
A senior White House official said Tuesday that peace between Israeli and Palestinians did not necessarily have to mean Palestinian statehood, adding that Trump may not "dictate" a solution, according to Reuters. The United States has long supported the idea of creating a Palestine alongside Israel.
Palestinians raised concerns about the possibility of Trump dropping support for an independent Palestine.
The leaders could also address Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Obama administration rebuked Israel in December by abstaining from a United Nations vote condemning the activity. Trump's administration previously indicated it could be sympathetic to the settlements, but later backtracked.
Trump also pledged on the campaign trail to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but has not made it a priority since he took office.
Reuters contributed to this report
During his first four weeks in office, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders, met foreign leaders, prodded business chieftains and battled storms of controversy.
Among things he hasn't done: given congressional Republicans his plans for infrastructure improvements, health care or tax cuts.
That matters because presidential leadership is indispensable for achieving those objectives, each of which holds major significance for the American economy. Without it, even a Congress controlled by Trump's party will have immense trouble overcoming its own internal divisions.
In each case, here's why:
On infrastructure, Trump has pledged a trillion-dollar improvement program, but not specified what that means. If he intends to pursue outlays anywhere close to that, he's certain to draw substantial Republican opposition but might offset those defections with support from Democrats. If he intends for most of his plan to consist of tax incentives for developers, he'd need a different coalition to succeed.
On health care, Republicans are torn between their desire to repeal the program they've attacked for so long and their fear of backlash from Americans who'd lose their health insurance. They've also struggled with how quickly to offer to a replacement plan, which would immediately become a target for adversaries. In a news conference shortly before his inauguration, Trump promised that "as our secretary is approved and gets into the office, we'll be filing a plan." Tom Price became HHS secretary last week, and congressional Republicans still await his direction.
O n tax cuts, Republicans face a wide array of strategic choices. One is whether to overhaul corporate taxation only, or attempt the tougher task of individual tax reform as well.
Trump told retailers Wednesday morning that his plan will involve cutting taxes "for virtually everybody in every category, individual and business." That would point toward larger budget deficits.
But some fiscal conservatives in Congress want tax overhaul to be "revenue-neutral." House Republicans, who plan to seek reductions in the top personal tax rate, are not on the same page with Senate Republicans, whose tax chairman did not include cuts in the top personal rate in his initial statement of objectives.
Nor do the two chambers have any consensus on the so-called border adjustment tax hitting imports and sparing exports. The House considers it vital; some Senate Republicans strongly oppose it, which makes the provision vulnerable in a chamber with a bare 52-seat majority.
Only one person has the clout to force resolution of differences like these. That's the president, who is currently embroiled in a crisis over interactions with Russia. The longer he remains silent, the harder it is for Congress to move.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House Wednesday and the joint news conference that followed, led to a heavy focus on the fact that the Trump administration will now drop the long-held American requirement that the Israelis support a "two-state solution."
That's big news. And it's very good news. It's good for Israelis, Arabs, and America. Here's why.
That two-state "solution" has never been a solution at all. In fact, it's just one of the many U.S. policies supposedly meant to support peace that has done just the opposite. In fact, just about every policy we've heard from U.S. administrations from both parties for the last 40 years about the Arab-Israeli conflict has been wrong. The insistence that a two-state solution is the only path to peace between Arabs and Israelis? Wrong. The idea that no peace can be achieved until the Palestinian leaders renounce terrorism first? Wrong. And then there's the biggest misconception of all: The idea that Israeli settlements on the West Bank are a barrier to peace.
Actually, Israel's settlements and a commitment to more of them would bring more peace, prosperity, and freedom to both Israelis and Arabs for many years to come.
Yes, you read that right. Those universally demonized West Bank "settlements" Israelis set up after the Six Day War to renew the ancient and more recent pre-state of Israel Jewish presence in cities like Hebron and Beit El are actually an example of economic, strategic, and political keys to peace between Arabs and Israelis.
Contrary to popular belief, Jews and Arabs interact constantly even on those disputed lands. Jewish businesses on the West Bank employ Arabs all the time. The most famous example was the juggernaut drinks-machine company SodaStream, which even had several Arab employees in management positions before an international boycott movement forced the company to move to Israel proper in 2015. But success stories still abound, as Israel has increased Arab participation in the best segments of its economy. Arab unemployment in Israel is down. The number of Arab judges is way up. And an Arab-Israeli is even the chief of emergency medicine at Israel's famed Hadassah hospital. This is pluralism at work and on the move in the way we used to be told was the key to peace everywhere.
So how can the violence be stopped? More settlements. The one thing that most emboldens terrorists and anyone who never really wants peace there is when Israel rewards terrorist activity by ceasing the economic growth and expansion of opportunity that also comes from its physical expansion. As long as the Arab people believe that the Israelis might leave one day if they are just harassed enough, the chances of that terrorist harassment will be great. But as long as new and thriving settlements and visible Israeli military might continue to grow with them, the Apocalyptic promises of Hamas and the other terrorist leaders will be hollower than ever.
Conversely, removing settlements don't bring peace; they only embolden more terrorism. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 proves this beyond doubt as it has since become little more than a launching pad for rocket attacks into the rest of the country. And Gaza has lost its Christian Arab population, which has fled to avoid living in peril under yet another Islamic quasi-caliphate.
And then there's another part of the great misconceptions in this peace puzzle: The idea that only the United States and the European Union can bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And all they have to do is get Israel to allow the Palestinians to have some land and get the Palestinians to renounce violence against Israel. The only trouble is the Israelis have agreed to a Palestinian state at least four times since 1947. The Palestinians have rejected it each time. The U.S. and Europe have responded each time by providing more economic aid to the Palestinians and pressuring Israel to make more concessions. That hasn't worked.
So, as he mentioned during Wednesday's White House news conference, Netanyahu and his government have been forging new ties with countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia instead. The opening for this tactic came thanks to their mutual fears of a nuclear and suddenly cash-rich Iran. This could easily lead to some kind of understanding with Arabs living in the West Bank. That's because, for years, Saudi Arabia in particular has been a prime instigator and funding source of Palestinian terrorism via direct and indirect means. That could change now. Egypt, once a haven for anti-Israel terror groups, has also been cutting off Hamas and others like them ever since the new relationship with Israel began to blossom. Without the help of enough local friends in the region, the worst Palestinian terrorist leaders are on shakier ground. And conversely, think of the progress we could see if Saudi Arabia was willing to financially bail out the Palestinians in some way, and the Egyptians were willing to provide more control of Gaza both in return for Israeli and American military protection from Iran.
Israel should continue to build and expand, and annex all the existing West Bank territories into Israel proper. Israeli citizenship, with all the rights and privileges it entails, should be offered to all its inhabitants. This is not a crazy idea, but a simple recipe that worked in Israel proper for generations and has produced too many Jewish and Arab success stories to count.
But the rest of the world is enamored with bashing the settlements and promoting an insane two state solution that is no solution at all. Haven't any of these two-state-solution advocates read a history book lately about how creating lots of little countries in small areas only adds to the chances of war? Isn't it about time we give pluralism a chance instead of more Balkanization?
And what about those who say they worry that Israeli annexation of these areas will pose a demographic challenge and Israel will soon become a state with a minority Jewish population? First off, many of those dire Arab vs. Jewish birth rate predictions have been debunked by population experts. But more importantly, since when is the world so concerned with Jewish racial purity? Again, pluralism is the path to peace in a diverse world. Arabs, Jews, and Christians are living relatively peacefully and much more prosperously in Israel proper and have been for years. It's time for everyone living in the West Bank territories to enjoy the same rights and opportunities and not the time for anyone to insist on more racially and religiously segregated states.
Perhaps the backing off from the two-state solution policy from the Trump team is the first step toward real progress in this peace effort in many years. Perhaps the insane adherence to the failed policies of the past and present won't continue, and that's really good news for America, for Israelis, and for the Arabs.
Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny.
For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
A pedestrian makes his way from Mexico to the United States at the border crossing in San Ysidro, California, U.S., January 25, 2017.
Haisam Elsharkawi was about to travel from Los Angeles to Saudi Arabia last week when, he says, he was stopped at the airport, questioned, handcuffed, questioned some more and then released without charges three hours after his flight had departed.
Mr. Elsharkawi, 34, an American citizen, said in an interview on Monday that officers from United States Customs and Border Protection repeatedly pressured him to unlock his cellphone so that they could scroll through his contacts, photos, apps and social media accounts.
He said they threatened to seize the phone if he did not comply.
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"I travel all the time, and I was never asked to unlock my phone," said Mr. Elsharkawi, an electronics salesman from Anaheim, Calif. "I have personal photos there, which I think is normal for anyone. It's my right. It's my phone."
Eventually, he relented, and a Homeland Security agent looked through his phone for about 15 minutes, he said.
A NASA scientist, Sidd Bikkannavar, said he had a similar experience to Mr. Elsharkawi's in January, when he was detained at the Houston airport until he handed over a NASA-issued phone for inspection, he told The Verge.
So before you travel, here's some information on what border agents can and cannot do, along with recommendations from lawyers.
Border agents have broad authority to search
American border agents have the legal authority to conduct searches at the United States border that a police officer on the street wouldn't. Laws created that allow agents to search bags without a judge's approval, for purposes of immigration or security compliance, have been extended to digital devices.
But activists say inspecting a digital device is far more intrusive than inspecting a suitcase. They noted that the device can contain not just personal photos and messages, but could also compromise anyone else the owner may have communicated with.
"Before government agents should be able to go rifling through that trove of private data, they should have a very good reason based on individualized suspicion of illegal activity," said Nathan Freed Wessler, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "People's most private details of their lives will be made bare without justification."
The policies that give border agents the latitude to search or seize devices were used under the Obama administration, to much criticism. There's no available data to suggest that they are happening more under the administration of President Trump, though activists say they have anecdotally heard of more reports.
A customs agency spokesman said the agency could not comment on individual cases. But he said agents had inspected 4,444 cellphones and 320 other electronic devices in 2015, amounting to 0.0012 percent of the 383 million arrivals. Figures on 2016 and 2017 were not yet available.
Can agents force you to unlock your phone or laptop?
No. But they can ask you to comply voluntarily and make the experience rather uncomfortable if you resist. Travelers must decide how much trouble they're willing to put up with.
You may end up losing your device, since agents could seize the device for weeks before it is returned. They could also copy the data. (That data must be destroyed "as expeditiously as possible" if it is not valuable, according to Homeland Security policy.)
Travelers have reported that they've been detained for hours and questioned aggressively. Mr. Elsharkawi, whose trip included a pilgrimage to Mecca after an 18-hour layover in Istanbul, said his payment for his Turkish Airlines flight was not refunded after he missed it.
Travelers who are not citizens could have further problems, especially if they're flying into the United States. While citizens are guaranteed re-entry, foreign nationals could be denied entry, and the law isn't clear on permanent residents, said Sophia Cope, a staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that defends civil liberties in the digital age.
In October, for example, a Canadian journalist on his way to cover the Dakota Access oil pipeline protests was denied entry into the United States after he declined to unlock his phone, citing the need to protect his sources.
"People have to figure out what is their tolerance for risk, and what do they want to accomplish," Ms. Cope said.
Can agents force you to turn over social media passwords?
No. But those who unlock their phones are most likely giving agents full access to their social media accounts, even if they don't tell them the passwords.
Since most people remain logged into their accounts on their phones, unlocking the phone would allow officers to sift through private Facebook posts, direct messages on Twitter and Instagram photos that are set to be accessible to friends only.
Mr. Elsharkawi did not give agents his social media passwords. But when he allowed an officer to look through his phone, he said, she commented on his emails and apps. He doesn't know if she looked through his social media accounts, he added.
Some activists fear gaining access to social media accounts will become a greater focus for border agents. Last week, John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, said officials were considering a policy that would allow agents to ask refugees and immigrants for their social media login information. The Obama administration considered a similar move but never put it into effect.
While that policy would not apply to citizens, Ms. Cope said, it would be "a very small step for them to start doing that to Americans, as well."
What can you do to prepare?
Travel with the least amount of data you need.
Hassan Shibly, the chief executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida, suggested that people buy "burner phones" that they can discard before entering the airport.
Ms. Cope said people should power down their devices before getting to the airport, and encrypt the data they travel with. (Wired has a guide to the technical aspects of keeping your data safe.)
What should you do if it happens to you?
It's an individual decision. As a matter of principle, said Robert McCaw, the director of government affairs at CAIR, people should not unlock their devices. And they should request a lawyer.
"There's absolutely no reason why the federal government should be asking you for your password to your computer or your social media without a warrant. Period," Mr. McCaw said. "There's no justification."
But some activists said it's understandable why some people comply to such a demand, depending on what they have to lose by resisting.
Mr. Elsharkawi, who lives in Anaheim with his wife and three children, said requesting legal assistance appeared to inflame his situation.
"I opened the doors of hell when I asked for a lawyer," he said. "They just started attacking me verbally. 'Why do you need a lawyer? Are you a criminal? What are you hiding?' "
After allowing the Homeland Security officer to examine his phone, he said, he was immediately released.
By Rob Lauer, senior manager of developer relations at Progress, for CodeGuru
JavaScript is ubiquitous. From JavaScripts birth in the browser, to a rebirth on the server, to powering native mobile app development and IoT devices, it is becoming increasingly difficult to argue against the importance of JavaScript. As the most recent Stack Overflow survey attests, the popularity of JavaScript among rank-and-file developers has held steady for four years running. In fact, two of the other most popular technologies in the poll are based on JavaScript (Angular and Node).
However, one place in which JavaScript has only just started to make a dent is the enterprise. Today, your typical enterprise developer is focused on the .NET or Java stacks. This is because they are typically dealing with large ERP systems that expose APIs most easily consumable by these languages and frameworks.
What makes us think anything is going to change in 2017? Why would enterprise developers start to abandon their language of choice for an unfamiliar and